February 7, 2024: Top news events to look out for today

Wednesday, February 7th, 2024 07:08 | By

Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko. PHOTO/Print

Here is what you need to know to get up to speed with today's happenings.

1. Ruling on Sonko

Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko's graft case is set to be ruled today at the Milimani Anti-corruption Court.

Sonko alongside 16 others was charged with conflict of interest allegations related to a joint conspiracy between the former county boss and directors of private limited companies to embezzle Ksh24.1 million from Nairobi County

2. Ruto's Japan trip

President William Ruto's official visit to Japan continues.

The Head of State who is accompanied by First Lady Rachel Ruto to Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi will be in the Far East nation until February 9, 2024.

He is expected to engage his host in bilateral talks and to seek assistance on technical issues that will mainly focus on economic cooperation in key sectors such as health, ICT, infrastructure, energy, and financial services.

This is Ruto's second visit to Japan as he first visited the country when he served as a Deputy President on the occasion of the Fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V) in 2013.

3. AFCON semis

The Africa Cup of Nations semifinal pits the two best defences in the tournament against each other. Both South Africa and Nigeria have kept four clean sheets in a row.

Bafana Bafana face old times foes, Nigeria, on Wednesday, February 7, 2024, in what will be a repeat of the 2000 semifinals that saw the Super Eagles overcome the 1996 champions 2-0 in Lagos

The rivalry between the two sides will be renewed as Nigeria chases the fourth title while South Africa looks ahead to what has been an elusive second.

On the other hand, hosts Cote d'Ivoire are lined up for DR Congo, their first encounter since a 2-2 draw in the 2017 group stages.

Côte d'Ivoire have faced DR Congo five times previously at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations where they won and lost twice and shared points(W2 D2 L1).

In the knockout phase, the only previous meeting between Côte d'Ivoire and DR Congo was at the semi-final stage in 2015; the Elephants won 3-1 and went on to win the trophy that year.