He pointed out the irony of road users being charged toll fees on roads financed by their own taxes and fuel levies. Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna has voiced strong criticism of the recent proposal by Roads Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen to impose toll charges on several roads across the country.

Currently, Nairobi Expressway is the only road in Kenya with toll charges, while the proposal to extend tolling to other roads is still under consideration.

Taking to his social media platform, Senator Sifuna expressed his disapproval, arguing that the government’s decision to toll these roads was unjustifiable given that taxpayers had funded their construction.

He pointed out the irony of road users being charged toll fees on roads financed by their own taxes and fuel levies.

“When you drive on these roads, you will see signs telling you that your taxes, AKA fuel levy, were used to build and maintain those roads. Ruto has built nothing. He cannot tax us for using our own roads,” Senator Sifuna stated.

These remarks by Senator Sifuna come in the wake of revelations made by Cabinet Murkomen, who indicated that the government was considering imposing tolls on frequently used roads as well as increasing fuel prices.

This move aims to secure sustainable funding for road maintenance, which has witnessed escalating costs.

Speaking during the launch of the Kenya National Highways Authority’s strategic plan for 2023-2027 in Nairobi, Murkomen explained the government’s rationale. He cited the successful implementation of tolls on the Nairobi Expressway as a precedent, suggesting that similar tolling mechanisms could be applied to other roads.

“The template is already there with what we did with the expressway. I believe we can toll the road from Athi River to Namanga, I believe that it is possible to toll the road from Galleria to Karen and Kiambu road,” said Murkomen.

He further clarified that individuals unwilling to pay toll fees would have the freedom to utilize alternative routes available to reach their destinations.

“The good news is that there are so many alternatives along these corridors that those who do not wish to pay toll fees will use,” added Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen.

Some of the roads identified for potential tolling include Kiambu Road, Mombasa-Malaba Road, Galleria-Rongai Road, Sirare-Lodwar Road, as well as Athi River-Namanga Road.

These developments signal an ongoing debate about how to best manage road maintenance costs while considering the concerns of taxpayers and road users alike. By Phidel Kizito, Capital News

The leader of a Lagos-based church Feyi Daniels has been sentenced to life imprisonment for raping his church member.

The Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court announced the sentence on Friday, January 26.

According to local media reports, the victim, 23 years is the assistant of Daniels, who is also the founder of “ I Reign Christian Ministry”.

He was also handed three years imprisonment for sexually assaulting a 19-year-old member of the church. In a statement by Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency (DSVA), the two sentences are to run concurrently, and his name will be registered in the Sexual Offenders Register maintained by the state. 

The judge, Rahman Oshodi, described Daniels as a liar who did not have regard for the truth.

The suspect in his defence last year had testified that he believes three out of the four women accusing him of sexually assaulting them conspired to turn against him.

Daniels said that one of those women lied against him because he did not help her sort out some financial issues.

In May 2023, the cleric was remanded in court for allegedly raping a 25-year-old woman at his Lekki residence.

The church member had told the court that the cleric had sex with her during a prayer session while speaking in tongues.

Rape contravenes Section 260 (2) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015. African News

By SALLY MUTEMBEI

Allow me to paint you a picture based in Kenya, in a place I like to call my city, my town, Nairobi. I was born and raised in Nairobi and I grew up for the most part hearing warnings from my mother not to eat any kind of street food. Her arguments were the same standpoints repeated over and over. Take for example; the food is dirty, the cooks don’t care for hygiene, the food is not fresh, that samosa isn’t actual meat you are eating, and whatever tall tale she could come up with to scare me from digesting the oh-so glorious delicacies. Just like any other playful child, I never listened. 

My first ever street food was motura. Motura is a…think of it as a traditional Kenyan sausage. It’s made by stuffing goat intestines with seasoned ground meat. This was probably top of the list on my mother’s ‘do not eat’ list. Solely, for that reason, it was top of my ‘try it out’ list. My first time eating motura I was a teenager and it so happened that that night was the night I followed my sister out for a walk.

We talked about everything and anything under the sun, under the moon at that exact moment. Then came the part where we took a turn and ended up by the main road where that waft of smoke silenced my every thought. There it was, that marvellous sight of barbecued sausage. 

My sister looked at me and noticed that I was staring in a specific direction when she asked a very magical question, “Unataka motura?” (Swahili for, “Do you want to eat motura?”) If my eyes didn’t say yes, my determination to cross the road to get to the food stand whilst pulling her hand was enough of a yes. She taught me the magical rule of how to order motura, especially if it’s a new place you are trying out; “Nipee ya mbao,” (Swahili for ordering a piece of the motura that is worth 20 Kenyan Shillings. ‘Mbao’ in this case means 20) I greedily stuffed the first piece in my mouth and I remember the explosion of the flavours inside my mouth.

My mind was blown by how I had never known of something that tasted so good. We proceeded to order one round after the other and before I knew it, I was already a motura fanatic. The last but most important rule she taught me that night is that after eating motura, we should buy some minty gum to clear our breath to avoid getting caught by our mother. What logic! What a night! 

Fast forward to today when I’m now older and live by myself with no one to set any limitations for me (cue my mother’s endless but consistent speech of how one should never consume certain foods). I happen to have what one would call ‘adult money’ and believe me when I say “I know all the best spots to get some amazing motura”. That experience raised a curious child who wanted to explore food that was said to be off-limits. I also ended up learning to experiment with the food I cook and colouring my kitchen with different flavours.

One very popular street food is the chapati. Chapati is probably the king of accompaniment as it goes well with almost every kind of stew.  I see the satisfaction on the faces of my fellow Kenyans when one just comes from buying chapatis from their favourite ‘kibanda’ (Kibanda is a Swahili word for an informal eatery). There is a sense of pride in knowing that you bought your chapati from a great place, especially if the chapati is a perfect marriage of crisp and soft. 

Chapatis met Kenyans who are known to be very creative. One such case would be the emergence of the sale of ‘rolex’, no, not the watch. ‘Rolex’ is a combination of chapati and fried eggs sandwiched together. Or the “Chapo-smokie”, a combination of smoked sausages sliced in half put together with some salad and sauces rolled inside a chapati. So then I ask the question again, what comes to mind when you hear the words “street food”?

Rishi Sunak has been warned he will be breaking European human rights law if his Government ignores emergency court orders intended to stop asylum seekers being sent to Rwanda.

The Prime Minister has repeatedly vowed not to let “foreign courts” block the plan to send some migrants on a one-way trip to the African nation.

The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill going through Parliament states that it is up to ministers to decide whether or not to comply with interim rulings issued by judges in the European Court of Human Rights. 

But the Strasbourg court’s president, Siofra O’Leary, said “there is a clear legal obligation” under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) for states to comply with the so-called Rule 39 interim measures.

Downing Street insisted the Rwanda legislation complied with international law and suggested it would also mean that Strasbourg had no need to intervene. 

A Rule 39 measure – branded a “pyjama injunction” by critics because it can be issued outside normal court hours – contributed to the 2022 grounding of the first flight intended to take asylum seekers to Rwanda under the Government’s controversial scheme.

The new legislation going through Parliament seeks to address the legal challenges which have dogged the scheme and states that ministers have the power to ignore such rulings.

But Ms O’Leary told a press conference: “There is a clear legal obligation under the Convention for states to comply with Rule 39 measures.“

She said the interim measures are only issued “in exceptional circumstances where there is a real and imminent risk of irreparable harm”.

Countries which have failed to comply with Rule 39 indications have previously been found to have violated obligations under Article 34 of the ECHR, which gives the right for individuals to apply to the court once domestic legal routes have been exhausted. 

Senior judge Ms O’Leary said the UK “has always complied with Rule 39 measures”, except in one very particular case, and has “publicly declared the need for other states to comply with Rule 39 indications” – including urging Vladimir Putin’s Russia to abide by a 2021 measure in relation to the release of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

The Strasbourg court president would not be drawn on the Safety of Rwanda Bill while it goes through the parliamentary process.

But she said: “I know there’s a very healthy debate in the United Kingdom relating to the content of the Bill.

“It’s a country which is blessed with many, many international legal experts and a very active civil society. So I am sure that all of those issues can be fully examined.”

In the Rwanda case in June 2022, the interim measure blocking an Iraqi asylum seeker being sent to the African state was granted just hours before the flight was due to take off.most always sought in “situations of urgency, if not extreme urgency, and the nature of the urgency or the degree of urgency is something which respondent governments control”.

The interim injunction powers are rarely used – in 2023 13 requests were refused, and just one interim measure was granted.

The Rule 39 process is currently being reformed and since December 2023 the duty judge issuing an interim measure will be identified, addressing one of the criticisms of the situation in the Rwanda case.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said:  “We’ve set out our case very clearly.

“I think, firstly, we are confident our legislation is compliant with our international obligations. We’re clear the Bill and the treaty address the Supreme Court’s concerns. There should be no need for Strasbourg to intervene to block flights in the way they did in 2022. 

“We’ve also drafted the Bill to give ministers the power not to comply with those rulings if necessary. And obviously every case is assessed on its individual facts, but the Prime Minister has been clear repeatedly that we will not let a foreign court block flights from taking off.”

The spokesman added: “I think it would be bizarre to draw any comparison between Russia’s cruel treatment of Alexei Navalny, who was a victim of an attempted assassination attempt, and our plan to protect and deter vulnerable migrants from making perilous crossings across the Channel.”

Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations’ refugee agency also criticised the Government’s approach.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi told the BBC that some countries with “more resources” were devising “systems with which they would abdicate responsibilities they have to asylum seekers and shift these responsibilities to other states”.

“This is contrary to the basic principles of refugee protection,” he said. By David Hughes, PA Political Editor, The Irish News