• The stories making headlines in the Star this morning.
Today's top stories in the Star.See Stories https://bit.ly/2kpqbnY
Good morning,
In a country where tribal arithmetic often determines how people vote, the debate on how the Luyha community might determine the outcome of the Kibra by-election comes as no surprise.
Many Kenyans still vote along ethnic lines and don't care about issue-based politics, and the voters in Kibra may not be any different.
Some of the key contenders come from the Luhya community and the talk is that the tribe’s vote bloc might be split to the advantage of rivals.
However, candidates are hoping that this time voters will be guided by other factors besides tribe when electing their MP.
Here are the other stories making headlines in the Star this morning.
Ethnicity in politics and society
Kenya is well endowed with a wide variety of 'tribes' or communities (though Nigeria with perhaps 300 or more and Papua New Guinea with its 700 languages put Kenya’s diversity into perspective).
There are several reasons for the diversity, including how the British annexed land and extended their authority gradually, without any concern about either grouping communities together, or splitting others. In some cases, communities were divided between Kenya and neighbouring states. Britain also promoted the settlement of communities from outside Africa.
DP Ruto popular at the Coast but not Jubilee
This week, Deputy President William Ruto suffered political setback when senior elected leaders — governors, senators, woman representatives, MPs and MCAs — boycotted his rallies in his weeklong whirlwind tour of the Coast.
This was an orchestrated move by local ODM leaders to embarrass DP Ruto and his allies, a move that seemingly had zero effect on his 2022 presidential bid. Furthermore, the boycott came as no surprise given that the Coast is an ODM zone.
Consolata student: Indiscipline or moral myopia?
Gyges was a shepherd in the service of the ruler of Lydia, an Iron Age kingdom in Western Asia Minor.
One day there was a violent thunderstorm, an earthquake broke open the ground and created a crater where Gyges was tending his sheep. Seeing the big hole, Gyges was filled with curiosity and gingerly climbed into it.
At the bottom, he saw a sarcophagus with window-like openings in it. He peeped in and saw a corpse with a very shiny object on its skeletal finger. Upon closer examination, Gyges realised it was a ring. He took it, put it on his finger and quickly climbed out of the crater.
Mombasa port to beat annual 1.3 million container target - KPA boss
The Port of Mombasa is on track to achieve its target of 1.3 million containers this year.
On Monday, the port of Mombasa crossed its one million marks, the Kenya Ports Authority managing director Daniel Manduku has said.
Last year, the port handled 1.2 million 20-foot Total Equivalent Units. TEU is a standard for measurement for the containers globally.
Manduku said with only three months remaining to the close of the year, they are optimistic they will beat their 1.3 million-target with a bigger margin.
Uhuru's delicate balancing act to appease Ruto
President Uhuru Kenyatta is engaged in a delicate balancing act, sometimes undermining his deputy William Ruto and recently appeasing him to keep the troubled Jubilee marriage together.
The Star has learnt that Uhuru's surprise decision to back McDonald Mariga for the Kibra parliamentary seat was not on the cards and came as a huge disappointment to the President's handlers.
However, the endorsement came just moments after Uhuru, in an unprecedented move, cancelled the graft-ridden Sh22 billion Kimwarer Dam project, which Ruto had supported.