Good morning,
Twelve counties that participated in consultative forums for the 2019-20 budget have something to smile about after MPs conducting the talks recommended that they each get Sh100 million for identified projects.
The Budget and Appropriations committee has recommended that the Sh1.2 billion be shared equally by Bomet, Nyeri, Laikipia, Trans Nzoia, Uasin Gishu, Kisumu, Kakamega, Wajir, Isiolo, Embu, Taita Taveta, and Lamu counties.
Here are the other stories making headlines in the Star this morning.
I'm the boss when Uhuru is away - Ruto
Deputy President William Ruto has warned his critics to respect the presidency and focus on building the nation.
The DP said he was elected by Kenyans to serve wananchi. His relationship with President Kenyatta is solid, he said.
"We are in this office to serve Kenyans."
Kalonzo and Gideon hint at Wiper-Kanu merger
Former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka and Baringo Senator Gideon Moi yesterday gave the strongest hint yet of merging their parties ahead of the 2022 presidential election.
Talks of the impending Kanu-Wiper coalition dominated a fundraiser at St. James Muthale Catholic Church, Kitui West constituency.
Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua broke the ice by calling for the two political parties to work together.
MPs demand EACC probes state officers with dual citizenship
MPs want the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate state officers suspected of being dual citizens.
They claim a number of state officers, some approved by Parliament, are citizens of other countries contrary to the law.
The matter arose during a debate on whether Mwende Mwinzi should be posted as Kenya’s ambassador to Seoul, Korea, yet she holds a US citizenship.
School principals decry delayed cash as 7,500 meet for annual talks
At least 7,500 secondary school teachers will gather at the Kenya School of Revenue Administration in Mombasa to among other things interrogate the Competency-Based Curriculum, and the looming crisis in public secondary schools due to underfunding by the government.
Kenya Secondary School Heads Association chair Indimuli Kahi said the government’s 100 per cent transition programme has resulted in a sharp increase in the number of students joining secondary schools.
Search for education eludes children in Dadaab
As though the scars of war are not bad enough, child refugees arrive in Dadaab only to find education hard to get. Those who squeeze into class live in constant fear of repatriation, while girls as young as 12 are married off to help put food on the table.
Dadaab has three camps, namely the Dagahaley, Hagadera and Ifo camps. Many students in the camps, particularly girls, drop out of school before the end of Standard 8.
