Good morning,

A fresh political war has erupted between Deputy President William Ruto and Opposition Chief Raila Odinga with both sides delivering blistering punches.

Soon after Ruto referred to Raila as the “lord of poverty” on Monday, ODM went on the offensive and said the DP “has become a joke in the eyes of right thinking Kenyans.”

Party secretary general Edwin Sifuna said Ruto is struggling to bury the news of his fake assassination and its failure to generate any sympathy he intended.

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

Collymore dreamt of being a painter but died a venerable captain of industry

If his mother hadn't threatened him with eviction, Robert William Collymore's life's work would probably be hanging on a wall somewhere.

Young Collymore had fallen in love with painting. As a teen be believed he would spend the rest of his life with a canvas.

"I used to be very bored in biology and history classes, and during this time, I used to draw a lot. So I  took up painting which I believe I was good at and I would still want to be a painter," Collymore said in an interview in 2015.

Kibicho wants Huduma Centres probed over unremitted Sh266m

The Interior ministry wants thorough investigations conducted on Huduma Centres over non-remittance of collections to the state department.

Huduma Centre – one of the flagship projects of President Uhuru Kenyatta – failed to wire Sh266 million to the Interior department in the 2016-17 financial year.

Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho confirmed that he has already written to DCI George Kinoti to investigate the possible loss of millions of taxpayers’ money.

Parliament says disputed allowance is legal

The Parliamentary Service Commission now says the Sh250,000 paid to MPs is not house allowance but per diem for accommodation.

PSC filed its response in court in a case where activist Okiya Omtatah is seeking to stop the SRC and PSC from paying any house allowance to the MPs.

Tough times for betting firms as board declines to renew 19 licences

Kenya's economy expanded by 5.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2019, the government said in the first Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the year.

The figure confirms the economy that experienced a growth in 2018, was depressed in the period, compared to 6.5 per cent performance recorded in the same quarter of 2018.

Why Kenyans should protest against taxation

The Betting and Licencing Control Board has declined to renew the licences of 19 Betting firms pending security vetting of their operations and directors.

In a statement on Monday, the board also said it had deferred the renewal of licenses for 13 casinos, six lotteries and eight betting firms.

In April, Interior CS Fred Matiang'i directed that all companies involved in gaming be vetted afresh.