Tourism cabinet secretary Najib Balala is mourning the death of his elder brother, Sheikh Salim Mohamed Abdallah Balala.

The late Sheikh Salim is father to former Mombasa county Transport CEC Taufiq Balala and prominent lawyer Mohammed Balala.

The late Sheikh Salim was a nominated Member of Parliament and also served as an Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning from 1966 to 1974 under late President H.E Jomo Kenyatta.

On Wednesday, Taufiq Balala tweeted that his late father was admitted at Premier hospital and desperately needed blood.

"Desperately looking for blood for my ailing fathee, blood group B- , help!" tweeted Taufiq.

"It is with great sadness to announce the death of my eldest brother, Sheikh Salim Mohamed Abdallah Balala." he posted 

The late Sheikh Salim will be laid to rest on Thursday at the Kikowani muslim cemetery.

Tanzanian singer Nandy has finally delivered the much awaited baby at the Aga Khan Hospital, Daresalaam.

Nandy has shared the good news with her fans, thanking God for a safe delivery and the gift of her daughter.

“I thank God for the safe delivery of my baby daughter. I just can’t express how happy I am, but all I can say is that I love dearly mum. Now I appreciate the importance and difficulty of being called a mother. Now I know the meaning of being truly happy. This is happiness deep down from my heart! To my hubby @billnass thank you for this amazing gift,” Nandy said.

Last month, Nandy and her husband rapper Billnass tied the knot at a colorful wedding. This is their first child.

Nandy has also announced that her new born baby has just landed an ambassadorial deal with one of the insurance companies in Tanzania.

"Bila kuwasahau @assemble_insurance MIMI NA BALOZI WENU MPYA WOTE TUKO SALAMA na ma doctor woote wa @agakhanhospitaldsm asanteni sana kwa ushirikiano wenu na upendo wenu kwangu." psoted Nandy

There is a reason why Tanzanian singer Alikiba is also referred to as the undisputed King of Bongo fleva.

The singer who has been in the music industry for over 20 years with several hits under his belt boasts of numerous music trophies and awards.

Just recently, the 'Utu' hitmaker took to social media to show off some of his trophy and awards.

The singer shared a video of himself recorded in a special room with his portraits and plaques mounted on the walls and a cabinet that housed the trophy and awards collection.

Early this year, Alikiba set a new record at the Tanzania Music Awards after winning 5 awards.

In 206, Alikiba won the Best International African Act Award at the MTV Europe Music Awards.

Legendary Ugandan singer Jose Chameleone will be celebrating 25 years in the music industry.

The artiste made the revelations in a press conference where he revealed that he will be hosting a major concert next year February to mark this milestone.

He promises that the show dubbed “Ggwanga Mujje” concert will be a world-class experience.

Ggwanga Mujje” is a Luganda phrase that calls upon people from all walks of life to come together for a major event.

“I am one of the major players in this industry so expect a world-class event. This is a celebration of Ugandan music. We are celebrating twenty-five years of Chameleone and Ugandan music,” Chameleone said.

On why he has settled on February 2023, Chameleone noted " I’ve seen many artistes organizing shows this year after the pandemic and being Chameleone, I had to have a different arrangement. So next year is all mine and no show is going to be bigger than ‘Gwanga Mujje’ because it’s a show for people of all walks of life.”

Chameleone  promised to bring together singer cum politician Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine and his long-term rival Moses Ssali alias Bebe Cool in the forthcoming music concert.

“It is time that we should work together as artists and I promise to make history therefore I invite Moses Ssali(Bebe Cool) for the concert and my brother Bobi Wine. If you don’t want to sit together it’s fine but the most important issue is to work together and support one another,” he said.

Chameleone also extended an invite to Uganda president Yoweri Museveni to attend the concert.

Former Nairobi governor Mike Sonko has congratulated ODM's Mombasa governor candidate Abdulswamad Nassir for hi early lead against his main rival Hassan Omar (UDA) in the Mombasa governor race.

As of Tuesday morning, Nassir had garnered a total of 101,658 votes while Omar getting 88,352 votes from 5 out of 6 constituencies. Likoni is the only remaining constituency that has not yet submitted its final results.

Taking to social media Sonko who had been campaigning for Omar thanked UDA supporters for voting for Omar.

"Watu wangu habari za asubui? When you are in any competition, your competitor is not your enemy but your opponent, I wish I was in the ballot but no matter how long it takes inshallah God's time is the best, yote tisa asiyekubali kushindwa sio mshindani congratulations Abdulswamad Sharrif Nassir for your win as the second Governor of Mombasa we live to fight another day." posted Sonko.'

Adding" I would also like to thank all our supporters for believing in us and voted for our candidate Hassan Omar Sarai, despite the loss let's remain strong and even more united as we shall always be there for everyone of you even those who never voted for us."

On Monday night, celebrations rocked some parts of Mombasa with outgoing Mombasa governor Hassan Joho leading celebrations at the central business district (CBD) as it emerged that Nassir was leading.

"They came here and started abusing us, we never said a word. They started planning how they will win, we kept quiet. Tonight, we have shown them dust," said Joho, referring to the UDA team that had been campaigning for Omar

Joho also called Raila Odinga on phone to talk to the elated crowd who thanked the supporters through the phone call. 

During the celebration, Joho requested the Dj to play the popular song 'Katerina' which his main opponents led by Omar had nicknamed him and used it to mock him during their campaigns.

On his part Nassir who was present during the celebration thanked his supporters for their support.

Other leaders who were also present during the celebration included Mvita mp elect Mohammed Machele, Garissa Senator Abdulkadir Haji, Daadab Mp elect Farah Maalim among others.

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Mombasa governor candidate Hassan Omar’s wife Asli Osman Mahmud has appeared in public for the first time.

Omar accompanied by his wife Asli casted their vote at the Kaderbhouy polling station in Mvita constituency.

Omar first introduced her to journalists who had a rare interaction including asking her questions about women leadership.

Asli,a lawyer by profession, said she is the biggest supporter of Omar who is seeking to succeed outgoing governor Hassan Joho.

“I am the biggest supporter of Hassan Omar, and I am confident that he will win the seat,” she said after casting her vote accompanied by her husband.

The duo married in 2012 in a colorful wedding held in Mombasa, attended by ODM leader Raila Odinga, governor Hassan Joho and Omar's current main political rival Abdulswamad Nassir among others. .

If the former senator clinches the seat, the outspoken Asli will officially be the county first lady. Outgoing governor Hassan Joho is among politicians who have kept their spouses out of public glare.

Omar expressed confidence that he will be declared the second governor of Mombasa county after 10 years of Joho’s political stint.

Mombasa woman representative elect Zamzam Mohammed has called for peace ahead of the Monday gubernatorial elections.

She alleged that they had received reports that their opponents had ferried youth from Nairobi slams to come and cause chaos in the Monday elections.

The elections pitting ODM candidate Abdulswamad Nassir and former Mombasa senator Hassan Omar as the front runners, has raised political temperatures in the county.

“We are aware there are youth who have been ferried by buses from Nairobi to come and cause chaos, I urge security apparatus to investigate this”

“Crack down on the hotels these people are hiding and flush them out, we want a peaceful electoral process in Mombasa,” she said.

Zamzam called on Mombasa residents to come out in large numbers on Monday to vote saying she is confident that the ODM candidate Abdulswamad Nassir will win the election.

“Vote for Nassir in Mombasa and vote for Barasa in Kakamega, don’t let our party leader Raila Odinga down,” she said.

Her sentiments were echoed by Nairobi Women representative Esther Passaris who also exuded confidence that Azimio la Umoja presidential candidate Raila Odinga will win the election petition at the supreme.

Speaking after attending a church service at the Catholic cathedral in Mombasa, Passaris called on Mombasa residents to vote for Nassir arguing that he is the best candidate for the county top job.

"All we are praying for is peace. Mombasa remains an ODM and Azimio zone so to all the Mombasa people please come out and vote for Nassir" said Passaris.

Adding" I have worked with him in parliament and I know he is the best man for this job".

Outgoing Mombasa governor Hassan Joho has formally bid farewell to residents and county staff. 

Addressing the staff and other members of the public at the Treasury square on Saturday, Joho thanked the staff and workers for according him support as the pioneer governor of Mombasa county.

Joho's deputy William Kingi who is seeking to succeed was not present during the event.

"I have called you all here to thank you for your support. There are many people out there who probably have no idea what goes on in this office. So much is being said out there but I know very well that this is the season of all that" said Joho.

Adding "I'm leaving this office with my head high because me and you know where we found this county and know where we are today. It is normal to have challenges but we are the ones who build the foundation of devolution in Mombasa. There are people who will say what they want to say but that is normal with us human beings but truth must be told, this county is not where we found it"

Joho was elected governor in 2013 and re-elected in 2017.

"Some people think this job is easy, let them come here and try. We are getting 6 billion from national government and our wage bill is 6 billion so if one is not careful then they will want to sack some workers. During my tenure in office I have never sacked any worker because I understand how hard it is for us to feed our families"

"I'm still  very young and know how to plan for my future so to those who were wondering where Joho will go next just wait and see".

Joho also took issue with his critics.

"Stop making me your agenda, tell the people of Mombasa what you will do for them when you get into this office"

Tanzanian singer Ommy Dimpoz is set to release his collabo with Congolese singer Fally Ipupa.

Through his Instagram page, Dimpoz shared a small video of him and Fally Ipupa in a studio in Paris France recording the song.

The singer also revealed that he is currently working on his album which is 90% complete.

Dimpoz becomes the second Tanzanian artist to collabo with Fally Ipupa after Diamond Platnumz.

In 2019, Diamond and Fally Ipupa released their song 'Inama' which has since attracted over 113 million views on youtube.