1. Teachers in Fresh Push for 300pc salary rise
Teachers will on today ask for a fresh 300 per cent pay rise. The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has invited representatives of the Kenya National Union of Teachers to a fresh round of talks on Thursday afternoon meant to reach a deal on new salaries. Schools are just now settling to normal teaching after three weeks of a work boycott, which only ended after teachers were given higher perks.
The talks are expected to be completed within the next two months, ahead of the Salary and Remuneration Commission’s December 31 deadline of the first cycle of negotiation for public servants.
2. Oliech Family Caught in Land Row
Ms Mary Ouma Oliech has confronted and demanded a land title from a city lawyer. Ms Oliech, mother to Harambee Stars captain Dennis Oliech, confronted lawyer Philip Nyachoti at the Milimani Law Courts corridors. “I want the title of my property now. What kind of a lawyer are you who cannot understand the law when a child buys property for his mother?” shouted Ms Oliech.
3. Chewing Gum Survey solves 36 Year Old Murder Case
A simple ruse conducted by an undercover Seattle detective has nabbed a suspected murderer 36 years after the horrific crime. Police used a DNA sample collected from a fake “chewing gum survey” to link a Seattle homeless man to the 1976 murder of a 70-year-old woman, the Seattle Times reported on Tuesday.
4. Nairobi City Council Seizes Two Prime Properties
The City Council of Nairobi on Wednesday made good its threat to attach property whose owners have defaulted on land rate repayments. City Hall’s inspectorate department descended on Princely House on Moi Avenue and Ufanisi House on Haile Selassie Avenue without court orders despite a pledge that the council would follow due process.
5. CBK Rates Re-kindle Interest in Real Estate
With mortgage rates going down in the third quarter, property asking prices jumped in the last three months on hopes of renewed activity.According to property development consultants Hass Consult, the rental market largely absorbed the price increases of the third quarter, while properties for sale recovered from their lowest levels in two years driven by a renewed uptake of stand alone houses during September.
6. World Bank Sidelined From Turkana Wind Project
The World Bank has been sidelined from the negotiations to fund the Lake Turkana wind power project for delaying to undertake the risk cover for the financiers. The World Bank was invited to issue a credit enhancement package to cover political risk guarantee and partial risk guarantee to cover for delays in repayment of loans to the lenders.
7. Farmers Federation Maintains Stand on VAT
Farmers representatives have vowed to use all means possible to block any attempts by the Finance Minister Njeru Githae to levy valued added tax on farm implements and inputs. Speaking at the Agricultural Sector Development Forum at Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi yesterday, the chairman of the Kenya National Federation of Agricultural Producers Nduati Kariuki warned the government against the move. “You are not going to add more misery to our farmers. We are watching and we shall take all necessary legal steps to oppose this move,’’ said Nduati. He appealed to the government and MPs to reconsider the move.
8. Pay Gaps A hurdle for Salary Review Team
The salaries commission faces an uphill task of addressing massive pay discrepancies among those serving in constitutional commissions even as a consultant is expected to deliver a job-grade report in just over two months.
Consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers comes in at a time when the two best-paid officers, the Chief Justice and chairman of the Commission for Implementation of the Constitution (CIC), earn nearly Sh1 million more than the head of the commission supposed to determine their gross pay.