Ruaraka land saga returns, End of KCPE, Cuban doctors fate: Your Breakfast Briefing

Good morning,

A food security expert has urged the government to negotiate with seed companies to reduce the price of maize seeds so farmers can replant.

The long rains have failed and any rains will be inadequate, the weatherman has said.

Agriculture CAS Andrew Tuimur said on April 16 there will be wilting and poor germination for the farmers who did dry planting in hopes of good rains.

Here are the other stories making headlines in the Star this morning.

Ruaraka land ghost return to haunt top officials

The ghosts of the Ruaraka land saga have refused to disappear and have resurfaced to haunt top state officials in an audit that unmasks massive irregularities in the Sh3.3 billion land purchase.

The report by Auditor General Edward Ouko has also unearthed anomalies in other multi-million land compensation payouts that could trigger fresh investigations at the National Land Commission.

New proposal wants CATs to replace KCPE

The Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exam could be phased out in the next five years and replaced with continuous assessment tests if a new proposal is adopted.

The Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development wants KCPE abolished under the new curriculum.

KICD director Julius Jwan was not reachable for comment. Calls to his phone were unanswered.

Police brutality and executions won't end crime, says grieving mum

My son was to leave the country for Qatar today for a driving job, a distraught mother of Kevin Gitau said. The 20-year-old man was killed last week by the police in Mathare.

Phedesia Wamburu yesterday said police should have arrested and jailed her son, even for life, instead of killing him. 

She narrated her harrowing experience after receiving a message about the death of her son on April 14. Gitau was allegedly gunned down in Mlango Kubwa while on his knees.

Fate of abducted Cuban doctors a mystery

The two Cuban doctors who were abducted in Mandera town on April 12 by suspected al Shabaab militants remain missing as clan elders and both governments try to secure their release.

The government has not given an update on efforts to rescue Herera Correa, a general physician and surgeon Landy Rodriguez.

Last week Foreign Affairs CS Monica Juma declined to give any details, lest delicate negotiations and other operations being compromised. 

Samburu morans give beads to bed little girls

Nashami (not her real name) quietly sat outside her manyatta, watching as other children played, not daring to join them lest her co-wife sees her. 

She was wed to an already married middle-aged man when she was just nine years old.

"I was not allowed to play with the other children because I was a wife now and I would receive beatings from my co-wife if i did," she said.