Kenya 411, News, Breaking News, Kenya, Africa, Politics, Business, Sports

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 20 – Members of Parliament under the United Republican Party (URP) say they will use the floor of the House to push for an increase in budgetary allocations for County governments from 15 percent to 30 percent. Led by the party leader, Eldoret North William Ruto, they say the 15percent figure does not match with the many assignments given to the county government leadership. Speaking at a fundraising at a Nairobi hotel on Sunday, Ruto said the party will team up with other Members of Parliament to turn down the formula suggested by the Commission on Revenue Allocation on giving population an upper hand in determining the county allocations. “Insanity is doing the same thing all over again, and expecting different results.

International Cricket Council (ICC) have postponed next month’s fixtures between Kenya and Namibia here in Nairobi until September. Nairobi Gymkhana was to host the four-day ICC Intercontinental Cup match between the two sides from June 6-9. This was to be followed by two 50-over-a-side Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Championship matches on June 11 and 13. “Due to delays related to the ongoing security assessment in the country, ICC has agreed with the two teams to postpone the matches until September 2012,” said Sami-ul-Hasan ICC, media and communications operations manager. Hassan said the exact dates and venue for the matches will be announced in due course after further assessment of the situation.

DEPUTY Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta will launch The National Alliance as a mass party with an extravagant unveiling ceremony this Sunday. Uhuru and his handlers have put in place an elaborate programme with over 30,000 invited guests and supporters at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre. The party has identified ‘I Believe’ as its campaign slogan. Uhuru is planning to spend heavily for the launch according to TNA insiders. “We have not finalized the budget but I can assure you it will be in the range of 150 to 200 million shillings,” said a party source who requested anonymity.

DEPUTY Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday claimed that a column by Star columnist Jerry Okungu could jeopardize his case at the International Criminal Court. “This article has the potential to be used against me. I was once asked at the ICC about an article concerning me and when I said the contents were false, I was asked why I didn’t challenge it,” said Uhuru who testified for over two hours before the Complaints Commission of the Media Council over the article published by the Star on February 6

DEPUTY PM Uhuru Kenyatta has upgraded his defence team at the ICC by bringing in a UK legal firm BCL Burton Copeland. The move came as ICC prosecutor Moreno Ocampo told the judges he has no problem with postponement of the trial as requested by Uhuru and co-accused Francis Muthaura as long as they guaranteed to appear at the Hague when the trial starts. “He was strung along by his barrister who told him that he doesn’t need solicitors, or litigators at the ICC, just a courtroom advocate

DEPUTY PM Uhuru Kenyatta has upgraded his defence team at the ICC by bringing in a UK legal firm BCL Burton Copeland. The move came as ICC prosecutor Moreno Ocampo told the judges he has no problem with postponement of the trial as requested by Uhuru and co-accused Francis Muthaura as long as they guaranteed to appear at the Hague when the trial starts. “He was strung along by his barrister who told him that he doesn’t need solicitors, or litigators at the ICC, just a courtroom advocate. He finally realised that he’s been taken for a ride and has now instructed solicitors BCL Burton Copeland to do the research and solicitor work,” said a UK lawyer this week. Until now Uhuru’s lawyers have been barristers Gillian Higgins and Steven Kay who acted as courtroom advocates

THERE are only two big winners in the latest opinion poll from Strategic Research – Musalia Mudavadi and ‘undecided’ voters. Prime Minister Raila Odinga remains the most popular presidential candidate with 32.7 per cent of respondents saying they would vote for him

The ODM national executive committee yesterday instructed party leader Raila Odinga to start looking for a replacement for Musalia Mudavadi as his deputy Prime Minister. Deputy ODM secretary general Joseph Nkaissery said the party should fill the position as Mudavadi had switched from ODM to his new UDM party. Two weeks ago, Mudavadi resigned as ODM deputy party leader and as Local Government minister but refused to quit as DPM saying it was a coalition government post rather than an elected post

National Assembly Clerk Patrick Gichohi. Photo/FILE  By NJERI RUGENE nrugene@ke.nationmedia.com AND ALEX ATUHAIRE aatuhaire@ug.nationmedia.com Posted  Monday, May 14  2012 at  22:30 Campaigns for membership to the East African Parliament are in top gear locally, with bitter rivalry within each of the main parties of the grand coalition resurfacing to haunt the nominations.

The four Kenyans facing crimes against humanity charges at the international criminal court will know the dates when their trials before The Hague – … ( Resource: Kenya: Ocampo Four Await Trial Dates The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday said the four Kenyans accused of crimes against humanity do not have to appear in person at the status conferences scheduled for June this year. ICC Spokesman Fadi el Abdallah told Capital FM News that the accused can be represented by their lawyers unless directed to appear individually by the court. “The accused can be represented by their lawyers unless ordered otherwise by the Judges