Day: April 5, 2024

The Federation of Women lawyers (FIDA), supported by USAID-ELGIA convened a public participation forum involving Machakos County Assembly women caucus in an open dialogue between female leaders and the public to discuss issues relating to women leadership and governance.

Virginia Kibunja, a Programme Officer from FIDA while speaking to the media at the Machakos Social Hall, emphasised that the forum was meant to bring women together and discuss how to eliminate barriers that hinder them from political participation.

Kibunja highlighted FIDA’s objective to encourage active engagement of citizens in the democratic process by providing a platform for them to voice their concerns, provide feedback and contribute to governance and legal reform process.

She added Machakos was chosen as a host because of its top women leadership and FIDA was committed to making the citizens understand their role in promoting women in leadership and how to deal with the challenges facing them.

Kibunja also said the federation wa
s assessing the progress and achievements made by the women leaders since they rose to power in the last one year

‘We have worked with the Machakos County Assembly where we have conducted membership training with them and helped the women in capacity building that will equip them effectively to come up with gender responsive legislation,’ said Kibunja.

She noted that financial constraints were one of the key constraints that women seeking leadership in Kenya face.

Others are stereotyping and social norms that Kibunja said needed to be tackled to promote women to more leadership positions by 2027.

‘Electoral based violence was also mentioned in the forum and online bullying during campaigns and voting process discouraged the majority of the women from vying for the political seats,’ she added.

A similar public participation forum is also being carried out in other counties such as Nakuru and Kirinyaga to enhance accountability and responsiveness in women governance and leadership and also to increase enga
gement of citizens in the democratic process.

On her part Machakos County Assembly Speaker Ann Kiusya reiterated that cultural norms are some of the challenges that women face while seeking political seats.

‘Women are capable of leadership and can achieve great things when supported, as the Speaker of the County Assembly of Machakos I am equal to the task and have been doing my work well,’ added Kiusya.

She decried the low number of elected female members of the County Assembly and encouraged the community to support women and fill the gap of women leadership in the country.

FIDA is a nonprofit non-partisan membership organization whose vision in society is to uphold and respect the rights of women and to also promote women’s individual and collective power to claim their rights in all spheres of life.

FIDA has also established itself as a leading advocate for democracy, good governance and the empowerment of women in leadership roles nationwide.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Pastoral communities in Laikipia have benefited with more than Sh370 million from carbon credit, thanks to their rangeland conservation efforts.

The funds, which are expected to benefit about 14 community conservancies from the counties of Isiolo, Samburu, Marsabit and Laikipia, will be utilized in infrastructural development, bursaries and ease of access to water through borehole sinking in the four counties. The move is aimed at bolstering economic sustainability through environment conservation.

Laikipia governor Joshua Irungu, while speaking at a Nanyuki hotel during the launch of the 3rd Round of the Community Carbon Fund by the Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT) yesterday, lauded the communities in the four counties pointing out that their continued effort in conservation was beneficial in the region.

‘We appreciate getting money through carbon credit and residents should understand that by conserving our environment, we will continue reaping benefits,’ said Irungu.

He pointed out that, out of the tot
al Sh379 million, the county had received over Sh12 million from NRT and the funds would be used to initiate water projects in Laikipia North Sub County.

NRT, Rangelands and Carbon Program Director Mohamed Shibia said that Kenya produced the least carbon pollution globally. However, communities were committed to rangeland conservation through rotational grazing.

‘This is a pastoral geared project to improve their grazing fields and carbon sequestration as a modern way of rangeland conservation. Carbon in the air is what contributes to climate change and that is what we are committed to addressing,’ said Shibia.

He revealed that, Northern Kenya Rangelands Carbon Project, which is the world’s largest soil carbon removal project, is estimated to remove more than 50 billion tons of carbon dioxide in 30 years and generate funds for rangeland communities.

‘We work with cattle herders to combine traditional and modern ways of grazing livestock, to restore savannah grasslands so they capture more atmospheric carb
on,’ he noted.

‘The carbon is sold as offsets on the global carbon market to earn local communities some sustainable income, support conservation of vulnerable landscapes, protect endangered wildlife, and address climate change,’ Shibia added.

Additionally, they are working in about 4.9 million acres of land in Arid and Semi-Arid Areas (ASAL) and hence generating millions of dollars for the community through conservation.

NRT Mount Kenya Regional Director Aloyce Gonzaga Lekuton said that residents benefited with more than 60 percent of funds generated through carbon credit. The 14 community conservancies that received funds were Biliqo Bulesa, IlNgwesi, Kalama, Leparua, Lekurruki, Meibae, Melako, Naibunga, Nakuprat-Gotu, Namunyak, Nasuluu, Ol Donyiro, Sera, and Westgate.

Andrew Lokorer, carbon credit fund beneficiary explained that, since they relied on livestock keeping, they had to devise a solution on addressing fodder shortage through conservation.

He revealed that the carbon credit fund had helped t
hem improve their lives through community-led projects.

Meanwhile, the government is keen on regulating the carbon market in a bid to boost Kenya’s ability in resources mobilizing and strengthening the capacity in combating climate change.

Source: Kenya News Agency

State Department for Public health and Professional Standards, Mary Muthoni has appealed to striking health workers to minimise the suffering of patients in the health facilities by returning to work.

PS Muthoni said human resource for health forms a critical pillar in the sector currently on its knees owing to the nationwide strike.

She admitted that there were pertinent issues raised by the health workers through their union representatives but all this required time to be addressed conclusively.

Muthoni made the remarks while opening a Community Health practitioners’ forum at a Kisumu hotel Thursday where she reaffirmed that the government was ready to discuss with union representatives on how best to tackle the stalemate.

‘It will take time to agree on issues raised by health workers but for the benefit of our country and patients who continue suffering we must exercise empathy and caution,’ she pleaded.

The PS said the forum organised under the Afya Nyumbani programme has so far trained 170,000 Com
munity Health Promoters (CHPs) to help facilitate prevention and promotion of key programmes.

She revealed that so far 2.26 million patients have been screened for diabetes and a further 1.6million for hypertension across the country.

Out of the number, 41,000 were referred for specialised treatment against diabetes and 96,000 for hypertension Treatment in designated health facilities.

The PS further revealed that 4.5 million households have been registered translating to 22 million Kenyans out of a total population of about 52 million under the Afya Nyumbani Agenda.

‘This proves that the disease burden in our households is getting higher prompting the national government to partner with county governments to pay our CHPs on a 50-50 basis to the Community Health Practitioners who had in the past not been earning such stipends,’ she explained.

To this effect, she added, the government has already set aside Sh2.4 billion to ensure the interns doctors get paid for their work.

However, the PS cautioned that
if the ongoing strike persisted up to June 30 the money will be returned to Treasury but this would be unfair to the health workers and suffering patients.

She noted that while the interns would ultimately be issued with practising certificates, this was the appropriate time for stakeholders in the health sector to ride on the goodwill of the government.

She said the government was keen to realise the impact of community health interventions by the CHPs by committing to pay Sh5000 every month by the national and county governments for which Sh6.2 billion has been allocated to ensure attainment and the programme’s full potential.

She singled out some of the partners in the programme as; the Global Found, USAID and the latest entrant the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Subsequently, the PS called for continuous engagement and persistent training for the CHPs whom she called upon to remain focused and work as a team if they hope to reach their goal.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The Government is keen on reviving Kenya’s agricultural production to reduce imports and grow exports.

This is according to the Presidential Economic Transformation Secretariat led by Senior Advisor and Head of Economic Transformation Augustine Cheruiyot who visited Narok County to encourage farmers to boost food production and promote food security in the country.

‘President William Ruto’s government is keen on reviving Kenya’s agricultural production to reduce imports and grow exports,’ Cheruiyot said.

The team which has been traversing several parts of the country held a consultative meeting with the Narok County Executive led by Governor Ntutu to rope in the County Government onto the Kenya Kwanza Government economic transformation agenda which included prioritizing agriculture and implementing significant changes in the agricultural sector.

Governor Ntutu said there is a need to look into the imports from other countries, and see how as a country we could improve in the production so as to shift fro
m importation.

Ntutu said counties were working together with the National government to drive the President’s agenda, agriculture being one of the pillars.

He urged all Kenyans to engage in agricultural activities to reduce food insecurity in the country.

The team believes that in the next two years, the country would expect significant changes in the agricultural sector.

Source: Kenya News Agency

A section of leaders in Turkana County have condemned the killing of innocent members of the community in what has been termed as intra community conflicts.

The leaders among them Governor Jeremiah Lomorukai, Speaker of the County Assembly Christopher Nakuleu and county commissioner Julius Kavita have called for an immediate stop to the killings.

Some people have been reported dead and their livestock stolen within the county in an intra community conflict pitting criminals from Turkana south and Loima sub counties.

‘It is wrong and unacceptable for any person to kill his kinsman. Those perpetuating these crimes must stop, they seem to be operating under a curse and we ask members of the clergy to join us and help end these crimes,’ Kavita said on Thursday during the launch of a 3 kilometer tarmac road in Lodwar.

He blamed illiteracy for the banditry acts in the county saying no educated person would stay in the bush for days and nights waiting to steal livestock from his neighbours.

‘I urge all of us t
o take advantage of the funds that we are allocated in terms of bursaries to pursue education,’ he said.

Speaker Nakuleu on his part called on the law enforcement agencies to bring to book the persons behind the recent spate of crime in Turkana south and Loima sub counties.

He said it was a new phenomenon where the members of the Turkana community were raiding each other and even causing deaths.

‘This is totally unacceptable and as leaders we need to come together and help end these crimes,’ he said.

Last week, three suspected bandits were killed in a police shootout at Kangalita in Kalemnyang.

The three; Simon Egielan Lopongorei, 37, a notorious bandit and gang leader, Lokucha Ngeruk a.k.a sharpshooter, 39 and Tiya Logumo aged, 21 had been accused of laying an ambush on Lorugum OCS on December 28,2023 occasioning him actual bodily harm.

At the same time, the county commissioner said the government would soon review the curfew in Turkana south sub county.

He said Interior Cabinet Secretary Prof Kithure
Kindiki would degazette the curfew but urged locals to be peace-abiding.

The government imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew in parts of Baringo, Elgeyo Marakwet, Laikipia, Samburu, Turkana, and West Pokot counties in response to prevailing elevated levels of banditry.

Meanwhile, a row is simmering among senior county politicians over the location of Aroo sub county headquarters.

Governor Jeremiah Lomorukai and leader of minority Samwel Lomodo are among those championing for Kainuk to be the sub county headquarters of a new sub county which is yet to be gazetted.

On the other hand is Turkana South MP Namoit Ariko is opposed to Kainuk as the new headquarters.

Speaker of the County Assembly Nakuleu said other leaders would be forced to intervene and ensure the residents of the county do not lose out on the new sub county.

Governor Lomorukai said himself, Speaker Nakuleu and Senator James Lomenen were those who asked for additional sub counties from the national government and had good reasons for settling on Kai
nuk.

He said Kainuk had better infrastructure and could help in responding to banditry attacks than any other areas.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) has in partnership with University of Nairobi and the North Carolina State (UCSU) launched a project aimed at enhancing and harnessing the full potential of African indigenous vegetables (AIV) in western Kenya.

KALRO, as the lead agency for this project, has received funding through a grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to implement the project in Kakamega and Kisii counties, on a pilot basis.

Dubbed ‘Enhancing Productivity, Post-harvest Management and Market Access of African Indigenous Vegetables in Kenya’, the project seeks to address critical challenges faced by smallholder farmers, particularly women and youth in the cultivation and market AIV in Kenya.

The Director-General of Dr. Eliud Kireger, while speaking in Kakamega County during the launch, said these vegetables not only formed an integral part of our cultural heritage but also offered a plethora of nutritional benefits.

He however noted that
despite their significance, they have often been overlooked in favour of more commercially popular crops.

‘Kenya is blessed with a rich diversity of indigenous vegetables, which have been cultivated and cherished for generations,’ he noted.

In a speech read on his behalf by Dr. Festus Muriithi, the DG said that the indigenous vegetable is one of the prioritized value chains under the Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) for food and nutrition security, and income generation, and this has been reflected in the KALRO Strategic Plan (2023-2027).

Dr. Kireger commended both Kisii and Kakamega Counties where this project would be implemented under the Connecting Research Education and Outreach (CREdO) programme on a pilot basis, for including AIV also a priority value chain in the County Integrated Development Plans.

The two counties were selected due to their high population density and small land sizes typically managed by smallholder farmers.

The project will adopt the Farmer-Field and Business S
chools (FFBS) approach to empower farmers with the necessary skills to adopt sustainable practices.

A research done shows the post-harvest losses, estimated at 40-50% attributed to sub-standard storage practices and exacerbating food insecurity especially among farmers and urban population.

Project beneficiaries include AIV’s smallholder farmers, including men, women elderly widowers/widows, people living with disability, youth, self-help groups among others.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, has implored Kenyans to be patient as the Ministry of Transport works to curb the rising number of road accidents.

Murkomen, who said that he was especially concerned by the situation of transporting students stated that the Ministry will gazette new guidelines on how school transport should be managed given the recent accidents involving students from Chavakali High school, Kabsabet boys and Kenyatta University.

The CS who was speaking during a prize giving day at Mugoiri Girls High School in Kahuro, Murang’a, noted that there is need for accountability from schools on their vehicles maintenance and how they manage their drivers.

‘We are going to employ technology to monitor how vehicles are managed starting with school buses which will be fitted with vehicular telematics,’ he said.

‘We have a team that is almost finalizing the standards of the right telematics to be installed in our vehicles that is working in conjunction with the Kenya Bureau o
f Standards,’ said Murkomen.

He observed that vehicular telematics have helped reduce road accidents involving trucks as owners or managers of those fitted with the telematics including dashboard cameras are able to monitor their drivers throughout the journey.

The CS noted with concern that the number of Kenyans losing lives through road accidents is rising every year warning that those numbers should be taken seriously.

‘When President Kibaki exited office, we were having about 3,500 lives lost every year, a number that had risen to 4,400 by the time by the time I took office,’ he said.

‘With telematics, the truck managers are able check on the driver throughout the journey making sure the driver is alert and can ask him to rest if he is dozing off and this will help with other vehicles too,’ he added.

Murkomen said he is going to work with CS Education to install telematics in school buses saying the Ministry is working with Safaricom to ensure the technology to be used will be affordable for schools,
explaining that the telematics will be solely for safety and not to spy on people.

The CS said that the Ministry was working on installing speed cameras on the road with the intention to start instant fining where all traffic violations will be sent to the vehicle owner’s mobile phone.

‘We are already in the pilot stage and have so far installed cameras on different roads across the country,’ he stated.

‘We want instant fining of drivers that are going above speed limits, overlapping or committing other traffic offences,’ he added

Murkomen acknowledged the efforts made by the late Transport Minister John Michuki of bringing order and dignity to travelling by ensuring matatus do not overload and passengers have seat belts. He however noted that there is still a challenge of reducing road carnage.

He asked Kenyans to play their part and stop boarding already full vehicles and to always wear seatbelt. He reminded motorcycle riders to also wear helmets when riding.

‘Besides the drivers driving safely I requ
est the passengers to be proactive and not wait for traffic officers to tell them a matatu is overloaded,’ he said,

The CS averred that the Ministry of Transport is working closely with traffic police officers and National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to restore sanity on the roads.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Sixty-six schools from Bungoma South Sub-County, Bungoma County have received Primary Science kits from the School Equipment Production Unit (SEPU).

SEPU Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mr. Joel Mabonga said that the kits would go a long way in assisting teachers in teaching sciences at grade four, five and six under the Competency Based Curriculum.

He said the kit contains teaching aids that a teacher needed to be able to teach effectively when teaching sciences.

Mabonga who was speaking outside the Bungoma County Education Office today during the distribution exercise said the kit has a manual that would guide the teachers in their endeavors to teach the subject as it gives a list of all the items in the kit and how to use them.

He said that SEPU was targeting to distribute the same to all schools in the county and was working to supplement the efforts of the Ministry of Education to implement CBC in the area and the country as a whole.

The CEO said the kit was at a cost of Sh70,000 to the school and th
at the teachers would undergo an induction on how to use the kit.

Teachers who spoke to KNA said that the kit would help in science teaching as the they would be able to move with it from one class to another and reach the learners at their convenience and that it would meet the needs of schools under the CBC.

The Vice chair Kenya Primary Schools Heads Association (KEPSHA) Bungoma South Sub-County Mr. Mwelu Wasilwa said the kit would meet the needs of the schools that were not able to put up laboratories.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua has announced that his Ministry has set aside Sh20 million to construct a cultural and heritage site in Narok in an effort to expand the tourism industry.

Dr Mutua who spoke in a Narok hotel said the initiative is aimed at increasing foreign tourists from 2.5 million to 10 million tourists per year in the country.

The CS was accompanied by Narok Governor Patrick Ntutu and State Department for Wildlife Principal Secretary (PS) Sylvia Naseya where he said the two levels of government will collaborate to build restrooms along the tourism corridors to improve the comfort of the tourists.

In a bid to achieve this, Dr Mutua said, there is need to change from the traditional products and have a modern way of doing tourism.

‘Our products have not changed since 1970. We want to exploit every opportunity so that we can retain the tourists in the country for more days,’ he said, adding that the longer the tourists remain in the country, the more the money.

He rei
terated that the site will be a centre where the locals display their artifacts, traditional music, and their culture, hence creating a wider tourist attraction in the county.

‘Narok is bigger than Maasai Mara National Reserve. Though the National reserve is iconic, there is much more that we can show from our counties,’ he continued.

The tourism sector will also identify 15 traditional Maasai homesteads that will be used as model sites for the tourists to stay when they tour the county.

‘The tourists do not only come to see wildlife, they also want to interact with the Maasais and get to know their way of life. This can be done if we have a model homestead where they come and spend some days,’ he said.

At the same time, he said his ministry will recruit 30 scouts and give three vehicles to help in the conservation efforts.

The CS also said that the county is among six pilot counties that will receive funding for human-wildlife conflicts compensation.

Governor Ntutu said Narok is endowed with numerous b
eautiful tourism sites among them Loita forest, Maasai Mau forest, Maji moto hot spring, Suswa caves among others.

He said they will map up these new areas so as to get away from the traditional products.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The government through the State Department for Labour and Skills Development is keen to develop a national skills inventory that will help match available job opportunities abroad with those in the country in order to address unemployment.

Labour PS Shadrack Mwadime noted that this a presidential directive to match the job opportunities that are opening up abroad with local skills, noting that employers have been complaining that the kind of graduates we produce in our educational institutions do not match their expectations and that they want to see where the gaps to inform the change of the curriculum.

‘We want to know the kind of skills our young people have currently and then do an analysis of the labour market both internationally and the market within. We can only do that analysis if we have taken an inventory of the skills obtained currently so that we get to know their gaps and that will inform a change of the curriculum,’ he noted.

He was speaking during his tour of duty in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu
County where he familiarised with the employees in the State Department.

Noting that the un employment rate in country is very high, he affirmed that the Kenya Kwanza administration is deliberate in ensuring it is substantially reduced through creating a conducive environment within the economy where investors can invest their resources and gradually also increase the number of the employees that they bring on board as the economy grows.

The Labour PS mentioned that there were job opportunities that were opening up in the western European countries with an aging population currently which would offer great opportunities for our young people to work there.

‘In the statistics, those below 35 years in accordance with the latest population census the population of the young is about 65 percent. Every year we produce about 1 million graduates right from primary secondary and also at tertiary level and only about 200,000 are able to get employed by our economy as they manage to get self-employed through seed cap
ital from platforms like the youth enterprise fund, hustlers fund and others in order to cater for their daily needs,’ he said.

‘But now that we have an aging population in the western European nations, they are offering us opportunities for the young people to go and work there. This administration feels this is the way to go,’ added the PS.

Mwadime debunked the claims of brain drain that the young skilled people would go to settle permanently in the outside countries, terming them fallacies as he reiterated that they don’t want our people to go and settle there but on short term contracts of 3-5 years and then come back home and invest that which they have been able to accrue during the period.

He revealed that statistics from the Central Bank late last year indicated that diaspora remittances now amount to about 4 billion US dollars equivalent to Sh663 billion per year, noting if we were be able to increase it to about a trillion, that would be a quarter of a national budget.

He said that is the way to
go in terms of forex, praising that the diaspora remittances have even surpassed the traditional foreign exchange earners like tea, coffee and even tourism.

The PS hinted on the transfer of technology back to the country as the young people go abroad. He cited model countries like South Korea which have been successful in the idea of transfer of technology after they sent their young people to migrate to Middle East countries about 30 years ago and now, they are dominating the electronic market as they gained skills to develop products like Samsung and others.

He said the idea the government is implementing is not new; it has happened in other countries and they have been able to transform their economy from third world to first world economies within a generation.

‘We are deliberate about this; we want our young people to go abroad and earn their salaries in foreign money and remit it back. That is why we have a pre-departure training programme to tell them that they are going out there as our frontline s
oldiers and as they do so we advise them where to invest this money when they come back,’ explained PS Mwadime.

The PS lauded the partnership between the Athletics Kenya (AK) and the Kenya Investment Authority (KenInvest) about 10 to 15 years ago which helped to advice the young athletes earning lucrative deals on the wise ways to invest their money, saying the initiative has enabled the economy of the town of Eldoret to develop as it is today making it the city of champions.

He acknowledged Eldoret and Uasin Gishu as a model noting that what is happening there could also obtain in Kakamega, Kisumu, Nyahururu and in a small town in Kilifi as the country sends young people abroad so that they are eventually able to remit what they earn not only for the good of economy but also because of the unemployment problem that we are having currently since they would also be able to offer employment to their younger brothers back at home.

‘If you have a young person erecting a mansion in a small town in Uasin Gishu,
rest assured that the materials will come from there. That is employment to the locals in terms of labour and others. There are so many ways we can benefit from this if only we are strategic,’ alluded the PS.

He further indicated that they wanted labour migration to be undertaken in a structured way which would help to prevent and bring to an end claim of human trafficking allegedly conducted by some of the Private Recruitment Agencies (PRAs) in the country.

He noted that they have an inter-ministerial committee that has been established that involves the security agencies to vet these PRAs before even their licences are renewed in order to ensure they are dealing with the right and genuine PRAs.

In addition, they have vetted the recruitment agencies from a 1000 3 years ago to about 500 currently so that the agencies that deal with the young people are above board in their dealings.

The PS lauded the role played by the PRAs as major economic agents and ultimately our economy adding that they have given a
directive to all PRAs to upload their job orders in the National Employment Authority (NEA) portal.

He encouraged Kenyans looking for jobs abroad to access the National Employment Authority Integrated Management System (NEAIMS) and to create an account to be able to access all the jobs that have been uploaded in the system.

‘As there are currently over 200,000 jobs available in the system, it is upon Kenyans to access these jobs, apply for them and be able to migrate abroad to work,’ confirmed the PS.

Mwadime assured Kenyans that the government is keen to fast track the labour migration by establishing a one-stop shop within the ministry headquarters embracing the huduma centre concept where all authorities concerned like officers from Immigration, Diaspora, Directorate of Criminal Investigations and Health departments are present to ensure a migrant worker is assisted to process all the required documents on time.

‘We have the officer from Immigration to fast-track issuance of passports for those migrati
ng to occupy these positions that are opening up in western European countries, an officer from health to assist with medical certificate, DCI to give police clearance certificate, an officer from the Diaspora State Department, all in one office so that to assist that migrant worker to process all the documents required within the shortest time possible,’ explained Mwadime.

Source: Kenya News Agency