Wycliffe Musalia Mudavadi, the deputy prime minister and minister for local government will have a busy schedule starting this Saturday in his Sabatia Constituecy. The following is the full schedule.

By our correspondents, Sept 2 2010
Planning minister Wycliffe Oparanya on Wednesday tried to explain how the Sh8 billion census arrived at results which showed that the number of people in one province had increased by 140 per cent in a decade. The census results for some districts in North Eastern Province have been cancelled and a fresh count ordered after the figures showed its population had risen almost three-fold, from 962,143 in 1999 to 2.3 million last year. Mr Oparanya said the count was badly conducted after enumerators allowed residents to fill the questionnaires themselves. The minister said respondents, especially the elderly, refused to answer census questions asked by young enumerators and filled the results on their own, thus compromising the accuracy of the results. “Most of them refused to be asked questions by our enumerators, saying it was against their culture. They would instead grab the questionnaires and fill them themselves. This led to the inaccuracies,” Mr Oparanya told the Nation. More...

By our correspondents, Sept 2 2010
Two men have killed their wives and children in as many weeks in Nyanza. On Wednesday, Migori woke up to the sad news that a man had killed his wife and her two children. But he was seized by villagers and killed near the Kenya-Tanzania border. He was fleeing the country. Last week, a man is said to have killed his wife and her three children in the Nyalenda slums of Kisumu. He fled but was arrested on Wednesday. Both men had inherited their wives and had a history of domestic rows. On Tuesday, Silvanus Owuor Lwamba used a hoe to batter his wife, Esther Akinyi, her nine-year-old daughter, Lilian Akinyi and a one-year-old son, Barack Odhiambo, to death. Before the killing, Esther’s father James Ogolla, had called a meeting in Magoto village to discuss the constant friction between the couple and it was decided that the two should part ways. More...

By our correspondents, Sept 2 2010
If you love your chang'aa or busaa you can now sip from your sparkling glass or rusty tin that once contained cooking or engine oil without having to look behind your back. This is because President Kibaki rolled up his sleeve and signed into law the Bill passed by Parliament, bringing to closure the era of police and the chief discreetly patrolling urban and rural dwellings for the daredevils who either sold or imbibed what was until on Wednesday illicit liquor. But before consumers start toasting to their new found freedom of drinking according to the depth of one’s pocket, Naivasha MP John Mututho, who came up with the Bill has a word of counsel. "Even though traditional brews are now legal, I expect Kenyans to drink responsibly," he told The Standard from Ghana. He also said a new law should be passed by Parliament to condemn to life sentence those found guilty of lacing brews with poisonous agents. More...

By Ally Jamah, Sept 2 2010
Although majority of Kenyans (67 per cent) still live in the rural areas, Western Province has the highesr rural density. While the percentage of the rural population is still high, the current figure is a drop from the previous census where rural population was about 75 per cent. This shows that more and more Kenyans are heading to towns to seek employment and educational opportunities. Interestingly, there are more women living in the rural areas (13.2 million) than males (12.9 million), suggesting that women are being left behind to take care of children, farms, and livestock. It is only in North Eastern and Rift Valley provinces where men outnumber women. The census results indicated that Rift Valley has the highest number of people in the rural areas (7.5 million), followed by Eastern (4.4 million), and Nyanza (four million). Coast Province has the least rural population (1.86 million) followed by North Eastern (1.88 million), since people in these areas tend to gather in towns to access basic commodities. Rural Western Province has the highest number of people living within a square kilometre (410), while North Eastern Province has the lowest population density in rurals at 15. More...

By Charles Kakamwa, Sept 1 2010
Theft of electric cables has increased in Mbale, Sironko, Pallisa and Bugiri districts. The Umeme eastern manager, Robert Mubiru, on Friday told New Vision that at least 30 kilometres of conduct cables had been stolen in the region in the recent months. “Pallisa town recently went without power for three weeks after cables had been cut. We replaced them but they were again cut,” he said. Mubiru explained that the thieves also cut electric poles. He noted that replacing the vandalised equipment was costly to the company. Mubiru said a man in Kamuli town, who was trying to cut electric cables, fell down and died. More...

By Peter Orengo, Sept 1 2010
Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula has said Kenya is ready to defend itself in case the International Criminal Court (ICC) decides to take action against it for hosting Sudan President Omar Al Bashir. Last week a UN spokesman Sarhan Haq said the Security Council would determine the fate of Kenya for hosting President Al-Bashir in contravention of its resolutions on the Darfur crisis. On Tuesday Wetangula insisted the government had done nothing wrong in allowing President Bashir to attend the country’s constitution promulgation ceremony. The AU this week urged its members to vote against any UN resolution condemning Kenya, and was categorical that the UN Security Council had no grounds to pass any judgment against Kenya and Chad since some of its members had not ratified the Rome Statute which established the ICC. More...

By Collins Anampiu, Sept 1 2010
The government through the ministry of public health and sanitation plans to reintroduce the use of DDT in fighting of malaria in the country to completely combat the killer disease. According to minister for Public Health and Sanitation Beth Mugo, the fight against Malaria in Kenya has received a steady increase in annual funding from 120 million in 2002 to nearly 4 billion shillings in 2010, and all of it comes from development partners. The minister further added malaria admissions have declined by 56% in sentinel districts and up to 63% in parts of coast province. Child deaths have reduced by 44% due to use of insecticides treated nets. Currently over 20 million insecticide treated nets have been distributed to children less than 5 years of age and pregnant women. More...

By our correspondents, Sept 1 2010
A cross-section of Nyanza leaders has expressed divergent views over clustering the 2009 Census results into tribes and religious affiliations. East African Law Society Secretary James Mwamu said the figures based on tribe will have politicians strategising for the 2012 General Election. "Politicians will immediately start looking for mechanisms to create alliances, based on the size of tribes. They will be seeking potential voters from other tribes," said Mr Mwamu. He said some politicians would insist they are entitled to the Presidency or Deputy Presidency based on the numerical strength of their tribes. "It is a constitutional right to be identified, but I do not think we need to know the tribes’ numerical strength. Identification based on provinces would be ideal," he argued. ACK Bishop Otieno Wasonga said: "The figures on tribe and religious affiliations may not be correct since many people declined to give details on the two categories during last year’s census." More...

By Peter Atsiaya, Sept 1 2010
Disabled persons have dismissed the census results that put their population at 1.3 million. The Chairman Board of Trustee of the National Development Fund for Persons with Disabilities Phitalis Masakhwe termed the results as a fraud and demanded for fresh head count of disabled persons. He added that a similar exercise by National Council for Population Development two years ago from 1, 500 families put the disabled persons at 1.5 million, which was 4.5 per cent of the population. "If sampling by the council from 1, 500 families stood at 1.5 million people, how come the national census has less numbers?" he asked. He added that they projected the number of persons with disabilities to stand at between 3.8 to four million. "The results released by the minister are misleading and an insult to people with disabilities," Mr Masakhwe said in a telephone interview with The Standard yesterday. More...