The county assembly of Mombasa has passed a motion banning smoking in public places.

The motion which was presented by Chaani Ward representative Frankline Makanga on Tuesday, seeks to have the county government set up designated smoking zones in the county.

According to Makanga, there have been concerns from non smokers over exposure to smoking related diseases.

"There are no designated areas or zones for smoking in Mombasa County. Smoking in public can cause significant health risks to both smokers and non-smokers, since the inhalation increases risks of developing cancers, heart diseases, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases among others." said Makanga.

Makanga also argued that smoking in public can contribute to air pollution and also cause fires that can lead to property damage and loss of life if the cigarette stubs are carelessly disposed without putting them off.

Members supported the motion and the Assembly resolved that the County Government Provide designated smoking zones, clearly marked and able to provide safe and comfortable space for the smokers.

The assembly also resolved that the county government ensures that the zones are regularly maintained and monitored for hygiene and safety, such that any litter should be disposed off in the proper receptacles and all smoking materials should be extinguished.

The county government has also been tasked with coming up with smoking policy and any other regulation to ensure that both the smokers and non-smokers rights are not infringed.

The tobacco Control Act of 2007, section 33 provides that no person shall smoke in any place except in designated smoking areas.

Mombasa governor Abdulswamad Nassir has come to the aid of music composer Enock Ondego's family by clearing his hospital bill.

The 90-year-old who is one of Kenya’s most prominent songwriters, died after suffering a stroke in his house in Kisauni last week and his body has been lying at the Coast general hospital mortuary.

According to media reports his bill had accumulated to over kshs 150,000.

The family has been pleading for support to accord their late father a befitting send off at his rural home in Vihiga.

Ondego known for his popular patriotic  songs like Wimbo wa Historia ,Kenya ni Nchi ya Ajabu and Kenya Yetu lived a life full of despair for the last five decades despite his status, according to his family.

The late Ondego who started his teaching career at the age of 17 was also the founder of the Mwakigena Choir which he formed in Kwale after being posted as a teacher at the Samburu Primary School.

The late founding father Mzee Jomo Kenyatta was impressed by Ondego's music that he picked him to head the presidential music association in 1969.

On sunday evening, Mombasa governor Abdulswamad Nassir made an impromptu visit at the Coast general hospital where he mingled with patients and cleared the late Ondego's hospital bill .

Hundreds of Mombasa residents traveled to Kisumu Thursday evening to join other mourners for the funeral service of chairman of the Luo Council of Elders (Ker) Willis Opiyo Otondi.

Otondi who is the ninth chairman at the Luo Council of Elders died last week and is expected to be laid to rest on Saturday.

Mombasa governor Abdulswamad Nassir organised six buses to ferry the mourners.

The mourners also received cash and t-shirts.

Nassir is also expected to lead another delegation to Kisumu on Friday ahead of the funeral on Saturday.

Azimio leader Raila Odinga is also expected to attend the funeral.

Chief Officer of Environment Pauline Oginga lauded the move by Nassir.

The Chairman of Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (SUPKEM) Mudhar Kitamy was on Wednesday overtaken by emotions and forced to cut short his speech during an anti-LGBTQ media address in Mombasa.

The cleric, expressing his emotional intolerance to the LGBTQ activities, said it was worrying that a future generation may be plunged into uncontrolled same sex immorality that is absolutely against religious faiths and moral values.  

“What will we tell our God, as staunch Muslim believers, we feel betrayed by the judges, what does the future of our children and grandchildren hold with this kind of LGBTQ activities, we want action taken, because we are strongly against it,” said Kitamy.

Kitamy asked the attorney general Justine Muturi to expedite the review process of the court to a decision that gave nod to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) community to have the right to association.

Kitamy  said the country should not imitate western culture saying a country like Kenya has diverse cultural diversity and it's immoral to support activities of LGBTQ.

"We are pleading with the attorney general to expedite the review of the high court decision and outlaw the groups, “said Kitamy.He added  "We ask all agencies to also reign in on civil society groups who are conducting secret meetings to propagate the LGBTQ activities,” said shaikh Mudhar Kitamy.

The clerics, during a media briefing held at the Fort Jesus also asked education cabinet secretary Ezekiel Machogu to reign in bookshops they claim are selling reading materials with immoral content.

"These activities are immoral, let our government not stoop too low,to accept grants that will ruin our  religious beliefs, we want all NGOs to be audited the activities they propagate so as to tame LGBTQ activities, “said Shaikh Abu Amza masjid Al Hudaa,sparki.

Shaikh Badru Khamis of Masjid Fayaz demanded the three judges who passed the court rulling legalizing registration of LGBTQ organizations saying they went against the will of a majority of the citizens.

"We want the judges to be investigated because we read mischief, we want to know why they made a decision that is against all religions, we are not going to relent,if need be we are going to petition in the East Africa court of justice, “said Shaikh Khamis.

Kenya chairman of Anti-LGBTQ group said they will not relent on the matter cautioning the government for falling into the trap of grants at the expense of good moral values.

"We are collecting signatures, countrywide,that we will take into parliament and petition the withdrawal of the three judges who ruled on the LGBT case,"said Karama.

Riziki Juma Supreme council of Kenya Muslim Supkem women leader said women are suffering the most because it will affect generations.

Zubeida Njau, a women Muslim faithful, asked the president to explain to the nation why this matter is becoming an agenda in a country that is guided by religious beliefs.

"We are saying no to the people pushing this agenda to us. We don't need these activities in the country, it’s as simple as that,” said Njau.

This comes as Nyali member of parliament Mohamed Ali,is preparing a bill to parliament to outlaw same sex activities in the country.Ali says acts of same sex in Kenya should be outlawed.

“I am presenting a bill in parliament to outlaw LGBTQ,we can’t live like animals, Kenya is a country of diverse faith,” said Ali saying the government should pronounce itself on the stand about the matter.

He accused the three judges who ruled in favour of the LGBTQ community saying they should be condemned for abetting moral decadence in a country with diverse religious faiths.

Three Supreme Court judges  ruled in the majority side on the issue that has raised a heated debate in the country.

The Media Council of Kenya (MCK) has announced a special journalism grant targeting accredited community media and correspondents working under strenuous circumstances countrywide.

Correspondents and reporters from the counties who have written, published and broadcast stories over the last three months – December 2022 to February 2023 are eligible for the grants.

There will be 200 special grants with varying amounts of up to KShs 20,000 per story and up to a maximum of 10 stories per journalist.

MCK Chief Executive Officer Mr David Omwoyo says the grants are aimed at ensuring high professional standards as journalists grapple with financial challenges in the changing media space.

“December 2022 running into January and February this year have been difficult for media, with some correspondents working without pay. We have found it appropriate to support media workers operating under extreme circumstances to keep them going. Such situations expose journalists to vulnerabilities, which can affect journalistic ethics”, he says.

“The Council has established that the reduced revenues by media outlets have seen them fail to pay workers, with many struggling to meet their statutory and compliance obligations to the government, while several FM stations are unable to deal with technical-related challenges and servicing equipment”.

The grant is among initiatives undertaken by the Council to promote the welfare of journalists by cushioning them from the ensuing economic shocks in media organisations.

Since its inception, the Media Council of Kenya has dispensed reporting grants on health reporting, climate change, governance and legislative process, gender-based violence and health among others.

Potential applicants can obtain details from the Media Council of Kenya website.

Workonline Communications (https://www.Workonline.Africa), the wholesale internet provider company, has launched its third core Point-of-Presence (PoP) in Mombasa, Kenya.

The additional PoP, housed in the carrier-neutral iColo datacentre in Mombasa, brings an important new addition to the IP Transit options available in the datacentre to content distribution networks, cloud networks, and internet service providers.

Workonline is recognized for its long term vision of deploying equipment capable of delivering up to 100 Gbps services at each of its core PoPs.

Further to this, Workonline has continued to invest in its Kenyan network, and now connects its two PoPs in Mombasa to its PoP in Nairobi over the four most reliable routes, which in turn enables Workonline to provide the most reliable remote peering services, Ethernet Virtual Private Line (EVPL), Ethernet Private Line (EPL), and IP Transit services in the market today.

Workonline (AS 37271), founded in 2006, is one of the largest IP transit networks in Africa. The company established its first PoP in Kenya in 2017, and is continually expanding its infrastructure across both East and West Africa.

In early 2019, Workonline Communications became the first African network to deploy Resource Public Key Infrastructure (RPKI) Route Origin Validation (ROV) to improve the security of Internet routing in Africa, and Workonline’s engineers continue to assist other networks in Africa in implementing RPKI ROV.

“We’re committed to keeping traffic local and building a better Internet in Africa, with Africa – and supporting secure, efficient, on-continent networks,” says Benjamin Deveaux, Head of Business Development at Workonline Group.

iColo’s CEO, Ranjith Cherickel explains that Workonline’s PoP is a welcome boost for ensuring that more citizens and, as a result, small businesses can come online and enjoy the benefit of world-class internet. “We are proud to partner with Workonline Communications to offer this experience.”

Celebrated rapper Femi One has dropped a new video dubbed ‘Staki’ featuring Domani Mkadinali

Staki better explains that No is a complete sentence. In the song, Femi One touches on various issues that need to be addressed, such as rape and women being forced into compromising situations.

In her signature punchlines along with Domani's dope street vibe; Femi underscores the issues that women face daily in our current society such as sex for work, sex trafficking and transactional sex.

The visuals shot and directed by renowned director Steve Mugo is a perfect depiction of the song. Femi One shows her acting skills on another level; which brings out the detrimental consequences of going against someone's will!

With such a strong statement made by the AFRIMMA best female rapper, one can only imagine the projects and movements Femi has lined up for her fans

Staki is a must-watch video, the video is doing well and has over 30K views in under 10 hours.

EALA Mp Hassan Omar is the new UDA vice Chairman.

Omar who vied for the Mombasa governor seat in the last general elections now takes over from Kipruto Kirwa.

The UDA party announced the changes in it's leadership on Monday with the National assembly majority leader Kimani Ichung'wa expressed confidence that the new office bearers will deliver as expected.

In the changes, former Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala is the new secretary general, replacing nominated Senator Veronica Maina.

Embu Governor Celily Mbarire was named the new party chairperson after Johnson Muthama was nominated to be a member of the PSC.

Karisa Nzai who vied for the Jomvu Mp seat but lost to Badi Twalib Mwala MP Vincent Musyoka as the party organizing secretary.

Kitutu Chache North MP Japheth Nyakundi has been appointed as the treasurer replacing Omingo Magara.

Mombasa activists on Monday strongly condemned a Supreme Court decision which ruled that the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) community have the right to association.

The irate human rights defenders, preachers, youth and women staged street demonstrations along Mombasa’s Moi Avenue demanding that Kenyans reject any intended acts of the LGBTQ community.

Terming it illegal, the activists blamed the court saying its abetting Moral decadence by influencing activities that are against community values.

The judges in their majority judgment said the decision by the lower courts to deny the members of the gay community in Kenya their right to register as an Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) was discriminatory.

 “Kenya should stand firm against the influence from the west. We as activists will stand for what is good for our generations and we will not relent on this war,” said Salim Karama,the self declared chairman of the Anti-LGBTQ lobby.

The demonstration involved Muslim and church leaders, human rights activists, youth, Muslim women who dressed in their Veils to show solidarity against what they termed as an illegality.

"The parliament should stand firm and make amendments to the laws so that we can save our generations, our religion doesn't allow activities of immorality,” said Sherif a Muslim leader in Mombasa.

Speaking during a media briefing at Uhuru Gardens grounds,Karama asked president William Ruto to rise up against the plan to erode moral values of a majority of Christians and muslims believers.

“Kenya is a religious nation, the people are also known for their diverse cultures and traditions which cannot be destroyed. The courts acted in total disregard of a majority of Kenyans' will,” said Zainad Abdi.

Three Supreme Court judges; Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu, Justice Smokin Wanjala and Justice Njoki Ndung’u, ruled in the majority side on the issue.

This happens as the attorney General Justin Muturi has said that he will be challenging the Supreme Court ruling on LGBTQ community on associations.