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So next time you feel tired at work or school, don’t reach for a caffeinated beverage, drink water. It’s good for your body and won’t damage your teeth like soda and other caffeinated beverages.

Soft drinks can ruin your tooth enamel and drinking plain carbonated water is a healthier alternative.

But if you find it difficult for you to quit drinking softdrinks, worry not because there are recommendations helpful in minimizing the negative effects.

1) Drink through a straw to keep the liquid from staying in your mouth.
2) After drinking soda, swish your mouth with water to dilute the acid and sugar.
3) Choose beverages that contain little sugar, sugar subsitutes but with added calcium.
4) Do not brush your teeth immediately. Wait for about half an hour or keep your normal dental routine.
5) Choose a toothpaste that contains calcium, fluoride and phosphate.
Choose health

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Former Gatanga MP, Peter Kenneth has been thrown into a deep mourning following the death of his mother.

According to reports, Kenneth’s mother, Rahab Wambui Muhuni, passed on while undergoing treatment at Aga Khan hospital in Nairobi on Thursday morning.

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Former TV news anchor, Esther Arunga has been sentenced to 10 months in jail after she admitted to lying to police in Australia about the circumstances that led to her son’s death.

She was however handed a parole, which is a relieve on her.

Parole is the temporary or permanent release of a prisoner before the expiry of a sentence, on the promise of good behaviour.

On Monday, Arunga pleaded guilty to being an accessory to murder after the fact to manslaughter.

She told the court that she lied about her son’s death to protect her husband, Quincy Timberlake.

Timberlake is accused of killing the couple’s three-year-old son, Sinclair.

Australian Associated Press quoted Crown Prosecutor Danny Boyle saying Arunga called emergency services and told them that the boy had fallen down the stairs.

But an autopsy revealed Sinclair died “as a result of a severe blunt force such as punching or stamping or similar” and his injuries were inconsistent with a fall. It wasn’t until Timberlake was involuntarily admitted to a mental health facility that Arunga changed her statement.

She told police that she went to the bathroom on the night of June 17, 2014 to find Quincy hitting Sinclair in the stomach before throwing the boy against the wall.

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Barely two months ago, Kenyans were in a big scare following government’s threats on the registration of Citizens into the National Intergated Information Management system (NIIMS) using a unique number dubbed huduma namba.

Kenyans woke as early as 3:00 am to beat the governments deadlines in May this year as others chose to boycott the registration process. But do you think government’s threats were just mere?

Well, then you were wrong. Kenyans were notified of missing crucial government services should they not have huduma namba, which is now coming into reality soon.

The Government has proposed a bill that will lock out individuals without Huduma Namba from crucial services that are offered by the government.

The draft Huduma Bill 2019  seeks to make Huduma Namba compulsory.

The Government has proposed a bill that will lock out individuals without Huduma Namba from healthcare services and participating in the country’s election among other essential services.

What is your opinion on this bill?#HudumaNamba pic.twitter.com/MEBYDTeA8M

— ktn (@KTNKenya) July 18, 2019

The number is mandatory in paying taxes and accessing all government services including universal healthcare, renewal of driving licences, application for electricity connectivity, registration of a mobile number, opening of a bank account among others.

Enrolling your children into a public educational facility will be impossible without listing yourself under the National Integrated Identity Management System.

You will also not sell or buy land, or even acquire a passport without the vital document.

For business people to transact in the financial markets they will be required to provide their Huduma card.

When the roll out was being done, Kenyans were all over the social media protesting, with some saying that they were ready for consequences that were to come with boycotting the process.

Well, are you aware that there is a punishment? Any individual who wants to transact the listed services without the Huduma Namba will be jailed for one year or pay a fine of Ksh1 million, while unlawful production of the document will see one spend three years behind bars or Ksh3 million fine.

Individuals who give false information or make a false statement when providing information for entry into the NIIMS database will also face a Ksh5 million penalty or five years in jail.

Kenyans are now again all over social media protesting against the bill.

Some are questioning if there are any data protection laws in the country.

Some are even arguing that huduma namba is all about Raising Tax revenues and social control in a scheme to cater for the ever rising national debt.

What is your opinion on the proposed Huduma Bill 2019?

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Garissa Township Member of Parliament Aden Duale is among the MPs who are pushing for more allowances in the Parliament prompting Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko to launch an attack against him over the weekend.

The MPs have been demanding more money in allowances at the expense of a common mwananchi. But did you know that the National Assembly majority leader is among the members who earn handsomely every month?

Well, Gatundu South Member of Parliament Moses Kuria has revealed that MPs from North Eastern parts pf the country earn four times the amount of money other MPs earn in a month.

Speaking in an exclusive interview on KTN News’ PointBlank show on Wednesday night, Kuria who has hence expressed his 2022 presidential ambitions said that Members from Garissa, Turkana, Mandera, Wajir, Moyale, Isiolo and other North Eastern regions take home four times the amount he takes home as a Gatundu South MP.

Kuria says this is because of some animal called mileage.

“A member from North Eastern takes home 4 times the money he takes home because of some animal called mileage,” the vocal MP told Tony Gachoka, the host of KTNPointBlank show.

Last year, a number of legislators expressed concern about hefty payments and siphoning of taxpayers’ money through mileage claims.

At least 18 MPs from the 11th Parliament raised complaints with Speaker of the National Assembly Justin Muturi and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) against their colleagues and the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) for excessive allowances and skewed claims.

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Pangani estate residents were on Sunday forced to spend their night in the cold when the most feared bulldozers from Nairobi County government landed on their houses in an effort to evict them to pave way for development of new houses.

The move sparked a lot of reactions with a section of Kenyans questioning why Governor Mike Sonko’s government had to evict the victims in the midnight with their property being crashed in the houses.

In a quick response to the critics, Governor Sonko has vowed not to compensate the victims, arguing that those who have not been paid are only those who refused the payment.

The seemingly angry governor told the evictees off, daring them to go to Court.

Sonko further notes that his government shall not allow development plans to be politicised.

“Take your NONSENSE to hell. Those not paid are the ones who refused to take the money, and we are not going to pay them. Let them go to court. We shall not allow development plans to be politicised,” tweeted Sonko.

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2017 goes down in Kenya’s history as the year that not only had presidential election results cancelled, but also marred with irregularities.

NASA leader Raila Odinga complained of the elections, with him even boycotting the October 26, 2017 repeat polls in protest of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission that had conducted the disputed polls.

Cambridge Analytica was accused of aiding President Uhuru Kenyatta’s re-election.

Channel 4 news has exposed a British Member of the European Parliament Alexandra Phillips who secretly worked for Uhuru’s Jubilee Party in 2017 polls.

Phillips admitted to the media house that she secretly worked for Jubilee.

“I wasn’t working for Jubilee I was employed by Cambridge Analytica who had the contract with Jubilee. I was brought on as a political communications consultant for the Kenya project,” Channel 4 News quotes her as saying.

Phillips was elected as a Member of the European Parliament for the South East England constituency at the European Parliament elections of May 2019. 

Phillips told Channel 4 News that her work was “so sentitive” that whenever someone asked what she was doing she would respond that she was “a air hostess”.

She is quoted saying that she helped in writing President Uhuru Kenyatta’s speeches and shaping the messaging by State House team.

“I’d be writing the president’s speeches and his talking points for rallies and State House statements. I trained their communications team; they’re all sort of journalists who came together to create a press office. So I had to train them up and daily management of that communications team,” she is quoted as having said.

State House and the Jubilee Party have previously denied that Cambridge Analytica was ever contracted to work in Kenya during the elections.

In response to a similar revelation last year, former Jubilee Party Vice-Chairman David Murathe said that had paid for “branding” in the 2017 presidential election from SCL, affiliate of consultancy Cambridge Analytica.

“They were basically branding and all that but not directly,” Murathe said at the time.

According to Channel 4, Phillips sent them a statement stating that; “In Kenya, I worked as a freelance contractor — focusing on speechwriting – with the team of President Kenyatta, who is a great ally of the UK. The campaigns I worked on promoted peace and national unity in a country that I love dearly.”

She also added that this work was sub-contracted out to her by SCL, which went on to become a different company.

“Out of respect for those whom I served, I will continue to respect the confidentiality agreements that I signed upon accepting the role in Kenya. And I will not be bullied by agenda-driven, guilt-by-association reporting,” Phillips said.

Watch video here Courtesy of Channel 4 news.

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With President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila odinga’s Building Bridges initiative prepare to hand in a final report on the looming referendum, the debate seem to have taken a new twist.

With different leaders in the country giving their own opinions on referendum, Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria who is currently running a Team Wanjiku initiative alongside Governor Mike Sonko opines that the next referendum will be held on the 9th August 2022.

According to the controversial MP, this will be alongside the 2022 General Elections as the 7th ballot.

Kuria says people cannot be interrupting Kenyans’ lives in the mid-terms to hold referenda.

Through his facebook page post, Kuria believes people want to change the constitution anytime to suit your whims.

The lawmaker suggests that those interested in changing the constitution should wait for every 5 years to do so.

“I agree we need to remove the 1,000 nominated MCAs, Scrap the women rep positions and remove the Senate? Great. Let’s do it in 2022,” reads part of his post.

He further suggests that in the interim the Country will use parliament for the urgent reforms ahead of 2022.

Among his urgent issues on the referendum is scrapping the senate.

“By the way the most urgent is scrapping the Senate. The main business of the Senate is to add various billions to the governors in the pretence of protecting devolution then turn back and demand the same from governors to protect them from Senate oversight. You will burn in hell,” reads his post.

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Powerful Cabinet Secretary Dr Fred Matiang’i has been officially delegated the role of chairing weekly Cabinet meetings by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Most government business is now transacted through Cabinet subcommittees which meet regularly and report to Matiang’i.

In January this year, Uhuru appointed Matiang’i as chairman of the National Development Implementation and Communication Cabinet Committee.

Part of the committee mandate is to provide supervisory leadership throughout the delivery cycle of all national government programmes and projects.

However, Article 153 of the Constitution makes Cabinet Secretaries accountable to the president.

“Cabinet secretaries are accountable individually, and collectively, to the president for the exercise of their power and the performance of their functions,” Article 153 (2) states.

There has been speculation that the Cabinet could be split because of the differences between the head of state and his Deputy Dr William Ruto.

Ruto’s allies have also gone on the offensive, demanding a purge on CSs believed to be anti-Ruto.

However, the President has remained silent as there are fears that the infighting could hamper or stall service delivery.

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Deputy President Dr William Ruto on Sunday took a swipe at Jubilee Party Secretary General Raphael Tuju questioning his new role in ODM leader Raila Odinga’s team, two days after the CS without portfolio attended a meeting with ODM leaders in Rarieda constituency.

Ruto’s post on twitter sparked a debate with his close allies calling for the resignation of Tuju following his suspected links with Raila.

“So our democracy is so liberal that the SG of a ruling party has become the chief strategist of the opposition!! Maajabu (wonders),” Ruto’s post read.

President Uhuru Kenyatta has however defended Tuju over the claims.

State House spokesperson Kanze Dena told the Nation Tuesday that Mr Tuju’s Rarieda meeting was official and it was sanctioned by the President.

“The meeting in Rarieda was a government function and Mr Tuju was there in his capacity as the presidential representative,” said Ms Dena.

Kanze Dena further revealed that Tuju had an official speech of the President that he was to read.

“The Cabinet Secretary had an official speech of the President and, therefore, it was not a private function but a development event by the government.”

Mr Tuju also confirmed that he read the Head of State’s speech as a government official.

“It was indeed an official trip. On our arrival, we were received by the local administration and Permanent Secretary in the State department of Youth,” he said.

On Thursday last week, Mr Tuju, Siaya Senator James Orengo, MPs Otiende Amollo (Rarieda), Elisha Odhiambo (Gem) and Jubilee secretariat official Steve Mwanga flew to Rarieda in one chopper to tour various development projects, sparking controversy in Jubilee.

Jubilee Secretary General Raphael Tuju (left), Senator James Orengo and MP Otiende Amollo at a past function. [Source/James Orengo/Twitter]
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Agriculture CS Mwangi Kiunjuri is set to appear before Parliament today (Wednesday) to explain why he is pushing for maize importation when all indications suggest the country has enough stock.

The MPs claim Kiunjuri’s importation plans are suspect and are meant to enrich maize cartels at the expense of millions of farmers across the country.

Millers are on the verge of running out of maize as the dispute between the ministry, the Strategic Food Reserve, millers and the National Cereals and Produce Board persists.

About 50 of the country’s 200 millers have closed because of the maize shortage, according to the United Grain Millers Association.

The shortage has increased prices for a bag of maize and also added to flour and feed costs.

Kenya is currently facing a shortfall in domestic maize supply forcing it to import the commodity which is the dominant staple food for the majority of Kenyans.

The country consumes between 1.5 and 1.7 million bags of maize in a month.

The legislators say that there is no justification for the imports and that the argument of an impending shortage is a lie.

Through the agriculture committee, the MPs told Mwangi Kiunjuri to drop the push because the hard times are over.

The committee cited statistics from the Strategic Grain Reserve which shows the country can do without the maize importation.

Committee chairman Adan Haji (Mandera South) said the opening stock at the NCPB in May before the government began to sell to millers was 4.2 million bags of maize.

Of this,  1.7 million bags were sanctioned to be sold to millers in order to reduce the price of maize flour on the shelves.

“That leaves 2.5 million bags which are in stock, there is a cabinet memo that is awaiting approval of a further 1.7 million to be released to millers this month, which means in July the millers are covered, there is no reason to see prices hiked,” Haji said.

He added, “We are left with August, and if you look at the ministry’s own statistics, we are talking of 1.5 to 1.7 million bags per month required by all millers in the country, we just need another 1.7 million bags to cover us in August. We are now waiting for harvests.”

MPs Emmanuel Wangwe (Navakholo), Florence Mutua (Busia MP), Justus Murunga (Matungu), Silvanus Osoro (South Mugirango) and Daniel Tuitoek (Magotio) who sit in the committee read mischief in the planned importation.

“Someone somewhere is raising alarm for no reason. This is a clever way to invite cartels and businesspeople to import maize,” Wangwe who is also the vice-chair of the committee said.

Mutua questioned the necessity of the importing expensive maize when local farmers were offered a lower price.

“Why does he want to import maize at Sh5,000 and they cannot buy local maize at Sh3,200? We know it is cartels who want to do the importation,” Mutua said.

The MPs are expected to tell Kiujuri off of the importation plans.

“In South, Rift maize is starting to get ready, we want to ask the CS to stop the process of importation of maize,” Tuitoek said.

The MPs’ views are in line with the position taken by Strategic Food Reserve Trust Fund – a state agency domiciled in Kiunjuri’s docket – which has differed with the CS over the matter. 

The Fund’s chairperson Noah Wekesa has maintained that the maize in the reserves, together with those from expected harvests will be enough for the country.

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Nairobi Governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko has threatened to call upon a mass demonstration to storm the National Assembly if Majority leader Aden Duale does not withdraw a petition by Members of Parliament seeking their salary increment.

The Nairobi County chief has given Duale a 14-day ultimatum to comply with his directive.

This comes barely a day after Sonko launched a scathing attack against Duale over MPs’ greed. The attack came when Sonko and Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria took their Wanjiku crusade to Mombasa.

Sonko through his facebook page on Monday sought for historic support from members of the public, civil society, comrades and religious leaders in storming the National Assembly if Aden Duale does not withdraw the proposed salary and allowances increment

“I do hereby seek for historic support from members of the public, civil society, comrades and religious leaders in storming the National Assembly if Aden Duale does not withdraw the proposed salary and allowances increment at the expense of taxpayers within the next 14 days,” Sonko angrily threatened.

He however asserted that the demonstration will be legal and within the confinements of the constitution.

“We shall comply with all the due constitutional and legal requirements to ensure the success of this demonstration and protect the rights of the people of Kenya,” Sonko assured.

Sonko believes that sovereign power belongs to the people, and only donated to elected leaders as enshrined in Article 1 of the Constitution of Kenya.

MPs are pushing for a salary increment and some, like Suba MP, Millie Odhiambo blamed her constituents for making her go broke, alleging that her salary was stretched to the limit because of contributions and handouts.

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Over a long period of time, unemployment has been a menace among Kenyan youths. Just recently, we witnessed thousands of graduands flock Nairobi’s Eka Hotel for five advertised jobs.

But have you checked out for advertised jobs at the Nairobi County government?

Governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko has called on qualified Nairobians to apply for 2,687 jobs advertised in his county.

Sonko says Nairobi County had officially gazetted its service board, which had already started working.

He added that the former board had been paralyzed due to lack of quorum, following the resignation of one member and the expiry of term of service of three others.

A part of the gazette notice

The governor called upon qualified Nairobians to apply for the advertised jobs.

“In support of the Big 4 Agenda especially on job creation, Nairobi City County Government is set to recruit fresh staff to revamp service delivery.

“I therefore call upon all qualified Nairobians to be set to join us through a competitive recruitment process,” part of his post read.

Some of the jobs advertised by the governor include; 800 city inspectorate officers, 200 traffic marshalls, 200 fire marshalls, 30 fire drivers, 520 ECD teachers and 275 nurses.

Others advertised are; 165 clinical officers, 64 medical officers, 53 hospital clerical officers, 35 pharmacists, 25 laboratory technicians, 25 social workers, 25 nutritionists, 10 planners, 10 surveyors, 15 road engineers, 10 architects and 225 subordinate staff.

“When these new staff are recruited, it will assist in decongesting traffic in the CBD, enhance fire fighting preparedness, improve medical health services as well as early childhood education improvement,” he highlighted.

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Former TV anchor Esther Arunga has admitted to having lied to Court on the circumstances surrounding her son’s death five years ago , which has seen her set for a sentence on Thursday.

Her mother-in-law has hence broken silence following her scathing testimony.

In a sit-down with Daily Nation on Monday, Rosemeg Wambita teary discounted Arunga’s testimony claiming that it was all a lie.

She further refuted claims that her son was a murdered arguing that if that was the case, the former TV siren would not have agreed to settle down with him for as long as she did.

“That is a lie. I don’t understand what she means since she is the one who said that their son did not die at the hands of her husband.

“Where was she all this time? This is peculiar to me. It is a lie. I don’t understand it,” stated Ms Wambita.

The mother further revealed that she believes her son, since meeting him in 2009, is a God-fearing person and does not believe Arunga’s testimony was entirely truthful.

“When it comes to death, people can change. In this case, I say no. If my son is a murderer, why did she accept to live with a killer?” She posed.

Ms Wambita is, therefore, looking for well-wishers to help her travel to Australia and see her son.

“I’ve not found an opportunity to talk to him since. In vain have I tried to reach out to well-wishers and my MP to help me travel to Australia for I want to know the truth,” she continued.

Ms Wambita lives in a one-bedroom rented house in Mbeme, Kisumu County.

Arunga had initially told investigating authorities that her son, Sinclair Timberlake, had died after rolling down a flight of stairs in their home in Kallangur, north of Brisbane, in June 2014.

According to reports by Australian media houses, Prosecutor Danny Boyle, established that the boy died as a result of blunt force trauma to his abdomen.

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Kiambu County Governor Ferdinand Waititu is not yet done with his woes. Whilst anti-graft agency investigates him for graft allegations, County’s bizarre budget seems to be haunting him still.

In what seems to be a new scheme by Kiambu Members of County Assembly, Waititu might be impeached before mid next year. 

His close allies are now staring at an oust after 60 MCAs signed a petition of a vote of no confidence against the assembly speaker Stephen Ndichu and his deputy Philip Mubea (Cianda MCA), believed to be Waititu’s close confidants.

“It is not a witch hunt since everyone can see how people in Kiambu are suffering because of corruption, incompetence, nepotism and outright stealing,” Ruiru Biashara MCA Elijah Njoroge was quoted by a local daily.

According to one of the local dailies, the move to impeach Waititu is being supported by his critics in the assembly, former rivals in the last polls and opinion leaders in Kiambu.

Among the issues raised by EACC and DCI include poor services, land grabbing, corruption and outright theft of public resources. It is believed that investigative entities are planning major arrests after a series of interrogations.

In the well-crafted scheme, polls were conducted at the county assembly on Monday to replace committee officials allied to speaker Ndichu. 

Those ejected include majority leader Anthony Ikonya (Kiambu Township) and his deputy Alex Kabuu (Kiganjo). 

Others are chief whip James Mburu (Mwiki) and his deputy Margaret Gatonye. The MCAs also said the committees were being used by the executive to kill the independence of the county assembly. 

“We are not looking into fighting the governor but he must be accountable and allow oversight to be done,” newly elected majority leader Gideon Gachara said.

He added that the newly elected officials want to audit and scrutinise county projects as well as hold relevant officials responsible.

Critics were warned that they were arrogant, suppressed oversight duties and ran the assembly without consulting other MCAs.

“The chief whip must stand firm with the independence of the house and let MCAs do their oversight role. We will clean up the assembly and executive to get the right leaders to lead our people,” Njoroge said.

“Things are not good here. We can see people resigning and others sacked, money being allocated for peacekeeping mission in South Sudan and payments for retired presidents among others yet we had leaders in charge.”

This comes two weeks after the MCAs failed to attend a bonding meeting organised by the county’s top hierarchy at a Ruiru hotel.

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The March 9, 2018 handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and his opposition counterpart Raila Odinga has remained to be a history after putting calm on the political tension that was boiling in the Country. But how did it come to be?

Well, as Deputy President Dr William Ruto continues throwing jibe at Jubilee Party Secretary General Raphael Tuju over his links with Raila, Tuju has revealed other unknown details of how the handshake came to be.

In an exclusive interview with one of the local dailies, Tuju narrated how Odinga used threats of secession to force the president into the handshake.

Tuju claimed that Odinga threatened to unify all the areas that supported him in the 2017 General Election and push for autonomy.

“Before the handshake, there were some people who had ignited the secession debate so you ask yourself who would want to lead a nation which part of the population wants to secede,” Tuju continued.

The CS without portfolio went on to explain that the president had no option but to give in to Odinga’s demands so as to keep the nation united.

“The fate of Kenya depended on resolving issues of enjoining all in the government for everyone to feel part and parcel of this country,” he explained.

He further stated that those fighting the handshake were ill-advised as no one would want to lead a divided nation.

Tuju also explained how difficult it was for both parties to have a seat down and resolve the issues due to their insider’s tough stands.

The decision to have the handshake, according to Tuju, was a move to put the nation’s interests before their individual ones.

On Sunday, Ruto threw jibe at Tuju accusing him of being an opposition strategist despite being Secretary General to a ruling party.

But in his response, Tuju stated that he did not wish to engage the DP in a public spat.

“I refuse to be drawn into a public argument with the deputy president, or engage him through the media, because he is my boss.

“I am committed to supporting President Uhuru Kenyatta’s efforts to unite the country, through bold steps like the BBI, the handshake, the fight against corruption and the Big Four agenda,” cited the CS without portfolio.

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