Reject Online Issue 6

ISSUE 006, November 16-30, 2009

Unfiltered, uninhibited…. just the gruesome truth

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November 16-30, 2009

ISSUE 006

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

Female teachers and students to benefit from ICT training

By Musa Radoli A total of 150,000 women teachers are getting empowered with information and communication technology skills in a multi-million dollar five-year programme.

The first batch of teachers from both primary and secondary schools began the training early this year.

The programme is being organised by a local NGO — the African Centre for Women in Information Communications and Technology (ACWICT) — in conjunction with the Ministry of Education and Microsoft Inc who have forked out over $20 million for the ambitious five-year effort.

The teachers will be exposed to multiple computer skills that they will impart to pupils, especially the girl-child for knowledge in job creation, employment and business development.

The programme is the culmination of months of deliberations to draw up modalities on how it should be rolled out to entrench ICT skills in Kenya’s young “dot com generation”.

According to the ACWICT executive director, Mrs Constance Obuya, the first batch of teachers started training within various training institutions in Wajir, Migori, Nairobi and Western Province.

“ACWICT has partnered with Microsoft through Microsoft Partners in Learning (PIL) programme and the Ministry of Education, to implement what is called Innovative Women Teachers’ (IWT) programme,” says Obuya.

The programme aims at building capacity of women teachers to use ICT to improve learning outcomes and also address peculiar pressing issues affecting the girl-child education in Kenya.

The programme targets 150,000 women teachers in a phased implementing stratagem that will run for the next five years countrywide through teacher training colleges and select secondary schools.

The execution of the programme will be based on the premise of “trainer of trainees (ToTs)” in which Bachelor of Education

Journalists during an ICT training. A local NGO together with the Ministry of Education and Microsoft Inc have set out on a five year programme to train female teachers and students on ICT.

alumnae from various universities will be trained at the Kenya Institute of Education (KIE) and deployed to train female teachers through out the country.

“The IWT is delivered through a localised Microsoft Digital Literacy Curriculum (MDLC) designed to develop the capacities of women teachers to integrate technology into daily teaching, learning and research,” Obuya says.

She cites Microsoft’s dual commitment to improve the quality of education and provide alternative channels for economic progress by building partnerships with governments and schools around the world as part of its education and citizenship strategy.

Among the programme’s objectives is the examination of socio-cultural and health issues around the girl-child among the country’s diverse communities and determine how ICTs can help access, disseminate and communicate information as well as steer change around the identi-

fied pressing girl-child issues.

The programme comes in the wake of the recent launch of the undersea fibre optic cable that is expected to facilitate creation of ICT villages across the country.

The technology, which is expected to become fully operational across the country by the end of next year, is expected to make Internet services faster and cheaper compared to the current satellite based technology.

ACWICT is a pioneer Kenyan based ICT for development organisation to promote women’s access and use of information and communications technologies as tools for sustainable development.

“The programme aims to promote gender equality and empower women, achieve universal primary education, eradicate extreme poverty and hunger as well as develop global partnerships for development,” Obuya said.

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) says in supporting the pro-

gramme, it was particularly concerned with the conditions and circumstances under which teachers based in rural Kenya were forced to operate.

It notes the teachers form the bulk of the teaching fraternity in the country, and they should be given priority in the training programme. In tandem with this, the Union will continue to pressurise the Government and other stakeholders to speed up the rural electricity programme to schools.

“It is not only just the women teachers but also pupils and students. Those in urban areas at least access these ICT trainings and services from any corner. Those upcountry should not be left behind because the whole world is completely embracing ICT,” says Mr George Wesonga, the KNUT chairman.

He pledges the Union’s commitment to mobilising its members to embrace the course, especially in those in the marginalised regions of rural Kenya.

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ISSUE 006, November 16-30, 2009

Unfiltered, uninhibited…. just the gruesome truth

Water shortage sounds death knell for blue gum

By Ben Oroko The women in Gusii are on a tree-cutting frenzy, their target is the water-guzzling blue-gum, also known as eucalyptus.

The activity that only a few months back was taboo, is now the order of the day as the lofty and majestic tree takes the blame for aggravating the current countrywide water shortage.

Even then, not all among the conservationists agree with this line of thinking.

Nobel Prize winner, Prof Wangari Maathai terms the fear a myth and defends the eucalyptus that is popular along river banks and wetlands.

To supplement the countrywide water conservation effort, the women of Central Kisii District in south-western Kenya, are also plunging headlong into fish pond farming projects on land that previously supported the blue-gum.

The success of the twin-project will, hopefully, translate into the women’s economic empowerment and generally uplift the living standards in the rural countryside.

Nyaura Widows and Gechichi Women’s groups in Nyaura Sub-location, Central Kisii District, have rolled out an ambitious fish farming project to encourage local communities conserve the wetlands.

Gechichi Women’s Group treasurer, Mrs Wildah Bosibori Ogega, discloses that, besides empowering local women economically, the fish farming project spurred the anti-blue gum campaign to protect water sources and wetlands from extinction.

Aside from cutting down the blue-gum and constructing fish ponds, the local people were being encouraged to plant indigenous trees with low water intake, especially the gravellea robusta.

The New Horizons for Afric, a local non-government organisation has supplied the women with 2,000 seedlings of the gravellea robusta to replace the uprooted blue gum trees. The NGO is also urging the women to intercrop indigenous trees with food crops such as cow peas, kales and arrow-root.

An official from the NGO, Mr Joseph Gideon Mosoti says they aim at rehabilitating and conserving the wetlands through sensitisation of local communities on the importance of conserving the water sources, to avert water depletion and environmental degradation in the region.

Women in Kisii have come together in groups where they are working towards environmental protection.

He, however, conceded the NGO’s campaign against planting of the bluegum next to water sources received resistance from local communities due to the value attached to the tree species

in comparison to the indigenous trees.

“The attitude is changing and locals are now willing to replace the blue-gum with indigenous trees,” says Mosoti. He warns that continued planting of the blue-gum

could lead to extinction of the existing rivers since a mature tree consumes 15 gallons of water per day, and can source water from within a radius equivalent to its height.

Millers stalk for contracts ahead of coffee harvests

By Ryan Mathenge Coffee millers and marketers have pitched camp in coffee growing areas of Central Province in the hope they are appointed to handle millions tonnes of the coffee beans expected next year.

Millers’ agents are traversing the region, attending coffee farmers’ meetings where they attempt to favourably respond to

farmers’ inquiries as to why they should be nominated to handle their produce.

Reject’s independent investigations have established that six coffee millers are camping in the larger Murang’a District and trying to outsmart each other before the coffee farmers. They include Nyambene Coffee Mills, Central Kenya Coffee Mills, Socifina, Sasini, the troubled Kenya Planters Cooperative Union and Thika Coffee Mills.

Nyambene Coffee Mills, fronted by its agents Patrick Kubatia and Joseph Kanyi, and going by its payments for last year that were better than the competition, appears to have won greater attention from the farmers. Farmers at Thanga-ini Society in Kigumo District endorsed Nyambene as their miller despite strong opposition from their management committee that was drumming up support for a rival miller

The Meru-based coffee miller also got the nod from farmers at the Kiriti Coffee Society meeting, while the rival Thika Coffee Mills will handle produce from Kayu and Kirimahiga Coffee Factories.

New Kiriti Cooperative Society chairman, Mr Francis Njoroge, said the millers will only mill the farmers coffee with the Kenya Coffee Exporters Limited marketing the produce.

ISSUE 006, November 16-30, 2009

Unfiltered, uninhibited…. just the gruesome truth

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Cross-border efforts to save the revered grey crested crane

By John Oroni The grey-crowned crane is an indelible part of African folklore and culture. Across its range from Kenya to South Africa, this regal bird appears on everything from postage stamps to ornate Houses of Parliament. It is also the national bird of Uganda and features prominently on their national flag.

The crane’s exotic, graceful movements inspire traditional dances among tribes throughout the region.

Not so long ago, the crane was widespread in the grass swamps that carpet the valley floors of the Lake Victoria basin. In recent decades, however, grey crowned cranes have decreased sharply.

The Lake Victoria basin has one of the highest population densities of the crane in Africa. Farmers with few alternatives and against their better judgement, cultivate marginal areas on valley slopes and drain swamps on valley bottoms. Only a small fraction of the original wetlands of the Lake Victoria basin now remain with most of the cranes under imminent threat.

As these wetlands disappear, many of their valuable functions — filtering runoff water, reducing flooding, supporting fisheries, providing local materials, and sustaining critical wildlife habitat for cranes and other species — are lost.

The conservation of wetlands is one of the fundamental challenges of the Lake Victoria basin. As the rural population grows, the demand for food, land, water and fuel-wood is increasing exponentially.

In this setting neither strict land preservation nor rural development projects offer long-term conservation solutions.

The future of the crane and its wetland homes depends on the capacity of rural communities to take innovative measures to protect their environment and manage their natural resources in a sustainable manner.

Such changes must be homegrown, based on practical local examples and fostered by strong trustworthy local leadership.

None in Africa better embodies in this vision and leadership than the Kipsaina Wetlands Conservation Group (KWCG).

The group operates in Trans-Nzoia District and was founded in 1990 by Maurice Wanjala, a pastor and youth group leader.

The motto of the KWCG is ‘touch one, touch all’, and the group promotes a variety of innovative programmes to conserve wildlife and wetlands within and around Saiwa National Park.

The Park is located near the headwaters of one of several rivers that drain from the highlands of western Kenya to Lake Victoria.

The wetlands around Saiwa, a mix of grassy floodplains and papyrus swamps, are scattered on privately owned and communal lands. Although small, this area supports nearly 25 per cent of the breeding population of the crane in Kenya. It also supports the only populations of the semiaquatic sitatunga antelope.

Over the past 12 years, the KWCG has undertaken a variety of creative activities to protect Saiwa and its wildlife. Wanjala

The grey crested crane bird that has its population reducing at alarming levels with the Lake Victoria basin. environmentalists are now fighting for its protection.

and his team grow, distribute and plant thousands of indigenous trees to create an upland buffer zone around the park.

They provide livestock fodder to reduce grazing pressure on swamp areas and to reduce soil erosion. They raise public awareness in community centres throughout the Saiwa catchment through lectures, songs, poems and traditional dances.

The group demonstrates organic and bio-dynamics that reduces the runoff of fertilizers and pesticides into the swamp. They help local farmers dig and stock fishponds to prevent the dredging and damming of small ponds inside the swamps. The KWCG also enlists local volunteers — friends of Saiwa Swamp — to monitor crane nesting sites.

Through these and other activities, they demonstrate practical ways for farmers to generate income while minimising negative impact to Saiwa and its wildlife.

In Uganda, Mr Jimmy Muheebwa Muhozi, a tutor at a local primary teacher training college, founded local wildlife clubs to raise awareness on the plight of the crane and wetlands. He recently completed his Masters thesis at Makerere University with a study on the impact of land use activities on the breeding success of the crane. The region supports the largest number of breeding pairs of cranes.

During his fieldwork, Muhozi discovered that the future of cranes and other wildlife in Uganda depends not only on laws and regulations but also on creating an entirely new relationship between people and wetlands.

He organised pupils into four wildlife clubs in Kabale and Bushenyi Districts and guided them to become caretakers of the local cranes and wetlands. He taught them

about the interconnections between people, land, water, wetlands and wildlife, organised debates to discuss new conservation farming practices and helped them to compose songs and dances about the cranes, wetlands and the importance of conservation.

As the students fanned out into their community, sharing the knowledge with their parents and neighbors, Muhozi realised the potential of involving wildlife clubs in affecting real change in Uganda.

These programmes in Kenya and Uganda offer great hope to the future of the crane and wetlands in the Lake Victoria basin.

They have made remarkable progress despite having little resources, and are proof of what a dedicated group of individuals with strong leadership can be a powerful force for conservation. However, they are only able to cover a tiny fraction of the Lake Victoria basin.

Says Wanjala: “Our challenge is to help scale up these efforts to a regional population with a local message.”

The project is being carried out in partnership with Nature Uganda, Moi University, Makerere University, the Kenya Crane Working Group and others to empower the KWCG and the wildlife clubs in Uganda model programmes for community based conservation in the Lake Victoria basin.

“We are empowering these groups to expand and improve their outreach programmes throughout the target areas.”

Programme leaders are visiting project sites in Kenya and Uganda to exchange ideas and critically reflect on what is working in their programmes. Funding for local transportation and communications is enabling group members to reach a wider circle of schools.

Churches and other community institutions in the region support the project with workshops, seminars, debates, dramas and choirs performances. “Adopt a Crane” programmes with primary school children within the catchment areas are raising awareness and hands-on understanding of cranes and wetlands conservation issues.

Site-specific educational materials are drawing from traditional knowledge and experiences of local people using the greycrowned crane as a flagship species for conservation.

Extension education programmes for farming families are promoting alternative agricultural practices for fish farming, livestock grazing, agro-forestry, vegetable farming and bee-keeping. It’s enabling people from neighboring regions to visit and learn from expanded demonstration plots and showcase sustainable land use practices.

“We are developing new income generating activities to support future activities of the groups, including marketing of crafts made from wetlands resources and products from the demonstration plots,” Wanjala told the Reject recently.

The KWCG and the wildlife clubs of Uganda offer a new framework for thinking about wetland conservation. Built on the understanding that community based conservation programmes are most effective when alternative land use offer sustainable income as well as ecologically sound practices, they are linking conservation with community aspiration.

An upbeat Mr Wanjala expresses hope that “the programmes will serve as sources of experience, knowledge and inspiration for conservation and sustainable land use throughout the Lake Victoria Basin”.

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ISSUE 006, November 16-30, 2009

Unfiltered, uninhibited…. just the gruesome truth

20,000 face starvation in Migori, Nyatike

By Odhiambo Odhiambo About 20,000 people are faced with hunger in Migori and Nyatike districts, majority of them men, women and children who are victims of the HIV/ Aids pandemic.

The Migori District Commissioner, Mr Julius Mutula says the affected persons stopped engaging in any meaningful economic activities the moment they got bedridden.

Appeals for assistance have been sent out to churches and non-government organisations as the regions await an end to the drought and hunger.

Two months ago the government supplied the area residents with famine relief food that included 1,000 bags of maize, 200 bags of beans and 200 cartons of cooking fat two months ago.

The bulk of the supplies is directed to orphans and victims of the pandemic.

Mutula observed the region had failed to realise adequate harvests due to insufficient and erratic rainfall.

“We want to support vulnerable groups during these hard times. We did not get enough harvest as a result of poor weather pattern,” the DC said.

He spoke as traders from Migori, Rongo and Isebania border towns continued to buy maize, beans and rice from Tanzania.

The business people later sell the cereals at exorbitant prices to consumers in the region due to the prevalent scarcity.

Irrigation projects to boost agriculture in South Nyanza

By REJECT writer The Ministry of Regional Development Authority has handed over a site for the construction of two multi-billion shilling irrigation schemes in South Nyanza to a Chinese company.

MS Sino Hydro Cooperation Company Limited will work in conjunction with the Kenya’s Mashiri Company Limited to ensure the Oluch and the Kimira Irrigation Schemes are built in the next 36 months.

The irrigation of the area has been prompted by the continuous drought that has rocked the Southern Nyanza Region in the last two years, with unreliable rainfall and the shrinking of the Lake Victoria aggravating the situation.

“This scheme is a god-sent thing for us.

We cannot do it from Lake Victoria because the lake water is drying up and the

drought has affected us for the last two years,” said Mr. George Ogalo the Civic leader for Gem ward.

The project aims at improving both subsistence and commercial farming in the two districts where farmers have shown a passion for growing on a large scale pineapples, mangoes and oranges among other fruits.

“We are going to grow pineapples and other fruits for commercial purposes as well as maize and sorghum for both domestic and cash,” said Mr George Owino, a local farmer.

Agricultural production in the two districts has dropped compared to last year, according to the Homa Bay District Agricultural Officer, Mr. Protus Kisia. He attributes the drop to unreliable rains in the region.

So far, over 3,000 families in Homa Bay and Rachuonyo North districts will benefit

Record bonus for tea growers

By Ryan Mathenge Tea farmers in Murang’a region in Central Kenya are to receive KSh4.6 billion as bonus this year following delivery of their green leaves to Kenya Tea Development Authority (KTDA) managed tea factories.

Leading with the highest allocation is Makomboki Tea Factory in Kigumo District whose tea growers will receive KSh737.6 million. Farmers affiliated to Nduti Factory will receive KSh428 million, the least earnings in the region.

Murang’a KTDA board members Chege Kirundi (Murang’a) and Peter

Mwangi Kirigwi (Kigumo) described this year’s bonus allocation as the best ever to Kenya tea growers.

A spot check in various financial institutions revealed that bonus payment had not been credited into farmers’ accounts.

Mr Kirigwi told farmers to expect payment of bonus anytime as the agency had released the cheques to financial institutions.

Makomboki Factory Chairman, Mr Erastus Gakuya says in the past three years the factory has been leading in earning highest allocation of bonus in the region after delivery of high quality green leaves.

Second sugar factory to ease pressure on SONY

By REJECT writer The Kenya Sugar Board has allowed a private company to establish a second multi-billion shilling sugar factory in the Southern Nyanza region.

The factory, which is expected to ease the pressure on the South Nyanza Sugar Factory at Awendo, will be built at Riat market, a few kilometres from SONY. There has been controversy over where to build the factory, with some

from the schemes which will occupy a total of 3,700 acres along River Kibuon in Rachuonyo North and River Awach Tende in Homa Bay District.

“Land has been provided by the residents of the two districts and they are happy with the project,” said Mr Nelson Korir, the project manager. He added the construction will cost KShs3.9 billion. The twin-project is funded by the Kenya Government and the African Development Bank.

Apart from addressing the vagaries of drought, the two schemes will also seek to prevent the perennial flooding of farmland whenever the two rivers burst the banks during rainy seasons, destroying crops and displacing hundreds of families.

“This will curb the frequent flooding and also provide safe water that can be used for domestic purposes,” said Korir.

residents of Ndhiwa District accusing the area MP, Mr Orwa Ojode of not consulting them on the ideal site.

Others have viewed Ojode’s choice of site as a ploy to extend the Internal Security Assistant Minister’s political mileage.

A district development meeting on the issue, however, resolved that the factory be located on a 250 acre plot of the Homa Bay County Council.

“There will be a ground-breaking ceremony early next month so that the con-

struction can begin,” said Councillor Dorcas Matunga, who is the Homa Bay County Council chairperson, .

Ojode says the factory will ease pressure on SONY and help alleviate the agony local sugar farmers have been going through.

It will be constructed by Sukari Industries Limited.

“This is something that will help cane farmers and politics should not be put in it,” said the MP who also urged local residents to lend the project maximum support.

He said: “This year’s bonus will encourage farmers to improve their production.” He added they would earn KSh31 per kg of green leaves they delivered in the year for processing.

Last week, KTDA released KSh36.3 billion for tea growers countywide.

Kiru Tea Factory in Mathioya has been allocated KSh594.8 million while the neighbouring Gatunguru Factory has an allocation of KSh589.2 million.

Murang’a East District Commissioner, Mr George Natembeya has called on farmers to use the money to promote development projects instead of indulging in alcohol consumption.

Early this month, the Kenya Sugar Board chairperson, Mr Okoth Obado, said the factory is being built to save sugarcane farmers from the delay they usually have to go through by waiting to be served by one sugar company.

Many farmers in the region had expressed hopelessness in cane farming due to the overload and pressure on the SONY sugar company, which is the only factory serving the whole of Southern Nyanza region.

“This new factory will save us. We had lost hope in cane farming but now we are back to plant it,” Joseph Onyango, a cane farmer from Kanyikela said.

The new facility will serve cane farmers from Uriri, Homa Bay, Ndhiwa and Nyatike districts.

ISSUE 006, November 16-30, 2009

New seed varieties distributed in South Nyanza

Unfiltered, uninhibited…. just the gruesome truth

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Move to relocate potential landslide victims

By Odhiambo Odhiambo A non-government organisation has launched a programme aimed at boosting food security in South Nyanza.

The Community Action for Rural Development (CARD) is giving drought and disease resistant beans, cassava and groundnut seeds to over 20,000 farmers in Migori, Uriri, Rongo and Suba districts.

According to a CARD director, Mr Philip Kajwang, the initiative is being supported by the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) and the Ugandan-based International Research Organisation .

Production of food crops dropped in the region due to attack by diseases in the farms and over-reliance by the locals on cane and tobacco farming as the main cash crops.

“And since the two main crops are no longer fetching good money, poverty levels in most households has risen besides the acute shortage of food,” the director said at their Migori offices during a meeting with farmers.

Kajwang said beans, cassava and groundnuts provided important nutrients to babies and to the rising number of people living with HIV and Aids in Nyanza.

“Our projection is to make the seeds available to all farmers in the region in the next five years. We will also do marketing of the surplus produce,” he added.

The official asked the residents to diversify in their farming instead of being “imprisoned to particular cash crops”.

The new beans variety developed by the KARI, matures within 60 days with high yields as compared to the indigenous species.

He said CARD would also train farmers on technical issues to enable them practice best farming methods.

“The seeds will be multiplied to meet the increasing needs of the farmers. We want to wipe out the disease-prone varieties because they are not helping our farmers to develop economically,” asserted Kajwang.

The scene of a landslide that left one person dead and several injured in Murang’a. Picture: Ryan Mathenge

By Ryan Mathenge Owing to frequent catastrophic landslides in Central Kenya’s Murang’a region, the Government has embarked on a mapping exercise to identify the afflicted areas with a view to relocating residents to safe areas.

The ongoing “Geo-Hazard Zoning” exercise is set to bring under control areas that suffer frequent landslides occasioned by the current El Nino rainfall in the expansive Murang’a. It is set to move to other suspect regions of the country.

Harun Maragia and Harry Ndidirigi, both geologists from the Department of Mines and Geology, say many of the people residing in the suspect areas usually ignore

advice to relocate, leading to catastrophes.

A Class Five girl student, Miss Julia Wanjiru, was buried alive at Maria-ini Village in Murang’a soon after the onset of the rainfall last week. The geologists told the Murang’a East District Commissioner George Natembeya that parents at Warugara Primary School in Mathioya had ignored advice to relocate their children to safer grounds.

The Central Provincial geologists detected deep cracks across the school’s compound during an inspection visit, and subsequently advised parents to remove the children and relocate them to safer areas.

The advice was ignored.

Murang’a, they say, has in the past ten years regularly witnessed landslides during

and after heavy rainfall. Some have heeded the advice and include at least 200 families from Maria-ini village who recently agreed to relocate until the rains subside.

Several roads in the region have been damaged and rendered impassable. The Tuthu-Kanyenya-ini Road in Kangema has, as a consequence, been closed after a massive landslide.

The geologists are asking residents in the risky areas to keenly monitor the behavior of their domestic animals who have such high sensitivity that they start shivering and running around in a frenzy once they detect earth movements. Dogs and cows, they say, always run away before the tremors occur.

Laikipia farmers get insurance cover for crop failure

By Paul Mwaniki For the first time ever, small scale farmers have been given insurance cover against the effects of drought on their crops.

Farmers from Laikipia East District recently received their first payouts in a programme that has been made possible through a product designed by UAP Insurance in partnership with Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture.

Over 200 farmers who registered for the scheme had to undergo training on conservation agriculture which entails farming with minimum soil disturbance to reduce loss of moisture.

The farmers were required to register their farming season and the nature of crops to be insured. They also had to buy eight kilogrammes of maize seed brand that does well in the region with sponsorship from Syngenta.

“The deal we were given as farmers is to purchase eight kilogrammes of ‘Duma 43’ maize seeds from Syngenta and plant them using the conservation agriculture mode of farming to qualify for the crop insurance,” said Ms Jane Simon, a farmer in the region.

Following the persistent drought that has hit the country and especially Laikipia region, all the farmers who insured their crops will receive seeds worth KSh2,275 each.

Speaking during the seeds presentation ceremony at Simon’s farm in Sweet Waters in Nanyuki, UAP Head of Marketing and Distribution, Mr Joseph Kamiri says the company has developed the product for the Kenyan market in conjunction with Syngenta Foundation.

Mr Joseph Ndegwa, a farmer from Matanya, Tigithi Division said were it not for the product he would have moved out of farming this season since he had harvest-

ed nothing.

“I bought eight kilogrammes of seeds which qualified me for the insurance at a cost of KSh1,360. There were no rains leading to crop failure, but now I have been compensated with seeds which I planted at the onset of the short rains,” explained Ndegwa. He added: “I like the way they are paying us by giving seeds instead of money. This is because currently every person has been left destitute by the drought and there are many things one would like to buy so by giving seeds they are doing for us the best thing ever.”

To monitor weather conditions in a season, the partners have set up a digital weather station in one of the client’s farm, covering a radius of 20 kilometres within which other clients’ farms are located.

Costs are kept down through the use of the automated weather stations, which precludes expensive field visits to farms to

ascertain risk and loss.

Under the novel system, farmers register their purchases of seeds by sending a Short Message Text (SMS) to a phone number provided by UAP. “The weather stations then monitor the climate and alert the insurance company of impending crop failure and subsequent compensation where each farmer is then informed via SMS about the payouts,” explained Ms Rose Goslinga, Syngenta Foundation Insurance Coordinator.

She noted that with the success of the pilot project in Nanyuki, a lot of interest had been generated among farmers, with many expressing confidence in the programme that is planned for expansion to other parts of the country next year.

The farmers are also set to take additional insurance in the face of the ongoing El Nino rains in the country, in the event that crops are destroyed by the excess rainfall.

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Unfiltered, uninhibited…. just the gruesome truth

ISSUE 006, November 16-30, 2009

Francisca Akumu: A mother with 30,000 births to her credit

offers to those who have not been able to get pregnant to conceive.

Age is now catching up with the 75 year-old and she is now facing challenges as her eyesight has started failing her.

However, she has trained three assistants, two of whom are her daughters who are married nearby to carry on with the good work in case anything happens to her.

Most of the clients interviewed appreciate the role Akumu plays in the village. “Huyu mkunga amenisaidia sana.

Amezalisha watoto wangu wote (This traditional birth attendant has helped me a lot. She has helped deliver all my children),” says Patricia Nangulu.

Nangulu prefers being attended to by Akumu because she is experienced and knows how to handle her patients well, “unlike the hospital nurses who are always harassing mothers in labour”.

The same sentiments are echoed by 28 year-old Alice Angelina, a mother of two.

Francisca Akumu (left and inset), 74, has been a traditional birth attendant for the last 54 years and not about to give up. Here she is “I like being handled by the being assisted to lay out herbs that she uses in post birth complications. Picture: Gilbert Ochieng Akumu because she is experienced and caring,” says AngeBusia District Hospital administration de- as most of them are unable to afford

By Gilbert Ochieng’ lina, adding that the traditional fied all odds and summoned her to join them,” she says, but notes that this is due birth attendant has saved her and others Expectant mothers in the obscure Mundu- a team of staff deployed at the maternity to poverty. the trouble of having to walk all the way She has often been forced to charge to Busia District Hospital, which is some lusia Village in the nondescript Bukyayo wing way back in 1982.

“The hospital administration recog- when necessary so she can raise money to five kilometres away.

West Location, Busia District, are all smiles nised the role I play in Mundulusia Village buy the said items. She notes that the cost despite the pathetic conditions they live in.

In recognition of her exemplary role The reason for their smiles is heightened and its environs, prompting them to invite of the said basic items has skyrocketed to mothers at the grassroots level, Akumu by the presence of 75-year-old Francisca me to work alongside health staff in the a great deal due to the current economic has been accorded the responsibility of situation.

Akumu Baraza. The women are confident maternity wing,” Akumu says. being in-charge of Mundulusia Moblie “Even though I am offering voluntary Clinic, a few metres away from her homeShe has since attended several seminars that any time their labour pains begin they and training workshops organised by the services, at times I am forced by circum- stead. know that they are in safe hands.

As one approaches Akumu’s humble health facility at the Busia Hospital and stances to charge a small fee ranging be“I have accepted the responsibility behomestead, one is, more often than not, Matayos Health Centre. She has also been tween KSh300 and KSh400 to enable me stowed on me by the district hospital and greeted by the cries of mothers in the awarded a certificate of excellence in rec- to purchase some basic items like gloves, I consider the gesture as a great honour,” cotton wool, clips and cleaning detergents Akumu says as she expresses readiness to final stages of their perilous nine-month ognition of her work.

A mother of 12 — six sons and six among other items,” she says. journey. sacrifice her time and energy to serve the “The small amount of money I earn needy for as long as she will live.

Born on some day she can’t remember daughters — Akumu has played this role in January 1933 at Namwitsula Village, for the last 54 years in which she has so far gives me my daily bread. I have also been She is calling on her colleagues to serve Butula Division, Busia District, Akumu helped deliver at least 30,000 babies, an av- able to build my home,” she says, adding patients diligently and selflessly without ventured into traditional birth attending in erage of two babies a day from the time she it has also enabled her pay school fees for expecting any monetary gains from them her children. ventured into the field.

1954 when she was only 21 years old. since most are poor and cannot afford the Akumu has an assortment of herbal charges.

Her services have not been restricted to “I was introduced to the art of delivering babies by my late mother when I was within Kenya’s borders. Apart from Busia- medicine she gives to her patients whenAkumu is appealing to the Govern21 years. I soon developed a serious inter- Kenya, she has attended to other clients ever they develop any complications. ment to recognise the role the TBAs play “I have enough stock of herbal medi- in the society. est in traditionally related births and by drawn from the Busia across on the Ugancines that I give to my patients in case they the time mother died, I had mastered the dan side.

“The Government should recognise Akumu speaks of the challenges she develop any complications after giving the role traditional birth attendants play art and was familiar with all the traditional herbs that form part of the practice,” Aku- faces as a traditional birth attendant. She birth,” Akumu says. She adds: “I also use in the society and if possible consider complains about some patients who come the herbal medicines to cure polio and ab- lifting the ban they recently slapped on mu recalls.

Not ready to let down her teacher, Aku- to her without the basic items required for dominal pains in new-born babies.” us,” Akumu says, adding that they should However, whenever the patients develop be allowed to work in conjunction with mu has carried on her job with zeal from child delivery forcing her to use her own complications that she cannot handle, she the health staff at various maternity hosmoney to purchase the said items. where her trainer and mentor left.

“At times I am compelled to use my refers them to the Busia District Hospital.

The traditional birth attendant (TBA) pitals both at the grassroots and district She also has herbal medicines that she levels. has gained popularity to an extent that the own money to acquire the needed items

ISSUE 006, November 16-30, 2009

Unfiltered, uninhibited…. just the gruesome truth

Jigger menace frustrating almost 2.6 million Kenyans

Ms Esther Murugi, Minister for Gender, Children’s Affairs and Social Development cleans the hands of a victim of jigger infestation in Murang’a. She is urging ministries of Public Health and Provincial Administration to help eradicate jiggers in Central Province.

By Wilfred Muchire As most Kenyans grapple with food insecurity and the general harsh economic times, a significant section of citizens is under siege from a relatively unique challenge.

They are reeling from the debilitating jigger infestation that has literally turned the lives of an estimated 2.6 million Kenyans — mostly children under 12 years of age — into pure hell.

Calls are now coming out for the Government to declare the menace a national disaster. Of the estimated 1.6 million infected children, close to 150,000 are reported to

have dropped from school due to the physical disability occasioned by the tiny fleas, scientifically known as Tunga penetrans.

They are also referred to as chigger, chigoe, bicho do pé or sand flea.

It is the female flea that usually transforms into jigger and feeds by burrowing into the skin of its host. The abdomen becomes enormously enlarged between the second and third segments so that the flea forms a round sac with the shape and size of a pea.

In most cases, the impregnated female tunga, embeds itself in the skin under the toenails and fingernails of the host, mostly human beings although dogs, cats, rats,

pigs, cattle and sheep can host it. An infestation begins to irritate and itch when it’s almost fully developed.

Within a few weeks, the flea slowly enlarges into a white, pea-sized nodule with well-defined borders between 4-10 mm in diameter which generates to a lesion which, at times becomes extremely painful.

Such is the intense pain that the victims is immobilized — unable to walk or handle anything as the limbs are severely inflamed with the parasite. If not addressed in early enough, the condition could lead to loss of fingers, toes and amputation of whole limbs.

There is also the risk of secondary infections with tetanus being the most common.

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Once inside the host’s body, the jigger releases scores of eggs through an exposed opening and fall on the ground. The eggs hatch on the ground in three to four days.

In three to four weeks, they go through their larval and pupal stages and become adults.

The complete life cycle of a jigger lasts about a month.

The major cause of jigger infestation is poor hygiene. This in turn leads to inability to carry out normal day to day activities, stigmatization which leads to low esteem and disease infections such tetanus.

HIV may also be transmitted through the use of unsterilized tools in the removal of jiggers.

The treatment consists of the extraction of the entire intact parasite as breaking it causes inflammation and possible reinfection. The best recommended treatment for jigger attack is to soak the affected body part in a solution of disinfectant for about 15 minutes every day for about two weeks.

For a complete eradication of the parasite, dwellings of the victim should be thoroughly fumigated, along with strict enforcement of hygiene that’s the primary preventative measure.

Ahadi Trust, a volunteer organization that has been working with the Government in the eradication of jiggers in parts of Central Kenya, estimates that about 260 people have died in the region in the past two years.

The organisation’s coordinator, Mr Stanley Kamau, says the Government should declare the menace a national disaster, arguing that about 100 victims are hospitalized every month. Central Kenyan leads with the highest number of infestation followed by Coast Province.

“There is no meaningful development that can take place if the menace is not addressed,” says Kamau.

Cabinet minister Esther Murugi whose Ministry of Gender, Children Affairs and Social Development is campaigning against the menace, says various Government agencies should join in the fight.

“We need to incorporate other sectors like the ministries of Public Health and Provincial Administration in fighting the menace. The figures given on those affected and the effects are worrying,” Murugi says.

Parents, teachers to blame for rising teenage pregnancies

By Ben Oroko Jane Mokeira (not her real name), a teenage girl, warmly dressed complete with a woolen cap, emerges from the kitchen and walks straight to the utensils stand next to the vegetable garden.

Behind the grass-thatched house in the remoteness of Boigesa Village, Gucha District, the sound of pans and mute cries of an infant are heard in the background as dark smoke billows into the morning fog.

Nine months ago, Mokeira, 16, then a Standard Six pupil dropped out of the local primary school due to pregnancy.

With the comfort and counsel from her mother — a single parent, family members and friends, Mokeira was able to drop her earlier plans to procure an abortion to avert shame of becoming a mother at such a tender age. She instead accepted the dark chapter of her life and gave birth to a baby boy.

Seated inside the kitchen, Mokeira, now a young mother, bravely picks up

her three-month-old son from a mattress on the floor and begins to suckle the infant whimpering from hunger.

In hindsight, little did she know life would one day take such a chilling turn at the time when she hoped to complete her education and join the coveted medical career as a doctor.

It all started when a male teacher in school befriended her. He started taking her for outings on weekends, during sports and school music festivals. Their love affair grew intimate and the teacher started dating her at his rental house in one of the market centres in Gucha District.

The sad affair went awry when the young and naive girl discovered too late her teacher had impregnated her.

“I cannot believe how my life has been turned upside down by someone who had the responsibility of guiding me to my future life,” laments Mokeira. “I blame it all on this shameless teacher for exploiting me sexually, only to leave me a dejected teenage mother with my son having nobody to

call his father.”

She is, however not alone. There are dozens of such innocent and ignorant young school-girls who have either been impregnated by their boyfriends or teachers. They are then abandoned in the villages with the challenge of bringing up the children on their own after the fathers disappear.

Jane Kemunto, a parent, attributes teenage pregnancies among many school girls to lack of information on sex. “It is taboo in some communities to openly talk about sex. It is a hidden subject and it is treated with a lot of secrecy,” says Kemunto.

Majority of the parents are shy and do not openly talk with their children about matters related to sexuality, leaving that role to schools.

How can a girl conceive and carry the pregnancy for several months and even give birth in school without teachers’ knowledge, especially the female teachers who are supposed to conduct routine check ups on the progress and status of the girl-child’s reproductive health.

Edina Ongeri, a student in one of the colleges in Kisii blames teenage pregnancies on lack of curricula on sex education in schools despite the Government’s intensified anti-HIV/Aids public awareness campaigns.

Ongeri says parents and female teachers are to blame for the rising early pregnancies in schools as they abdicated their role of guiding and counselling adolescent and teenage girls on matters of sexuality.

Some of the parents interviewed expressed fear that rising cases of teenage pregnancies in schools may not be curbed successfully if parents continued entering into secret monetary compensation with the perpetrators of the vice at the expense of the girls’ education and future careers.

One of the parents claimed that most of the guardians whose daughters have been impregnated do not want the law take its course. They are instead easily compromised with money by young men and teachers who impregnate their daughters.

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ISSUE 006, November 16-30, 2009

Unfiltered, uninhibited…. just the gruesome truth

Lucky escape from the hangman’s noose

By Gilbert Ochieng’ When Hemedi Mohammed Omar ventured into the clearing and forwarding business at the border town of Busia in 1972, he had every reason to stick to the trade as it had turned out to be lucrative and rewarding.

Little did the 60-year old know that some people with selfish designs would land him and his colleagues into trouble.

“After eight years on-the-job training in clearing and forwarding at Muki and Sons, Mombasa, I returned to Busia in 1972 and teamed up with some of my colleagues to engage fully in the business,” says Mohammed.

Thereafter, they did booming business that entailed sourcing coffee from Uganda to Kenya and would later sell to clients in Western Province.

“Early 1976 we purchased 480 bags of coffee valued at KSh1.8 million from Uganda which we sold to one of our clients, an Arab from Webuye,” says Mohammed.

The Arab did not have the cash at the time, and instead offered to accommodate them in a hotel for the night. But on proceeding to collect the money the following day as earlier agreed, Mohammed and his colleagues were shocked to find themselves surrounded by plain clothes police officers. They were arrested and driven to Kakamega Police Station under tight security.

“We had the premonition that our Arab client had struck a deal with the police aimed at implicating us to ensure we lost our valuable consignment,” he explains.

At the police station, they were taken to a room, had their feet tied with a rope and forced onto chairs. They were then tortured to admit they had smuggled the coffee from Uganda. The torture included application of hot pepper on their genitals.

“With our hands and legs tied, we could not scratch the itching private parts so we had to brave the unbearable pain,” Mohammed recalls.

They were later taken to Kisumu Law Courts and charged with robbery with violence as well as being in possession of three guns and 180 rounds of ammunition.

“I wanted to defend myself but the magistrate declined to take the plea. He directed me to wait for the hearing.”

They were locked up at Kodiaga GK Prison, Kisumu where they had to endure the tough prison life for two years.

Mohammed survived the bad food, lice, jiggers, the once-a-month shower and denial of fresh air due to what he calls “strong faith in God”.

“My hair had overgrown and I resembled a Mau Mau freedom fighter,” he says.

The case came up for hearing between April 1978 and November 27, 1978 during which he had engaged the late criminal lawyer, Mr S M Otieno to represent him at a KSh75,000 fee.

“I lost the case and was given a death sentence, but I think my lawyer may have been compromised,” he says.

One colleague was acquitted for lack of evidence but the rest were returned to Kodiaga. The following day, they were transferred to Kamiti Maximum Security Prison, Nairobi where they were thoroughly beaten by the inmates on arrival.

“Two weeks later, a serious misunderstanding arose between the inmates and the warders over ill-treatment. This saw us transferred from Block A to the most condemned Block G as part of the disciplinary measures.”

Reinforcement was brought in from King’ong’o, Naivasha, Industrial Area and Athi River prisons to help restore discipline.

“The warders formed a human wall of two lines each armed with anti-riot gear and we were made to pass between them with the officer-in charge as the referee,” says Mohammed.

“With a whistle in hand, the officer shouted instructions to warders to count the dead as they whipped and assaulted those of us that were still alive,” he recalls.

Those that survived the beatings were left with broken hands, legs and missing teeth.

The inmates of Block G, thereafter, due to mutual suspicion and could hardly talk to each other. Serving of food was confined to Maasai inmates as they were trusted not to divulge information.

“The Maasai inmates had been instructed to pour dust in our porridge which was too hot and whoever delayed to sip the porridge would be subjected to thorough beatings.”

Mohammed developed a swelling on his neck which later turned out to be goiter.

He subsequently became semi-paralysed

Hemedi Mohammed Omar who was to be hanged but was saved by a presidential pardon

and could neither go for long call, sit, eat or breathe without difficulty.

His attempts to explain his condition to the Block G officer in charge were scuttled by a warder who said he (Mohammed) was an illegal immigrant from Uganda.

The warder claimed he was a Nubian soldier under the late Idi Amin Dada. Mohammed’s fate was sealed, but fortunately not for long as the officer was replaced by a man who gave him a hearing.

“The new officer summoned the Medical Officer in charge at Kamiti Prison. He examined me and recommended that I be taken to Kenyatta National Hospital for further treatment.”

The growth was successfully removed at the hospital. He, however, had to recuperate at the institution for two years and was only released back to Kamiti Prison sick bay in 1982.

One morning, the prison boss, a Mr Mathenge came to his bed accompanied by several warders, leaving him with the certainty that his time for the hangman’s rope had arrived.

“I said my last prayer in readiness to meet my maker in paradise. Surprisingly, the officer in charge who came loaded with files, picked my file, number 781/78. He perused the file and told me I had been pardoned by then Head of State, President Daniel Moi in 1982.”

The truth of the matter was that the sentence had actually been reduced from to life imprisonment. He was later to serve another 21 years of the life sentence, he was once again pardoned and finally set free by President Kibaki on April 17, 2003.

“After my release, I went to a nearby

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, Rahma Maingi, Odhiambo Odhiambo, Ryan Mathenge, Gilbert Ochieng, Paul Mwaniki, Bem Oroko, and Wilfred Muchire

mosque as it was too late. The Imam in charge of the mosque provided me with a place to sleep. The following day, I contacted my daughter by then a traffic police officer based at Gigiri Police Station but who currently works at the United Nation office in Nairobi and she came for me.”

The former convict who had escaped the hangman’s rope by a whisker, stayed with the daughter for a while before she put him on a Busia-bound bus for him to go back to his home village.

“On reaching home, I was shocked to find my brothers had disposed of all the land that had been allocated to me,’’ he says.

“Now I have no land to my name and the situation has compelled me to rent a house in Busia town where I am living with my family,’’ says Mohammed.

He is, however, grateful to the District Probation Officer, Mr Harun Kiptuisang who has been a source of inspiration ever since he came out of prison.

“The Busia District Probation Officer provided me with carpentry tools worth over Sh10,000 which has enabled me to put a furniture workshop at Mundika Trading Centre, 10 kilometers from Busia town along the main Busia-Kisumu highway.”

Mohammed had four wives and seven children, but on returning home, he found two of them had died and the rest had decided to go elsewhere.

“The children failed to go to school and they also failed to get parental love and care, but I thank God for keeping them alive to date,” he says. He has now remarried and the new wife is determined to take good care of the children.

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