Kenya

Garissa taxi driver’s death sparks dispute between leaders and police; IPOA, DCI probe as postmortem looms GARISSA, Kenya — A confrontation is brewing in Garissa after the death of 25-year-old taxi driver Sheikh Ahmed Omar, with local leaders and family members alleging he was shot at close range by officers at a Modika roadblock, while police say he died in a crash as he fled a stop along the Nunow–Modogashe road. Omar died early Wednesday, four days after the incident on Dec. 20, according to leaders who gathered at the…

Kenya has repatriated 119 citizens who were trapped in online fraud syndicates in Myanmar, with nearly 200 more still awaiting evacuation across Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia, the State Department for Diaspora Affairs said Monday. In a statement, the department said 198 Kenyans remain in the pipeline for repatriation. That group includes 66 in Thailand’s immigration detention center, 129 in shelters in Myanmar, and three in a Caritas Catholic safe house in Cambodia, where Kenya’s Embassy has established contact. The…

South Africa has detained and moved to deport seven Kenyan nationals it says were working without permits at a facility processing refugee applications from white South Africans, intensifying a diplomatic row with the United States. South African authorities said intelligence reports showed people “had recently entered South Africa on tourist visas and had illegally taken up work” at the centre. The seven Kenyans were arrested, denied work visas and are to be deported with a five-year ban on re-entry, officials said. “They…

NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenya has signed a $311 million agreement with pan-African infrastructure fund Africa50 and PowerGrid Corporation of India to design, finance, build and operate two high-voltage electricity transmission lines under a public-private partnership, the finance ministry said Monday. The deal marks one of the East African nation’s largest power-grid concessions to date and is intended to ease chronic constraints on the network as demand grows. The project company will manage the full life cycle of the assets —…

Kenya’s High Court on Thursday temporarily halted a $1.6 billion Kenya–U.S. Health Cooperation Framework, citing privacy concerns over the transfer of Kenyans’ medical and epidemiological data. Justice Bahati Mwamuye issued conservatory orders after the Consumers Federation of Kenya petitioned the court to stop implementation until the state provides safeguards for how sensitive health information would be handled. In an interim ruling, the judge paused any move by the State Law Office, the Senate and other government…

The European Union has announced €250,000 (about Sh40 million) in humanitarian aid to help Kenyan communities facing a worsening convergence of drought, floods, food insecurity and disease outbreaks. The funding will be routed through the Disaster Response Emergency Fund of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to support operations by the Kenya Red Cross Society. In a statement issued Tuesday, the EU said the allocation responds to Kenya’s “rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation,…

Kenya will not share citizens’ personal medical records with the United States under the new Kenya–US Health Cooperation Framework, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale said Sunday, moving to quell public concern over data privacy provisions in the seven-year deal. In a statement, Duale said the agreement permits only the exchange of aggregated health data. He emphasized that no unique personal identifiers or individual medical files will be accessible to U.S. authorities, and that Kenya retains full control over what…

Kenya signs $2.5 billion health pact with U.S., first under Trump-era overhaul; data privacy questions follow NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenya has signed a five-year, $2.5 billion health agreement with the United States, the first such government-to-government pact since President Donald Trump overhauled U.S. foreign aid, U.S. and Kenyan officials said Saturday. Washington cast the deal as a model for a series of agreements with developing countries, signaling a deeper pivot to direct funding of public sectors over traditional aid…

MOYALE, Kenya — Ethiopian military personnel crossed into Kenyan territory near Moyale on Saturday, advancing roughly 1 kilometer from the Sesii area and prompting a two-hour exchange of fire with Kenyan security units, according to an official occurrence book entry filed at Moyale Police Station (OB No. 32/22/11/2025). Kenyan police, Administration Police Service and Border Patrol Unit engaged the intruding forces; Kenya Defence Forces later joined, pushing the Ethiopians back to the borderline; No injuries were…

Kenya presses Tanzania over slain teacher; body still missing Kenya has escalated diplomatic pressure on Tanzania to account for the killing of Kenyan teacher John Ogutu in Dar es Salaam and to help locate his body. Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi told MPs the government has sought urgent action through formal channels and is providing consular support to the family. The case is the only reported Kenyan fatality linked to unrest that followed Tanzania’s October 29 presidential…