Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has been linked with a L7m bid for Parma's Kenyan midfielder McDonald Mariga after a move for Real Madrid's Fernando Gago broke down.

According to reports, representatives from City and Mariga have had productive talks over the move, which could involve Bulgarian striker Valeri Bojinov heading in the opposite direction on a permanent basis. Bojinov is already on loan at Parma.

There was panic at the Nairobi Central Police station when a powerful bomb was found onboard a matatu that was headed to Nakuru.

Police said the 14-seater matatu had stopped for normal security checks when officers discovered the device.

“We usually conduct security searches for all matatus plying the Nairobi-Nakuru highway, so when this particular one came in for the check, all passengers were ordered to alight. Before the search could begin, a man sneaked away and fled,” the division’s commander Richard Muguai said.

He added that “the bomb was discovered in a bag.”

“Our officers were going through all the luggage, and when they were inspecting one of the bags, they found the devise and demanded to know who the owner was, that is when the other passengers said that they heard him asking to be shown the washrooms,” he added.

The matatu was immediately detained and passengers screened further but no other dangerous item was found.

Mr Muguai said a manhunt had been launched for the owner of the luggage.

He said “officers will seek details of the passenger from the booking office of the matatu.”

Passengers in the matatu were later given alternative transport from the booking office.

Experts from the Bomb Disposal Unit were later called to the scene where they examined the device and described it as a “dangerous mortar propelled bomb.”

“This is a dangerous bomb, it can bring down a building and it therefore needs to be handled with care,” a police officer attached to the unit told Capital News before they loaded it in their vehicle.

He said they would examine it further at the CID headquarters and later destroy it.

On Tuesday, residents were evacuated from Maua town after an explosive devise was recovered behind a supermarket.

Bomb disposal unit officers later took it away and destroyed it at the CID headquarters.

RnB star 'fathered son with 14-year-old Kenyan girl'

Sisqo is reported to have fathered a child with a 14-year-old girl more than ten years ago, a Swiss court has heard.
The News of the World reports that the court decided the RnB star is the father of the child, a boy named Ian, with a Kenyan-born girl he met at a VIP reception following a concert in Zurich in 1999.

Woman threatens suicide over daughter

A Kenyan woman has threatened to commit suicide if her daughter under custody of the Gulu probation department is not handed over to her.

The 34-year-old woman stormed Gulu Police Station on Monday saying her daughter was being illegally kept by the authority.

Her daughter, a student of Merryland High in Entebbe is being kept by the Police after she complained that her mother wanted to marry her off to a Sudanese soldier.

Ms Nakapel argues that the case be referred to the Kenyan embassy in Kampala.

“My child is exposed to sexual abuse here, she is even pregnant and sick,” she claimed.

But the student has since refused to go with her mother for fear of getting forced into marriage.

Early last month, she sought protection from the Police and accused her mother of forcing her to marry a senior army officer in the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Army.

She has now spent a month under custody of the probation office. The district probation officer, Mr Samuel Ouma, said he has obtained a temporary custody over the girl.

Best young Food Engineers in Europe 2009

Meet Dr Joshua Arimi a Kenyan food scientist winner of best young food engineers in Europe 2009.

Academic achievement in 2009

Nominated as the best PhD student to represent Ireland in Europe during a conference organized by European Federation of Chemical Engineers (EFCE). The conference was held in Naples, Italy.

Won: Best young Food Engineers in Europe 2009

On 7th December 2009, I graduated with a PhD Degree in Food Science. This is a milestone towards achieving my child-hood dream.

Review of the year 2009

The year 2009 has been a roller coaster for me, with some of the very exciting and memorable moments and some that I wish never to remember.

The first three months, I was under counseling to overcome depression. This was a carry over from previous year, 2008 August.

I had always associated depression and counseling with a lot of stigma. I thought depression and counseling is a disease for the Joe on the street, not me. I have so far changed this outdated way of thinking.

It is important to seek help if you feel your life is driving you crazy. It is not a weakness to seek help.  It was my choice to get helped rather than live in denial. You also have a choice, either live in denial or seek help.

Most memorable moment in 2009

The most unforgettable moment in 2009 was on 24th July sitting in the delivery ward watching and witnessing the birth of our son, Victor. His first unique cry still rings in my mind.

I cannot explain the feeling of delight as a man sitting in a delivery ward seeing exactly what goes on in there. It is an eye opener.

I would recommend all fathers to accompany their wives to the delivery ward. In addition to offering her emotional support, you will create irrevocable bond with her and your baby.

Change Your T Website

I have always incubated an idea of building a personal website. This year in September I decided to launch this website- Change your T.

To me, it is a great success. It offers me an avenue to share my experiences and lessons that I learn in life with others.

It also offers me a point to meet readers like you.

Precisely, I launched Change your T on 09-09-09. Currently it has 65 subscribers, and still counting. I have posted 39 articles and 1 guest article by Uplifting-lives. The articles have attracted over 400 comments.

At the moment, I do not make any money from Change Your T website and I am not planning to add any advertisements to make money.

This website is purely to share any beneficial information that I learn in life with the readers. However, if readers feel what I write positively impacts their lives, they are always welcome to offer any kind of support they wish.

Simple, yet powerful financial decision that I made in 2009

At the start of 2009, I decided to save 2 euros (approximately Kshs 200) every day. This was the amount I used to spend to buy a cup of cheap coffee and doughnut for 10 O’clock tea break. Instead of  buying coffee, I started making coffee by boiling water in office. In addition to saving 2 Euros, I decided to put aside another 1 Euro (Kshs 100) everyday. The 1 Euro was intended to take care of my expenses whenever I go to Kenya for holidays (I come from Kenya). For your information, this is not an investment, it is just a good habit.

This amount is 1095 Euros (Kshs 109,500) now. This is enough money to take my family for a holiday in Zanzibar for 2 weeks.

It is therefore very possible to accumulate a huge sum of money from mall savings. Cumulatively these small savings can help you achieve what you might have considered as a dream. I am planning to keep this habit to cater for my holiday expenses every year.

Looking forward to 2010

One powerful word that can be used to describe Michuki, is: Determined or action oriented.

I do not understand why people generalise by classifying all Kenyan politicians as useless. It is high time we change our thinking.

Michuki has transferred his envious character of action to the muddy Kenyan politics with spectacular outcomes. But wait a minute, why would I say Michuki is a determined person.

John Njoroge Michuki is a Kenyan politician currently holding the docket of Minister for environment. He was born in 1932 in Murang’a. His resilient character became apparent when he dropped from primary school in 1943 due to lack of fees. He moved to Nairobi to do odd jobs to raise money for his education. Although he resumed his primary education, he continued to struggle financially. However, through shifting schools he managed to do his Kenya African Primary Education (KAPE) certificate exams.

He joined Nyeri High School and went on to the then prestigious Mang’u high school for his Advanced (A) level exams

Extra Factor of Michuki

Kenyan politicians are simply without culture of delivering, even if it is taking CDF money to their constituents.

If you are a Kenyan or a tourist visiting Kenya, there is one thing that is peculiar with Kenyan public transport. All public transport vehicles are conspicuous due shouting colours and have unique yellow line. When I see this yellow line, it straight away reminds me of Michuki. Actually when he introduced the public transport rules they were baptized Michuki rules. Michuki rules brought sanity to Kenyan public transport.

When he was shuffled to ministry of defence, Michuki never disappointed. He delivered action with great measure. To preempt Kenya against unfounded political turmoil, he infamously invaded Standard Newspapers publishing house. Later he said, if you rattle a snake, you will be bitten.

Nairobi is a polluted city, particularly with clear, small, transparent plastic bags. But the biggest victim of Nairobi’s pollution is Nairobi River. The river used to look as black as a charcoal due to domestic and industrial waste drained into it. Nothing has been surviving in Nairobi River even the tolerant algae. However, of late Nairobi River is clear, clean and fish are surviving again, courtesy of John Njoroge Michuki.

Michuki as the minister for environment has cleaned Nairobi River. He received recognition from the UNEP in Basel, Switzerland on 9th December 2009. These are the word of Director of UNEP describing Michuki “Here is a man who looks beyond short-term ambitions, and acts for future generations; someone who is not driven by short-term interest, but by public interest.”

I wish these words will be used to describe me and you in 2010.

Many thought Michuki was demoted by being moved from powerful ministry of Defence to Environment. However, He is sticking his head out despite being in lowly regarded ministry. In 2010, stand out from the crowd regardless of your position.  Deliver, show action, transform misfortune to opportunity, convert disadvantage to advantage, provide hope where there is hopelessness. Let there be life to the lifeless.

By Joshua Arimi