Married city women secretly work as prostitutes

A growing number of middle-class housewives secretly work as prostitutes, The Nairobian has established.

Although accurate statistics are hard to come by, we have evidence that some of these women are so successful at it that they have even invested and own shopping boutiques and apartments within the city. And you guessed right: their husbands don’t know what their wives do.

The greedy ones do it for (more) money. But some do it to add thrill and adventure to dreary middle-class lives.

We met with a married prostitute at Rhapta Road in Westlands on Wednesday at 11.30am. We had spoken on phone previously and for obvious reasons, she wasn’t keen to talk to journalists. Eventually, she agreed to be interviewed.

After waiting for ten minutes, she came driving a Toyota Saloon and, without getting out of the car, told us to follow her to the Vineyard Restaurant.

She was polished, her spoken English flawless.

-standardmedia

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‘Dare you bury me without land title on my coffin!’

The body of a woman who died three weeks ago is still lying in a Nyeri mortuary after her husband refused to bury her for fear of getting entangled in an alleged curse
 over family land

Esther Wambui died October 4 while receiving treatment at Mathari General Hospital in Nyeri, but three weeks later there seems to be no plans to have her buried.

Peter Njagi 68, her husband of 41 years has denounced her corpse, over what he says is a curse allegedly passed onto his late wife by his mother-in-law.

The curse allegedly involves the dispute over the ownership of a 0.75 acres piece of land, being contested by his in-laws and a pastor.

Trouble started brewing in 2009 when Esther Kamuyu, the mother-in-law, registered the land under the name of her son Charles Macharia.

Later in the year, the title deed mysteriously disappeared from a box where it had been kept in Kamuyu’s house. Before her death later in the year, Kamuyu allegedly demanded that the land title must be placed on her coffin before any burial could take place.

Like her daughter’s body currently lying in the mortuary, Kamuyu’s burial was delayed until the neighbours persuaded the family to ignore the said curse and undertake the burial.

In 2011, a pastor from the neighbourhood who had allegedly bought the land arrived and started fencing the contentious piece of land.

Wambui moved to court and got an order restraining the pastor from fencing the land, until the dispute was amicably resolved by the court.

 The case is still pending.

Njagi says that his late wife made remarks similar to those of her mother at her death.

“She repeated the dreadful words. That she should not be buried without the land title placed on top of her coffin,” says Njagi.

And although he has ample land to bury his wife, Njagi claims that doing so would put the lives of his own children in danger over the alleged curse.

“I do not want to finish my own family. My wife is gone and I am not ready to sacrifice my own children,” he says.

John Kihara the pastor who allegedly bought the land, however, insists that he bought the land legitimately and termed the alleged curse as malicious.

 “I am a pastor. A man of God and I am wondering why these people want to tarnish my name. If Njagi wants to take possession of the land, let him repay me the money I paid for it,” says Kihara

-standardmedia

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Panic as strange powder dumped in Nanyuki River

Panic has gripped Nanyuki Town and its environs after an unknown powder was dumped into a river on Wednesday evening.

Water in Nanyuki River, stones and plants on its banks turned deep blue after the blue powder which was wrapped in a large paper seeped into the river.

Fearing that it could be a poisonous chemical, Water Resources Management Authority (WRMA) officers in the area issued an alert warning people living downstream against using water from the river.

“We have agreed with the National Environment Management Authority (Nema) and public health officials to put our heads together to find out what this chemical is and who dumped it into the river," a WRMA official Mr Dominic Kibaya said.

"We have already collected samples and we will know whether to send them to the government chemist,” Kibaya added.

Residents operating along the river alerted government officials who traced the source of the strange colour to a big parcel weighing several kilogrammes at a temporary dumpsite on the river bank.

NOT CONSUME WATER

“As of now we don’t know what it is.

People downstream must be prevented from consuming water from this river because it could be heavy metal.

The best action is not to take the water,” Mr Kibaya said.

The vice-chairman of Nanyuki River Water Users Association Mr David Irungu mobilised the residents to look for the pollutant after people started complaining about the colouration of the water.

He said the powder which was irritating to the skin was found near a residential plot where an unauthorised garbage site was developing.

Nanyuki town residents accused some government officers charged with the responsibility of fighting pollution of sleeping on their jobs.

“We have good laws to prevent pollution but the government officers who are supposed to enforce them are not doing their job.

That is why unauthorised garbage dumps are developing on river banks,” a resident Mr Danson Mumba said.

He urged government agencies to streamline laws on pollution in order to keep the rivers clean.

Nanyuki River serves thousands of farmers and pastoralists in Laikipia county.

nation.co.ke

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Youths abusing drugs meant for HIV emergencies

Kenyans are using emergency Aids medication in place of safe sex, according to health workers.

Many young people are hav

ing unsafe sex and, instead of using condoms, going to public hospitals for the so-called PEP pills.

This is a continuation of the abuse of emergency contraceptive pills, which is widespread despite its health consequences. Post Exposure Prophylaxis is an emergency treatment, mainly for health workers and victims of sexual crimes. It is usually administered to those suspected to have come into contact with HIV-infected material.

The treatment must start within 72 hours of exposure and consists of a daily dosage of six tablets taken for 28 days.

Doctors are worried that those abusing the PEP pills do not take the full dosage, thus not only risking infection but also incubating a virus which is resistant to medication.
The drugs are only available in public hospitals and are provided at no cost. It is illegal for chemists to stock them.

When PEP was first introduced as an emergency drug to prevent HIV infection in the early 1990s, it was praised as a scientific breakthrough. At the time, it was meant for health professionals who were at great risk of being infected with the virus in the line of duty. With time, it was made available to people exposed to the virus under circumstances, such as rape or sexual assault.

In the recent past, however, there has been a sharp rise in the number of people seeking the drugs, after engaging in unprotected sex especially during holidays and weekends.
Many of those asking doctors to give them the pills use them the same way others use emergency contraceptives — as an afterthought.

Many of them claim to have had “accidents” which exposed them to HIV. The accidents, according to Nyeri County Aids and Sexually-transmitted Diseases coordinator Jeniffer Kiruri, range from sexual assault or a needle prick to a torn condom.

She said that between July and September, the Nyeri Provincial General Hospital gave the pills to more than 100 patients, most of them young people of 16 years and above.
This group is one of the most at the risk of HIV infection.

ASK DOCTORS

Dr Enoch Ondari, the Kisii Level Five medical superintendent, said the health centre received requests for PEP occasionally especially during weekends.

“People do come to our facility to seek PEP services with the excuse of a burst condom. Normally, this happens during the weekends or on Monday morning,” he said.

Hospital records indicate that more men than women ask doctors for the tablets.

Dr Martin Sirengo, the head of National Aids and STI Control Programme (Nascop), said there had been an alarming rise in the number of people abusing the drugs especially after weekends.

“We cannot deny them the drug because it is available,” he said.

But to qualify for a prescription, one must undergo thorough testing and provide contact details to the doctor giving the tablets.

This procedure is meant to make it difficult for middlemen to get the drugs for free from public hospitals and resell them. 

Dr Juliana Atieno, the chief administrator at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital in Kisumu, said the hospital was one of those that had developed strict guidelines on who should get PEP.

“Many people were coming for the drug,” she said. “We had to lay down a protocol. First, a person has to come with the partner for testing,” she said. “The partner must be traced for one to get help.”

Dr Atieno warned that the drugs should not be a licence for irresponsible sexual behaviour.

“The drug’s effectiveness might backfire if you skip a dose. Why do you have to undergo that? You have a good option of using a condom,” she said.

Ms Monica Ndegwa, the Kieni East District Public Health officer, said the uptake of the drug could be because young people wanted to take short-cuts.

“Just like in pregnancy pills, young people want to take short-cuts. My advice is, before you engage in anything, know the status of your partner,” she said.

Mrs Christine Otieno, a programme officer in HIV prevention at Kenyatta National Hospital, said the demand for the drug shoots up especially during holidays and after weekends.
“We counsel the users first. They must finish the dose, otherwise they may be resistant to ARVs in the event they acquire the virus,” she said.

According to her, some of those seeking the drug are genuine cases of rape.

“Others come with that excuse yet they did it willingly, but we cannot deny them the service,” she said.

-nation.co.ke

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Two dead, three critically injured in an accident involving a University bus

Two people have died in an early morning accident Thursday at Taru along the Mombasa-Nairobi highway.

The accident involving an Egerton University bus and an oncoming lorry occurred at 5.30 am in the morning.

According to the police, the accident occurred when the Egerton University bus ferrying students collided head-on with the lorry while overtaking.

Police further claimed that the university bus driver was trying to catch up with his colleague who had gone ahead of him.

But the Egerton bus co-driver however told a different story.

He claimed that the accident happened when the bus driver lost control after a tyre burst.

The two who lost their lives were the driver of the university bus that was leaving Mombasa and the driver of a canter that was ferrying goods to Mombasa.

Three Egerton University lecturers were critically injured in the incident. They were seated right behind the driver.

The students and the canter’s turn-boy who sustained minor injuries were treated at local health centres in Taru and Mariakani and discharged.

The students were all from the university's faculty of education.
-nation.co.ke

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CIA link in Westgate terrorist attack

Western intelligence agencies at one point worked with a man suspected to have masterminded the Westgate mall terrorist attack in Nairobi, a former informant for both the CIA and the Danish intelligence service has claimed.

Mr Morten Storm, a Dane who worked as an informer for the two intelligence units for five years, told CNN in a chilling interview that he had forged a close relationship with the Westgate attack organiser, Kenyan-born Abdukadir Mohamed Abdukadir alias Ikrima.

Ikrima has been responsible for planning attacks inside Kenya for Al-Shabaab, according to CNN.

Mr Storm, told the US news channel Danish intelligence agency PET had, in March 2012, offered him one million Danish krone (Sh17 million) on behalf of the CIA if he could lead them to Ikrima.

The story does not disclose if he took the money and what happened in regards to offer.

Mr Storm revealed that Ikrima was the target during the unsuccessful raid by US Navy SEALs last month at an Al-Shabaab compound at Barawe on the Somali coast. Ikrima escaped.

INTERCEPT WESTGATE ATTACK

The former informant claimed that he could have intercepted the planning of the Westgate attack, had he still been working for Western intelligence.

Mr Storm disclosed that his relationship with PET and the CIA ended in mid-2012 after a disagreement over a different mission in Yemen. This stymied advanced efforts to capture Ikrima.

“I get really frustrated to know that Ikrima had been maybe involved in the Westgate terrorist attack. It frustrates me a lot because it could have been stopped and I’m sad I can’t be involved in this,” Mr Storm told CNN.

CNN said CIA declined to comment on the claims with a spokesperson for the PET saying: “We can’t confirm or deny ever knowing Morten Storm.”

The report further cites Kenyan counter-terrorism sources as saying they believe Ikrima played a role in the Westgate attack.

He is also suspected to be behind plots targeting Kenya in the last two years, including a plot to target Kenya’s parliament in late 2011.

Mr Storm said he first made contact with Ikrima in 2008 when he met him on the first floor of Jamia shopping mall in Nairobi.

The second meeting took place in 2009 in Nairobi when Abdelkadir Warsame, a senior Al-Shabaab operative, sent Ikrima to pick up electronic equipment from Mr Storm. The equipment were meant for one of Al-Shabaab’s leaders, he said.

The former informant says Ikrima was not aware that he (Storm) was working for PET, Britain’s MI6, and the CIA.

He said tracking devices had been hidden in the equipment, which included a laptop.

The equipment, according to Storm’s Al-Shabaab handlers, was for Saleh al Nabhan, one of the senior planners of the 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi, CNN reported.

Several months later Nabhan was targeted and killed in a US Navy SEALs operation.

Storm’s Al-Shabaab contacts subsequently told him they believed Nabhan had been tracked through the electronic equipment but blamed a junior courier.

After Al-Shabaab carried out a twin suicide bombing attack in Kampala, Uganda in July 2010 Ikrima told Mr Storm it was now difficult for him to travel to meet him in Nairobi.

From then on the two kept in frequent touch through encrypted emails providing Western intelligence with real-time information on his movements and plans.

In early 2010, Mr Storm says he connected Ikrima to Anwar al Awlaki, the American-Yemeni cleric who had by then begun overseeing al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s operations against the West.

According to Mr Storm, the two then began communicating over encrypted emails.

They eventually came up with a joint plan of action to attack the West: Ikrima would send Shabaab recruits, including Westerners, to Yemen for terrorist training, and they would then be sent back to Somalia or on to the West.

“And as for going to hooks [Awlaki’s] place ... then I was told by hook that they want to train brothers and then send them back or to the west,” Ikrima wrote to Storm in November 2010.

Storm believes Ikrima’s connection to Awlaki -and his delivery of equipment secretly supplied by Western intelligence - enabled Ikrima to quickly climb Al-Shabaab’s hierarchy.

-nation.co.ke

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