Reject Online Issue 34

February 16-28, 2011

ISSUE 034

A bimonthly on-line newspaper by the Media Diversity Centre, a project of African Woman and Child Feature Service

Human trafficking Money minting business shrouded in secrecy

By REJECT WRITER Ali Kheir recalls the trip from Kismayu, Somalia to Nairobi like it happened juts a few hours ago. He was chasing a dream and nothing was going to stand in his way to realising it.

It is a trip that started very far and was covered through many hardships, but for Kheir the ultimate goal that was his final destination gave him the power not to give up but to keep pushing as every day shortened the journey with a few kilometres.

The trip

And it was with a sigh of relief that he landed in Nairobi. Once he got to the city centre, Kheir was lucky to find accommodation with a distant relative while establishing contacts with brokers who would help him get Kenyan identity card and passport.

“I got the documents within one month and the brokers connected us to one of their networks that ferries people to Europe through Eastern European countries like Czech Republic and Russia,” explains Kheir.

“The documents included an admission for a college in Russia. We were taken through the airport without any questions. We paid handsomely through our brothers in Norway and Sweden. We were taken to Russia from where we were able to join our brothers.”

Kheir, however, remembers the journey to Nairobi with shudder. He was in a group of ten youth who included three women when they were assembled outside Kismayu for the journey.

“I paid about $4,000 just to get to Nairobi.

I joined the others a few kilometres outside Kismayu. I did not know them nor where they came from but I later came to learn as we progressed with the journey that some of them came from as far as Mogadishu and Marka in Somalia,” recalls Kheir.

They were forced to trek about 40 kilometres before they reached a place called Hara Hara on the Kenyan-Somalia border.

In Hara Hara, the team was joined by some guides in the border town whose work was to lead them through undesignated routes to avoid the Liboi border point where security forces are based.

Kheir says: “I could not with-

Public transport vehicles on the busy Garissa-Nairobi highway. Human traffickers avoid using these vehicles. Below: A victim of human trafficking narrates her ordeal in Garissa. Pictures: Reject Correspondent stand the 40 kilometre walk as it was hot and we were taken through a field with shrubs to an area outside Liboi town. From there we were ferried by a Land Rover through unmarked roads to Garissa town.”

“We were taken through the wilderness in a car and the journey took six hours. After that we

were forced to walk through the bush for about 50 kilometres. The women in the group lost the energy to walk and the traffickers started beating them,” reveals Kheir, adding that one trafficker remained behind with one of the ladies and they could hear her cry.

“We never bothered to go back and find out what had happened to her but later on when we reached a village called Saretha, we asked her what happened. She said that she had been beaten and raped.”

They left the village by bus from Daadab to Garissa. On the way at a check point, security ignored asking for identity cards but searched the bus for arms. They continued with their journey to Garissa where they were taken to a village away from town to rest while arrangements Continued on page 2

The human trafficking ring that is popular in northern Kenya has seen youth coming from as far as Ethiopia and Somalia subscribing to the illegal and dangerous activity that involves huge resources.

Read more Reject stories online at www.mediadiversityafrica.org

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ISSUE 034, February 16-28, 2011

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Kenya is a conduit for child trafficking

By Malachi Motano & Faith Muiruri

Kenya is a source, transit and destination country for children trafficked for the purposes of forced labour and sexual exploitation.

Kenyan children are trafficked within the country for domestic servitude, forced labour in agriculture including in flower farms, cattle herding, in bars, and for commercial sexual exploitation, including involvement in the coastal sex tourism industry.

This was revealed by Executive Director of Childline Kenya, Ms Irene Nyamu and the CEO Plan International Mr Nigel Chapman when the latter visited Childline Kenya.

Exploitation

The experts recalled that in 2008, internally displaced persons residing in camps as a result of post-election violence reportedly were trafficked within the country. Other than that, Kenyan children are trafficked to the Middle East and Europe as well as other

East African nations for domestic servitude, exploitation in massage parlours and brothels as well as forced manual labour, including in the construction industry.

Childline Kenya recognises that children are trafficked to Kenya from neighbouring Burundi, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Somalia, Tanzania, and Uganda for forced labour and commercial sexual exploitation.

“Most of the trafficked girls are forced to work as barmaids, where they are vulnerable to sexual exploitation, or are forced directly into prostitution,” said Nyamu. She added: “Ethiopian and Somali refugees residing in camps and Nairobi’s Eastleigh section are particularly vulnerable to trafficking.”

Speaking at the same function, Special Programmes Minister, Ms Esther Murugi said that although the Government of Kenya has not fully complied with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, it is making significant efforts to do so. “Post-election violence and the subsequent government reorganisation delayed a number of anti-trafficking initiatives, such as the enactment of anti-

trafficking legislation and the passage of a draft national action plan,” said Murugi.

She reiterated: “We have demonstrated efforts to investigate trafficking offences and charge alleged offenders. The Government criminalises trafficking of children and adults for sexual exploitation through the Sexual Offenses Act.”

Law

At the local-level of law enforcement, officials across the country continued to arrest and charge alleged traffickers throughout the year, prosecutions failed to progress and data on such cases was not compiled at the provincial or national level. In addition, the Government did not allocate adequate resources to anti-trafficking measures during the reporting period.

The three recommended more investment in children and that their affairs should remain a priority for the nation.

Nyamu thanked Plan international that Children are often trafficked in Kenya for domestic had earlier donated about $300,000 towards fighting child trafficking. “More organisa- servitude, forced manual labour and commercial sex exploitation. Picture: Reject Correspondent tions should come up to help save the children,” she said.

Cross border movement involve thousands of dollars Continued from page 1 were being made on how to transport them to Nairobi.

At the village they were ordered to pack their bags and leave by a taxi which was hired to take them across the Tana River Bridge where security screens all passengers bound for Nairobi.

They were taken by taxi to an area outside Garissa from where they boarded a bus to another town and eventually to Nairobi.

“We passed through police barriers but we were asked nothing. I thought the money we paid for buying our way was facilitating that,” recalls Kheir.

Trafficking is not an easy process. The traffickers first interview their customers (the youths) with view of knowing their dreams, where they intend to relocate and how much they are ready to pay. The traffickers prefer dealing with customers who have relatives in Europe, USA or Australia. With this they make extra cash by calling the relative faking arrests and demanding money.

Customers are interviewed and closely monitored by the trafficker for some weeks before the journey starts. They are taken by the trafficker through a simple induction and orientation on some basic Kiswahili so that they can use it on the way when approached by Kenyan police.

Some of the basic questions they have learnt to answer include the ones inquiring about identity cards, names, destination, where they stay in or out of Garissa.

Big dreams

Dreams of decent living as well as good paying jobs and working conditions have gripped the lives of many young people from Somalia, Ethiopia as well as northern Kenya. Youth aged between 20 to 40 years are being lured with promises of relocation to the developed world and other countries within the region like South Africa.

The human trafficking ring that is popular in northern Kenya has seen youth coming from as far as Ethiopia and Somalia subscribing to the illegal and dangerous activity that involves huge resources. Poor families are making great sacrifices so that their sons and daughters can get out of the poverty cycle and fend for them from the Diaspora.

However, while many youth leave home dreaming big, the dreams have ended up turning into nightmares and harrowing tales for the young men and women as they travel from various destinations to the capital city of Nairobi and Mombasa.

The human trafficking ring lure the youth with an easy ride to the destination. The traffickers have a strong network that includes bribing the Kenyan security forces so that they can easily pass through the various check points in northern Kenya to Garissa and finally to big cities like Nairobi and Mombasa before reaching the lucrative final destination.

Once they reach Garissa town, the youth are taken by taxi away from security check points in Tana River Bridge. At times they are taken across the Tana River by canoe, then they trek to the main road to board a Nairobi bound bus.

While this sounds like a normal journey, it

Guides outside Liboi town waiting to show the traffickers an undesignated route to Dadaab so as to escape police checkpoints. Pictures: Reject Photographer is actually a multi-million business. The industry is swarming with greedy individuals who want to make quick money at the expense of young poor people living in the remote poverty stricken villages.

The human trafficking ring is so discreet. It involves an underground network that starts from major towns in Somalia and Ethiopia to Garissa town, Nairobi and Mombasa. The traffickers are mobile with no permanent addresses.

They are very careful in their operations and leave no tracks behind lest they get trapped or fall into a security dragnet.

Extortion

Just like Kheir, Mulki Nuno brings to fore the other side of human trafficking after she was abandoned in Garissa and all her belongings and valuables like gold and money taken away by the smugglers.

Nuno recalls: “I was trafficked from Bardera area of Somalia and taken through various routes to Garissa. I was raped repeatedly and later when we reached near Garissa the trafficker ordered me to communicate with my parents so that they can send more money. They took about $13,000 from me and this was all the only money my parents had as they sold their land and livestock to enable me take the trip.”

She adds: “I remember being gang raped by two traffickers while the people who were taking the trip with me watched. I was crying and unable to walk.”

When they were unable to give more money, the trafficker left her and others in Garissa town.

Those who got support from their relatives were able to make it to Nairobi. She was left stranded as her parents were unable to send more money.

Nuno was lucky to find a good Samaritan who has accommodated her since January last year to date. “I am lucky I got someone here in Garissa who accommodated me after hearing of my tribulations. I cannot go back to Somalia as my parents sold all their property to send me to Norway. Even if an opportunity comes I will not go back home as it will be a shame for me to take all my parent property and go back again to be a burden to them.”

Traffickers use Garissa town as the conduit to other destinations in Kenya. They prefer to ferry Somali youth from Ethiopia, Northern Kenya and Somalia. They argue that security personnel are not able to differentiate Somalis from Kenya with those from neighbouring countries.

The traffickers do not like ferrying Ethiopian refugees from the Oromo and Amhara through the said route as it raises suspicion from security officials.

High fees

Once they have gone through orientation, they choose a destination in Europe or South Africa. The destination will be determined by the amount a customer will indicate they are able to pay as fee for the trafficker, food expenses and money to buy their way in case they are arrested.

The fees range from $13,000 to Europe via major destinations like Nairobi and $7,000 for those heading to South Africa via Nairobi, Mombasa, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Trafficking is divided between those headed for Europe and South Africa as well as those destined for local towns within Kenya but may be plotting for other destinations in Europe or America. Once the youth get to Nairobi, they stay with relatives as they await Kenyan identity cards and passports that will enable them to travel.

However, Garissa residents claimed that the human smuggling has decreased due to increased surveillance along the border over threats from al-Shabaab insurgents controlling Dobley areas along the Kenyan/Somalia border.

As residents in Garissa complained of government involvement in the ring, a senior police officer based in Garissa was arrested a few months ago ferrying Somali refugees in the official police vehicle before being intercepted by an administration police officer manning the Tana River Security check point. The officer was charged with trafficking people and his case is before Garissa magistrate court.

ISSUE 034, February 16-28, 2011

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

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Confessions of a human smuggler

By REJECT WRITER

Human trafficking in northern Kenya is a multi-million syndicate involving heavily loaded cartels and networks stretching from Somalia into Kenya and going to countries as far as South Africa and Europe.

Trafficking victims go through a long process convincing their families to sell all their property that includes livestock and buildings while others urge their families to borrow loans from well off families to facilitate their migration with the hope of paying back once they get to the intended destinations.

But unknown to innocent victims, proceeds from their family properties and loans ends up in the hands of unscrupulous human traffickers, most of whom give false promises of taking them across villages in Kenya by evading security check points and further to various destinations in Africa and Europe.

The trafficking cartel operates a close knit recruitment exercise of victims from their underground offices in towns in Somalia, Ethiopia and Northern Kenya. The cartel manages its activities like a cult and they use a thorough process of vetting their customers to avoid security traps and customers known to them.

Dangers

However, their operation of ferrying victims across the borders comes with a cost as victims are ransacked and in some cases raped in stage managed attacks waged by gangs allied to the traffickers. Others dump their victims in major towns like Garissa after their ordeals.

The traffickers cooperate and pay the gang members planted along all the routes so that they can stage attacks with a view of escaping blame from the victims. However, due to cut throat competition, traffickers are fighting among themselves to force each other out of business. Many gangs want to control the multi million underground business.

One trafficker forced out of business is Abdi Malik who was in the human smuggling business for five years. This was before he was knocked out of the business by gang members threatening to kill him and his customers along the busy trafficking routes from Somalia to Kenya.

Malik admits to having facilitated the smuggling of young people from Somalia into Kenya via various villages in northern Kenya before handing them over to other traffickers in Nairobi for onward transfer to Europe and South Africa.

He says smuggling activities are so secretive and victims are brought from diverse backgrounds to avoid putting together people who know each other. Those being trafficked only get to meet during the start of their rough journey through the dry patched terrain straddling from Somalia into northern Kenya.

Secrecy

“I was in this business for five years. Let me tell you, it is a dangerous activity with many risks,” says Malik. He explains: “This business is done in a secretive manner and victims are brought together to start the journey although they do not know each other. In fact they are brought from different towns and backgrounds to minimise risks along the routes.”

Human trafficking is a money minting business. Malik made two trips per month and for each he pocketed $40,000. Since this is a risky and illegal business, about $10,000 was set aside for security forces along the way. He would take 20 people per trip to avoid movement of many people as this would arouse suspicion.

The trafficking offices in Somalia and Ethiopia recruit victims based on the destination they prefer. They pay the costs of trafficking and service fees to the office and the proceeds are shared with all other traffickers in northern Kenya, Nairobi, Tanzania, Mozambique and South Africa for the victims illegally departing to South Africa. Transactions for those heading

to Europe are done by copying the transaction to the northern Kenya agent and the one based in Nairobi. The journey is facilitated through countries like Russia and Turkey.

Says Malik: “The business has a strong network and I know how many people were recruited in Somalia, where they are going, how much they have paid, their date of travel and I will go to the border point to wait for them and see to their way into Kenya before handing them to our agents in Nairobi.”

According to Malik, clients pay $3,000 to Nairobi and from there the charges for moving to other destinations varies. Those headed for Europe pay as much as $30,000 while those going to South Africa pay $15,000.

Tough trek

“It is a big business with good money but it comes with a lot of work and risky activities of evading security check points in northern Kenya and along border points.”

In the border areas the victims are forced to walk several kilometres and by pass the Hara Hara border point that is manned by Kenyan security officials before boarding a Land Rover that takes them near Liboi, the main border point.

Trafficking clients are forced to trek several kilometres to bypass Liboi town and they are ferried again by the Land Rover through various villages in the larger Garissa County before going into second plan of ferrying them through undesignated routes from Garissa to

The trafficking cartel operates a close knit recruitment exercise of victims from their underground offices. The cartel manages its activities like a cult and they use a thorough process of vetting their customers to avoid security traps and customers known to them.

A busy market at the border town of Mandera. Security personnel in a drill exercise before they are deployed to border towns in northern Kenya.

Below: Malik Abdi, an ex-human trafficker.

Pictures: Reject Correspondent Nairobi.

“We use various routes once they arrive in Garissa. We use the Hola-Mombasa highway and Tana River-Kitui route to avoid the many police roadblocks along the Mwingi-Nairobi route. Once they are in Kitui they are ferried during the night by private vehicles to Nairobi.

The route to Mombasa is also good as it is easy to send those who want to go to South Africa through Tanga in Tanzania while others travel by private means to Nairobi for the journey to Europe.”

Gangs

The traffickers tend to select more women clients than men and the composition is 70 percent female and 30 percent male.

Malik admits that the activity is risky as many victims have lost all their property to gangs while others like women victims have been subjected to rape by gang members and traffickers.

“The traffickers work closely with the gangs and they stage the attacks on behalf of the traffickers so as to create the impression that eve-

rybody including the trafficker and the client were attacked.

“The gang normally orders traffickers to rape female victims and after the ordeal the gangs will share the loot with traffickers by sending them the stolen valuables and money through a local agent in the villages.”

After the attacks, the victims are forced to request for more funds from their families so that they can continue with the journey.

“Once we are in Garissa after the stagemanaged attacks, we order them to bring more money for the journey to continue. Those who are ready pay for the journey continue, while those who fear burdening their parents back at home are left stranded in Garissa. Most of the women turn to prostitution or end up working as domestic workers.”

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ISSUE 034, February 16-28, 2011

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Mutilator turned anti-FGM advocate

Chepochekai Amokon rises above the age old practice

By RACHEL MUTHONI February 6 was marked as the international day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation.

However, for those who earn a living out of cutting girls each year pokes holes into their business as clients reduce.

Were it not for her decision to shun her job as a female genital mutilator, Chepochekai Amokon would be a busy, and a rich woman right now.

The December holiday is the peak season for Female Genital Mutilation in East Pokot, from where Amokon, 80, comes from.

Fame

Her career as a mutilator started back in 1951 and was determined to continue the practice until four years ago when she changed her mind.

“My mother who was a mutilator known all over the village for her ‘perfect cut’ taught me the art,” says Amokon.

Back at Akwichatis village, Amokon was widely known and respected for her perfection in initiating girls into adulthood. Parents flocked her home requesting she attend to their girls during initiation. “I got a lot of money, goats, goat skin and beads as payment for my work, that was my means of earning a livelihood,” says Amokon.

While she kept the goats, Amokon sold the skins and jewellery and used the money to buy more livestock. She owned hundreds of cattle and goats all from the practice.

Her joy was derived from seeing more and more girls undergo the practice which is still rampant in East Pokot despite its being outlawed and massive campaigns against it being done not only locally but internationally as well.

But Amokon’s life would change in 2006 when she lost all her livestock to raiders from the nearby Turkana Community.

“I was devastated, I cried all day for my livestock and wondered why I had struggled all those years, only for me to be left with nothing,” says Amokon.

Worse still, she had to leave her village due to insecurity and start living at Kokwatoto, which was relatively safer. The village where she lived is further from Turkana and she felt safer there.

However, Amokon, who was already booked for her job would not attend to her potential clients as they did not move with her.

At this village, Amokon got to interact with people who had learnt facts about FGM courtesy of Action Aid, an international organization that fights this brutal practice.

Grieving over her loss of livestock, Amokon was more than willing to shun a practice which had earned her a lot of wealth over decades only for her lose it within one night.

“I was taught that girls who have undergone FGM face the risk of dying while undergoing the practice due to excessive bleeding and what was

meant to be celebration would turn to mourning,” confesses Amokon.

Though she claims no girl ever died in her hands among the hundreds she mutilated, Amokon says she has heard of several who have died due to excessive bleeding.

“Last December an initiate died as she was being taken to hospital.

I heard she died due to excessive bleeding,” she says.

Climate change

In the past it was not common for girls to die as there was enough food and milk to nurture them after the cut. However, climate change has caused death and massive reduction of livestock while crop production is almost zero in the area due to drought. “There is no food to give to the initiates so that they regain lost energy and blood. In the past, there was plenty of sour milk, millet and sorghum,” she reiterates.

Amokon who doubles as a traditional birth attendant compares a woman who had undergone FGM to one who had not delivered under her watch. The earlier one, she said took more time and underwent a lot of pain and bleeding during delivery.

Unlike her, the one who had not undergone FGM had a much easier time. “She was in less pain, took a shorter time in labour and bled less,” she says.

Tradition

To make it a generational practice as culture dictated, Amokon passed the skills to her first born daughter Chepochonyir Lopenyo.

“But I have also convinced her to shun the practice, it is cursed and its proceeds too are cursed,” says the granny. Both mother and daughter have since abandoned the trade and turned into anti-FGM campaigners.

Though residents of this area are slowly embracing alternative initiation and shunning FGM, the former mutilator says it will be a big fight.

She says the practice is deeply rooted especially in the interior villages where most people lack exposure.

Amokon, a former mutilator who has now shunned the practice and is an advocate in the war against FGM. Picture: Rachel Muthoni When they think they are of age, girls request their mothers to take them for initiation either due to peer influence or pressure from their fathers who are usually hungry for dowry.

“I do not regret having cut numerous girls as they came to me voluntarily and I neither forced them nor marketed my skills,” says Amokon.

She says girls needed to go to school to catch up with other communities that shunned the practice many years ago and are at the forefront in leadership and professionalism.

“If only I had gone to school, I would be a gynaecologist, helping women in Pokot with complications during delivery,” says Amokon.

Though her daughters passed though the rite of passage, the granny says she will not support

“If only I had gone to school, I would be a gynaecologist, helping women in Pokot with complications during delivery.”

— Chepochekai Amokon, former female circumciser

the same to be done to her grandchildren and children of the next generation.

Choice

However, she leaves it to the girls in her community to choose between education and early marriage which follows after FGM. “Every time I talk to a young girl, I leave it upon her to choose, but I warn her of the consequences,” says Amokon adding that she pities her agemates who are still practicing as mutilators. “I heard the Government will arrest such women and I fully support the move.”

The World Health Organisation estimates that 100-140 million women have undergone FGM worldwide while another three million are at risk especially in Africa. The practice is recognised as a violation of human rights including mental, health and equality rights.

The Millennium Development Goals aim at eradicating this practice in a bid to promote education for girls and enhance women’s empowerment.

Cut hampers girls’ education progress

By JACKSON MLEKA Eighty five percent of girls in Kipao area of Tana Delta District do not complete primary education as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and early marriages are imposed on them by their parents.

The culture and traditional beliefs have affected girl child education with only 15 percent completing primary education.

The first female District Officer in KipaoTana delta, Mrs Halima Ware, has decried the practice lamenting that it was denying girls an opportunity to get education.

She said out of every ten girls who-

joined Standard One, only one wouldcomplete primary education.

Speaking in Kipao, Ware said the girl child drop out rate was alarmingly high. She added: “Girls in the region end up being disadvantaged in comparison to girls in other parts of the country where FGM is not rampant.”

Ware, who has been transferred and is now the acting DC of Nandi District said poverty was not an issue in the area because most of the locals were wealthy with large herds of animals. She blamed the whole problem

Halima Ware

on ignorance.

“The girls are exposed to female genital mutilation and married off early making it difficult for them to complete education,” said Ware. She added: “This is a big problem that requires intervention and civic education so as to bring it to an end.”

During her time, Ware said, only two girls managed to complete high school and that was her and her sister. “We were two girls against 33 boys. They used to mock and discourage us that we would not make it but now I have become a role model and my sister is also a teacher,” says the mother of six.

ISSUE 034, February 16-28, 2011

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Pelekai’s knife goes blunt

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By Evelyne Ogutu Snip, snip snip. This is the catch word that this old woman is familiar with. Were it not for the Government declaring Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) violence against children, this season she would be busy sharpening her tool of trade — a knife.

For over four decades, Nami Ntuyai Pelekai, 63, has been a respected traditional circumciser and midwife but not any more. Evelyne Ogutu had an exclusive interview with Pelekai.

She looks frail and tired.

Her tired wrinkled hands attest to this. But these are the same hands which for close to four decades mutilated girls as young as nine years, in the name of culture.

Nami Ntuyai Pelekai, 63 is among the few female genital mutilators (circumciser) who have come to the fore and decided to call it quits and abandon a job they considered sacred.

Inherited practice

She was a respected member of the community in her Kilonit village, Kajiado county, but not anymore. Most girls have been running away to evade an encounter with her. Recently, she decided to down her tools of trade.

She is no longer a circumciser.

But this is after practicing it for 40 years and circumcising about 400 girls. In a recent interview with the Reject, Ntuyai revealed how she started the job when she was only 19 years old.

“I got married when I was 10 years old and by the time I was 19 years, I started circumcising girls. My grandmother taught me how to do it and so I was following in her footsteps,” she says.

The mother of nine, three sons and six daughters, says were it not that the Government issued a stern warning that circumcisers stop the practice or risk facing the law, Pelekai would still be sharpening her ormorunya (the circumcising knife).

According to Ntuyai, were it not for the government, she would still be practicing her profession of over four decades which she has perfected with time.

“Many girls preferred I initiate them from childhood to adulthood since the ones I attended to healed quickly. Within one week they were already healed. I was and still am the village midwife,” she reiterates.

Complications

However, there were times when the girls she had circumcised would develop complications and would bleed seriously.

“Three years ago, there was a girl I had attended to and she almost bled to death. We had to rush her to hospital, but I blame it all on the parents as they had not fed the child well,” she explains.

The mother of nine and says that she even taught her co-wife how to do it. Every August and December holidays, she was rarely at her homestead.

“I moved from one village to another circumcising girls who would then be married off and that was my happiness since I transformed

girls from children to women. I was respected in the society,” she says.

Early marriage

Every year, Ntuyai would circumcise 10-15 girls during the holidays but sometimes she would be called when there was an emergency.

For instance, when a girl conceived before she was circumcised, Ntuyai was called to initiate her from childhood to adulthood. “In the Maasai culture, it was considered a taboo for a girl to conceive before being initiated. So when there was such a case, I would be called to circumcise and cleanse the girl,” she explains.

According to Ntuyai, girls as young as nine years of age were ready to be initiated and hence married off. Some would even be married off before receiving their first menses.

“I was married off by my dad when I was only 10 years old and most of the Maasai people are still practicing this culture of choosing a suitor for their girl immediately she is born,” she explains.

Most Maasai girls aged between nine and 15 were circumcised are considered ready to be married off, hence it is normally done once a year or if a girl has conceived before being initiated.

UNICEF estimates that more than 130 million girls and women around the world have undergone genital circumcision.

Health risks

International day of zero tolerance to FGM is marked on February 6. At least two million girls every year, 6,000 each day, are at risk of female genital mutilation. The practice, which is generally done without an anaesthetic, may have lifelong health consequences including chronic infection, severe pain during urination, menstruation and sexual intercourse, and childbirth, not to mention psychological trauma, which women like Ntuyai are not aware of.

For Ntuyai and her colleagues, the Children Act (2001), has only made things worse for them. “I used to be paid KSh1,000 per girl and given a lot of gifts like traditional brew, maize and chicken but now there is nothing like that,” she reiterates.

“I was married off by my dad when I was only 10 years old and most of the Maasai people are still practicing this culture of choosing a suitor for their girl immediately she is born.”

— Nami Ntuyai Pelekai, a traditional circumciser from the Maasai

Maasai children entertain visitors at a function to mark an alternative rite of passage ceremony. Right: Nami Ntuyai Pelekai, 63, has been a respected traditional circumciser and midwife but she has given up the practice because it is now outlawed and she does not want to go to jail. Pictures: Evelyne Ogutu

Ntuyai told the Reject that once she had cut off the clitoris of a girl, she would then apply milk and ghee to the fresh wound. This will be done every day until the girl heals. “The ghee will soften the wound and it is believed to have some medicinal value,” elaborates Ntuyai.

Although, she has never done it in the last three years, she says the practice is still rampant

in Maasailand and will not end soon unless the Government approaches the subject in a diplomatic way.

“This is the way we have been transitioning our girls from childhood to womanhood, and majority will not stop unless the Government gives us an alternative rite of passage,” she sums it up.

Key facts • Female genital mutilation (FGM) includes procedures that intentionally alter or injure female genital organs for nonmedical reasons.

• The procedure has no health benefits for girls and women.

• Procedures can cause severe bleeding and problems urinating, and later, potential childbirth complications and newborn deaths.

• An estimated 100 to 140 million girls and women worldwide are currently living with the consequences of FGM. • It is mostly carried out on young girls sometime between infancy and age 15 years.

• In Africa an estimated 92 million girls from 10 years of age and above have undergone FGM. • FGM is internationally recognized as a violation of the human rights of girls and women.

Female genital mutilation is classified into four major types.

• Clitoridectomy: partial or total removal of the clitoris (a small, sensitive and erectile part of the female genitals) and, in very rare cases, only the prepuce (the fold of skin surrounding the clitoris).

• Excision: partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora (the labia are “the lips” that surround the vagina).

• Infibulation: narrowing of the vaginal opening through the creation of a covering seal. The seal is formed by cutting and repositioning the inner, or outer, labia, with or without removal of the clitoris.

• Other: all other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes, e.g. pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterizing the genital area.

• Immediate complications of FGM can include severe pain, shock, haemorrhage (bleeding), tetanus or sepsis (bacterial infection), urine retention, open sores in the genital region and injury to nearby genital tissue.

Long-term consequences can include: • recurrent bladder and urinary tract infections; cysts; infertility; • an increased risk of childbirth complications and newborn deaths; The FGM procedure that seals or narrows a vaginal opening (type 3 above) needs to be cut open later to allow for sexual intercourse and childbirth. Sometimes it is stitched again several times, including after childbirth, hence the woman goes through repeated opening and closing procedures, further increasing and repeated both immediate and long-term risks.

6

ISSUE 034, February 16-28, 2011

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Malindi Council services grounds to a halt

By BENDARO TSUMA Vital services at the Municipal Council of Malindi have virtually grounded to a halt. The fire department and the garbage collection department, the two most important sections of service delivery, are almost none existence. Don’t believe it?

Ask Town Engineer Mr Nurrein Hatimy. “Three Faw fire fighting engines, one Renault truck, one Mazda and one Fuso trucks have all been grounded,” revealed Hatimy recently.

Residents are up in arms questioning the authority on its ability to deliver service despite collecting huge amounts of money in terms of land rates, rents, licenses and permits.

“Why is the council almost dead?

Why are there no vehicles when we pay all taxes?” posed Mr George Karisa.

Neglect

A stall operator at the new Bus Park Ms. Rachael Mupa reiterated: “The council askaris harass us to pay daily taxes here when they provide no service. Garbage is all over the place and the market is filthy. Does it mean the mayor and his councillors do not see this? Are they not ashamed?”

“A total of 16 vital departmental vehicles have been grounded,” said Hatimy, bringing services at the local council that serves at least 25 FiveStar tourist hotels and more than 10,000 private villas and cottages to a halt.

Two tractors used to collect garbage, one ambulance, one pick-up and two Land Rovers are in the list of grounded motor vehicles leaving the council with only the engineer’s and the mayor’s cars still on the road.

“The biggest problem is that there

are no spare parts in Kenya for these vehicles. We have searched everywhere including Nairobi but without success,” explained Hatimy.

According to Hatimy, trouble started when recommendations by experts to buy certain type of vehicles best suited for the council jobs were thrown out of the window by councillors and other officials at a meeting.

High cost

“We had recommended for new, durable and efficient vehicles which although cost slightly more are best suited for these jobs. But the councillors overruled us and bought cheap second-hand vehicles that lasted only for a short time. They cost the council KSh12 million. The civic leaders went for quantity and not quality, that is why we have all these problems,” explained Hatimy. He added: “The council’s fleet of vehicles is over 15 years old.

To repair one vehicle costs between KSh300,000 and KSh400,000.”

Deputy mayor Mr Fuad Rudeiny concurs with the engineer admitting that services have been grounded to a halt. Don’t forget that numerous fires often occur in Malindi usually burning down hotels, villas and cottages with catastrophic effects.

Fire

“The fire problem is major in Malindi which has makuti-thatched classic hotels and private houses.

We ask donors and government departments to come to our help,” explained Rudeiny.

As the fire department remains asleep, 44 fire fighters and 33 garbage collectors report on duty daily “to sign the attendance register” and carry home salaries at the end of the month.

Call for support of youth initiatives

By BONIFACE MULU Youth organisations, government and civil society have been asked to organise activities that promote an increased understanding of the importance and benefits of youth participation in all aspects of the society as well as those that support youth to devote their energy, enthusiasm and creativity to development and promotion of mutual understanding.

The remarks were made by the Eastern Provincial Director of Youth Affairs, Mrs Caroline Mugo in Kitui District. She said young people need to be encouraged to dedicate themselves to fostering progress including the attainment of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

“The UN Millennium Development Goals seek to reduce a host of social ills ranging from extreme poverty and hunger to maternal and infant mortality, lack of access to education and health care, all by 2015,” she said.

Mugo said that the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 64/134 in December 2009 as the International Year of the Youth. She said that the resolution calls upon the civil society, individuals and communities to support activities at the local level to support the event.

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports will focus on the need to encourage dialogue and understanding across generations, cultures and religions.

“In a province hosting different peoples and traditions, it is crucial that young people learn how to listen intently, sympathise with others, acknowledge divergent opinions and be able to resolve conflicts,” she said. She added: “Few endeavours are more important than nurturing these skills and educating young people about human rights for in them, we do not only see the next generation of leaders, but also crucial stakeholders of today.”

A private villa in Palm Tree Club One was recently burnt down in a fire where property worth millions of shillings was lost. The Council was not able to send a fire brigade to save the situation.

Picture: Bendaro Tsuma.

Rudeiny said within the last three months, the council has been forced to hire two canter vehicles to collect garbage every day at a cost of KSh16,000.

However, Town Clerk Mr Hemed Ahmed, is optimistic that the council will soon buy some trucks to ease the burden. “We have received KSh31 million from Local Transfer Fund (Latf) and hope to purchase a truck,” he said.

As one walks around the town streets, including the Central Busi-

ness District, one is greeted with some repugnant smell that forces them to gasp for air.

It is common these days for visitors, including tourists, to be seen screwing their faces in disgust from the foul smell emanating from the garbage mounds in various spots in town. Malindi is no longer a peaceful environment. As this goes on, the councillors led by Mayor Samson Mapinga are busy politicking and laying strategies on how they will clinch

seats in the 2012 general elections.

The councillors are said to be at loggerheads with area MP, Mr. Gideon Mung’aro over council leadership positions instead of concentrating on how they will better service delivery to the public, leaving tax payers at a loss.

One angry tax payer Mr Mohamed Said Salim exclaimed at the council gates last week: “This is the most rotten council in the history of Malindi town”.

Varsities encouraged to register with entrepreneurial body

By Henry Owino Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE Kenya) is now focusing on achieving the Kenya Vision 2030 and the Millennium Development Goals.

It is calling upon local private and public universities that have not joined the organisation to enrol their students while the hay is still green.

SIFE Kenya is an international network of university clubs whose major mandate is to promote entrepreneurship and establish linkages between business ventures, institutions of higher learning and communities for university students.

Speaking at a hotel in Nairobi, Regional Manager Business Development (KPMG), Mr Robert Onyango said the job market has become very competitive with most employers looking for people with experience that fresh graduate students lack.

Onyango said SIFE Kenya provides students with vital experience, helping them to sharpen their creativity, communication, leadership, team-building and management skills. These exercises develop community leaders and entrepreneurs who provide a highly trained and motivated pool for business people to recruit from.

“SIFE brings together a diverse network of university students, academic professionals and industry leaders around the shared mission of creating opportunities to the graduates,” explained Onyango.

He added: “SIFE Kenya graduates today stand out from other graduates for any entrepreneurship job offer anywhere in the world because of the experience gained with the organization while in college.”

Benefits

He said the community on the other hand benefits from these ideas where they seek to solve problems instead of relying on handouts or waiting for external solutions to the problems they can solve on their own.

Currently SIFE Kenya operates under the advice of the SIFE Kenya Business Advisory Council whose membership includes businesses from private and public sectors. SIFE Kenya has over 600 active students in 14 university teams in Kenya such as Africa Nazarene, Catholic, Daystar, Egerton, Jomo Kenyatta, Kabarak, Kenyatta, Maseno, Masinde Muliro, Moi, St. Paul’s, Strathmore, USIU and University of Nairobi.

The Managing Director of Kenya Investment Authority (Ken Invest), Ms Susan Kikwai challenged students to come out with the great ideas that can change the way the old generation does things.

“Take advantage of frequent change in technology to upscale your talents and skills to prove to the world that surely new generational employee is an asset to any organization,” urged Kikwai.

She said more opportunities should be

given to women. “Give women more opportunities since they go up to step nine which is assumed to be equivalent to step two for men in business. Women always take the extra steps unlike men who get comfortable in second step,” reiterated Kikwai.

All SIFE activities culminate into a national entrepreneurialship exposition judged by leading business people and national champions advance to the International Entrepreneurship Exposition (The SIFE World Cup).

At these events, each team presents a 24-minute multimedia summary of the projects they developed and implemented in various parts of the country throughout the year.

Since its inception in 2003, teams that have emerged winners at the SIFE Kenya National Entrepreneurship Exposition are USIU in Germany 2003, USIU in Spain 2004, Moi University in Canada 2005 were World Cup semi-finalists, University of Nairobi in France 2006 were semi finalists, University of Nairobi in USA 2007 were finalists, Moi University in Singapore 2008 were semi finalists, Maseno University in Germany 2009 were semi-finalists and Moi University in USA 2010.

The 2011 SIFE Kenya National Championship will take part at the SIFE World Cup in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, between October 3-5, 2011 and universities have been urged to prepare students for the competition.

ISSUE 034, February 16-28, 2011

7

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Human beings and animals fight over water

Community in water shortage distress

By KIGONDU NDAVANO The heat is unbearable, faces of misery dominate this village whose wells dried 10 months ago.

Jima Diwari shares the last cup of water with a grandchild, the water was fetched four days ago from an open pan some 20 kilometres away in a 20 litre plastic jerri can.

“We are a forgotten people and unless something is done we shall all perish,” says Riadha Jara, as she squats next to three plastic containers of water hoping they will be filled by the Red Cross. “We rarely cook and drinking water is scarce. We never talk about taking a bath, perhaps we could talk of the cleansing ritual before prayers and a cup of water is shared by two or three of us,” she laments.

This is Pandangua village inside the dry sections of Witu Location where the heat from the sun is slowly eating into the vegetation and water from the pans which earlier served the local people.

To access the village, one has to drive for more than 25 kilometres on a rough road where all types of wildlife emerge from the bush.

Panganuo, the only open water pan at Jima is drying. Monkeys and baboons have to be chased from the pan by stones to allow tired women to fetch water.

On reaching the water, one has to wade through the mud to be able to fetch some 20 litres of water from what looks like white sludge.

Sometimes the water is so thick and heavy that the women have to filter it using pieces of cloth, otherwise they would carry home some thick fluid of mud.

Rescue

By ABJATA KHALIF As the drought continues to ravage most of the country, life is not very smooth for those living in the arid regions of northern Kenya.

Pastoralist communities in northern Kenya are witnessing increased human/livestock conflict over drying water wells due to the prolonged drought.

The hostile weather has left many of the shallow water wells dry while some other wells containing less water have been centre of protracted fights between the livestock and local communities.

Hundreds of thirsty donkeys have camped around water wells waiting for community members to draw water using a long rope and plastic buckets that fetch less amount of water as compared to the past. Competition over the resources has made pastoralist communities to move to some villages whose water wells have not dried but are producing less water.

Alternative

Other pastoralist families have opted to move with their livestock from drying water points and grazing land to neighbouring Somalia where they are able to find water in River Shabelle, about 500 kilometres from Kenyan-Somalia border.

Already herders have moved out of 17 villages along the Kenya-Somalia border and are heading towards Somalia in what is seen as massive exodus. The long journey will definitely cost some livestock and human lives.

A leader of one of the herders, Mr Dubat Aukey said: “We have no option but to trek some 500 kilometres into Somalia to River Shabelle where we will get water and pasture that will last us through this difficult period.

We will come back when the drought is over and water is available for both us and the livestock.”

Pastoralist Association leader, Mr Nurdin Sharmoge says: “We are experiencing a drought similar to one about ten years when all water points dried up and carcasses of live-

Donkeys forcing their way into drying water wells in Arbajahan, Wajir County.

The drought that the country is experiencing has led to human-animal conflict in watering points. Picture: Abjata Khalif stock were lying everywhere.” He adds: “It was terrible and local communities in various villages lost their relatives before others fled to major towns in the region to search for food and water.”

In Hadado area, Wajir District local communities and outsiders have engaged in bitter exchanges while others are fighting with sticks to stop outsiders from accessing the water wells. A local resident in Hadado, Mr Ali Abdi says: “We are facing a big problem here and pressure from outside over the only two remaining water wells that are also producing very little water. Outsiders and their livestock are coming in from as far as 200 kilometres away to our village to compete with us over meagre resources.”

He said that they have faced challenges with their camels and donkeys in the past month where the animals attack and chase people fetching water in bid to drink the fetched water and quench their thirst.

Ali gave an example of two women who were attacked by group of donkeys from Ha-

“They have faced challenges with their camels and donkeys in the past month where the animals attack and chase people fetching water in bid to drink the fetched water and quench their thirst.”

— Ali Abdi, resident

dado village before the beasts kicked the jerri can as they struggled to drink the water and in the ensuing melee the women sustained injuries.

“In the past one month we have seen a new trend where our own donkeys attack the locals at the water wells and force themselves in jerri cans,” explained Ali. He added: “Fetching water from the wells is another daunting task as it takes one several minutes to fill half the plastic container that is used. We are torn between giving water to save human lives or giving it to the beasts that need a lot of water due to the scorching sun.”

Animal menace

Communities in Hadado area of Wajir are complaining over outsiders driving their animals like camels to the water wells. They say when the locals go to fetch water, the animals overrun the wells and chasing them away.

“The water problem is everywhere and our wells are drying up. It is unfortunate that outsiders do not want to understand and are using tricks of driving their animals to the wells and causing a stampede as thirsty camels overran the wells jumping everywhere with their long legs.”

Efforts by the local communities in trying to make the outsiders understand the problem have fallen on deaf ears as the latter view the remaining wells as the only lifeline that will save them and their livestock during this period of prolonged drought.

“We have tried to talk to them so that at least we can have some days for them to fetch water for domestic purpose and not for livestock but they are not cooperative. They want to do both and the wells cannot serve the two purposes as they are drying up and it is taking the women many hours to fill one jerri can of water,” reiterated Amina Ahmed, an area resident.

Elsewhere in the village, Somoe Sheki can only wait for the Red Cross to come to her rescue. There is commotion when the Red Cross truck with a collapsible tank arrives to deliver water to the village.

Unfortunately, Sheki cannot fight for the rare commodity with the others. As the group pushes for the water, Sheki is finally assisted to fetch some water first. But even after all that she cannot carry the plastic container and somebody has to assist her.

At the local mosque where water used to be harnessed from the iron roof, everything including the cement water storage tank is dry. The tap is broken and rusty while the borehole which served the mosque for years is an empty dry pit. Children sometimes play around what used to be water sources after abandoning school.

More than 1,000 people in Pandanguo village in Lame District are facing death from lack of water and are at risk of contracting water borne diseases as share the same water source with baboons and cattle.

Following severe drought, water sources including wells and pans have dried up and residents look up to the single pan for the commodity.

The villagers, from the minority Boni community, have walked over ten kilometres to fetch water from the only source for wild animals in the nearby Witu Forest.

The drought has dried up most water points forcing the residents to rely on contaminated water from the pan.

A visit to the area reveals a community in water distress. Following the severe scarcity, more than 50 per cent of the pupils at the Panda Ngua Primary school have been forced to drop out of school to join their parents to search for the scarce resource.

“Learning at Pandanguo Primary School has been affected as pupils and teachers wonder in search of water,” says Mr Mohammed Molu, a village elder.

The Kenya Red Cross officials have, however, started to ferry water in tankers to the affected people.

Red Cross Coast Regional Manager Mr Mohammed Mahdi said the area has been hard hit by drought and called on well-wishers to come out in aid of the residents.

“We will supply more water to homesteads and schools to ensure normal learning resumes,” said Mahdi.

8

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Blind Kithumba cries out for help

By JANE MUTUA

Being blind or having a physical disability does not necessarily mean that one is completely incapable of working like any abled person.

But all this will depend on the person’s family background and upbringing. People who have physical disabilities but come from well to do families are lucky because they are taken to special schools unlike those from poor backgrounds.

A good chunk of the Kenyan population born with some disabilities come from poor families. Many of them end up in the streets in major towns where they beg for alms as a source of livelihood. This is a sign of poverty and hopelessness.

Unlike the case with many disabled people in our country, Kithumba Muna, 32, from Syomurori Village, Tulanduli sub-location, Kyuso District who was born blind but is determined to live a promising and comfortable life.

She has done all it takes to live a normal life devoid of dependence on other people.

That is until recently when her life took an upside down turn due to the dictates of fate.

Kithumba lived by the maxim that disability is not inability. She ignored her disability to engage in chores that enabled her to earn a decent living without having to beg for support.

Kithumba was born at the Kimangao Catholic Mission Hospital in Mwingi North Constituency being the second born in a family of six.

“My daughter is the second born. When I gave birth to her and realised she was blind, I asked the doctor in charge whether the baby can undergo an operation to correct the problem.

The doctor told me that it is God will and I had to accept her as she was,” says Annah Muli Muna, Kithumba’s mother.

Muli says bringing up a blind child was not a big deal as she behaved just like any child.

“Very few people would realise that she was blind as she behaved like any other baby,” she explains.

“Despite my daughter being blind, she is brilliant and very active. We never used to lack food and other essential commodities in our home when she was working. She used to provide for all our basic needs.”

— Muna Kimanzi, Kithumba’s father

As Kithumba came of age, she was lucky to have a sponsor take her to school. “As I grew up, I went to stay with my aunt and while there, my aunt was requested by some good and empathetic people to take me to school,” says Kithumba.

Training

ISSUE 034, February 16-28, 2011

Kithumba Muna, who is blind is asking for help to help repair her sewing machine (right) that broke down and she does not have the money to repair.

Picture: Jane Mutua

She explains: “I was enrolled for rudimental learning at Central Primary School in Kitui Town where both blind learners and the sighted were put in the same class. The only difference was that we used to have different writing materials.”

While studying in Kitui, all the blind and partially blind pupils were accommodated at the St Luke’s Integrated Centre for the Blind within the town. “When the rest of the sighted pupils went back to their homes after classes, the blind spent their night at the St Luke’s Integrated Centre for the Blind which we regarded as our home,” says Kithumba.

After completing her primary education in 1992, she proceeded to Thika Workshop for the Blind where she undertook a two-year vocational course in sewing which she completed in 1994. She learned how to make several items like pullovers, baby socks and baby caps.

After the training, Kithumba emerged the best overall student and was awarded a sewing machine for her exemplary performance.

“I was the best student in the training and I was rewarded with a sewing machine for the good work. I then left the school confident that with the knowledge I had acquired I would be able to start my own business and eke a living without having to rely on other people for support,” she says.

Once back home, Kithumba started off on a very sound note by establishing her own business, knitting school pullovers and baby caps at the nearby market centre. Life was rosy and pleasant as she earned income on daily basis.

“My business was good. There was a steady flow of customers and I earned on average a daily income of KSh300. At the time I did not have to bother people or even my relatives by borrowing money from them because I was earning my own income despite being blind,” she says in retrospect.

“I saved most of my earnings and a year after I established the business I was able to buy the family donkeys and a few goats,” she reveals.

But as fate would have it, things turned for the worst for Kithumba three years ago after her prized sewing machine broke down. Unable to neither replace or repair it, her life has taken a turn for the worst and she now lives a terrible life of misery.

Much as Kithumba hated the depend-

ency syndrome, she has now found herself caught in a catch 22 situation and has no choice but to seek support from other people

to survive. She hopes that in the coming days, somebody will show up and help her acquire a new machine to enable her restart her sewing school business.

“Despite my daughter being blind, she is brilliant and very active. We never used to lack food and other essential commodities in our home when she was working. She used to provide for all our basic needs, now life is no longer the same again after her source of income was cut,” says Muna Kimanzi, Kithumba’s father.

Agony

“When I gave birth to her and realised she was blind, I asked the doctor in charge whether the baby can undergo an operation to correct the problem. The doctor told me that it is God will and I had to accept her as she was.”

— Annah Muli Muna, Kithumba’s mother

To make things worse for the family as Kithumba’s machine broke down, all the goats and the donkey she had bought from the proceeds from her sewing school business had earlier been sold due to the biting drought that hit their home area about four years ago.

During the interview with the Reject, Kithumba said she loathed begging or borrowing money. “Despite the fact that I am fully aware that I am not mentally blind, I cannot go on borrowing money, because I am not used to it. I only beg for a benefactor who can help me to repair this machine because I totally have nothing and my parents are not able to assist as they are poor,” Kithumba pleads.

Since her machine broke down, Kithumba has remained active in assisting her aging mum by doing various domestic chores.

“She does most of duties besides collecting firewood. She can cook, clean utensils, wash clothes and fetch water from the near by river,” says her mother.

ISSUE 034, February 16-28, 2011

9

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Stigmatisation throws disabled children out of the social loop

By RACHEL MUTHONI It is mid-morning at Losbic village, Morop, Rongai District, about 60 kilometres from Nakuru town in the Rift Valley Province.

At the nearby Losbic Primary School, children are out for break, playing in the field, joy written all over their faces.

But a few metres away, 15-year-old Vincent Kipchirchir sits watching, not necessarily understanding but maybe admiring his agemates play in the field.

It is under a cactus tree, seated on his wheel chair that Kipchirchir spends his day, while his 65-year old granny goes to look for casual jobs.

Although he lives a stone’s throw away from a public school, Kip, as he is commonly referred to at home, has never been to school.

For 12 years, the boy did not even have a wheel chair until a community worker, Ms Diana Wellapondi donated one through the Lion’s Club, Nakuru branch.

Though she was among parents and guardians who promised to take their children to school once they got wheelchairs, Josephine claims she has too much to do that she does not have time to take her grandson to school.

To her, the child would be better off in a special boarding school as this would give her more time to look for casual jobs and provide for her family.

At Ranjuera village near Kampi Moto, 13year-old Isaac Kariuki sits on his wheel chair.

Kariuki is the tenth born in a family of eleven children born to a single mother.

Like Kip, he was a beneficiary of the wheelchairs donated through the Lions club, and his mother Jane Wanjiku had also promised to take him to the nearby Kampi Moto Primary School.

“But we could not afford the school uniform because even getting food and money to pay house rent is a big problem,” says Wanjiku.

Most of the time Kariuki is left alone in the house as his mother goes to look for casual jobs and his siblings go on their daily businesses.

Struggle

Convincing

This was in her effort to encourage parents with physically challenged children not to hide them but try to have them lead a normal life.

“While some are still bound by traditional beliefs that physically challenged children are a curse to families, others claimed that they would take their children to school but if only they had wheelchairs,” says Wellapondi.

For Kip’s case, it took Wellapondi a lot of time to convince his grandmother to be letting out her grandson, at least to get some sunshine.

The grandmother was convinced that the boy should never leave his bedroom as she did not like it every time her neighbours talked of her ‘cursed’ grandson.

“This boy was born to my daughter who later got married to another man and she left me to take care of him,” says Josephine Korir, Kip’s grandmother.

Vincent Kipchirchir who is disabled and has never gone to school due to effects of stigmatisation associated withy his condition. Inset: A kind neighbour pushes Kipchirchir away from the sun where his grandmother had left him.

Pictures: Rachel Muthoni

“While some are still bound by traditional beliefs that physically challenged children are a curse to families, others claimed that they would take their children to school but if only they had wheelchairs.”

— Diana Wellapondi, a social worker

For Wanjiku, getting KSh1,000 rent for her rented two-room mud house is usually her main challenge.

“Though I love my physically and mentally challenged son, convincing his siblings to love and accept him as he is has been a major challenge. I have to feed and bathe him as I take care of his other needs,” says Wanjiku.

According to Wellapondi, the rate at which mentally and physically challenged children are mistreated in this area is worrying.

Her efforts to convince parents to take their disabled children to the nearby public schools have been unsuccessful.

“Out of ten parents whose children received wheelchairs in March 2008, only two have taken their children to school,” says Wellapondi, adding that unfortunately one of the beneficiaries has since died.

The nearest special school for the physically challenged is in Milimani, Nakuru, about 45-60 kilometres from these villages.

Though the school has boarding facilities, the Principal, Ms Rosemary Achilla says many parents are forced to keep their children at

home for lack of school fees.

“It only costs KSh16,000 per year to bring a child here but the amount is too much for many Kenyans, most of whom live below the poverty line,” explains Achilla.

In some cases, Achilla says, the school is forced to accommodate children living under extreme conditions of poverty and rejection.

“Currently, we are accommodating two orphans who, after losing their single mother, were rejected by their kin,” she adds.

At the special schools, children are able to not only socialise but also to learn some basic skills that can help them lead an independent adult life.

But even the trained and competitive graduates do not necessarily get a chance to earn from their skills.

Stigma

“They are stigmatised by the society and branded as ‘stupid’ or ‘useless’ and therefore lack the confidence in exercising their acquired skills,” reiterates Achilla.

The headteacher says that in some cases there are parents who can afford the school fees but prefer to lock their physically challenged children in the houses as they consider them a shame.

Such parents think that they have a ‘family image’ to protect and which they think is more important than taking care of their children.

Achilla advices that the government should consider free education for physically challenged children to encourage more parents to take them to school.

“But a lot of awareness creation on accepting the physically challenged amongst should be done first before even money for free education is provided,” reiterates Achilla.

DCs warn of illegal arms trafficking across the border

By Gilbert Ochieng Smuggling of light firearms as well as trafficking of drugs, children and illegal immigrants have been identified as the main challenges facing districts that share the common border of Kenya and Uganda.

The affected districts include Busia, Bunyala, Samia, Teso North and Teso South on the Kenyan side and the adjacent Bugiri, Tororo and Busia districts on the Ugandan side.

Addressing a joint border workshop for

district commissioners from the two countries which was also attended by senior police officers at the Busia Agricultural Training Centre recently, Busia Kenya District Commissioner Mr Mwiandi Gitonga called for concerted efforts by the two governments to stamp out the vices along the common border.

Samia District Commissioner, Ms Josephine Onunga said the most common drug being trafficked along the border is bhang.

“These the traffickers sell to their clients in major towns where demand for the same is

high,” said Onunga.

The attention of the district commissioners was also drawn to the fact that smugglers had devised a method whereby they stuff light firearms inside sacks containing cereals such as beans, millets and maize in order to conceal the ammunitions.

The border district commissioners unanimously resolved to screen the said goods in order to ensure no illegal firearms are smuggled out of the border towns.

“Stern action will be taken against anybody caught engaging in illegal smuggling of

drugs and light firearms,” the commissioners warned.

At the same time the administrators said the Government has put effective measures in place to ensure that drug abuse especially among the youth is stamped out. They reiterated that drug consumption has been on the increase and this has led to mental retardation and drastically affecting academic performance in national examinations.

“Stern action will be taken against those found selling drugs to the youth especially school children,” they said.

10

ISSUE 034, February 16-28, 2011

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Chasing a dream leaves Kariuki holding the chisel and hammer

By PAUL KIMANZI He is a store man during the day and a carpenter at night but still believes one day his dream of becoming a public health officer will come true.

Julius Kariuki, 26, is a man who strongly believes “man must live” no matter the circumstances. “When I read my favourite book by Chinua Achebe, Encounters from Africa that ‘man must live’, I have lived to prove it practically,” says Kariuki.

Kariuki attained a Diploma in Public Health from Kenya Medical training College (KMTC) in 2009 but has never been able to get his certificates due to the fee arrears.

Several attempts of negotiations with the institutions to have his certificates released have not been successful.

Hard work

While he tried to make a living, Kariuki went as far as getting an opportunity to teach in a private school in Murang’a. He was employed as a senior English teacher earning KSh5,000 per month. This was in January last year.

When he remembered his talent in carpentry few weeks later, he did not sit back on it. To supplement his income, he decided to open a workshop in Murang’a, where he hails from and started making sofa sets.

“I managed to teach 28 lessons per week, as I ran my workshop,” he says. Kariuki was discouraged as different job opportunities came knocking on his door after college but his potential employers turned him away for not having his certificate.

He suffered another blow in March last year, when he was called to lecture at a college in Nairobi but was literally chased away by the employer when he could not produce his academic papers.

“Get out of my office, where were you going without a certificate?” Kariuki recalls the bitter words that greeted him soon after entering the institution’s office.

Kariuki feels tormented when opportunities slip through his fingers. “Even if it will take ten years, I will finally get my certificates,” he reiterates. He owes KSh108,000 in fee arrears, an amount he tirelessly working hard to clear.

However, Kariuki would soon leave the teaching job and workshop altogether owing to financial constraints. He is currently working as a store man at Air Forces Canteen Organization (AFCO) in Eastleigh. He reports at 8am and works up to 5pm.

However, he is not giving up on raising the money to get his certificates. He has opened a new workshop in his small rented house in Mathare North Estate. It is a workshop and a bedroom all rolled into one, for which he pays a monthly rent of KSh2,500.

When he comes home from work in the evening, he get down to the business of making sofas from 7pm to 11pm. He wakes up at 4.30am to continue his carpentry work until 6.30am.

When we arrived at his house a few minutes to 7.00pm, Kariuki was just beginning his carpentry work. To him every minute counts. To confirm this, he got his workshop tools in order, as we took him through the interview.

Among the challenges he faces are that his

The Government, through the Ministry of Agriculture is committing itself to mango farming in the country by improving indigenous mangoes.

According to Mr Wilfred Yako, a senior researcher with the Horticultural Crops Development Authority, mango trees need to be taken care as pesticides and fertilisers for farming are expensive but there is no shortcut.

“If you fail to take care of the tree, you will gain nothing,” said Yako.

He was educating horticultural farmers recently during a field day organised by the Horticultural Crops Development Authority at Kyuluni market in Nzambani Location, Kitui District.

Local Member of Parliament Julius Kiema Kilonzo was the chief guest at the function.

Hundreds of horticultural farmers attended the function.

There are many types of fruits in Kitui District including mangoes, baobabs, lemons, pawpaws, oranges, guavas and tarmarind.

Yako educated the farmers on early and late flower induction in mangoes. In Kitui District, mango trees grow too tall and it becomes difficult to spray them with pesticides. For effec-

neighbours in Mathare have complained severally over his noisy workshop which sometimes denies them comfortable sleep. However, Kariuki has successfully negotiated with the neighbours to bear with him as he runs the workshop.

“I sometimes wake up my neighbours, but they have been co-operative and understanding. Some have even given me contracts to make them sofa sets,” he says.

Kariuki has even made sofa sets for two of his former classmates at KMTC who live in neighbouring estates. The fact that his two classmates are now working while he struggles to get his certificates, torments him more.

“When I was a first year student, I was posted to Kitui on my first attachment. I had to learn carpentry to get pocket money.

I made two sofas and bought my first mobile phone.”

— Julius Kariuki, a former KMTC student

Farmers tipped on mango farming

By BONIFACE MULU

Julius Kariuki, a trained public health technician who has lacked funds to retrieve his certificates from the Kenya Medical Training College and has hence been unable to get employment. Picture: Paul Kimanzi

tive pesticide spraying mango trees need to be reduced in height by pruning.

The specialist taught the farmers about urea and potassium nitrate fertilizers and fungicides for the mango farming.

“Farmers need to water mangoes for the roots to absorb fertilizers,” he advised.

Yako, who said that the sweetest mangoes in the world come from the Ukambani region, revealed that the authority has three fridges for mango storage in the Ukambani region. The fridges are in Machakos, Yatta and Kibwezi Districts.

The new varieties of mangoes include apples, kent, keitt, haden, van dyke and tommy atkins.

Apple mango is leading in the ready market.

Kitui County produces more than 12,870 metric tonnes of mangoes annually. Machakos County produces 16,000 tonnes and Meru County 7,000 tonnes.

The HCDA official said that Germany imports 94 per cent of Kenya’s mangoes and the UK imports three per cent of the country’s mangoes.

African countries exporting mangoes to the UK are Gambia (two per cent), South Africa (two per cent), Senegal (one per cent) and Bourkina Faso (one per cent).

Kariuki learned carpentry while he was a first year student. “When I was a first year student, I was posted to Kitui on my first attachment. I had to learn carpentry to get pocket money. I made two sofas and bought my first mobile phone,” he recalls.

Talent

While in college he used to miss classes to make chairs to sustain his upkeep. While in college, he survived without a meal card because the institution could not issue him with one as he was unable to meet the minimum fee requirements. “It was even God’s favour for me to sit for exams,” he says.

When he joined KMTC to study public health, he was driven by a dream he had for the country to “stop all diseases in Kenya”.

Only time will tell if he will live to achieve this dream.

Kariuki is the last born in a family of four brothers and two sisters. Three of his brothers are also carpenters, aside from their other professions.

Norwegian NGO helps school set up bio gas plan

By BONIFACE MULU Katulani Secondary School in Kitui District has benefited from a complete industrial pig farm and a combined bio-gas plant worth KSh3 million from a Norwegian non-governmental organization.

The NGO, which is based in Grimstad, Norway, is known as Hjelp til Selvhjelp i Afrika (Help to Self-help in Africa). The president of the NGO, Mr Johannes Markhus, officially handed over the project to the school community.

“We consider this investment a blessing for us. The Help to Self-help Africa is just one family association who want to put some effort into giving to our neighbours some of the blessings we are given ourselves,” said Markhus.

The organisation will also construct a KSh2 million borehole at the School. Markhus said what they had experienced from their own childhood and which is generally known as a fact, everything involved in the human life here on earth must be learned.

“The best place to familiarise one with his or her talent is within the school system together with colleagues and friends but guided by experienced teachers and advisors,” explained Markhus. He added: “With this perspective, we are hoping to make a system for

the schools to be independent and capable of helping more parents to educate their sons and daughters.”

He appreciated that Katulani Secondary School community guided them through the project in a way that made it interesting for both Norway and Kenya. “You are the experts when it comes to cultural and typical African aspects.

It is, therefore, important to us that this project shall be regarded as your own project and be the guarantee that everything will comply with Kenyan laws and regulations,” reiterated Markhus.

Repayment

If the project goes well, the fund repayment will come from its profits of the project and not burden any other part of the school. Within five years, Katulani Secondary School will be the owner of a profitable business and hopefully can increase the number of classes needed. “The project for piggery and biogas has put this school on a particular footing. It is the only school to have the project in the Eastern Province,” said Mr Boniventure Wasikoyo, the Kitui District Education Officer.

He reiterated that the project will greatly improve teaching of agriculture, biology, chemistry and physics at the school. Wasikoyo told the students that they will be the first beneficiaries of the project and challenged them to improve their performance as appreciation to the donor.

ISSUE 034, February 16-28, 2011

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

11

Community embraces toilet hygiene

By NICK ODHIAMBO Every rainy season, residents of Nyando and Nyakach plains in Kisumu County register increased cases of diarrhoea infections that often lead to the deaths of friends and relatives.

Despite this, government health facilities are not adequately equipped to offer medical services. In most of the health centres drugs are in short supply while some suffer shortage of medical practitioners.

However, residents in some communities have decided to be proactive and take matters in their own hands. The residents of and Nyakach districts have held a series of meetings to enable them come up with preventive measures instead of relying on the government health facilities.

After several meetings which were attended by public health officers, the residents formed Community Health Units in Ayweyo, Kochogo, Nyakach, Katito, among others to create awareness on how they could prevent the illnesses.

They realised that the main cause of the diarrhoeal diseases in the region was lack of toilets as most villagers were forced to defecate in the bushes. However, when it rained and the area was flooded, the dirt would be carried into the dams. These are the same dams that they use to fetch water for domestic use as well as drinking. Most of the villagers neither treat nor boil the water leading to diarrhoea infections.

Rising cases

The Community Health Unit coordinator in Ayweyo Mr Edward Opiyo Olum says there have been high cases of cholera and typhoid in the region due to flooding as a result, rivers Awach and Nyando bursting.

“It is pathetic. Not even a single week would pass without up to four cases of cholera in a village. This was because human excretion was washed from the bushes into dams which we again use for drinking,” explains Olum.

However, after launching the health units, villagers started building toilets using cheap materials.

“This has tremendously reduced cases of the waterborne diseases in the region,” says Dr Nicholas Makotsi, area public health officer.

In the last one year the community has built up to over 500 pit latrines, reducing cases of diarrhoea from the original 80 percent to 20 percent. “Every home has a toilet. We are also available to offer health training and advice so that they do not have challenges health wise,” explained Makotsi.

When building the toilets, the villagers use locally available materials such as papyrus reeds to make the walls and door, grass or worn out iron sheets for roofing, while the floor is made of mud. They then put a small jerry can

of water next to the toilet with soap which they use for washing hands. Ash is spread on the floor to disinfect the latrine, remove the odour and repulse flies.

“Many people in the communities here are poor and so the approach we give this issue is taking into consideration their economic status because the disease has no regard for ones health status,” explained Makotsi.

This project has received a positive response and attracted many other communities. The Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation is partnering with the Community Health Units to ensure total sanitation is achieved.

Partnership

According to Makotsi, there is pre-triggering process where short courses are organised to train community members on how to construct the toilets. After that there is the triggering stage where residents are trained on the causes of diseases and how they can be controlled. Finally there is the community action plan where those who have been trained are allowed to go home and use the cheap materials available to construct latrines.

“After that the ministry officials will be going round to supervise the whole process and give further advice where necessary. We have almost 100 per cent toilet coverage in the region,” Makotsi reiterates.

For the Ministry of Public Health, citizens have to partner with the Government and other organisations to curb cases of diarrhoea.

“There have been high cases of cholera and typhoid in the region due to flooding as a result, rivers Awach and Nyando bursting. It is pathetic. Not even a single week would pass without up to four cases of cholera in a village.

This was because human excretion was washed from the bushes into dams which we again use for drinking the water.”

— Edward Opiyo Olum , Community Health Coordinator

Residents of Nyando are being encouraged to build toilets after they realised that the main cause of the diarrhoeal diseases in the region was lack of toilets as most villagers were forced to defecate in the bushes. Picture: Reject Correspondent According to the Permanent Secretary, Mr Mark Bor the rapid population growth in the country has resulted to increased demand for health services and need for partnership.

Every year about 30,000 Kenyans die from diarrhoea. This population includes 16 per cent of deaths among those below five years.

This puts diarrhoea second after Pneumonia in causing deaths of children in Kenya.

During the celebration of World Toilet Day marked towards the end of last year, Bor said paediatric death toll due to diarrhoea exceeds that of Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria combined.

Measures

“We need help from other stakeholders to help the ministry curb this problem because it is going beyond us,” Bor urged.

Through the National Health Sector Strategic Plan (NHSSP II), the ministry is seeking partnership with public and private stakeholders to create awareness on the significance of the provision of sanitation and hygiene for improved health.

“I appeal to all Kenyans to embrace the cul-

ture of constructing latrines whenever they are putting up houses,” urged Bor. He reiterated: “We are asking proprietors of all public and private buildings, schools and Government institutions to put in place measures to ensure provision of adequate number of latrines and hand washing facilities with soap.”

According to the World Toilet Organisation (WTO) recent reports on health and sanitation, currently there is an estimated 2.6 billion people worldwide including 980 million children who do not have access to basic sanitation.

In Kenya, the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation and sector partners has put in place a number of initiatives towards improving sanitation and hygiene in the country. These include the launch of the Environmental Sanitation and Hygiene policy in 2007 as well as launch of the Schools Health Policy, which is in partnership between the Ministry of Public Health and that of Education.

The ministry has also initiated the hand washing communication strategic plan, which, through the community led total sanitation is a strong component of hand washing with soap.

Frost bite burns acres of tea leaves

By Jane Mugambi Tea farmers are losing millions of shillings after a frost bite hit and burnt acres of the crop.

The farmers who owe money to banks are now pleading with financial institutions to reschedule loan payment for over 250 farmers.

Mununga Tea Factory is losing over KSh4 million following frost bite that has burnt over 100 acres of tea stems in Kirinyaga County.

The frost bite has affected Mukonyo, Gikumbo where farmers are watching helplessly as their tea leaves dried.

According to a farmer, who is also a village elder Mr Muriithi Gituri, villagers woke up last week to find that over 50 acres had all their tea leaves burnt. He said that the effect is going to be felt as the sunshine continues.

Gituri said: “We first experienced such climate six years ago when 1,000 acres were affected. Farmers are counting losses after they failed to deliver their tea leaves to their respective tea collection centers citing that they will loose over four million in three months.”

He added: “The effect is going to be very heavy since tea picking is the main activity in

the area and tea pickers are going to be forced to walk far distances to look for jobs and the small tea leaves look very unhealthy and cannot be picked to be sold.”

Mununga Tea factory Field Service Coordinator, Mr Joseph Mithamo said they have assessed the area and seen that there is no tea that is going to be collected from the area since the growing tea leaves will produce poor tea quality.

He said: “We are going to assist farmers where the damage is not extensive by hiring workers to help them pick the tea before the

frost bite spreads.”

He said that some areas have been damaged extensively sending fears that they will be forced to either close the factory temporarily or help sister factories produce tea.

Mithamo reiterated: “We are losing KSh45,000 per day, an effect that is going to be felt for the next three months.”

If the sun continues to shine, then the frost will continue destroying the crop until when the rains will fall. The factory has liaised with banks to reschedule loan payment for over 250 farmers.

12

ISSUE 034, February 16-28, 2011

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Initiative to save the youths from life of crime

Former Mungiki leader takes the lead in the programme

By KARIUKI MWANGI As the Government intensifies the fight against illegal outlawed sects in the country, memories of the negative effects of the groupings continue to linger in the minds of many families especially those who lost their kin to the youth.

Many youths were also killed in retaliatory attacks by the members of the public and Government security forces particularly in Central and parts of Rift Valley provinces where a sect had deep roots.

After a long period of rubbing shoulders with the Government, masterminds of the outlawed Mungiki sect have now embarked on changing the whole situation to make the more than six million youths change their behaviour and live a crime free life.

Transformation

In an exclusive interview, former Mungiki leader Ndura Waruinge revealed that after the destruction that was witnessed in the country, it is time to engage the youth in more productive activities that will help the country move forward.

“We are trying to make up for the mistakes that we might have done and pray to God for forgiveness for the mistakes that we cannot make up for,” explained Waruinge. He added: “I call upon youths who still align themselves with the outlawed sect that it is no longer of any importance and will only lead them into trouble.”

Waruinge is concerned that after abandoning the illegal sect and leaving the youths without a leader, they have been involved in criminal activities and illicit brew drinking that has destroyed their lives.

Through a new programme dubbed Okoa Vijana Campaign Waruinge plans to traverse all the parts of the country to try and transform the lives of all the youths who have been lost to criminal activities and in illicit brew dens.

Rehabilitate

Many youths dropped out of schools and others abandoned their jobs in order to join the illegal sect which started collecting money from the public saying that the dissolution of the sect has left them idle and it’s time they changed their attitude.

“My aim is to show the youths that they can live a good life by working hard to earn a living without depending on unlawful activities,” explained Waruinge. He added that the programme will change more than 6,000 youths by the end of the year.

Waruinge said there is need for the Government to put up measures which will foresee the banks start funding ideas other than asking for collateral. “Many youths have got good ideas for investments but have no collaterals like cars and lands to obtain loans from the banks,” he reiterated.

The programme is expected to help youths who have completed their studies but have not been able to get jobs. It will also act as an eye opener for them to realise their capability and not to always

www.mediadiversityafrica.org

Members of the Mungiki sect during an oath taking ceremony. Below: Former Mungiki leaders Ndura Waruinge and Maina Njenga.

Pictures: Reject Correspondent rely on white collar jobs.

Waruinge who seemed optimistic of winning the fight against illicit brews in Central Province termed it as unfortunate that as other provinces are moving forward in terms of development, Central is still dragging behind as the energetic youths have been rendered unproductive by the illicit brews.

He accused people he termed as powerful in the country who he said are the forces behind the dumping of poisonous chemicals camouflaged as brews in the province whose repercussions are the destruction of a whole generation.

“If we do not take the initiative of controlling this situation, this province will not have any leaders for tomorrow and the whole community will be a thing of the past,” said Waruinge. He added: “We are not telling people not to drink or not to sell beer but to drink and sell what is of good quality and not destructive to people’s health.”

The situation in Central Province has reached a point where there is need for unity of purpose between the political leaders, church leaders and the whole community to help in saving the illicit brewing crisis.

Waruinge, however, observes that the new Alcoholic Drinks Act 2010 might not save the situation in curbing illicit brews saying it has even elicited more problems than solutions.

The Act gives the community a go ahead to continue taking alcohol. Waruinge suggested that what is required is sensitising the community on the effects and the damages of the drinks.

He is raising funds to put up a rehabilitation centre on his 50 acre piece of land in Kajiado County where youths will be trained on healthy living. This will also serve as a training centre where unnoticed talent will be nurtured and furnished.

“I intend to approach churches, corporate sector, non government organisations and

“We are trying to make up for the mistakes that we might have done and pray to God for forgiveness for the mistakes that we cannot make up for. I call upon youths who still align themselves with the outlawed sect that it is no longer of any importance and will only lead them into trouble.”

— Ndura Waruinge, former Mungiki leader

Executive Director: Rosemary Okello-Orlale Programme Coordinator: Wilson Ugangu

Editor: Jane Godia

Sub-Editors: Florence Sipalla and Mercy Mumo

Designer: Noel Lumbama

Contributors: Malachi Motano, Faith Muiruri, Rachel Muthoni, Jackson Mleka, Evelyne Ogutu, Bendaro Tsuma, Boniface Mulu, Henry Owino, Abjata Khalif, Kigondu Ndavano, Jane Mutua, Paul Kimanzi, Nick Odhiambo, Gilbert Ochieng, Jane Mugambi, Kariuki Mwangi.

Government to support the initiative and to have them as good crusaders of changing the youth in the country,” he elaborates.

Through the Okoa Vijana Campaign, Waruinge has managed to hold life changing crusades on the dangers of crime, drugs and illicit brews in Embu, Kibirigwi in Kirinyaga county and Kayole Estate in Nairobi where large numbers of youths have been changed.

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