For a year that has brought so much misfortune to us, 2020 sure is flying by, and no, we are not complaining.
Wasn’t it just ”the other day” when we thought the United States and Iran had just started off World War III?
As we embark on a new month and pray for better tidings, let us flash back to the final week of July which, was an unusually warm month.
The Uhuru-Magufuli mess
Have you ever heard of the saying, ”if countries were women, we would never experience war, just a bunch of nations not talking to each other?”
Well, President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Tanzania counterpart seem to be treading down this path, if recent events are anything to go by.
It started on Monday when Uhuru was delivering his national address on the reviewed coronavirus-curbing protocols. In his speech, the Head of State appeared to be indirectly attacking Magufuli for being secretive on the coronavirus situation in Tanzania, by alleging that some countries are suffering in silence.
The following day, a plane carrying Uhuru’s delegation to the funeral of Benjamin Mkapa was turned away due to ”bad weather,” but we all know what that means. And on Friday, Magufuli barred Kenya Airways flights from entering its territory, in retaliation to Uhuru excluding Tanzania from the list of countries allowed to fly into Kenya after the resumption of international flights.
At this point, the gloves appear to be totally off.
The misunderstood alcohol ban
While still on Uhuru’s Monday speech, Kenyans seem not to have understood his directive on alcohol consumption.
What the president banned was the sale of alcohol in bars and restaurants, but Kenyans seem to have interpreted this the wrong way: that the sale of alcohol was banned completely.
Relax, fellow Kenyans. You can still purchase your favorite drink from supermarkets and wines & spirits shops.
‘Johntez Sakaja Mchomez’
Still on matters alcohol, Nairobi senator Johnson Sakaja had a rough week, after Kenyans resorted to heaping the blame on him after Uhuru banned the sale of alcohol in restaurants and bars.
Sakaja is the most high profile person to be arrested for defying coronavirus containment measures after he was busted while drinking at a bar in Kilimani.
Uhuru announced the unpopular ban shortly after Sakaja’s scandal, adding that politicians would not be accorded special treatment in the fight against the pandemic.
The County Revenue Allocation standoff
In the political sphere, the Senate was the center of attention this week, as senators failed to agree upon an appropriate model of sharing revenue among counties.
Even after ODM leader Raila Odinga and Deputy President William Ruto waded into the controversy, calling for the adoption of the current bill that advocates for unequal allocation of revenue and equal allocation respectively, the legislators still had to book another date for the debate that seems to be influencing the formation of new political alignments.
Edgar Obare arrested
After months of serving steamy tea to his Instagram followers, Edgar Obare seems to have chosen the wrong pot to stir this time around.
The blogger was arrested after he brought in Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho into his web of controversy. Obare had claimed that Joho was involved in a romantic affair with social media influencer Natalie Tewa and had even bought her a posh ride.
In his most recent post since his arrest, Obare said he was afraid for his life especially since he had been denied bail despite raising the required amount.
The tales of Ruiru’s haunted apartments
Is there a better way to end the month than will a good old haunted house story?
The story on social media on Friday was, that the reason a particular apartment block in Ruiru has remained unoccupied since time immemorial is that tenants experience all kinds of supernatural events during their stay, which does not last more than a few hours.
Some claimed that abnormal sounds would be heard at night, and ghosts had been sighted lazing around the premises.
The most popular belief is that the owner built the apartments on a blood covenant with the devil, which he failed to fully honor, and now the houses are the devil’s residence.
Silly right?