Solai Dam Tragedy: What We Know So Far

Rescue workers searching for survivors in the aftermath of the Solai Dam disaster

At least 40 people (including 20 children)  lost their lives and 47 have been injured after a dam burst in the town of Solai, 190km (120 miles) north-west of the capital, Nairobi. according to the Red Cross.

The Backstory

• At around 8pm Wednesday 9 May 2018, a dam within the farm of a prominent farmer Mansukul Patel in Solai, Kabazi Ward collapsed, spewing forth water that swept across densely populated villages and destroying homes and buildings along the way.
• At least 40 have so far been confirmed dead while tens of others are unaccounted for.
• At least 500 families and 2,500 residents have been affected
• Ambulances from County Government, Red Cross and GDC have been helping with the operation.Leaders who joined the search included Governor, Regional Coordinator, County Commissioner rep, Police County Commander, CIO, MP, area DCC, OCPD, DCIO and area MCAs

Details

• Interior CS Fred Matiang'i was briefed and pledged government support to be delivered from Nairobi this morning. He later visited the scene.
• The dam, also known as Patel Dam in solai, was owned by a Mr.  Mansukul Patel who grows macadamia nuts in his farm and has even established Patel Secondary School in the area
• Euloge Ishimwe, Africa region head of communications for the International Federation of Red Cross, told CNN that thousands of people could be displaced.
• "At around 7:30 pm...when the power went out and we started praying for the water not to submerge us..." residents of Solai, Subukia recounted their ordeal when Solai Dam in Nakuru County burst last night
• Sections of Solai, Patel farm, Kiboronjo farm, Kamkunji, Larger Subukia, Flora-ora, Kisanana and adjacent areas are currently off supply after our power lines were swept away by raging waters of the collapsed Patel dam in Solai, Nakuru County.

News Update
The Solai Dam tragedy in Nakuru County is very very serious. Death Toll could hit 50.
250 homes swept away, at least 2,500 people affected.
Patel dam in Solai, Nakuru broke it's walls and raging waters swept away homes at night. pic.twitter.com/gDh9DgG2gf

— Francis Gachuri (@Fchurii) May 10, 2018

Heavy rainfall and floods have hit East Africa in recent months with Kenya and Rwanda among the worst hit.

Reports indicate that the dam had been leaking but nothing had been done.






More to follow

Kenyan YouTuber Rikkie Facing Nudes Blackmail

One of Kenya's most popular lifestyle vlogger Rikkie is facing one of the toughest times of her YouTube career.
The lady with more than 14000 subscribers took to the platform to tell her fans that she received an anonymous email in which a nude photo of her was attached. The sender of the mail told her to pay Ksh40000 or else her reputation would be ruined.
Rikkie says the police are handling the case. Watch the video below.

The Richest Celebrities In Kenya 2018

In the mess that is Kenya’s showbiz, a number of celebrities have risen above the debris with tangible investments and hard cash. Here’s a list of Kenya’s richest in the entertainment industry. 

Why You Should Avoid HELB Loans Like A Plague

As a Kenyan student you will never live to see a more terrible foe than the Higher Education Loans Board. Under this bank, that hides under the disguise of being a board, you will be beaten and banished and you will be more desperate than ever.

Most students as it currently stands receive between 35,000 and 60,000 annually from HELB. 8000 of this amount is directly channeled to the university to cover your tuition fees.

A typical student will spend the rest of the money on luxuries easily done without. This is evidenced by the high number of bars that crop up every day around universities. This is more visible in the recently created universities around the country.

Those who do not drink, or do not have livers strong enough to stand Senator Keg of the entire amount spend the rest of the money treat their girlfriends to dates and meals their parents couldn’t afford to provide them with.

The problem comes when you are done with your studies and HELB is happy to remind you of your loan obligations.

HELB has gone the distance of making sure it is law that you produce a HELB clearance certificate when seeking some important services and even employment opportunities. The certificate issue is so serious that accomplished lawyer Professor Makau Mutua was disqualified from the Chief Justice job based on the fact that he did not have a HELB clearance certificate.

To take the loan if you can afford to fend for your daily needs in campus is to court danger. The board seems to have mastered the art of feeding on chaos by choosing to prey on vulnerable graduates who would rather spend all their money on printing and sending their application letters to potential employers who never bother to even look at those letters.

The board needs to put in place structures to guide young campus students on ways to manage their expenditures and make sound financial decisions.

The Peculiar Invasion Of YouTube By Fading Kenyan Celebrities

The rush for YouTube gold in Kenya has finally reached its peak. Celebrities who are drowning and are inevitably being forgotten by their audiences are finding a new home in YouTube.

Are they genuine about using this platform to be closer to their fans or is it that they are just never ready to have the spotlight removed from them?

YouTube is a very unique platform. From it influential individuals have emerged in the name of vloggers. Others are turning to the platform to showcase their talents in an affordable way while others are commercializing their hobbies.

Makeup artists like Kangai Mwiti and Joanna Kinuthia have amassed huge online followings through their makeup tutorials and beauty tips. Another crop of individuals like Elodie Zone and Rikkie are documenting their lives.

But there is a group of self-entitled human beings from the mainstream media who fit in the stardom status of traditional media who have invaded YouTube and churning out content regardless of whether the target audience relates or not.

Kenyan celebrities are the most selfish and narcissistic of their kind. Anytime a secular artist is fading away they turn to gospel and kick off tasteless media tours describing how Jesus Christ saved them from the jaws of worldly things.

A socialite who is growing old will either release steamy photos and claim they have been leaked or end a relationship in a nasty way to regain momentum.

All these styles have been unearthed by Kenyans and seeing that they have ran out of options they are turning to YouTube. Their YouTube channels are a great contradiction of what YouTube is supposed to be, authentic, and riddled with PR gimmicks synonymous with mainstream media.

With a total following of more than one million across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, veteran journalist Kalekye Mumo failed to crack YouTube with her channel The Me I want With Kalekye Mumo failing to kick off.  Kalekye Mumo gave up the channel to What’s Good Network but has since stopped filming for it.

Adelle Onyango who runs a breakfast show on Kiss FM also started a YouTube channel but failed miserably. So low are her views that she rarely mentions the channel anywhere else. Others like Sheila Mwanyigha are also struggling.

The recent entry of Vera Sidika into the ecosystem has left many people wondering how far these fading celebrities are willing to go to salvage what is left of their dying careers.

When your time to be forgotten comes, it is important to note that this is your inevitable end.