US team to assess JKIA to pave way for direct flights(27.02.2017)

By MATHIAS RINGA
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By FAITH NYAMAI 
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Newly acquired Kenya Airways Boeing 777-300ER arrives at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on October 25, 2013. Direct flights from Kenya to The US could begin in May 2016. PHOTO | DIANA NGILA | NATION MEDIA GROUP 

 Summary

• Kenya Airways is required to apply for an Air Operator Certificate from the US government for it to be granted approval to operate direct flights to the US.
• KQ is also required to enter into a codeshare agreement with a US airline.
• Mr Nyakera said flights would boost tourism, trade and investments.
• International tourist arrivals to Kenya by air and sea increased by 16.7 per cent to 877,602, from January to December last year.

A US transport safety team is expected in the country in May to assess the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi to pave the way for direct flights between Kenya and America.

It comes after Kenya was granted Category One status by the US government following assessment audit by the Federation Administration Aviation (FAA) and other US agencies.

According to Transport Principal Secretary Irungu Nyakera, a Transport Safety Agency team from the US is expected to assess security and safety measures at JKIA in May.

“After Kenya was granted Category One status, JKIA’s security measures must be assessed for it to be approved to handle direct flights.

“But we have confidence that after the assessment, our airport will be given the go ahead,” he added.

On the other hand, Mr Nyakera said Kenya Airways is required to apply for an Air Operator Certificate from the US government for it to be granted approval to operate direct flights to the US.

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He added that KQ is also required to enter into a codeshare agreement with a US airline.

“If US’ Delta Airlines applies for the Air Operator Certificate, we will grant them so that they can start direct flights to JKIA,” he said.

Asked when Kenyans should expect the flights between Kenya and the US to start, Mr Nyakera said: “There are certain processes, including technical compliance and commercial arrangements that need to be met.

In an exclusive interview with the Nation, Mr Nyakera said flights would boost tourism, trade and investments.

Last year, the US emerged as Kenya’s top source market after overtaking the United Kingdom which for years has been the country’s leading market.

Arrivals from the US rose to 97,883 last year up from 84,759 in 2015 while the UK market had 96,404 arrivals down from 98,523 in 2015.

TOURIST ARRIVALS

International tourist arrivals to Kenya by air and sea increased by 16.7 per cent to 877,602, from January to December last year.

Apart from tourism, Mr Nyakera added said the direct flights would also boost trade between Kenya and the US, contributing to economic growth.

He said it would be much easier for the country to export tea, coffee, horticulture products and AGOA products among others to the US market.

Separately, State House Spokesperson Manoah Esipisu on Sunday said the Category One status covers all airports in the country.

And the Kenya Vision 2030 director-general Julius Muia termed the announcement a major success to Kenya.

Dr Muia said the Category One air safety rating confirms the country complies with international standards.

“This achievement is an important milestone for Kenya-US bilateral relations. Both countries have maintained numerous and diverse areas of partnerships and cooperation in security, exports and imports as well as tourism. We expect more direct investments from the US government, private companies and most importantly, Kenyans in diaspora,” he said.

In order to attain and maintain the Category One status, a country must demonstrate compliance with safety standards contained in the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s practices for aircraft operations and maintenance.

Billionaire with proverbial nine lives passes on

By GUCHU NDUNG'U
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Nyeri Governor Nderitu Gachagua at state house Nairobi during Jubilee Party merger on August 7, 2016. Mr Nderitu died in a London hospital on February 24, 2017. FILE PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP 

Summary

• Mr Gachagua burst into the political scene in 2002 after vying in Mathira constituency on a Narc ticket.
• Last year, Mr Gachagua’s fortunes increased after the government took over his land for construction of the western bypass.
• He was to pocket nearly Sh1 billion as compensation for the 1.2-acre piece of land.

Nderitu Gachagua, the abrasive contractor and billionaire who became Nyeri’s first governor - and whose term in office was marked by an abortive impeachment, fistfights between his supporters and opponents and ill-health - succumbed to pancreatic cancer at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London, yesterday. He was 64.

As the first county chief to die in office, Mr Gachagua’s legacy as governor was perhaps untested as he spent the last four years in and out of hospitals.

His younger brother, Rigathi Gachagua, a former Kiambaa District Officer-turned politician, told the press that the governor died at 2.15am with close family members at his bedside. “He has left us after a long struggle with pancreatic cancer. It is very sad for the family but we have accepted God’s will,” he said.

Mr Rigathi, who is vying for the Mathira seat, said that arrangements are under way to bring the body back home for burial.

The death of Gachagua has thrown the race for the governor’s seat in Nyeri wide open. Some of those interested in the seat include Nyeri Senator Mutahi Kagwe.

A man who made his money by associating with Moi-era Kanu barons, Mr Gachagua was involved in the construction of several political projects as a principal quantity surveyor.

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INCREASED FORTUNES

In 1996, Parliament was told how Mr Gachagua’s Jaga Consultants bought some 62 houses, two bungalows and 27 staff quarters at the Nyayo Highrise by conniving with National Housing Corporation bosses. By then Mr Gachagua, a former NHC employee, was acting as its consultant.

Last year, Mr Gachagua’s fortunes increased after the government took over land where his company Vipingo Beach Resort had built 62 apartments in Nairobi South C for construction of the western bypass.

Gachagua, who owns more than 80 per cent of the company, was to pocket nearly Sh1 billion as compensation for the 1.2-acre piece of land.

But even with his wealth, Gachagua was not flamboyant and hardly flaunted his wealth.

Mr Gachagua started ailing in 2014 but his condition worsened from 2015 and since then he has been in and out of the country for treatment.

Leaders mourned the county chief as great influencer of Nyeri politics.

A POLITICAL CAT

Those who know him say the billionaire was a political cat with nine lives – and has left a trail of controversies with his leadership style. 

When happy, he loved dancing to Carol Wanjiru’s Kikuyu song Munduiriri (God is my fighter) and in his heyday, he would take to the dancehall or join traditional dancers for a jig after events.

To some, he was the Nyeri’s political Mugumo (fig) tree, knowing how to reinvent himself after every five years.

To others, the 64-year-old was a cantankerous leader who got what he wanted, how he wanted and when he wanted it. Those who loved him did so with passion and those who opposed him did it with the same gusto.

But there was never a dull moment in his life. The father of four (two boys, two girls) had two degrees from the University of Nairobi and was born into a family of Nyeri aristocrats.

Born in Hiriga village, Mathira West in Nyeri County to Nahashon Gachagua and Martha Kirigu, both prominent Kanu politicians who were a pain in the flesh of former President Mwai Kibaki. Back then, Mr Kibaki had defected from Kanu to the Democratic Party and was trying to consolidate his home county but the Gachaguas stood on his way.

Up to now, villagers call the Gachaguas, including his brother Rigathi, “Mbari ya Martha.”

NAIROBI UNIVERSITY GRADUATE

The younger brother, Mr Rigathi, had entrenched himself with Kanu barons since his university years as a student leader, where he organised various trips to State House.

The late governor attended Nyahururu and Nyeri High Schools for his O and A levels, respectively, before proceeding to the University of Nairobi for a degree in Building Economics. 

He joined the Ministry of Public Works as a quantity surveyor and was a chief quantity surveyor in National Housing Corporation before he quit public service in 1987.

In 2002, he enrolled for a Bachelor of Law at the University of Nairobi.

Mr Gachagua burst into the political scene in 2002 after vying in Mathira constituency on a Narc ticket, trouncing political heavyweight and establishment candidate Matu Wamae.

Since then, he never left the political scene in Nyeri. Mr Gachagua took on his political detractors head on.

Among them was former Mathira MP Ephraim Maina, who kicked him out of the Mathira seat in the 2007 elections. Since then, the two became political rivals with each trying to outdo each other at every stage. He accused Mr Maina of engineering his impeachment, a charge which the tycoon denied.

FORMIDABLE FORCE

He made another political history in 2013 by being the only governor in the central region who was not elected on a TNA ticket. He floored TNA candidate Wahome Gakuru garnering 140,000 compared to Mr Gakuru’s 130,000. It is his command of the populous Mathira constituency that made Mr Gachagua a formidable force in Nyeri.

His detractors said he run the county with an iron fist and did not tolerate dissent. To others, he was a firm leader who could not be controlled by MCAs or MPs. Three Nyeri executives were convicted of corruption in his reign. His signature policy was an attempt to break coffee cartels by directly marketing its coffee abroad, an initiative which has recorded different results

Governor Gachagua also showed his political mettle by surviving two ouster bids by MCAs before they managed to impeach him in the third try.

“I am not a mayor to be dictated to by you, a bunch of self-seekers. I am the governor elected by the people of Nyeri,” Mr Gachagua told MCAs to their face.

He was let off by the Senate who found that the charges levelled against him could not hold.

His supporters also whipped MCAs and the ward reps blamed him for the act.

WITTY QUOTES

When he wanted to make a strong point, the late Gachagua would swirl his index finger and drop a bomb. For instance, when MCAs allocated Sh75m to build a fitness centre with a steam, spa and swimming pool, his opposition to the move was a classic rejoinder.

“In every ward in Nyeri, there is a river. They can go and swim there. They can also get a massage from their wives,” he said.

By the time of demise, MPs, MCAs and other elected leaders could not see eye to eye with Mr Gachagua. But he was not bothered.

“All I can tell MCAs and MPs is that they should prepare for the real impeachment by Nyeri residents on August 8,” Mr Gachagua told the Nation when asked about the bad blood. The Gachagua family is now grooming Rigathi Gachagua, who is vying for the constituency seat on a Jubilee ticket, to be its political heir.

Furore over Kisumu matatu overloading as 14 killed in new crash

Most of the dead were secondary school students travelling for the commencement of the new school term that began yesterday. Reports from the scene indicated that 11 passengers died on the spot, with three others losing their lives as they were being ferried to hospitals in the region.

Survivors are pulled out of the wreckage of the heavily damaged matatu. The picture has been blurred to conceal the identity of the passengers. (Photo: Free Press Correspondent).

Fourteen people were killed this morning when a 14-seater matatu crashed on the Kisumu-Kendu Bay road. The accident near Pap Onditi shopping centre has been attributed to over-speeding by the matatu which carried in excess of 18 passengers, contrary to the law that requires public service vehicles of that class to carry a maximum of 14 passengers at any time.

Among the dead were secondary school students travelling for the commencement of the new school term that began nationally yesterday. Reports from the scene indicated that 11 passengers died on the spot, with three others losing their lives as they were being ferried to hospitals in the region. Four passengers survived with varying degrees of injuries.

The accident sparked an uproar on social media over over-crowding in public service vehicles in the Nyanza region. More than in any other part of the country, matatu operators in the region carry excess passengers almost as a matter of right, and they have perfected the creation of illegal seating spaces on the isle between regular seats though a piece of wood commonly known as 'sambasa'.

The use of sambasa is a major contributor to the high casualty numbers from road accidents in the region, and the practice is condoned by traffic police officers who extort the matatu operators. During last year's vetting of police officers in line with the new constitution, it emerged that Kisumu and the wider Nyanza region is a lucrative post for corrupt officers, some of whom were found to have millions of shillings in their bank accounts despite earning a monthly salary of less than Sh20,000.

Given the entrenched culture of corruption, matatus carrying excess passengers go through the numerous police checkpoints in the region without any fear they would be reprimanded. The people too have come to tolerate overloading in public service vehicles, in part due to limited investment in transport sector by locals that can't meet the demand of the high population.

Homa Bay Governor robbed of Sh400,000 in Nairobi

By STELLA CHERONO
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Homa Bay Governor Cyprian Awiti, who was robbed of Sh400,000 by gangsters posing as detectives at his home in Karen, Nairobi, on January 31, 2017. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP 

Suspected gangsters posing as detectives raided the Nairobi home of Homa Bay Governor Cyprian Awiti and robbed him of cash, phones and jewellery.

The four armed men entered the governor’s house in Karen at 8.30pm and stole Sh400,000.

Karen police boss Cunningham Suiyanka on Wednesday said the robbery is being investigated.

He said police suspect the robbery was an inside job.

Four employees, including a gardener, a watchman and two others have recorded statements with police.

He said the governor’s house is not guarded by Administration Police officers as required by the law.