The Thrill, Drama and Chaos that defined The Bedroom Derby

The Thrill the Drama and chaos that was in the bedroom derby.
The much anticipated and hyped Kibra derby was back! After a year of no football in 2020 due to Covid 19 restrictions, fans and organizers could not help, but outdo all other sporting activities in the city on that day. Termed as bedroom derby, the game pitting Gogo boys and Kibra united, always promised thrill, Drama and chaos and as usual, it has never disappointed.


Seeing that the game had not been played for a while, the date 6th June was marked on every football fan calendar. Weeks of online promotion, banter and conversations saw fans engagement was too high and organizers of the event had to change venue a couple of times to focus on security crowd control and revenue generation for the home team.


What started as a rumour that fans will be charged 100 /= for entry, had set the stage for the first-ever printed Division 2 matchday tickets, which were totally sold out by 1pm on matchday. Fans had gone to various club offices and sale point but no ticket was found with rumours of over 2000 already sold out. At the gate, long queues of stranded fans, willing to pay cash were forming and at times the security was overpowered by those pushing to sneak in free.


With a full packed stadium, the game started a quarter to 4 pm on the nicely mowed lawn of Impala grounds. Both teams presented their star players with Gogo lining up with Obed and Roro while Kibra had Alolo and Oba. Fireworks were promised and that was exactly what was delivered. The first half had Gogo dominate the play, with Roro running the wings and Obed marshalling the midfield. A quick ball lobbed over the keeper set the pacy winger for a flick of the ball over the on-charging goalkeeper and headed home to an empty net, scoring the first goal on derby day. Gogo boys took the lead through Roro with a well-assisted ball from Obed.


After the break, the teams took off where they had left it. This time around it was Kibra united dominating play. Oba and Alolo were the Orchestras, with the talented Midfielder controlling the flow of the game while Oba was giving the defenders a run for their money. It wasn’t long before the ball was crossed from the right-wing after a nice dribble by Oba to be headed home by Aluong for the equalizer. The remainder of the game was a nail-biting affair but no more goals were scored sharing the spoils between the two teams.


As usual, the Kibra derby has always been a day for ‘Luku’ fresh and family day out. The fashion was on point the crowd was peaceful and the mood was festive. To the organizers thank you for a top-notch sporting event.

– Narrated By George Waweru, Pictures by Bencho Sports

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Student From Kibera Shines In KCSE

Kibera-born Student Allan Wasonga has become the second-best student overall in this year’s KSCE exams.
He scored 84 points, which is equivalent to grade A plain with a performance index of 87.17 from Agoro Sare high school in Oyugis, Homa bay county in western Kenya.
Speaking to KNN, who paid him a visit at their Kibera railway housing projects home, in Olympic, Allan attributed his success to hard work and endless studies amidst the challenges such as demolitions and political conflicts that come with living in the projects in Kibera.

He beat all odds, such as limited access to the study room, corona pandemic, and so many other challenges to make his parents, and his Kibera home proud.
His mother, Rose Auma, being a devoted Christian, shared her joy with KNN, thanking God for shining light on their home and making it possible for her son, Allan, to become one of the top students in the country.
“Even after the exams, my son Allan never let go of the book, he still spent his free time reading” she explains with a smile.
Allan Wasonga did his primary certificate exam in 2016 at Komarock Primary school in Kayole, where he scored 393 out of a possible 500 marks.
“I feel gratified and I feel very nice.. I realized that he was a boy with a lot of potentials and I had that extra eye on him” says Mr. Apando Julius, Allan’s class teacher who also acted as his mentor through his time at Agoro Sare High School.
Allan plans to venture into medicine and is looking forward to becoming a Neurosurgeon in the future.

  • Stephen ‘Banner’ Oduor
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MURDER IN THE RISE

Brutal murder is currently on the rise, there has been numerous cases of people killing each other, a good example is Kelvin Akal, a 24 year old Kisumu resident who murdered his 70 year old grandmother Jane Anyango on 5th April 2021 monday afternoon at Kisumu Nyalenda slum

Even before dust settled, there was another murder case. A police officer, Hillary Mutyambai, attached to CS Fred Matiangi’s office, shot and killed his wife Pauline Wakasa, then turned the gun on himself.


A recent story done by KNN reveals that, love and religious neglect is the cause of some of these murders. ” A man finds another man in his girlfriend’s house, that’s how murder happens” says Hamisi Mohammed. Poverty and depression are also believed to be the main causes of such murders. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZhn-cGO2c4)
Back home in Kibra, Gatwekera, in the month of march 2021, a man murders his wife by chopping out her private part using a machete leaving her in a critical condition and escape, just later to be found dead in the house by the neighbors who said that they were used to seeing the husband and wife having conflict almost everyday. It’s hard nowadays to relax watching news, being that, the first thing we see is, “BREAKING NEWS” of murder cases in each seconds, minutes, hours that passes by, and this, has to STOP!. It’s high time we go back to our humanity culture, where we used to be our brother’s keeper and to stop the mentality of so called “Human Being” and to embrace the mentality of “Being Human”.
Problems only get solved when people stop ignoring them, we tend to ignore the red flag that we come across either in the relationships or in the family issues. The best way to change our community and to save innocent souls away from murder cases is by identifying our problems and devoting our power and energy to finding the best solutions.

Author: Evelyne Awuor

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Kibera Beauty Contest 2019

After several weeks on intense training on leadership, governance, personal branding, entrepreneurship, sexual reproductive health, and mental health, that attracted up to 25 contestants from around Kibera.


It was time to determine who becomes the Miss and Mr. Kibera 2019/2020 in an event organized by Amani Kibera in partnership with various like-minded organizations and held at Olympic bus terminus on 7th of December Saturday 2019.
It was a leadership contest whose themes were ‘Jitambulishe (Identify yourself), Jiongoze (find your focus), Jiinue (Lift yourself up).


Joyce Wanjiru clichéd the Miss Kibera title while her male counterpart Phabio Kimani won Mr. Kibera.
Kibra Mp Imran Okoth and Nairobi Women Representative Esther Passaris graced the occasion.

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Kibra Mp Ken Okoth dies at 41

Kibra MP Ken Okoth dies at Nairobi Hospital at 41, family says. He had been battling colorectal cancer.
He was hospitalized again after arriving from France where he was under medication.
The Kibra Mp is said to have been rushed to Nairobi Hospital on Thursday and moved to ICU on Friday after multiple organ failure.
He will be remembered for his slogan ‘Elimu Kwanza’ under which he worked to uplift education standards in the constituency.

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Poetry Against Extra-Judicial Killings in Kibera

Poetry and spoken word artists came together on Saturday 22nd June at an event in Kibera Town Centre to remember one Charlton Maina who was allegedly shot by police in Kibera on his way from watching a football match on the 22nd December 2018.


The first purpose of the event was to expose spoken word talents in an aim to popularize it as an agenda of poetry. The event was also used to speak out against illegal ownership of guns by youth and extra-judicial killings in our informal settlements’ communities. The Commonwealth Youth Counsel in charge of policy & advocacy youth chair, Nafula Wafula, was also present.
Speaking to Kibera News Network after the event, she explained how poetry and art in general can be used as a tool to fight for human rights and call out the vices that are spread in our society, through an example of their partnership with grassroots organisations.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if a large number of people who attended have actually lost someone to a bullet, for one reason or another”, said Nafula when she spoke to us.

       Poet Chief Kadif with Madam Nafula Wafula, The Commonwealth         Youth Counsel in charge of policy & advocacy youth chair, Nafula Wafula,

The event was also used to inform Kibera residents about the partnership between the event-sponsoring organisations and Chirchir Law Chambers.  Their effort is to provide free legal aid to those from Kibera who have any issues that they would like to get a legal support for.

Chirchir Law Chambers Representitives

The law firm also took the time to educate the residents on their rights especially when it comes to being arrested by the police. They took them through what the law says and how they should behave in such scenarios.

Most of the spoken word artists who performed, confessed to have composed their poems after someone they knew or a close relative fell victim to the bullet.

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8-year old Egypt-Bound Kibera poet, Hope Wambui, talks to KNN

Hope Wambui Ochieng, an 8-year old poet girl from Kibera who performed for the Kenyan President during the opening of the Nairobi International Trade Fair, is among the five selected young kids from Kenya who will accompany the Kenyan Football team to Egypt Africa Cup Of Nations. Kibera News Network got hold of her for an interview.

Hope Wambui recites her poem on ‘CORRUPTION’ to The Kenyan President

1. When and how did you start poetry?
I started poetry at 5 years old. I would go to mum and tell her, ‘I want to do poem but I’m a small child still’. So she assisted me on how to start writing the poems.

2. How did it feel to perform to the President?
I felt good going to where The President Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta was. I did the poem and when he called me to greet him I felt so good.

3. Did someone help you? Who?
Yes, It’s mum who helped me. It was good to have mum writing for me the poems I did.

4. You have been selected to accompany the Kenyan National Football team, Harambee Stars to Egypt AFCON. What does that mean to you?
I was very happy and I would like to say thank you to everyone who voted for me to be able to go to Egypt. I won and I will go during the quarter finals of AFCON.

5. How do your peers at school see you lately?
At school my fellow pupils tell me, ‘Congratulations, eh you did good’

6. Do you have any advice or messages for your peers?
If they are talented then they should not let their talents go to waste. They too should tell their mums to help them with their talents.

7. Do you see this poetry as a talent you would want to pursue in future?
Yes, I want to do it until I become an adult, I want to travel to Nigeria with it, to Tanzania and even America if I get the chance.

8. Who or what inspires you the most?
Our different leaders we have. I would want to meet them too, especially the Chinese President and even the American President.

9. What else would you want to say?
I just want to say thank you to everyone who has supported me and even voted for me in different contests I have taken part in.

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Kibera Celebrates Menstrual Hygiene Day

Menstrual Hygiene Day (MH Day), May 28, is an annual global event to raise awareness about the challenges women and girls face due to menstruation and to highlight solutions that address these challenges.

The same challenges that affect most girls coming from Informal settlements such as Kibera.

Photo By Atieno Muyuyi

MH Day also provides a platform to advocate for making menstrual hygiene management (MHM) a part of local, national, and global policies, as well as programs, projects, and activities across global development sectors.

On Tuesday 28th May 2019, a group of Kibera youths and well-wishers came together to celebrate world menstrual hygiene Day. The event which saw the youths match from Kamukunji ground towards the venue at Center for community development and Human Rights Karanja estate near old kibera primary school was meant to celebrate women and girls in a unique way.


Photo By Atieno Muyuyi

The event attracted various partners who work with girls among them CFK, CFCD in collaborations with various girl’s schools and Human Rights groups from Kibera

There was inspiring entertainment on menstrual hygiene management which will include skits, poem, dance, spoken words among others.

They collected sanitary pads from volunteers and well-wishers to distribute to various institutions where girls can access them for free.


Photo By Atieno Muyuyi

The Message that everyone went home with was, ‘It’s time for action’.

Menstrual Challenges that Kibera Girls face
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Floods Cause Death in Gatwekera area of Kibera

At least three people were believed to have died after a flood swept away a section of Gatwekera village in Kibera due to the on-going heavy rains. 

Here is the map of Kibera’s areas affected by the floods of April, produced by Map Kibera.

Eyewitnesses said the deceased who were believed to be a woman and her 12-year-old daughter among others were swept away. The mother and her daughter are said to have been visiting a friend when they met the tragedy along the stream banks dividing Gatwekera and Raila villages in Kibera. The mother’s body and one unknown girl have so far been recovered in the Nairobi dam and taken to City Mortuary. The 12-year-old girl is still missing.

Samuel Okoth, another resident, came home only to find his house submerged and all his belongings floating on water. He could not save anything and has been left with only the clothes he was wearing at the time.

https://humansofkibera.tumblr.com/post/184411047840/samuel-okoth-gatwekera-i-came-back-from-work-at

“Most of our stuff was washed away and up to now, we haven’t recovered anything. We are just trying to get rid of the mud that had invaded our houses”, stated Felistas Akoth.

Another resident, Bishop Thomas Ogunde, added:  “When it started raining, the water from the pipes also bust out and started filling the stream. The bridge blocked the water which in the end overflowed washing away the houses including a part of my house.”

The Redcross was spotted at the scene of the tragedy in an effort to help those who were affected in one way or another.

The Area Chief also visited the scene and according to the eyewitnesses, he addressed those who had been affected by the floods.

The stream banks and the sewer lines in Kibera are prone to floods and mudslides, and it’s not the first time residents are losing their lives to floods.

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WEEK ONE KANGEMI OPEN SCHOOLS MAPPING EXPERIENCE

I was assigned to team one alongside two ladies, Clare & Gladwell on on our first field day. we also had Kibera News Network’s Eddie Juma as our camera person joining us for day one field day.
Day one was quite smooth, most of the schools we went to already had an idea of what we were doing thanks to the text messages they had received from the area APBET chairman, one Mr. Evans, about the Open schools mapping in Kangemi prior to the exercise kick off.


Day two of the schools mapping it was just the three of us (Clare, Gladwell and myself), our camera person from day one, that is Eddie Juma, had been assigned to a different group. just like day one, we didn’t have a hard time since the schools we went to already had an idea of the work we were doing from the texts and briefings they had earlier.
However, it couldn’t go without having one or two cases of school heads uncomfortable with giving information to strangers. there was this headteacher from a school known as ‘Genius school’ who thought we were working with a team known as WORK who she accused of having given her fake promises of how they will improve her school, which were not fulfilled, and so she was very much uncomfortable with the mapping and especially being asked questions she saw as too personal. she however let us ask the questions anyway and still answered them. she was also against taking pictures but still let us take them anyway.
the other interesting school we visited was one we found closed, apparently because of a funeral that was underway and from our observation we could see that one classroom had been brought down to give space for burial.
we also visited a school, Meta Meta, that doubled up as children’s home and the owner had newly born kids, probably less that a month old, who surprisingly were orphans. she told us how she has raised all the children in her center by herself as she is the only parent they have known. she schools them up to grade 6 then take them to government schools where she is also the one who takes care of everything until they are old enough. she has 3 sleeping rooms for girls and a similar number for boys all inside the premises.
later that day I developed a fever and headache and Clare from my team also happened to be a community health nurse so she took me to a nearby health center and tested me for malaria then made me see a doctor.


Day four which was also another field day we had Zack, Map Kibera lead mapper, join us in the field. we went back to the school that had a funeral and this time round it was open. only that the teacher wasn’t around. “he’s been gone for over two hours but will be back shortly’, said one pupil who also wanted to know what time it was and celebrated when we told him that it’s almost midday.
in one school the gatekeeper didn’t even allow us to go past the gate but called the ‘headteacher’ outside to speak to us. who, after listening to us introduce ourselves and read the letters from the MP and the District Education Officer, still said she’s not the one in charge and went to call another ‘more senior’ teacher who also listened to us do the introductions all over again but also said he’s not the one in charge and will get back to us when the person in charge is around. so Zack had to leave behind his contacts.


Day five we had Joshua, Map Kibera Project coordinator, join us in the field and I should say it was one smooth day. every school we visited was cooperative either from the way we introduced ourselves or from the fact that they had already been briefed about the project and already expected us.

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