Reject Online Issue 53

ISSUE 053, December 16 - 31, 2011

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

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December 16 - 31, 2011

ISSUE 053

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

63 years of elusive justice

By Robert Wanjala Born in Katimok village in Central Baringo County, Cherutich Cheptoo remembers with nostalgia how they lived happily before the onset of struggle for compensation for ancestral land and livestock destroyed by colonial government 63 years ago.

Since most of his peers have since died, Cherotich has lived to tell the story of serious sufferings that have destroyed many people while addressing historical land injustices in Talaai location.

“Trouble and the long journey for compensation started when colonial government evicted us from a community land and converted it into forest over six decades ago. Post independent government and its successors only exacerbated our agony,” remarks Cheptoo, a father of 13 and a great grandfather to hundreds.

According to Cheptoo, Katimok Forest as it is known today was an 8,000-acre piece of land belonging to the community and was productive for crop and animal husbandry.

“Our lives changed for the bad and remained worse up to date. We were told to leave the land for conservation with promises that we would be compensated with another land and livestock.

This was never to be and we have remained poor and unable to educate even our children.”

In his third generation with countless visits to government offices, the long-awaited compensation has remained elusive exposing the community to untold sufferings.

With his advanced age, personal interest for compensation has withered and now he is only pursuing it for the sake of his generation.

However, Cheptoo is not the only person undergoing untold agony of waiting for justice that has been so near yet so far, 63 years on.

Children’s future

Kobilo Kipkebut is in her late 80s. She says the delay for compensation denied her children opportunity for decent education and better life.

The land was the main source of livelihood before the government took it.

Kipkebut, a widow, says charcoal burning has been the only means of survival for her family of six.

Like the rest of the community, nothing worries Kipkebut more than a bleak future for her children’s children.

“Our children’s future remains our major nightmare on earth,” she reiterates.

Haroun Yatich, chairman representing Katimok, Mosegen and Sokta Right Holders says the community has been at pain seeking compensation for what they rightfully owned.

Continued on page 3

From top: Representatives of Katimok Forest right holders. An official document related to the disputed land. A section of Katimok forest.

Pictures: Robert Wanjala

The Executive Director, Management and Staff of African Woman and Child Features Service would like to wish all the readers of the Reject a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

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ISSUE 053, December 16 - 31, 2011

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Schoolgirls turn to commercial sex work

By WALKER MWANDOTO

The increasing number of twilight school girls at trading centres along the Mombasa-Nairobi highway is causing concern to the education sector and other stakeholders in Kinango District in Kwale County.

Former area District Education Officer, Stephen Abere, said girls who have dropped out of school are seen moving in groups in the evenings around Mazera, Kokotoni, Mariakani Town, Mariakani Weighbridge, Samburu, Taru, Macknon Road and Maungu trading centres along the busy highway looking for male clients.

“These girls can be seen moving in the evenings in these trading centres with the intention of soliciting long distance drivers as they seek to sell their bodies in prostitution to get money to buy food for their families,” observed Abere. He added: “Poverty and the ravaging drought are the main contributing factors to this problem.”

Abere was addressing delegates to the Kinango Professionals Conference at Lesolel Tourist Beach Resort at Kikambala in Kilifi County recently where he told them that child abuse was common in Kwale District as school girls were being sexually exploited.

“We have tried to rescue some of the girls and send them back home so that they can advance with their schooling only for them to return after a few days to continue with immorality,” explained Abere.

Appeal

“I am appealing to professionals from this area and non-governmental organisations operating in Kinango District to construct a rescue home where these girls can be rehabilitated so they do not go back to the streets.”

Noted Abere: “Early marriages and unplanned pregnancies have hampered women’s progress in education such that this area does not have many educated women compared to other parts of the country.”

He accused the provincial administration and specifically chiefs and their assistants of

not assisting the Government in its efforts to protect the girl-child in their area. He regretted that particular officials supported some cases where girls’ rights are violated.

Abere observed: “Chiefs and assistant chiefs in the district are defeating government efforts as they are not acting to protect the girl-child from early marriage and unwanted pregnancies.”

He added: “It is assumed some these chiefs conspire with parents into marrying off their daughters and get a share out of the money paid as dowry.”

He expressed concern that chiefs know about some of the cases in their locations but are reluctant to take action against the con-

Commercial sex workers during a past demonstration. Picture: Courtesy cerned parents and suitors hence abetting the crime.

Abere accused professionals from the district of not having their presence felt by the local community to enable them change their outdated cultures and abide to traditions that are compatible to modern life.

“Your absence in the Board of Governors, parents’ teachers’ associations and management committees of the local schools is one reason for falling education standards in the district,” he said.

Before Kinango District was curved out of Kwale District, it was too large for supervision

of schools by education officials and this led to poor performance by pupils in national examinations.

“Absenteeism of head-teachers, teachers and pupils in schools has been one of the leading causes for the deteriorating standard of education in Kinango District,” noted Abere. He urged: “I appeal to you as professionals attending this conference to assist in correcting the situation.”

Abere censured Knut officials in the district for defending teachers who do not follow the professional regulations and the code of conduct of the teaching fraternity.

Compensation disagreements leaves Women compliment efforts in college pitted in land row with locals fight against substance abuse

By Khadija Yusuf A bitter row over land ownership is brewing between the residents of Nguraya Lebanon Mombasa and the Kenyatta University administration.

This follows a 90-day eviction notice issued to the defiant residents by the institution to pave way for its expansion programme.

Despite the residents having been ordered to vacate the land, they have remained defiant alleging that the compensation package being offered to them is too little to assist them in starting up again.

Addressing the Press, chairman of the Coast Development Transparency Initiative (CODETI) Mr Iddi Mambo criticised the forceful and brutal means the institution was applying to get the land. He advised that it should instead opt for dialogue between the two warring parties to agree on the best amount of compensation.

“There are about 24 units of the land that need to be compensated and we are willing to vacate the land only if they agree on the amount to be com-

pensated as they have turned down the KSh3million per unit saying it will not be enough to start a new life bearing in mind the current high standards of living,” observed Mambo.

Proper channels

The residents are requesting between KSh5-6 million citing that some had developed their land while others had businesses running on the plot and that they could not be uniformly compensated with an equal amount.

According to the CODETI chief executive officer Mfaume Bakari, university management should handle the land issue amicably as the resource was a very sensitive issue among the Coastal people.

“Let them follow proper channels in getting this land rather than trying to bulldoze the residents out and still paying them peanuts,” reiterated Bakari.

He said it was a pity to see such an institution that is supposed to be promoting the rights of Kenyans and the common man in particular being at the front in breaching all the

fundamental human rights of the occupancy.

Legally the families have been living on the land following an agreement with then Lands Minister Professor Kivutha Kibwana after the ten coastal miles strip agreement was cancelled paving way for tenant at will.

He accused the institution of working in cahoots with the area tycoons to forcefully evict the families without proper agreement on compensation.

“Even if they are compensated handsomely today, there are no ready houses for the families and they need to be given time to set up their homes before they can leave,” observed Bakari.

He challenged the institution to reconsider buying the houses individually on a willing buyer, willing seller basis if they were really serious in assisting the families instead of giving them ultimatums.

The land in question is located in Mvita Constituency under the auspices of Tourism Minister Najib Balala who has been criticised of being quiet over the matter.

By KARIUKI MWANGI Women in Runyenjes Constituency tired of the increased crime and drugs abuse in the society have started to support Government efforts in the bringing of law and order into the society.

The women who are spread out in 42 groups under Programme Women in Need Network have launched initiatives meant to incorporate ex-convicts into the society and nurturing them to change their wayward ways completely.

According Margaret Kariuki, Programme secretary the initiative has also been identifying the various factors that bring about crime in the community and working on them to ensure the youth are not engaged in criminal activities.

“Women and children bear the brunt of an insecure society and that is why we have come together to identify factors that bring about insecurity in the society we live in,” observed Kariuki.

She noted that the groups are mitigating the risk factors of insecurity mainly unemployment, idle minds, access to drugs and alcohol as well as inequality in the status of the various members of the society.

“We are working on how to put up libraries and engaging the youths in the various sporting activities, as we try on ways to keep them in more productive

activities and get them out of the drug and alcoholic dens,” explained Kariuki.

According to the women, by engaging members of the public, particularly the youth in various productive activities it will help in bridging the social gap which will in turn bring down the level of violence in society.

Bridge gap

“As women, who are affected directly by violence in the society, we want to break the cycle of violence and drug abuse passed from generation to generation by educating the society on the importance of peace and living in harmony,” reiterated Kariuki.

The women have also initiated programmes where the victims of domestic violence are provided with a safe haven where children who also fall victim to the violence are able to go to school.

“Right now we have been able to provide shelter and ensure continued education of children from eight families, but we are usually faced with the challenges of stigma from the members of the public regarding victims of domestic violence,” noted Kariuki.

She said that their main agenda is to ensure accountability in the society where members of the community do not only advocate for their rights but also have a sense of responsibility regarding the issues they face.

ISSUE 053, December 16 - 31, 2011

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Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Families evicted as armed officers raid farm

By KIGONDU NDAVANO

When the Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC) Kisiwani Farm management in Malindi unleashed armed Administration Police officers and its workers to Sabaki area to evict more than 200 families mainly drawn from peasant squatter women farmers, nobody had imagined the end result would be homelessness and hunger.

The squad even used tractors to bring down some houses as armed AP officers stood guard to restrain the women from salvaging their belongings.

In a bid to force the squatters whose only sin was to cultivate the idle land of the farm, the squad destroyed the families’ homesteads, stored foods and later released livestock into their farms.

The peasant farmers were deeply devastated as they watched intense fires eat into the maize in the makeshift stores as tears flowed down their sad faces.

Apart from heaps of smoke, blackened ruins from what used to be scanty houses from the women farmers, at the end of it all more than 400 acres of crops including maize, cassava, beans and various indigenous vegetable had become fodder for cattle.

Seated near the ruins of what just a few days ago had been their home, the families watched helplessly as a large heard of cattle from the ADC dairy sections of the farm continued to devour their young green cassava and maize crops that was barely two weeks to harvest.

Distruction

When Reject visited the families as they wiled time away under trees without shelter and with starvation and disease staring at them, they told stories of pain and disgust.

On the day they woke up to face ruthless squads of AP officers and ADC personnel armed with an assortment of crude weapons, heavy rains had pounded the area for the whole night.

Although the rains had brought smiles to their faces given that it was just what they needed to drive their crops into the final stages of maturity, the downpours which had stopped perhaps to allow the ADC squatters destroy their houses continued for days leaving them wet and cold.

Lillian Kache, who lost two semi-permanent houses and at least four bags of maize which she had put in a makeshift store, could only stare at the maize now turned into black charcoal by the fire.

“I cannot believe that a Government elected

by the people can do this, why did they not allow us to remove the food from the store, what shall eat now that all has been destroyed?” wondered Kache.

When Malindi MP Gedion Mung’aro visited the ruins to study the situation and calm down the families, elderly women broke down into tears and wailed as they received him. The families cried for food and shelter forcing Mung’aro to call for relief packages including tents from the Red Cross.

Farmers’ representatives narrated their plight and called for action against those who performed the inhuman acts.

Condemnation

Amid the confusion, an emotional Mung’aro weakly attempted to console the women urging them to persevere and keep quiet but was overwhelmed with the wailing and had to wait for several minutes for the tensions to cool.

After touring the ruins, Mung’aro ordered the ADC that all cattle should be withdrawn from the area the squatters had cultivated. However, three days later about 50 head of cattle were still roaming the farms and busy feeding on the young crops.

The MP condemned the act and demanded the transfer of the ADC manager, Officer Commanding Station (OCS) and area Administration Commander for unleashing terror on innocent people. However, despite all that no action was taken against the ADC which has large chunks of idle land in Malindi District.

Rural women in Malindi are the main pillars of the region’s agriculture. While majority of the men spend time away in the urban area, it is the women who identify suitable farms and undertake extensive small scale farming making them the main providers for their families.

While noting that the majority of those affected by the ADC evictions were women and children, Mung’aro promised to ensure that the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture would visit the region to investigate the case.

When the Parliamentary Departmental Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Cooperatives finally visited the ADC farm, members expressed shock at the findings that huge chunks of the land presumed to be owned by the Government under the ADC was in private hands.

In a public parliamentary hearing at Kwa Ndomo Trading Centre, John Mututho expressed disgust when his team was handed ownership documents for the entire farm. Said Mututho,“We are very much shocked. We are very much disgusted. We are completely dissatisfied with the ADC management.” Mututho

Squatters from Sabaki area in Malindi whose houses and crops were destroyed wait for relief food. Below: A farmer tends to his maize crop just before it was destroyed by ADC..

Pictures: Kigondu Ndavano said the committee would summon top ADC management to answer queries over the mismanagement of the cooperation. The team of parliamentarians included Mung’aro and MPs Lucas Chepkitony, Victor Munyaka, Benson Mbai, Fred Outa, Evans Akula and Kambi Kazungu Pesa.

A resident, Timothy Mwambogo handed the committee copies of title deeds, allotment letters and historical maps indicating that the entire 950 acres Kisiwani ADC Complex and 3,300 acres Top Farm land had been grabbed and sold to individuals.

“The Government bought this farm from whites in 1965 for the purpose of keeping domestic animals. All the people were moved and

promised benefits but we have not received anything so far,” explained Mwambogo, a former civic leader and human rights activist.

Area mayor Samson Mapinga and the Malindi County Council chairperson Elina Mbaru said several committees had visited the area over the issue before with no solution and urged the Parliamentary committee to come up with a lasting solution.

Mututho said the report would be presented before Parliament which would come up with a solution on the matter and urged residents to give it time.

Search for justice over lost land elusive 63 years later

Continued from page 1 “We have tried to seek help from government authorities but it has been all in vain.

And with the population growing each day, the only resources available such as health and educational facilities remain constrained as land continues to shrink,” observes Yatich.

Calling for expeditious action to avert future conflicts that may arise from already strained resources, Yatich says the land is shrinking each day yet with no meaningful economic gain to the swelling population.

“With now increased population the situation remains a ticking time bomb waiting to detonate at the slightest press,” observes Yatich.

He explains: “The community will no longer sit back and watch other communities get compensated while extreme poverty remains our daily companion.”

Although only 25 were identified as rightful land owners holders according to a list that was produced by a district commissioner during 1960s; Yatich says the number of people evicted were 70 and the population stands at 7,772 today according to the 2009 census.

In 2000, the community felt a sigh of relief when the government constituted the Njonjo Commission to look into the land system in

Kenya. The community was able to present their grievances during the hearings in Baringo County.

According to Yatich the commission acknowledged that indeed the issue was genuine and needed urgent attention.

“We were happy when the commission promised to fasttrack the issue and ensure that justice is served,” he notes. Eleven years later the community is still waiting for justice to be served.

Investigation

In early 2001, the Commission wrote to the district commissioner in Baringo requesting an investigation into the compensation claims.

“The DC at the time never took any step.

There were no investigations done to ascertain whether compensation claims we had lodged were justifiable,” observes Yatich.

Documents in our possession show how the land commission made frantic efforts to see the ADC forest issue solved but in vain. The commission’s efforts in their subsequent follow up letters to the district commissioner were not forthcoming either.

Letters drawn in May and August of 2002 indicated that efforts by the Njonjo Commission to

resolve the compensation stalemate did not bear any fruits.

“We refer to our letters dated March 26 and subsequent reminder on July 4, 2001 on land compensation for Right Holders of Kaptimok (Katimok) forest, Baringo District. We requested investigations into the clans and have not heard from you since then. The residents would like to know the progress,” claims part of the letter in our possession.

Later in 2005, the Baringo District Commissioner responded after persistent pressure from the land commission. In a letter to the Provincial Commissioner, the DC wrote: “This is a matter which has been pending since 1948. The last known meeting between the people whose land was taken was in 1958.

The meeting was to assist the people but nothing much came out of it. The number of families involved has since multiplied. Please give them audience and necessary advice,” reads the letter in part.

Talaai Ward Councillor Thomas Ruto says lack of clear land policies is responsible for the stalemate. The civic leader says while other communities have been compensated and moved on with economic development, the people of Katimok have been reduced to paupers.

“The community has enormous potential economically but we have been reduced to beggars.

Institutional empowerment remains key for economic development in our area”, observes Ruto.

Land bill

The civic leader hopes that with National Land Commission Bill 2011 being scrutinised

by Commission for Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) will be tabled in Parliament and be past historical injustices will be sorted out.

In a memorandum to the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission during a public hearings at Government Training Institute in Baringo recently, the community through Haron Yatich and Mzee Cherutich Cheptoo prayed for urgency in resolving land issue.

“With Bill of Rights entrenched in the Constitution on land issues which seeks to recognise rights of individuals, clans, tribes or communities deprived of their birth rights by past regimes ranging from colonial, Kenyatta, Moi, Kibaki and now Coalition government, we appeal to the Commission to help us get compensated on land taken from communities Katimok, Mosegen, Sokta, Ewelel in Talaai location Baringo county,” read the memorandum.

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ISSUE 053, December 16 - 31, 2011

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

The multi-million dollar butterfly projects keeps community alive

By KIGONDU NDAVANO The rays of the morning sun penetrate the trees and thick bushes within and even though much of the environment is still in the shadows, moments still appear dull only brought to life by birds chirping.

Soon, we are keenly observing the various species of colourful butterflies as they compete with bees on the flowers.

Two middle aged women arrive at the scene carrying plastic paper bags arrive.

Before entering the African like hut, the ordinary looking women first remove plastic containers covered with pieces

of cloth from the plastic bags.

The women enter the hut and with ease sit on a form next to a table where there are two officers who have large books and a plastic container filled with cotton wool.

Slowly and carefully, the women separately remove small seed like green and black bits and pieces from the white plastic containers and place them on the table.

The officers quickly check their books to identify the section of the form which indicates the “species” of what to a stranger looks like bits and pieces of seeds. As they inspect the ‘seeds’ more women con-

tinue to arrive.

Gradually, it emerges that whatever is being delivered here though clearly looking like seeds is actually butterfly pupae for the local and export market.

The saying that butterflies do not store money sounds ironical to this community. Ordinary Kenyans are earning millions of shillings by rearing butterflies and exporting pupae in a project which has seen village women become expert scientists in identifying, collecting and even feeding various species of butterflies.

The 800 farmers today ex-

port more than 50,000 pieces of pupae to the United States of America and United Kingdom under a project where butterfly eggs are nurtured to the pupae stage to be delivered abroad before hatching.

Salim Shehe, a customer care officer at the Kipepeo Project Centre is quick to clarify

Honey extraction experts Rose Justas Chao and Florence Katana display honey.

Picture: Kigondu Ndavano that what looks like plant seeds are different species of butterfly pupae being received from farmers. They are inspected before being packaged, marked and exported to the United

It has been a long journey to fulfilling butterfly project

By KIGONDU NDAVANO The Butterfly Market Place is located at the Gede Ruins National Monument, 20 kilometres south of the tourist resort town of Malindi and near the world famous Watamu beach.

Neighbours of the popular forest have been earning a lot of income in foreign exchange from the export of butterfly pupae.

Sometimes, the eggs are sold locally to mature and end up in the open exhibitions or are exported at “pupae stage” for better income.

One of the beneficiaries of the project is Eliza Kanundu of Mambuani Kipepeo Farmers Association. She has been in the business for the last six years and attributes improved incomes at family level to her dedicated rearing of butterflies.

“I am happy to be involved in this project and I find it interesting because it involves earning while dealing with wild insects which many years ago remained quite useless to us,” observes Kanundu.

Coordinator of the Kipepeo Butterfly Project Fungomeni Maria explains that the ‘Kipepeo’ (Swahili for butterfly) is a community based enterprise that supports the livelihoods of people living around Arabuko Sokoke forest.

Enemy

She says: “This provides an incentive for the community’s participation in the conservation of a forest with high biodiversity and uniqueness. Kipepeo seeks to demonstrate the tangible link between conservation and livelihood.”

The Arabuko Sokoke Forest is one of the largest ecosystems renowned for hosting some of the rarest species on fauna and flora in the Coast Province traversing Malindi and Kilifi Districts in the Kilifi County.

For years, communities living adjacent to the forest had a major enemy in this forest.

These were the monkeys, elephants and wild pigs among other wildlife which frequently raided their farms consuming or destroying food and tree crops.

A farmer from the Mida area on the edges of the forest, John Katunda is today a respected butterfly farmer and exporter of pupae.

Katunda has dark memories of the past encounter with wildlife from the forest. He recalls how in the early 1990s, farmers would be woken up at night to find marauding elephants ominously consuming maize, coco-

nut and cassava crops leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.

“At one time I lost an entire crop of about 50 young maturing coconuts trees to elephants,” explains Katunda.

He adds: “An investment of six years of hard labour and sacrifice had been rendered useless by the elephants which prefer the softer inside section of the coconut plant.”

Losses

Francis Mwamburi, a neighbour to the forest agrees that in the early 1990s, farmers in the Mida area on the southern side of the forest almost gave up on farming as losses from wildlife raids always left devastating damage on the farms in nearly all the seasons.

“We had become like beggars and were convinced that the only way out for us was to kill the animals and demand that the Government changes the forest into a settlement and allow farming instead of protecting wild animals which always decimated the livelihoods of local farmers,” he says.

Mwamburi’s family operates sheds from where they rear butterflies.

In many instances, farmers led by Various butterfly farmers in Kilifi County are the politicians threatened to kill the elephants and invade the forest to creworried over the effects of drought in their ate farms. Major battles were fought butterfly harvest and rearing in the wake of as some politicians at times led large reduced export of pupae from various species of groups into the forest. A group once butterflies found in this rare forest. managed to subdivide sections of the Picture: Kigondu Ndavano forest that host of many rare species before riot police evicted them.

A study pioneered by a British sciquirements. The main food crops are maize, entist Dr Ian Gordon revealed that the forest’s cassava and beans amid stands of cash crops potential if carefully exploited could be proof coconut and cashew nut trees. tected and earn communities in the neighIn 1993 at the start of Kipepeo the commubourhood some income. nity annual per capita income was about $40.

Though initially a far-fetched idea, while Through the Kipepeo supported livelihoods promoting the project Gordon then noted have doubled this per capita with the earnings that the more than 200 species of butterflies ranging from a few dollars to over $1,000 per available here could be exploited for export of year depending on their individual efforts. pupae particularly.

Producer associations of mainly butterfly In essence, this would eventually stop farmers and beekeepers participate in the them from viewing the forest and the wildlife management of nature-based enterprises at therein as an enemy.

Kipepeo through the Market Place CommitOver 100,000 people live in 50 villages tee that acts as its Board. The groups are also adjacent to the Arabuko Sokoke forest. Most actively involved in forest protection, advoare small-scale subsistence farmers who uticacy and awareness creation of the benefits of lize the forest for some of their livelihood rethe nature based enterprises.

States and United Kingdom.

Butterfly farmers, majority of them women have after years of undertaking the highly complex rearing of butterflies Continued on page 5

How Arabuko-Sokoke Forest provides resources for income generation

By KIGONDU NDAVANO The Arabuko-Sokoke Forest is situated in Malindi and Kilifi in Kilifi County and covers 41,600 hectares of land. It is one of the most important ecosystems globally because it stands as the largest single block of natural coastal forest remaining in East Africa.

The forest which is home to more than 250 species of butterflies has seen 800 farmers living in the adjacent area engage in a unique international trade through which they export up to 50,000 pupae to the United States of America and United Kingdom earning handsome amounts in foreign exchange.

Kipepeo Project was started in 1993 with butterfly farming as the main conservation enterprise for the forest surrounding population.

With 250 butterfly species found in the forest, communities have been trained in breeding butterfly pupae, with the Kipepeo Centre finally acting as the marketing hub. About 800 farmers have been trained and involved in butterfly farming.

The project has diversified into more conservation based enterprises in order to involve more members of the community living around the forest in income generation from forest resources.

Beekeeping, which is a recent addition has been a successful enterprise with over 5,500 farmers having already been trained and equipped to participate in the production of natural forest honey.

Since 1994, earnings from butterfly stand at KSh25 million with at least 50,000 pieces of pupae being sold abroad annually.

The community’s annual per capita income from butterfly farming was KSh3,700 at the initiation of the project but through increased sales, the per capita income has doubled with earnings ranging from KSh3,700 to KSh250,000 per year depending on individual efforts.

Other income-generating initiatives at the project include farming in mushroom, silkworm and aloe vera.

The honey production section of the project brings in at least KSh3.6 million annually from the sales.

In 1998, the Kipepeo Project was awarded the Dubai International Awardee for best practices for protection and improvement of the environment.

In the late 1990s, butterfly farmers opposed a major campaign by politicians to have sections of the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest excised.

The Arabuko-Sokoke Forest covers 41,600 hectares of land. In Africa, the forest ranks second in bird conservation value, after the Congo rain forest, as home to six globally threatened species that include Clarke’s Weaver, Sokoke Scops Owl, Amani Sunbird, Sokoke Pipit, Spotted Ground Thrush and East Coast Akalat.

They are also at least three mammal species out of the 50 found in the forest being globally threatened.

ISSUE 053, December 16 - 31, 2011

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Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Pupae sustains livelihood in the Gede Ruins

By Kigondu Ndavano For the last six years Eliza Kanundu has been in the business of selling with Mambuani Kipepeo Farmers Association. She attributes the interaction to improved incomes at family level to her dedication in rearing butterflies.

“I am happy to be involved in this project and I find it interesting because it involves earning while dealing with insects which for many years ago were useless to us,” she observes.

Kanundu is part of the team that is found at Butterfly Market Place, located at the Gede Ruins National Monument, about 20 kilometres south of the tourist resort town of Malindi and near the A female farmer shows one of the species of butterflies world famous Watamu beach. she rears at her shed at Mijomboni village in Malindi District in Kilifi She is among neighbours of this County. Right: A butterfly farmer with a handful of pupae for export popular forest that have been earning at the Kipepeo Butterfly Project at Gede ruins in Malindi. Pictures: income in foreign exchange from the Kigondu Ndavano export of butterfly pupae.

The centre is where the management be particularly exploited for export of of Kipepeo Butterfly Project operates, mainly coordinating rearing of various which frequently raided their farms the forest into a settlement and allow pupae. In essence, this would eventually species of butterflies. It is these butter- consuming or destroying food and farming, instead of protecting wild an- stop them from viewing the forest and imals which always decimated the live- the wildlife therein as an enemy. flies which lay eggs which are finally a tree crops.

John Katunda, a farmer in Mida lihoods of local farmers,” says MwamKipepeo farmers, according to the major source of income for thousands area on the edges of the forest is today buri whose family operates butterfly coordinator currently sell butterfly and in Malindi and Kilifi.

Sometimes, the eggs are sold locally a respected butterfly farmer and ex- sheds from where they rear the insects. moth pupae and other live insects localIn many instances, farmers led by ly and abroad in addition to honey and to mature and end up in the open exhi- porter of pupae. However, he has dark bitions or are exported at “pupae stage” memories of past encounter with wild- the politicians threatened to kill the silk cloth produced by the community. life from the forest. elephants and invade the forest to cre“Our pupae are exported and the for better income.

He particularly recalls how in the ate farms. Major battles were fought live insects hatched, after which they early 1990s farmers would be woken as some politicians at time led large are later displayed in insect parks globCoordinator of Kipepeo Butterfly up at night to find marauding elephants groups into the forest. A group once ally,” explains Fungomeni.

The organisation has since 1993 Project Maria Fungomeni explains: “Ki- ominously consuming maize, coconut managed to subdivide sections of the pepeo (Swahili for butterfly) is a com- and cassava crops leaving a trail of de- host of many rare species before riot coordinated production and sales, and police evicted them. thorough training and monitoring of munity based enterprise that supports struction in their wake.

“At one time I lost an entire crop A study pioneered by a British sci- the operations of the project to ensure livelihoods for those living around Araof about 50 young maturing coconuts entist Dr Ian Gordon revealed that the that produce exported to Europe is buko Sokoke Forest.”

She adds: “This provides an incen- trees to elephants, an investment of forest’s potential if carefully exploited paid for hence directly benefiting the tive for the communities’ participation six years of hard labour and sacrifice could be protected and earn commu- farmers.

Fungomeni notes: “We try our best in the conservation of a forest with had been rendered useless by the el- nities in her neighbourhood some into ensure that insects are bred and high biodiversity and uniqueness. Kip- ephants which prefer the softer inside come at the same time.

Though initially a farfetched dream raised on-farm in a sustainable manner epeo seeks to demonstrate the tangible section of the coconut plant,” explains while promoting the project, Gordon from wild parent stock. We also sell butlink between conservation and liveli- Katunda.

Francis Mwamburi, a neighbour to then noted that the more than 200 spe- terflies from other Kenyan forests.” hood.”

Purchases from here contribute The Arabuko Sokoke Forest is one the forest agrees that in the early 1990s, cies of butterflies available here could of the largest ecosystems renowned for farmers in the Mida area on the southhosting some of the rarest species on ern side of the forest had nearly given fauna and flora in the Coast Province up on farming as losses from wildlife traversing Malindi and Kilifi districts in raids always left devastating damage on the farms in nearly all the seasons.

Kilifi County.

“We had become like beggars and For years, communities living adjacent the forest had a major enemy were convinced that the only way out in this forest courtesy of monkeys, for us was to kill the animals and de— Maria Fungomeni, Coordinator elephants, wild pigs and other wildlife mand that the government changes

Incentive

“Our pupae are exported and the live insects hatched, after which they are later displayed in insect parks globally,” explains Fungomeni.”

directly to the conservation of critical natural heritage for future generations.

Respect to international export and import documents rules and regulations is always guaranteed with all butterfly pupae being shipped with a copy of an export permit issued by Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), and a copy of the import permit from the country of destination where necessary.

Shipment

All butterfly pupae are packed in plastic containers with sponge or cotton cushioning. A container usually carries 250-300 pupae. Shipments are made every week on Monday and Friday depending on the availability of pupae.

Over 100,000 people live in 50 villages adjacent to the Arabuko Sokoke forest. Most are small-scale subsistence farmers who utilise the forest for some of their livelihood requirements. The main food crops are maize, cassava and beans amid stands of cash crops of coconut and cashew nut trees.

Producer associations of mainly butterfly farmers and beekeepers participate in the management of naturebased enterprises at Kipepeo through the Market Place Committee that acts as its Board. The groups are also actively involved in forest protection, advocacy and awareness creation.

The multi-million dollar butterfly projects keeps community alive Continued from page 4 become experts. They know the different species with their scientific names and even know the best species in which to concentrate on when rearing based on the good prices they attract internationally.

The farmers easily identify many species found in the forest. Some of the various species of butterfly pupae found in the Arabuko Sokoke forest include Junonia natalica, Junonia oenonen, Neodanuria bolauana which sell at an average of six US dollars.

Graphium polistratus and Sphodromantis species attract an international price of six dollars while Hypolimnas anthedon earn farmers a dollar a piece.

The other species are Mylothris agathina, Papilio constantinus, Neodanuria bolauana and Polysphilota aeruginosa whose prices range from two dollars and five dollars a piece.

Today, Joyce Konde who has been rearing the protocrea and cynthea eticipe species in Mijomboni area under a group known as Mnazi Mudzo for the last four years attributes the low harvest to dry weather conditions which have had negative effects on butterfly rearing.

The mother of three says that she developed deeper interest in butterfly rearing last year after she decided to join her husband on full time basis.

“Earlier we would operate without a cage but after we invested KSh10, 000 to build one, we have expanded our butterfly rearing,” explains Konde.

She adds: “I am familiar with the various butterfly species and the process starts with collection of butterflies by traps, placing them on various plants inside their cage while feeding them.”

Once the butterflies start to lay eggs, one continues to feed them and frequently checks the eggs which take at least one month to reach the pupae stage to be harvested and delivered to Kipepeo Butterfly Market Centre.

Konde explains that one can use ripe bananas and mangoes to feed the butterflies and although the work is not very involving, it is interesting and earns a farmer an attractive income.

“With the number of butterflies in the Arabuko-Sokoke, butterfly farming is profitable and a great source of income for any low income rural family,” observes Konde.

Mwaka Jumwa of the Mijomboni

Farmers Association who has been rearing butterflies for the last 10 years says the work is not demanding as it takes at least three hours daily to feed the butterflies.

Exports

The farmer who earns at least KSh10,000 per month from the sale of pupae when the season is good explains that the work is enjoyable and easy to handle.

According to Katunda Kipepeo, farmers currently sell butterfly and moth pupae as well as other live insects locally and abroad in addition to honey and silk cloth.

“Our pupae are exported and the live insects hatched, after which they are later displayed in insect parks globally,” says Katunda.

The organisation has since 1993 coordinated production and sales as well as thorough training and monitoring of the operations of the project to ensure that produce exported to Europe is paid for hence directly benefiting the farmers.

According to Kipepeo Butterfly Project coordinator Maria Fungomeni:

“We try our best to ensure that insects are bred and raised on-farm in a sustainable manner from wild parent stock. We also sell butterflies from other Kenyan forests.”

Purchases from here contribute directly to the conservation of critical natural heritage for future generations.

Respect to international export and import documents rules and regulations is always guaranteed with all butterfly pupae being shipped with a copy of an export permit issued by Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), and a copy of the import permit from the country of destination where necessary.

With the permit provided to Kipepeo Project by the foreign clients, conflicts related to international regulations and control are reduced especially when dealing with customers in the United States of America and Canada which require that an import permit be issued by the Department of Agriculture.

Fungomeni explains: “All butterfly pupae are packed in plastic containers with sponge or cotton cushioning. A container usually carries 250-300 pupae while such a container is delivered by reliable international courier delivery

companies available to Kipepeo.”

Shipments are made every week on Monday and Friday depending on the availability of pupae.

Dry weather conditions at times affect vegetation in the forest and eventually the output is reduced.

Fungomeni notes that at least three days are required for the shipments to reach the USA or Europe, adding that availability of any species depends on the species seasonal pattern of occurrence.

She explains: “When we are unable to provide the species variety or number required, we inform the customers and provide an update of available pupae before shipping.”

All pupae are well checked and sorted out before export with a guarantee to be lived upon delivery to the customer’s premises.

However, Kipepeo Project allows a leeway in that it does not charge for any pupae that are received dead, smashed, diseased or deformed.

However, a shipment report has to be sent back via e-mail with the loss data within 14 days from the shipment date.

6

ISSUE 053, December 16 - 31, 2011

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Wife inheritance used as a tool for disinheriting widows

By CAROLYNE OYUGI Wife inheritance has always been associated with the Luo community without considering that many communities in Africa and Kenya in particular practised it as a way of keeping the widow in her matrimonial land.

In Kenya, the Luhyas, Kisii and Kamba are just but a few of the long list of communities that practised wife inheritance.

It is noon, the sun is scorching hot in the remote Kolunga village, in Rusinga Island. It is quiet, peaceful and the only sound that can be heard is that of birds singing and Margaret Julu’s voice humming a gospel song as she removes mud from her jembe.

Julu, a 37-year-old widow has been working on her farm since dawn and now she is seated in the front yard of her house cleaning her tools of trade.

She is exhausted and needs to rest before going to fetch water. This would not have been the same had she not been inherited by her late husband’s brother.

Exhausted

“My husband died six years ago and my in-laws threatened to throw me out of my husband’s land if I was not inherited by one of their own sons,” she explains.

Julu was only 31 years old when her husband died. By then she had a threemonth old daughter.

“My husband was the bread winner and so when he passed away I became very desperate. My parents died when I was only five years old as a result I grew up with relatives,” explains Julu adding that she was the bread winner.

The African culture has always associated land with men. It is men who own it, make decisions on how and

when it should be used, how and to whom it should be shared. As a result African women have always had to be content with taking care of their fathers land, then their husbands land.

Once a woman is married she is expected to move to the husband’s land and her opinion is not sought on issues to deal with her father’s land.

At the husband’s home, however, she is only involved in tilling and taking care of the land but her opinion is not sought in any dealings of the same land.

Inherited

According to Julu, the story would now be very different had she refused to be inherited. “At least now I still have a piece of land where my two sons will live,” she says.

Like Julu, Mary Mwende a secondary school teacher in Mwingi County also had the same experience though she refused to be inherited.

“My husband died 16 years ago and my brothers-in-law and some Kamba elders told me that I had to be inherited if I was still interested in keeping the land,” explains Mwende.

According to Mwende, she was educated and knew the health implications of being inherited and so she did not agree with them. Just as she had been threatened, she was evicted from her matrimonial land and their house

at the shopping centre.

“Life took a different turn, I was a widow with two children, a daughter and a son,” she says.

She decided to survive with her teaching job. “Now my son has reached 18 years and my husband’s brothers asked me to take my son so they could give him a piece of his father’s land.

They, however, do not recognise my daughter’s presence and so she will not get any piece,” says Mwende.

Women in developing countries, and particularly in Kenya need more fundamental legislation so as to fight the epidemic.

Women who lack basic rights, the right to control their own bodies, the right to choose their own partners, the right to own and inherit property are deeply vulnerable to HIV and Aids infection.

Women headed households and single women have little access to credit and other resources, often because of lack of collateral and or the assumption that they will be unable to meet financial obligations in the absence of a male partner.

“My husband died six years ago and my in-laws threatened to throw me out of my husband’s land if I was not inherited by one of their own sons.”

— Margaret Julu, widow

Margaret working on her farm. Picture: Carolyne Oyugi In various countries, married women still need the consent of their husbands before taking a loan, a requirement that violates international human rights law.

Finally, women are unable to effectively assert their rights to property because of gender bias in customary law and the lack of procedural safeguards for land disputes.

Chapter 5 (1) of the Constitution of Kenya states that ‘land in Kenya shall be held, used and managed in a manner that is equitable, efficient, productive and sustainable and in accordance with the following principles -(f)elimination of gender discrimination in law, customs and practices related to land and property in land; This Article in the Constitution, therefore, gives women the right to access, use and manage their land without having to follow the discriminatory customs like wife inheritance.

Chapter 5 (g) encourages the com-

munity to settle land disputes through recognised local community initiatives consistent with the Constitution.

Women are excluded from the decision-making process as men hold the vast majority of seats in institutions that adjudicate land rights.

Customs and traditions do not allow women to make decisions on land.

It is, therefore, time for women to take an active part in these institutions so as to solve women’s issues in a fairer and just way.

In most African communities women have no right to inherit property, particularly family land. They only have access to it. They could also have a say in how to dispose of produce from the land but they cannot sell it.

These rights belong to the male members of the family particularly fathers and older sons. No wonder when husbands and fathers die, women and children fall into desperation.

Unless measures are taken to assist them, this situation will leave only desperation.

Lack of title deeds a catalyst for corruption in Malindi

By Okwembah Nehemiah I have just landed in Malindi and in the course of familiarising myself with this coastal town, I bump into a provincial administrator who offers to show me around.

We board two boda boda taxis and in 20 minutes we arrive at a Giriama homestead where the chief is set to seal a land deal between two villagers.

Two elders are seated in front of a grass thatched house sipping the local mnazi (palm wine) brew as they converse in low tones.

On noticing our arrival, they stand up in a show of respect to their leader who also happens to be the area chief. After being ushered in and without wasting time, business commences.

Two young men appear from different directions each holding some piece of paper on their hands. Another guy emerges from the main house with a stool in his hand and heads straight to where the others are seated.

Deliberations

Later on, I discover that, the meeting is to deliberate on a piece of land with no title deed to it, apparently, papers from the chief with a Government seal are produced as evidence that the land was bought.

This is the way of life in this part of the country where landlessness is rampant and land related conflicts are the norm.

Malindi is famously known to be a serene environment steaming with tourists. However, this

is not entirely the case except in a few secluded places.

Generally the district lies on four major topographical features that include the coastal area that prides itself of beautiful beaches and is characterised by low range sandstone hills of 130 metres to 420 metres above sea level.

This area is suitable for cashew nut and cassava production. The Nyika Plateau is also another area that covers the better part of the district and is characterised by arid and semiarid climate that is suitable for ranching zones and millet agro-ecological zones but has poorly developed.

However, the blame lies squarely on the tussle of land among many stakeholders fighting over control and ownership of land.

They include the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), the Kenya Forest Service (KFS), Agricultural Development Corporation and the local community.

This has led to rampant land grabbing as the mighty use the lack of title deeds as an excuse to obtain land fraudulently. Women hardly have a say here and have been the biggest losers as they do not have cultural right to inherit land and most of them are illiterate.

Last year, a case pitting residents of Malimo Ward of Malindi with another powerful person led to the killing of a security officer and property worth millions of shillings being destroyed.

Land at the ADC Kisiwani Ranch has already been allocated to powerful individuals hence compromising the very mandate of the institu-

tion in the area.

Community land vested in the trust by the Malindi County Council has not been spared.

The land which is for the benefit of the community around was almost being handed over to a private developer save the intervention of civil rights groups and the KWS. “The problem here is that few people own title deeds, many still believe that land should be passed from one generation to another,” says Safari Kaingu, a resident of Malimo. He says this is the contributing factor to land problems in the area.

“The Government should help us get ownership title deed to our land,” notes Kaingu.

Ownership

A spot check at the courts reveals a back log of cases relating to land. In one of the cases, two men are arraigned in court on charges of destruction of property owned by an Italian.

The two brothers are said to have sent a group of people to demolish a wall which was being constructed to fence a beach plot at Jacaranda in Gede.

“As we were collecting equipment in the evening after work, 15 men arrived in motorcycles armed with destruction tools and started destroying the wall,” says Joseph Mpate.

The brothers claim the plot belongs to them.

Juma, one of the brothers says they inherited it from their parents and they have a title deed, a letter from the chief and receipts to show they have been paying KSh50,000 as tax to prove.

Initially the plaintiff and the suspects had a

case in the same court both claiming ownership to the land. The case was withdrawn without the knowledge of Juma, Said and their lawyer. A few days later, a Mr Pasalia started constructing a wall around the plot.

“We are now shocked and wonder where Pasalia obtained the title deed since initially he didn’t have it,” says Said. He adds that Pasalia had approached them before asking to purchase the land but they refused.

However, the case is still pending in court awaiting the judge’s decision.

Even the mighty have not been spared as the Prime minister, Raila Odinga was in the Malindi courts a few weeks ago defending his piece of land that was allegedly sold to a foreigner by a local leader.

In its 2010-2014 Strategic Plan, the Municipal Council of Malindi admitted to lacking a physical development plan for the town which gave fraudsters a field day.

The council should develop and update its land use policies in an effort to reduce land related tensions. By laws for the town centre should also be drafted and implemented to ensure accountability.

With the implementation of the new Constitution, there seems to be a lifeline to the perennial land problems not only at the Coast but Kenya at large.

In fact the sole reason as to why the Coast people voted for the new laws is the harmonised articles touching on land ownership. This will also see community land being registered in the name of the communities involved.

ISSUE 053, December 16 - 31, 2011

Pastor renders family homeless

By Renson Mnyamwezi Religious leaders are known to be honest and mindful of other people’s and family’s welfare.

They are supposed to make not only their families comfortable but also look into the welfare of the community around them.

However, one pastor has reportedly gone astray and has in the process turned an oppressor after he allegedly deprived his family of their land rights in Taita-Taveta County.

The pastor, who is currently serving in Wundanyi, sold the land without involving his wife and children in Mwatate district.

The man of God is said to have colluded with his mother and brothers to deny his wife and children their fundamental land rights.

“My children and I have been rendered landless and I do not know who to turn to because by my uncaring husband sold our only two-acre land,” said the jobless housewife and mother of five.

After selling the land the man abandoned the family and went to Mombasa where he squandered the money.

Approval

“We have no land to cultivate as the family land is in the process of being transferred to an individual.

My husband has already received part payment, an action that has brought poverty and misery to the family,” noted the distressed woman.

The woman, who declined to be named for fear of further humiliation, is appealing to the District Lands Control Board not to approve the transaction since it is aimed at displacing them.

The Land Registrar in Taita Taveta County Donald Bongoli confirmed the incident and said the distraught woman has already notified his office about the land deal.

“As the secretary to the Land Control Board I’ll not allow the woman and her children to be deprived of

Residents of Mikinduni village, Mkunumbi Location, Lamu District now want the Government to protect them against being evicted from their land.

The villagers claim they have lived on this land for many years. Many of the residents here are farmers and businessmen. However, the threat of eviction has now left them wondering where to turn to if the Government does not come to their aid.

According to the farmer’s chairman Naftali Munyoki Mwendwa, they have been brutally assaulted on two occasions. They have been forcefully and unlawfully evicted from an un-alienated government land located at Mikinduni village.

He says that they have also been threatened with another eviction unless the orders sought by those claiming to own the land are granted.

Rains leave businesses counting losses in Eastleigh

By HENRY KAHARA

Residents of Taita Taveta demonstrating against landlessness in the region. Picture: Renson Myamwezi their rights. The board will not approve the land transaction when the pastor presents his documents for approval,” said Bongoli.

Narrating her ordeal, the woman said the family is now landless and their future looks bleak.

“My fundamental land rights have been infringed upon by my husband and the Government should intervene as many women are also facing similar predicament in the county,” she said.

Indeed, there are many women whose land rights have been violated in the county majority of whom are widows and single mothers.

Provincial administration interviewed said widows and single mothers bore the brunt of landlessness in the region.

Mwatate District Commissioner Shufaa Mwijuma and the chairperson of Maendeleo ya Wanawake Organisation Joyce Mwangoji concurred that most women have been denied their land rights.

They noted that some widows and

single mothers have even been evicted from family land and dispossessed of other properties by conniving family members.

“We’ve had many cases whereby widows have been evicted from their matrimonial homes following the death of their husbands. They are left landless and impoverished,” noted Mwijuma.

A resident of Taveta, Mwambela wa Wakio said at one time provincial administration were forced to settle two single mothers and their families in a forest after they were chased away by family members.

“The single mothers and their seven children were relocated elsewhere after they were evicted from the family land and their lives threatened,” said Mwambela.

Mwijuma noted that such cases were rampant in Kidaya and Chawia locations.

“We’ve advised women whose land rights have been violated to report to my office for action as every Kenyan has a right to own land irre-

spective of their sex,” she said.

Mwijuma has directed chiefs and their assistants to ensure that widows and single mothers’ rights are not abused.

Articulation

The leaders said many women were unable to articulate land issues due to cultural factors as well as high illiteracy and poverty levels. “The majority of the victims have no resources to seek legal redress so they should be assisted in finding a lasting solution to their land problems,” said the leaders.

“We’re sensitising the local women to rise up and demand their land rights as enshrined in the new constitution,” said Mwijuma.

“Gender discrimination as well as outdated customs and practices related to land and property in land should be eliminated. Communities should also be encouraged to settle land disputes through recognised local community initiatives consistently,” added the DC.

Evictions threat leaves villagers worried

By EDNA MOKAYA

7

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

“We have been evicted and on May 26, 2011 we were issued with an oral notice to vacate by the local administration or be forcefully evicted and suffer further irreparable damage and loss unless we vacate the land,” he said.

Mwendwa who has stayed in the land since 2000 says when he started living in the area, he found other people were already there.

“In September last year, a tycoon who claims to own the land came to the village in two vehicles accompanied with the District Officer Witu Division, Mwaura Wanjohi, the Administration Police inspector, two Administration Police officers and three Kenya Police reservists. They burnt some of the houses and destroyed crops,” says Mwendwa.

However, the District officer says nothing of that sort happened, claiming he comes from a different district.

Francis Kimani Mwangi, another

distraught resident who has stayed in the village for six years says the rich tycoons have now incited Ormas to graze on their crops.

According to Mwangi, they are living in fear and spend sleepless nights watching over their women and children to protect them from being injured by the Ormas who he claimed have raped some women in the area.

Charges

“There are some of us who have been charged with forcible entry in Lamu Courts,” says Mwangi.

He adds: “This is unfair because cases of houses being burnt and rape have not been dealt with.”

Evictions of this kind are currently common in many parts of the Coast Province, leaving more and more people landless and homeless.

Sharia Nyange an advocate with Kituo cha Sheria says that to curb

this problem, Members of Parliament must enact an act of Parliament on evictions and resettlement.

Nyange said that the Government should take quick action to ensure that these people be they squatters or landless are resettled.

“The biggest problem now is that the country doesn’t have eviction and resettlement guidelines. As a matter of urgency, the Ministry of Land must enact laws to guard against evictions and provide a proper guideline on how an eviction should be done,” noted Nyange.

He said since the law might take a long time to be implemented, the Ministry of Land should immediately adopt United Nations international conventions on evictions and resettlement.

Sharia condemned the use of force when evicting people from any land. “Anyone without a court order should not evict people,” he said

Eastleigh is a busy town, a business hub. So much activity goes on in the tall and short buildings that have made it a city within a city.

There is so much activity going on within the business hub. Hands exchanging money and commodities is the norm of the day.

Despite the fact that Eastleigh is a leading source of tax contributions for the Kenya Revenue Authority, the town has been forgotten as far as road network is concerned.

Poor roads network plus the heavy down pour which is being experienced in various parts of the country has cost traders dearly.

Now residents are longing for the time when rainy season will be over in order for them to be able to transact business as usual.

For now many business people, especially those near the main roads cannot conduct them normally due to floods which are left hours after the rains are over.

Ahmed Hassan, a businessman in Eastleigh says his business has been affected badly because of the floods. Hassan who sells mattresses and bags along Mother Teresa Road has been counting his losses.

Hassan, a father of three says for now he is straining to feed his family a time when he is supposed to be buying gifts for them ahead of the festive season.

“I sometimes go back home empty handed and other times I do not open the business because my products will be splashed with dirty water and the customers will not buy,” he says.

Hassan is even bitter because the government has constantly lied to them more than he can remember about repairing the road network in this area to no avail.

“They promised us during the recent campaign and yet just very little has been done and where the engineers have tried to do something they have done a shoddy job,” says Hassan referring to Eastleigh First Avenue.

Swale Aden, an Mpesa operator echoes Hassan’s sentiments saying that before the rainy season started he would get more than 100 customers by 11 pm, a scenario he is optimistic may happen only if the rainy season will be over.

“Before I used to serve more than 100 people by 11 pm but now customers are not coming to this side of town,” explains Swale whose business house is flooded with water. He has decided to put big stones to be stepping on while serving his customers.

While others are crying there are some who are smiling all the way to the bank. The cart pushers are making a killing. The law of demand and supply is what they are following to the letter.

Early in the morning for one to cross to the other side of the road you have to pay KSh20 while during the day you part with KSh10, a distance where a well soldier may find himself in within a matter of seconds.

8

ISSUE 053, December 16 - 31, 2011

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Danger of new infections as festive season approaches

By ROBBY NGOJHI Stunningly beautiful beaches that grace the Kenyan coastline and the adventures in the expansive Tsavo National Park are some of the allures that pull tourists from all corners of the world.

With the festive season approaching, droves of visitors from all corners are expected to flock the coast as usual.

On occasions such as Christmas and New

Year celebrations, visitors including high profile guests such as top politicians or even popular film directors tour the region to enjoy the game drives at the Tsavo or relax on the shores of the Indian Ocean.

However, behind the glory of the coast is a fertile ground where a series of social vices are bred and nurtured.

First there is an upsurge of sex workers among them minors.

This explains why as the country relishes

the economic benefits of booming tourism during this season, scores of minors entertain tourists all in the name of tourist attraction.

In some of the beaches it is common to find hordes of young women in revealing clothes entertaining tourists. Aids Population and Health Integrated Assistance (APHIA) Plus has cited some of the major hot spots in Taita Taveta county. According to APHIA Plus’s service delivery coordinator in charge of the area Felix Mulama, towns such as Voi,

Maungu and Manyani are leading in terms of HIV/Aids prevalence.

“Currently Moi District Hospital in Voi has over 4,000 clients on ARVs which is a very high rate for a small town like Voi,” observes Mulama.

He notes that in Maungu, the rate is increasing because being a highway town, the township is a stopover to hosts truck drivers who form the bulk of clients of the sex workers.

High Level Response needed for SGBV

By NAISOLA LIKIMANI African leaders from the 11 member states of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) are convening in Kampala, Uganda on December 15 for a special session on the crisis of sexual and gender based violence in the region.

Sexual and gender based violence (SGBV), which includes violations such as rape, domestic violence, molestation, female genital mutilation and forced prostitution, occurs across the globe, across all social and economic strata, and in times of peace and conflict.

SGBV is often rife in situations of armed conflict as a means to hurt, control, dominate or humiliate an individual or group of individuals. Typically women and children are the primary targets of SGBV, however violations of men have also been reported.

Of the twenty African countries that experienced armed conflict between 1987 and 2008, eight are in the Great Lakes Region: Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Sudan and Uganda.

In each of these states, as well as Kenya, a member of the ICGLR that experienced a violent post-election period in 2008, SGBV has often been perpetrated on a massive scale and with extreme brutality.

Sexual violence

For example, the UN Country Team reported that during the civil wars in the Republic of Congo, an estimated 60,000 women were raped, and a large number contracted sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, as a result.

In its 2007 Humanitarian Action Report, UNICEF stated that since the late 1980’s, nearly 25,000 children had been abducted to serve as child soldiers and sex slaves in northern Uganda. Human Rights Watch claimed in its 2007 World Report that in Darfur “tens of thousands of women have been subject to sexual violence.”

In recognition of this link between armed conflict and SGBV in the Great Lakes Region, as well as the high prevalence of SGBV and its destructive impact on the lives of women and children, Heads of State of the ICGLR adopted a Protocol on the Prevention and Suppression of Sexual Violence against Women and Children in 2006.

The instrument is built on other human rights instruments and decisions such as the African Union Protocol on the Rights of Women and UN Security Council Resolution 1325. In

the ICGLR Protocol, member states guaranteed that ‘sexual violence shall be punishable in times of peace and in situations of armed conflict,’ even across borders. Two years later in 2008, member states agreed on the Goma Declaration on Eradicating Sexual Violence and Ending Impunity, which listed 40 actionable recommendations to governments to comprehensively address SGBV.

Barriers

Heads of State are meeting in Kampala five years since the Protocol on sexual violence was adopted, and three years since the Goma Declaration.

Tragically, in spite of these and other commitments they have made, recent trends indicate that cases of SGBV are on the rise in the Great Lakes Region and they are largely perpetrated with impunity.

There still exist serious social and cultural barriers to legal redress for women and children survivors of SGBV, and support for new laws on SGBV has been low among the general public and law enforcement institutions such as police and the judiciary.

Therefore what can our Heads of State convening in Kampala do to ensure that this year marks an end to the habit of broken promises followed by lackluster action?

For starters, our African leaders should consider SGBV as one of the pervasive threats to national security and development, and launch a presidential campaign “Zero Tolerance Now on SGBV” as a resounding indicator of the political will required to eradicate the scourge.

We have seen the impact possible when a president champions an issue personally, such as a campaign for universal education or zero corruption. The value of political will cannot be overstated as it often compels action at all levels of government, including finding and allocating the necessary resources.

Heads of State should also authorise the establishment of a Regional Impunity Monitoring Unit which should report annually on states’ performance in addressing SGBV and eradicating impunity. Finally, they should establish national Reparation Funds for survivors of SGBV in recognition of the devastating effect of SGBV on its victims and as a means of delivering justice to the survivors.

SGBV is often rife in situations of armed conflict as a means to hurt, control, dominate or humiliate an individual or group of individuals. Typically women and children are the primary targets of SGBV, however violations of men have also been reported.

Above: A man pins down a woman in violence at Nyalenda slums in Kisumu County.

Below: A woman in hosipital after her hands were chopped off with a panga by her husband of 20 years. Violence against women continues unabated in most parts of the country. Picture: Reject Correspondent The Goma Declaration lists many more concrete, actionable recommendations that if implemented would go a long way towards eradicating SGBV in the Great Lakes Region. The onus is however upon the Heads of State to make imme-

diate, high level commitments that will accelerate this action in their respective States.

The writer is an Advocacy Officer-African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET)

ISSUE 053, December 16 - 31, 2011

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

9

Science pushes for radical HIV preventive measure

By JOYCE CHIMBI After years of what seems like an endless search for an HIV vaccine, research now shows the use of antiretroviral drugs by HIV negative people could reduce transmission upon exposure to the virus by up to 73 per cent.

The Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) drug works on the premise that any person who suspects they might be at risk of contracting HIV can use specific HIV drugs to reduce chances of being infected.

Although antiretroviral drugs have been used and are being used to treat people who are already infected with HIV, in some cases they have also been used to help a person’s immune system prevent the HIV virus from being established in their body in cases such as rape where postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) is used as a HIV preventive measure.

This fairly new school of thought in which a HIV negative person can take an ARV pill daily if they anticipate risky sexual behaviour that may make them vulnerable to HIV infection raises critical issues.

“Why give an ARV pill daily or in whatever doses to reduce HIV infections while other models of prevention have been proven to work?” poses Dr John Ong’ech, a gynaecologist and HIV specialist in Nairobi. He observes: “We have the ABC (Abstain, Be faithful and or use a Condom) and Prevention of Mother to Child (PMTCT) among others.”

Wrong message

Ong’ech says: “This would be sending the wrong message while a lot of money is being pumped into behavioural change messages which have been significant in HIV prevention.”

The study dubbed the Partners PrEP trial was carried out among 4,758 HIV discordant couples at Kenyatta National Hospital and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, in conjunction with the Kenya Medical Research Institute and the University of Washington in the United States.

The results of the study proved that taking a combination of antiretrovirals (Truvada or a combination of Tenofovir and emtricitabine or Tenofovir alone) already in use in Kenya for treatment of HIV, can reduce the risk of HIV infection by up to 73 percent.

These drugs have been selected on the principle that taken once a day, they not only have limited side-effects but they also show a slow development to drug resistance particularly if the person taking them got infected with the HIV virus.

Since the significant percentage of HIV transmission worldwide is through unprotected vaginal sex, it was believed that an ARV pill taken daily could not only significantly reduce the chances of infection, but it could possibly eliminate the risk of HIV transmission altogether.

Findings

“As you are well aware, it is prevention that will win us the war against the epidemic in the absence of a curative treatment. The research to find a curative measure is still underway, but if you look at national responses and the prevention revolution that is required to reduce new infections to manageable proportions and then to zero-infection within a short period ‘prevention’ it is the way to go,” observes Girmay Haile, Senior Institutional Development Advisor UNAIDS. Haile explains: “This latest finding has created a momentum towards narrowing further and preparing to address the pockets of new infections to target such interventions. We now know that close to half of all new infections come from people within steady unions and maybe it will be most logical to focus on such groups and come with effective preventive measures in which the non-infected partners are also taken into full consideration.”

Jacinta Nyachae of the Kenya Aids Law Project although supportive of any concrete measure to fight HIV is quick to note the infrastructural challenges that come with using PrEP as a preventive measure.

“Using treatment for prevention is a good strategy but do we have the necessary resources to deal with the influx of numbers once HIV negative people are put on drugs? posed Nyachae. She observed: “It is important that the is-

Taveta Hospital Which is facing shortage of staff and equipments. Patients often seek medical services in Tanzania.

Below: Visitors arrive to see their loved ones. Pictures: Robby Ngojhi sue of resources is addressed to enable all those in need of ARVs to access the drugs.”

Inspite of the challenge that provision of ARVs to HIV negative people poses with various reports showing that an estimated 600,000 people are in need of the drugs, this recent study is being received positively.

“I think anything to reduce infection is a plus. However, the risk and stakes are high.

At the moment condom use is the best way to prevent infection so if one chooses to take the pill and forego the condom and end up getting infected, it will be tantamount to practicing careless behaviour,” Lila Kiwelu, a researcher in Kenya expresses her views.

Kiwelu adds: “However, reality also shows that there are people living in high risk situations where they have little control over their sexuality so it is always better to give the individual a choice. Give all the information necessary for them to decide for themselves. Those in difficult marriages may be able to make use of this.”

This study has been seen as one of the most remarkable breakthroughs in the fight against HIV/Aids.

“The complexity of HIV infection demand radical ways to fight further transmissions. The bottom line is that people need protection,” explains Pauline Irungu, East Africa’s coordinator for the Global Campaign for Microbicides.

“While ABC has worked for some people, it has not offered protection to others and, therefore, the HIV epidemic continues,” she explains.

Irungu adds: “New tools are, therefore, needed especially those that women can initiate since they bear the brunt of the epidemic. PrEP is one such potential tool and research is yet to be completed.”

There is, however, need for caution. “The concept has been inspired by models of prevention along the lines of PMTCT and greatly informed by contraceptive mode of prevention (for fam-

ily planning) but it is dangerous to say that anyone can take these drugs as a preventive measure,” emphasises Ong’ech. He adds: “In discordant couples it is a workable strategy but under very strict medical scrutiny.”

Ong’ech believes that for discordant couples it can be significant during the period that a couple intends to get pregnant although it would still demand keen medical observation.

This, he says, is based on what he has observed in practice and as has been revealed by global studies that within one year, one in ten discordant couples will convert and both partners will test positive because of risky sexual behaviour

Side effect

Medical experts opposed to the strategy argue that Kenya does not have the systems required to support such a venture because a person cannot be put on ARV without having been tested for HIV. In addition, once testing has been done and a supply of drugs given, another test needs to be done for the next supply. It, therefore begs the question of how this can be practical in a system whose human resource and equipment such test kits are already strained.

The aspect of side effects cannot be over-emphasized. Health experts say that in some cases, side effects can be very severe causing hepatitis and kidney failure among other health complications.

“I am disturbed because as a social worker, I see HIV positive patients struggling to stay on

“The complexity of HIV infection demand radical ways to fight further transmissions. The bottom line is that people need protection.”

— Pauline Irungu, Coordinator, Global Campaign for Microbicides

medication despite the side effects,” explains Mary Atieno, from Kibera. “Research shows that some of the side effects can be so severe that one in five people will give up PEP treatment before completion.”

Further, the argument against PREP maintains that it is disturbing to expose HIV negative people to HIV drugs because the medication remains in the bloodstream for a long time. This may lead to toxicity and drug resistance if, unfortunately, the person gets infected with the HIV virus at some point.

More importantly, this mode of prevention does not factor in scenarios where people may have been recently infected with the virus but tested negative since they were still in the window period and the virus was undetectable.

“Every drug you take has side effects, this PREP is not a vaccine, to deliberately and with no strong reasons, expose yourself to HIV infection just because you swallowed a pill is unacceptable,” emphasises Dr Mary Amuyunzu Nyamongo, an anthropologist in Nairobi.

“There are not any strong reasons because other basic measures against HIV such as using a condom have been proven effective,” says Nyamongo, wondering why scientists would propose that people go into a PREP mode.

Amuyunzu says PREP is a concept that basically complicates all preventive methods that have been pushed for before and proven to, if correctly followed, significantly reduce HIV infections.

“We are not talking microbicides which are a great option as we wait for a vaccine against HIV, but a drug whose long term potential to damage the immune system of an HIV negative person is very real.”

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ISSUE 053, December 16 - 31, 2011

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Operation set to change lives for uniformed forces

By CAROLYNE OYUGI The Kenyan uniformed forces have taken a step to control and possibly end the HIV infection among its officers.

The forces, through Operation–Aids Response In Forces In Uniform, Kenya (Operation-ARIFU ) has put strategies that will help increase the capacity of the Aids control units in each of the four uniformed forces to efficiently manage and facilitate the delivery of high-quality HIV prevention, care and treatment services for the personnel, their family and the surrounding community.

Operation ARIFU also aims at improving and expanding TB and HIV/Aids prevention, care and treatment services within the uniformed services health facilities. The project being supported by Programme for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH) is expected to end in 2015.

Kenya like any other sub Saharan country has been greatly affected by the HIV and Aids pandemic. This disease has caused the deaths of over two million people and currently, over 1.4 million people are living with HIV. Forces in uniforms are not spared since HIV mainly affects people in their prime years of life, the hardest hit being those in the reproductive ages between 15 and 49 years.

Most of the uniformed forces fall under this bracket.

Since the first HIV/Aids case was reported in Kenya in 1984, uniformed forces have been greatly affected by the pandemic and a number of officers are either infected or affected. The forces have, therefore, lost many officers and those who are serving remain vulnerable just like the rest of Kenyans.

As a result of the pandemic, many experienced and skilled officers have lost their lives and as such, service delivery to the general public has gone down. More so, resources have been diverted to address the problem.

The replacement of the deceased officers or those affected is a costly exercise and time consuming. Those infected continue to suffer without much assistance or support and this result to stigmatisation and discrimination at workplaces.

The officers being parents have also left behind orphans. Some of them have dropped out of school due to lack of fees. There are also many

among the orphans who have become heads of family, majority of them barely into their teens.

Operation ARIFU is a five-year CDC funded project for provision of technical assistance, financial support, and capacity building for HIV prevention, care and treatment for members of the non-military uniformed services of the Republic of Kenya under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

The forces include, Kenya Police Service, Kenya Wildlife Service, National Youth Service and Kenya Prison Service. It is managed

by Programme for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH) with Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation (EGPAF).

The goals of this project is to increase access to HIV prevention, care, and treatment services among non-military uniformed services personnel, their families and surrounding communities.

The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation provides leadership and technical assistance to support existing services and to enhance the linkages and referrals across the different service areas. In the end this increases access to services.

Capacity building

The Police Department has, therefore, conducted countrywide capacity building workshops to sensitise the officers. Peer Education programmes have been put in place and over seven hundred officers trained.

The administration police commandant Kinuthia Mbugua, acknowledges that access to care especially in operation areas remain a challenge that they are striving to overcome.

However, antiretroviral (ARVs) drugs are now available at various government and medical facilities at district levels across the country.

“It is for this reason that I encourage all personnel in the Force to embrace the message of abstinence, faithfulness to one uninfected partner and as a last resort to use condoms. Where applicable, officers are encouraged to access ARVs and other medical care early enough,” explained Mbugua.

He noted that the force remains committed to welfare matters of all officers including their health and will continue to address their needs with existing regulations.

Police officers marching during national celebrations. Operation ARIFU has helped build capacity of the officers in HIV control. Picture: Reject Correspondent According to Khamisi Salim, the behavior change communication trainer at PATH, the police are vulnerable because they at times stay away from their spouses for a long time.

“These men and women usually spend a long time in the bush and in harsh conditions away from their spouses. At that time they are still being paid and so they end up looking for comfort at the wrong places,” observed Salim.

Women have also been known to like men in uniforms. For example, Jane Wanjala who attended the Uniformed Forces stands in Nairobi during PATHs 20th year anniversary confessed that she likes men in uniformed forces.

According to Wanjala, they give women some sense of security. “When they wear their uniform and carry their guns, you feel very secure knowing nothing can attack you,” she said adding that they, (specifically the Police) provide financial security too.

For a very long time, the police have been known to make easy money due to their perceived corrupt nature. There is a common saying that the police usually tell their wives to put some water for preparing ugali even when they do not have maize flour, then he just has

to step out of the house and the maize flour will be available before the water boils.

This perception has led to many women being tempted to have extra marital affairs with the uniformed forces hence increasing the rate of the spread of HIV within the forces.

Peer pressure

The police have also been associated with the I-don’t-care attitude hence they easily get involved in irresponsible and risky sexual behaviors. The nature of their work is stressful and this at times leads to engaging in sex in order to cope with the stress.

The uniformed forces especially the police have inadequate housing and as a result they are usually grouped together where they end up sharing houses and tents yet they are from different backgrounds. This leads to peer pressure among them.

The uniformed forces are also exposed to infected blood while attending to scenes of accidents, crimes and other accidents.

The operation ARIFU, therefore, involves peer education, family fun days, family matters, and health choices.

Embu sets pace by launching workplace HIV policy

By DAVID KIARIE Workers at the Embu Municipal Council have a reason to smile following the establishment of a HIV/AIDS workplace policy that seeks to protect infected workers from discrimination.

The policy which was formulated by the local authority in partnership with GIZ Kenya and the National Organisation of Peer Educators (NOPE) provides a framework for imparting knowledge and skills on HIV prevention, testing, care and support to the council employees and civic leaders.

The policy which is also intended to benefit dependants of council staff and councillors further provides a framework to champion the rights of the employees in relation to HIV/Aids in an effort to reduce stigma and discrimination.

Speaking during the launch of the policy, the council’s HIV/Aids programme officer Thomas Nthiga termed formulation of the document as a milestone for the local authority in its efforts to fight HIV/Aids.

Nthiga said the document will ensure that no form of discrimination including pre-screening for HIV before recruitment or promotion of workers or firing and laying off workers who are HIV positive is carried out.

The policy also gives HIV positive workers assurance of confidentiality of their HIV status should they choose not to disclose it.

“The council has since established a standing committee on HIV/Aids, identified and

trained peer educators, established ward committees in all the seven electoral blocks within the municipality besides organising HIV counselling and testing exercises,” noted Nthiga.

He challenged all the council workers to take the HIV test in order to know their status and be able to plan their lives.

Chairs of the council’s HIV/Aids standing committee, Councillor Nelson Lintari said since the establishment of the peer education programme, HIV awareness has greatly increased among the workers and the levels of stigma and discrimination reduced.

“We have come a long way from when our staff believed that HIV was as a result of witchcraft or that one can contract HIV through sharing of utensils, according to several workplace HIV/Aids surveys conducted at the council in 2005,” observed Lintari.

A knowledge, attitude and practices survey carried out in 2009 showed tremendous improvement with most workers having proper information on the spread and prevention of HIV. Lintari said while the peer educators have undergone refresher courses to keep them abreast with the emerging information on HIV/ Aids, they require more training to help them address the new challenges posed by most at risk populations (MARPs) especially the male sex workers.

The peer educators are involved in teaching the council staff facts on HIV/Aids, correct and

consistence use of condoms, sexually transmitted infections, opportunistic infections and tuberculosis, anti retro-viral therapy, voluntary counselling and testing, positive living as well as drug and substance abuse among other relevant issues.

Since inception of the programme, Lintari noted that over 80,000 male and female condoms have been distributed within the municipality.

He noted that council intends to train the various wards committee members to equip them with better skills and help them campaign against the disease at the community level.

GIZ Kenya technical advisor on health programmes Christoph Lodemann termed the launch of the HIV/Aids workplace policy as a success story adding that it is an indication of the council’s commitment to protect HIV positive workers.

However, he warned against shelving the document saying this would only reverse the gains made by the local authority in the campaign against HIV/Aids.

“It is one thing to formulate the document and another to implement it. A lot has to be done in order to ensure full realisation of the policy,” observed Lodemann.

Chairman of the Association of Councillors Against HIV/Aids Councillor Boniface Awuor from Homa Bay County Council called on the council heads in the country to protect their workers who are HIV infected.

He hailed the move by the Embu Municipal Council to formulate the HIV/Aids workplace policy saying it is the second local authority in the country to have such a document.

Nyeri Municipal Council was the first civic body to establish and implement such a document meant to protect HIV positive workers from stigma and discrimination.

About 1,000 copies of the HIV/Aids workplace policy were printed and distributed to council employees. GIZ Kenya donated condom dispensers which would be used at the various wards within the municipality.

Embu mayor Agatha Muthoni said nine out of every 10 workers in the country are HIV infected according to Kenya AIDS indicator Survey adding that the local authority had lost a number of its staff to the disease.

The mayor said the council had set aside KSh1.6 million for HIV/Aids prevention, care and support programmes for workers and residents and a further KSh.1 million to address issues of the destitute within the municipality in the 2011/2012 financial year.

“Provision of anti-retroviral therapy to all the infected people is a challenge but said we are working towards achieving this in order to ensure universal access to ART for all infected people,” observed Muthoni.

She challenged parents and guardians to educate the children and the youth on the spread and prevention of HIV saying this was the only sure way of ensuring a HIV free generation.

ISSUE 053, December 16 - 31, 2011

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

11

Orphans set to overcome challenges

By OMONDI GWENGI It is a Saturday morning and the laughter of children at play fills the air. The appearance of a visitor elicits curiosity judging by the whispers as the play comes to a momentary halt.

Welcome to Overcomers Centre for Orphans. The centre is located along Magadi Road, just a few kilometres from Ongata-Rongai. It is in an informal settlement known by the natives as Bangladesh, which they shorten as Bangla.

At the centre, we are warmly welcomed by Eunice Kwamboka, who is the head teacher.

The centre which is under the aegis of Overcomers Ministries basks in the glory of turning a decade of existence. It was established in 2000 to cater for the needs of orphans from the informal settlement (Bangla).

However, Kwamboka says not all of them are orphans. “Some just come because they have been neglected by their parents,” she explains.

The centre was started with less than 50 pupils, but now has a population of 100 who include orphans and others whose parents cannot raise their school fees.

As a visitor knocks their gate, the children’s faces radiate with joy and hope that at least there is a meal for that day. This centre does not have any donor or a well-established source of funds and, therefore, hinges its hopes on wellwishers for survival.

Rickety typewriter

“We entirely depend on well-wishers for the daily running of this centre,” explains Kwamboka.

In one of the rooms which Kwamboka says is a store, there is a rickety typewriter, stationery and some foodstuff. These are contributions from well-wishers who have been touched by the plight of the children who are determined to learn but have no facilities.

The centre offers boarding facility to only 19 children. “There is a dormitory which only accommodates 17 children who are boys. The two girls are accommodated in a room where they spread their beddings on the floor for lack of beds,” explains Kwamboka.

There is only one black board that is shared between three classes. With help from a voluntary teacher, Kwamboka notes that it calls for sacrifice and perseverance to perform this work.

“This is a calling and not everyone can do it,” she says adding that only God can reward her for the work she is doing.

Kwamboka also doubles up as the counsellor to the children especially those who have

lost their parents to HIV and Aids.

The residents of this informal settlement brew illicit liquor and, therefore, expose their children to dangers of drug abuse, and most probably sexual exploitation. This, therefore, brings a great challenge to the centre which tries to salvage these children from engaging in crime and anti-social behaviour by equipping them with education and spiritual nourishment.

Overcomers

“Though they have no one to call a parent, their plight does not dampen their spirits. They are lively and play like any other child,” notes Kwamboka. She adds: “It is always a norm to entertain guests to the centre with poems and songs on the impact of HIV/Aids and how it has contributed to their situation.”

The children confidently recite verses from the Bible which shows that the centre is built on the foundation of faith and prayer and truly they are overcomers.

Kwamboka (in black jacket) poses with the children together with other teachers.

Below: she leads the children in song in one of the classrooms.

Pictures: Omondi Gwengi

Revenge mission sets Irene Mbori on the philanthropic path

By LEONARD ACHARRY OJIAMBO Although many people pass her without taking much heed, Irene Dacho Mbori is a woman who has left a mark within the walls of Kenya’s prisons.

Her actions have left her being more than a mother to many inmates in the country.

Mbori moves from one prison to another talking to prisoners and organising tournaments for them as a way of helping them come out on incarceration with a better view of life Born in 1983, in Kodera Kamiyawa Village, Kotieno Location, Kasipul Kabondo Kisumu County, Mbori was born to the late Charles Owino Mbori and Janet Owino, the fifth born in a family of nine children.

Mbori relates her passion for prisoners to the death of her father who died after being poisoned in 2006.

“My father died while I was taking him to hospital after he was poisoned in Oyugis town. I wanted to revenge by killing those who poisoned him. I even hired men and bought petrol but before going out, one woman came

and told me that she had been sent to tell me to forgive and forget,” she explains.

Mbori admits that although she cancelled the plan, she had a lot of pain in her heart. However, she is quick to add that, that is the day she had a breakthrough in becoming a football coach.

“I got a call from the secretary of Kenya Football Association (KFA) that there was training for those who wanted to be coaches at Kisumu Polytechnic. I attended and ended up being the only woman chosen.”

She started to train prisoners on November 6, 2010 and since then, she has been up and down, moving from one prison to another training them and organising tournaments.

One such event was held on August 12, where inmates at the Kibos Prison got a chance to min-

gle with the public through a ceremony that was held at the prison grounds. They played football with youth teams, had a social conversation with members of the public and met their relatives.

“This is an occasion they all admitted was rare to come by,” explains Mbori.

Prisoners in Kakamega and Kisii have also had an opportunity to host the tournaments courtesy of Mbori. The latest event was held in Kakamega on September 10-11, 2011.

A single mother, Mbori does all this alone.

However, there are occasions when she has received donations from New KCC among other individual well-wishers.

She asserts that most people and institutions have negative attitude towards prisoners despite them being recognised by the new

“I have realised that many inmates who leave prison after their sentences or due to pardon are rejected by their families and the public.”

— Irene Dacho Mbori, well wisher

Constitution as people who deserve fair treatment. She regrets that most of her proposals have been turned down.

“I have approached many people to offer me support but they always turned down my requests saying they cannot help prisoners,” observes Mbori.

However, she appreciates the important role being played by the Director of Rehabilitation Mary Khaemba, whom has been instrumental in helping her move around prisons in the country.

Mbori’s vision is to open up a big home in Nyanza for inmates who finish their sentences which she calls ‘half home’.

“I have realised that many inmates who leave prison after their sentences or due to pardon are rejected by their families and the public.”

She also appeals to the Ministry of Youth and Sports alongside other sponsors to support her financially and materially so that she may achieve her goal.

Mbori is certain that this will be possible especially with the devolved government where funds will be allocated for such projects by the County governments.

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ISSUE 053, December 16 - 31, 2011

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Card and toll free number to Threats make help victims of sexual violence women stick to abusive relationships

By AJANGA KHAYESI At only one year, Jane Achieng was defiled by her father — Tom Otich, while the mother Josephine Adhiambo washed clothes outside their rented house in Nairobi’s Muthurwa estate.

Otich who spent Saturday morning inside the house, quietly removed the baby’s diapers which he used to cover her mouth before executing the act. Once done, he wrapped the nappies on the severely bleeding and unconscious baby, before placing the child on the bed.

After covering the girl with a blanket, Otich innocently walked passed Adhiambo headed for a drinking spree. He returned in the night full drunk to land in the area chief ’s hands.

The silence from the usually playful child fond of making calling sounds aroused the mother to go and find out about her wellbeing.

The blood stains on the bed shocked Adhiambo, who picked the baby by hand to notice extreme bleeding underneath the nappies.

On raising the alarm, neighbours took the mother and the baby to Muthurwa Police Station where the Healthcare Assistance Kenya (HAK) personnel landed in to rescue the baby’s life.

By JANE MUGAMBI

Irreversible

Otich’s action resulted into From top: Pupils display their certificates during Achieng’s long stay at the Gender the Healthcare Assistance Kenya (HAK) Kisumu Violence Recovery Centre at the seminar. HAK Director Fanis Lisiagali (Left) awards Nairobi Women’s Hospital.

Mary Onyango (Right) head teacher Kotetni primary As Achieng grows up, it is clear school during the workshop. A girl displays a poster that she will never be the same as during the seminar. Pictures: Ajanga Khayesi other normal girls. According to Ken Otieno of the Gender Based Violence (GBV) Recovery Centre: campaigns targeted at fighting against vioevent they have been violated.”

“The girl underwent general medical treatlence on women and children. “We aim at Without the finances to go to hospitals, ment, theatre operation to remove the terripreventing violence and promoting peace as many gender based violence victims opt to let bly damaged uterus and broken femur bone. well as eliminating violence in homes and in the issue lie low and suffer in silence. HowShe will never have children in her life.” the entire country,” he says. ever, Lisiagali is quick to note that response Achieng’s case is just a tip of the iceberg Following the 2007-2008 Post Election Vito GBV cases is free for all Kenyans. “Women on gender based violence in the country and olence (PEV) that rocked parts of the coundo not know that they can get this service for specifically defilement. try, HAK was mandated by the Kenya Red free. They just need someone to coordinate Many innocent girls, some still in their diCross to voluntarily distribute hygiene matefor them and that is where Hak comes in,” he apers, and others barely into puberty remain rials to Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) in explains. the greatest victims of sexual violence. all camps across the country.

The defilement of a physical challenged While offering the services to IDPs, HAK girl in Githunguri, sodomy of 12 year old boy Hak will soon launch a national toll free interacted with women and children who by a neighbour in Kitale, defilement of three domestic number 1195 that survivors of vionarrated experiences of suffering sexual viochildren in Banana, Kiambu, gang raping of lence can use to enable then get free medical lence during the period. a 17-year-old girl at Tena Estate, Donholm, services countrywide.

It is from here that the organisation estabdefilement of a three-year-old girl by a 38Opening its doors to primary schools lished a women’s rapid response call centre year old-man in Emuhaya, Kakamega are just countrywide, pupils in the upper classes are that supports the survivors of gender based small percentage sodomy and defilement that trained on life skills in gender based violence violence, training communities and primary is so rife in this country. for behaviour change which came as result of schools countrywide on life skills on behavyoung girls and boys being targets of sexual iour change. violence.

They launched, the Jikinge card, being the “Children undergo untold suffering silently Themed as knowledge is power, the orfirst of its kind in Kenya, in February 2010. due to fear, stigma, poverty and lack of knowlganisation which targets all counties in the The card serves as the gender based violence edge in the event of being sexually abused, country started training in Nairobi, Kisumu networking tool. It is also used for campaigngenitally mutilated, and physical assaulted and Vihiga counties. ing and as a silence breaker for the benefit of among other forms of violence,” observes The 2010 Nairobi Women’s Hospital the community.

Fanis Lisiagali, Executive Director HAK. He gender based violence records indicate that The card inscribed with HAK’s rapnotes: “This trend has witnessed increased among the 18,397 survivors of violence, 57 id response call centre hotline numbers HIV and sexually transmitted infections.” per cent were women, children 40 per cent 07225703308 or 0733738626, enables memVictims of gender based violence must (girls 35 per cent and boys five per cent) while bers of the community to report by calling have their rights protected. men cover only three per cent. or sending SMS immediately, but not later “The protection of women and children is Determined to empower the girl child to than 72 hours for the purpose of supporting a duty that should be executed across societal break silence on violence and continue with gender based violence survivors to access free divide by individuals, governments, embaseducation, According to Otieno of gender healthcare facilities anywhere in the country. sies, corporate, institutions, non-governmenbased recovery centre: “As a result of sexual According to Lisiagali: “Callers receive a tal organisations, donor agencies who must abuse, many girls end up dropping out of message from HAK headquarters to take the stand up and fight the vice,” explains Lisiagali. school. They also suffer early pregnancies and survivors to the nearest health facility for free According to Lisiagali it is against this are susceptible to HIV and sexually transmittreatment and prevention of infections such background that HAK holds continuous ted infections,” he observes. as HIV and other sexually infections in the

Training

Victims

Caroline Murugi 24 and a mother of one is among many married women who are physically abused by their husbands in marriage. Murugi has been married for four years to her abusive, violent husband who has left her nursing knife stabs at Kerugoya District Hospital.

Narrating her ordeal, Murugi remembers how her husband attacked her with a knife recently. He had come home at 7pm and demanded for food which she took to the table. He did not like the dish that she placed before and threw it out it. Since it was at already late, Murugi went out to look for the vegetables that he had asked for.

After about five minutes, he went down to where Murugi was waiting for the vegetables, sukuma wiki (kales). He told her he wanted them to talk.

When she got to where he was standing, Murugi’s husband then removed a knife from his jacket and stabbed her severally on the chest, shoulders and left her to die. Her screams attracted neighbours who took her to Kerugoya Hospital being unconscious.

Murugi does not want to go back to the man.

She says: “After being discharged, I will go back home in Kibugu, Embu and leave my son under the care of my mother-in-law.” This was not the first time Murugi was being beaten or attacked with a dangerous object by her husband. She says the man has left very many marks that have blood clots on her body.

He has even used his teeth on her and she has visible marks on the face.

A week after the end of the 16 Days of Activism against gender based violence campaigns, it emerges that many women stick in abusive relations for fear of their partners reaction. Most of these women are threatened with death among other consequences.

Knife stabs

According to Bernadette Wanjiku, a clinical officer at the hospital, cases of gender based violence are too many. She says that within only two weeks in the ward, she has witnessed three domestic violence cases. “The cases are never reported to the police because women fear the repercussion,” says Wanjiku.

Murugi had seven knife stabs on the chest and two on the shoulders.

According to Murugi, these injuries are giving her a hard time in breathing, talking and even eating.

Like Murugi, Lucy Nyawira a primary school teacher has stayed in silence for years over the gender based violence she faces.

Nyawira who got married seven years ago and says she has never enjoyed the marriage. “My husband has threatened me with death should I walk out of the marriage,” explains Nyawira. With the threats she has no option to stick to the abusive relationship.

Nyawira who one time moved out to rent a house in Kerugoya town, says her husband came looking for her and apologised. They later reconciled.

“Many women stick to their abusive husbands for lack of an alternative and fear of being killed,” observes Nyawira. A medical officer at Kerugoya District Hospital, Dr Michael Macharia observes that many women are physically abused by their husbands but out of fear do not report the cases to the police. He says over ten serious cases have been reported in the hospital.

Macharia recalls the most challenging case being of a woman who suffered a broken skull after she was hit with a blunt object on the head by the husband.

“Within October alone, there were over 20 cases that were reported at the outpatient department and two needed serious supervision,” notes Macharia.

He says women who have been physically abused have scars on their faces and hands out of the beatings, and where the men used dangerous objects they have been left with marks all over their bodies. “According to the hospital’s investigations most cases are brought about by disagreements which force men to overreact,” observes Macharia.

ISSUE 053, December 16 - 31, 2011

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Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Medical waste continues to pose risk to garbage collectors

By CHRISTOPHER APOLLO Medical waste products from hospitals, health centres, dispensaries and clinics are becoming a major problem especially to those who live near where they are dumped.

Not only do garbage collectors come across unhealthy products that pose a challenge to their health, they also come across foetuses that have been dumped in paper bags.

Collins Opiata*, speaks of his tribulations as an informal waste collector from an estate in Eastland’s, Nairobi.

Opiata, in his early 30s, has been in this business for about eight years and during that period of time he has come across dumped foetus on several occasions. Many times, he has cautioned his colleagues not to get close to the specific paper bags.

Rarely do they inform the police about such incidents to avoid unnecessary questioning, harassment and even being arrested by the law enforcers.

“Once I come across a baby who was alive in a paper bag and it was given to some woman in the neighbourhood to take care of,” explains Opiata.

Medical waste could be a term not familiar to many but it includes bandages, used syringes, razor blades, body parts from accidents or other medical operations and procedures wastes.

Poor waste management from health facilities could be one of the major causes of the country’s big disease burden which the health sector is expected to manage as a priority to wade off epidemics.

Njoroge*, also another garbage collector specialises in plastic paper bags. However, he says he is never aware of the contents of the bag and sometimes gets pierced by a needle in the process of breaking down the waste when rummaging through.

Infections

Both Opiata and Njoroge attest to the fact that most of them get infections and some of them never recover from mysterious ailments and eventually succumb to death.

During this process of breaking down the waste, most of them get pierced or cut by sharp objects and may not really see the need to seek medical attention. This is because they are usually racing against time to make ends meet.

They confirm to not having time to go for HIV testing due to their busy pre-occupation as they search for a source of livelihood.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and hepatitis (B and C) are blood borne infections, which can be transmitted through sharp object injuries.

The big question one should ask is how many of the waste collectors could currently be infected through getting into contact with unprocessed medical waste from hospitals and do not know their HIV status.

Healthcare programmes have substantially expanded of late, especially HIV programmes with over 1.4 million Kenyans living with the virus according to the Kenya Aids Indicator survey 2007.

About 800,000 are currently on HIV care and treatment and require regular blood tests. Over 3,000,000 Kenyans are additionally tested for HIV annually and another 100,000 get circumcised.

More Kenyans are accessing healthcare for mother to child care as well as Tuberculosis (TB) among other chronic diseases. All these activities produce waste.

Previous assessments indicate that about half a kilogramme of waste is produced every day from each patient admitted to hospital in Kenya. About 20 per cent of such waste, is potentially infectious.

Where does medical waste go to? Where do non-conventional medical facilities such as clinics in the neighbourhoods where we live take their medical waste? Do they mix them with domestic waste for disposal by the trucks which come to pick domestic refuse? Where do people who have had a finger or limb severed put them? Could they be put-

IDPs protests at Nyeri Government offices

By Joseph Mukubwa

Njoroge (left) and Opiata (Right) give an account of their experiences during the PATH meeting. Pictures: Christopher Apollo ting the amputated parts in the domestic dustbin for disposal by the garbage collection companies like was the case reported in the media recently where a dismembered hand was discovered dumped in a dustbin at a residential apartment in Nairobi?

Waste management

However, efforts are being put in place to contain waste management. According to Fred Okuku, project director Healthcare Waste Management, at Programme for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), their mandate is to support the government in managing medical waste through the ministries of Medical Services and Public Health.

This project is funded by several partners that include the Centre for Disease Control (CDC), under the Presidential Emergency Public Fund for Aids Relief (PEPFAR) Initiative.

Other partners supporting the Ministry of Health to improve healthcare waste include the United States Aid for International Development (USAID), (GIZ) and the World Bank among others.

The project was started in 2010 and will run until 2015. It supports improvement of infrastruc-

ture and equipment for treatment of medical waste to reduce the dumping of medical waste in open spaces and or municipal dump sites.

In Kenya the main mode of medical waste management are incinerations, open pit burning and burying. Some hospitals do not have the capacity to treat the medical waste. Most have a brick burning chambers which are outdated and not an environmentally friendly system of waste treatment.

Not many hospitals have incinerators, therefore, leading to further reckless disposal of medical waste by some careless community health centres.

Among those health facilities that have made efforts towards waste management is the Nairobi Women’s Hospital which recently installed an incinerator.

Segregation is the technical terminology used for separation of waste. This is an innovative procedure based on a colour coding system. It does improve the safety of waste handlers in the open and health care workers handling medical waste in hospital. Segregation of waste is putting the waste according to how dangerous they are.

Sharp objects like used needles and surgical knives are put in safe boxes which then locked up until when they are 75 per cent full.

Coloured waste paper bags, specific with colour coding systems mainly red and yellow plastic bags, for medical and waste handlers’ are used to determine the type of waste in them.

Safety boxes

“PATH recommends the use of an autoclave which resembles a pressure cooker.

It is commercial and big enough to handle more waste thereby accelerating environmental protection.

This is currently a safer mode of processing the waste.”

— Fred Okuku, project director Healthcare Waste Management

Safety boxes are available for sharp objects and needle disposal in health facilities. This reduces needle stick injuries when handling the designated hospital waste.

Because of Environmental effects associated with incineration, PATH encourages alternative non burn technologies.

According to Okuku: “PATH recommends the use of an autoclave which resembles a pressure cooker. It is commercial and big enough to handle more waste thereby accelerating environmental protection. This is currently a safer mode of processing the waste.”

Sharing results of a successful research that have been conducted with other stakeholders worldwide, will go a long way in ensuring environmental safety and ensuring waste is treated safely and waste recyclers can collect safe waste like paper and plastic.

PATH conducts capacity building of waste handlers and health care workers on how to handle medical waste. This is to strengthen institutional capacity at the ministry of health level to improve environmental protection,” explains Okuku.

OVER 300 integrated IDPs who have been living with relatives and friends in Central region have protested at the Central Provincial Headquarters based in Nyeri town seeking the government’s attention to their suffering.

The IDPs who have living with friends and relatives protested in Nyeri vowing that their needs must be met or the Government gives them alternative settlement and requisite assistance.

Their chairman Charles Mwangi said they have nowhere to go as they lost all their properties during the 2007-2008 post-election violence with some of them or their family members being killed or injured.

“We have gone through untold sufferings in the various parts of Central Province where we sought refuge, with no permanent place to settle or grow food. We have been to hell and back,” said Mwangi.

The IDPs said they have no access to medical services and cannot even afford the cost-sharing fee charged in public health centers leading to the deaths.

“We are calling upon the Government to resettle us or give each of us the KSh500,000 the Ministry for Special Programmes had promised,” they said.

The internal refugees also want the government to assist in paying fees their secondary school going children as some have dropped out while others have not yet enrolled for their exams and provide food and other personal effects for every family.

Their coordinator Peter Gitahi said the over 10,000 IDPs in various parts of the region who possess requisite documents like voting cards, Red Cross letters and a letter from the assistant chief of the settlement location have so far only received only KSh10,000 which was hardly enough to cater for all their needs.

While asking the Government to fast track their resettlement, Gitahi said they also need counselling to enable them cope with the current lifestyle for some are committing suicide due to the suffering.

Nyeri Central District DC Chege Mwangi upon receiving their memorandum said he was going to follow up the matter with the relevant authorities.

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ISSUE 053, December 16 - 31, 2011

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Alternative fuel makes things easy for Kipkelion residents

By PHILIP KIRUI Competition for land for food, fodder and fuel wood has strained existing natural resources in the temperate highlands of South Rift.

Since the introduction of agrarian farming in this region by the World Gospel Mission (WGM) missionaries in 1905, land has become a precious commodity among the inhabitants here. The commodity is slowly becoming out of reach for many as the price of land soars. Those who were lucky to have grabbed enough before it became scarce often dish it out for fortunes.

Those living in very small plots of land face a myriad of economic challenges. They are in the list of those who cannot afford to take their children to school and cannot even afford a decent living. It is this lot that requires traditional fuel for preparing their family’s food.

However, since land continues to shrink, they are left with few choices of using the available piece for food production. Other than wood fuel the other alternative from petroleum products has also been out of reach for most rural farmers as the price is prohibitive.

In tea growing zones, multinational tea companies have remained the sole source for daily wood fuel requirements.

Disadvantage

The frequency of availability of such wood fuel supply, however, depends largely on the wood fuel harvest program in the tea estates; a thing that disadvantages the residents. Every time trees are felled in the estates and word reaches the ears of the women of the adjacent villages, they prepare for transportation of the wood.

The sad thing about this is the distance covered by these women and the weight of the wet wood.

The firewood is not only a source of fuel but also a source of livelihood as most women also sell it to earn a livelihood. Unfortunately, de-

spite what they go through to get it, the fuel wood is only sold to consumers for KSh150 only. For this reason, the women have sought alternative sources of fuel.

Take the case of Everlyne Cheruiyot, a resident of Chemoset Village, Kipsolu Location Kericho West District, for whom things are quite different. Ever since GTZ assisted her family to put up a biogas plant at a subsidised price in 2004, Cheruiyot has never had the headache of fetching firewood.

Gas

Visitors marvel at the biogas plant. Below: Cheruiyot at his biogas plant.

Pictures: Philip Kirui

Today, Cheruiyot has more than enough gas for her domestic needs. “The gas fills to the brim during the night and sometimes even leaks because we under use it,” confesses Cheruiyot.

She explains that the gas is safe for use in any home as it is not hygroscopic like liquid petroleum gas.

“I like using this source of energy since even if you accidentally released the gas into the room, you need not worry that it will not explode,” explains Cheruiyot. “I always use this fuel saving jiko since it does not use a lot of firewood. I have reduced the amount of firewood I use since this jiko was made. And now that I have bio gas, the consumption has even reduced further,” Cheruiyot said.

Cheruiyot’s family keeps five grade cows in a zero grazing unit. They supply the family with about 75 litres of milk and enough dung for producing the gas.

Joseph Cheruiyot, a retired banker says their farm worker mixes cow dung with water at a ratio of 1:1 and drains the sludge into the digester.

“The used up sludge floats and runs down the drain into the drenches that lead to the collection point and then to the gardens,” explains Cheruiyot, pointing to the circular tank built for the purpose.

The gas is forced up the pipes that lead to the house by the pressure exerted to the sludge in the tank.

The dome shaped plant, built with the assistance of GTZ, measures 20 cubic metres.

“This is the most modern biogas plant in this region. I picked the idea of biogas during my tour to dairy farmers who practise zero grazing in Kisii and Kiambu. I believe it is the best alternative for any serious farmer though it is quite costly for an average wage earner.

It cost me about KSh180,000 to complete. I was, however, assisted by the GTZ subsidy of KSh45,000,” explains Joseph Cheruiyot.

Member of Parliament for Kipkelion, Magerer Lang’at, who is also an Assistant Minister for Energy is also a beneficiary of the biogas plant.

“I am particularly impressed by the work of the experts that have assisted the farmers of Kipkelion to realise that farming is a noble venture that is capable of bringing good earnings to the family. I am glad that I have offered my farm for demonstration,” observed Magerer.

According to the KENFAP District Coordinator, in charge of Biogas Projects in South Rift Philip Too, biogas was the best alternative par-

ticularly for Kipkelion District and most other semi-arid climates where trees take time to mature for domestic use.

“This is the most appropriate way of obtaining alternative renewable energy. It is most appropriate for the people of Kipkelion where most portions of land have been left bare from tree felling,” explains Too.

Climate change forces pastoralists into farming

By CHARLES NJERU Frequent droughts are causing a share of Northern Kenya’s cattle herders to abandon their longstanding tradition of livestock farming in favour of an alternative source of livelihood.

The farmers who previously looked down on agrarian farming are now engaging in growing crops.

Poor rainfall over the past several years, likely related to climate change, has resulted in increasing levels of food insecurity in the East African country.

To cope with the changing conditions, the government, in partnership with the World Food Programme, has developed a programme called Njaa Marufuku Kenya. Through capacity building and assistance, it aims to help a share of the country’s six million pastoralists switch from herding to crop production.

“With a high incidence of severe drought in pastoral areas, we are working closely with the communities in sustainable agricultural activities. They are continuously losing their cattle herds and many have in the past not known crop farming,” said Philomena Chege, head of the new programme.

The herders are switching primarily to farming wheat, millet and maize, as well as fruit, mushrooms, and some crops for cattle feed.

According to Chege, Narok County has seen the biggest uptake of the livelihood switch initiative since it began in early 2010. As many as

35,000 Narok pastoralists and their families are participating and a further 20,000 herders in other parts of the country have so far signed on.

The government says the annual cost is KSh9 billion ($100 million).

Justus Ole Ngruone, 34, lives and works in the capital city of Nairobi but farms on one hectare of land in Kajiado, an hour’s drive away.

“Livestock farming in a drought-prone area was a big risk,” said Ole Ngruone. “I lost three quarters of my cows during the 2009 drought. It was a major heartbreak. I depended on them for milk and also income derived from milk sales.”

Government assistance

However, government assistance has enabled Ole Ngruone to invest in planting crops on his farm, where his wife and daughter live.

He grows millet, wheat and maize, and keeps a few milk cows and rabbits. His cows feed on calliandra, a drought-resistant tree rich in protein that helps them yield more milk.

The programme is also helping introduce irrigation technologies to drought-prone areas and encouraging primary and secondary schools to grow food on their land to teach pupils about agriculture.

At Ongata Naado Primary School in Narok, pupils have planted crops on about half of the school’s 22 hectares, part of an effort to teach them the importance of food security.

Pupils eat the harvest crops, something the government says encourages them to attend

school, and the extra food alleviates hunger and helps them to concentrate on their studies.

However, while some Kenyans are beginning to accept crop farming as part of their daily lives, many ethnic Maasai families, traditional herders are reluctant to participate in the programme.

Maasai culture views livestock as both a sign and source of wealth, and some farmers resist selling their herds.

Mzee Ole Moyoi Sankale, 81, is one herder who has refused to venture into crop farming on his five-hectare piece of land. Sankale, who has four wives and more than 25 children and

grandchildren, regards his 60 cows as a crucial asset.

“When my sons marry, I use a few cows to pay the family of the bride,” said Sankale. He adds: “If you don’t pay the bride price, your son remains single. It is very important to have several cows.”

In spite of their traditions, an increasing number of Maasai farmers are giving crop farming a try, in some cases while retaining their herds.

During drought conditions this year, pastoralists in Narok have been relatively affected as many had already switched to growing crops and were no longer reliant solely on their herds.

ISSUE 053, December 16 - 31, 2011

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

15

Major challenges hinder meeting the MDG Five

By CAROLYNE OYUGI Barriers that prevent access to quality services are another big obstacle to achieving quality maternal health. In some areas, like Enkorika village, Kajiado County, the road poor network compounds the problem.

The murram road gets worse when it rains. It has been greatly affected by gulley erosion making it for public service vehicle that ply the Kajiado–Enkorika route.

In this village there is only one health centre which is closed at 5pm.

Women in this village have, therefore, been forced to deliver at home with help from traditional birth attendants. These are the women at risk of maternal deaths and their babies stand a higher chance of not surviving.

Research on maternal deaths indicates that the health outcomes are determined by interrelated factors. These factors include nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene, health-care services and healthy behaviours.

In order to reduce the number of women who are dying while giving birth and the infant mortality rates, the government of Kenya must ensure that all these are tackled.

Women and girls should be empowered to make healthy reproductive choices and act on them. This includes choosing the right contraceptives and attending both antenatal and post natal clinic.

Involvement

According to Lina Jebii Kilimo, the Member of Parliament, Marakwet East, it is high time women got involved in issues that affect them.

“Do not let your husband decide that you cannot use contraceptives, it should be a discussion between the two of you and the decision you come up with should be good for your welfare,” noted Kilimo. She added: “When things go wrong it is you who will be on that delivery bed, and if someone is to die then it will still be you.”

Kilimo was addressing a workshop in Nairobi organised by African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC) in collaboration with Woodrow Wilson International Centre for scholars.

Reiterating the need for the girl child to be educated, Kilimo noted that this leads to delayed sex debut and hence a reduction of unplanned

pregnancies. She observed: “This should also be accompanied with knowledge and health literacy to understand the medical explanation of how a woman’s body reacts.”

Enhance accountability for results at all levels with increased transparency are also very important. Every death must be reported and a good explanation of how it happened. The health providers must also be accountable for their actions in cases where the death was caused by negligence.

The fifth Millennium Development Goal that targets to reduce maternal mortality ratio by 75 per cent by 2015, will not be realised in many African countries if steps are not taken to reduce the prevailing high maternal mortality. This is according to Dr Alex Ezeh, Executive Director of the African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC).

“The 2008-2009 Kenya Data on Health Statistics (KDHS) results indicate that maternal mortality remains high in Kenya. This simply means that we are not moving ahead,” observed Ezeh.

It is estimated that about 19 million women across the globe are victims of unintended and unplanned pregnancies, whereby approximately 70,000 die. Most of these women are from developing countries, Kenya included.

However, while maternal mortality remains high in the Third World, developed countries like the United Kingdom that recorded more mortality deaths in 1960s have seen changes due to improved health care.

However, maternal deaths are not restricted to rural areas. Current estimates of maternal mortality ratios in Kenya indicate higher ratio in the slums at 560 deaths per 100,000 live births.

Mothers with their children await treatment at the Coast General Hospital. Women continue to deliver at home due to inaccessible health facilities.

Pictures: Reject Correspondent Given the persistent poverty level and lack of quality health services in the slums, the maternal mortality situation in this setting can only be expected to be worse. Most of these maternal deaths can easily be avoided if they are identified early enough.

A major challenge to effective monitoring of maternal mortality in developing countries is the lack of reliable data since vital registration systems are either non-existent or under-utilised.

Maternal mortality ratio for two slums in

“Do not let your husband decide that you cannot use contraceptives, it should be a discussion between the two of you and the decision you come up with should be good for your welfare.”

— Lina Jebii Kilimo, MP, Marakwet East

Nairobi for the period January 2003 to December 2005, was 706 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. The major causes of maternal death were abortion complications, haemorrhage, sepsis, eclampsia and ruptured uterus. Only 21 per cent of the 29 maternal deaths were delivered or aborted with assistance of a health professional.

The verbal autopsy tool seems to capture more abortion related deaths compared to health care facility records. Additionally, there were 22 late maternal deaths (maternal deaths between 42 days and one year of pregnancy termination) most of which were due to HIV/Aids and anaemia.

In sub-Saharan Africa where the burden is highest, the lifetime risk of dying from maternal causes is about one in 22 which contrasts sharply with a risk of one in 7,300 for women in developed countries.

Like many other health indicators, the burden of maternal mortality is heaviest among the poor especially in the urban informal settlements or slums. There is low use of health services and increasing child mortality. This suggests that the urban poor are a highly vulnerable and marginalised group.

Billions to fund health projects in Mt Kenya region

By JOSEPH MUKUBWA The US government is committing KSh7.2 billion funding to support health projects in several parts of the country in the next five years.

USAID representative Linda Archer said the US government had committed $91 million (about KSh7.2 billion) to Aphia Plus zone 4 Kamili project in the next five years in several parts of Mt Kenya region. Speaking during the launch of the Aids, Population and Health Integrated Assistance (APHIA) Plus Zone 4 Kamili Project at Green Hills Hotel in Nyeri town recently, Archer said USAID, the government and non-governmental organisations will work together to ensure better health services to Kenyans and combat challenging health issues.

APHIA plus zone 4 will cover Mt Kenya region, parts of Eastern and Isiolo within a span of five years. “The new Constitution has afforded Kenyans an opportunity to generate health programmes aligned to the needs and solutions with the expected changes in the new document,” she added.

At the same time, Central Provincial Commissioner Kiplimo Rugut said the

government will continue to partner with other organisations in the provision of health services to the people.

Rugut noted that the partnership has tremendously improved health indicators in the country to the benefit of the citizens.

In a speech read on his behalf by the Upper central regional commissioner Ann Nge’tich who spoke at the same function, Rugut said the project will strengthen the country’s ability to improve the lives of mothers, children and their families in areas of HIV/Aids.

APHIA Plus is a non-governmental organisations operating in Central province and supported by USAID in areas of health combating HIV/Aids, malaria, Family Planning, Reproductive health and tuberculosis with quality health services.

Assistance

“The US government has assisted Kenya to improve health in Central Province over the last 15 years which led to the availability of improved health services during the period,” said Rugut. He noted that during the period, the percentage of women delivering in health facilities increased between 68-

78 per cent in 2003 and 2008 while family planning improved by 39 to 60 per cent in the same period. He added that key health indicators have also improved particularly those related to HIV. “In 2007, HIV prevalence among adults aged 15-49 in the province was well below the national 7.8 per cent: Central was 4.2 per cent,” observed Rugut. He cautioned that though statistics show progress and positive trends in the area, there are disparities among the districts adding that in some cases, the situation has remained unchanged or worsened. He urged APHIA Plus to work with district health management teams to provide tailor made packages of interventions in worsening districts to achieve its set objectives.

Some of the participants who attended the APHIA zone 4 Kamili project launch recently at Green Hills hotel in Nyeri town.

Pictures: Joseph Mukubwa

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ISSUE 053, December 16 - 31, 2011

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Couple’s nightmare at the hands of their landlord

By ABISAI AMUGUNE September 3, 2011 is a day that Humphrey Aseka and his wife Lilian would want to forget.

While they had woken up to a normal family day, events that were to follow later left the couple a worried lot. This is the day Aseka, a secondary school teacher and his wife, could have totally lost their eyesight under the cruelty of their landlord and his tenants. Thankfully, they walked away with visual impairment.

Also to fall victim of the cruelty was Aseka’s mother-in-law Tecla Ouna, who had been recuperating in bed.

Ouna, 71, had to be rushed to Dr James Murgor, the family doctor who recommended that she be admitted at Cherangani Nursing Home to undergo an operation.

Lillian, a Kitale businesswoman, recalls that she was in the house at Diani Estate in Kibomet preparing for breakfast for the family when their Humprey Aseka Comforts his landlord came calling. He had mother-in-law Tecla Auna at not given any advance notice of Cherangani Nursing Home. Below: an intended visit.

Lilain Aseka’s inujured left eye.

According to Lillian, the Pictures: Abisai Amugune landlord identified as Francis Marumbe and an employee at Leopard Beach at the Coast “However, after waiting for looked uneasy and from time to time made nearly four hours without him calls from his cell phone. turning up, I decided to leave “All of a sudden, a group of 10 armed for other business. What could men joined him in the house and what folI have done?” the teacher asked lowed is what I cannot recollect properly. adding that he left a note at the I just found myself lying on the floor with chief ’s office informing him of blood oozing from my left eye and bruises his presence there. all over my body,” she recounts.

According to Aseka, they have been Marumbe’s tenants for three years and that at no Only as she recovered and stood did it one time have they defaulted or occur to Lillian that her husband, a teacher delayed to in paying rent as well at Muhigia Secondary School in Rongai as observing other agreements District had also been injured with his right entered by both sides. eye hurt and right palm stabbed.

Perhaps what could have been Mar“It just happened like in the movies,” she umbe’s letdown to the couple and other says. tenants is that they have never had piped A commotion ensued within the estate water connected and nor electricity fitted. and within a short period a crowd started Neither have renovations been done on the meeting around before it turned their anger houses. on the landlord and his supporters.

The landlord together with his other five supporters were later arrested and jointly arSo when the Asekas decided to renoraigned in a Kitale Court charged with three vate their unit by annexing grills for their counts of destruction of property. They are security, the landlord decided to forcefully being represented by a Kitale lawyer James evict them. Kibomet area has been prone Barongo. to incidents of insecurity and only recently An advocate Risper Arunga representdid police shot dead three suspects and reing the Asekas said her client had suffered cover two stolen vehicles hidden in a den. great loss including trauma and harassThe area is also known for frequent house ment. break-ins.

“They also lost household goods worth For the couple, the exercise of fixing the thousands of shillings under the pretext of grills had even been supervised by Chief eviction. This was inhumane and it is time Togomo who recommended the works oflandlords are made to understand tenancy ficer, Peter Lianda to proceed “with the good by-laws,” she said. job”.

Aseka’s husband who had been on school Aseka produced evidence on her cell holiday said a day before the attack, the actphone where she made payments through ing Chief for Kibomet Joseph Togomo had M-pesa services on June 29, 2011 and July summoned him to his office to warn him of 13, 2011 for KSh1,000 each for the work suan impending ‘fire’. pervised by Togomo.

“They picked on anything their hands landed on. They had crude weapons. We have never seen fire like this before.”

— Humphrey Aseka

By KARIUKI MWANGI Having a happy family is usually the dream of every woman, but for one Margaret Kaimuri from Mbiruri, Embu east district, her family has been a thorn in her flesh.

Kaimuri was married 14 years ago but the marriage has been full of tears, ups and downs which led to her being forcefully evicted from the place where she was married and thrown out into the streets with her three children.

She narrates how her husband of fourteen years left their home for Kisumu back in the year 2008 in the name of looking for a job to be able to cater for the wife and the children.

That was never to be as since then the husband did not come back and even does not bother about the welfare of her children. Since then she has been living in denial with her in-laws blaming her for being behind the departure of their son.

For all that time since 2008 when the husband left, Kaimuri says that she had been living well and in peace with the in-laws until a month ago when she was woken up by the actions of her brother-in-law who was demolishing the house they were living in.

“He was furious and was demolishing the house using metal bars without bearing in mind her plight and that of the children,” she said adding that she was also injured in the process as she was trying to save the few things she could in the house.

Kaimuri points out that her house was demolished with everything locked up inside and that the only things that she was able to save from the house were a few clothes belonging to her and the three children.

Upon her inquiry of the reason behind the demolition of her house by the brother-in-law, Kaimuri says that she was told that the family had decided to chase her away alleging that the church she attends is a cult and that whose beliefs are said to have been the cause of her husband’s disappearance.

“They alleged that I used the powers of the alleged cult that I attend to drive my husband away from home so that I can take over his land and benefit from it,” she said adding that they wanted her to quit going to the church or else face the eviction.

Indifferent

In the movies

Renovation

Woman denied her land and property rights by family

The administrator, however, denied neither ever receiving any money nor even knowing the couple.

Dialogue

However, what is worrying the couple is why they were subjected to untold suffering when the matter could have easily been resolved by advocates of the two sides.

For example, Aseka said she could not trace part of the KSh100,000 she had just sold part of family land at Suwerwa in Trans Nzoia East District the previous day.

She had been preparing to bank the money when hell broke loose at their house.

She produced a land sale agreement prepared by lawyer M/S Risper Arunga in which she had sold a 0.5 acre piece of land of Title Deed No. 1139 Trans-Nzoia/ Suwerwa to one Nicholas Wanambisi. She inherited the land from her father Wycliffe Masika.

According to a medical report of September, 2011 prepared by Dr Chrisantus Wanyonyi of Kitale District Hospital, the Asekas had suffered internal eye problems.

“They picked on anything their hands landed on. They had crude weapons. We have never seen fire like this before,” Aseka said adding that they incurred losses worth KSh0.5 million including medical expenses.

The couple hopes that the court will mete out justice, now that Chief Justice Willy Mutunga has embarked on reorganising the Judiciary. The couple also hopes that police will expedite to bring to book the other four run-away suspects.

Even after the husband Bernard Mwaniki was called and informed on what had befell his wife, he did not take any action and instead said that the wife had no right to be in that place or be involved with any of his property.

The only person she says who took sides with her was her father-in-law but due to the fact that all the others were against her, he could not do anything about the issue.

Kaimuri with her three children, aged 13, 9 and 3 years old were taken by a good Samaritan who took care of them for a week before introducing them to the (women in need network) a community based organisation which takes care of women with challenges.

The issue she says was reported at the Runyenjes police station and at the district gender office but no action was taken. They are now under the community organisation where they have been sheltered and the children are able to go to school.

She says that efforts by the village elders to bring them together and work out a solution has not borne fruit as the brother-in-law fled shortly after committing the act and the family says that deliberations cannot take place in his absence.

According to Margaret Kariuki the programs secretary, the office receives more than ten cases of domestic violence related to land and property ownership saying that most of the affected women are illiterate and have no idea where they are supposed to report the cases.

She says that currently they have been able to provide a safe haven for eight families where the children are also able to access education saying that they have also been trying to seek legal assistance for those affected.

Kaimuri is now calling upon for the intervention of the appropriate authorities so that she can be able to have the right to farm in the land and earn a living for the three children saying that despite the fact that they do not want her in the home, the children have a right to the properties of their father.

“These well wishers cannot be able to sustain and educate my three children for the rest of our lives and I am even disturbed that I am in a position where I am not able take care of my children,” she said.

ISSUE 053, December 16 - 31, 2011

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Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

I was sterilised without my knowledge or consent

By Florence Sipalla

Ruth narrating how she is living positively with HIV. Ruth was sterilised without her knowledge or consent.

Picture: Henry Owino

My name is Ruth. I live in Nairobi and I am HIV positive. I am glad that I have HIV as opposed to cancer. With cancer, there is a lot of pain, suffering and dependency as a result of the illness.

With HIV, I am still independent; I can work and support my family. That is why I am glad I have HIV and not cancer. I can also take ARVs and am able to continue living like any other person. I love being independent even as I am HIV positive.

I am a ‘mobile’ worker. This means I do kibarua (casual labour). I move from place to place in search of work. I work hard and this work sustains my family.

I am a single mother with two children. One of my children is HIV positive. I did not know that you could have a caesarian section and avoid transferring the virus to the child when I was expectant. You know when an adult has HIV, it is easy as you understand the disease but for a child it is difficult.

When I discovered that I was positive, I was put on ARVs immediately as my CD4 count was 85, which is very low. I had difficulties taking the medication, as I prefer injections. The thought of taking pills was depressing. But I pushed myself to do it. I had to take the pills for the sake of my children. I had to take

care of my health so I could take care of my children, as I am all they have I am their mother and father. I willed myself to take the medicine. I told myself, I have children who need me, I will take the drugs.

When I went to hospital to deliver, the doctor decided to sterilise me without my consent. I did not know it was done. I did not consent to the procedure but it was done nonetheless. I only discovered that I had had a TL (tubal ligation) after a week when the neighbours told me that the doctor had said as I am HIV positive nifungwe (I should have my tubes tied).

I was sterilised because I am HIV positive. I don’t know who to hold to account for this. I didn’t know his name; neither did I mark his face. But maybe if we go through the file, we can find his

“I was sterilised because I am HIV positive. I don’t know who to hold to account for this. I didn’t know his name; neither did I mark his face.”

— Ruth

name. This was in November 2008.

Being sterilised without my knowledge or consent has given me problems. I keep wondering - what if I meet someone and get married? What if he wants to have children yet I can no longer bear any?

It is sad that there is a lot of stigma with regards to HIV within our communities. I faced stigma from people around me even from some of my family members. I could not wear shortsleeved blouses because of rashes on my skin.

I see children who are HIV positive or those who are HIV orphans being stigmatised within the community.

These children have rights to food, education and even entertainment just like any other children. They should be loved and accepted and sidelined. I keep wondering what can we do for these children?

I am glad that I am able to educate my children. As I have this virus, I love eating. Huyu mdudu anapenda chakula (This virus loves food). I also have a child on ARVs and have to ensure she eats well too.

I don’t depend on anyone. I hear people saying, “there they are, those ones who depend on their AIDs donors,” referring to people who depend on donors for their subsistence. I don’t want to be them. Work is my best exercise.”

Robbed off my womanhood

By Carolyne Oyugi Maria Wekesa narrated: “I found out that I was HIV positive on August 12, 1998.That is the darkest day of my life.I was only 17 years old and had just done my Kenya Certificate of Secondary Examinations (KCSE).

I had very high hopes about my future and I thought I would be the one to improve my family’s living conditions but I was mistaken. Fate had different plans for me.

That was six months after I had met my first boyfriend.I was still very shy, naïve and vulnerable. I had just finished my high school and was at home helping my mother with her business.

She sold vegetables by the road next to our homein Jua Kali, Kakamega district but we were not selling much. At times we would not make any sales.

I could not bear seeing my two younger brothers walking in tattered clothes and going hungry. They were also being sent home for school fees every now and then.

My mother had to work on people’s shambas and wash clothes to pay our school fees. My father passed on when I was eight and so my mother became the sole bread winner.

I had to struggle through my education and completing my Secondary School was like a dream come true.

I was however mistaken,life moved from bad to worse. In the same period my youngest brother became ill and passed on after a week. We still do not know what killed him because we never took him to the hospital.

Life was never easy for us and when I met a man who could give KSh100 or KSh200, I thought that was my way out.

He was a matatu tout and would pass by and buy a few things from our stand and with time I became fond of him. He wanted to marry me, I was excited about it but my mother was not pleased.

She told me that there were rumours going

round that the man is HIV positive and I should keep off from him.

She advised me to wait for my exams results and decide about marriage issues after knowing my grades. By then I would have better chances of choosing a better man.

I was however impatient and dismissed the rumours as just rumours. I started getting sexually involved with the man because he would give me money every time I spent the night with him.

Expectant

The results came and I had a C+. One of my uncles promised to take me to college the following year.Things however took a different turn when I found out two months later that I was pregnant. The man who was responsible for my pregnancy denied responsibility and my mother threw me out of our home.

According to her I was an ingrate and did not value her struggles. My boyfriend moved from Kakamega town to Busia and I did not see him for the next three months.

My mother insisted that we find his home and to our shock, he was a married man with four children. His first wife had died and the one he was with also looked very sick.

My mother’s initial plan was to leave me in his house once we found him but she changed her mind.

I had to rent a house at a shopping centre next to my home and I would do oddjobs to pay my bills. As the pregnancy grew, I started becoming sick frequently and would not work.

The worst part came when I developed herpes zoster. People started talking behind my back and everyone who saw me advised me to go for an HIV test.

I started becoming sick every now and then and I could no longer work.My mother sympathised with me and allowed me back into her house.

The opportunistic diseases came and went

and eventually the day came when I gathered courage and went for my ante natal clinic for the first time when I was eight months pregnant. I went to Kakamega District Hospital.

I had it very rough, after undergoing the compulsory HIV test,the nurses hurled insults at me. They stressed on how I am careless and promiscuous.

One of them even joked about my status saying that I had a double score,both pregnancy and HIV.My labour came at night and a traditional birth attendant who was called by my mother declined to help me deliver.

She told my mother that she does not attend to positive people for her own safety. We had to walk to Kakamega District Hospital at 2am. I lost consciousness while waiting to be attended to at the waiting area.

When I came through eight hours later and asked for my child, I was told that she died due to some complications.

A doctor then informed me that I had to undergo caesarean section because I was unconscious during delivery.

I was then given a form to sign for my discharge from the hospital. The form however had many pages and the nurse who brought it was in a hurry and did not want me to read through saying that she has more than 100 patients to attend to and she did not have the whole day.

We then went home but I did not heal for three months. This troubled me and one day I decided to share with my doctor where I was receiving my ARVs. The doctor asked me why I had lost hope with life. I did not understand what he meant because at that time I was already coping with my status. I had accepted my condition and was living positively.

That is when he informed me that I had undergone a permanent family planning method. I had heard of Tubal Ligation in a Biology class but I never imagined ever having it.

I was in shock and I locked myself in the

house for a whole week just crying. My mother consoled and encouraged me. Our relatives became very distant and my uncles threatened to send us out of our father’s land.

When I confronted the doctor who performed the operation, he lamely told me that the nurse who was attending to me told him that it was what I wanted.

In a rush

I had never met the nurse before and I kept insisting that I had not authorised it. The doctor then brought me the consent form that I had signed allowing for the operation.

That is when I understood why the nurse did not want me to read the form as I was signing it. I signed for something I did not know about.

By then I did not have any money to pursue the issue in court. I have forgiven the nurse and I hold no grudge against her. She died. Now I talk to women in my support group and advise them never to sign anything they do not understand.

Apart from not having children, tubal ligation has also robbed me of my woman feelings. I am no longer sexually excited.

I have tried seeking medical help for this but I have never gotten back to normal. I hope that one day I will get help and correct this condition because it is bringing conflict in my marriage”.

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ISSUE 053, December 16 - 31, 2011

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Man narrates ordeal with kidnappers

By KEN NDAMBU

A sombre mood engulfed Kangalo village in Kitui County that Saturday morning as villagers milled to the home of Muthangya Simon to see his young brother Musee Simon who had been presumed dead after being abducted by armed assailants in Kitui Town.

As is the case with villagers when mourning a departed one, they visit the home carrying firewood, water and food as per the community culture.

However, the story which 35-year-old Musee Simon told in the hands of his captors can only be true in a movie but intervention of the police and Safaricom to trace him truly depicts the reality.

The soft spoken father of one cheated death to tell the story of his kidnap. Musee, a boda boda operator in Kitui town walked into an Mpesa shop in the town on April 14, to withdraw some money oblivious to the danger that awaited him outside. “There was a delay and I went out to wait only to find two men waiting where I had parked my motorcycle,” recalls Musee.

Stolen property

The men asked whether he was the one with the motorbike and when he replied to the affirmative, they told him he was under arrest as the bike had been involved in an accident and police have been looking for it.

However, before Musee could explain what he knew, he was forcefully put into the boot of unregistered car and driven towards Kitui Police Station, with the motorbike being behind.

After about 20 minutes, he realised that they had gone past the station and were outside the town vicinity. Sensing danger, he telephoned his brother Muthangya Simion and told him to go and collect the bike where he had left it and that he was in danger.

The worried brother then went to the police station only to find that those who were with his brother were not police officers but potential kidnappers involved in human trafficking activities. Recalling the events, Musee says after one and half hours, he tried to check where the vehicle was heading to, only for a pistol to be pointed at him with a warning that he risking his life.

Later, they left the tarmac road and joined an earth road. After two hours’ drive, the vehicle stopped in the middle of heavy thicket where he was told to come out.

Dead bodies

“We found another man waiting and he was left to guard the vehicle as we walked on foot,” Musee explains adding that after walking for about an hour, they arrived at a house built in a deep valley which the assailants described as their home.

Musee says one of the abductors opened the door and pushed him in, locked the door and went away. “In the house which had pit toilets inside, I found nine people, five men, three women and a boy aged about ten years who died moments later,” he says.

Musee laments that when the men came again at mid-night and found the boy dead, he and three other men were ordered to carry the body and dump it in a hole dung miles away

from the scene.

“It was while taking the deceased for burial when one of the abductors asked me to call any of my relatives to send KSh30,000 to secure my release,” he avers. After burying the boy, they were led back to where the others were but the following day, they came for me, walked to where they left the vehicle put him in the boot and drove off.

“After an hour’s drive, I peeped through an opening and saw tall buildings which gave me the impression that we were in Nairobi,” he remembers.

Then luck struck when they parked the vehicle somewhere I could hear touts calling and one of the guys entered a shop leaving the other standing outside the vehicle.

“It was at this juncture when I managed to open the boot’s lock and jumped to the

From top: Musee and his brother Muthangya Simon at their home .Villagers and well wishers throngs Musee’s home after the abduction ordeal. Musee’s Wife Jennifer and their daughter Peace clean utensils to serve the visitors.

Pictures: Ken Ndambu front seats, opened the rear door and made a daring escape to my freedom,” says Musee.

“I ran for a few kilometres, fell down but somebody who claimed to be a CID officer from Kitui Police Station called me and advised that I seek help from the nearest police officer. I took refuge at Muthurwa Police Station,” says Musee.

“After recording a statement at the station, the officer-in-charge got in touch with Kitui CID Officers who notified my parents,” he said.

“When I was informed that my brother was alive and in Muthurwa Police Station, I could not believe it and I had to travel to Nairobi to pick him,” says Muthangywa, Musee’s eldest brother.

“I could not hold back tears when my husband came back home as I had assumed that he will not be back,” says Musee’s wife Jennifer.

“This is not the first time for people to disappear like that and finally, they are either found dead or never found,” she asserts.

Kitui Officer Commanding Police Division (OCPD), Lillian Okembo says swift action by the police and mobile service provider Safaricom helped to track down Musee’s whereabouts.

However, she said police were following vital clues which might help to breakup human trafficking rings but cautioned members of the public to be cautious with suspicious people.

Marginalised youth in Teso demand recognition

By LEONARD ACHARRY OJIAMBO As the country goes into the devolved system of governance, and with provision of rights to marginalised groups, youths in Teso District of Busia County have aired their grievances demanding for allocation of funds and recognition by the Government.

Chairperson of Kumekucha Youth Group Michael Eyang laments that despite the fact that Teso region has many talented youths, none has ever featured in a national teams.

He says Teso as a region has been marginalised for so long by the earlier governments and is disappointed that the same is being replicated even during this period of new constitutional dispensation.

“This region has lagged behind in development and youths talents have gone to waste since nobody has taken note of them,” noted Eyang.

Teso falls under Amagoro Constituency whose member of Parliament is Sospeter Ojamong. Youths complain that political class right from the national to local level has

totally neglected them yet they are the ones charged with the responsibility to ensure equitable distribution of natural resources and nurturing of youth talents.

The Constitution is clear about youth affairs and Article 55(b) states that: “The State shall take measures, including affirmative action programmes to ensure that the youth have opportunities to associate, be represented and participate in political, social, economic and other spheres of life.”

It is under this provision that the youth

fraternity from Teso want to be given their share of the national cake. The region is one of the poorest in academic performance and most of the children do not manage to finish primary school.

There is only one college in the whole of Teso South, a factor that has left many school leavers with shattered hopes in their dreams of pursuing further studies.

Eyang, however, hopes that the Constitution will help youth in this region to be recognised and showcase their talent to the world.

ISSUE 053, December 16 - 31, 2011

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Weather reports key to Africa’s climate changes’ adaptation

By FLORENCE SIPALLA “This is your weather forecast and I am Nguatah Francis.” In the 90s, Kenyans were accustomed to hearing this introductory statement at the tail end of the state broadcast news. Little changed over the years about the timing or format of the weather reports, maybe that contributed to why Kenyans attached little importance to these forecasts?

Few Kenyans paid attention. It was not uncommon to see people carrying umbrellas on an extremely hot day as they anticipated rain. This was the urban dweller, the manzi wa Nairobi (city girl) who wore sandals and white trousers on a day when the streets of Nairobi were bound to be muddy. Yet, what about the rural woman, the subsistence farmer who needed the forecast to know when to plant the precious seeds saved from the last harvest to get the best yield?

Kenya’s minister for environment and natural resources, John Michuki underlined the importance of accurate meteorological information in the quest to address climate change at one of the COP17 side events. This need motivated the formation of the African Ministerial Conference on Meteorology (AMCONET).

Information

“Meteorology is central information needed to address the effects of climate change,” said Michuki, adding that this information impacts food security and adaptation to climate change, issues that many African countries are grappling with.

According to Michuki, meteorological information would enable us tap into Africa’s poten-

19

tial to produce clean and green energy. “We have a high potential for natural energy that remains unexploited,” said the minister. He indicated that the Kenyan energy ministry has instituted a law to have all new buildings fitted with solar panels for water heating.

Michuki also said that the country is currently exploring other sources of green energy, such as geothermal power and wind energy.

Kenya hosts one of the largest wind farms, the Lake Turkana Wind Power project, that is set to produce 300MW of clean energy that will go into the national grid.

No power

Ninety per cent of Kenya’s rural populace lives in the dark, without electricity. The rural electrification project proposed by the government aims to change this by lighting up rural homes, schools and other institutions. “In Kenya, we see the sun 300 days out of 365 days in a year,” said Michuki indicating that the sun is an accessible source of solar energy that is yet to be tapped to its full potential. He added that Kenya is doing so to ensure that the country achieves its vision 2030, a roadmap to creating a middle class economy in the next two decades.

The UNFCCC Secretary Christiana Figueres likened the climate change negotiation process to creating a business plan for the world.

She indicated that while the negotiations may not be proceeding at the pace that the world wants, “it is like writing a global business plan for the planet with almost 200 governments being authors,” said Figueres.

However, unlike the business plans created by private sector, this one would need to

Residents wade through the flooded River Tana that rendered hundreds homeless in the recent rains. Picture: Reject Correspondent be implemented before the talks are over and final drafts completed. Figueres pushed for the immediate implementation of the plans being made to combat climate change. “It is only through implementing now that we are going to get to a final implementation of the business plan,” she reiterated.

However, as we continue to implement the plans to mitigate and adapt to climate change, we have consider the need for the emerging and developing economies to grow and industrialise. India’s minister for environment Jayanthi Natarajan indicated that while working to grow their economy, the developing nation has voluntarily committed to reducing emissions by 25% by 2025.

“This has been done at a cost to our economy and our people,” said Natajaran. The minister emphasised the need for equity in the negotiations. “Equity is at the centre and has to be

at the centre of all negotiations,” she argued indicating that emerging and developing nations have “a right to grow and a right to develop.”

World Bank’s vice president of sustainable development Rachel Kyte indicated that climate change could stand in the way of the world’s people’s dreams. “The rights, expectations and hopes of people in every country are being actively undermined by climate change,” said Kyte.

It is therefore important that we have an integrated approach to combating the effects of climate change. This includes developing sources of renewable energy while reducing the use of fossil fuels, working with private sector to facilitate technology sharing, not transfer, and building capacity of all peoples to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Accurate meteorological reports will aid in that, it will help the women farmers and the city girl to plan their days to reap the best out of it.

Matatu reforms – small step that made a big difference

By FLORENCE SIPALLA In almost every country in Africa, women complain about sexual harassment in public spaces.

Perhaps one of the worst spaces, and one that most women and girls can’t avoid, is on public transport.

Some years ago in South Africa, the sexual assault of a young woman at a taxi rank prompted women across the country to flood newspapers and radio stations with their own stories of abuse in the local combis. Whether it be the chapas in Mozambique, matolas in Malawi, or ETs in Zimbabwe, local minibus transport can be a traumatic daily experience for girls and women. However, in Kenya, small changes to matatu laws have made a big difference.

Briefing

At a recent COP 17 meeting, I saw John Njoroge Michuki, the Kenyan Minister for Environment and Natural Resources, who spoke at a briefing with Kenyan government representatives and partners. He called for action to implement plans laid out to combat the effects of climate change. Not many ministers in the Kenyan government can casually say that it is time to stop writing plans, rather, it’s time to get going on concrete actions. But Michuki can, and does.

Michuki is a man known for driving action.

He is credited with implementing reforms in the public transport sector that outlawed standing in matatus (public taxis), overloading and overspeeding. Prior to the “Michuki laws,” passengers were stacked in matatus like potatoes in a sack, or is it vegetables? The more one could squeeze in, the better. Losing money and other valuables, such as cell phones, to pickpockets was the norm rather than the exception.

However, for many Kenyan women, the most disturbing thing about a matatu ride was worrying about the man standing behind you.

Worry if that man, young or old, would take advantage of the pushing and shoving and the sudden breaks that the driver would engage to push forward and sexually harass you, the woman in front.

Michuki Rules

Sitting with colleagues at COP 17, I shared the view that Michuki’s rules were to be celebrated as a victory, particularly as we mark 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence; the men A matatu that plies the Nyeri-Mukurwe-ini route. Reforms in the public transport sector have were surprised. They had reduced incidences of sexual harassment. Picture: Joseph Mukubwa not really seen this angle to the benefits of the Michuki laws. speaking out, naming and shaming the man. influence in all countries to create spaces where However, they did know the problem well.

Not to mention anger at the men and women women and men are safe from sexual violence One of them told the story of a woman who arwho witnessed this violation and turned away and related violations, such as emotional and rived home with a wet patch on her backside as in shame, sharing your shame but not speaking verbal abuse. It is important to highlight and a man had ejaculated as he pushed against her out to save you from it. recognise the contribution men make in the in a matatu. “That incident enraged her husBut today, that is a thing of the past. Thanks fight against gender violence. We need to acband, who went and bought her a car the next to Michuki laws. knowledge the work of that male mentor who day,” he narrated. demonstrates through his words and actions Not all women who suffered such injustice that women should be respected and that no I realised that if I had had a chance to speak and violation in the matatu could manage to one is a drum. to the minister, I would have spoken to him, remove themselves from this environment.

I salute the men who work to end gender not about climate change but about 16 days The matatu ride was a necessary evil. violence in our communities. In the same and what his fight inadvertently won for the Sometimes it resulted in one leaving the vein, I would urge the men negotiating at the women. matatu in anger, at the man who was pushing COP17 on behalf our nations to remember the Thank you honourable Michuki for elimibehind, the man who moved forward when work of the women, to include the voice of the nating sexual harassment in matatus. you moved forward to create some space bewomen and to mainstream gender in climate We need such actions by men in positions of tween you and him, anger at yourself for not change work.

Influence

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ISSUE 053, December 16 - 31, 2011

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Women persecuted by family for testing positive

By ANN WANGUI “I am not dying, am not sick,” she braves clearing away scattered clothes on the wooden seat we were about to rest on. “Have you found me in bed?” she goes on.

The setting is a tiny village in Kanunga, Kiambu County. The air is clean and fresh.

The pathway is tiny and green, healthy potato plants by the roadside leave room for just one set of wheels. It is clear rains are not as scarce.

We enter a one-roomed house the walls are dark, with an indication that they were once white, it is hard to tell, probably due to the stove fumes from a tiny green stove at the corner; the floor is un-cemented and rough to our bare feet.

At one corner there is a tiny wooden bed, clad in a blue flowered blanket. On a brown wooden stool a black small radio with a long silver arial.

After an exchange of niceties, we settle to an un-cushioned seat and Ann Wanjiru, 42,narratesto us how she contracted HIV and Aids.

She had been enjoying her 22 years of marriage and sired three children when in April 2004,she was diagnised with Tuberculosis.

After taking the dose for six months, she went for the usual test and was referred to another doctor.

Queues

“I knew something was wrong when I was asked to change queues at the hospital,” she says.The news was devastating. She had HIV. The rest of her life has passed like episodes out of a horror movie.As expected, the husband accused her of unfaithfulness and chased her out of the only home she had come to know.

“I could not believe it, having HIV was bad enough, now I had to lose my family”? She posed.

Reaching under the mattress, Ann pulled out a stack of pictures of her youth, “see how beautiful I was”?, staring at a picture of herself in a blue stripped suit as if it was a life so far from the past.

It was then that Ann was forced to move out, she says. Moving back to her ancestral home was not an option given that none of the members wanted to be associated with her.

It was in 2005 that Ann moved into the oneroomed house and started making a life of her own.

In 2006, her health deteriorated tremendously; she had a wound on her chest that spread all the way to her spine. “It was painful, and I was in denial,” she narrated. She turned partially blind.

One Sunday afternoon when she was taking a cup of tea, her niece walked in on her and started screaming. “I realised I was taking tea filled with ants.” Ann says she realised it was time to start on ARVs.

Family

Ann, though feeling much better and stronger says the worst stigma was family. She recalls that when she was bedridden, her elder sister once came with a whip and beat her thoroughly.

“I was too weak to fight back. She kept shouting that I was a prostitute and a shame to the family,” says a bitter Ann. Then she was introduced to fountain of hope where she underwent rigorous counselling and drug supplies. ”Meeting other positive people turned my life around. I realised I was not alone,” she told the reporter.

The mother of three however notes that her former husband is physically well and remarried. Her elder sister who beat her is also now HIV-positive.

“What I would love to see is my family back together. I miss my children but with my condition it is better they live with their father,” she says as we make our way out to the next door to the home of another survivor. James Waruiru, Project Director, Fountain of Hope International wants men to stop being cowards.“ They die because of cowardice and denial, the sooner one learns to live with it, the longer they live,” The organisation, which aims at helping infected and affected personsnotes that they have more than 30 women and less than five men as beneficiaries.

Jane Wambui also suffered the same fate.

Her family and friends totally neglected her.

“Since they learnt of my status, my family has never cared whether I am alive or dead. I cannot inherit anything from my family,” complains Wambui.

She realised this when she heard her father whispering to her brother, ‘why give anything

From left: Jane Wambui, Mary Wangui and Ann Wanjiru during the interview.

Pictures: Ann Wangui to a dying person’?

Her husband of 13 years also remarried after she moved out. “This disease I did not buy, I just got it,” Wambui lamented.

She now survives on coffee picking which pays a maximum ofKSh100 a day, but in her condition it has become quite a challenge and she sometimes has to rest for days due to side effects of the drugs.

“The biggest challenge is that people believe that Kiambu is a rich county.” James Kamau explains that it has become difficult to access funds. “Are these people rich?” he poses.

It was now getting late and light showers can be heard,softly pouring on the light iron sheets. A few drops steal their way along the walls, dripping quietly, so softly down to the floor. “It is time for my medicine,” Jane mutters, as if she has a certain clock in her system.

We beg our guide to be excused but he insists we have to meet Mary Wangui.

Braving the rain, we walk for about 300 metres and arrive at a green grilled gate. Mary Wanjiru welcomes us to her home.

Inside the gate there are four homesteads, notably a well-built white painted stonehouse which we later learnt was her father’s. Outside, a brown wooden house,her sister cooks ugali.

In her blue flowered sweater and stripped trouser, Mary leads us inside, immediatly rushing into a dark room next to where we are now sitting.

Marriage

“I was once married and that is how I acquired HIV,” her frail voice whisper across the white painted wooden walls, and she proceeded to describe her family in impeccable English. ”The biggest problem is discrimination from family, and villagers; people here are not informed; “I cannot even be invited to cook for gatherings,”she reveals.

But she is positive that she has lived this far.

She informs us that lately the 30-yearold age group has been the worst hit. “I try to live,” she says entwining her fingers as if in a prayer. “It was through God’s grace I did not hang myself.”

She continues to narrate how her family

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Editor: Jane Godia Sub-Editors: Florence Sipalla, Omwa Ombara and Mercy Mumo Designer: Noel Lumbama

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Contributors: Robert Wanjala, Walker Mwandoto, Khadija Yusuf, Kariuki Mwangi, Kigondu Ndavano, Carolyne Oyugi, Okwembah Nehemiah, Renson Mnyamwezi, Edna Mokaya, Henry Kahara, Robby Ngojhi, Naisola Likimani, Joyce Chimbi, David Kiarie, Omondi Gwengi, Leonard Acharry Ojiambo, Ajanga Khayesi, Jane Mugambi, Christopher Apollo, Joseph Mukubwa, Philip Kirui, Charles Njeru, Abisai Amugune, Ken Ndambu and Ann Wangui.

turned against her, at her lowest point, her husband also neglected her and remarried.

Now she lives in a homestead full of family.

A homestead that was once full of love. Now it is filled with hatred and loneliness.

She recalls a day when her elder brother shouted across the compound enquiring whether Mary had woken up. ”They can’t wait for me to die,”she whispers contemptuously.”

But this no longer stops Mary from living her full life. She is now a volunteer at vision group. She teaches children the Bible.

HIV and Aids in Kiambu is remains a health problem with a prevalence of 34 per cent. HIV and Aids is high in coffee and tea zones in the district.

With regard to bed occupancy, about 60 per cent of the hospital patients with HIV and Aids related diseases occupy beds.

Unsafe sex

The age group 25-34 years had the highest number of casualties with the highest percentage being females.

This has resulted in high increase in the number of HIV and Aids orphans in the district and loss of families’ incomes which is directed towards addressing the pandemic in the household.

The main causes of the spread of HIV and Aids in the district include unsafe sexual behaviour, drug abuse especially drinking of illicit brews, high levels of peer pressure and ignorance of facts, family breakdowns etc.

The socio-economic impact of HIV and Aids in the district include the highs school drop-out rates, female and children headed families, loss of manpower and high mortality and morbidity rates and orphans.

At the end of the interview, it was clear that when families get infected, men push their wives away, remarry and live on.

Their wives rot in villages trying to overcome disease stigma and family loss.

James Waruiru blames this on men not getting tested. He says that most of these cases are of women born in Kiambu, marry elsewhere get infected and come back home to die.

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