Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala has likened this month’s World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary to a wedding ceremony and termed himself as the groom.

With the clock ticking quickly to the championships that are just 10 days away, the Kenyan sprint sensation is buzzing with excitement for his second appearance at the global scene from August 19-27. 

He says all is aligned for his perfect ‘wedding’ in the Hungarian capital with the reception for an ecstatic celebration set for Nairobi after his big show at the World Championships.

“I am really excited heading to the World Championships in Budapest and I am taking this like a wedding. There is a big celebration coming, I don’t see anyone stopping the wedding, there will be a big party,” a confident Omanyala told People Daily Sport.

The 27-year-old has been training in Miramas, France for twenty-five days now and he notes that he is in great shape body-wise ahead of the epic showdown in Budapest. 

Omanyala, now a fans favourite in Kenya and beyond, is poised to secure his place at the pantheon should he get a podium finish at the World Championships to become the first African to achieve the feat. 

He carries the continent’s hopes of stopping the dominance of USA and Jamaica in the men’s 100m race, and going by his recent impressive runs,  history is nearing from the son of the land who has stood tests of time to announce his arrival at international athletics realm.

“God had prepared me for this history a long time ago. I have been very consistent with my times. I have run more races under 10 seconds than anyone else and am feeling good body wise.”

His open message to Kenyans and Africa: “I will deliver their first ever medal at the World Championships.”

Statistics favour the charismatic and ambitious Omanyala despite immense opposition from the Americans. 

His 9.84 seconds run at Kasarani Stadium in Nairobi on May 14 keeps him second in the global men’s 100m ranking chart this year ahead of world champion Fred Kerley of USA.

Last year, he clocked 10.2 seconds at the Commonwealth Games in Bermingham taking home a gold medal that seemed to be imminent.

Kenya, Africa and the world is waiting to see if he will replicate his all season exemplary performance, brush off opponents to achieve his long time dream of becoming a world champion. By Vincent Voiyoh, People Daily

President William Ruto during a past address. | FILE

President William Ruto has responded to a section of Kenyans who have called him controlling and labelled his administrative style as micromanagement.

This is in the wake of last week’s Cabinet Secretaries (CSs), Principal Secretaries (PSs) and parastatal heads’ performance contract signing event at State House, Nairobi, which saw the Head of State lock two members of his Cabinet out for lateness and demand a written explanation.

But while some have hailed him for being punctual and direct, some of those who have worked under him and his critics alike have said his leadership style puts some of those under him on the edge.

In a Sunday interview with Inooro TV, Ruto said the reason he is very particular about how he wants those under him to work is because he is interested in seeing them succeed.

He said he has had a good working relationship with members of his Cabinet in the ten months he has been in office.

“I have had a very good working relationship with my cabinet secretaries so far. We are in harmony and have been meeting to ensure they succeed. Some have labelled me a micromanager or being very hands-on. But the reason I am very particular is that when a PS or CS fails, I have failed too,” the president said.

“The work they are doing is the responsibility Kenyans gave me. I have an interest in making sure every minister or PS succeeds; their success is my success and it is the success of Kenya.”

Among those who have criticised Ruto’s leadership style is former Charangany Member of Parliament Kipruto arap Kirwa, who Wednesday said the Head of State spends alot of time micromanaging a department “such that ministers are in perpetual fear."

Kirwa, a former Vice Chairperson of Ruto’s UDA Party, said in a panel discussion on K24 that a majority of CSs in Ruto's government are politicians who will need to be re-engineered to become performers. 

"When you are under perpetual fear, you're not likely to make the right decision because he appointed a team of politicians," he told the TV station. 

At Tuesday’s performance contract signing event, an angry President Ruto said he cannot condone tardiness from leaders who have been mandated to serve Kenyans.

Citizen Digital has since established that Kithure Kindiki of the Interior Ministry and his Trade counterpart Moses Kuria were not in attendance.

"I don't know whether it is this performance contracts that have been going on for 20 years that many people maybe mistakenly think that it is a ritual and that is why people resort to the old incompetent excuses that there was traffic for them not to be in the most important public function," President Ruto said at the event.

"We have a job because we have a contract, if you cannot keep time with your employer, you have basically dismissed yourself, it is just as simple as that."

The signing of performance contracts is among the measures President Ruto is enforcing in his quest to run a transparent and accountable government.

Other measures include his proposal to amend Standing Orders to ensure that ministers can be summoned to Parliament and be grilled on their performance on the floor of the House. By Dennis Musau, Citizen Digital

Haitians are expressing skepticism over an offer by Kenya to lead an international police force aimed at combating the gang violence that has wracked the Caribbean nation.

They say the sexual abuse and a devastating cholera outbreak that have accompanied foreign forces in past decades don't inspire much trust. But Haitians also say uncontrolled bloodshed in their country leaves them with few other options.

Florence Casimir, an elementary school teacher, said that while past international interventions have damaged Haiti, their abuses don't compare to the current brutality of gangs, which kidnap her students and force parents to pay hefty ransoms.

"It will never be better [than past interventions], but the Haitian people don't have a choice at this point," Casimir said. "The Haitian people can't fight it on their own."

After Prime Minister Ariel Henry urged the world in October to deploy an armed force to fight the gangs, the United Nations has struggled to persuade a nation to lead efforts to restore the order in the Caribbean country, in part due to past controversy over peacekeeping missions. There's been little appetite for a US- or UN-led force, and the United States unsuccessfully tried to persuade Canada to lead a force.

As the search continued, gang warfare worsened, leading to a wave of hundreds of kidnappings and the emergence of vigilante forces taking justice into their own hands. Today, armed groups control an estimated 80 per cent of Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince.

Kenya has offered to send 1,000 police officers to help train and assist an overwhelmed Haitian police force, saying it hopes to "restore normalcy in the country." The United States said it will put forward a resolution to the UN Security Council to authorize the force.

"This is not a traditional peacekeeping force," the US ambassador at the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said at a news conference.

Kenya's proposal has sparked debate among Haitians, many of whom distrust international interventions after the failures and abuses of UN peacekeeping missions over the decades. Haitians saw rounds of foreign interventions throughout the 1900s, often a response by nations like the US to political instability in Haiti.

In some cases, such missions helped ease chaos and in the 1990s led to the creation of the Haitian National Police. But successes are often overshadowed by scars that Haitians carry with them from abuses that came with those missions.

A UN peacekeeping mission from 2004 to 2017 was plagued with allegations of mass sexual abuse, including claims that peacekeepers raped and impregnated girls as young as 11. Investigations by The Associated Press found evidence of high levels of impunity.

In 2010, sewage runoff from a UN peacekeeper camp into the country's biggest river started a cholera epidemic that killed nearly 10,000 people.

"They left a bitter taste in the mouths of the Haitian people," said Valdo Cenè, who sells cooking gas. "Bringing in international forces could mean repeating our history."

The newly proposed international police force would not be a UN force. So, if deployed, Kenyan police would be in charge rather than answer to a UN force commander as they would be required to do in a UN peacekeeping mission.

Haiti's prime minister said that he spoke with Kenyan President William Ruto to thank Kenya for the "demonstration of fraternal solidarity." Henry said Kenya plans to send a task force in the coming weeks to assess the mission's operational requirements.

Haitians aren't the only ones questioning the plan. Watchdog groups are raising alarms about the human rights track record of police in Kenya, saying the force may export their abuse.

Police in the East African nation have been long accused of killings and torture, including gunning down civilians during Kenya's COVID-19 curfew. One local group said officers fatally shot more than 30 people during protests in July, all of them in Kenya's poorest neighbourhoods.

Louis-Henri Mars, head of the Haitian grassroots peacekeeping organization Lakou Lapè, echoed those concerns.

"People are puzzled about this," Mars said. "It may just become just another big mess."

While Mars is among many who say a Kenyan force would be an important step to stabilizing Haiti, he expressed hope its deployment will be a temporary effort that paves the way to a longer process of untangling rampant violence in Haiti, such as the kidnapping of an American nurse and her daughter.

Others, like Jerthro Antoine, say Kenya's police can't come soon enough. The cellphone repairman said he dreams of once again setting foot on one of Haiti's beaches, but violence in his country has gotten so bad that even walking on the street is a risk.

"I feel trapped in my home. Any foreign force in support of Haitian police is more than welcome," Antoine said. "The Haitian people need it, we need a break and to have a life again."  By VOA

A Conservative Campaign Headquarters dossier notes Ms McKenzie was behind one of the legal challenges which forced the grounding of what would have been the first Rwanda deportation flight on June 14 last year.

“Great news – Leigh Day’s immigration and asylum team obtain an injunction in the past few minutes for our client scheduled to be on the Rwanda flight,” she tweeted.

Ms McKenzie has described the Rwanda plan as “horrific” and called for the African country to face sanctions for its part in it.

In 2021, she represented a Jamaica-born man who had served eight years for kidnapping as he battled to avoid deportation citing high blood pressure. The Telegraph understands a doctor diagnosed him as unfit to fly or be detained, and that he has received damages from the Home Office.

The task force, led by Baroness Lawrence and co-chaired by Anneliese Dodds, the Labour chairman, has concluded its work, meaning Ms McKenzie no longer has any formal involvement with Labour.

The CCHQ dossier also notes that a Labour activist called Bella Sankey ran the charity Detention Action, which challenged the High Court’s ruling that the Rwanda plan is lawful, until her election as a councillor in May.

Eleven barristers from Doughty Street Chambers, which Sir Keir Starmer co-founded, led the challenge to Rwanda in the Court of Appeal.

Duncan Lewis Solicitors, also listed in the legal challenge, has described itself as “representing clients in matters close to Labour’s heart”.#

‘Sir Keir is delighted’

Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, said: “Sir Keir is secretly delighted at his web of cronies’ schemes to block our plans to stop the boats.

“While we are doing everything we can to stop the boats, Starmer and his activist friends are doing their best to sabotage our efforts so they can use it for cynical political gain.”

Downing Street will make a series of migration policy announcements this week as it seeks to exploit differences on the issue between the parties.

A Labour spokesman said: “The Government has sent more home secretaries to Rwanda than asylum seekers.

“Ministers have written a £140 million cheque for a removals policy that has totally unravelled, with another £170,000 promised per person despite evidence [it] won’t act as a deterrent and risks making trafficking worse.”

Ms McKenzie said: “As a solicitor, I represent my clients to ensure the law is applied accurately to their cases. I have not been involved in the judicial review challenge to the Rwanda partnership, but two of the most senior judges in the UK have ruled that the plan is unlawful.

“In respect of the Labour Party, I was invited to volunteer on a multi-sectoral group … to examine race disparities in the UK, similar to a group chaired by Tony Sewell for the Conservative Party. I have also sat on another group chaired by Priti Patel MP on the Windrush scandal and was pleased to" By Dominic Penna, Telegraph