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Court prohibits Education CS Julius Ogamba from implementing the new university funding model until all legal requirements are met.[File, Standard].

The government suffered a huge setback on Monday after the court declined to lift orders quashing Kenya Kwanza’s multi-billion-shilling university funding plan introduced by President William Ruto.

Justice Chacha Mwita delivered a damning ruling, stating that the scales of justice tipped in favour of those who opposed the model. He declared that public interest is best served when all parties act within the law. He criticised the Higher Education Board, the Education Cabinet Secretary, and the Attorney General for their contradictory actions. He noted that while they had moved to the Court of Appeal seeking to suspend his judgment, they simultaneously claimed their intention to comply with the orders.

Justice Mwita emphasised that allowing the suspension would permit the continuation of the funding model, even though it had already been declared unconstitutional. 

“Any suspension of this Court’s declaration would allow the applicant, and by extension the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th respondents, to continue acting outside the law,” the judge remarked, referring to the ongoing shift in the funding of government-sponsored students to the new model since August 2024. As a result, he declined the application and dismissed it. 

The funding model, unveiled by President Ruto on May 3, 2023, aimed to allocate financial aid to university and TVET students based on their household income.

The judge strongly criticised the government’s decision to shift the responsibility to parents, stating that it was the government’s duty to fund public universities. He argued that transferring this burden to parents violated the Constitution.

Justice Mwita ruled that the model was unconstitutional, lacked a legal framework, was discriminatory, and failed to meet the legal requirements for public participation. 

The court issued an order prohibiting Education CS Julius Ogamba, the Attorney General, the Higher Education Loans Board, the Trustees of the Universities Fund Kenya, and the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service from implementing the new system until all legal requirements were met.

The petition was filed by several petitioners, including the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), the Elimu Bora Working Group, Boaz Waruku, and the Students Caucus. The court found that the funding model violated multiple constitutional provisions, particularly Section 53 of the Universities Act, which requires any higher education funding system to be legally grounded and developed with public participation.  

“The new funding model introduces a specific allocation of higher education resources without a proper statute, creating a funding mechanism that is in direct conflict with the law. The model, as it stands, is not anchored in any law. Its composition and its procedure remain unknown,” Justice Mwita stated.

One of the key issues identified by Justice Mwita was the discriminatory nature of the model. The system divides students into categories based on factors such as the type of school they attended, their age, and their household income. “It’s unrealistic, if not unfair, to consider someone earning Sh70,000 per month as needy, considering the level of taxation in the country,” Mwita remarked. By Kamau Muthoni, The Standard

British businessman Campbell Scott.

The body of Campbell Scott, 58, a British businessman who went missing on February 17, during a workshop in a Nairobi hotel was on Monday morning positively identified at the Makueni County referral hospital Morgue.

On Saturday around 10am at Makongo forest, along Wote-Machakos road, boys who were grazing at sections near the road bumped into a decomposing body which had been badly mutilated.

The matter was then reported to Kivani location chief, Thomas Maitha who confirmed that the man had his eyes gouged out, ears cut, his hands tied from the back and entire body stashed in a sack.

 

“He appeared to have been tortured. The body which was in bad state, prompted us to escalate the matter further. In addition to the physical injuries, the killer(s) had tied his hands from the back, and stuffed the body in the sack which had been packed with ripe pineapples,” the local administrator told journalists.

On Monday morning, homicide detectives accompanied by international police (Interpol), visited the crime scene to piece together clues into the gruesome murder. At the scene, they collected pieces of pineapples. 

They then proceeded to the morgue before conniving a meeting at the Makueni Police Station. 

“It is him. A photo produced by those who knew him at the morgue plus the clothes he was wearing when he last disappeared matches,” a source who sought anonymity at the morgue revealed.

A detective also hinted to The Standard that the body lying at the morgue was that of the missing businessman from Dunfermline in Britain, who was a senior director with FICO, a data analytics company. 

Before he went missing, Scott is reported to have been on a visit in Kenya to meet some senior business persons from United States, United Kingdom, and other countries from Africa to discuss about introduction of some products in market.

Police in Makueni refused to talk to journalists due to the weighty of the matter. However, The Standard has learned of various incidents involving dumping bodies in the county in the recent past. 

The Briton was reported missing on February 17 after walking out of the JW Marriott Hotel in Westlands, where he was attending a three-day business workshop. 

Police have since arrested two suspects in connection with the disappearance and subsequent murder of Scot was last seen at a club in Westlands before disappearing.

CCTV footage captured him leaving the JW Marriott Hotel with a man dressed in a white T-shirt and blue jeans before they boarded a taxi vehicle. Detectives traced and detained the taxi driver who ferried him that night, and a waiter from the club. 

As the search went on, police interrogated and recorded statements from several workers at the JW Marriot Hotel. The body will be moved to Nairobi where a postmortem is expected to be conducted. By Stephen Nzioka, The Standard

Veteran KTN news anchor Njoroge Mwaura is dead.

Mwaura's death was confirmed on Monday, February 24, by his wife Lucy Njoroge, who revealed the veteran journalist passed away at a Nairobi hospital. 

According to the wife, Mwaura had gone in for surgery but developed complications before ultimately succumbing to an unnamed ailment.  

The veteran journalist was famous for his Njoroge Notebook where he addressed various issues that were affecting the country. Many journalists have praised him for mentoring them as he is referred to as The TV Legend.

Mwaura was also renowned for his eloquence on screen and is widely recognized as a trailblazer who paved the way for many of the prime-time news anchors Kenyans admire today.

He began his career with the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) as a young news anchor before transitioning to Kenya Television Network (KTN) when the station was starting out.  

At the time, his move was seen as a huge milestone since he was one of the pioneer news anchors at KTN.

Notably, Mwaura also enjoyed a working relationship with Catherine Kasavuli, who passed away in 2022 aged 60. The pair co-anchored together for years during the late 90s and early 2000s. 

In 2012, after a brief retirement, Mwaura was recalled to KTN to assist during a phase of rebranding. He officially retired from broadcasting in 2013, leaving behind a legacy of mentorship and inspiration for a generation of journalists.

Mwaura's death was the latest high-profile passing of a veteran journalist, coming just days after Leonard Mambo Mbotela passed away after a career spanning six decades. 

Mbotela,  famous for the Jee, Huu ni Ungwana radio and TV programme, passed away on Friday, February 7, also at a Nairobi Hospital.

His death was felt nationwide, with President William Ruto describing him as a "gifted and powerful broadcaster whose alluring voice dominated the airwaves with his first-class commentaries." by Rene Otinga, Kenyans.co.ke

Several cooperative security locations are scattered across multiple countries and locations on the continent of Africa. In place to serve as power projection platforms, CSLs can be used when the U.S. State Department needs assistance, or combatant commanders need additional capabilities during joint and allied operations.

Most of these CSLs operate in what’s considered a “warm” status until activation. It takes a total team effort to ensure they are validated and ready for activation when called upon, and the 405th Army Field Support Brigade’s Logistics Civil Augmentation Program-Africa is key to ensuring flawless execution.

Recently, CSL Entebbe in Uganda went from warm to hot during an activation validation mission. A LOGCAP execution team consisting of 405th AFSB LOGCAP-Africa Planner Justin Conner, an administrative contracting officer from the 414th Contracting Support Brigade, and the base operating support-integrator, or BOS-I, travelled to CSL Entebbe and assessed 13 activated services and CSL Entebbe’s overall readiness during the validation mission, Feb. 15-17.

Conner said LOGCAP-Africa’s main focus, in addition to translating the requiring activities’ base support needs into contracted requirements, is oversight and assessment of the contract itself.

“That means we’ll work closely with the BOS-I team and the contracting officer representative to track the contractor’s performance. If there’s any issues on the ground, we’ll work with the administrative contracting officer to make any needed modifications and try to resolve any issues with the contactor directly,” Conner said.

For the activation at CSL Entebbe – which could be used to assist the U.S. Embassy in Uganda during an extraction mission or another contingency operation, for example – the LOGCAP execution team understood that initial planning called for support to 42 personnel.

“But then kind of last minute – three or four days before activation – they said no, the EARF [East Africa Response Force] is going to be on site, and we need to be set up to support them, as well. They bumped it up to about 90, and ultimately 83 U.S. servicemembers [from the EARF and Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa out of Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti] were serviced and accommodated,” Conner said.

Validating CSL Entebbe for current and future operations is extremely important, said Conner. At validation completion he said the support provided exceeded the requiring activities’ expectations, and further insights and ways to improve for future operations were identified.

“Overall, the activation I think went very well,” Conner said. “There were a few minor tweaks that needed to be made and minor improvements by the contractor, but overall the LOGCAP execution team was very satisfied with the results of the validation.”

The 405th AFSB provides and coordinates U.S. Army Material Command enablers in support of U.S. Army Africa and Europe through LOGCAP, the preferred source for base operations support and sustainment services. LOGCAP is the contracted capability of choice for the Army and multiple joint partners for emergent and contingency operations. Currently, the 405th AFSB’s LOGCAP program supports thousands of deployed U.S. forces in Europe and Africa with base life support and more. Dvids

In what appears to be a major development since Ethiopia and Somalia signed the Ankara Agreement to resolve tensions following the MoU the former signed with Somaliland, the two countries are taking practical steps to improve their relations.

It is too early to tell whether the agreement will take root at this point. Somalia has signed a tripartite agreement with Egypt and Eritrea—countries with which Ethiopia has hostile relations. There are even predictions that Eritrea and Ethiopia might go to war, as their relationship is worsening. Eritrea has deepened its military mobilization in recent weeks.

What is known for the time being is that Ethiopian forces’ deployment as part of the new African Mission in Somalia is confirmed. Ethiopian Defense Chief Field Marshal Berhanu Jula and the Intelligence Chief were in Somalia on Sunday. An agreement was signed.

 

Defense Force Chiefs from the two countries have released a joint communique in Mogadishu. Somalia state owned news agency published the full content of the Joint Communique :

“JOINT COMMUNIQUE ON THE OCCASION OF THE WORK VISIT BY THE CHIEF OF ETHIOPIA NATIONAL DEFENCE FORCE FIELD MARSHAL BIRHANU JULA OF THE FEDERAL DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ETHIOPIA TO SOMALIA

  1. Following the recent Bilateral engagement between H.E Dr. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, President of the Federal Republic of Somalia and H.E Dr. Abiy Ahmed, the Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 14-16 February 2025, it was agreed that a technical discussion was to be held in Mogadishu Somalia.
  2. Based on the above instructions a delegation led by Field Marshal Birhanu Jula, Chief of Ethiopia National Defence Force paid a one-day Work Visit to the Federal Republic of Somalia on 22ND February 2025. The Chief was accompanied by the head of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS), Redwan Hussein and other Government Officials.
  3. Maj. Gen Odawa Yusuf Rage, Chief of Defense Forces of the Somali National Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Somalia and Amb. Abdullahi Mohamed Ali Director of National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) welcomed Field Marshal General Birhanu Jula and RedwanHussein to Somalia and commended the strongbilateral cooperation between the two countries.
  4. The chiefs exchanged views on the security situation in Somalia and the region and underscored the need to maintain peace, security and stability in the Horn of Africa and in the African continent. They paid tribute to the Troop and Police Contributing Countries (T/PCCs) of the AU MISSION in Somalia (AMISOM)/ATMIS and Somali Security Forces for the sacrifices made since 2007 in pacifying the country and the fight against Al-Shabaab.
  5. The Chiefs welcomed the commencement of the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) and highlighted the importance of building on the achievements made by its predecessor ATMIS. The chiefs underscored the role of ENDF in African Union peace support operations and agreed on the Force disposition of ENDF in the African Union Support and Stabilization mission in Somalia (AUSSOM).
  6. The Chiefs emphasized the need to adequately support the current efforts to fight al-Shabaab and underscored their commitment to jointly work together to counter terrorism.
  7. The parties agreed that the Federal Government of Somalia will be the only point of entry for any engagement between the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and Federal Republic of Somalia and to respect the sovereignty, territorial integrity and unity of its people.
  8. The Chiefs called upon to the international community to support in building the capabilities of the Somali National Armed Forces to ensure the smooth exit of AUSSOM and pave way for Somalia to assume her security responsibilities.
  9. At bilateral level, the Chiefs agreed to develop a Status of Force Agreement a (SOFA) for all the bilateral forces that will operate in Somalia, the signing of the SOFA will be integral part of the Memorandum of Understanding on Defence Cooperation that was signed in December 2023.” Horseed Media

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