Mwakilishi News Bulletin - Midday Edition, Wednesday 11 November 2026

Midday Edition for Wednesday, 11 November 2026. Running time 8:07.

In this bulletin

Diaspora News

1. Kenyan woman sentenced to 100 lashes in Saudi Arabia (see also: Pregnant Kenyan Woman in Saudi Arabia Sentenced to 100 Lashes for Pregnancy Outside Marriage )
2. Kenyan MBA student dies in UK days before graduation

Immigration News

1. Germany-funded TVET scholarships close November the eighteenth
2. IBM ends H-1B and green card sponsorship in consulting

Kenya News

1. Ida Odinga backs ODM and the broad-based government
2. Nairobi may miss the El Niño rains, Met says
3. Lawyers boycott courts over advocate Abdi's abduction
4. Uhuru and Gachagua signal realignment at memorial service
5. Kenya refuses foreign Ebola quarantine requests
6. Forecasters warn of one of the strongest El Niños on record

Business News

1. Sudan lifts twenty-month ban on Kenyan tea

Transcript

This is the news from Mwakilishi.com.

Good afternoon. It's midday on Wednesday, the eleventh of November, and here is your midday edition.

Coming up.

A Kenyan mother faces one hundred lashes in Saudi Arabia after giving birth.

Ida Odinga declares support for Ruto's broad-based government ahead of twenty twenty-seven.

Sudan ends twenty-month ban on Kenyan tea after Ruto-Idris talks.

Those stories, and more, in the next few minutes.

We begin with diaspora news, and a forty-year-old Kenyan domestic worker in Saudi Arabia has been sentenced to one hundred lashes and a year of banishment. Esther Wanja Muthoni was convicted in Riyadh of having sex outside marriage after giving birth in August. She had no lawyer, only a court translator, and chose not to appeal, hoping to return home with her young son. She told The New York Times she is so afraid. Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing'oei called the sentence cruel and inhuman.

Also in diaspora news, a thirty-one-year-old Kenyan student has died in the United Kingdom days before his graduation. Meshack Mbatha Kilonzo was found dead in his room on Friday at the University of South Wales' Treforest campus, where he was about to complete a Master of Business Administration degree. British police have launched an investigation into the circumstances of his death. The family, from Chepkorio in Eldoret, is appealing for financial help to repatriate his body. Organizers urged the diaspora to support his sister through prayers and contributions.

Turning to immigration news, Kenyan youth have until November the eighteenth to apply for one thousand two hundred fully funded scholarships in food and agriculture. The German government is funding the program through KfW, alongside Kenya's Ministry of Education and the Equity Group Foundation. Applicants must be eighteen to thirty-five and first secure admission to one of fifty-one participating technical training institutions. The scholarships cover Level Five certificates and Level Six diplomas. Special consideration goes to women, persons with disabilities and marginalized groups.

Staying with immigration, IBM is ending H-1B visa and green card sponsorship for most roles in its consulting division. Affected staff must move abroad or leave by the end of twenty twenty-six. IBM Consulting employs more than one hundred and fifty thousand people globally. The company has not said how many are affected. Federal data shows one thousand six hundred and eleven H-1B approvals in the twenty twenty-six fiscal year, down from two thousand and forty-five. The move comes as the Trump administration tightens immigration rules.

Turning to news from Kenya, Ida Odinga has declared support for the Orange Democratic Movement and the broad-based government, dealing a setback to opposition factions chasing the party's base before the twenty twenty-seven elections. Speaking in Suba North on Tuesday, Raila Odinga's widow said her husband instructed her to back President Ruto's administration before his death in October twenty twenty-five. She told supporters, where he left you is where you should stand. Her endorsement counters the Linda Mwananchi camp led by Senator Edwin Sifuna and Governor James Orengo.

Staying with Kenya, Nairobi residents hoping for El Niño downpours may wait longer, or miss them entirely. The Kenya Meteorological Service says local ocean temperatures are failing to trigger the expected heavy rainfall. Eastern Region Deputy Director Richard Muita, speaking on Spice FM, said El Niño drives rainfall patterns across the world but is not rainfall itself. He said local rains depend on the Indian Ocean Dipole, comparing conditions to twenty fifteen, when strong El Niño indicators failed to bring expected rainfall because the Indian Ocean was weak.

Also in Kenya, lawyers will boycott court sessions nationwide over the alleged abduction of advocate Abshir Abdi. The Law Society announced this on Wednesday as advocates marked a seventh day of protests, marching from the Milimani Law Courts to police headquarters. Abdi was allegedly seized on the first of November outside Kilimani Police Station, and ten days on, authorities have not produced him. A Makadara magistrate has summoned five people, including anti-terrorism and intelligence officers, to appear on Friday the thirteenth. Investigations chief Mohamed Amin denies police involvement.

Still on Kenyan politics, former President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua have signalled a political realignment at a family memorial service in Nairobi. Speaking at PCEA Nairobi West Church during the requiem for Uhuru's first cousin, Gachagua apologised for ignoring Uhuru's counsel before the twenty twenty-two election, saying he warned them not to elect President Ruto. In a Gikuyu parable, Gachagua said the leopard eventually turned on him and removed one eye. He rallied support for a one-term campaign against Ruto in twenty twenty-seven.

In other Kenya news, foreign countries will no longer be allowed to use Kenyan facilities as Ebola quarantine sites. Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale said the decision is final, after the United States sought to quarantine citizens returning from the Democratic Republic of Congo at a facility in Laikipia. He said the ministry will not issue Ebola-free certifications for travel. Kenya discharged its last Ebola patient on Wednesday, with zero active cases. If no new cases emerge, Kenya will be declared Ebola-free on December the twenty-third.

Staying with the weather, forecasters warn the developing El Niño could become one of the strongest on record, with heavy rain and flooding predicted for Kenya. The warning has stirred deep anxiety in a country where past floods destroyed homes, roads and livelihoods. One Kenyan quoted in a BBC report says it can kill us. El Niño is a natural climate pattern that begins with warming seas in the tropical Pacific, disrupting wind and rainfall patterns worldwide. It most strongly influences Kenya's short rains, from October to December.

Turning to business news, Sudan has lifted a twenty-month ban on tea imports from Kenya, after talks between President William Ruto and Sudanese Prime Minister Kamil Idris. The decision restores Sudan's access to the Mombasa tea auction, the world's largest marketplace for black tea. The ban was imposed in early twenty twenty-five after Kenya hosted a ceremony where the Rapid Support Forces signed a charter for a parallel administration. Kenya is the world's largest black tea exporter, producing about five hundred and seventy million kilogrammes in twenty twenty-three.

And that is your midday edition. The next bulletin is at 6 o'clock this evening. You can read every one of these stories in full, and much more besides, at Mwakilishi.com.

Have a good afternoon.

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