Pirate ship 'was registered in Kenya'

A witness told the court that he saw a document showing a suspected pirate ship was a Kenyan registered vessel. Lieutenant David Ratner testifying against 17 Somalis charged with piracy also told the court that another document he saw indicated that MV Ishaka was a Puntland registered vessel.

Muslim youths call of planned al-Faisal demo

Muslim youth on Friday called off the anticipated protest at eleventh hour amid heavy presence of security. The group called off their demonstration which was meant to show their solidarity with the Jamican preacher Abdulla al-Faisal who was deported on Thursday, moments after meeting senior clerics around 11 am.

Premier set to open coast investment meeting

Arrangements for the first ever coast province investment conference to be opened by prime Minister Raila Odinga have been finalised with calls on the government to address critical issues that could discourage investment in the region. The two day conference slated for Monday January 25 and 26 with the theme ‘harnessing coastal resources for socio-economic development towards Vision 2030’ seeks to unlock the potential in the region that is endowed with vast resources.

Drugs shortage causing patients agony

Lack of drugs and equipment in government hospitals country wide has made some patients to spend several months in hospitals without any medical attention. Patients with fractures at the Coast General hospital are especially hard hit as they cannot get treated due to lack of some equipment used in fixing broken bones, leaving them to buy the equipment from private hospitals.

Water board boss says woes to continue

Coast residents will continue experiencing water shortages as the area water provider continues to grapple with the old and dilapidated infrastructure to supply the commodity. The newly elected Coast Water Services Board chief executive Andy Tola said despite the board’s effort to make repairs in the major water main pipes, the supply is still low compared to the demand.

Cosmetic firm spells out ambitious job creation plan

A foreign cosmetics company is targeting creating employment for more than 100,000 Kenyans over the next year through direct selling of their products. Oriflame, a Swedish company dealing with natural cosmetics said job seekers would be given the opportunity to invest as little as Sh900 to set them up as sales agents.

US Coast Guard testifies in piracy case

A US coast guard on Thursday described a vessel allegedly used by 17 suspected Somali pirates as “standard” which could have been used for fishing. Mr Andrew Boshears, based in Miami said the vessel MV Ishaka can be associated with long line type of fishing.

Muslim youths vow to defy demo ban

Despite calls from different quarters to call off demonstration, Mombasa Muslims Youth have vowed to go on with their Friday’s planned peaceful protest in the streets of the coastal town. Mr Abdulrazak Mohammed, one of the organisers, told Nation on phone yesterday that they will stage protest in solidarity with controversial Jamaican cleric Sheikh Abdallah Ibrahim Al-Faisal from different venues towards Coast PC Mr Earnest Munyi’s office to present a protest letter to the government.

Clerics to sue State over city demo

Senior Muslim clerics on Wednesday declared their intention to sue the state for the colossal damage and death that resulted after last Friday’s demonstration in Nairobi. Already the clerics have contacted  a Mombasa based legal firm, Mohammed Balala and Company’s Advocates to prepare  legal procedures required for the case against Attorney General Amos Wako, Internal Security minister George Saitoti, Nairobi Province PPO Anthony Kibuchi, Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) head Nicholas Kamwede.

Involve locals in measuring progress on MDGs

Local communities should be involved in measuring the extent of achievement in the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set ten years ago. Youths participating in this year’s Peace Boat voyage yesterday suggested that governments set local MDG targets to be used as benchmarks to measure the benefits already accrued from the initiatives.