Former Turkana county Attorney Mr Erastus Edung Ethekon when he appeared before the selection panel in Nairobi on March 25th 2025. [Collins Oduor, Standard]

A lawsuit seeking to stop the vetting and approval of President William Ruto’s nominees for the positions of chairperson and commissioners of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) will now be heard tomorrow.

Justice Lawrence Mugambi yesterday adjourned the case after it emerged that one of the nominated commissioners, Fahima Araphat Abdallah, had not been served with a notice to appear in court.

However, the judge ordered the petitioners, Kelvin Roy Omondi and Boniface Mwangi, to serve all seven nominees afresh via advertisement in a nationwide newspaper before Monday.

Justice Mugambi also directed the petitioners, through their lawyer Paul Muite, to appear for the hearing of their application on May 19 at 10:30 am in open court.

The application seeks to suspend any consideration, vetting, or approval of the nominees by the National Assembly.

The two petitioners are also seeking orders blocking gazettement, or swearing-in of Erastus Edung Ethekon (Chairperson nominee), and Anne Njeri Nderitu, Moses Alutalala Mukhwana, Mary Karen Sorobit, Hassan Noor Hassan, Francis Odhiambo Aduol, and Fahima Arafat Abdallah (commissioner nominees)..

“Nomination process was marred by irregularities, lacked transparency, and violated key constitutional provisions,” Muite says. The petitioners contend that some nominees were irregularly added to the shortlist and did not meet eligibility criteria.

They specifically point to Nderitu, claiming she is still a serving State officer, while Sorobit, said to have held a leadership role in a political party within the last five years and Hassan Noor Hassan, who allegedly contested for a political sea. By Nancy Gitonga, The Standard

The whereabouts of assistant superintendent of police (ASP) Charles Twiine, the former spokesperson of the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID), remain a mystery after he was ‘handed over’ to the elite Special Forces Command (SFC), according to multiple sources within the Uganda Police Force.

Twiine, who has been serving as a CID officer attached to parliament since his transfer from CID headquarters three years ago, was reportedly summoned Tuesday night for a meeting with Inspector General of Police (IGP) Abas Byakagaba and his deputy, Maj Gen James Ochaya.

He travelled back to Kampala late in the evening after spending the day accompanying members of parliament on official duties. Sources familiar with the matter revealed that Twine arrived at the police headquarters in Naguru as early as 7:30 am on Wednesday morning and subsequently held a meeting with the IGP and his deputy.

The exact nature and cause of the meeting remain unclear, but shortly after the high-level engagement, Twine was reportedly handed over to SFC officers who had been waiting in a parked vehicle within the police compound. After the meeting, according to sources, SFC soldiers took him away, and his vehicle is still parked at police, and none of his known phone numbers are going through. 

The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) acting spokesperson, Col Chris Magezi, when contacted, directed inquiries to SFC spokesperson Maj Jimmy Omara.

“I haven’t got any information regarding Twine’s arrest by our officers. But let me verify, and I will provide the information when I get it,” said Omara.

The SFC is an elite military unit responsible for the security of President Yoweri Museveni, his family, and critical state installations. However, the unit has come under criticism in recent years for its alleged involvement in abductions, particularly targeting supporters of the opposition National Unity Platform (NUP).

One of the most high-profile recent cases was the abduction of Bobi Wine’s bodyguard, Edward Ssebuwuufu, alias Eddie Mutwe, who was held incommunicado for several days.

Twine rose to prominence during his tenure as CID spokesperson under the leadership of former CID Director Grace Akullo. His abrupt removal followed the appointment of Maj Tom Magambo to head CID, after which Twine was reassigned to parliament. 

At the time of publishing, no official charges had been announced against Twine, and his whereabouts remain unknown. The secrecy surrounding his arrest and detention by a military unit raises fresh concerns about due process and the growing role of SFC in internal law enforcement matters. By URN/ The Observer

The late Abigail Kageha Indire during her earlier life, she died in April 30, 2025 and was buried at Vigina Area in Vihiga.
[Brian Kisanji, Standard]

In 1948, as Kenya labored under the weight of colonial rule, a quiet revolution was unfolding in a school compound in Kikuyu.

Ten girls, young, brilliant, and full of promise, were enrolled at the newly founded African Girls High School, later to be known as Alliance Girls.

It was the first time African girls were admitted to a formal secondary education institution. Among these 10, one name stood out, not just because of the records, but because of the life she would go on to live.

She was Abigail Kageha Indire, admission number 001.

Abigail was enrolled in the same year the school was founded by the Alliance of Protestant Missions in Kenya to serve African girls.

Recently, on April 30, Kenya bade farewell to their trailblazing daughter.

Abigail passed away peacefully at Avenue Hospital in Kisumu at the age of 94, bringing to a close a remarkable chapter in Kenya’s education and social history.

Abigail’s death didn't hinder her history from being shared.

Her funeral, held in her native Vigina area, Kidundu Sub-location in Vihiga County, was more than a ceremony of mourning. It was a celebration of a life that set the standard for generations of women.
Born on April 3, 1931, to Stefano and Selina Musalia in Kigama Village, Abigail’s journey was not marked by privilege but by unwavering determination.

She began her education at Kigama Primary School in 1939 and went on to Kaimosi Girls Boarding School in 1944.

In 1948, her outstanding academic performance earned her a place among the first ten girls at African Girls High School.

When she was handed Admission Number 001, no one could have guessed the magnitude of what that number would come to represent.

During her burial on Friday, the Alliance Girls High School (AGHS) Alumni group paid a glowing tribute to their trailblazer, including stories of how she motivated them to scale heights in academic life. By Brian Kisanji, The Standard

The number 86 is a slang term whose definitions include “to reject” or “to get rid of”, however, it has more recently been used as a term to mean “kill”. Trump is the 47th US President.

May 17 – Former FBI director James Comey has been interviewed by the US Secret Service after he shared then deleted a social media post that Republicans alleged was an incitement to violence against US President Donald Trump.

Comey voluntarily participated in the questioning for about an hour at the law enforcement agency’s Washington DC headquarters and was not held in custody.

It comes a day after he posted on Instagram a photo of seashells that spelled the numbers “8647”.

The number 86 is a slang term whose definitions include “to reject” or “to get rid of”, however, it has more recently been used as a term to mean “kill”. Trump is the 47th US President.

Trump said earlier in the day during an interview with Fox News that Comey, whom he fired as FBI director in 2017, was calling for him to be killed.

“He knew exactly what that meant,” said Trump, who survived two attempts on his life last year. “A child knows what that meant.

“If you’re the FBI director and you don’t know what that meant, that meant assassination. And it says it loud and clear.”

Comey posted the seashell photo on Thursday then deleted it amid conservative uproar.

He wrote in a follow-up message on Instagram that he had seen the shells during a walk on the beach, “which I assumed were a political message”.

“I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took down the post.” BBC / Capital News