Mombasa governor aspirant Suleiman Shahbal is set to officially unveil his running mate today (Thursday).

The businessman turn politician has settled on former administrator Selina Maitha as his running mate.

Shahbal has been teasing on social media that he will be making a major announcement today thus keeping his supporters at suspense.

Selina Maitha who is the sister to former powerful Coast politician Karisa Maitha served as the Jomvu deputy county commissioner (DCC) before she resigned on February this year as required by law.

She also served as the Kilifi North DCC. She once served as the personal assistant (PA) to the Coast regional commisioner.

Maitha will be unveiled at the Majaoni grounds at a ceremony to be attended by politicians allied to Suleiman Shahbal including Chanagmwe Mp Omar Mwinyi and former Kisauni Mp Rashid Bedzimba.

The Sarova Stanley Hotel has been presented with the coveted Thai Select Award for its Thai Chi Restaurant. Thai SELECT is the accreditation that certifies not only the food, but also the hospitality and atmosphere of a Thai restaurant.

Managing Director Sarova Hotels and Resorts Jimi Kariuki received the award together with Sarova Food & Beverage Director Shailender Singh from Her Excellency Ms. Sasirit Tangulrat, the Ambassador of Thailand to Kenya at Sarova Stanley's Thai Chi Restaurant.

The Thai SELECT is awarded by the Ministry of Commerce, the Royal Thai Government to guarantee the authentic Thai taste of Thai food products and Thai restaurants in Thailand and overseas. The award is divided in 2 categories; Thai ready-to-eat/ready-to-cook products and Thai restaurants.

To receive the recognition, Chefs must be carefully trained in the preparation of authentic Thai meals. Through training and inspections, high standard Thai Restaurants worldwide have achieved this distinction.

A piece of Thailand in Nairobi, Thai Chi has previously been awarded as the most authentic Thai restaurant in East Africa. The delectable Thai specialties prepared by experienced chefs from Thailand make Thai Chi one of Nairobi's most elegant dining establishments.

The restaurant has been in existence for 16 years serving a range of Thai Cuisine in the heart of the city.

Shazam, one of the world’s most popular and highly rated music apps, today launched a suite of concert features, making it easy for users to explore upcoming live music shows and increase exposure for artists.

By simply Shazaming a song, searching for it in the Shazam app or on the Shazam website, users can find concert information and tickets on sale for upcoming shows nearby.

They can also launch a Shazam Artist page to explore dates, times and locations of upcoming live shows, tap on any concert to view additional tour information, share show details, and add events to their calendar.

The entire experience is seamless and secure. 

"Shazam has a long history of innovation in music discovery and connecting artists and fans," said Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple Music and Beats.

Shazam’s new features leverage concert information from Bandsintown, a world-renowned event recommendation and artist discovery platform serving over 68 million music fans and 560,000 artists, managers, labels and booking agents.

“As live music returns, we’re on a mission to help artists get more visibility for their shows,” said Fabrice Sergent, managing partner of Bandsintown.

Adding“Pent up demand from fans eager to go back to concerts is being met by an unprecedented level of live shows from artists on tour.”

Users’ excitement for Shazam’s music recognition features—including its iconic “Tap to Shazam” button, its Music Recognition control for Control Center on iOS, Shazam from Notifications on Android and more—have driven its long-lasting global popularity.

Shazam now counts over 225 million monthly active users, with more than 1 billion song recognitions per month and over 50 billion total since its inception.

Artists, fans and the global music industry follow Shazam's wide variety of charts that reflect both early and global music trends. Shazam's yearly predictions also offer a good indication of which artists have the potential of making a splash.

Last year, Shazam selected Australian hip-hop artist Masked Wolf among its 5 artists to watch.

His track “Astronaut In The Ocean” has now been Shazamed over 12 million times, and was crowned most-Shazamed song of 2021 globally.

Availability:

• Shazam’s new concert pages are available in the iOS and Android apps, and onShazam.com
• Artists can now make available their tour information to Shazam via Bandsintown For Artists, and continue to access unique Apple Music and Shazam audience insights onApple Music for Artists.

Tanzanian King of The Decks & Producer And now a music executive just released his most anticipated single “Naumwa”. Which translates to English Means “Being in Pain”.

He is trying to explain how this lady he is in love with is making him have sleepless nights whenever he sees her, and wishes to spend the rest of his life with her though she is playing hard to get.

 Symbolizing the space that Gibbzy sees himself in life, “Naumwa” escalates the sounds of freedom, confidence and a feeling of self belief in the person he is becoming and a word of encouragement to his fans to always go for what their hearts desires. Produced, Mixed and Mastered by Gibbzy himself.

The single solidifies Gibbzy’s place amongst the greats and furthers the evolution of his sound, songwriting, production and engineering in general.

Describing the music, Gibbzy says it plays as the sound of a young African who’s hungry for success.

 The leading DJ and Producer , Gibbzy remains one of the most prolific, popular and elegant Dj’s to come up at a very high speed in a very short span of time out of Tanzania and East Africa at large.

About Gibbzy

Gibbzy is a Tanzanian Born and bred DJ and Producer based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

He’s gained recognition through his Deejaying and Production having started at a very young age and has performed at the biggest concerts and clubs in Dar es Salaam. He is currently the official Deejay of one of the leading Alcoholic Brands in Tanzania.

He also gained much recognition from his debut Single “Masiara” a a feel good song which samples sounds from Amapiano. Charting on different playlists on Apple Music and Spotify.

Coast region is among the three (3) regions affected by the new changes in police command.

The new Coast regional police commander is Titus Karuri who was moved from Central, swapping positions with Musyoki Manase.

The changes were announced  by Inspector General of Police Hilary Mutyambai on March 18.

The new Rift Valley police commander is Tom Odero. He had been serving at the National Counter Terrorism Centre and swapped positions with Fredrick Ochieng.

Former Nairobi police boss Augustine Nthumbi was moved to police headquarters Vigilance House as a liaison officer there.

The acting police boss for Nairobi is James Mugera.

According to Mutyambai, the changes were aimed at boosting operations in the country.

Content House Kenya has released Turkana Sessions—a musical journey through the astounding culture and landscape of Turkana.

This project brings together Turkana artists: Jackson Nakuwa, Mourine Apuu, Jackson Ekori and Elizabeth Korikel in collaboration with Nairobi's Eddie Grey in an exploration of the region’s musical heritage.

All 10 songs off the project are performed live and were recorded in live form, by the breathtaking shores of Lake Turkana, in the pyramid hills at Eliye and the grass flats of Kerio, all in Turkana County.

Eddy Grey’s soulful guitar rhythms marry with authentic Turkana sounds to provide a rich and captivating showcase – depicting what is possible when we look at new ways of presenting our traditional art forms through high and quality production.

Link Ikabore Ekwang’: https://youtu.be/krU8ByuBE3I 

Link Aluwai Etori Ayong’: https://youtu.be/3Xv_Fww6q-o

New songs dropping every week on the Content House Kenya YouTube channel

From songs about courting, reconciliation for couples, weddings, peace, losing livestock, beauty and how it transcends age, resources and diversity of Turkana to another - discouraging men from pursuing school-age girls; the 10-song project cuts across societal themes close to the day-to-day life of the communities living in Turkana.

Through storytelling, the artists tackle different topics and life situations in a clever way.

“At Content House, bringing the voices of marginalized people to the forefront is one of our key missions and this project does that in beautiful and unexpected ways. We started out in the region working in photography and film, but always during breaks the artists broke into song and we knew we had to find a way of incorporating it into the larger project,” said Jackie Lebo, project director at Content House.

While Northern Kenya has historically been in the news for conflict and poverty, the region is also endowed with great beauty and cultural heritage.

Its stark, arid landscape is home to Lake Turkana, the largest desert lake in the world.

The lake’s distinctive green waters led it to be named the Jade Sea and its craters and crocodile-filled islands make it one of the most unique places to visit in the world.

Turkana Sessions is the third project from The Artists Xchange, a companion project of the feature documentary Turkana: Races for Resources http://www.turkanafilm.com/ which will be released in 2023.

The project follows the series: The Flyest Wedding in Africa and Floating, Flying http://www.turkanafilm.com/artistsexchange/ off The Artists Xchange undertaking that brings together artists from Turkana and Nairobi to produce work that responds to the issues facing the region.

The artists work in various disciplines including music, video art, film, fashion, visual art and photography.

This is a time of great change in Turkana to bring art to the forefront.

There is an opportunity for artists from the Turkana and beyond to be part of discussions of the most urgent issues of their region.

With all the valuable minerals being found in the region, communities need to be treated as equal partners.

They are the custodians of a rich heritage that can inform a uniquely African thinking for what these natural resource finds mean to us.

It is time to change the narrative on Northern Kenya, show the world its art forms and inspire Kenyans to look to their roots for inspiration. 

Mvita Member of parliament Abdulsamand Nassir emerges as the most popular gubernatorial candidate, according to the Mombasa Infotrak survey released on Sunday.

According to the report, Nassir's popularity stands at 48 percent ahead of his bitter rival, businessman Suleiman Shahbal with 18 percent.

The poll results come out at a time when there is a heated supremacy battle between Nassir and Shahbal over who should fly the Orange democratic ODM party ticket to succeed Mombasa governor Hassan Joho.

The report dubbed ‘Mombasa Custom Countytrak’ also places United Democratic Alliance UDA’s gubernatorial candidate Hassan Sarai third with five (5) percent followed by Kisauni Mp Ali Mbogo with four (4) percent while Mombasa Deputy governor Dr William Kingi comes last with 1 percent.

In the distribution of the results per sub-county, Nassir's popularity stands at 42 percent in Changawe,49 percent in Jomvu,40 in Kisauni,46 in Nyali,53 in Likoni,62 in Mvita tatalling to 48 percent.

While shahbal’s  popularity per sub county stands at 21percent  in Changamwe, 18 in Jomvu,16 in Kisauni,17 in Nyali,19 in Likoni and Mvita 15 percent placing the two candidates as the main contenders of the Mombasa gubernatorial race.

In the senatorial candidate, Mombasa senator ODM’s Mohamed Faki remains the most popular candidate with 21 percent ahead of  UDA’s Hamisi Mwaguya with five (5) percent ,ODM’s Hashim Mwidau two ( 2) percent and Mohamed Abbass with two (2 ) percent.

Others are Abdalla Said with one percent, Joho’s cousin Mohamed Amir with 1 percent and former Mombasa deputy governor Hezel Katana with 0.1 percent.

In the women representative category, Mombasa women rep Asha Hussein remains the most popular with 17 percent followed by her competitor Zamzam Mohamed with 10 percent while Fatma Nakari and Rose Achieng follow third and forth category with five (5) and Two (2) percent respectively.

Others are Dorothy Nyakio,Marium Marzul,Amina Abdalla,Miraj Abdilahi and Maimuna Salim each with one (1 )percent. This means that if elections were to be held today ‘Ashuu’as she’s popularly known would be re-elected as women rep for Mombasa.

 In the political coalitions category Azimio La Umoja remains the most popular coalition with 51 percent followed by Kenya Kwanza with 23 percent ahead of One Kenya Alliance associated with Kalonzo Musyoka with( 3) three percent.

In the category of political party popularity within Mombasa, Raila Odinga’s Orange Democratic Party ODM remains the most popular with 46 percent followed by Deputy Presidents DP UDA party was second with 24 percent.

Others are the Jubilee party with five( 5) and Kalonzo’s  Wiper democratic Movement with One (1) percent while the latest Pamoja African Alliance PAA party with 0.3 followed by KANU with 0,.2 percent.

Gospel singer Kevin Kioko popularly known as Bahati has joined the list of celebrated persons who have since tossed themselves into the murky waters of politics.

He will be contesting for Mathare MP’s position on the ruling Jubilee Party ticket.

Speaking on Friday at the Jubilee headquarters, Nairobi, Bahati announced that he was a Jubilee Party member and also supports Azimio la Umoja political movement.

"Mtoto wa mama, Bahati mtoto wa Mathare will be vying as the member of parliament Mathare constituency on this coming general elections" sai Bahati.

Adding "“I am a proud member of Jubilee Party and the Azimio la Umoja movement,”.

The announcement comes just weeks after the singer released a music collaboration with ODM leader Raila Odinga who is also the Azimio la umoja flag bearer for the presidency.

Other celebrities who have joined politics includes, singer Smith Mwatia, alias Rufftone eying Nairobi Senator position, popular comedian Jalango, who  is going for the Langata MP seat. Singer Davidson Ngibuini aka DNG has shown interest to represent residents of the Woodley/Kenyatta Golf Course in the Nairobi county assembly. 

Grammy-award winning afro-pop band, Sauti Sol, have announced their partnership with Shahara, coming on board as Creative Co-Founders.

Shahara is an online platform that enables the African creative economy to earn revenue directly from their work, through their audiences.  

Launched in August 2021 by Africa Uncensored, The Catapult Agency LLP, and Baraza Media Lab, Shahara - which derives its name from the Swahili word Mshahara (salary) - was created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected the creative economy as marketing and other events were postponed or canceled.

Determined to build a direct alliance between the content creator and their audience, Shahara offers a platform where creators can publish their work and their audiences can support them directly by paying for the content, with the content creator taking a lion share of whatever they earn. 

The first project that launched on Shahara was A Letter To My Younger Self, an audio/visual podcast that features popular content creator, Maxine Wabosha, in conversation with inspirational Kenyans about the moments that shaped them into the people they are today. 

Since then, the platform has become home to other exclusive content such as the Africa Uncensored documentaries, Pandora Papers, Crooks & Wombs, and Under Your Watch; as well as Cynthia Abdullah’s documentary, Inyumba Yu Mulogooli. 

In addition to joining Shahara as Creative Co-Founders, Sauti Sol will also share their own exclusive content on the platform, starting with Bien Aime and Aaron Rimbui’s BALDMEN Virtual Experience - an acoustic performance that offers a wonderful story of love, life, fun, and prestige which is now available on shaharavideos.com for only 100 kenya shillings. 

Future premiers to look forward to on Shahara include: more exclusive content from Sauti Sol; the sequel to NDIZI TV’s Omwanchi Trubena (Beloved Trubena) Part 2 - a Kisii movie with over 99,000 views; exclusive content from Season 2 of Maxine Wabosha’s A Letter To My Younger Self; exclusive content from Season 1 of The Joyride Podcast, as well as content from the award-winning theater performers, Too Early for Birds, Story Sosa a production by Baraza Media Lab and content from the East African production house, Fat Rain Films. 

In the next few months Shahara will also introduce a series of masterclasses and tutorials for content creators.

Plus, later in the year, the platform will launch features that will allow for writers, journalists, artists, and photographers to also publish their work on Shahara.

Sarova Panafric is set to host the Big Honey Brunch tailored towards offering customers an extensive spread of delighting cuisine in partnership with Jack Daniels.

The Big Honey Brunch will be hosted at the Poolside Restaurant on Sunday 20^th March from 12pm to 4pm.

The new look Poolside Restaurant is the ideal venue for that fun-filled Sunday brunch for city residents to come to enjoy a spectacular and lavish spread in the garden setting. It boasts a crisp clear swimming pool and serene ambience.

DJ Miles will be on the decks for the afternoon playing the best jams to compliment brunch and cocktails for Kshs 4,900 and Kshs 3,900 for brunch alone.

Sarova Panafric Hotel is an idyllic city getaway in the hub of Nairobi that recently re-emerged newly expanded, with enhanced suites and rooms following the completion of a phase of the comprehensive renovations that began in October 2018.

The new project aimed at transforming the hotel which falls under the umbrella of one of the largest indigenous collections of hotels in East Africa, Sarova Hotels & Resorts into a contemporary Pan-African establishment.

Sarova Panafric is committed to re-inventing its offering to continue meeting customers' dynamic needs at a time tastes and preferences are evolving.