Kenya: Mungiki leader freed from prison

The leader of a banned Kenyan gang has been freed after charges that he murdered 28 people were dropped.Maina Njenga was freed on Friday and called on all fellow Mungiki members to renounce membership and become Christians.

Speaking in a church in the centre of Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, Njenga said: "I have now come to learn that there is something bigger than what is in that mountain... I want to be singing in the church and then I get baptised.

"Those others out there who have not come up publicly should follow suit and get saved and get out of the Mungiki."

Njenga had led Mungiki, a pseudo-religious group of dreadlocked youths who worshipped spirits in Mount Kenya and embraced rituals such as female circumcision.

Full article: Al Jazeera

Kenya: why Delamere son was released early

Thomas Cholmondeley had been scheduled to be released on Sunday, but since it is a weekend, the prison authorities decided to free him last Friday.

He quickly returned to his Soysambu Farm home where he will begin to rebuild his life after three years in Kamiti Maximum Security Prison. Prison authorities insisted that he was not a beneficiary of presidential clemency but rather simply qualified for remission.

Mr Cholmondeley will be missed by the many friends he made at the prison and other inmates. Through his initiatives, their life had become more bearable than it was before his arrival.

Full article: Sunday Nation

Kenya: fuel cost increased

Electricity distributor the Kenya Power and Lighting Company has increased the fuel cost segment of its billing, signalling that consumers are unlikely to get relief from the heavy cost burden they have been bearing in recent months despite the onset of heavy rains.

The rains were expected to cause an immediate drop in the cost of electricity as the country consumed more of the less expensive hydro power and cut back on the more expensive thermal power.

A steep drop in hydro power’s contribution to the national grid has seen electricity bills surge by a margin of 60 per cent since March on the back of rising fuel costs charges — a varying item on the bills that is linked to the amount of power on the national grid that is generated from thermal sources.

Power producer KenGen and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) reckon that the hydro power dams will be replenished in December at the earliest should the rains persist at the current rate.

“We have filled a meter within two days and if the rains continue like this, we should get to 30 meters in December,” a senior KenGen executive said.

Full article: Business Daily Africa