Fears of Prime Minister Raila Odinga ascending to the presidency after the 2007 general election by close confidantes of President Kibaki have been revealed in a diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks, reports the Daily Nation. A Cabinet minister warned a US embassy official that Mr Odinga was likely to turn into a dictator if he won the hotly disputed general election.

Kenya Female Advisory Organisation (KEFEADO) in partnership with the Urgent Action Fund – Africa are pleased to announce a new grant to support undergraduate and masters women students in Kenyan universities who are in the final stages of their dissertation work. The Dolphine Okech Writing Grant (DOWG) seeks to facilitate rigorous engagement of undergraduate and masters students in research, strengthen their research skills, and provide the fellows an opportunity for timely completion of their dissertations.

This International Land Coalition report analyses the illegal/irregular acquisition of land by Kenya’s elites to ascertain the types of land affected, the processes used to acquire land, and the profiles of the perpetrators, as well as to identify the victims and the impacts of land grabbing.

This Amnesty International report shows that for many women living in informal settlements, poverty is both a consequence and a cause of violence. Many women who suffer physical, sexual or psychological violence lose income as a result and their productive capacity is impaired. Violence against women also impoverishes their families, communities and societies.

Inspired by events in Egypt and Tunisia, will Kenya witness its own revolution, asks Gado.

Pressure piled on President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to defuse rising tension in the country following their standoff over state office nominations and declaration of political warfare by their lieutenants, reports The Standard. There was also fear their disagreement over picking of nominees to key judicial postings and newly created Budget Office would compromise the implementation of the Constitution, and poison the road to next year’s general election.

Wesley Kipkoech*, 21, may be illiterate and speak only his native Ndorobo tongue, but he understands all too well that if he does not have regular access to his HIV medication, he is likely to die. Kipkoech is one of hundreds of internally displaced people living on the edges of the Mau Forest Complex in Kenya's Rift Valley Province after the government began evicting them in 2009, in a bid to rehabilitate the forest after decades of farming, charcoal burning and other harmful activities.

Carol Gor, 36, thought her chances of obtaining a secondary education ended 11 years ago when her parents, who rely on fishing along Lake Victoria, failed to raise the fees. She stayed at home for a few years, got pregnant and was soon married. But in 2009, Gor sat the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) alongside her second-eldest son. Her oldest son was completing secondary school then. She has since joined an NGO-sponsored, girls-only secondary school in Muhuru Bay, where students are on full scholarship.

Orchestrated violence following hotly contested presidential election results in December 2007 led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people. Many are still struggling to rebuild their lives in their new homes, despite a government compensation scheme.

The poems of Kenyan human rights campaigner Philo Ikonya inspire a sense of urgency and provide a melodious and metaphorical wake-up call to courageous men and women in the struggle for justice, writes Khainga O’Okwemba.

Immunisation against pneumococcal disease, a leading killer of children in Africa, is beginning as a vaccine made by British company GSK is rolled out across Kenya. Thousands of lives will be saved - but could it have been done more cheaply? asks this blog article from the London Guardian.

Talks to have private universities absorb some government sponsored students have stalled, reports the Daily Nation. The drive started last September when suspended Higher Education minister William Ruto invited heads of private universities to a meeting on increasing access to higher education. Ruto said expanding university education 'would give the economy the much needed human capital to drive its long-term growth strategy in line with Vision 2030'.

Gay Kenya has announced their February 2011 newsletter issue. The last issue focused on security of gay persons, which was further brought to fore with the killing of prominent Uganda gay rights activist, David Kato in late January. David Kato begins this issue, with the editorial and feature story focussing on him.

Journalists, broadcasters and media entrepreneurs on Monday raised a red flag over the proposed changes to the set of laws governing the operations of the media industry. Speaking at a consultative meeting at Nairobi's Sarova Panafric Hotel, the industry players said the government's draft Media Bill, 2010, was taking the industry 'many steps back'. According to the Media Council chairman, Dr Levi Obonyo, the proposal to limit the aspect of self-regulation in the new draft Bill is 'retrogressive'.

Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta has termed his pending case at The Hague as a 'political strategy' by his detractors to lock him out of the 2012 General Election. Kenyatta also dismissed International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo’s application that the six Kenyans he suspects to be the key perpetrators should not meet with each other.

As the government prepares for round two of the shuttle diplomacy in its efforts to seek deferral of the ICC case, a debate is raging on the implications of the move, reports the Daily Nation. And in the raging debate, there is a view that the country is slowly reclaiming its sovereignty and a counter argument that the move is seriously hurting Kenya’s image in the international community.

The Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation is in the process of popularising the highly subsidised malaria drugs now available in the country, reports the Daily Nation. Through the programme, the ministry and the private sector are offering treatments for less than Sh40, effectively bringing down the cost of malaria medicine from a high average of Sh500 per dose. Although these medicines have been around for several months now, many pharmacies have been selling them at prices far above those that have been recommended. This has prompted the current campaign to inform Kenyans that the medicines are available and that they need not buy them at the previous high prices.

Party of National Unity affiliated parties will consult on how to pull out of the grand coalition its deputy secretary general Jeremiah Kioni said on Sunday, reports the Daily Nation. PNU, which is a key party in President Kibaki’s alliance of parties that brought him to power and which is in the coalition with ODM, had last week indicated that it would want its top decision-making organ to call a conference to discuss withdrawal from the grand coalition.

Do you want to change the world? Are you a woman working in tech, or working for a cause in which Google Maps could help tell your story? Or perhaps you’re just interested in Google Map Maker and mapping your world, as well as interacting with other like minded women? Then join us at iHub on 12 February 2011 for a Mapping Party using Google Map Maker.

School enrolment has drastically dropped in Turkana County due to famine and insufficient learning materials, reports the Daily Nation. Most children have been forced to drop out of school and migrate with their parents in search of food and water due to the ongoing drought. 'The acute food shortage is impacting negatively on learning in the area. Some children have moved with their parents to areas far away from school in search of food,' said Turkana South district commissioner Joseph Kanyiri.