Perhaps the simplest way to explain affiliate marketing is that it is a way of making money online whereby you as a publisher are rewarded for helping a business by promoting their product, service or site.
There are a number of forms of these types of promotions but in most cases they involve you as a publisher earning a commission when someone follows a link on your blog to another site where they then buy something.
Other variations on this are where you earn an amount for referring a visitor who takes some kind of action – for example when they sign up for something and give an email address, where they complete a survey, where they leave a name and address etc.
Commissions are often a percentage of a sale but can also be a fixed amount per conversion.
Conversions are generally tracked when the publisher (you) uses a link with a code only being used by you embedded into it that enables the advertiser to track where conversions come from (usually by cookies). Other times an advertiser might give a publisher a ‘coupon code’ for their readers to use that helps to track conversions.
   
                 

• Advertisers often prefer affiliate marketing as a way to promote their products because they know they’ll only need to pay for the advertising when there’s a conversion. I knew when I started this affiliate program that while I’d earn less for each sale that having a network of affiliates promoting it would almost certainly increase overall sales levels.
• Publishers often prefer affiliate marketing because if they find a product that is relevant to their niche that earnings can go well in excess of any cost per click or cost per impression advertising campaign.

Comedy’s all over, but nobody is laughing

By PHILIP MWANIKI

Posted  Saturday, September 15  2012 at  19:00

In Summary

• Instead of taking us forward, these kids are going back to the years when wearing make up and playing President was the style
• You see, comedy is no laughing matter, Nameless can live off singing one song for ten years but Eric Omondi can only tell one joke a maximum of two or three times
• Having a good production does not mean you have a good show, at the end of the day, content is king

Worldwide, after soap operas, nothing sells more than comedy. We all want to laugh and we will go all out for anything that can crack our ribs and that is no different a scenario in Kenya.

It’s a crowd puller and a definite winner and this was proven with “Churchill Live” and with no set date for the show’s return, every other TV station with an ident is trying to get it’s own comedy show with disastrous results.

All these shows take me back to 2000 when “Intru kalas” hit our stations and since we didn’t know what was going on, we embraced it. This was the show that Churchill was first booed off stage and on which he launched his career together with Mdomo Baggy if I am not wrong.

But that was OK because, well, it was 2000 and not 2012, so when I see all these wide eyed kids thinking they can make me laugh taking me back, I don’t slip into reverie, no, I want to smack the black off their skins.

Was the style

Instead of taking us forward, these kids are going back to the years when wearing make up and playing President was the style. I can bet you all of us can do a Kibaki imitation, we can all move our lips like he does and use “Mavi ya kuku” without blinking so how is that comedy?

Second, can they stop recycling Twitter jokes? I mean, I probably Retweeted that joke six months ago so as much as it was funny, I don’t want someone else regurgitating it.

You see, comedy is no laughing matter, Nameless can live off singing one song for ten years but Eric Omondi can only tell one joke a maximum of two or three times. After that, he will be labelled stale and I am happy to see he is not mixed up with all the jokers currently on TV. I take it to be maturity and experience. He did try twice on KTN and NTV and failed.

I expected after “Churchill Live”, we would move forward with bigger and better productions and while I appreciate that such a production is expensive to do, I know that going back ten years is not the solution.

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Now, having a good production does not mean you have a good show, at the end of the day, content is king. Coming up with content is what differentiates a good comedian from a joker. Yes, those two are totally different.

What I can tell all these comedians is to switch off the television and log off Twitter for a week and come up with some good creative jokes.

It is easy if you are true comedian and don’t tell me I don’t know how hard it is, you chose to be one so pull up your socks and tickle me, no, wait, just make me laugh.

Remember MIGUNA MIGUNA's take on MERCY KEINO's death? ...... KABOGO killed her - If you missed it.

Do you remember Miguna Miguna’s take on Mercy Keino’s MURDER? If you missed it……….

All,

Allow me to revisit the tragic, barbaric murder of Mercy Keino. I do so out of moral and professional duty. We owe it to Mercy, to our children and to society in general to do everything within our powers to find and punish the perpetrators of this most heinous and cowardly crime.

When a cold-blooded criminal takes away the life of an innocent person like Mercy, our silence, fear and lackadaisical attitude encourages the wrongdoer to continue committing more crimes. In Kenya, it is becoming a culture. As a trained barrister and solicitor, one who takes a keen interest on both investigatory and prosecutorial techniques, I would be failing in my responsibility if I shied away from asking tough questions where these haven’t been posed or answered. I am not going to be intimidated, threatened, coerced or soothed into silence by the incompetent, corrupt and docile police.

Before relocating to Kenya in 2007, I had acted for numerous families traumatised by the loss of their loved ones at the hands of the police. I once acted for a family who lost a 24-year-old young man, gunned down at a major downtown Toronto hospital on December 31, 1999 as he sought medical attention for his seriously ill infant baby boy. He was black. The shooters were all white. There was a protracted inquest and false death litigation that I was involved in.

I also represented families whose loved ones had perished in tragic road accidents. Numerous times, I have acted for plaintiffs and defendants in malpractice suits for and against lawyers and physicians. I have had my fair share of reviewing autopsy reports, medical charts and expert reports. I am no stranger to medical, actuarial, engineering, psychiatric and psychological expert reports.

In the past 15 years, I have cross-examined thousands of detectives, police officers, forensic scientists and physicians. I have also read thousands of police reports and notes. Those were a far cry from the patchy verbal narrations by the Kenya Police. So, I know a thing or two about the ‘best practices’ on how to handle crime scenes, how to preserve evidence, and how to detect inconsistencies, contradictions and lies in ‘case files’. When the media first reported on Mercy’s death, my brain went up in flames.

There were so many gaping gaps, questions, contradictions, inconsistencies and plain lies that were flying about. I thought I was watching a horror movie. Yet the police haven’t explained how they resolved them. For without a logical and satisfactory resolution, Mercy’s case must remain open. Criminal cases have no limitation periods!

I am well-trained and experienced in these matters. I have made a living analysing cases and asking relevant questions in and outside the courtroom. And in all my years of legal practice, I have never come across the kind and level of investigative ineptitude and clumsiness that the Kenya Police exhibit daily, but more particularly on the Mercy Keino, Samuel Wanjiru, Njuguna Gitau, Oscar King’ara and Oulu cases. I am also aware of their criminal incompetence on the political assassination cases of Pio Gama Pinto, TJ Mboya, Dr Robert Ouko, Dr Odhiambo Mbai, Father Kaiser, Bishop Alexander Muge and others.

We are told that Mercy had gone to a private party at the Wasini Luxury Homes accompanied by her female cousin. They arrived at the Oil Libya gas station next to The Mall in Westlands. They were met by two men, presumably working for those responsible for ‘arranging’ the private party. Both men closely examined their identity cards and took personal details from them.

Having successfully passed the ‘vetting procedure’, one of the men took Mercy and her cousin in a ‘taxi’ to the apartment and, upon arrival there, they found ‘the second man’ had arrived ahead of them. Like most young women, Mercy carried a handbag and a mobile phone. Please note that detail.

It is almost a given that both Mercy and her cousin carried some money; at least enough for a ride back to the university after the party. The money would most likely have been kept in the handbag as most young women between the ages of 19 and 25 would most likely have dressed in clothes without pockets. It’s most likely that the handbag also contained other ‘normal’ and ‘precious’ items young women carry in their handbags on a night out. An intelligent guess informs me that Mercy considered her handbag very precious. Like most young women, she would have kept it either on the table or on the floor next to her. There’s nothing unusual about that. I’ve done my due diligence and carefully examined the area around Wasini.

The distance between the Oil Libya to Wasini is about 1.4km, give and take. An average person would walk that distance in less than 40 minutes. A taxi would take two minutes from Oil Libya, barring bad traffic.

A direct route from Wasini to Waiyaki Way on Church Road is about 200 metres. A normal person would walk that distance in less than 20 minutes.

However, depending on the level of intoxication, forceful physical restraint or injury, a person might take more than an hour to reach the highway from Wasini on Church Road. There are no streetlights. It’s pitch dark between midnight and 5am on this route.

Because Mercy and her friend had followed the Sarit Centre route earlier, one would have expected her to do the same going back. Human beings are creatures of habit. Moreover, they had been met at Oil Libya earlier on, suggesting that they might have been unfamiliar with the general area. It’s therefore inconceivable that Mercy - whom the Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere claimed was ‘drunk and reckless’ - would have travelled or ran along Church Road in total darkness to her death on the highway alone.

If Mercy was physically unrestrained and she had both her mobile phone and money, she would have either taken a taxi (as they had done earlier) or called a friend or relative to pick her up. The media initially quoted an un-named source at Wasini had called a ‘taxi’ for her. Who was this person?

Has s/he been interviewed by the police? There isn’t any indication if or when the ‘taxi’ arrived at Wasini. If it did, where did it take Mercy and who paid for the ride? Has the ’taxi’ company or driver given a detailed credible account of what happened between the time they were called and the time they arrived at Wasini? Answers to these questions would help unravel how Mercy’s badly mangled body ended up on the highway that morning.

Another undisclosed source claimed that Mercy left Wasini running with a few ‘bodyguards’ chasing after her towards the highway. Who were these men? Who did they work for? Have the police interviewed them? If so, have they clearly explained how Mercy died? More significantly, is that story consistent with Iteere’s scandalous claim that Mercy was ‘drunk and reckless?’ How does anyone who was not at the party speak about Mercy’s recklessness?

The source even claimed that he ‘witnessed’ Mercy being knocked down by a vehicle on Waiyaki Way after 2am. What was he doing in the darkness at that time? Did he contact the police promptly with that information? Has this witness described the men who were chasing Mercy? Have the police arrested those men? If indeed that story is credible, how could Mercy have been ‘run over’ by several vehicles? Couldn’t the ‘witness’ have alerted the motorists of the ‘accident?’ How come the witness never offered assistance and never came forward until the media broke the story?

The police have claimed that alcohol was found in Mercy’s blood. The question is: do the police know how the traces of alcohol got into her blood? Couldn’t the alcohol have been forcefully given to her or injected into her body? Couldn’t her drink have been spiked? Did the toxicology report reveal the presence of other substances? What were their levels? Were the levels of alcohol or other substances (if any) indicative of normal consumption or something sinister? This could easily be determined from examining the liver.

Apparently, Mercy’s handbag and mobile phone were ‘found’ in Wasini after she had been murdered. The police want us to believe that Mercy ‘left behind’ both her mobile phone and handbag. Why? How? No female university student, in fact, no female generally, would have left behind the phone she needed to call for help or assistance.

Usually, a woman won’t leave her handbag behind even when going to the bathroom; more so after the reported altercation with a ‘flamboyant’ Kenyan politician. The only logical explanation why Mercy’s handbag and mobile telephone weren’t found next to her body on the highway was because she didn’t leave the Wasini voluntarily. She was a captive. Her captors knew that with modern technology, one can be traced through a phone. So, they deliberately took it away. But have the police investigated all these angles? Your guess is as good as mine.

The police have latched on to the incredible story of an ‘Uthiru-bound motorist’ who ‘noticed a woman flagging down vehicles on the highway after 2am’. He allegedly noticed a badly injured woman lying on the same spot where the other woman had been. That’s a bald-faced lie. Why didn’t he stop and offer assistance to her? How would the motorist have seen Mercy’s injuries on the opposite side of the highway in total darkness?

If he had seen a woman waving down vehicles on his way to Uthiru, it means she had not run into the oncoming traffic as another undisclosed Wasini source had alleged; she would have either been injured or dead already. Why would she be waving down a motorist driving towards Uthiru, anyway? The University of Nairobi-bound vehicles would be driving on the opposite side of the road. Or could it be that she was desperate to catch the eye of a ‘good Samaritan’ because of imminent danger lurking in the dark?

In any event, how did the Uthiru-bound man see the opposite side of the highway after 2am in total darkness on his way back? At that spot, it’s impossible even during the day to notice anything much on the opposite side of the highway, never mind on a virtually unlit road at night. The Church Road side of Waiyaki Way is about 15 feet higher than the opposite side at the point where Mercy’s body was found, at least, and has a barrier, where the traffic comes up on the slip road section between the two carriageways to change direction. In any event, have the police conducted tests at the scene to confirm the Uthiru man’s bizarre story? If so, can they publish those results?

But then, there is a lady who said she saw a motorist dumping Mercy’s body on the highway then driving off. She followed him and wrote down the make, model and the registration number of the vehicle. She then drove to the nearest police station and reported the matter within a few minutes of witnessing the ‘crime’. In countries where police know their job, that’s more than enough to crack the case.

With that piece of evidence, why did the police allow Mercy to be buried within days of her death? Why didn’t the police treat the death as homicide immediately? How come the fake investigations were only ‘conducted’ after the media broke the story?

Perplexingly, the police have latched on to the Uthiru-bound man’s bizarre story and not the lady’s. Ironically, the Uthiru-bound man never reported his bizarre story to the police immediately after he ‘saw the badly injured lady’. He conveniently waited until the media broke the story one week later. Why? Was he planted? Is he a real witness?

Between the two stories, which one sounds more credible and therefore believable? Why shouldn’t the police treat the Uthiru-bound man as a potential suspect?

There is another peculiar detail: When Mercy’s body was found on the road, there was not much blood at the scene. Why? If Mercy was a victim of a ‘hit-and-run’ and her body badly mangled as a result, as the corrupt and incompetent police want us to believe, why wasn’t the scene messy with blood? The police said Mercy’s skull had no brain; did they find parts of her brain on the road? If not, why? Isn’t it possible that the body was mutilated elsewhere before being dumped on the highway? Isn’t it also possible that the murderers are the same people who repeatedly ran over Mercy’s body after dumping it on the highway? Why didn’t the police visit the scene immediately after the report by the lady? On what basis have they latched on to the hit-and-run concoction?

Why haven’t the police thoroughly investigated everyone at the party, including the ‘boss’, cooks, waiters, watchmen and security people? How about the drug-dealing angle? What happened to the CCTV cameras? Have those been investigated? Why not? We want to know.

The Kenya Police have become unacceptably inept and corrupt. In the Samuel Wanjiru case, the police have refused to investigate a credible story linking the deceased’s wife to a senior police officer in Nyahururu. They have refused to disclose who were in the Toyota Prado that arrived at the Wanjiru compound with Teresia Njeri that fateful night. They haven’t released the autopsy report and explained what caused the fatal blow to the back of Wanjiru’s head if he had jumped from the balcony as the police have alleged.

These are questions I would have asked, had I been involved as a lawyer in this case and other cases. And the police must answer them to our satisfaction instead of expecting us to swallow their garbage. We aren’t total idiots!

BELIEVE it or NOT …….She will be wedding in Kenya

Tuesday 11/09/2012 - After Brad Pitt split from Jennifer Aniston few thought that she would be the strong woman again. Aniston had to watch as Pitt graced red carpet events with Angelina Jolie and the media did not give her peace of mind.

However, Aniston is now set to get married to popular actor cum director Justin Theroux. The engaged couple is said to be avoiding a publicised wedding.

Word has it that the couple plans to come to our country Kenya for their honeymoon.

 According to the, Daily Mirror sources claim that suggesting the couple will elope in Kenya.

With the plans being put in place to enjoy a safari thousands of miles away from Hollywood, an arrangement with a few family and friends might be the couple’s choice. Hoping to get away during the beginning of December, the two would have more of an informal blessing with their vows and then return to Los Angeles for a party at a later time.

Most Hollywood couples are moving away to do their weddings in Africa. They thus intend to keep the wedding as private as possible.

Aniston is popular for films such as Horrible Bosses, Just go with it, Friends, rumour has it and Marley & me. 

According to Forbes she is one of the highest paid Hollywood actresses but falls behind Angelina Jolie.

The choreography of an Apple event

Apple CEO Tim Cook likely will introduce an iPhone 5 at Wednesday's event. But nobody knows for sure.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The stagecraft of Apple events is predictable yet effective
• Observers say the company makes its message clear, hammering a few points
• In tech, many companies fail to follow Marketing 101 and get bogged down
• Orchestrated events help the company sell its message

(CNN) -- When Apple CEO Tim Cook takes the stage Wednesday in San Francisco, presumably to introduce the world to the iPhone 5, everyone knows what's going to happen.

As a company that has honed image-making to a multi-billion-dollar science, Apple has drafted a detailed playbook for its product announcements. The stagecraft rarely, if ever, strays from that tried-and-true script.

Invited journalists and others will crowd into an auditorium decorated with cryptic banners teasing something vaguely exciting. Some edgy but accessible rock, from the counterculture whine of Dylan to the indie stylings of The Shins, will greet the audience as they settle into their seats. Then the show starts.

"Tim Cook will tell us all about Apple," said Rene Ritchie, editor-in-chief of iMore, an Apple-centric blog focused on mobile devices. "(Marketing vice president) Phil Schiller will come out and show us the new iPods. Then (vice president) Scott Forstall will come show us the software."

Finally, after almost an hour of mounting expectations, comes the big reveal. This time, it's going to be an iPhone 5, unless the company has perpetrated a hoodwinking of unprecedented proportions.

Steve Jobs was savvy at building anticipation for his "One more thing ..." surprise announcements of new products.

Predictable? Yes. But, boring? Not in the eyes of the hordes of Apple fanatics who will be hanging on every word.

Because when perhaps the most secretive company in tech holds an event, everyone thinks they know what's going to happen -- but no one knows exactly what's going to happen.

"It's like the Super Bowl and the Oscars of technology all rolled into one," Ritchie said.

A disciplined message

What to expect with new iPhone 5

Apple ripe for parody with iPhone 5

If that sounds over the top, consider the way then-CEO Steve Jobs unveiled a heretofore unknown device called the iPhone in 2007. Playing off of pre-event rumors, Jobs announced Apple would be indeed introducing a phone, along with a mobile internet device and "the best iPod we've ever made."

"Are you getting it?" he finally said, after saying "iPod," "phone" and "internet communications device" over and over again to an audience that had begun cheering like a college football crowd on game day. "These are not three separate devices. This is one device."

In recent years, tech product launches have come to look pretty much the same. A senior executive with a wireless microphone paces back and forth across a stage, spouting hyperbole while slides show impressive sales figures or images of new products.

But analysts say Apple has taken its stagecraft to a higher level. Jobs was famous at bringing emotion to his keynote talks and building anticipation for his "One more thing ..." surprise announcements of new products.

"Their discipline in how they deliver a message is extraordinary," said Van Baker, a research vice president at Gartner. "All you got to do is contrast an Apple event with a Microsoft event. You go to an Apple event and they say three things and they reiterate it about three times and there's one more thing they throw in at the end.

"When everybody leaves an event they know exactly what was announced and they know exactly what they're supposed to take away from it and exactly what the message is."

Ritchie puts it another way. "They tell you what they're going to tell you, they tell it to you, then they tell you what they told you."

The Apple events flip the script on the traditional "don't bury the lead" way of pushing out news. Instead of making the big announcement first, Cook and others likely will trot out a list of smaller news.

The number of new Apple Stores opened. Updates to Mac and mobile operating systems. Freshen-ups on products like iPods or Apple TV.

In an age of Twitter and live-blogging, it's a way to put details in front of the public that might otherwise get buried under the big news.

But the minutiae disappears the moment the ramp-up to the big reveal begins.

(There's some chance it might be "reveals" this week. In addition to the iPhone there's talk that a smaller "iPad Mini" might be on the way. With the iPhone 5 basically a foregone conclusion, that could be a candidate to be Cook's Jobsian "One More Thing ... .")

The company hasn't been averse to a little schtick to help with those reveals, either. At times, Jobs would riff humorously at events like the 2002 "funeral" for Mac OS9 or his 1999 chat with HAL 9000 of "2001" fame.

Oh, and about those cheering crowds: They're no accident either.

"They stock the front of the place with the Apple and Pixar people who are excited about it," Ritchie said. "That's so carefully staged. It's laid out very carefully to create a story."

Reality distortion

It's all elaborately crafted, yet oh, so simple.

"In truth for anyone who's been through an MBA program, it's marketing 101," Baker said. "But most companies, especially in the technology industry, just do not have the discipline to be able to do that ... . The vast majority of them are driven by an engineering culture rather than a marketing culture and they want to talk about everything that's in the product, and that leads to a dilution of the message."

The details of the formula have evolved over time. In Apple's earliest days, Jobs took the lead for entire events. But in recent years he began bringing in deputies such as Cook, Schiller and Forstall to share the stage -- in effect preparing a new generation of leaders.

Observers jokingly (or in the case of some rivals, angrily) call the end effect of these events Apple's "reality distortion field." The level of excitement is infectious and the message is hammered home in a manner to which even normally skeptical tech journalists aren't immune.

"They sort of get you where they want you to be and then they spoon feed it to you ...," Ritchie said. "It's easier for us to regurgitate it, whereas with other companies, they make you think about it and it's easier to scrutinize it."

The critiques of the products usually don't come until later, from outside the event hall. They have ranged from technical issues, such as the antenna problems on the iPhone 4, to light-hearted ruminations on whether more Apple engineers women in the room might have kept Apple's tablet from being called an "iPad."

But for at least one news cycle, those more probing questions tend to get buried under a wave of breathless reports about Apple's event.

"It's almost like an exercise in Sun Tzu for business presentations," Ritchie said, referencing the "Art of War" author.

Among the famous quotes from that ancient Chinese manual: "All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved."

Silver james: Teachers strike

Silver james: Teachers strike: With the ongoing teachers strike in kenya in its second week no better solution has come up so far.The ministers are raising alarms that ...

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Silver james: Tana delta massarcre

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Silver james: Dont let fear stand between you and success

Silver james: Dont let fear stand between you and success: On 27 April, the curtain fell on one of Kenya’s biggest rights issue that was marked with subdued interest from retail investors. You are ...

Dont let fear stand between you and success

On 27 April, the curtain fell on one of Kenya’s biggest rights issue that was marked with subdued interest from retail investors. You are now either holding more shares of Kenya Airways, if you took up the rights, or have diluted your shareholding, if you opted out.
Evident during the entire month of the shares offer was the conspicuous absence of retail investors. The usual players in stock investing appear to have been set up for the next price growth momentum that will attract them back to make a loss.
While some pundits have explained this unusual situation as resulting from the prevailing economic difficulties that have eroded the public’s purchasing power, I am persuaded otherwise. I believe that fear played a bigger role in eroding the usually buoyant mood — fear of loss resulting from the experience of the previous initial public offerings (IPO) post-issue flops.
I am convinced that over 90 per cent of the two million plus investors at the Nairobi Stock Exchange are first-time investors guided by “me too” moods more than economic research. And since there were no crowds to follow, there were only informed investors taking positions, lying in wait for the moment to make a kill.
In our last article, “You are what you think and feel”, we recalled that at home and in school, our failures were pointed out to us by well-meaning parents and teachers in a way that made us feel that something was wrong with us rather than the fact that something could have been wrong with our behaviour. The resulting self-doubt is detrimental. Deal with it.
Take a look at the events at the Nairobi Stock Exchange since the KenGen IPO. The economic environment for that IPO, the stock valuation and the pricing was so right that virtually everybody who put some money in the share made some profit. People who had sold their cows to buy shares made money and convinced themselves that their decisions were right, whether they were well informed or not.
Many good tidings followed, ending with the ill-timed Safaricom and British American IPOs. It is amazing how fear can impede learning.

House passes motion to deploy KDF to Tana Delta

MPs in the newly refurbished Chambers during the official opening at Parliament Buildings August 7, 2012. Parliament has passed a motion urging President Kibaki to deploy Kenya Defence Forces to quell clashes that have claimed 109 lives in the Tana Delta September 12, 2012   

By James kiama

 Posted  Wednesday, September 12  2012

In Summary

• Parliament approves motion urging President Kibaki to deploy Kenya Defence Forces to Tana Delta.
• Motion was sponsored by Garsen MP Danson Mungatana and his Bura counterpart Addi Nuh.
• Attorney General Githu Muigai says Parliament has no authority to order the deployment of KDF to Tana River.

On the advice of Attorney General Prof Githu Muigai and an amendment by an MP, Parliament will now have to wait for the President to deploy the Kenya Defence Forces to Tana Delta to restore law and order.

Prof Muigai said Parliament would be usurping the President’s role by approving the deployment of the military.

He said, legally, Parliament should only be asked to approve a deployment of the forces rather than initiate it.

This prompted the introduction of the amendment by Fafi MP Adan Sugow to change the crucial word in the motion from “approves” to “urges”.  

This means that if the decision is made, the House would be asked for its approval in the same manner it did with the deployment of the KDF to Somalia to fight Al Shabaab.

The debate was punctuated with arguments over the role of Parliament, the origin of the clashes and whether it would be right to have the military tackle internal aggression.

Tana delta massarcre

Tension high in Tana Delta as 38 killed

• In Monday’s raid, the attackers, estimated at between 200 and 300 strong, first struck at a police post.
• 38 killed included nine police officers from the GSU, AP, and regular police, and 29 civilians.
• There have been allegations of oathing in  the Tana Delta, especially among farmers in Kipini.
• The oathing is also linked to sympathisers of the Mombasa Republican Council, who are said to have been trying to make inroads into the Tana Delta.

President Kibaki on Monday night ordered a dawn to dusk curfew in clashes-hit Tana Delta District after nine police officers and 29 villagers were killed in the latest tit-for-tat massacres.

The President invoked the Preservation of Public Security Act and directed the declaration and maintenance of a curfew among other measures to be published in a gazette notice.

In the meantime, additional detachments of security forces have been sent to the area. The Head of State condemned the killings and ordered security agencies to take firm and decisive action against those behind the skirmishes.

“The killings of innocent women, children, men and security officials is a heinous crime and the perpetrators must be punished accordingly,” he said, adding:

“The Government will get to the bottom of the matter. Local leaders must also take a proactive role and preach peace among area residents.”

In Monday’s raid, the attackers, estimated at between 200 and 300 strong, first struck at a police post established at Kilelengwani Primary School in Garsen constituency before pouring into the nearby Kilelengwani village. (SEE IN PICTURES: Tana River clashes)

They were armed with guns, machetes, spears, bows and arrows. The security team, drawn from the General Service Unit and regular police, said the attackers tricked them that they were villagers fleeing an attack.

When the officers went out to investigate the calls for help, the raiders opened fire. The officers said the attack on Kilelengwani, an Orma settlement, was by suspected Pokomos in retaliation to last week’s raid on Chamwanamuma village where 12 people were killed.

A witness, Ishmael Jaso, 33, said he was sleeping in his house when the alarm was raised that the village had been attacked.

“When I came out, I saw a huge crowd of more than 500 people surrounding the village. They were torching houses and shooting people indiscriminately,” Jaso said.

Apart from burning 30 houses and a police Land Rover at Kilelengwani, the raiders also drove away several animals.

There have been allegations of oathing in  the Tana Delta, especially among farmers in Kipini. Sources told the Nation on Monday that some youths had taken an oath to protect the community and are believed to have carried out the attacks.

The oathing is also linked to sympathisers of the Mombasa Republican Council, who are said to have been trying to make inroads into the Tana Delta.

Police arrested some youths who had tattoos associated with the oath and charged them in a Garsen court on Monday. They denied the charges.

Ahadi Gonchoro,68, said he was in Garsen attending a court session when he was alerted of the attack. “When I came back the entire village had been razed,” he said. Mzee Gonchoro said the attack was politically motivated “because it had nothing to do with pasture or watering points.”

“The Pokomo have harvested their crops so we have no problem of cattle going into their farms, and there is enough water to cater for all of us.”

Sixteen men, eight women and five children were killed. Eight villagers are undergoing treatment at Witu Health Centre. The Kenya Red Cross said 167 houses were torched.

Did He Tattoo
Rihanna On His Neck?

Chris Brown insists his brand new neck tattoo is NOT a bizarre homage to Rihanna -- but if you look closely, the resemblance is uncanny.

The last photo we've seen of Chris without the tat is dated August 30th and the above photo was taken on September 1st, so CB got the ink job at some point between those two dates ... nearly a week before Rihanna kissed him at the MTV VMAs.

Sources really close to Chris tell us any similarities the tat has with Rihanna's face are purely coincidental -- "It's a random woman."

Read more: http://www.tmz.com#ixzz269n3aixG

Teachers strike

With the ongoing teachers strike in kenya in its second week no better solution has come up so far.The ministers are raising alarms that the president and prime minister should get to the table and resolve this matter,since the minister of education and mininster of finance have no solution and are not willing to take the burden.Far from that the teachers they were ready for the strike even though how long it takes due to this students will suffer especially the candidates,Form four and Standard eight candidates since they will be doing their final year examintion.The question is if the strike goes on till the national examination kicks off will the grade for going to university drop?.The president officialy commented on the strike that the teachers should be reasonsble as the country suffers in the economy and should come to a dialogue which he thinks will resolve the matter.I was surprised also to find out that also this same week some teachers in chicago were on strike what a coincidence?.Still threats coming from other civil servants are threaening to strike on 13 september,they are asking for their matters to looked into before things get crucial this year is when wonders has occured to kenya even as we wait for the general election to held next year march 2013 we will see whether this new cons
The teachers’ strike suffered a blow when the Industrial Court extended orders restraining them from participating in industrial action.
The strike was further thrown into a spin when the Kenya Union of Post- Primary Teachers (Kuppet) told the court its members were not on strike, but were set to begin mass action today.


In a replying affidavit, Kuppet General Secretary Akello Misori explained the union had not acted in contempt of court as claimed by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), as it had issued a strike notice for September 5.
Through lawyer Alexander Jaoko, Kuppet told the court that its members were waiting for the date to begin their strike. He asked the court to quash the order restraining them from taking part in the strike.
Irreparable loss
The post-secondary school union told the court the order stopping the strike would affect the teachers adversely, as they stand to suffer prejudice, irreparable loss, and damage.
Industrial court judge Justice Maureen Onyango, however, extended the orders that had been issued by Justice Byrum Ongaya following an application by the TSC objecting to the strike.
On its part TSC argues that the strike was illegal as the Salaries and Remuneration Commission was already addressing pay grievances. The strike was called by the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) and the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet), both demanding pay increases for their members. Knut is demanding salary increments and other allowances amounting to more than Sh43 billion from a deal they signed with the Government in 1997 ending a teachers’ strike.
The amount includes a 300 per cent salary increment, alongside responsibility allowance at 50 per cent, 40 per cent and 30 per cent for principals and their deputies, senior teachers and heads of departments respectively.
Last week, Finance minister Njeru Githae ruled out a pay increase for teachers, instead urging them to wait for the Salary and Remuneration Commission to harmonise salaries for all public servants.
Through lawyer Allan Sitima, TSC on Tuesday sought to have the industrial court uphold the High Court order issued last Friday.
titution will have a difference,thank you guys enjoy the reading.

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