Year: 2023

Kirinyaga farmers have a reason to smile following President William Ruto’s recent visit to Kirinyaga County, where he promised rice farmers an increment in the supply of subsidized fertilizer.

During his tour to the region last Saturday, the president directed the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) to increase the supply of the commodity to local farmers before Wednesday this week, which was done yesterday.

Kirinyaga Senator Kamau Murango, who is also the chairman of the agricultural committee in the Senate toured the NCPB stores in Mwea and Sagana Tuesday, where he confirmed they had indeed received 1200 bags of subsidized fertilizer.

‘This consignment has been supplied into our stores by the national government following President Ruto’s promise on Saturday and more bags will be supplied with time,’ said the elated senator.

He called on Kirinyaga farmers to take advantage of the ongoing rains and follow the right process in acquiring the subsidized fertilizer to help them boost their productivi
ty and make the country food secure.

‘We are so happy as Kirinyaga farmers and as a leader, I thank the Kenya Kwanza government since they have heeded our call to give farmers subsidized fertilizer, especially at this time when maize farmers needed the commodity for top-dressing,’ he said.

At the same time, he called on the county government to increase its allocation for road maintenance along rice farms, saying this will help farmers cut transport costs when getting their produce out of the farms.

Meanwhile, rice farmers from the Mwea irrigation scheme have hailed the government’s intervention, noting that initially fertilizer prices had skyrocketed to a point where many farmers had started giving up, but now their hopes have been rekindled.

‘Since the government started giving subsidized fertilizer, I am one of those who have increased production, and I can testify that we are getting profit,’ said John Muchiri, a farmer at the Mwea Irrigation scheme.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Ministry of Lands, Public Works, housing, and Urban Development is working closely with the National Parliament to amend some outdated land laws in line with the 2010 constitution, to address the current numerous teething outstanding land issues.

According to Mr Maalim Mohammed, who is also the Secretary Administrator in the State Department for Land and Physical Planning, the said bill once passed, will pave the way for the review and introduction of the long-awaited new land laws as enshrined in the 2010 constitution.

The Administrative Secretary, while speaking today in Kitui town, during a public participation forum concerning the land laws amendment bill, 2023, and review of various land sectors, lamented outdated laws contained in the current land laws, with some of the laws dated 1962 and thus needs to be reviewed.

‘The constitution requires that land laws should be reviewed after every ten years, for better management of land use in the country, and similarly to ensure the government and its citiz
en’s benefit equally and effectively from the proper land use.’ Mr Maalim said.

The Administrative Secretary, further said that once the land reforms bill is enacted into the law, it will resolve current teething land issues that hinder wise management and use of land in the country.

‘The land reforms bill will amplify land digitization of land process in land registration processes among other land processing issues. The reforms will also enhance automation transactions aimed at reduction of timelines in registration of property and as well land.’ The administrative secretary explained the participants were drawn from four counties Makueni, Machakos, Garissa, and Kitui.

He observed that the land reforms bill is set to introduce new land management including self-service through online land flat forms and cashless transactions, all aimed at minimizing corruption at the Ministry of Lands.

Other reforms contained in the land reforms bill are reviews of outdated land services fees, inclusion of other actors
into the land management especially the county government to be able to participate in land control boards, Introduction and adjustment of new land services fees and taxes, as well enhancement of government revenue collection.

Other issues set to be addressed by the land reforms bill are leasing land vis-a-vis buyer poverty act that is section 54 on buying of property of land.

The land reforms bill will address the issues of the maximum and minimum amount of land ownership required per person and prevent or set up regulations towards subdivision of farmland into small units, which is negatively affecting food production thus resulting in a shortage of food in the country.

Responding to the land reforms bill, the participants who were drawn from four counties of Makueni, Machakos, Garissa, and Kitui called on the Ministry of Lands to organize civic education for citizens to educate them on the new land reforms.

The participants expressed concern that a majority of members of the public are unaware of the n
ew land laws, their management, and use and therefore it is necessary for awareness and education on the land changes contained in the land reforms.

The participants regretted that some of the citizens risk acting contrary to the new land laws, and thus unknowingly committing an offense punishable before a Court of law.

The long-awaited land reforms are enshrined in the 2010 constitution. Kenyans have for the last 13 years continued to suffer due to delays in undertaking the required land laws amendment.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The residents of Nyamasao village in Nyando Sub County have sent an urgent appeal for humanitarian assistance flush floods occasioned by heavy downpours marooned their homes and displaced hundreds of families.

Beatrice Anyango who is among the displaced residents who sought refuge at Nyamasao primary school says they were forced to flee their homes after river Nyando broke its banks and swept through their villages.

She raised concern that since the affected families relocated to the school, both the county and national government were yet to respond to the crisis claiming the victims left their homes without any foodstuff to sustain their stay at the camp.

She expressed fears that children and women were exposed to waterborne diseases asking the government to mobilise resources for the victims before another calamity struck.

‘We have sought refuge in the school far away from the evacuation center which is at Ombaka because Ombaka is far and our children are sitting their examinations but this place is n
ot safe either because it is also prone to flooding during excess rains hence we are now at the mercy of our chief and his assistant whom we are waiting for to give us the way forward,’ lamented Anyango

The residents however lamented that the members of the local administration whom they have been waiting for to give them the way forward have also not been reachable including the D.O. and the D.C nor any representative from the county government.

The residents pointed out that they have now just been reduced to bare survival only striving to find what they can eat to ensure their daily survival.

‘We are calling on both the national and the county governments to move with speed in erecting dykes and also desilt the rivers in this area because it’s the only way that the floods will be controlled because we cannot even do farming due to the floods’ added Anyango

Naomi Uhuru, an affected resident urged the county and the national government to ensure they put adequate and concrete measures in place early enou
gh in time to ensure the lives of the residents are not disrupted every rainy season by the river Nyando flooding.

‘We are calling on the national government to erect the dykes which they had started doing but abandoned mid-way because for how long will we continue to be displaced because some of us have been perennial nomads since 2019 due to the floods,’ pointed Uhuru.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Public service vehicle operators and other motorists have been urged to exercise caution as they ply various routes during the upcoming festive season.

Speaking during the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims in Kisii town, NTSA South Nyanza Regional Manager Aden Adow encouraged motorists to drive responsibly in order to avoid road fatalities.

Adow noted that around 40 percent of the fatalities are usually vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, motorcycle riders, and pillion passengers.

The Regional Manager emphasized the need for targeted action plans and mitigation measures among state and non-state actors to ensure they provide mental support for survivors and work towards reversing the trend.

‘Road safety is a shared responsibility from an NTSA perspective and we are sensitizing road users through education, enforcement, and engineering to ensure that we have an all-encompassing strategic intervention to promote the safety of road users,’ he added.

Nyanza Region Driving School Assoc
iation Chairman, Elijah Ogembo urged the parents to caution their underage children from engaging in the boda boda business during this long holiday break.

Additionally, Ogembo told the leaders of the boda boda sector to monitor the stages and ensure that school-going children refrain from the business.

He also cautioned those who will be merry-making during the festive celebrations saying they should not drink and drive.

On his part, Kenya Red Cross Kisii County Coordinator, Wycliffe Likhaya urged the road users to learn the basic principles of first aid as one of the prevention mechanisms for road fatalities.

Likhaya said they provide psycho-social support to survivors of road accidents and encouraged them to call the toll-free number 1199 for support when needed.

According to the 2023 Economic Survey report, at least 4,690 people lost their lives on Kenyan roads last year.

The report revealed that 21,757 people were involved in road accidents, an increase of 5.5 percent from the 20,625 reported cases
in 2021.

Further, data from the World Health Organization fact sheet on road traffic injuries indicates that approximately 1.3 million people die each year as a result of road traffic crashes.

Source: Kenya News Agency

A farmer in Embakasi, Isinya Sub County is counting losses after lionesses killed three of her sheep and critically injured others.

Jackline Kishanto, a livestock keeper, said that the two lionesses have been wandering in the area for days only for them to break into her homestead at 1.00 am last night to kill the remaining part of her flock after the recent drought decimated a bigger part of her animals.

She says despite alerting the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) about the freely roaming lionesses, they never took any action to move the cats from their homesteads only for KWS officers to appear to take photos of her dead animals.

Kishanto is pleading with the KWS to quickly compensate her for the loss adding that this is the second time wildlife have killed her livestock.

‘In the year 2019, lions invaded our homestead and killed 12 of my sheep which have not been compensated up to now. The wildlife is impoverishing me since livestock is my only source of livelihood,’ said Kishanto, a widow.

In addition
to compensation, she is appealing to the KWS to help her with lighting her home with solar lights to avoid the reoccurrence of such incidences as fencing her homestead has not been effective in wading off the wildlife.

Cases of human-wildlife conflict are rampant in Embakasi location due to its proximity to the Nairobi National Park.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The Government has revamped the fight against online child abuse and sexual exploitation, with statistics showing that the vice is on the rise.

Labour and Social Protection Cabinet Secretary Florence Bore said the Ministry has put in place a National Action Plan to tackle the vice, which she noted has been on the rise in the wake of technology advancements across the globe.

Speaking at Kusitawi Village Children’s home in Thika East during the celebrations to mark World Children’s Day, Bore said the Ministry has established a department under the Directorate of Children Services to implement online child protection services.

This comes as statistics show an increase in the number of teenage pregnancies in the country despite government warnings to eradicate the vice and punish offenders.

Data from the Kenya Health Information Systems shows that a total of 110,821 pregnancies were recorded among adolescents between the ages of 10 to 19 in the first five months of 2023.

From the data, 6,110 of the pregnanc
ies were among adolescents aged between 10 to 14 years, while another 104,711 were between the ages of 15 and 19.

This is almost half of what was recorded in 2022 which stood at 260,734, 316,187 in 2021 and 331,549 in 2020.

‘This has to stop. We have come up with stringent measures, and working closely with stakeholders and other partners, we believe we shall combat this vice,’ she said.

The CS was accompanied by her Principal Secretary (PS) Joseph Motari and Thika MP Alice Ng’ ang’ a.

On violence against children, the CS raised concern that parents were still violating their children in one way or the other, especially during this long holiday.

According to the 2019 National Violence Against the child survey report, over 50 percent of children have faced at least one form of violence in their lives.

‘The statistics are disheartening and we call on the children and other caregivers to report people threatening, harassing, abusing or punishing them through our hotline number,’ she said.

On her part, Ng’
ang’a called for a life sentence jail term for defilers, saying they deserved not to interact with other members of the society.

She said such a sentence will deter other sex pests from engaging in the vice.

During the event, the CS also launched ‘The transitioning and child welfare guidelines’ that is set to enhance transitioning of children in care homes with families and the community.

Source: Kenya News Agency

More than a thousand residents from Iria-ini ward in Othaya, Nyeri County have benefited from a free medical camp that was sponsored by the Mwai Kibaki Hospital in partnership with Othaya MP Wambugu Wainaina.

The medical camp which was held at Thunguri Dispensary, Iria-ini ward in Othaya attracted residents who were drawn from Thunguri and other neighbouring areas to get a chance for screening of diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer among others.

Speaking during the exercise, Mr.Wainaina lauded the hospital fraternity for organising the camp adding that such outreaches have boosted disease prevention and control in the area.

He also urged residents to ensure they go for regular screening of various lifestyle diseases to ensure they are medically fit.

The legislator who was accompanied by Dr. Walter Gwaro from the Level VI facility also urged residents to ensure that they pay NHIF insurance up to date in order to access government medical services in all public health facilities.

‘I will r
egularly be organizing with a team of local medical personnel on how they can be having regular visits on matters of screening and care to those people affected so that they can be up to date with their health,’ Wainaina said.

Dr Gwaro echoed the MP’s remarks advising patients to ensure they always take drugs as prescribed by the doctor adding that sometimes patients get themselves in problems when they take medication against the doctor’s advice.

The MP also urged the County Government of Nyeri to improve medical facilities, mostly those near learning institutions for students to benefit.

Mr Wainaina also thanked the medical personnel from Mwai Kibaki Hospital, the local KMTC fraternity, and Othaya Level IV Hospital for their support in preparations and participation in the camps.

Beneficiaries thanked the Mwai Kibaki Hospital management and the MP for the medical camp saying it was a much sought after opportunity during these hard economic times.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Migori County Government in partnership with local stakeholders has erected a public toilet at Osiri Matanda- Nyatike Sub County in a measure to curb communicable diseases in the area.

According to the Sub-County Public Health Officer Dancun Arunda, the area recorded 47 cholera cases outbreak this year and claimed three lives making it one of the worst-hit areas in the county.

Arunda said that the facility will be multipurpose, serving both as a public toilet as well as a public sanitary facility to help the female users dispose of their sanitary towels.

He emphasised that the facility will be made possible by availing sanitary pits around the facility to enable women and girls to easily dispose of their used pads without shame.

Osiri Matanda which is an artisanal mining site hosts over 2,000 residents including those working in the quarry, making it the largest artisanal mining site in Migori County.

Arunda noted that the area poses a high risk in case of an outbreak affirming that the county will cont
inue to build more health facilities to help the local residents.

With most of the residents living there temporarily due to the mining activities, they have found it hard to construct toilets due to the rocky nature of the place, a major cause of open defecation for most of the residents.

‘With the low toilet coverage in this area, most of those working in the quarry or doing business opt for an open defecation system of waste disposal,’ Arunda said.

Arunda however, acknowledged that the county had made tremendous efforts in making the county an Open Defecation Free Zone

He added that the County will continue to construct public toilets in open-air markets and residential places to prevent cholera outbreaks and other opportunistic diseases.

According to Tom Odhong’, the County Director for Public Health and Sanitation, the department has made several interventions including ensuring that landlords put up toilets before operationalizing the rentals.

He added that with the interventions in place, Migori
County now has 97 percent toilet coverage in 2023, showing a great improvement from 46 percent in 2014.

Migori now ranks seventh nationally in terms of toilet cover, an achievement that Odhong’ attributes to the continued coordination with development stakeholders.

To ensure that the efforts to end open defecation in the area succeed, Odhong’ said that the department has distributed hand washing facilities in the residential areas.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The government has rolled out a productivity mainstreaming training programme in various institutions to enhance and entrench a productivity culture in the public service.

The programme is one of the performance targets set for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) across the Country informing the three weeks training starting on November 20th to 8th December.

The National Productivity and Competitiveness Centre (NPCC) in the State Department for Labour and Skills Development, Ministry of Labour and Social protection kicked off the trainings and the implementation is one of the targets in the 20th cycle of the public sector Performance Contracting (PC) 2023/24 financial year.

Speaking today when he officially opened a productivity mainstreaming training for the lower central region at Kiambu Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Principal Secretary in the Cabinet Office Dr. Idris Salim Dokota said the training will not only enhance productivity in the public sector but the gains are expected c
ould spur the economy to desired production levels with limit inputs.

‘The ballooning wage bill currently stands at 46 percent of the ordinary revenue against the recommended 35 percent thus exerting pressure on Government expenditure. This training therefore forms a critical part of public sector reforms and is geared towards operational efficiency, labour efficiency and customer satisfaction’, he said.

Dr. Dokota added that in order to address the wage bill challenge the productivity enhancement in the public sector is one of the measures that the government has put in place and thus the participation from the various institutions in the training will enhance productivity in their respective MDAs.

‘The Kenya Vision 2030 recognizes that Kenya’s main potential lies in its people, that is, we are talking about their creativity, work ethic, education, their entrepreneurial and other skills’, he said.

The PS noted that there is need to carry out an assessment on the productivity level across all sectors and
productivity growth and therefore the training will form part of the critical public sector reforms, geared towards minimizing operational costs and improving labour productivity.

Jane Maina from the National Productivity and Competitiveness Centre (NPCC) in the State Department for Labour and Skills Development, Ministry of Labour and Social protection speaking to media during the official opening of the mainstreaming productivity training.

PS Dokota said the government has so far made significant progress in alignment with its action plan and that is why the 20th cycle of performance contracting guidelines talks about creating efficiency in terms of consumers getting the right service.

The training experts Dr. Dokota said will train the various institutions in developing labour productivity metrics which will address the key elements of productivity Quality, Cost and Delivery (QCD); Collect data on the same; Analyze and compute a productivity index and design a productivity improvement strategy.

He impl
ored the participants of the programme to be champions of productivity mainstreaming within their respective MDAs so that their productive involvement will not only elevate their individual capacities but also play a pivotal role in the government’s collective vision of a more productive and efficient governance system in this country.

‘Together, let us seize the knowledge imparted here and translate it to tangible action, forging a path towards realization of Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA)’, Dr. Dokota said.

The training programme undertaken the stewardship of the Productivity Mainstreaming Technical Committee with support from the State Department for Cabinet Affairs, the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), the National Productivity and Competitiveness Council (NPCC), and the State Department for Performance and Delivery Management.

Jane Maina the team leader of the team at KIST said a single department could not drive the productivity agenda alone thus the training took a multi-
agency approach comprising the various state actors.

Principal Secretary in the Cabinet Office Dr. Idris Salim Dokota pose for a group photograph with trainers and trainees in the ongoing mainstreaming productivity training at the Kiambu National Polytechnic.

She explained that at KIST currently they are hosting and training 5 teams drawn from one university (Mama Ngina ) and four other institutions from Limuru, Lari, Gatundu South, and Mandera to develop a productivity metrics for their organizations.

‘Metrics are developed at activity level and are used to give activities we do, mathematical and scientific dimension’, she said,

After the development of the metrics, she added the organisations will be expected to collect data for the set metrics for computation of a productivity index for the organisation.

The ultimate aim of the national agenda, she noted was to entrenched in the culture of productivity in work ethic and work environment in order for the country to become productive just like other cou
ntries.

‘The labour productivity in the country is not doing well compared to other African countries and according to conference Board total data base of 2022, Kenya labour productivity stood at 14,096 US dollars compared to Egypt which recorded 62,560 USD annually ‘

Kiambu County Commissioner Joshua Nkanatha and KIST (Now Kiambu National Polytechnic) Principal Sammy Waititu were among notable county officials who graced the inaugural opening session of the training programme.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) has budgeted to spend Sh9.7 billion in the next five years as it seeks to offer better services to farmers by assuring plant health, quality of agricultural inputs and produce for a food secure nation and safe trade.

KEPHIS Managing Director Prof. Theophilus Mutui revealed that the corporation will finance its budget through internally generated funds and exchequer support from the National government.

‘We have on boarded onto the e-Citizen platform through our Integrated Export Import Certification System (iEICS) where all our services are being conducted and we have made over Sh 240 million through e-Citizen since we on boarded in August 2023,’ said Prof. Mutui.

Speaking on Tuesday at a Nairobi hotel during the KEPHIS strategic plan (2023-2027) stakeholders’ workshop, Prof. Mutui explained that they have a number of revenue streams which include offering services like issuance of permits for plant import, inspections charges for all agricultural produ
ce, issuance of Phytosanitary certificates for export consignments, soil and water analysis, laboratory services, analysis of plants for pests and diseases among others.

Some of the key areas which the state corporation will be focusing on include Plant Health, Seed Quality Assurance and Plant Variety Protection, Trade Facilitation, Quality Agro- inputs and Produce, and strengthening its Institutional Capacity.

Prof Mutui said that in efforts to better reach the farmers, they regularly conduct plant clinics where farmers can bring samples of their diseased crops to KEPHIS plant doctors who examine the plants either at the clinic or at their laboratories and prescribe to farmers how to manage those conditions.

He added that they have been working with counties on such initiatives for instance in Elgeyo Marakwet and Makueni counties, they have been giving farmers insect traps for the fruit flies so that they can handle the pests and produce clean mangoes which can access international markets.

‘We also inte
nd to enhance networks and collaboration with both local and international development partners with a view to exploring avenues of cooperation in the areas of plant protection, seed trade facilitation, and laboratory work,’ said Prof Mutui.

The MD highlighted that they have been able to open up more markets for Kenya’s agricultural produce where currently farmers are exporting avocados to the European Union (EU) countries like France and Netherlands.

‘We have also opened up other markets and are now able to export avocados to China- the second most populous country in the world, India-the most populous nation and Malaysia. We are in the process of opening up new markets in South Korea and the USA,’ explained Prof Mutui.

He said that KEPHIS over the years has realized a number of milestones with the support of key partners and stakeholders, notably; a review of the legal framework, enhanced ICT infrastructure, and use of technology through integration of export certification system with IPPC e-phyto hub, i
mplementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), and Integrated Export Import certification system (IEICS), Seed Certification Plant Variety Protection System (SCPVP), maintained and expanded scope of accreditation of laboratories, certification to Quality Management Systems (QMS) and Information Security Management Systems (ISMS).

‘We have also achieved compliance with market requirements to maintain and open new markets, expanded our service delivery by opening new offices, improving ease of doing business through operating in 24-hour system, integrated Ken Trade facilitation system, operationalization of the One Stop Border Post and capacity building of staff and clients,’ expounded Prof Mutui.

KEPHIS board chairperson Joseph M’eruaki said that the proposed Strategic Plan has been aligned to support Kenya’s economic blueprints including Vision 2030, MTP IV, and the Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) focusing on Food and Nutrition security.

M’eruaki explained that being an agriculture re
gulator, they are focused on ensuring that farmers get quality and certified seeds that guarantee productivity and improve the country’s food security.

He said that their next move is to see how they can take their services closer to the people by establishing county offices on top of the regional offices which will enable them to reach out to the agro dealers and seed sellers in efforts to contain the issue of fake seeds.

‘KEPHIS is cognizant of the fact that the agriculture functions are devolved and has put in place plans to collaborate with the County governments in building capacity for farmers and players at the local level as a way of ensuring compliance with standards. This is expected to enhance agricultural productivity and create market access for our local agricultural produce as envisaged in the government’s BETA Pillars,’ he said.

‘We are also looking at the new frontiers in terms of pest surveillance to ensure that the country is safe from pests and diseases which may come through our border
s and we are employing a multi-agency approach to ensure that harmful materials are not allowed into the country,’ said M’eruaki.

He explained that the agriculture sector remains the main catalyst of Kenya’s economic growth. The sector contributes about 75% of industrial raw materials, 60% of export earnings, 65% of Kenya’s total exports by volume and 60% of employment.

‘According to the Economic Survey 2022 report (KNBS), agricultural sub-sectors, including Tea and Horticulture rank among the highest foreign exchange earners in the country realizing Sh.163.3 billion and Sh.152 billion respectively,’ said M’eruaki.

Source: Kenya News Agency