June 28, 2024: Top news events to look out for today
By Joel Sang, June 28, 2024
Here is what you need to know to get up to speed with today’s happenings.
Angry youth
After the withdrawal of the Finance Bill 2024, eyes will be on the youth to see whether their opposition to William Ruto‘s regime will dissipate or not.
The president announced the withdrawal of the bill on Wednesday, June 26, 2024, but the youth were seen on the streets of major towns in the country chanting anti-Ruto songs on Thursday.
The Finance Bill debate is expected to attract a major spotlight throughout the day and the influential frontline individuals pushing for more protests will also attract public limelight.
Eyes on security agencies
After Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua threw the Director General of the National Intelligence Service Noordin Haji under the bus in the aftermath of the protests, key observers will be keen to see whether changes will be made in the state docket.
Haji has also not publicly responded to Gachagua’s claims of incompetence. The Gachagua-Haji rift is also expected to attract reactions from the security stakeholders and political leaders given that both hold top positions in the government.
Paris Olympic preparations
Kenya’s main focus in sports is the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympic Games which are just under one month away.
After the Ministry of Sports and the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK) signed a Memorandum of Understanding a great working relationship is expected between the two entities in order to give athletes top-level preparations before the global showdown in France.
For now, an anti-doping campaign has been heightened and the Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba told the athletes not to be tempted to cheat.
“I want to applaud our anti-doping efforts as we prepare to get to Paris in the next 30 days. We have made it clear that we are a zero-tolerance doping country. We have made it very clear to our athletes that we want them to compete clean and continue Kenya’s very proud heritage of a country that has no space for doping.
“We have encouraged our athletes that they have what it takes to compete well and win without any enhancement,” Namwamba noted in his Thursday presser.
Kenya has already named its Olympic Games team and hopes are high they will carry the flag high in the July-August duel.