Day: June 10, 2023

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has established Corruption Prevention Committees (CPC) in five counties to give impetus to the fight against corruption in the devolved units.

Through partnership with GIZ-Good Governance Programme, the initiative has been rolled out in Kisumu, Vihiga, Siaya, Kakamega, Bungoma and Elgeyo Marakwet Counties.

EACC Commissioner John Ogallo said the initiative targets to strengthen systems, practices and processes at the devolved units.

Ogallo who presided over the presentation of the CPC guidelines to the Kisumu County Executive Ogallo said EACC was banking on the committees to prevent corruption and enhance transparency in county government operations.

The guidelines, he added, provide a systematic approach to public entities and private sector institutions by standardizing the establishment, operation, composition, roles and responsibilities of the CPC.

Ogallo said the committees will be chaired by governors in the pilot counties with deputy governors, county executives and county secretaries as members.

The CPCs, he said, are mandated to develop, implement, review and monitor corruption prevention framework, corruption prevention policy, whistle blowing protection mechanism, gifts and conflict of interest registers, codes of conduct and ethics and reporting mechanisms.

The committee, he added, will also prepare annual corruption prevention plans, coordinate bribery and corruption risk assessments at the same time manage and handle complaints on alleged corruption and unethical conduct.

Ogallo said a training manual for the CPC has also been prepared to provide a standardized approach to the training on corruption prevention.

‘The training of CPC is designed to build institutional capacity in corruption prevention, impart knowledge on ethics, integrity and anti-corruption for attitude change, mainstream corruption prevention,’ Ogallo said.

EACC, he said will continue to partner with county governments to build their capacity in the promotion of ethics, integrity and good governance adding that the CPC programme shall be scaled up to cover all the counties.

He urged county officials to undertake their responsibilities of serving citizens with a high level of integrity devoid of any malpractice to help safeguard public resources.

The commissioner cited cases of malpractices in employment and ghost workers in counties which the commission was investigating.

‘Once the investigations are completed you will see action taken. The EACC is involved in the probing of various cases in Kisumu and Siaya counties. The ongoing investigations will be cleared for prosecution,’ Ogallo said.

Kisumu Acting County Secretary Judith Oluoch who received the guidelines on behalf of Governor Anyang Nyong’o reiterated the county government’s commitment to fighting corruption.

The initiative, she said, was set to strengthen the county government’s graft prevention measures calling for collaboration with EACC to tame the vice.

Source: Kenya News Agency

First lady Rachael Ruto has launched a million tree planting initiative in partnership with The Nature Conservancy (TNC), a non-profit organization, to conserve the Cherangany, Elgeyo Hills and Northern Mau water towers.

Speaking during the launch in Kitany within Sabor forest in Keiyo South Sub County, the First Lady said the initiative is intended to address the challenges brought about by the far reaching consequences of the depletion of forests in the country.

‘The depletion of forest has impacted on water availability, increasing risk of natural disasters and contributed to climate change and therefore it is imperative that we take immediate action to reverse the trend,’ Mrs. Ruto said.

The First Lady said the initiative was not just about planting and growing of trees but transforming lives and communities by empowering them to develop sustainable livelihoods which will enable them to become environmental stewards of nurturing and protecting their natural surroundings.

‘By engaging you today, we are providing you with skills, knowledge and resources to develop sustainable livelihoods,’ she said.

The First Lady said the involvement of the local community was critical as they play an important role as custodians of the eco system and therefore the need to empower them to take an active role in reforestation efforts.

The exercise organized by the Eldoret Iten water fund saw 13,000 trees planted as part of the activities within the catchment which covers an area of 6,774km2 with a population of about 1.6 million people from both Uasin Gishu and Elgeyo Marakwet counties.

The TNC regional director Ademola Ajagbe said his organization partnered with the First Lady to accelerate the scale of their impact citing the need for enhancing environmental conservation and management with the people’s livelihood concerns.

He said the reduced forest cover was as a result of expansive smallholder farming activities which experts say account for nearly 80 per cent of deforestation and 70 per cent of land biodiversity loss among others.

The regional director said the one million tree initiative will focus on providing tree seedlings and technical expertise to local communities by distributing and planting over 200,000 grafted fruit trees, 50,000 macadamia nut trees, 100,000 bamboo trees, 200,000 fodder trees and over 400,000 agroforestry and indigenous trees.

‘Climate change and a wide range of human activities are impacting habitats at unprecedented and unsustainable rates. We need to mobilize community action, broaden partnerships, harness conservation investments, and influence public policy to put nature at the centre stage’, said Ajagbe.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Kitui County government has through its Ministry of Health and Sanitation embarked on a mass drug administration drive to curb the spread of neglected tropical diseases notably Bilharzia and worms in the county.

The drug administration targets to break the transmission cycle of the neglected tropical diseases which are Bilharzia and Soil Transmitted Helminths (worms).

The exercise kicked off Thursday June 8 targeting school students and everyone above 5 years.

Addressing the press, the County Public Health Chief Executive Officer Lynne Kitwan said that the mass drug administration exercise is targeting 14 endemic wards in the county.

‘We have 14 endemic wards for Schistosomiasis and those are the specific places where Schistosomiasis drugs will be administered,’ she said.

This exercise is aimed at the village level and it will be spearheaded by the Community Health Volunteers who will offer door to door services.

‘These drugs will be administered through our Community Health Volunteers who are our community health keepers, in the homes, markets, churches, mosques and all over the county,’ the Health and Sanitation Chief Officer said.

Kitui County is among five counties where the exercise is ongoing. The other counties are Machakos, Makueni, Tharaka Nithi and Embu.

The county is in collaboration with World Health Organization (WHO), State Ministry of Health (MOH) and Hellen Keller, whereby 1.1 million tablets of praziquantel tablets and 1.2 million tablets of albendazole against the worms, were expected to be administered across the county at no cost.

The schistosomiasis drug will be administered to children aged 5 years and above while the Soil Transmitted Helminth drugs will be administered to children aged 1 year and above. Children aged 6 months and above will also benefit from the administration of Vitamin A by Hellen Keller and Malezi Bora Programme.

Kitwan further urged the residents to accept the drive and avail themselves in large numbers for administration of the drugs. In addition, she sensitized the residents to wash their hands regularly, use their latrines properly and maintain hygiene.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The media has been challenged to be factual and professional in their line of duty especially when covering legislative work.

Speaking during a sensitization forum between the Senate and Kenya Parliamentary Journalists Association (KPJA) at Serena hotel in Mombasa, Senate Speaker Amason Kingi said that media plays a crucial role in disseminating information to the public about the legislative function thus the need to ensure the content shared is truthful and sensible.

Kingi said the house respects the freedom of the media as listed in Article 34 of the Kenyan Constitution noting that they have made the Senate accessible for journalists to cover its daily activities.

He said the symbiotic relationship between the Senate and the media is a true reflection of how the two are ready to work to empower the public with information and updates of the leaders they elected to represent them.

‘Factual and balanced news is informative to the public and it will ensure accountability and transparency in the legislative process,’ he said.

He added that in order to effectively deliver on its mandate, the Senate relies on partnerships and one that has stood out is the media who were represented by KPJA.

Kingi said the media has served as a vital pipeline of feedback from the grassroots on how devolution is boarded in line with Chapter 11 of the Constitution.

He said both senators and the media have been able to keep their fingers on the pulse of existing and emerging political and social dynamics in the county.

‘Article 34, 35 and 108 of the Constitution guarantees the freedom of the media, right to information and public participation, respectively,’ said Kingi adding that through their work, media enforces public opinion and firm decision making besides serving as a point of reference and scanning societal institutional environment.

‘The public are always on the lookout and tend to ask questions like what does the media have to say on a certain issue? How come we have not seen this in the media which tells us the credibility of the press still exists/,’ he said.

The Speaker further assured the KPJA team of the Senate’s support to enable them to effectively deliver their duties.

Kilifi County Senator Stewart Madzayo reiterated the Speaker’s comments by asking journalists to report what the elected Members of Parliament were doing in terms of representation and oversight roles.

‘The house is now undermined as there is no freedom for some members to oversee the executive. It is now upon the media to bring this to light and inform the public on the role their leaders are playing in parliament,’ he said.

KPJA Chairman Dancan Khaemba acknowledged Parliament’s effort in facilitating their work.

Khaemba urged journalists to ensure they adhere to the code of conduct while covering news stories and called for continued cooperation between journalists and the Parliament saying teamwork was needed to ensure the public is well served.

‘For us to operate optimally, we have to clear some obstacles. Accessibility is a challenge as there are some instances where protocols do not go hand in hand with deadlines for journalists,’ he said.

The Kenya Parliamentary Journalist Association was established in the 9th Parliament. Its role is to boost media effort in dissemination of factual news through specialized reporting on parliament affairs.

Source: Kenya News Agency