South Africa's condom usage tanked to record lows, and the head of the National AIDS Council is freaking out about it. Dr Thembisile Xulu says the country still has around 8 million people living with HIV, but prevention efforts took a massive hit after US funding got axed in February and COVID messed up treatment access for years. The funding cuts killed off community outreach programs, and people basically stopped talking about HIV like it mattered anymore.
Xulu wants everyone tested and either on PrEP, using condoms, or getting circumcised if they test negative. New infections dropped from 211,955 in 2017 to 157,676 recently, but young people are ditching protection at alarming rates. The funding disaster could cause 85,000 extra...
The Springboks caught a break in the draw for the 2027 Rugby World Cup after getting grouped with Italy, Georgia, and Romania in Pool B. The defending champs are chasing their third straight title in Australia, and this grouping looks way easier than dealing with powerhouses right out the gate. They have beaten Italy in all 15 matchups, crushed Georgia three times, and demolished Romania twice.
South Africa enters as the top seed and should cruise through the pool stage before hitting the knockouts. The tournament expanded to 24 teams with a new round-of-16 format, giving the Boks more games to work through. Coach Rassie Erasmus has the squad stacked with talent like Siya Kolisi and Eben Etzebeth, and they dominated the 2024 Rugby...
Ruto pushed back on people, saying he wants to stick around for two decades after he talked about turning Kenya into a first-world nation within 20 to 30 years. He cleared things up at State House, explaining that critics twisted his words and made it sound like he wanted to stay in power that long. The president said he was just mapping out where the country could be in two decades based on recent progress, and he has zero interest in going past the constitutional limit of 10 years.
Ruto mentioned that being president is exhausting, and people constantly accuse him of stuff he never did. Billionaire Narendra Raval from DEVKI Group keeps publicly wishing Ruto could stay for 20 years, praising his economic reforms and how inflation...
President Ruto told people at State House that he had to make some brutal calls to keep Kenya from defaulting on its debt. He was receiving a security report when he explained how the country was in rough shape when he took over, with inflation hitting 9.6 percent and foreign reserves dropping to just 5.7 billion dollars. The dollar had climbed to 167, and things were looking pretty grim.
Ruto said he had to cut subsidies on fuel and flour, and he even stopped paying some debts temporarily to avoid total collapse. Five other countries defaulted that year, but Kenya managed to stay afloat. He admitted the decisions were tough and made him sad, but he felt like he had no choice if the country wanted to avoid embarrassment on the world...
Kenya's transport officials are telling everyone to watch themselves on the roads this December while throwing more cops and mobile courts at the usual holiday carnage. Andrew Kiplagat from NTSA and traffic commandant Fredrick Ochieng laid out plans for 24-hour highway patrols with speed guns and breathalyzers to catch violators instantly. The Matatu Sacco Owners Association warned that operators keep sending busted vehicles with bad brakes on long routes just to grab holiday cash, and passengers need to stop being scared to call out dangerous driving.
The government rolled out stricter enforcement after crashes jumped 2.6 percent this year, with mandatory retesting for arrested drivers through their digital tracking system. Free speed...
Oburu Oginga from ODM wants the government to finish everything on that 10-point deal Raila Odinga made with William Ruto before the next election cycle kicks off. The guy held a meeting with fresh ODM parliamentarians at Chungwa House and said the party killed it in recent by-elections thanks to their partnership with UDA. Both sides won every parliamentary seat they fought for under the broad-based setup.
Oburu stressed that ODM needs to stay energized and stop acting like a regional outfit when it should represent the whole country. The newly elected MPs are mostly younger people, and he wants the party to keep building strength across generations. He wrapped up by pushing for the complete execution of the agenda items that Raila...
Cleophas Malala from the Democratic Citizens Party basically called out William Ruto for trying to kill Rigathi Gachagua's career and watching it blow up in his face. The guy told a crowd in Kariobangi North that getting impeached actually made Gachagua stronger, and his party just won three random seats outside Mt. Kenya to prove the point. David Warui grabbed the MCA spot in Kariobangi North, while wins came through in Narok Township and Kisa East.
Malala roasted Ruto for thinking Gachagua would disappear after losing the deputy president job, but the party is pulling supporters from all over instead of just his base. Gachagua celebrated the victories by saying his seven-month-old operation destroyed parties that have been around for...
Kenya just turned Galana Kulalu into a Special Economic Zone to pull in foreign agriculture cash and juice up domestic farming operations. Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe dropped the news while laying out plans to commercialize government land that currently sits empty, and the designation gives investors tax breaks plus faster regulatory approval for crops and livestock ventures.
The government set up a one-stop office that lets companies grab agricultural land within a month instead of dealing with endless bureaucratic nonsense. The Nyumba Group already leased 300,000 acres and dropped over $50 million on irrigation systems and farm development that created 3,000 jobs along the coast. Other companies like Bayer Crop...
William Ruto said Kenya is getting 900 police stations built over the next couple of years since tons of communities sit miles away from any cop shop. The affordable housing program handles 300 stations while National Government Constituency Development Fund money pays for another 300, and the Interior Ministry builds the rest. The government is rolling out 24 sub-counties, plus hundreds of new divisions and sub-locations, to decentralize services better.
Chiefs and their assistants get promoted next July, and village elders across the country start getting 3,000 shillings monthly. Officers currently work out of garbage facilities like a two-room colonial building in Marakwet West that turns into a police cell at night, and some...
