Reject Online Issue 5

ISSUE 005, November 1-15, 2009

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Unfiltered, uninhibited…. just the gruesome truth

November 1-15, 2009

ISSUE 005

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

The East African Community heads of State . From left: Yoweri Museveni (Uganda),; Mwai Kibaki (Kenya); Paul Kagame (Rwanda); Jakaya Kikwete (Tanzania and Pierre Nkurunziza (Burundi).

East African political federation could soon be a reality

By Musa Radoli The most critical phase of the East African Community transition to a political federation may eventually be determined in the coming month.

Coincidentally, the community will be celebrating its 10th anniversary as it signs the ratification of Phase Two Protocol that will establish the Common Market which will see the free flow of goods and services across the borders.

However, there are a number of critical factors that need to be thrashed out before the federation becomes a reality.

The most critical issue that the Legislative Assembly is currently grappling with eventual establishment of an East African Monetary Union.

The Assembly expects that such a union will give the region economic strength and eradicate problems associated with smaller economies that are susceptible to manipulations by bigger and more unified economies. A ratification of the agreed principles of the protocol is expected to

open up a huge market of more than 160 million consumers that will include South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The Legislative Assembly is looking to the eventual conclusion of the pact signing by the community’s member countries — Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi — when the minor hurdles are ironed out.

This move, according to the Assembly, will put in place the legal regulatory framework that will govern the activities covered in the protocol within the signatory member countries, to enable them move to a political union.

According to Kenya’s EAC minister, Mr Amason Kingi, some of the major hurdles have been harmonised. They include the question of identification papers and travel documents, land ownership and residency among others.

Kingi said that apart from Tanzania, the other EAC member states have agreed on the contentious issues that slowed down the pace at which the Community had

hoped to achieve political federation. The minister said: “It’s only Tanzania that failed to agree with the rest of the member countries on three key issues that include the use of national identity cards as a travel documents in the region, permanent residency and the issue of land ownership. While the other countries agreed on these issues by last November, Tanzania said ‘it will need more time to consult further’.”

He disclosed that out of the 92 issues on agenda, the countries have already agreed on 90, and only two minor ones were pending, adding that the biggest hurdle for Tanzania was allowing ‘foreigners’ permanent residency on their land.

Kenya’s member to the Legislative Assembly, Mr Gervase Akhaabi said that while many thought Tanzania was stalling the process, the truth of the matter was that the process was on the right track since the Assembly had already agreed on the principles. What remained was an agreement on how to implement the measures at country level. “Most of the critical issues have already been concluded apart from

a few minor ones that are being thrashed out by individual countries,” explained Akhaabi.

“The critical factor at the moment is the zero rating of customs tariffs, which gives priority to a customs union since member countries are at different levels of development,” he said, adding, “We adopted a graduated system that allows other member countries at lower development levels to catch up before we have a general zero tariff ratings.”

Kenya is currently rated the most developed country among the EAC member states, meaning that whereas goods, particularly those manufactured in Kenya destined for other member countries are taxed, those destined for Kenya are tax free.

Apart from opening up the huge market potential within the region, the EAC Assembly predicts that the common market will be the largest in Africa in terms of economic potential and power, way above the West Africa’s ECOWAS and Southern Africa’s SADEC. continued on page 2

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Unfiltered, uninhibited…. just the gruesome truth

ISSUE 005, November 1-15, 2009

Call for special training on environmental reporting

By Ryan Mathenge Environmentalists are calling for the establishment of communication centres to boost the level of climate understanding among communities and other stakeholders.

The experts drawn from the media, legal sectors, civil society and research institutions said effects of global warming and environmental degradation are impacting negatively on agricultural production and energy sectors partly due to lack awareness.

Maseno University Head of Communication and Media Studies, Dr Judith Miguda Attyang and the Director of Institute of Law and Environmental Governance Mr Benson Ochieng’, said there is need for the centres to assist in detecting environmental disasters and other climate change patterns.

“We need centres where data on climate change can be sourced and used for detecting changes caused by global warming,” said Attyang.

She admitted the universities are also to blame for the low levels of understanding on environmental reporting.

Confirming her department’s inadequacy in addressing environmental issues, Attyang said little was being covered

Ochieng said the level of training among journalists on environmental matters is still wanting and he called for the introduction of courses tailored at equipping them with more skills.

He said that environmental law has remained untapped among journalists as most of them have not developed interest in the area despite playing a key role in the development of the nation.

Wangwe said the Government is planning to establish a transboundary centre in Busia District to assist in monitoring and evaluating the level of damage caused by the communities from both Kenya and Uganda on the Sio River. The river cuts across Kenya and Uganda and is among the resources that the Nile Basin Lecturers from Maseno University in the thickets of Kakamega Forest during a Initiative is managing in its constudy on environmental conservation. PICTURE: RYAN MATHENGE servation programmes.

The Government has put in place measures aimed at ensuring that munication Environment and Training in the syllabus to enable the trainees atresidents of Budalang’i Constituency Workshop in Kisumu. tain top level expertise on issues of enviare not displaced due to the anticipated The workshop, officially opened by the ronment. floods.

Maseno University Vice Chancellor Prof “We only have one unit that is covered NEMA Deputy Director in charge of under environment during the four year Fredrick Onyango and the Coordinator of public environmental awareness, Ms BetClimate Change Programme in the Office course, and this is not enough to make ty Nzioka called for a solid partnership of Prime Minister Mr Alex Alusa, was also our trainees experts on environmental rebetween environmental stakeholders and addressed by the Western Provincial Direcporting.” The experts were speaking durthe media. tor of Environment Mr Baraza Wangwe. ing the second day of the National Com-

Hope for East African political federation from page 1

Some of the key areas that are expected to be harmonised include standards of education, training, technical knowledge, labour, laws, land ownership, immigration, systems of investment, issues of human and people’s rights, good governance and democratic principles among others.

Explained Akhaabi: “Once the market is firmly on its feet, its success will entail the entrenching of common financial and monetary policies. This means a leap into the next stage of integration that will centre on the monetary union like the European Union with the Euro as its common currency.”

Before the collapse of the East African Community in 1977, the then member countries had a common currency, with an East African Currency Board. But the board collapsed in 1966 before each individual country established its own currency.

Similarly Rwanda and Burundi operated on a single cross-border currency before independence, but that too collapsed soon after the independence of the individual countries. However, the envisaged common currency is not expected to be as strong as the Rand in the SADEC member states.

Akhaabi said: “The need for political integration in Africa has been there since before independence. This is a thirst that was inherited and passed on by the continent’s freedom fighters like Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah, Kenya’s Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, Tanza-

nia’s Julius Nyerere…folto chart the destinies of “It’s only Tanzania that lowed by their successors, failed to agree with the rest our future”. but has been consistently The Legislative Asof the member countries sabotaged by powerful exsembly’s objective is “to ternal forces with vested transform the communion three key issues that economic interests in Afinclude the use of national ty into a bigger bargainrica.” ing power house in the identity cards as a travel rapidly emerging geoThe basis of frustrating these dreams was to endocuments in the region, politics”. trench a divided commuAkhaabi said: “This permanent residency nity, whereas the strength is our obligation and and the issue of land is in the establishment duty as successors of of a unified political and our political forefathers ownership.” economic federation, eswho wanted it. Now, we pecially for the people of need it more than ever East Africa as a single united force. before in view of the drastically changed “The strength is not only in being politi- and metamorphosing geopolitics”. cally united, but also economically, socially He argues that many of the region’s poand militarily among other institutional litical forefathers led by Mwalimu Nyerere structures,” Akhaabi said. were ready to sacrifice the independence He added: “The stronger we are, the of their individual countries to collectively greater the bargaining power we will have in force the then reigning colonial powers this highly competitively charged political to cede independence to all the African and socio-economic environment for the countries, so that they could all merge into benefit of our people.” a continental political federation at the He noted that time is ripe for the EAC same time. populations to support the region’s political “Today, this spirit still lives on stronger and economic integration, and in the proc- than ever despite decades of frustrations, ess entrench pillars that will effectively, effi- trials and tribulations mostly instigated ciently, successfully and collectively address from external sources. There is no point “our political, economic and social differ- in our countries having a monetary union ences as well as shortcomings, fears and in- and fail to establish a political union that securities that will transform our federation has evaded us,” said Akhaabi. “Through this into a powerful political and economic force kind of union we will find permanent or, at

least, lasting solutions to problems of the South Sudan, the DRC, Somalia and even internally within individual states,” he explained.

The Legislator added: “For the need of a common framework, the East Africa Legislative Assembly has been and is on the forefront in sensitising and educating the people of this region to develop and entrench what is their own.”

The Assembly has already established a programme that will see it holding parliamentary sessions within each member country as part of creating awareness on its activities and progress.

At the moment, EAC member countries have agreed on the development and implementation of common foreign defence strategies. “The EAC member countries have undertaken to assist each other in the event of any external military threats. If any member state was threatened today, I do not see any situation where any of the countries will sit and watch.”

One of the critical areas that could entrench the EAC as Africa’s political and economic powerhouse are the recent discoveries of huge natural mineral resources, particularly in Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, the DRC and South Sudan. Kenya and Rwanda are also expected to strike it rich with further discoveries of mineral deposits. These include crude oil, uranium, coltan, methane gas, natural gas among others.

ISSUE 005, November 1-15, 2009

Unfiltered, uninhibited…. just the gruesome truth

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Fish farming helps conservation on Mt Kenya forest

By Catherine Wahome For many years the people from the slopes of Mount Kenya never thought they could take to fish farming as a business.

Faced with acute land shortage and reduced rainfall, many farmers from the larger Nyeri have ventured into fish farming, a practice that is putting smiles on many faces.

Take the case of Sagana Fish and Bee Women’s Group from Mathira Division in the newly created Karatina District. The group which is engaged in bee keeping, is also practicing fish farming in Mount Kenya forest.

The group is also reclaiming the mountain through tree planting. The fish project draws water from Kamuya River with its source from the Hombe Forest within the larger Mt Kenya forest. At a time when major rivers around the mountain are drying up due to melting of glaciers atop the mountain, there are fears that drawing too much water could worsen the problem.

The group, therefore, ensures that there is uninterrupted flow of water in the stream to sustain their tilapia and catfish project. The group has been planting trees in Hombe Forest which has been home to many families that practiced the shamba system of farming.

“We want to use water from the rivers to help ourselves but we also want to conserve the environment,” says the group’s treasurer, Ms Lydia Gathoni.

Owing to the acute degradation of the Mount Kenya Forest in general, the local community formed the Hombe Neighbouring Community Forest Association (Honecofa) to create awareness on the need to rehabilitate the resource. Sagana Fish and Bee Women’s Group is a corporate member of the association.

The women’s group has so far planted close to a million trees in the forest. “And we believe this assists in ensuring a permanent flow of water within the stream, thus sustaining our fish farming project,” says Gathoni.

The 40-member group was established in 1977, when a number of local women expressed concerned over their economic stability and the environment in general.

Gathoni says the group did not have enough funds to start a major project, but resolved to embark on a fish farming undertaking.

“We started the project on a member’s land, where we put up two small ponds with the little money we had raised from members’ registration fees.”

In 1995 they were allocated a two-acre government plot at the Hombe Forest Reserve. It was not an easy start for the women. According to Gathoni, the women had a hard time constructing the ponds due to their advanced age and the prolonged drought that had lowered the water levels.

Nyeri North District Fisheries officer, Mr Stephen Mwangi, educating group members and some villagers on the importance of fish farming and how they can harvest them.

Before the project, the communities around Mount Kenya had destroyed the forests especially in Northern Meru, Isiolo, Nyeri North as well as Laikipia East and North districts, causing depreciation of the glaciers, leading to the drying up of rivers.

Those that survived the dry weather had inadequate water for the residents and their livestock.

The glacier is the principal source of water for rivers flowing to Northern Kenya, Central, Eastern and Coast and Rift Valley provinces. As a result of this, various communities concerned about the drastic changes in weather patterns, have partnered with other organisations to reverse the effects and restore the Mt Kenya Forest.

Gathoni says the women went into fish farming after they were convinced of its economic viability and the high nutrition value of fish, especially to pregnant women.

According to Dr James Kimamo of the Nyeri Provincial General Hospital, fish is highly nutritious and an excellent source of proteins with fewer calories, compared to other meat products. He says fish meat is rich in Omega 3, fatty acids which are good for the heart.

The women also realised the melting of the glaciers and the drying up of the rivers would spell doom to their grandchildren.

“That is why we are never tired to clear, dig and plant trees since we want to conserve the ‘Holy Mountain’,”Gathoni notes.

Compact, an organisation charged with conservation of Mt Kenya world heritage site, is specifically involved in the rehabilitation of the mountain.

The body, funded by the United Nations Foundation, through the Global Environment Fund/Small Grants Programme (GEF/SGP) is funding local

communities in putting up some lucrative conservation modes.

Compact, which stands for Community Management of Protected Areas Conservation, is an initiative which addresses environmental concerns of local communities, living around Mt Kenya.

Currently, the project has close to KSh5 million worth of investment within the Hombe Forest adjacent to the Sagana Government Fisheries, and about three kilometers from the Sagana State Lodge.

The facility comprises eight big ponds measuring about 10 by 10 metres and two smaller ponds. Six ponds are stocked with tilapia and two with Catfish. Two more

ponds are used for storing fish after harvesting.

All the ponds are stocked with approximately 12,000 fish. The group sells its fish locally, including in the nearby Nyeri town.

She reveals that in a single sale, the group disposes of an average 300 kg of fish meat at KSh200 per kg.

“We make about KSh60,000 per sale, whereas the demand is even higher than we can produce,” says Mrs Zipporah Hiuko, Compact’s chairperson.

The challenge remains with the fisheating birds and the others predators. “We are planning to fence all our land to keep off the predators”, says Hiuko.

Youth asked to take charge of their lives

By Ryan Mathenge Leaders in Central Kenya are urging the youth in the region to turn to fish farming instead of depending on parents for their livelihood.

At the forefront in the campaign are Gatanga MP, Mr Peter Kenneth and his Mathioya counterpart Mr Clement Muchiri, both of whom have spent substantial amounts of personal money in establishing fish ponds in their areas.

Each of the constituencies identified for fish farming in the country, has been allocated KSh8 million for a start. The business is comparatively new in Central Kenya, having previously been associated with people from Nyanza and Western provinces.

The Gatanga MP, who is also the Planning Development Assistant Minister, says

the youth should be guided to venture into sustainable development projects. He said Gatanga had the best sites for fish rearing if exploited.

The Mathioya MP pointed out that a percentage of the KSh40 million Constituency Development Fund will be channelled towards empowering the youth to help them venture into viable projects.

Speaking at Kamacharia chief ’s camp during a youth seminar, Muchiri expressed concern over the lack of finances to enable the academic advancement of the youth and subsequent gainful employment opportunities.

“Fishing has turned to be the best, owing to high demand of white meat in the tourism sector,” he said, adding that the CDF will train youth on how to establish their own fish ponds.

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ISSUE 005, November 1-15, 2009

Unfiltered, uninhibited…. just the gruesome truth

Village in dilemma as orphans are thrown into early parenthood

By Nicholas Odhiambo For the residents of Kogelo-Kalanya village there is nothing that they have not seen.

From young couples dieing to grandparents being thrown back to child care and orphans caring for orphans, nothing can come to them as a shock.

To those who have learnt of their situation and tried to help it has been a long and arduous struggle. That is the case for Mrs Rose Atito, a headteacher with 400 pupils in her charge including 200 orphans from the impoverished Homa Bay District.

She is, however, not dispirited for there are worse scenarios in the region. She readily directs any visitor to a home that neighbours her school where one of her pupils, Erick Ochieng’, 12, has been taking care of three siblings since the death of his parents.

“Ochieng’ has been taking care of three siblings because his elder brothers ran away from home and left him in charge,” says Atito, who is the headteacher at KogeloKalanya Primary School.

The boy, not yet into a teenage, has been forced to drop out of school at a critical time, leaving the concerned head-teacher desperate to have him back as the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examinations are only days away.

Ochieng’ has three elder brothers who disappeared and left him with the younger siblings. “The brothers drink a lot and now it is said they are in Homa Bay town and

have left Ochieng’ with the other three children to take care of,” says Atito.

The case of Kogelo-Kalanya village is a sad one. Many parents have died and children left to fend for themselves. This has forced organisations such as the Kenya Red Cross Society, Women Fighting Aids in Kenya (WOFAK) and Safaricom as well as the South African High Commission and French Embassy to come up as a team to assist orphans in the region.

“We could not manage on our own and it is these organisations that assist by bringing in food to these orphans,” Atito says, adding, “they also build them houses”.

Thirteen-year-old Kenneth Otieno in Standard Seven at the same school has a different story. He was the only child left when his parents died four years ago. He is viewed by many villagers as a lucky one since he has a grandmother to take care of him. But this might not be true according to how Kenneth assesses his situation.

“My grandmother is old that I do everything for her before going to school in the morning,” he says. During weekends, Kenneth engages in simple money-earning activities such as weeding farms or fetching firewood to sell at the Homa Bay market.

A good number of orphans stay with their old grandmothers who at one point or the other may not have enough to feed them.

Quite often, the arrangement changes, with the grandchildren being forced by circumstances to care for their frail grandparents, a

difficult task given the inexperience and age of the youngsters.

“Taking care of a grandparent is not an easy task. Even adults like us often cannot afford to do so, but these orphans are forced to take care of their grand parents,” says Mrs Salome Mboya, a teacher of Kogelo-Kalanya School.

The situation has forced the teachers to come up with a solution, albeit temporary.

The teachers who come from far and carry packed lunch to school, have decided to be sharing their food with the orphans.

“We share lunch with them. That way we are sure that they have at least one meal in a day. We are never sure of whether they will have supper,” the head teacher explains.

Kenneth Otieno, who wants to be a medical doctor, is one of those who shares lunch with his teachers. He stays with his grandmother who often is unable to provide food for him and his siblings. “I share with teachers their lunch because my grandmother sometimes cannot afford to give me lunch,” he says. With a face full of hope, he insists that the sky is the limit in their pursuit of academic excellence. Otieno, attained top position in the second term examinations and hopes to study medicine if he qualifies for university which is still many years away.

Diana Atieno, in Standard Eight and always among the top three performers, hopes to be a lawyer though she does not know where her school fees will come from.

She has left everything to God and hard

work. “Our head teacher keeps on reminding us to work hard and pass our exams.

She is looking into how we shall continue attending school,” says Diana.

Luckily for the pupils, the French Embassy, South African High Commission and Safaricom have an interest in the school and have helped in building classrooms and sometimes providing pupils with uniforms.

Food, however, remains a big problem that has the teaching staff pleading for assistance from institutions and well-wishers.

“We are only requesting for a food programmes that will ensure these pupils have at least one meal in a day,” says Mboya.

A food assistance programme that had been started by the South African High Commission collapsed after hungry villagers broke into the school store and stole bags of maize and beans.

Homa Bay Red Cross Society Co-Coordinator, Mr James Roche came face to face with the pathetic scenario while on a mission to assess the situation of one Josephine Adhiambo.

“Some people are not sympathetic. How can these children stay alone in a situation like this without neighbours chipping in to help build them shelter?” he asked in shock. Roche was particularly touched by the situation of six orphans with no one to care for them. Josephine lives in Kamenya Village, East-Kochia Location, Homa Bay District, where she has been taking care Continued on page 7

Josephine Adhiambo (second left) with Red Cross officials outside what is supposed to be the house she lives in with her five siblings. PICTURE: NICHOLAS ODHIAMBO

ISSUE 005, November 1-15, 2009

Unfiltered, uninhibited…. just the gruesome truth

Down but not out, Mwilu soldiers on

with a positive attitude

By Valerie Aseto

Strolling along the busy Lunga Lunga Road in Nairobi’s Sinai slums, one cannot help noticing children, women and men with pained faces.

You are instinctively left with the helpless feeling of wondering what you could to do to ease their pain, if you had the power and ability.

Reasons for this are not hard to find.

The slums are characterised by the semipermanent structures of part-cement, partmud and corrugated iron sheet roof, a clear indication of the inherent poverty.

In one of these dilapidated structures, young Julius Mwilu who is living with Aids struggles to make ends meet. He has no relatives nor does he receive any support from anywhere.

I’m ushered into his house at around noon. My eyes land on empty utensils, a sign that there is no food. But before I ask whether he has had his lunch, Mwilu is quick to openly admit that he has had nothing to eat for the day.

“I do not regret having been born HIV positive but sometimes it hurts me so much when I become sick while I see my age mates growing healthily together with their parents,” he says.

At 21, Mwilu has had the uphill task of taking care of himself with no source of income, solely depending on the occasional well-wisher. He says his family has lived in this particular shanty since he was born. His mother succumbed to the pandemic immediately after his birth.

“My father told me that my mother passed away in 1997 after a long illness which began in 1988. At that time, she was pregnant and the baby was me. He also told me that when I was born, my condition kept on deteriorating and no one thought I would survive for even one month,” he says as his eyes well with tears.

Mwilu adds that even after repeated trips to the hospital, no doctor openly divulged to him what he was suffering from.

“At that time, there was too much stigma attached to those who were HIV positive.

“At that time, there was too much stigma attached to those who were HIV/Aids positive. It was like being 21-year-old Mwilu was born with the HIV virus and is living with Aids

sentenced to instant death and as such, my father did not know what had befallen his family,

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It was like being sentenced to instant death and as such, my father did not know what had befallen his family,” he adds. When asked the whereabouts of his father, Mwilu says he opted to go back home to Kitui since his grandmother was ailing and there was no one to help her. He adds that he did not like being left alone in the house, but there was no option since he was told to keep watch of the house and at the same time look for a job.

Since then, Mwilu says he keeps moving from one hotel to another in search for work. He chooses to try his luck at hotels since hotel-work does not demand much energy.

He once struck luck as a waiter, earning KSh80 per day. The employment was, however, short-lived after the hotel-owner learnt of his illness. He threw him back to the destitution and misery. The monthly rent for the shack amounted to KSh500 that was way beyond his means, not to mention the lack of food and other necessities.

Mwilu did not lose hope, and soldiered on in his search for another hotel job that would not only earn him a monthly salary, but also afford him an opportunity to feed for free. He argued part of the money earned would be sent to his father upcountry.

He landed another hotel job with hope and prayer that he would retain it for a bit longer. “Up to now I am working there and if nothing happens, I will always stick there since I have friends who understand me and my situation,” says a beaming Mwilu.

Looking much emaciated, Mwilu admits to exhaustion, disclosing he has been stopped from taking anti-retroviral drugs by his doctor.

“Last month when I went to pick my medicine, the doctor told me that I had taken enough and that I should just go home and eat well. He also told me that in case I felt unwell, I should go to him for treatment.”

The young man adds that when he left the hospital he went to his father’s friend who is a neighbor, and asked for his opinion about stopping medication. He was told to heed the doctor’s advice but to keep visiting the hospital for any assistance.

Mwilu says he felt relieved and, thereafter, decided to work even harder to at least eat well so that the food could fight the opportunistic infections.

“How will you help me out by just writing the story about me? Will you come back to visit me?” Mwilu poses the question as this Reject reporter made to conclude the interview.

But he is quick to appeal to everyone and the people in authority to look into the plight of young people like him and come up with ways to help them.

“The government should not only target children from rich families, leaving the children who live in slums like us. I was put into this situation by my parents and although I do not regret it should be a lesson to other parents,” he concludes.

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ISSUE 005, November 1-15, 2009

Unfiltered, uninhibited…. just the gruesome truth

Girl’s close-shave with the ogre of early marriage

Marriam Nasieku, who was saved from being a child bride narrates her story at Dol Dol Primary School at a function that was also attended by Ford Foundation President Mr Luis Ubinas. PICTURE: PAUL MWANIKI

By Paul Mwaniki “If you are not going to get married to the suitor I have chosen for you, you will go down with the sun!”

This is not just an empty phrase to be taken lightly, but a curse passed down to a 16-year-old Maasai girl by her father.

Marriam Nasieku, a girl from the pastoralist community in arid Laikipia North District, will never forget that fateful day when her father married her off to a moran (Maasai warrior) she had never met.

The young and naïve girl had resolved to pursue her education but her father thought differently. His determination was to increase his herd of livestock which had been wiped out by the devastating drought that’s still ravaging the country. He could only look at his daughter in terms of an opportunity to recoup his losses.

Scores of miles away in the neighbouring Laikipia Central, Marriam would find her new home, this time as somebody’s wife. Her dreams of becoming a doctor were shattered by this somewhat abrupt pronouncement that is not uncommon in the expansive Maasailand.

Sobbing uncontrollably before the Ford Foundation President Mr Luis Ubinas and other visitors, Marriam narrated her harrowing experience as she attempted to question an outdated cultural practice that has seen thousands of girls denied a chance to lead a happy and comfortable life with a

bright future. It was during the Ford President’s tour of Dol Dol Primary School in Laikipia, where a now happy but unforgiving Marriam narrated her story.

It was the story of how her marriage was planned and executed but the angel of fate came and rescued her.

Marriage negotiations among the Maasai are normally kept secret from the mother and the bride-to-be. The girl only comes to know of what will be happening to her a day or two before the ceremony.

On the wedding day, the bridegroom would fetch the bride from her father’s home. However, Marriam’s case was different. She was instead taken to her new husband’s home on a motor-bike, an interesting twist to the cultural practice as Maasai brides are not known to travel on motor-bike, whatever the circumstances.

The mode of transport was a ploy by her parents to hoodwink government officials and child rights’ activists who may have suspected the true nature of things. Forced marriage of under-age girls has been outlawed in Kenya.

Marriam was transported to the neighbouring Chumvi village together with another girl, who was doomed to a similar fate. Besides allaying the authorities’ suspicions, the ferrying of both girls to their new homes on the same vehicle, would reduce transport costs, their fathers must have agreed. On arrival at her mother-inlaw’s home, Marriam was shocked when

she failed to meet her husband-to-be. She was informed the warrior was away herding his father’s cattle. She had, in the meantime, to stay in her mother in-law’s house.

For an entire month she lived with her mother-in-law with her husband nowhere in sight. “I never saw my husband, not even for a single day and even todate I do not know the man who was supposed to marry me,” Marriam explained with tears rolling down her cheeks. Amid sobs she asked: “Where were the authorities when all this was happening to me?”

She, however, put on a brave face to state publicly she would ensure she realised her dream.

During the one month she stayed with her ‘in-laws’, schools had been closed for holidays. On the day schools were reopened, the head-teacher at Al Jijo Primary School Mrs Kuraru, where Marriam was a student, became concerned over her absence. Together with local women’s rights activists and with assistance from the Dol Dol Police Station, the head-teacher traced Marriam’s whereabouts to Lamuria, some 189 kilometres away from the school.

“The night that I was rescued was just a coincidence, I had planned to run away from that home,” said Marriam. She recalls hearing the sound of a car outside the house. She had the feeling that God had answered her prayers, and reasoned that she would not have to walk the long and unfamiliar route back home.

“I heard the teacher call my name and I knew they had come to rescue me,” narrated the Standard Seven pupil, her face glowing with excitement as she reminisced the memorable occassion.

The good natured girl that she is, Marriam did not want to leave behind the other girl, with whom she had developed friendship. She could not imagine abandoning her to the uncertain future that had made her short stay away from home a living hell. She showed her rescuers where the girl lived and she too was rescued. “I didn’t want to leave her behind as we had come together, although I didn’t know whether she would have liked to go back to school with me,” she said later during an interview.

But unlike Marriam who never saw her purported husband, the other girl had lived with her husband for a month. “Although he too was taking care of his father’s cattle in another region away from home, he would often come to his new bride.”

Marriam was taken back to her rural home in Mukogodo, Laikipia North, together with the other girl, but her father refused to take her back. This is was not strange because Maasai men never relent on anything. A girl running away from her marital home is a loss of pride to her father and this makes the man a pariah among his peers and the community in general.

Interestingly but not surprising, the other girl who Marriam refused to name went back to her husband after only two days, perhaps a consequence of her parents’ rejection and the fear she may have been pregnant.

“I sympathise with her because at the moment she is already a mother of one.

She may have wanted to get married or she feared her father’s curse,” said Marriam.

The headteacher of Dol Dol Primary School offered to accommodate Marriam in her home to allow the minor continue with her studies at the institution. “It has become very hard for me to see that I am disturbing my teacher’s family because they cater for all my needs, including buying me personal things that I require when in school,” she lamented.

Marriam’s mother at times brings her money without her father’s knowledge, adding that she (the mother) risked being expelled from the home if her father ever came to know of what she was doing.Her plea to the government and well-wishers is for the establishment of a rescue centre where girls in similar circumstances can call home during school holidays.

“We, the cursed girls, cannot go home when schools close since we are afraid of facing the wrath of our fathers. Our only choice is to rely on-well wishers for support,” said Marriam. “Most men who are head of families would not like to betray their fellow men in the community by taking in girls who have abandoned their culture and way of life, and those who can accommodate us are the elite who are few in the village,” said the girl.

Marriam’s is a typical case of what fate holds for the girl-child among the pastoralist communities that have refused to discard the primitive practice of early and forced marriages.

ISSUE 005, November 1-15, 2009

Unfiltered, uninhibited…. just the gruesome truth

School that is a beacon of hope for the displaced

By George Omonso

To the casual observer, it’s just another ordinary primary school in the sleepy and nondescript Kenyan rural countryside.

They would be very wrong, for Pathfinder Primary School in the farmlands of Saboti Constituency is like none other.

Founded eight years ago, the school provides for much more than just the noisy toddlers with cheek and mischief written all over their faces.

It is home to scores of the much maligned internally displaced people (IDPs) and orphans from victims of cattle rustlers, the Sabaot Land Defence Force (SLDF) bandits and the HIV/Aids pandemic.

Located some 15 kilometres from Kitale town near the popular Kiminini Trading Centre, the school is the brainchild of one Mr Joshua Amwai, who nurtured the idea that culminated in the special institution.

Beneficiaries hail from the larger Trans Nzoia and Mt Elgon districts, both of which have suffered attacks from the dreaded SLDF. Saboti was also hit by the January 2008 post-election violence along with the constant raids by cattle rustlers from the neighbouring districts.

Amwai recently moved to an IDP camp at Endebess Trading Center to offer assistance to the inhabitants with support from Pathfinders foreign wellwishers. Already 230 destitute children from the camp have been absorbed into the primary school whose classrooms include tented shelters for lack of buildings.

Lauren Dindi, a beneficiary of the institution, two years ago scored 367 marks out of 500 and was selected to join St Joseph Girls’ High School.

Unfortunately, she was unable to take up her place after her family was attacked during the post-election violence and rendered destitute.

The number of the displaced people in the entire Saboti Constituency and those living below the one-dollar a day poverty line is among issues that drove Amwai into the unique project.

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Village in dilemma as orphans fend for themselves from page 4

The gate leading to the compound of Pathfinder Primary School that is home to many displaced and orphaned children. PICTURE: GEORGE OMONSO.

During the 1991/92, land clashes that rocked parts of the constituency, hundreds of the local people were displaced from their farms. Many are still camped at Wehoya, Kiminini, Sikhendu, Gitwamba and Machewa.

The situation was further compounded by last year’s post-election violence that sent hundreds more to the camps including many 1991-1992 victims that had settled back on their farms.

“I started the school with the idea of helping the less fortunate in the society”, Amwai told Reject during an interview at the school, 25 kilometers to the west of Kitale town.

“I had to moved around to look for friends who could assist me,” Amwai explained, adding that his main aim was to see that all the affected children were put under one roof and in good care that would include education and a better future.

The school topped the Trans Nzoia West District rankings in the 2007 KCPE examinations, a feat Amwai attributed to the hard-working teaching staff.

Pathfinder Primary School is, however, still in need for land to enable future expansion, and Amwai is appealing to the

Government for the assistance. Amwai says this would empower the school to take in more destitute children, many of whom still languish in IDP camps.

Thanking the Pathfinder family and the local community for their support, Amwai also spoke positively of the community-based projects the school was involved in, including agricultural activity and support to families that lost their loved ones to HIV/Aids.

Most people in this area do not have proper houses; majority live in grassthatched houses without basic needs.

Others are landless, and those with land live on tiny plots locally referred to as “point”.

Amwai’s future plans include village polytechnics in Kiminini area that could absorb the youth and give them the skills that will see them start their own business after acquiring basic knowledge.

He called for enhanced enrolment of more girls in school with a view to getting many more absorbed into higher institutions of learning.

This, he hoped, will stop the high number of young girls getting into premature marriages at the expense of higher education and employment.

Jitters over Murang’a jigger deaths

By Ryan Mathenge A non-government organisation is blaming the government for laxity in combating the jigger menace that is devastating and killing scores of residents in the larger Murang’a District and neighbouring regions.

The Executive Director of Ahadi Trust, Mr Stanley Kamau is concerned that even after 260 people died from jigger infestation over the past two years, the Government has done little to address the menace.

The latest victim, Mary Wambui, succumbed to the infestation at Kagaa village, Kandara District recently, bringing to the

fore the differences between Ahadi Trust who for years have been fighting the menace, and the Government.

Public health officials disputed the cause of death, claiming the woman had died from other health complications, a position challenged by Ahadi Trust, who insist she died from jigger infestation.

Without elaboration, the director vowed the organisation would continue with the mission, and no amount of threats from the Government would deter it from fighting the menace.

Several partner organisations have come on board to help Ahadi create awareness on hygiene in schools and homesteads, especially after the jiggers were reported to have turned to infesting domestic animals, forcing residents to sell them for slaughter.

of five siblings since 2006 after the death of their parents. The children were left in a house that collapsed soon after. No one was ready to help, leaving the children to spend their nights at a not-so-hospitable old woman’s house. It is then that a WOFAK member in the village, Mrs Rachael Oyugi Ogwai, came to their rescue.

She talked to some two young men in the village to build the children a house.

The young men agreed to do so but only if they would be paid in advance, completely refusing to sympathise with orphans’ situation. Informed there was no money, they agreed to take cockerel each. “I gave them a cock each and that is when they accepted to build this structure,” says Ogwai.

She then mobilised Nyamanga Women’s Group members to complete the building with traditional grass thatching as well as mud and cow-dung plastering. Ogwai didn’t stop there, and she continues to assist the orphans with food and advice. She sometimes invites them to her house for short stays, during which she imparts parental advice that’s lacking in their destitute lives.

“Sometimes I stay with them for even two months in my home especially when Felida is sick,” she adds. Two-and-a half-year-old Felida is the last born and is sickly.

Josephine who is in Standard Eight managed position 18 in a class of 53 pupils. She wants to be a nurse after completing school, though she admits it’s not easy attending classes and taking care of her siblings at the same time. “During holidays I don’t read at all because I have to see how these children eat,” Josephine says.

Her programme is tight. Early in the morning she gets ups accompanied by her two brothers Frank (12) and Kennedy (10) to go out to look for money. Sometimes they go to rice fields nearby to weed and are paid KSh100 ($1.5). Alternatively, Frank can go to the nearby thickets to burn charcoal, as the rest go to the rice fields, either to help in planting or weeding. Their school attendance is not regular.

What Josephine wants most is a better house. The orphans are insecure at night because there are some men who come into the home and peep through the holes in the walls. “They come around but when we scream they run away,” she says.

Many deaths in Kogelo-Kalanya have been caused by Aids. The pandemic killed many young people before the ARVs were brought to the area.

“Many people here have died of Aids. We believe many are still going to die although they are on the ARVs,” says Mr John Ochola, a local resident.

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ISSUE 005, November 1-15, 2009

Unfiltered, uninhibited…. just the gruesome truth

Greed for land leaves sacred lake desecrated

By Wilfred Muchire As he agonisingly stares at the receding waters of Lake Mbututia, Mzee Fredrick Mugwika cannot understand the unbridled commercialism of today’s world.

Every question he posses brings tears to his fatigued eyes, yet, not a single straight answer addresses his growing pain.

“Who did this to us? Who on the earth can dare cultivate inside the sacred lake?

Would such a person ever escape the wrath of our God, ancestors and spirits? Where do they expect all these birds will migrate to?”

These are some of the questions bothering the 70-year-old man and with each question, he stabs the ground with his blunt machete.

Located at Kianjai Location of Tigania District in Eastern Province, the 1,000acre Lake Mbututia that is deemed sacred by local residents, has earned itself a name not only within the location, but far and beyond.

Since 1984, Lake Mbututia has been at the centre of a controversy related to a flawed land demarcation, which saw a number of families moved from their ancestral land and relocated elsewhere.

Local residents say they were not informed when the lake and surrounding areas were declared a land adjudication zone in 1961. They only came to realise this after corrupt individuals had acquired their inheritance in the mid-1980s.

Mzee Sabastiano Itaru, an elder whose 1.5 acres of land is somewhere inside the lake, points at a heron standing in the shallow water to approximate where one of his land’s beacon could be if the water had not been there.

Itaru, like the rest of the community wants not only the sacred lake protected but that the stolen land be returned to its rightful owners.

“This sacred lake has over centuries been our temple of traditions and spirituality,” recalls elder John Mutema. He concurs with other elders that the protection of the sacredness of the lake lies squarely in the hands the six clans who were the owners and guardians of the waters.

“The six clans included Amatu, Amakia, Thing’amburi, Mwiganda, Mbuya and Antu-a-iiya who became stewards of the lake after the Maasai left the area and moved towards Laikipia,” explains Mzee Mugwika.

He adds: “The Maasai left this area about a century ago and in fact some families in Kianjai are still in touch with their Maasai relatives to this day.”

The Lake was a shrine not only for the Maasai and Meru communities, but it is said elders from as far as Borana and Somali communities in North-Eastern Province often made pilgrimage to it for prayers and sacrifice.

In times of drought, spiritualists from the six clans would gather and slaughter a sacred sheep. The sheep would then be

asymmetrically cut into two equal pieces and the right hand piece would given to the warriors who would take the meat to the deepest part of the Lake to feed the gods. To climax the ceremony, elders would throw millet seeds into the waters to pacify and calm the lake.

“Before the end of the ceremony, dark clouds would gather and heavy rains would fall on the same day,” recalls Mzee Itaru.

In recognition of the historic and cultural heritage, the Department of Sites and Monuments, National Museums of Kenya gazetted the site in December 2003. The survey to earmark the best-suited sites for gazettement in Mount Kenya region was sponsored by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) through Community Management of Protected Areas Conservation (COMPACT) project.

Other sites such as Giitune Forest, Lake Thaai, Lake Nkunga and Narumoro Caves were also gazetted in the same notice.

Today, Lake Mbututia is beleaguered by major problems that emanate from the corrupt acquisition of its beaches. The Coordinator of Meru Wetland Conservation Initiative, Mr Francis Kithure, says Lake Mbututia has over 200 bird species. The birds often migrate as far as Isiolo to feed every morning and return to their nests late in the evening.

Due to the land crisis in Kianjai, local residents are fast losing their cherished attachment to the Lake Mbututia. In the late 1980s they set ablaze the papyrus, reeds and sages grow naturally around the lake. These are what formed the breeding grounds for the birds.

Today, the edges of the lake are bare and birds are migrating to alternative breeding grounds, leaving behind those unable to move. The chicks cannot survive an environment full of human activity that includes grazing of cattle and fishing.

Human activity on the three hills neighbouring the Lake — Nyambene, Keiya and Chura — has destroyed the eco-system and led to reduction of water levels and siltation. A study by Kenya

Executive Director: Rosemary Okello-Orlale Programme Coordinator: Wilson Ugangu Programme Officer: Susan Mwangi Project Editor: Jane Godia Project Designer: Noel Lumbama Copy Editor: Frank Wanyama Contributors: Moses Radoli, Catherine Wahome, Nicholas Odhiambo, Ryan Mathenge, Valerie Aseto, Paul Mwaniki, George Omonso and Wilfred Muchire

Wildlife Services described Lake Mbututia as the richest biodiversity wetland in the larger Meru District, with over 92 reptile species. An attempt to convert the lake into a community park through a Sh14 million grant from European Union’s Biodiversity Conservation Programme, flopped when the District Lands Office failed to avail the map proving the lake had been sub-divided and the true owners identified.

Investigations revealed that by 2003, 148 peasants had been displaced in the adjudication exercise leading to their displacement. Many of them could not afford the Sh200 required to lodge a complaint.

Mr Rukunga Michira, was reduced to a market beggar when he lost his 0.73 acreage. The ancestral land which he had occupied for many years was forcefully taken by the new owner. He is now living on his brother’s nearby farm.

“This Lake is not like a blanket that one can steal. We need to restore its sanctity as the last ceremony took place during the infamous drought of 1984. We want to revive those sacred ceremonies and rituals, no one wants this lake subdivided,” says Mzee Mutema, whose 3.5 acres disappeared in the land adjudication. He adds: “No one wants compensation and we just ask for justice as human beings.”

Mr Mugwika is relatively lucky since he lost only 1.5 acres retaining six. However, his brother lost four acres. “During the campaign period President Kibaki came asking for votes in this village. Our area MP, Dr Kilemi Mweria, spoke about the problem of land in respect to this lake. It is now more than a year down the line, yet nothing has come forth.”

Porini Association, an NGO involved in conservation work around the Mt Kenya region, is currently working with the community to ensure that both environmental and human justice prevails.

The Association has in the past assisted communities living around Karima Hill in Othaya, Nyeri South District and Giitune Forest in Ambothoguchi Division of Imenti Central District to reclaim their land.

www.mediadiversityafrica.org Write to: info@mediadiversityafrica.org The paper is produced with funds from Ford Foundation