• The stories making headlines in the Star this morning.
Good morning,
President Uhuru Kenyatta has urged Senators and MPs to resolve the dispute surrounding the Division of Revenue Bill and allocate money to counties.
Uhuru said MPs should ensure counties get their allocation without further delays since Kenyans will suffer if the standoff persists.
The Senate wants counties to get Sh335 billion from Treasury but the National Assembly has maintained that figure should be Sh316 billion.
“The Constitution says counties should not get less than 15 per cent of the national revenue. In just one year, I increased that amount to 30 per cent,” he said.
Here are the other stories making headlines in the Star this morning.
Today's top stories in the Star. See stories https://bit.ly/2KNdjBq
Uproar as Big Five tribes dominate civil service
The scale of ethnic imbalance in the public service has been laid bare by a parliamentary inquiry. It gives a fresh headache to President Uhuru Kenyatta's administration to correct the historical mess.
An ethnic audit of some of the country’s high profile and financially stable parastatals shows that the big five communities are the most dominant and are the decision-makers.
Fraud case couple freed after agreeing to pay Sh4m
A Kiambu court has allowed DPP Noordin Haji to withdraw a criminal case in which a couple was accused of defrauding two investors of more than Sh4 million.
Chief magistrate Patricia Gichohi was told that Alfred Wangai Mundia and his wife Mercy Nkatha Kirimi had settled the matter outside the court and paid the complainants.
They had been charged with obtaining Sh4 million from Jane Wanjiru Kang'ethe on April 17, 2014, at Ushirika building in Limuru, Kiambu, with intent to defraud.
One dead, 40 sick after cholera strikes wedding
A wedding last weekend turned tragic after one family member died and more than 40 guests fell ill from food poisoning and cholera.
At least 10 guests and family members are admitted in various Nairobi hospitals after testing positive to cholera.
Yesterday, at least three of them were admitted at Mater Hospital, three at Mama Lucy Hospital and four at the Kenyatta National Hospital.
The groom, Wilson Wamunyu and his wife Sarah survived the scare and flew for their honeymoon in Dubai immediately after the wedding on Saturday.
County seeks to cut cost of preaching at Uhuru Park in proposed Finance Bill
The county government wants to reduce the cost of preaching at Uhuru Park from Sh 2,500 to Sh1,500 per hour in the Nairobi City County Finance Bill,
In addition, the county will not charge lunch time preachers in Central Park, Jevanjee Gardens and Kamkunji grounds.
The bill further proposes to cut the cost of clearance certificate of vendors at Uhuru and City parks from Sh10,000 to Sh2,000 per annum.
Why men should not fear vasectomies
Late in the evening of July 27 last year, former Kameme journalist Michael Mahindi was accosted by armed policemen in a Probox and a Ford Ranger while on his way home.
Mahindi, 35, stood accused of illegally having a firearm and posing as a National Intelligence Services officer. The potential consequences of this arrest were grave. If convicted, Mahindi could have faced up to 17 years in prison for both crimes.
Exactly a year since the incident happened, the lobbyist and media consultant recalled the dreadful night with sadness in his eyes. He says the sense of helplessness was overwhelming, and even though time has passed, the experience is still pretty vivid in his mind.
“It was around 8.45pm. I was wearing a grey T-shirt and a grey, striped short. The Probox, which was was driven ahead of me, stopped. Three police officers came out armed with AK47s. They ordered me out of my car."