• The stories making headlines in the Star this morning.
Weekend's top stories in the Star.
Good morning,
Tourism CS Najib Balala has exuded confidence that Kenya will rally world leaders and conservationists to close ivory markets.
Balala expressed optimism even as he led the Kenyan delegation to a high-level conference being held in Geneva, Switzerland.
Set to start on Saturday and run until August 29, the conference is being closely watched by conservationists as ‘key in saving iconic species from being wiped out’.
Here are the other stories making headlines in the Star this morning.
Raila picks Mt Kenya, Rift Valley dream team
ODM leader Raila Odinga has stepped up his efforts to build new alliances in Rift Valley and Mt Kenya regions as the race to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2022 hots up.
The former Prime Minister wants to exploit his handshake with Uhuru to turn the tables against Deputy President William Ruto in Mt Kenya and at the same time eat into the DP's support base in the Rift Valley.
Eyes on BBI team as it starts writing the handshake report
The creation of the post of a Prime Minister and a ceremonial President to serve a seven-year non-renewable term is among the radical proposals before Building Bridges Initiative task force.
Also before the BBI team, which on Friday last week started writing its report on the views collected across the country on the referendum, are proposals to introduce 14 regional governments and the creation of two deputy prime ministers.
The proponents of the referendum say the two deputies should of both genders.
Referendum won't make Kenya better, voters will
There is too much talk about leadership and political systems in Kenya and part of the debate is whether we need a presidential or parliamentary system.
I this regard, there is talk about changing the Constitution to fit either of these systems, which include Building Bridges Initiative, Punguza Mizigo Bill and others that did not/have not gained much currency.
The sugar daddy evolution in Kenya
Though widely reported today, transactional sex between young women and older men did not start with the 'millennial' generation.
A former University of Nairobi student informs the Star that during his campus days in the late 1980s and early 90s, the practice was already rampant.
Young women typically date 'sponsors' or 'sugar daddies' for financial gain, while men seek gratification.
Proposal to have police, NIS, DPP in Power of Mercy panel unconstitutional
Recently, newspapers carried a story about police suspicions that prisoners had been bribing prison officials to get onto a list of those to get a presidential “pardon”.
Among the issues, the newspapers said, were that the prisoners to be released included “hardcore” prisoners, that many had multiple convictions. That of the 120 involved, 82 had been jailed for robbery with violence and 22 for murder, and that most were between 32 and 50 and might resume a “life of crime”.