Day: April 28, 2024

Nandi County Commissioner Caroline Nzwili has called on residents living in landslides prone areas in Tinderet Sub-County to move to safer grounds as the region continues to experience enhanced rains according to the meteorological department report.

Commissioner Nzwili warned that the locals should not wait for disaster to happen but comply with government directive and keep off hot spot landslide hills in the Sub-County.

Speaking during public participation on the affordable housing draft at Kapsabet High School, the County Commissioner insisted that chiefs and their assistants have been directed to ensure residents in landslide prone areas are moved to safer locations.

‘Let us comply with our chiefs and take necessary actions as the region continues To receive heavy rains,’ Commissioner Nzwili said.

She also asked parents to ensure the safety of children as they open schools, especially those using makeshift bridges to reach their schools across the county.

The County commissioner said the County Gove
rnment disaster preparedness team, National Government Administrative Officers are closely monitoring landslides prone areas, flush floods along rivers, water fill up mines and quarries as areas of urgent attention as the schools open on Monday.

While speaking on Friday at the launch of County Bursary Fund in Aldai, Nandi County Stephen Sang said residents living in landslide prone hills in Tinderet Sub-County will receive avocado and coffee seedlings to make those farms productive as they locate to safer zones, Sang said.

‘We are going to ensure those Tinderet Hills known for landslides remain avocado and coffee rich areas for the locals even though not fit habitation’

Both leaders pleaded with locals to be careful even though the county hasn’t experience damages caused by rains as the case in various parts of the country.

On the affordable housing draft, the county commissioner asked those attending the public participation forum to enrich themselves with affordable housing information and pass it to th
e locals who have little or no knowledge at all.

Nzwili asked the locals to support the affordable housing agenda since some locals had secured employment working on Emgwen Constituency affordable housing project with proposed 220 units when they are completed in September.

Officials from affordable housing Nairobi had met county housing stakeholders, chiefs, church representatives, civil society groups and marginalised groups in Kapsabet Boys School hall to discuss and give their deliberations on the proposed affordable house draft.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Boats business owners in Garissa and Madogo are now making hundreds of thousands in profit to transport stranded passengers travelling to or from Garissa.

The boats, which are normally used for rescue missions in River Tana are charging at least Sh1500 for the four-kilometre road stretch between Madogo and Garissa which has been destroyed by floods.

Public Service Vehicles (PSVs) from Nairobi to Garissa and Wajir are dropping their passengers at Madogo who are then forced to board boats to Garissa and connect with other buses to Wajir on that side.

Those travelling from Garissa to Nairobi have to board motor boats to Madogo so that they can get buses to continue with their journey.

At the same time supply lorries to Wajir and Mandera counties have resorted to go back through Embu to use the Meru – Isiolo – Modogashe road to connect to Wajir.

Residents we spoke to expressed their dissatisfaction with the way the repairs of the road section has dragged since December last year and want the government to mo
ve with speed to repair the road sections.

‘We are hustlers and all the people here who work in Garissa Town cannot afford to pay Sh1500 to go to work for Sh500 a day. This is not ideal for us and we want the government to move with speed and repair this road so that we can put this mess to and end when the rains come,’ said one Madogo resident.

‘We only spend Sh30 using matatus and Sh50 on boda bodas on normal days on this road. Today we are being charged Sh1500. This is not right,’ added another.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The Parliamentary Departmental Committee on Regional Development has promised to support the expansion of the Coast Development Authority (CDA) Integrated Fruit Processing Plant in Tana River County to curb post-harvest losses.

The Committee, led by Kabuchai legislator Hon. Majimbo Kalasinga noted that with the operationalization of the plant with a capacity to crush more than 1,200 tons of mangoes per year, the livelihood of farmers has significantly improved.

The main overarching goal of the plant is to improve the living standards of coastal small-holder farmers and create employment for the youth.

The Kabuchai MP said the government is keen to enhance value addition to increase farmers’ earnings.

The plant, he said needs to be expanded to increase the capacity of the machine to satisfy the market. Tana River is one of the major mango-producing counties in Kenya.

‘As a committee, we should see what best we can do for this plant to move from 1000 litres per hour to 3000 litres per hour to absorb more m
angoes from the market,’ said Kalasinga during a tour of the plant in Hola, Galole constituency.

He urged CDA to offer farmers competitive prices to discourage them from selling their mangoes to exploitative brokers. He was accompanied by Hon. Mwago Amos -MP Starehe, Hon. Mwalimu Kombe- MP Magarini, Hon. Peter Nabulindo- MP Matungu, and Hon. Paul Abour -MP Rongo and Hon.Major (Rtd) Dekow Barrow MP Garissa.

Magarini MP Mwalimu Kombe said they were satisfied with the plants progress, urging farmers to supply mangoes for continuous pulp production in the plant.

‘They harvest immature mangos thus contributing to loss. I advise farmers to put more effort by increasing farm acreage of mangoes and to be careful during harvesting to avoid losses,’ said Kombe, adding that the plant will improve the economy of the Coast region.

CDA Managing Director CDA Mohamed Keinan said the factory was established primarily to cushion mango farmers in Tana River, Garissa, Lamu and Kilifi counties against any post-harvest loss.

‘To our satisfaction, we installed a one-ton-per-hour capacity crushing machine which produces pulp. The pulp is the puree that will sell to juice makers,’ said MD Keinan.’Because Mango is a seasonal production, there are certain months that we are not able to make mango production. In that case, as an institution we were able to place a water processing line,’ he added.

Deye Salim, Vice Chairman of Galole Mango Farmers’ Cooperative Society said they will continue to supply mangoes to the plant as CDA offers competitive prices.

‘There is direct impact although there are some gaps which must be addressed to move in the right direction. In the past, mangoes used to mature well but brokers made farmers harvest immature mangoes,’ said Salim.

Through teachings from CDA, he added, farmers are now enlightened and farmers who do business with CDA have improved their lives. He urged CDA to increase the plant capacity to benefit more farmers.

Jamey Ayu, a Mango farmer said they have started to reap the economic ben
efits of the plant as farmers.

‘I have educated my children up to the university level. We want the plant to be expanded to crush more mangoes and create employment to improve our livelihoods,’ she said.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has written to the Murang’a county security committee to suspend operations of stone, sand and clay quarries, even as the ongoing heavy rains put them at the risk of collapsing.

In a letter written by the county NEMA director Sarah Waruo, chiefs, their assistants and members of Nyumba Kumi have been directed to inspect quarries at their areas of jurisdiction and consider suspending operations so as to save lives of artisanal miners working there.

Murang’a county has many quarries in different sub counties and in the recent past the region has been receiving heavy downpour.

In the second week of April, one quarry at Maragi area collapsed injuring two miners who were admitted at Murang’a level 5 hospital for several weeks.

Some parts of the county have also witnessed mudslides, which have blocked sections of local roads and destroyed some farms.

Waruo noted that due to the wet conditions, some quarries are at the risk of collapsing, thus the need to susp
end their operations until the rains subside.

‘Murang’a county has several quarries distributed in all the sub counties. The quarries are excavated either mechanically or manually by artisanal miners. With the current heavy rainfall there is the likelihood of quarries collapsing due to wet conditions.

This therefore is to request the county security committee to be on the lookout for any of the quarry at risk of collapsing and the same should be closed immediately to avoid the loss of lives in the event of a collapse,’ read part of the letter.

At the same time, Kenya National Highway Authority (KeNHA) Friday ordered for the closure of a section of Murang’a-Kiriani road.

This was occasioned by a mudslide, which has hit road at Gaturi ward leaving motorists exposed to dangerous ditches in parts of the area.

More than 10 sections of the road have also been partly blocked by debris and boulders that have been dumped on the road as heavy rains continue pounding the area.

The authority on its social platforms
ordered closure of sections between Murang’a post office and Mugeka after the collapse of a road embankment.

It urged motorists to use alternative routes to their destinations as the Central Region KeNHA Engineer Francis Kimata said the affected sections of the road will be repaired.

‘The Murang’a – Kiria ini road is critical and was recently allocated to KeNHA from Kerra,’ said Kimata urging motorists to divert to St Mary- Gitugi – Kiriaini and Gakonya- Mukurwe ini roads to access parts of Kiharu, Mathioya and Othaya.

In the past two weeks, residents served by the road had raised concerns after mudslide incidents, especially near the Mathioya river bridge.

Source: Kenya News Agency

In response to the unforeseen severity of the flooding, the National Security, Defence, and Foreign Relations committee has pledged to ensure that the government swiftly mobilizes additional emergency funds to mitigate the adverse effects and implement effective rescue operations.

Acknowledging the unexpected nature of the flooding, respective leaders are adjusting their strategies to address this evolving national disaster comprehensively.

Speaking during the standing committee on National Security, Defence, and Foreign Relations retreat, Senator Tom Ojienda, a member of the committee said that the government is actively engaging with relevant stakeholders to leverage expertise and resources in devising effective flood management strategies.

These efforts include a multi-agency approach, including having emergency response teams, enhancing coordination on the ground, and deploying resources to the affected regions promptly.

‘I would like to highlight that the insufficient preparedness is because nobody c
ould foresee this flooding severity that is causing a lot of damages and distractions in the country,’ Ojienda said.

However, he went on to note that as a committee of National Security, they are going to put in all measures to ensure that the government prioritizes the enhancement of emergency response plans as they have records of more than 20 counties being greatly affected.

Ojienda said that as custodian of National Security, they shall oversee that counties effectively utilize the emergency funds that they are all equipped with for emergency issues like the ongoing floods to rescue the people and offer relief supplies.

‘It is crucial that we plan strategically to utilize the flood water also for crucial purposes such as irrigation and provision of water during the drought periods in the country. Dams like Maisinga are breaching and this is an issue of the security of our people so it is important we find ways to effectively manage the floodwaters,’ he said

The Kisumu County Senator said that among ot
her issues they discussed in the meeting included the protection of government buildings which he referred to as crucial installations, banditry, and the framework of law that deals with fire brigade within the country to ensure each county has an effective fire department.

Prof. Ojienda noted that the framework for the fight against banditry is very clear, the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and Administration gazetted notice to declare certain areas to be bandit-prone and that the government is taking action.

‘We have seen a lot of success and the CS must be lauded for the effort that he has made, he has done so much including the Shakahola investigations and exhumations because he has dealt with violations of human rights,’ he said.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The Commission for University Education (CUE) has launched an environmental conservation drive where it is engaging its stakeholders in growing trees especially during the current rainy season.

Speaking during a tree-planting exercise at Meru University of Science and Technology (MUST) CUE Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Prof. Mike Kuria said the exercise was in response to the big call the country has, which is planting 15billion trees by 2030.

‘We believe that all of us have a role to play in this call and one of the ways we are doing it is involving our stakeholders and as you know universities are our key stakeholders,’ said Kuria.

He added: ‘We have planted more than 2000 trees today and one of the reasons we have done it here is that we know they will grow and that we will be passing by to look after them, even as we visit the institution for other activities within our mandate.’

Prof. Kuria also said that they were planting trees not only to meet the 15billion trees target, but because they believe t
hat they need to do something to mitigate against climate change.

‘We have stakeholders across the country and this is an activity as a commission we would like to continue with and be involving other universities as well in the future and hopefully we will meet this particular goal,’ he said.

He called on other universities to play a role in climate change mitigation, adding that this is an issue that everyone needs to be conscious about.

MUST Vice Chancellor Prof. Romanus Odhiambo thanked CUE for picking the institution as one of the stakeholders to be involved in planting trees giving an assurance that the survival rate of trees in Meru University is almost 98 percent.

‘We not only plant, but we also grow trees for the sake of our President’s directive to plant 15 billion trees. Each institution, especially the constituent institutions affiliated to CUE and especially the universities have been given a target of planting at least 130,000 trees per year and each has been asked to have a tree nursery of
not less than 260,000 seedlings per year,’ said Prof. Odhiambo.

He added: ‘What the commission is doing here today is going to build and strengthen the conservation goal. Those who have been around know that this was a desert but today we talk of a forest cover of about 14 percent having planted 76 acres of land.’

‘We continue encouraging every Kenyan to fully take part in environmental conservation since climate change is a reality and we are all aware of what is happening in Kenya and the whole world today.’

‘The only way of mitigating against the extreme climate effects is basically to plant and grow trees starting from our compounds,’ said Prof. Odhiambo.

If we do this, he added, then we can be assured of leaving something for our children and building something that will help people later on in terms of the survival of humanity and all biodiversity.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Water and Sanitation PS Julius Korir has disclosed that official commissioning of the first phase of Thwake Multipurpose Dam will be conducted in December this year.

Speaking during a site inspection and appraisal tour on implementation of the dam’s civil works and other related activities, Korir said that he was contented with the progress, noting that President Dr. William Ruto is expected to commission the multi-billion water reservoir by the end of this year.

‘As a Ministry, we gave a commitment to the Head of State that the Embankment section of the dam will be completed by May. So far I am extremely satisfied that we are even ahead of schedule because the section will be completed in the next few days,’ he said of the facility, which currently stands at 92 per cent completion.

Consequently, the PS noted that the dam’s critical paths have progressed well with the embankment expected to be completed in the next 20 days, before the Contractor allows it to settle and start working on the bridge and the
electromechanical area.

During the tour at dam Friday, Korir assured the contractor that the government was committed to providing funds to ensure completion of the dam within the stipulated period.

Speaking during the same tour, Water Secretary Eng. Samwel Alima, who is also the Project Engineer, reiterated the government’s commitment to logical finalization of the mega dam that had so far recorded remarkable progress.

On his part, Makueni County Commissioner Henry Wafula urged the contractor to hasten works and ensure the project is completed as scheduled.

The Government of Kenya through the State Department for Water and Sanitation, with funding from African Development Bank (AfDB) is implementing Thwake Multipurpose Water Development Program Phase 1.

This is a flagship program under Vision 2030 of the Government of Kenya, whose overall objective is to fulfill the long-term country’s development ambition in the areas of water, energy and agriculture and a key project under the Bottom Up Economic Trans
formation Agenda (BETA).

It is envisaged that upon completion, the project will provide the much needed regulation of flows on River Athi downstream, aimed at effecting both flood control and drought mitigation measures.

The program, under which the project is being implemented has four phases namely construction of an 80.5 m high multi-purpose dam with a storage capacity of 688 million cubic meters of water and associated preliminary works, located one kilometer downstream of the confluence of Thwake and Athi Rivers.

This will also involve a concrete-faced embankment dam covering an area of 9,217 acres.

The second phase comprises development of hydropower generating system, with an installed capacity of approximately 20 Megawatt.

The third phase will be development of Water Supply, Sanitation and Waste Water Infrastructure to supply estimated at 150,000 m3/day of treated water to approximately 1.3 million people drawn from the rural areas of Kitui and Makueni Counties and Konza Techno City in Machakos C
ounty.

This will then see development of an Irrigation Scheme to ultimately irrigate 40,000 hectares (approximately 100,000 acres) of land in the country’s Lower Eastern region.

Meanwhile, the contractor’s scope of works entails construction and installation of concrete faced rock fill dam including main and emergency spillway, low level outlet, intake tower, access roads, hydro mechanical plant, electrical and mechanical plant and an access road over the dam connecting Kitui and Makueni counties.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The Ministry of Information, Communications and the Digital Economy in partnership with the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) and Kisii National Polytechnic has planted 6500 trees in Kisii county during this rainy season.

The trees were planted at Kanunda (2500 trees), Sakawa (3,000 trees) and Kiamwasi (1000 trees) primary schools in Kitutu Central Sub County, geared towards meeting the 5 million target of trees planted by the Ministry every year.

Speaking at Kanunda primary school, Secretary Administration (SA), State Department for Broadcasting and Telecommunications Juliana Yiapan lauded the partners and residents of Kisii for teaming up with the Ministry to plant trees and contribute towards environmental conservation.

‘Every individual has a responsibility of ensuring that they take part in tree growing activities that will help to mitigate the effects of climate change,’ said Yiapan.

She encouraged the media to be at the forefront in educating the public on the importance of planting trees to boost tree co
ver and combat the climate crisis.

Further, the Secretary Administration urged the parents to engage their children in growing fruit trees, which enhance food security and conserve the environment.

The residents who were led by the area Community Health Promoters Chairman, John Nyakundi thanked the Ministry for the initiative saying that most residents do not have the knowledge on the benefits of planting trees.

‘We are grateful to President Dr. William Ruto for launching the National Tree Growing initiative last year and we are glad that our school here in Kanunda is a beneficiary of the same,’ said a resident Susan Motoka.

Others present during the function included representatives from Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC), Kenya Yearbook Editorial Board, Postal Corporation of Kenya, Kenya News Agency, Kisii National Polytechnic and Omuga Technical and Vocational College from Homa bay county among others.

The Information Ministry launched the National Tree Growing Day in Kisii in November 2023 by plant
ing 110,000 tree seedlings in a ceremony that was led by the State Department for Broadcasting and Telecommunications Principal Secretary Prof. Edward Kisiang’ani.

According to the Kisii County Forest Officer Manoah Oyioka, the county has a tree cover of 26.6 percent and aims to achieve 30 percent tree cover by 2032.

Consequently, Oyioka said that KFS is partnering with private farms and other institutions to plant 10 million trees in order to achieve that goal by 2032.

The Forest Officer urged the residents of Kisii to plant trees in their own private farms, especially during this rainy season.

In addition, he encouraged the farmers to plant fruit trees which can easily blend with other crops in farm lands and enhance food security.

This comes days after Kisii Governor Simba Arati distributed 200,000 Avocado fruit tree seedlings to farmers as a way of ensuring they access quality and affordable planting materials in order to boost avocado production in the region.

Some of the indigenous trees found in
Kisii county include makhamia (Omwobo), croton (Omosocho)and briteria (Omotatankanga), while the exotic trees are eucalyptus, grevillea and pine trees.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The Director of Housing and Urban Development in Charge of Nyanza Region Jared Buoga has disclosed that the Affordable Mabera Housing project in Migori was at 36 per cent completion.

Buoga who spoke during the affordable housing project participation forum at the Migori Teacher’s Training College said that the Mabera project will house 60 units in phase one.

The Director expounded that public participation has given out important inputs and valuable suggestions that range from the privatization of take-up of affordable houses by locals and concerns about job creation.

He noted that the Housing and Urban Development department was in the process of designing phase two of the project in the 2.5 acres located in Kuria West Sub County.

The official also disclosed that the housing project at Kehancha in Kuria West Sub County and Rongo has already been awarded to contractors with the progress of the projects at the mobilisation stage.

Buoga noted that the State Department for Housing and Urban Development was
also doing markets to help in the economic stimulus programme in partnership with the County government of Migori.

Six sites for markets constructions have already been handed over to the contractors and works are ongoing.

The official elaborated that markets are of greater importance in providing decent trading spaces for both traders and customers. The markets will also have cold storage facilities to preserve the fish products from Lake Victoria.

He explained that the department is at the tail end of formulating the Affordable Housing Regulations 2024, which will provide critical frameworks that the nation needs to seamlessly undertake affordable housing programmes and associated infrastructures.

The Proposed draft of the Affordable Housing Regulations 2024 seeks to facilitate full operationalization of the Affordable Housing Act in the development of affordable housing, institutional housing and associated social and physical infrastructure across the country.

The main objective and reason for the pr
oposed Affordable Housing Regulations, 2024 is to operationalize Affordable Housing Act, 2024 and provide clarity on its implementation.

Buoga added that locals will be given the first priority to take up affordable houses as well as the opportunity to provide materials for the affordable housing projects within their county to spur economic growth.

Migori County Commissioner David Gitonga said that public participation in affordable housing was key in helping to get suggestions on what to consider, improve and implement by the locals in the Affordable Housing Regulation, 2024.

Gitonga said that the ongoing construction of affordable houses in Mabera was on going smoothly apart from issues of contractors being behind schedule.

He said that the local administration will work closely with the Department of House and Urban Planning and the county government of Migori to realise the affordable housing projects in the county.

Migori County Chief Officer in charge of Lands, Housing, Physical Planning and Urban
Development Andrew Mwera acknowledged the good partnership between the national and the Migori County in implementation of the housing projects in the county.

He said that a lot of clarifications in consultations between Housing and Urban Development have been made to streamline the implementation of the affordable housing project within the county.

Source: Kenya News Agency