Day: June 23, 2023

At least 100 households in Nakululas, Turkana East Sub-county today benefited from the distribution of 500 goats that had been procured by the Department of Livestock Development.

The restocking exercise was presided over by County Executive Committee Member for Agriculture, Livestock Development and Fisheries David Erukudi.

Each affected household received one male goat and four female goats.

In his remarks, the County Executive briefed residents on the criteria used to select the beneficiaries and informed them that the restocking exercise was meant to rebuild their economic assets and livelihoods after losing them to raids, age vulnerability, and other disasters.

He also spoke about the recurring drought and pasture scarcity in the area, and said that the Department had developed plans to initiate pasture production to grow pasture as a complement to the limited pasture and vegetation that has on many occasions led to conflicts as well as death of livestock.

County Chief Officer for Livestock Development Ezekiel Ekuwom assured that those who had not benefited from the first phase of the restocking program would be factored in the next phase.

He also shared the Department’s plans to improve pasture production and livestock disease control.

Also present at the event was Ag. Director for Livestock Production John Eipa.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Relatives of persons who perished in the Shakahola cultic tragedy will have to wait longer to identify the bodies of their loved ones using scientific methods.

Chief Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor said results of the 93 DNA samples taken from the relatives were still being analyzed by the Government Chemist and would be released simultaneously after all the autopsies on bodies of the Shakahola massacre are completed.

‘The samples are still being analyzed by the Government Chemist. Since this is a criminal investigation, we intend to release the DNA results simultaneously,’ he said while answering a question on whether the team had been able to link any of the bodies with the DNA results of the victim’s relatives.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that the team is finding it increasingly difficult to determine the causes of deaths of the victims due to the levels of decomposition of the bodies exhumed from the Shakahola farm believed to be belonging to controversial preacher Paul Nthenge Mackenzie.

Out of 49 bodies on which the pathologists and investigators have carried out postmortem examinations on since the resumption of the exercise on Wednesday, the team has been unable to determine the causes of death of 30 victims, with the deaths of 19 having been caused by starvation.

On Wednesday, the team was unable to determine the cause of deaths of eleven out of 27 victims while on Thursday, it could not ascertain what killed 19 out of 22 victims due to their bodies’ levels of decay.

The team has also found it difficult to determine the sexes of many of the victims while in some cases, it could not establish whether the bodies they were examining were those of adults or children due to the levels of decay.

‘The more the bodies stay out there (in the Shakahola forest), the more it becomes difficult to determine the causes of death since these bodies were buried without any form of preservation being done on them,’ he said

So far, the team has carried out autopsies on 281 out of the 326 bodies of the victim of the cult that influenced them to starve to death in order to meet their maker. 45 bodies are yet to be examined during the third phase of the autopsies that began on Wednesday.

Dr. Oduor told journalists that the results of the unprecedented number of autopsies would be documented and be made a learning reference not just in Kenya but the entire world.

He said young investigators and pathologists who have been conducting the exhumations and autopsies have learned a lot from the experience, which he said could help them in their professional duties.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The Principal Secretary (PS), Roads, Joseph Mbugua has said priority will be given to completing all ongoing projects, since most of the contracts were awarded before the current regime took over.

Mbugua said, ‘The primary objective is to ensure those which have stalled are revived again and have them completed in a year or two.’

He noted that efforts are being made by the government to ensure they get the requisite resources and unlock some of the stalled projects.

‘We are aware that we currently have a huge pending bill of about Shs 150 billion which the government is working around the clock to unlock and once that is unlocked you will see all contractors on all ongoing projects getting back to site and completing the projects,’ said the PS.

‘After a year or two when we are done with the ongoing projects, we will now look at mapping out other roads within the country which had been left out especially in constituencies which do not have tarmac roads,’ he noted

The PS made the remarks at Eldoret National Polytechnic (TENP), when the institution hosted a capacity Building workshop for Engineers, Technologists and Technicians in collaboration with the Kenya Engineering Technology Registration Board.

The Principal Secretary (PS) while addressing the media, said the training will make it possible for the engineering standards to be applied and upheld within the industry.

‘The participants are going to be taken through some of the aspects of technology to ensure they have been implemented in their various categories in performance of their duties,’ he said.

‘President William Ruto launched the Engineers Board of Kenya (EBK) portal, that is aimed at enabling citizens to access information about any projects in this country, consultancy services and identify engineers who are registered and non-registered,’ he noted.

‘Once we work on the regulator, we will be able to ensure that we have the right people for the right projects and bring on board people who will provide correct work and the issue of shoddy work will be the thing of the past,’ said the PS

He revealed that in case of any shoddy work the supervisor will be penalized as the supervisor should ensure that quality work is done on the ground to ensure the completed projects meet the standards expected in the contract.

The Governor Uasin Gishu County Jonathan Bii Chelilim, stated that his administration has projects which were started by the former administration and they need to be completed.

‘Therefore, it is my administration now to keep on allocating money to those projects until they are completed before we embark on new projects,’ said the Governor.

Bii note that despite the Uasin Gishu county assembly adjourning the reading of the budget estimates for the financial year 2023/2024 until the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) review their salaries they should find an amicable solution in order for the budget to be read.

‘If the budget cannot be read it will have a problem on the implementation of projects,’ he said.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Farmers in Bungoma County will in the next six years benefit from a Sh 95 billion agriculture project aimed at bolstering productivity.

The Kenya Livestock Commercialization Project (KeLCoP) with funding from the government of Kenya and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is targeting eradicating poverty and beefing up food security especially among the rural poor

Speaking at Mabanga Agriculture Training Centre (ATC), KeLCoP County Coordinator Rose Khisa said that Bungoma was among ten counties that are lucky to benefit from the project which is targeting different ecological zones.

She noted that one of the project activities under component two was an investor forum which was recently held in Bungoma County.

‘The purpose of the investor forum was to bring on board investors along the value chains,’ she said

The coordinator said that the project will mainly focus on improved poultry, sheep, goat, dairy and beef farming, bee keeping value chain among others.

‘We have brought on board input suppliers, service providers, and financial institutions to our farmers. The project is actually targeting over 8,000 small scale farmers in Bungoma,’ she said.

She said that the most targeted groups in the six-year project include: the ultra- poor, the poor, people living with disabilities and the indigenous groups like the Ogiek from Mt Elgon.

She said the targeted project group is women and youths adding that it is the reason why they are having 54 percent of the target group being women.

She said the chicken being given to farmers will make a great impact on the nutrition of the beneficiary categories of the project.

‘Chicken are advantageous as compared to the dairy since they occupy a smaller space and feeding is easy,’ she affirmed.

Ms. Khisa further said that the small stocks could be easily managed by women and youths.

She revealed that the project has three interrelated components which comprises the production level, marketing and project coordination.

She further pointed out that the project seeks to transform rural livelihood by uplifting small scale farmers in the region so that they can generate income.

She added that the program is also nutrition sensitive stating that goat milk can substitute human milk when a breastfeeding mother has health complications in feeding the baby.

In her address, Bungoma County CECM for agriculture Monica Fedha said that the six-year project will greatly contribute to Bungoma county’s agricultural transformative agenda of increasing rural small-scale farmers’ income, food security and nutrition.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The Kenya Red Cross society will revive the 1,000-acre Tot-Kolowa irrigation project which stalled 10 years ago due to conflicts among communities in the Kerio Valley.

Speaking after signing a Memorandum of Understanding between the Kenya Red Cross and Elgeyo Marakwet County, the Secretary General designate Ahmed Idris said the Tot-Kolowa project will be among the first projects to be undertaken under the MOU.

He said while the MOU is open, the initial phase will take 5 years but added that each project will fall under a certain thematic area which will specify what will be done and how long it will take.

‘For example our starting project which will be the revival of the Tot-Kolowa irrigation project will have a separate agreement which will specify how long it will take for us to deliver,’ he said.

The secretary general said among the thematic areas that they will focus on under the MOU was disaster and risk management, improvement of livelihoods, access to water and sanitation and reduction of disease burden.

The governor Wisley Rotich who signed the MOU on behalf of the county government said the projects to be undertaken will help in transforming lives and response to disasters in the county saying a steering committee from the two institutions will sit to craft the projects to be undertaken.

He hailed the revival of the Tot-Kolowa project saying it will go a long way in enhancing peace between the Pokot and Marakwet communities in addition to improving the economy of the area.

The Sh245 million project which is situated along the Elgeyo Marakwet-Baringo boundary was established in 2013 and collapsed due to persistent conflicts in the area. By the time it collapsed, the Kenya Red Cross had spent Sh160 million in the laying of pipes which have been vandalized over the years.

The project was aimed at addressing issues of food security and peace by bringing together the Pokot and Marakwet with each community getting 500 acres each on both sides of the boundary.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, will be the guest of honour at Seychelles’ National Day parade on June 29 during his state visit, said State House on Friday.

Kagame’s state visit from June 28 to July 2 is at the invitation of President Wavel Ramkalawan.

“During the visit, President Kagame will hold bilateral discussions with President Ramkalawan at State House and it is anticipated that memoranda of understanding and agreements will be signed. He will also address an Extraordinary Session of the National Assembly,” said State House.

This will be the second visit of Kagame to Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean.

The Rwandan President made a private visit to the island nation in August 2018 during which he held discussions with Danny Faure, the President of Seychelles at the time.

Kagame, 65, served as Chair of the African Union (AU) from 2018 to 2019 and chaired the East African Community from 2018-2021. He continues to lead the AU institutional reforms and serves as the AU champion for domestic health financing.

Source: Seychelles News Agency