Newspapers on Sunday, January 25, reported on various topics, including the security drop at Nyayo House where a criminal managed to enter the office of the Minister of Internal Affairs Kipchumba Murkomen.
Source: UGC
Elsewhere, newspapers highlighted the conflicts in ODM, with party leader Oburu Oginga calling a meeting with Odinga’s family to resolve some of the issues that are causing conflicts between them.
1. Sunday Nation
The newspaper reported about the raid in the office of the Minister of Interior Dating Murkomen.
Recently a man managed to sneak into the offices of the Minister of Internal Affairs Kipchumba Murkomen and stayed there for almost five hours, in an incident that has surprised the investigators.
The assailant, who was not identified, spent some time inside the minister’s office on the 20th floor of Jumba la Nyayo in Nairobi before leaving without raising any suspicions.
Nyayo Palace is considered one of the most sensitive government buildings.
Although the Minister of Home Affairs has his main office in Harambee House, he also works from Nyayo House, where several senior officials under his ministry are based.
The building houses important departments, including immigration, civil services, and Nairobi regional administration.
CCTV footage shows the suspect entering the building on Saturday, January 10, at 10:45pm and leaving at 3:40am the following day.
Sources with knowledge of the investigation, but who did not want to speak publicly, said the fumigation was going on that night, and initial suspicions were that the intruder misused the screening of citizens entering the building.
The break-in was discovered the next morning when employees reported to work and found the office ransacked. Things seemed to be destroyed and rearranged.
As one of the most powerful government officials in the country, the Home Minister enjoys high security in his home and offices.
He serves on the nine-member National Security Council chaired by the president, along with the vice president, the Secretaries of the Defense and Foreign Affairs Cabinets, the Attorney General, the Chief of Defense Forces, the Director General of the National Intelligence Service, and the Inspector General of Police.
The incident put a spotlight on the Government Buildings Security Unit (SGB) of the Administrative Police.
The matter has been handed over to the Directorate of Criminal Investigation, with officers from the Nairobi Area and Kilimani Police Stations leading the investigation.
Investigators found CCTV footage showing a tall man wearing black jeans and a black hat, hiding his face as he exited the lift.
Sources revealed that some security personnel were allowed to leave during the drug spraying, which started at around 3pm and lasted until 5am, causing gaps in surveillance.
The suspect’s motive remains unclear, although police insiders suggest he may have been seeking information, as two desktop computers in the office appeared to have been tampered with.
“We cannot rule out the possibility that the attackers were looking for information,” an official told the Sunday Nation.
At the same time, sources indicate that the heads of the Administrative Police have ordered the change of officers stationed at the Nyayo House to strengthen security operations in the building.
2. National Sunday
The Nation on Sunday reported the Inspector General’s report showing thousands of unorganized workers in the county.
According to the report, around 27,284 workers were illegally employed in 41 counties in the three years to June 2024.
Additionally, governors violated hiring laws, leaving counties vulnerable to overstaffing.
Counties hired thousands of workers between the 2021/22 and 2023/24 financial years despite having no employment plans or budgets, according to a special review of payroll administration.
Audit reports show that, over a three-year period, only six counties did not hire new workers.
Uasin Gishu County led the way with 3,982 new workers (excluding workers), followed by Kitui (1,715), Trans Nzoia (1,082) and Turkana (1,054).
“The county government employed 3,982 workers during the three financial years. However, it was found that the departments that did the recruitment did not have annual recruitment plans to guide the exercise,” said Auditor General Nancy Gathungu in a special audit of the salaries of Uasin Gishu County.
“Lack of recruitment planning can lead to over- or under-staffing, or recruitment for positions that are not in line with the institution’s priorities.
Of all the workers employed in the 41 counties, 14.6% were Uasin Gishu, indicating the level of illegal employment in the county, where the average wages were 41.7% over the three years, exceeding the legal limit of 35%.
The Auditor General criticized the county for operating without systems to identify the real needs of workers or ensure the availability of funds to pay them.
This put the county at risk of being overstaffed in some departments while others are understaffed, which affects service delivery.
Other counties that employed more workers were Bomet (1,046), Nyamira (1,031), Nakuru (985), Nairobi (965), Narok (923) and Laikipia (913), completing the list of 10 counties that employed the most workers.
“The recruitment process showed many weaknesses, including recruitment without advertised positions, hiring people who did not apply for advertised positions, and confirming the availability of budget after job announcements,” said Gathungu about Narok County.
He warned that such practices undermine transparency, fairness and employment procedures, and may allow the hiring of unqualified people, which places a financial burden on the county.
The 10 counties that hired the most workers hired a total of 13,696 workers, more than half of all new jobs in 41 counties.
In Embu County, the Auditor General discovered that the governor illegally established the offices of the county priest and the governor’s health adviser. A total of 775 workers were employed during that period.
Furthermore, Lamu County hired 100 workers without assessing job requirements, while 16 were hired before the announcements were made. 1 In Samburu County, where 746 workers were hired, the audit found that 26 workers were hired more than the number announced, while another 192 were directly appointed and paid KSh 47.7 million over a three-year period.
3. Sunday Standard
The newspaper reported about the road. An accident involving an oil truck, which resulted in the death of one person.
A truck driver lost his life on Saturday morning after the oil truck he was driving exploded following a head-on accident with another truck near Swaminarayan Tunnel along Nairobi’s Southern Bypass at about 10 am.
The accident involved a truck full of flour and an oil truck.
The accident happened near the bridge behind the Carnivore Restaurant, forcing the truck to crash into the building before it caught fire.
Lang’ata Sub-County Police Commander Pius Mwanthi confirmed that the deceased was one of the drivers in the accident.
He noted that several vehicles were affected. One of the trucks was heading from Ole Sereni to Kikuyu when its driver lost control and left the road.
“As a result, we have lost one person, the driver of a car coming from the Kikuyu side. The driver of another car, which was carrying jet fuel, was injured,” Mwanthi said.
“He was rescued and taken to a nearby hospital, where he has received treatment and is now in good condition,” he added.
Other cars three were also found in the incident, although Mwanthi clarified that “they were not badly burned”.
Witness Maurice Obuya narrated that the accident occurred when the truck driver tried to avoid a truck coming from Lang’ata Road heading towards Mombasa Road.
“The truck driver lost control while trying to avoid the truck and collided with a car that was coming from Lang’ata Road towards Ole Sereni. Then the cabin fell into the tunnel, after which the fire broke out,” he said.
The public rushed to help.
“We started removing the cars that were in the car wash area so that they would not be completely damaged. The car wash tank was burnt,” Obuya added.
The incident caused heavy traffic on surrounding roads, with police urging drivers to be careful.
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