Day: May 3, 2023

A total of 560 top students drawn from 51 secondary schools in Lugari Constituency are participating in two separate workshops dubbed academic villages, meant to enhance academic performance. The boys totaling 308 are at Kivaywa Boys High School, while 256 girls are at Archbishop Njenga Girls High School. According to the area Member of Parliament Nabii Nabwera who has sponsored the one-week academic villages ending on Saturday, his focus is to uplift the dismal performance of secondary schools in the constituency. Speaking at the girls’ workshop Tuesday, Nabii appealed to the candidates not to take the opportunities for granted. He said: ‘You should all look up to me. If you have any issue with your parents look up to me as your parent. All I am saying is that I am sacrificing in order for you to be better people in future. ‘I am giving you a lifetime opportunity because you can only access all the good things you dream of, if you have your own money. Just postpone wanting to enjoy today,’ he added. ‘Postpone laziness for these few months…..Listen carefully to your teachers and avoid looking for just a quality grade but rather aim for an A grade,’ reiterated the legislator. Nabii said he believes all the students partaking in the workshops are capable of scoring an A grade and that is why he is exposing them to the academic experience. ‘These teachers have taken me through the process you will undergo and I believe each of you is an A grade material. There is a reason we have assembled you in the two schools. For instance the facilities of Bishop Njenga Girls are equivalent to those in Loreto Girls Limuru or Alliance Girls and we are bringing to you people who are exposed beyond your schools,’ said Nabwera. ‘That means we value you. Can you reciprocate by valuing yourselves? If you value yourselves your value must be an A-grade and nothing else,’ he emphasized. He told the students that they ought to be bright because Kenya is now a qualitative society. Nabwera said he will be rewarding top candidate in each paper they will be tested on during the academic village with Sh2000 for the top performer, while the second best will receive Sh1000. He reminded the students of another forthcoming academic village in August, but cautioned them that they will have to maintain good performance for them to attend. Lugari Sub County Director of Education Magdalene Igwatai lauded the MP for the initiative saying it was long overdue. ‘This particular seminar is the brainchild of the MP. It is aimed at enhancing performance of our schools. We agreed last year that for us to enhance performance in our schools we have to bring together our top students to be sensitized on how to perform better,’ she explained, adding that they are aware the teachers might be working hard but not working smart. Igwatai disclosed that in every school board meeting she has attended for the last seven years in Lugari, academic and financial issues take most of the time. She urged the students to be good ambassadors once schools re-open as they are the chosen few – 10 percent from each school’s candidate class. ‘Let the money the MP is investing not go to waste. You must share the knowledge you acquire from here with other students who didn’t make it to the village. We don’t want to agonize again when your results will be released next year. We want schools in Lugari and Matete Sub County to celebrate quality grades which we have really thirsted for. We have not had an A while the A-minuses have just been isolated-like last year we only had three of them in Lugari,’ she said. She linked poor performance in Lugari schools to absenteeism, minimal parental involvement in academic matters of their children and teenage pregnancies citing a case of last year where six girls delivered during the examination period. Lugari Kenya Secondary School Heads Association chair David Makokha also lauded the MP for the programmes he is putting in place to boost performance in schools saying it is a new dawn for the constituency. He said: ‘This program is the very best. We have identified distinguished facilitators in this country. The students will be spoken to by Kenya National Examination Council chief examiners and assistant chief examiners in charge of respective subjects.’ He revealed that 60 teachers from the constituency are set to be capacity built in 5 subjects namely English, Kiswahili, Mathematics, Chemistry and Biology.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Pathologists carrying out autopsies on the bodies of victims of Pastor Paul Mackenzie’s cultic teachings have found that some people were strangled or smothered to death. Chief Government Pathologist Dr. Johansen Oduor said the bodies of two children had signs of smothering while that of one had a trauma on the head, a testimony that a blunt object could have been used on the victim. Briefing journalists on the progress of the postmortems going on at the Malindi Sub County Hospital Mortuary Tuesday evening, Dr. Oduor said his team had conducted autopsies on 30 bodies, eight of male and 22 of female victims. He said 15 of the bodies were of adults while nine were of children, and that the genders of six bodies could not be ascertained due to the level of decomposition and skeletonization. He said his team found out that most of them were caused by starvation with two having the features of starvation, while the cause of the death of six could not be ascertained due to their level of decomposition. ‘On one of the bodies which was of a child, we found that there was trauma on the head, while three had asphyxia meaning that they had been denied oxygen. Of these three, on one of them, we clearly see marks on the neck of someone who had been strangled with the breaking of some bones,’ he said. He said his team was certain that one person, who was a child, was strangulated while the other two had been smothered. Dr. Oduor at the same time said relatives had started giving their blood samples for the commencement of DNA tests, hinting that the exercise could be completed on Thursday. Meanwhile, human rights activists have faulted the government for denying them a chance to witness the autopsies. Mathew Shipeta of Haki Africa said human rights organizations should be allowed to send representatives, including lawyers to witness the exercise to ensure transparency. However, Dr. Oduor said the human rights activists had no role to play in the autopsies except for their representatives to be traumatized.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The Government has promised macadamia nut farmers better prices in the days to come following months of a slump in prices to as low as Sh. 20 per kilo. Local processors have been buying macadamia nuts from farmers at a throw away price following the ban on exportation of unprocessed nuts by the government. However, with the lifting of the ban three weeks ago by Trade Cabinet Secretary (CS) Moses Kuria, prices have started showing signs of improvement as competition rises with the opening up of market outlets across the world. Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi said following the government intervention, prices had started rising with a kilo currently selling at Sh. 65 up from Sh. 20 a month ago. Speaking in Embu Town on Tuesday when he accompanied International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) President Dr. Alvaro Lario on a tour of IFAD funded projects under Upper Tana Natural Resource Management Project, Linturi said the government was keen on ensuring farmers’ earnings keep improving. The CS said they push for further increment of macadamia prices this month from the current Sh. 65 to Sh. 100, noting that they were in talks with buyers to ensure they don’t exploit farmers. Linturi further said depending on the output of the report of SGS, a leading Global inspection, verification, testing and certification body on the quality of the macadamia in the country, the prices could jump to Sh. 150 by June. ‘We are really concerned about the welfare of our farmers so that they really appreciate that farming is a business,’ he said. The CS reported that other key areas they are seeking to address include grading and value addition that are all geared towards boosting farmers’ earnings.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Nakuru County government has commenced the processing and payment of Sh1.5 billion in pending bills out of the Sh3.5 billion it owes suppliers and contractors. Governor Susan Kihika said an audit will be done, including verification of construction works and goods and services supplied to the county, to ensure only genuine suppliers and contractors are paid. She clarified that contractors and suppliers who have no sufficient documents to support their claims will be deemed to have engaged in corruption or were awarded tenders in circumstances that violated procurement laws and the Public Finance Management Act. ‘All pending bills must bear crucial records such as engineers’ reports and certificates, project inspection reports, and joint measurements, among others,’ stated the governor. While voicing her government’s commitment to meeting all its obligations with regard to pending bills, Kihika warned that her administration will not entertain cases of highly inflated bills, fictitious deliveries, or conflicts of interest in the payment process. The governor said her government inherited in excess of Sh3.5 billion in pending bills and admitted that her administration had to take the bold step of its financial obligations despite the cash crunch being experienced across the country. Kihika, however, assured residents that her administration was putting in place structures that would ensure prudent debt management practices and efficiency in expenditure management to avoid unnecessary debt accumulation. At the same time, the governor called on contractors who are awarded construction tenders to ensure they deliver quality work, warning that those who do shoddy jobs risk being blacklisted. ‘I urge those who have been awarded various contracts to move with speed to ensure their completion. We want serious and honest contractors who meet the expected national standards and specifications,’ she added. While calling on Nakuru residents to report to her office any cases of corruption in the tendering process, Kihika warned that any officers in her government found engaging in corrupt practices would be sacked. She, however, promised to ensure that qualified local contractors residing in the county would be given first priority when awarding tenders. According to a report on the medium-term and debt management strategy paper for 2022, the Nakuru County debt is classified into two categories: debts inherited from the defunct local authorities, as compiled by the Transitional Authority, amounting to Sh865.9 million, and the current debts. The report recommended that the devolved unit invite former clerks and treasurers of the defunct authorities to shed light on the nature, purpose, and status of the inherited debts to ensure the debts are fully authenticated. Other recommendations included pushing for a waiver of interest and penalties to settle statutory creditors, prudence in the use of the resources, strengthening fiscal discipline, and stepping up revenue collection. ‘Some pending bills emanate from shortfalls in local revenue collections that have a significant bearing on the budget framework,’ reads part of the report. Meanwhile, some of the debts date back to the 2013-14 financial year and cut across the regimes of former Governors Kinuthia Mbugua and Lee Kinyanjui and the current leadership. Under the Public Finance Management Act of 2012, the county government is required to monitor, evaluate, and oversee the management of public finances and economic affairs in addition to managing its public debt and developing a framework for its debt control.

Source: Kenya News Agency