Reject Online Issue 16

Unfiltered, uninhibited…. just the gruesome truth

ISSUE 016, April 15-30, 2010

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April 16-30, 2010

ISSUE 016

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

The gold diggers Sitting on top of mines, Masara residents search for the elusive wealth

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By Fred Okoth

old is a precious mineral.

Those who have come across it, owned it and sold it, know that it can make one an instant millionaire.

And this is why the residents of Masara, Migori District have never tired in searching for it years on end, hoping to break from the cycle of poverty.

But the Migori residents are not alone.

This is the scenario to be found in many Third World countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Liberia and Sudan among others.

A walk through Masara will reveal huge mounds of earth and rocks in a patchwork of caves and mines — physical proof of the local people’s haphazard prospecting for the precious metal.

“It has always been like this since I was born,” says Mr Raphael Abich, leader of a local mining group, adding, “life in the entire area has revolved purely around gold.”

However, there is little to show for the tonnes of gold that have been mined over the decades, dating back to the beginning of the last century.

During a visit to the mines, the Reject espied a group of youth, barely in their teens, covered in dust, busy chipping away from huge rocks and grinding them into a powder. A few metres away another group was busy excavating rocks from a deep cave.

According to Peter Owuor, 15, he had little choice but to come to the mines immediately after his Class Eight final examinations.

“No one could pay my secondary school fees,” says Owuor who managed to score 241 out of the total 500 marks. He had no other option but to move into the mining industry.

Together with both his parents, every morning they head for the mines until late in the day. While his father and other elderly men enter the caves to excavate the ore, Owuor and his peers chip and grind the rock into powder.

His mother and other women are charged with the task of drawing water from a nearby well. It is then mixed with mercury and used to wash the dust to separate the gold.

Youth extract ore at the Masara mines. due to lack of fees, young people drop out of school to work in the mines. Child labour is no longer an issue of contention in masara region. Picture: Fred Okoth

On a good day, Owuor takes home KSh150. When added to what his parents make, the family is able to meet most of its daily basic needs. Theirs is considered a relatively lucky family.

Safety regulations Asked whether he feels unsafe engaging in the relatively dangerous undertaking without any safety gear, the young man says it is a hazard all miners are aware of.

He points out that in any case, the miners can hardly afford mining gear, given their meagre earnings. And unlike South Africa and other nations with well-established mining industries, the region lacks modern procedures and equipment to detect gold ores before actual mining starts. Decisions on where to dig for the gold are based on speculation and guess work.

Most of the time, however, things are not rosy as there are instances when the miners have had to dig depths of 100 feet or more and come up empty.

When that happens, they simply move on because that is life.

“We simply speculate and dig to see what we can get,” says Peter’s father, Mr William Owuor, adding that in most cases, luckily, some traces of gold, however miniscule, are struck.

Most of the time, however, things are not rosy, as there are instances when the miners have had to dig to depths of 100 feet or more and come up empty handed.

“When that happens, you simply move on because that is life,” says the senior Owuor philosophically, with eyes firmly glued to a mine close by, one he believes holds promise.

Heavy rainfall is one challenge that brings mining activity to a complete standstill. The activity only resumes after the deluge ceases to allow draining of water from the flooded mines by use of generators.

Continued on page 2

Unfiltered, uninhibited…. just the gruesome truth

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ISSUE 016, April 16-30, 2010

Clergy to monitor devolved funds

By Musembi Nzengu Alarmed at the alleged imprudent use of government devolved funds in Mwingi North, the local clergy has resolved to jump into the fray and ensure transparency and accountable utilisation of the money.

The clergy have successfully quested for inclusion in local institutions charged with the task, to ensure equitable and judicious utilisation of the funds in the Mwingi North Constituency whose Member of Parliament is Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka.

In a pact signed between the Mwingibased Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRCE) and the Mwingi Pastors Associations, the latter was enjoined in a social audit campaign to check the fiddling of project funds.

The partnership was concluded at a meeting at the CHRCE offices, where the clergy was represented by Rev John Muli of the International Revival Evangelical Church and Moses Ngei of the Breakthrough International Church.

Earlier, local church and human rights representatives had expressed concerns at the use of the funds, saying the exercise was neither transparent nor prudent.

This was stated during a meeting at the Mwingi Human Rights Networks that was co-chaired by CHRCE officials Mr Daniel Muoti and Ms Florence Ndeti.

Muli and Ngei concurred there was a glaring lack of accountability in the way devolved funds like Constituency Development Funds (CDF) and Local Authority Transfer Fund (LATF) in Mwingi North were utilised hence the need for close monitoring and supervision.

The cleric said the local clergy, who were grassroots leaders, would mobilise the faithful to demand transparency in the implementation of projects funded through CDF and LATF within their areas, and also engage leaders to ensure accountability.

“I would like to assure the support of the pastors both within and without the churches in the campaign, to ensure the CDF and LAFT monies are not fiddled with. We have a network that extends to all corners,” said Muli.

Ngei told the meeting that councillors were notorious for not accounting for LATF projects monies in their respective wards.

“The spotlight should shine on councillors who are notorious for not being accountable in the use of LATF projects money,” said Ngei.

Ndeti had earlier noted that although millions of shillings in devolved funds were disbursed by the government in the constituency, queries abound in the way they are managed, and who the ultimate beneficiaries were.

“The communities are in most cases in the dark about how projects are identified, allocated money and managed, often leading to fiddling with funds, project duplication or stalling of projects. There is need to sensitise communities to get actively involved and monitor projects,” she said.

During the meeting, it was agreed that investigations be conducted into the use of KSh2.35 million allocated from the CDF kitty to rehabilitate the Mwingi town play grounds, and what became of the KSh1.5 million that was allocated to the Mwingi District Hospital.

Father George Marete of Kyuso Catholic Parish during mass.

Picture: Musembi nzengu

Searching for the elusive wealth Continued from page 1

“The rains weaken the caves hence leaving them susceptible to collapsing easily,” explains the old man. According to official records at the Lakeside Mining Co-operative Society (LMCS), the organisation managing the site, about 30 people have died in the local mining tunnels after they caved in on them.

Owuor says interruption on mining activities allows residents an opportunity to go back to the land and try their luck at farming. Unfortunately, the light volcanic soil in the area is not suitable for serious food crop cultivation.

According to the Co-operative’s Programme Director, Mr Odhiambo Opiyo, programmes to educate the miners on the dangers during the rainy season have always been conducted.

The other serious challenge in the region is the rising cases of deaths from HIV/ Aids-related diseases.

That not being enough, an estimated 4,000 children, most of them orphans, are reported to have dropped out of school to join in the ranks of miners. Such is the impunity that child labour is no longer an issue of contention in the region.

Among the people who seem to be making it big from the mines are the land owners. Mr Daniel Okello who owns a plot in the area, earns 30 percent of the monthly proceeds from the mines on his land.

Sale of gold There is also the issue of sales and marketing of the gold. According to the senior Owuor, this is another area where the miners could do with some help.

He says on a good month, the Cooperative Society earns about KSh250,000 from sales, though this could be much more if it dealt directly with the buyers in

Migori, Eldoret and Nairobi. He attributes the low sales to exploitation by unscrupulous middlemen.

“They get KSh5,000 for the same amount they get from us at KSh200,” claims Owuor. He says the miners usually have no option but off-load their gold to the middlemen as they cannot afford to travel to the big towns.

Ms Mary Akinyi is one of the middle people operating in the area. Unlike most of the residents who live in grass-thatched houses, she owns a beautiful permanent house and buys gold from the locals before selling it to licensed dealers in Migori and Nairobi.

“We pay the miners on the spot, collect the gold and go to the dealers in Migori and Nairobi,” Akinyi says, adding that after acquiring the metal, she, like other dealers, must polish the nuggets to remove traces of mercury.

Akinyi strongly defends herself and other dealers from allegations that they make huge profits at the expense of the miners.

She insists the rates paid to the miners are fair but declines to give details.

HIV/AIDS Prostitution takes centre stage in the area during the “high season” that coincides with the long rains. Miners disappear to town as soon as they get paid, only to come back a week later with empty pockets.

“It is part of life here,” Atieno says. She attributes the reckless behaviour to the miners’ belief that they will always go back to the mines and make more money, whatever the circumstances.

And it is this that is leading to high HIV/Aids prevalence in the mines, a trend Akinyi says is worrying as most of the affected people are youth on whom the mining activity is heavily dependent.

According to records at the Migori Dis-

trict Mines Office, there are four mining companies licensed to carry out activities in the region, none of which has started operations.

These are Mid Migori Mining and Exploration Company, Ngira Mining and Exploration Company, International Gold Exploration Kenya Limited and East African Pure Gold Kenyan Limited. The companies have offices within the mines though when visited they were closed and heavily guarded.

“They each paid KSh20,000 for the licenses after agreeing with land owners,” says an official at the district mines office .

According to records at the office, the small scale miners make about KSh100 million per year, which is a fraction of the undertaking’s worth — estimated at KSh1 billion — if best practices, complete with the right equipment, were implemented.

It is pointed out that the use of mercury, for example, only extracts 40 percent of the gold from the ore, instead of 90 percent if the more expensive and highly dangerous sodium cyanide was used.

So far, there are three licensed gold buyers in the region, and even though they all have local names, it is believed they are proxies of influential non-indigenous traders who hail from outside the district.

Industry regulation The senior Owuor faults the Government for doing nothing to support and elevate the mining sector to a worthy alternative to agriculture, despite its great potential. He is of the opinion that this is particularly important, considering the dwindling viability of agriculture in the area.

“With the right machinery, the quantity of gold produced here will be huge,” he says, pointing out that there would be nothing to stop Kenya joining the league of

Mary Akinyi, a gold dealer demonstrates how to measure the weight of gold.

Picture: Fred Okoth

top mining countries of the likes of Ghana, South Africa, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Gold mining in Migori District started around 1910. Currently, a Canadian company, Kansai Mining through its wholly owned Kenyan subsidiary, Mid Migori Mining Company Limited has been awarded two prospecting licenses.

Findings of a geological survey of the Migori area by R. M. Shackleton for the British Geological Survey Overseas in 1938, still forms the basis for the ongoing search for minerals in the area.

Migori District Labour Officer, Mr Peter Otuane, says exploitation of miners by the middlemen has been difficult to stop because contracts are never official. “They hardly commit themselves to any written agreement. The deal is verbal and this situation is hard for us to intervene,” he says, adding that the Government is committed to seeing that the miners benefit from their work.

Unfiltered, uninhibited…. just the gruesome truth

ISSUE 016, April 15-30, 2010

Man, 36, defies age to repeat Form Three

By Joseph Mukubwa Age notwithstanding, a 36-year old Form Four student in Mathira West District has stunned the school administration and colleagues for insisting that he drops to Form Three as he is not ready to take the national examinations at the end of the year.

Mr John Ndehu Wanderi, a student at Ngaini Day Secondary School, argues that he missed classes for most of last term and is, therefore, not qualified to join Form Four.

“I was not in class the whole of last term.

I didn’t even sit for the end of term examinations, so I feel I am not fully qualified for the Form Four class,” says a distraught Wanderi.

He has since appealed to Education Minister Prof Sam Ongeri to intervene to allow him repeat Form Three as he wants to be a KCSE candidate when fully prepared.

“I have urged the school administration to allow me to repeat Form Three since I missed exams last term due to lack of school fees and I do not feel qualified to join Form Four. I hear there are rules in the Ministry of Education that I cannot repeat,” he said.

“I am now appealing to the Education minister to intervene. My age should not matter since age is just a number,” he says.

At the school, one can hardly notice him as he is clean shaven, apparently to mask his age.

Wanderi, an orphan from Endarasha in Kieni West District, joined the school four years ago after having stayed for over 10 years out of school. He sat for Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) in 1992, but could not continue with education due to lack of school fees.

In 2006, he married and was blessed with a child. This was not to last as his inlaws took his wife and child away. He then returned to school, re-energised to continue from where he had left despite the financial difficulties that he still faces. Wanderi lives in a one-roomed shack whose rent he hardly can afford, sleeps on the floor and occasionally goes without meals.

Challenges His biggest challenge as he recommits himself to succeeding academically is finding adequate time to read and prepare for the KCSE next year and eventually proceed to university.

“If they can give me enough time to get prepared, I can do marvelous next year and pass with flying colours. “I want to join a

By Nicholas Odhiambo

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John Wanderi in class at Ngaini Day Secondary School. Picture: Joseph Mukubwa

good university so that I can pursue a conflict management course to enable me address issues like the ones we witnessed during the last General Election,” he enthuses.

His class prefect Jane Wanjiru says: “Wanderi is a very outgoing student and guides other students. We see him as our uncle. It is unfortunate that he is most of the time out of school looking for set books. He has just returned after several days looking for set books.”

His class teacher, Ms Jane Mwangi who has had him under her charge since Form One, says Wanderi has adjusted well with other students and fared well in the first two years until Form Three, when he could no longer afford buying text books and paying fees.

She says that most of the time he at-

tained grades raging from D+ to C, which was commendable considering his destitution. His performance in Biology, Christian Religious Education (CRE) and Agriculture is good.

He, however, faces problems in Mathematics and Chemistry, according to his teachers. As for the student’s request to repeat Form Three, the school principal, Mr Andrew Kang’aru says the issue has to be brought before the area District Education Officer for a decision. He says ministerial guidelines frown on supporting such a decision since class repeats are considered a waste of public funds.

The academic future for Mr Wanderi is not that bleak, considering the fact the Kieni Constituency Development Fund now pays his school fees.

Minister calls for reintroduction of KJSE

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By Jane Mugambi

rime, drug abuse and other vices in the larger Kirinyaga District have been attributed to the high drop-out rate of boys from school.

As a consequence, 70 percent of students sitting this year’s Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination will not proceed to secondary school.

Student asks magistrate for jail term if refused marriage

Minister for Nairobi Metropolitan and MP for Ndia, Mr Njeru Githae lamented the fate of the drop-outs, noting that with no higher education qualification, they stand no chance at employment.

He urged the Government to abolish the KCPE and reintroduce the defunct Kenya Junior Secondary Examination (KJSE) for 14-year olds who would either proceed with high school education or seek employment.

He argued this would be a surer path

to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals number two that targets eradication of illiteracy and attainment of the 2030 Vision.

Githae noted most of the Standard Eight graduates do not proceed with education and are unemployable for lack of both adequate education and experience. Many subsequently turn to drugs, prostitution and other vices, and ultimately end up in jail before they are 30 years old.

secondary school student recently stunned a Homa Bay court, telling the magistrate to jail her if she is not allowed to go and live with her boyfriend.

“I will only leave the court when I am allowed to go and stay with my boyfriend, and if the court refuses then I beg the magistrate to jail me.

I love him so much, he is mine,” she said.

Jackline Akinyi Odhiambo, a Form Three student at Disi Mixed Secondary School in Homa Bay District, told Senior Resident Magistrate Mr Charles Mutai and her mother, that the love she had for her boyfriend, a student at one of the local public universities, was too intense for her to live away from him.

Akinyi had been sent home from school for fees but instead of going to her mother she went to stay with the boyfriend at Shauri Yako Estate in Homa Bay town. He too had been sent home for similar reasons.

On not seeing her daughter home after learning of her expulsion, the mother panicked. She then launched a search for the girl only to learn of her whereabouts. She subsequently reported the matter to the local police station and Homa Bay District Children’s Office.

Arraigned in court The two love birds were arrested and later arraigned in court on a charge of “engaging in immoral activities and cohabiting with a man, contrary to Section 119 of the Children’s Act of 2001”.

She denied the charge, claiming that she had gone to stay with her boyfriend who would be her future husband.

“This is more than just a boyfriend. He is my husband and I will not mind leaving school to stay with him,” she said in court before her mother, a widow and the only breadwinner.

Not even the intervention and pleadings by distressed mother and the Homa Bay Deputy Children’s Officer Mr James Omondi could quell the girl’s stubbornness.

“I love my man and I either be in jail or go with him. Not school,” insisted the girl.

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Unfiltered, uninhibited…. just the gruesome truth

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ISSUE 016, April 16-30, 2010

Demand for Nile Perch sends traders to lakeside

By Odhiambo Odhiambo Increased demand for fish in the European Union markets has pushed up the cost of the delicacy in Nyanza Province.

And fishermen are smiling to the bank because fish processors pay them more due to high demand against the backdrop of low supply.

A kilogramme of Nile ­Perch is now selling for KSh200, up from Sh150 along most of the beaches of Lake Victoria, the region’s major source for the popular fish.

Fish processors from Kisumu and Nairobi are now camping at the disputed Migingo Island in Lake Victoria to buy fish.

They leave their trucks on the mainland beaches of Migori, Nyatike and Suba Districts before proceeding to the island on motor boats.

Fishermen from the lake dock on the island both day and night with fish which they later sell to the waiting processors.

The Fisheries Department records show that at least 12 tonnes of Nile Perch valued at over KSh1 million is beached at the island on a good day, which is often.

However, Migori District Fisheries of-

Farmers call for expulsion of armed herders

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By Boniface Mulu

onflict between herders and farmers is now threatening the peace and quiet in Kitui East District’s Endau and Malalani locations.

The Government is now being called upon to urgently intervene to disarm and expel the herders for invading farm land in the two locations.

The herders said to be of Somali extraction, are also accused of posing a security risk to the Akamba farming communities in the neighbouring Kyamatu location, Mutha Division in Kitui South Constituency and Ukasi Location in Mwingi South Constituency. Similar conflicts in the past have led to bloodletting and wanton destruction of property in many of the country’s semi-arid regions.

Delayed intervention by security forces has, more often than not, abated the conflict and violence.

The concerns were expressed at a public rally at Kinanie Shopping Centre in Endau Location. It was not, however, stated whether the herdsmen were Kenyan or Somali nationals.

The herders are alleged to have robbed a local homestead of three donkeys and one cow but were dispossessed of the animals which were then returned to the owners with assistance of the police. “Those Somalis have a lot of ammunition. They are a threat to our people. Our people are under threat. They are living in fear,” says Mr Stephen Kithuku, the councillor of the Endau/Malalani civic ward, Kitui East (Mutitu) constituency.

Kithuku appealed to the area Members of Parliament, Messers Isaac Mulatya Muoki, Julius Kiema Kilonzo and David Musila to prevail on the herdsmen if peace is to be secured in the region.

No cancer in implants, Public Health ministry assures

By Odhiambo Odhiambo

T Fish farmers harvesting their catch. The Fisheries Department records show that at least 12 tonnes of Nile Perch valued at over Kshs 1 million is beached at the island on a good day, which is often. Picture: Joseph Mukubwa

ficer Mr Simon Munguti says the tonnage sometimes drops to six tonnes during “bad seasons”.

Gloom, however continues to hang over the fortunes of Kenyan fishermen, thanks to the Ugandan marine police who continue guarding the island and collect fish levies despite the unresolved dispute over the island’s ownership.

The officers extort between KSh10 and KSh20 per kilogramme of fish that lands on the island. “Sometimes when the catch is low, we pay up to KSh250 per kilo of Nile ­Perch. We then recover our costs from the exports that we take to the European Union markets,” says Mr Moses Otieno, an agent of a Nairobi-based fish processor.

New mosquito pesticide could soon be on the shelves

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By Charles Njeru

n indigenous plant that promises to be an effective pesticide against the mosquito, is now almost in its final stages of research at the Kenya Medical Research Institute, Kisumu.

The plant known as endod (phytolacca dodecandra), is a native of the semi-arid Turkana in the North Rift region of the country, is currently in its final stages of testing.

The research and testing is being undertaken by KEMRI in collaboration with the Moi University, Eldoret.

One of the researchers, Ms Pamela Were, said field tests have proven that endod can kill mosquitoes in all its life stages.

“Endod is very effective in low doses.

The chemical extraction from the plant has potential to be used as a pesticide. It kills the mosquito larvae within ten hours of exposure,” she explained.

The scientists collected the plants from Nandi Hills. “We noticed that the plant can

be bred where crops are grown, and we have encouraged farmers to do so,” Were said.

She added: “It kills the mosquito in the process and is beneficial especially when malaria cases are on the increase in the lake basin.”

The researchers discovered that the plant also has the potential to induce human abortions, treat gonorrhea and syphilis, and has the potential for the development of anti-retroviral drugs.

“We are almost complete with the final stages and the next step is patenting and a positive response from the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation,” she said.

Were explained: “We believe a certain extract from this plant is the answer for future development of, not just a pesticide against the deadly malaria, but also future drugs.”

The team is using a continuous chemical extraction method in their research. Were did not give the exact name of the chemical due to patent rights. The scientists also plan to publish further findings in an international journal.

he Government has defended family planning methods being used in the country. The Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation singled out implants, saying they are safe and effective, pointing out that they do not have side effects such as causing infertility and cancer.

Currently, the Government provides two types of implants — Jadelle and Implanon — which are two and one rod implants respectively.

However, the Government acknowledged that like any other family planning method, these also do have certain side-effects.

“Some of the side-effects associated with implants include weight changes and irregularity in menses,” the Government said in an advertisement published in the local dailies recently.

These side effects are individualbased and do not necessarily affect every user. Many women are using implants comfortably with no side effects, the ministry explained.

Already, several women in the country have started discarding implants following reports that they were causing infertility and cancer besides other lifethreatening effects.

Some hospitals had started reporting difficulties in convincing women to use the said methods.

But the Government said it procures all contraceptives including implants from reputable pharmaceutical companies, which are World Health Organisation (WHO) certified.

The National Quality Control Laboratories also certifies the quality of family planning commodities before they are released for public use, the ministry noted, adding that it was still committed to ensuring provision of effective and high quality of family planning products in the country.

Medics go without pay for eight months

By Odhiambo Odhiambo

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ive clinical officers in Migori District have not earned salaries since last July following their employment by the Public Service Commission.

The officers say they are stressed, demoralised and cannot adequately attend to patients admitted to the health facilities.

Landlords, they argue, have threatened to kick them out of their houses for non­payment of rent, not to mention a long list of other failed financial obligations.

“Our morale has hit rock bottom. We can no longer pretend to be comfortable at our workplace,” lamented one of the victims who requested anonymity.

But when contacted, Medical Services Permanent Secretary Prof James Ole Kiyiapi said he had ordered for the release of salaries of all clinical officers recruited last July.

“There was a bit of delay in compiling details of the new recruits but I directed that all of them start receiving their salaries from the Treasury,” he said.

Kiyiapi singled out isolated cases such the

one in Migori District and said they would be promptly addressed. The PS said the Government was in the process of improving terms of medical workers with new increments to be announced later in the year.

Kenyan doctors and nurses in the public sector have been moving to other countries in the search for greener pastures due to what they term as pathetic pay in illequipped hospitals.

Kiyiapi also called for patience among the medical workers saying an impressive paper is being worked out at the remuneration board.

Unfiltered, uninhibited…. just the gruesome truth

ISSUE 016, April 15-30, 2010

Ethiopians deported after hunger strike

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By Hussein dido

leven Ethiopian aliens who went on a three day hunger strike in Isiolo for delayed repatriation were recently deported back to their country.

Eight of the Ethiopian nationals had each paid a fine of KSh10,000 at an Isiolo court two weeks ago, as repatriation orders were issued out when they were found to be in the country illegally.

Three others who had failed to pay the fine three months earlier, were detained at Isiolo Prison, and completed a three months jail term a week ago before transfer to a police cell to await deportation.

The exercise was delayed by lack of vehicles after the police were deployed to track down criminals in Meru and surrounding areas.

Mr Melkamu Zewedu, one of the aliens, said they boycotted all the meals in the police cells. The hunger strike had borne fruit as the government had been pressurized to heed to their demands.

“We rejected the meals because police are delaying our deportation back to our country and until we are put on a vehicle heading to Ethiopia we shall not eat food here in Kenya,” said Zewedu.

He added: “We are ready to die of hunger in the police cells because we have paid the fines and they are still keeping us here.”

Police was forced to engage the services of an interpreter to convince the Ethiopians that they would soon be deported back to their home country.

A police officer at Isiolo police division said the station lacked a functioning truck to repatriate the aliens back to Ethiopia. He added that there were no funds to hire a private vehicle to repatriate them back to their country.

However, Isiolo police boss, Mr Augustine Nthumbi, refuted claims of a hunger strike, saying the Ethiopians were not used to Kenyan food and were demanding special diets.

Nthumbi said: “We have been occupied so much as we are using our vehicles in tracking down criminals who have escaped into Meru and its surrounding areas.”

The police chief said the aliens could not be released out of custody and be allowed to travel back to their country on their own. They have to be escorted and handed over to customs officials at the Moyale border point.

“They cannot be released on their own to go back to their country. They have to be escorted by police and handed over to customs officials at the Moyale border point. We have vehicles to transport them and soon they would be gone,” said Nthumbi.

Isiolo is the central point from Moyale where aliens from Ethiopia find their way into the country easily. The Ethiopians have since left the country.

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Parastatal under fire over crocodile attacks

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By Mboya Muthusi

he worst in the challenges that face Kenya’s overworked rural womenfolk recently played out on the banks of Kiambere Dam, Kyuso District when a 35-year-old mother was mauled to death by a crocodile.

The death of Mrs Katindi Seve, who was attacked and dragged to a horrific death in full view of her six children who had accompanied her to the dam, was sadly, not the first, and certainly not the last.

According to Kakuyu/Mukong’a area councillor, Mr Joseph Musyimi, crocodile attacks on both villagers and their livestock were a common hazard along the dam’s banks.

He accused the Tana River Development Authority (TARDA) of culpability by failing to install piped water points for

villagers, away from the crocodile-infested banks.

The councillor said Seve spotted the reptile as she dipped her jerrycan in the water, but ignored it in the belief it was small and harmless. This, unfortunately, turned out to be a fatal miscalculation, as the crocodile suddenly grabbed and dragged her into the dam as the children and other people shouted in a vain attempt to scare off the reptile.

Her badly mutilated body was later found three kilometres from the scene of the attack by Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) wardens from Kora National Park who were called in.

As people continue to die and lose their livestock to reptiles at Kiambere Dam, the call to have TARDA pump water from the dam to a safer place is yet to bear fruits.

AMREF rushes to the rescue of poor schools

Musyimi said he has painfully watched helplessly as people including children get mauled by the reptiles at the dam, yet TARDA has done nothing to finance the piping of the water to safer grounds.

“I am blaming the TARDA for the many lives lost at the dam because it is their mandate to make sure people safely access water at all times,” he said.

Kiambere Dam is the only source of water for the entire Muumoni Division. Since June 2009, four people had been attacked and two lost their lives. Among the dead was an eight-year-old boy.

“We are going to fight TARDA until the minute water will flow from a pipe outside the dam” vowed the councillor, who is calling on the political leadership to prevail upon TARDA to pump water to a point where it can be accessed without people risking their lives.

Be wary of politicians over the constitution, Journalists warned

By Odhiambo Odhiambo

Abraham Mwaniki, deputy head teacher Kivaki Primary School with four of his standard eight pupils. Picture: Muasya Charles

By Muasya Charles Primary school education is tottering on the brink of collapse in parts of arid Kitui District due to lack of teachers, water and critical facilities that include classrooms, pit latrines and desks which has led to a decline in student enrolment and an increase in drop-outs.

These problems could, however, soon be a thing of the past following strong intervention by AMREF in collaboration with the parents to provide the facilities as the Education ministry grapples with the issue of inadequate teachers.

Area Assistant Education Officer (AEO), Mr A. Mutemi said out of every 12 schools in the area, only four schools have the necessary facilities.

“The situation is that bad and unless parents change their attitude towards school development, education standards will never improve,” he asserted, adding, “there was misconception on

introduction of free primary education that needs to be changed”.

Parents’ involvement “Parents should come out of this cocoon of dependency syndrome if education standards are to improve,” he said.

Kitui AMREF acting manager, Mr Simion Kithuku said among the activities the organisation was undertaking is construction of standard classrooms, provision of water tanks and personal hygiene advocacy through Personal Hygiene and Sanitation Education (PHASE) programme.

He said the organisation has helped to build 16 classrooms in eight primary schools and provided water tanks in the institutions to alleviate acute water shortage as part of its roles.

Among the schools that have benefited from AMREF’s intervention are Kasunguni, Kivaki, Nzookoni, Magongo, Kawea, Kandongo, Zombe, and Ngelani. All the institutions are in Mwitika and Mutito Divisions of the Kitui District.

Journalists have been asked not to get sucked into the power games surrounding the on-going debate on a new Constitution.

They should, instead remain impartial and inform Kenyans objectively regarding the proposed laws.

A media workshop organised by the Kenya Human Rights Commission in Awendo, Rongo District noted that politicians were now “settling past and current scores under the guise of discussing the proposed draft”.

“It is time for journalists to stand up and play their role objectively and courageously since politicians seem to be failing the country,” said Ms Victoria Ochanda, a KHRC programmes officer.

This country would only get the desired reforms if the media “stood up as a voice of reason”, she stated.

Police get land for college

T

By Boniface Mulu

he community in Kitui has given the Department of Administration Police about 300 acres from the 30,200 acre Katoteni Trust Land for the construction of a training college.

The land was donated through the county council when 39 civic leaders made the decision at a special full council meeting chaired by the Council Chairman, Mr Nzyoni Mang’uye at the Kitui County Council Hall.

Sixty of the 300 acres for the college are for the construction of a shopping centre and a flower garden within the college compound.

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Unfiltered, uninhibited…. just the gruesome truth

No longer safe Child defilers run amok in South Nyanza leaving a society puzzled

By Carolyne Oyugi What has our society turned into? This is the million dollar question that many parents, residents and authorities in South Nyanza are seeking an answer to. The question arises from a massive wave of child defilement that has hit the region.

The question is not only boggling the community’s mind because even the Government is worried with the trend that it seems to be taking.

“We record at least one case everyday and this is worrying considering the fact that some cases go unreported,” agonises Patrict Isadia, Homa Bay District Children’s Officer.

According to Ndhiwa District Commissioner, Mr Geoffrey Omoding, child abuse has reached alarming proportions in the area and there is need to address the matter urgently.

There are no clear reasons to explain the frighteningly high upsurge in the vice. What is clear though, are the terrible consequences to the young sufferers and the lifelong trauma it leaves on parents, relatives and the community.

Late last year, a five-year-old girl was found dead in a church compound in Homa Bay with bruises allover her body. A postmortem report revealed she was defiled several times before being stabbed to death.

Her 28-year-old mother, Ms Margaret Awuor, has never forgiven the person who committed this heinous crime.

“How can people be so mean and heartless? I wish they came for me and left my

Fallacious beliefs Omoding who chairs the Local Area Council says at least one case of child abuse is reported to the authorities every day. The rate, he says, is too high and attributes it to fallacious beliefs that sexual intercourse with a virgin can cure HIV/ Aids related illnesses.

“The public should be educated and sensitised on this issue,” says Omoding. He adds: “We cannot win this fight if the local people do not know simple facts like how HIV/Aids is spread and cured.”

Omoding warns that days of child abusers are numbered, and advises the offenders to either quit the practice, or face the full force of the law.

The affected districts include Suba, Mbita and Homa Bay where children are no longer safe as the crime takes place in some of the most unexpected places and are committed by some of the most unsuspecting people.

Some of the culprits are strangers to the victims, while most of them are people society expects to take good care of the children.

Parents’ responsibility Such is the fear and alarm that parents are no longer at ease when their children are out of sight for they know not where or with whom their offspring are safe with.

“It has become almost impossible to tell the sheep from the wolf. Our children are defiled by the people we trust and in places that we expect them to be safe,” says Mrs Margaret Omollo, a member of the Homa Bay branch of the Women Fighting Aids in Kenya (WOFAK).

She, however, blames most fathers for absconding their paternal responsibilities and letting their wives take all the responsibilities for their daughters.

innocent daughter alone,” she keeps on saying.

Though the culprit was arrested and charged in court, the wound he left in so many people’s hearts is yet to heal.

This was just one unique case where the suspect was found and arrested. Most of the cases of child defilement go unreported, hence making it difficult for the authorities to take action.

For instance, in Mbita District, a girl was defiled by a truck loader who tricked her into helping him off-load his goods for storage in a shop. The girl innocently accepted the request not knowing what was in store for her. The Standard Three girl was then defiled repeatedly and left bleeding.

Her mother who was ailing at that time, did not detect anything amiss until she found her bloodied clothes when washing them. When asked why she did not report the incident, the frightened girl said the man gave her KSh40, and warned that her mother would cane her if she disclosed what took place.

The mother reported the incident to the police who arrested and charged the culprit with the offence.

Bribes

Some of the culprits are strangers to the victims, while most of them are people society expects to take good care of the children.

Such is the fear and alarm that parents are no longer at ease when their children are out of sight for they know not where or with whom their offspring are safe with.

However, area residents are also blaming officers at the Children’s Department for not doing their work.

“The officers are taking bribes from suspects, hence most cases do not go beyond that office. How does someone accept a bribe from such cruel people?” poses a Mr Okumu, whose daughter was defiled.

When contacted over the allegations, the Ndhiwa District Children Officer, Mr John Kabasa denied the allegations. “I am not aware of any such case but whoever has a solid proof to support the allegations should report to me so I can personally deal with the corrupt officers,” says Kabasa.

There is no age limit for the culprits. In one of the most recent incidents in Ndhiwa District, a 60-year-old man defiled two girls, both aged 10 for several months before he was arrested.

The defiler, a grandfather, devised desperate measures to lure the young girls to satisfy his perverse desires. He would take his herd of cattle for grazing every time the two girls went to fetch water and firewood.

The harmless-looking old man would then convince the girls to join him in the bush and defile them one after the other before giving them fruit juice or sweets to keep the deed secret.

“He did everything he could to gain the innocent girls’ confidence. He would even

ISSUE 016, April 16-30, 2010

Majority of the child defilement cases go unreported. This contributes to repeated abuse of young children.

go to the point of helping them fetch firewood,” says Kabasa.

The most traumatising and painful aspect of these bizarre acts is that the culprits in most cases are blood relatives of the victims. Some of the cases presented at the Homa Bay law courts are shocking.

Daughter defiled A 34-year-old man once appeared before the court for defiling his 12-year–old daughter. According to the wife, who was called as one of the witnesses, she had sent the girl to sweep her bedroom as she washed clothes outside. She soon after heard a commotion and funny noises from the room.

“I could not believe my eyes when I got into my bedroom. My husband was defiling our daughter on our matrimonial bed,” the woman, 30, told the court.

According to the former Homa Bay District Commissioner, Mr Bernard Leparmarai, some of the culprits commit the offence as a form of warped revenge for some perceived problems in their marriage.

He says his office, working with the public and members of the Provincial Administration, recently arrested a father who had been defiling his own daughter.

He says trouble for the girl began when the mother separated from the father due to domestic differences.

“The mother of three departed with the youngest son, leaving the teenage girl and her brother behind,” says Leparmarai, adding that it was then that the father turned on the daughter and exploited her sexually.

Investigations and revelations by the girl indicated that the man, a bicycle repairer, would silence the daughter by telling her he was not her biological father.

The DC says the father would point at a grave in the homestead, to convince the Standard Six girl at a local primary school. ‘Your father is lying in that grave’, he would say, thus ending the girl’s protests.

The defilement came to an end when neighbours reported the matter to the local chief, who then arrested him. The girl, who had apparently resigned herself to the predicament, narrated how the father had been defiling her ever since her mother fled the home three years earlier.

While culprits in most cases of child abuse are older men, cases have been reported of girls being defiled by boys in their peer group.

Police in Homa Bay recently arrested an 18-year-old boy who had been defiling a teenage girl in one of the low-class estates at the district headquarters.

Continued on page 7

Unfiltered, uninhibited…. just the gruesome truth

ISSUE 016, April 15-30, 2010

7

Safety net cast for vulnerable children

By Reject Correspondent At only 20, Rehema Nyamvula Mangale, is a mother of two children of her own but also taking care of her three brothers — two who are under seven years and one an adolescent — following the death of her parents six years ago.

“As the eldest in a family of four children, I was forced to choose between my marriage and returning home to take care of her siblings,” she says.

Government support Rehema opted to quit the marriage and now works as a domestic help in Mombasa, earning KSh2,500 a month. It has not been easy for her. Her suffering attracted support from the Government after village elders and location leaders identified her for support under the Orphans and Vulnerable Children’s Programme.

The Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (OVC) programme has provided a ‘safety net’ for thousands of orphans in the region who would otherwise have been living in abject poverty, dropped out of school, taken to the streets or even died from a myriad of diseases.

Coast Provincial Children’s Officer, Mr Morris Tsuma says the Government programme has recorded success in the region. Thousands of orphans in the region can now lead positive lives without the usual financial struggles associated with their situation.

Beneficiary families will receive monthly stipends of KSh1,500 per child that is disbursed to host households to cater for their educational, health and daily needs.

Every two months, Rehema receives KSh3,000 for each of the two orphans at the Mariakani Post Office where her card is duly stamped.

“With this income, I supplement with theKSh2500 monthly salary I earn and I am now able to cater for the needs of my family including my adolescent brother who stays with the children when I am at work,” Rehema said in an interview.

She adds: “Were it not for the programme, life would have been unbearable since I would have no food or clothing for the children.”

During planting seasons, she uses part of the money to hire neighbours to till the family land and plant maize, yams, cow peas, beans and other subsistence crops for the family.

One of the three goats she purchased recently is already pregnant, and is hoping that soon, the family will have adequate milk supply from the animals.

She also lauds the programme for committing guardians to taking the children for

Orphaned children from Wema Centre, an orphanage run by Mrs. Lucy Yinda in Bamburi. Picture: George Ochieng

regular immunisation and taking them to school to access the free primary education.

“Although I was not lucky to go to school, at least my children and brothers are now able to attend formal schooling because of the program which also cushions me from economic hardships,” she says.

Rehema’s tribulations echo that of thousands of others whose lives have now been changed in a positive way by the Government programme.

Tsuma said 13 districts in the region are currently running the programme. About 811 households are hosting orphaned children in Mombasa, 1,300 in Kwale, 507 in Kilifi, 304 in Kaloleni, 713 Taita Taveta and 415 in Malindi.

“The entire household hosting an or-

phan usually benefits from the funds and the money is not exclusively for the child alone,” he clarifies.

The stipends are meant to motivate the host families to care for the orphans until they come of age, he pointed out.

Among factors blamed for the increasing numbers of orphans in the society includes the HIV/Aids scourge and natural causes such as famine and droughts.

Orphan care The existence of strong social structures in most African communities have in the past seen many of these children cushioned from hopelessness and uncertainties following the deaths of their parents, with orphans being distributed to

“The entire household hosting an orphan usually benefits from the funds and the money is not exclusively for the child alone. The stipends are meant to motivate the host families to care for the orphans until they come of age, he pointed out.”

— Morris Tsuma, Coast provincial Children’s Officer

immediate families for support.

The collapse of such supportive structures have, however, exposed orphans to untold suffering with many forced to drop out of school and others turning to the streets in order to survive.

The OVC programme in the Coast Province exists in 10 out of the 21 constituencies, but plans are underway to scale up the programme to cover more households this financial year.

According to Tsuma, 13 constituencies in the province which have been identified as having the highest numbers of orphans have been placed under the programme during the current financial year.

He identified the beneficiary constituencies as Mvita, Changamwe, Likoni, Kisauni, Msambweni, Kinango, Kwale, Malindi, Magarini, Voi, Taveta, Wundanyi and Mwatate.

The constituencies were identified through a survey by the Kenya Household Demographic survey as having higher numbers of orphaned children, he added.

The guardians who receive the stipends of KSh3,000 per orphaned child every two months are expected to ensure food and other necessities are provided to them without any discrimination.

Child defilers run amok in South Nyanza leaving a society puzzled Continued from page 6

The boy whose family neighbours the girl’s was apprehended after the victim reported the matter to the police.

From the girl’s account, the boy had been defiling her over a long period whenever her father was away. The girl lived with

her father and three sisters.

But when alerted of what was going on, the father would shrug off the issue, abandoning the hapless daughter to untold suffering. She only won a reprieve after she reported the incident to the police following advice from neighbours.

Many victims of the abuse have been forced to live with its adverse effects, including sexually transmitted diseases for failure to report the attacks to the authorities.

Though the government has tried helping the victims by providing counselling

and Post Exposure Prophylaxis [PEP], not many people are aware of such services.

A number of residents interviewed, urge the Government to introduce sex education in the school curriculum, even as talk of sex between parents and their offspring, remains taboo in many African cultures.

Unfiltered, uninhibited…. just the gruesome truth

8

ISSUE 016, April 16-30, 2010

An icon of courage, selflessness

Make the best of your life, says Reuben Lomerok

By Jeff Mwangi When you hear him sing or play musical instruments without seeing him physically you will appreciate at how gifted he is. It is true he is gifted and music to him is almost like the air he breathes as he loves to sing and play musical instruments.

But that is until you see him then you realise that life is never a straight line, not even for the world’s most gifted people. For despite his physical challenges, Mr Reuben Oyani Lomerok has faced life head-on and come out successful. His motto: Never let the challenges of life put you down. And this is the message that he has for physically challenged youth.

measles When The Reject called at his home in Isiolo town, Lomerok began his interesting story. “I was the first child in a family of three children,” he says.

“Although I was born in Baragoi in the Rift Valley Province, my family moved to Isiolo, Eastern Province, when I was either three or four years old,” Lomerok recalls.

He was at the time, a normal and bouncy boy but this was cut short when tragedy struck soon after as Lomerok contracted measles at eight years and lost his eyesight.

“With no hospital within reach, my desperate parents resorted to traditional medicine in their vain attempt to restore my eyesight with concoctions that included a mix of porcupine and crow blood along with other herbal additives,” he explains.

Determination When they realised that their little boy was not going to regain his eyesight, Lomerok’s parents did not give up, they decided to look for an alternative way that would make life comfortable for him even in old age.

With the help of a white farmer in Isiolo, they had him enrolled at Thika School for the Blind, Kenya’s foremost institution for people with such disability.

He successfully sat for his Class 7 Kenya Primary Examination (KPE), now the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education, in 1963 and passed. For Lomerok was a bright child. His ambition was to become either a teacher or preacher.

Impressed by both his positive attitude and good performance, the principal facilitated his admission to Thogoto Teachers’ College, Kikuyu, where he trained as a primary school teacher.

As fate would have it, he found himself posted back to Thika School for the Blind, this time as teacher. He taught here for the next 17 years. He taught music among other subjects. Due to his love for music, he became the school’s band master.

As a teacher in Thika, many great minds passed through his hands. Among his illustrious students are former nominated Member of Parliament Ms Josephine Sinyo, a Commissioner with the Kenya

Rueben Lomerok with a former student in class. Picture: Jeff Mwangi

Human Rights Commission Dr Sammy Tololei, Chairman of Kenya Union for the Blind Prof Chimba wa Munyi and veteran gospel singer and secondary school teacher Ms Mary Atieno among others.

In 1980, Lomerok was transferred to St Lucy’s School for the Blind in Igoji, Meru District where he taught and introduced a school band. After a five-year stint, he toyed with the idea of returning to his Isiolo home to start an integrated programme for visually impaired children. He, thereafter, moved to Wabera and Waso Primary schools, both within Isiolo town to realise his dream.

Lomerok’s next stop was at Hekima Primary School where he taught and formed a school band, before rolling on to Kambi ya Juu Primary School.

“With the assistance of a sponsor I set up a programme for visually impaired children at Kambi ya Juu,” he explains.

This was to be his final station and he stayed here for five years before he retired upon attainment of the then statutory 55year retirement clause.

But like a true teacher, Lomerok has never truly retired from his beloved profession.

“I have remained active, helping tutor and guide blind children and the orphaned,” he says of his busy post-retirement schedule. He adds: “I am also a part-time teacher at a number of private schools and a polytechnic.”

What is unique about Lomerok, a family man with two wives and nine children, is his ability to play different musical instruments at the same time.

His mastery with instruments in the

well-known Katiba song that relates to the ongoing Constitution review process is the work of great skill despite his being visually challenged.

The advice he has for people with disability is that they should fight the disability by staying active. “By so doing, they will be recognised and appreciated for their effort,” he advices.

As for the rest, Lomerok strongly discourages discrimination against disabled persons.

Support He is appealing to well-wishers, the Government and NGOs to help him get musical instruments to start a music school.

“This will help people with different disabilities to positively further their lives rather than resort to begging in the streets,” he opines.

Among Lomerok’s admirers is Samuel Ruchogo, Co-ordinating Itinerant Teacher for Isiolo Integrated Program for Visually Impaired Children. The two met back in 1990.

Since his retirement, the music maestro has been of invaluable assistance to the visually impaired children of Kenya despite the tough challenges that face the Isiolo Integrated Programme that he manages, especially concerning security for traumatised students.

Says Ruchogo: “I am appealing to well wishers to join Lomerok in strengthening the organisation that currently has ten totally blind children and seven others with low vision.” He adds: “People should

The school also lacks sensitisation and requests the local leaders including the clergy, to take up the challenge for the good of the children, many of whom still stay locked away in homes by their parents for fear of stigma.

adopt visually impaired children as they do with normal children.”

Emily Wanja, a Class 5 pupil at the Kambiya Juu Special School which Lomerok started, is as upbeat as any healthy and ambitious girl can be despite being totally blind.

She wears a badge from Oxford University Press for being the best pupil in her class. She is the only member of her family with the disability.

Her school-mate, Joyce, is in Standard One. She too is totally blind and equally unfazed by her condition. She shows off her ability to write the complete alphabet without trouble.

Abdi Kadir is also blind and in Standard Six. Suleiman Adan, a pupil at the same school was born in 1995 has a problem of not having teeth on the upper jaw. An operation was done on him in the 2007 to correct the disability but failed. He again submitted to a similar operation at the Karen Hospital, Nairobi last year courtesy of the compassion Child Development Centre, again with no success. He is, however, still hopeful of success, and appeals for more assistance from any well-wishers.

Grace Nikio, a contact teacher at the school, says the programme that kicked off in 1986, now hosts 15 children including six that are totally blind, eight trained teachers among them two that are also totally blind, and one blind volunteer teacher.

Challenges Among the problems the school faces is the lack of Braille repairer. They are appealing to anyone with the ability to assist. The school also lacks sensitisation and requests the local leaders including the clergy, to take up the challenge for the good of the children, many of whom still stay locked away in homes by their parents for fear of stigma.

Lucy Mungania, also a contact teacher.

She stresses the importance of having braille.

She regrets the parents’ lack of appreciation of further education for their visually challenged children. As a consequence, most do not proceed to secondary school.

Gladys Karoki, a senior teacher, points at the nearby Isiolo River as another problem since the blind children cannot cross its fragile bridge without assistance.

Yet another challenge the institution faces is the poor road that compromises rushing of sick students to the nearest hospital, some eight kilometres away.

Amina Ibrahim, a visually impaired teacher at the school complains the institution is too isolated from facilities such as shops, hospitals and other facilities that are vital for the proper management of a programme with special needs. She urges the government to re-locate the institution to a Government school with easier access to basic needs, including roads, shops and hospitals.

Lomerok is a selfless effort that is crying out for both support and emulation by the Government, NGOs and Kenyans in general.

Unfiltered, uninhibited…. just the gruesome truth

ISSUE 016, April 15-30, 2010

9

Titus Baraza displays some of his artworks. In the country, his pictures fetch between KSh. 3000 and KSh. 6000 while in Europe, he could earn up to KSh. 75,000 for a picture. Picture: Gilbert Ochieng

Art brush replaces the gun

Titus Baraza, a retired soldier makes waves in the arts scene

By Gilbert Ochieng Art comes out of one’s creativity and inspiration. Most works of art fetch very good money and at times many renowned artists have had their works selling for millions of dollars.

For one man who has exchanged his gun with an artist’s brush, the going has not been easy despite high rating of his works by local art museums.

Lack of markets The 64-year-old retired army captaincum-farmer and now full-fledged artist, has interesting views about his fellow Africans.

“It has proved quite difficult to market artwork in Africa as Africans are not lovers of art,” he says.

As consequence of the negativity, he is compelled to dispose of his products at a throw away price because artwork is not highly valued in this country.

And this is despite the high rating and interest his works have received from several art dealers and other institutions.

They include Godown Art Centre, Kuona Trust, African Colours, Spinners Web, Mamba Village, Norfolk Hotel, Nairobi Safari Club as well as Undugu Society of Kenya among other prominent Nairobi-based institutions.

“African Colours called upon me to consider putting my products on the web and I am in the process of doing so,” he says, adding that would save him the trouble of moving about in search for markets.

Titus Baraza, a retired army veteran says he has actively participated in the art exhibitions at Goethe Institute in Nairobi, Sarit

Centre and various Agricultural Society of Kenya (ASK) shows.

“I scooped second position in the national small scale farming competition in 1996,” he says proudly.

Baraza uses locally available raw materials such as the olenge (grass) frames, elephant grass and the bark of an indigenous tree, which he sources from Busia, Uganda, among other products.

His pictures fetch between KSh3,000 and KSh6,000, depending on the size, whereas in Europe the same pictures could earn him $500 — the equivalent of KSh75,000 per picture.

Attitude towards art “I am collaborating with other people as well as institutions but we have not gained much from our art works because Kenya is yet to recognise the role artists play in the society,” says Baraza.

He says the negative attitude toward the arts has discouraged Kenyan artists from coming together to form a common interest group that would eventually enable them to access the much needed funds from donors.

When Baraza was recruited into the

Kenya Armed Forces in April 1966 to undergo a six month intensive training as an officer cadet at Lanet Barracks, least did it ever occur to him that he would, one day, venture into the world of fine art.

Baraza went to Amukura Primary School in Teso District and St John’s Minor Seminary-Rakwaro between 1952 and 1960. He then proceeded to St Peter’s Seminary in Kakamega for his secondary education between 1961 and 1964, where he finally sat for his O Level and attained a Division Two certificate.

“After undergoing a rigorous six month military training at the Lanet Barracks, I proceeded to the United Kingdom for a further two year training at the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst,” says Baraza, who comes from Okatekok village, Matayos Division, Nambale township Busia District.

Upon completion of the course in 1968, he was promoted to the rank of a lieutenant.

Nine years later he rose to the rank of a captain after undergoing several training stints.

Career change Two years later, he decided he had enough of the military and took voluntary retirement to plunge into agriculture,

The negative attitude toward the arts has discouraged Kenyan artists from coming together to form a common interest group that would eventually enable them to access the much needed funds from donors.

— Titus Baraza, retired soldier

engaging in fruits, maize, onions production, along with livestock rearing.

That was until 1996when he ventured into art, his long-cherished love.

“I have always been interested in artwork ever since I was in school. I used to carve several items out of wood during the art and craft lessons and these earned me more marks,” he says, adding he has never had formal training in art.

Baraza was so strongly driven by his love for art that when he toured Europe between August 1966 and 1968 during his military training, he would take every opportunity to sample and study works of art from the rich experience in those countries.

Despite the stiff odds before him, Baraza has managed to form the Busia Environmental Artist Self Help Group that is made up of eight members.

It was registered with the Ministry of Culture in March 2007and has already trained a number of youths in the area.

“Lack of funds is one of the biggest challenges in the effort to promote artwork,” he says. Such is the dearth of funds that he may skip an invitation to a workshop at the Bellagio Arts Centre in Italy next January.

He says the cost of air ticket is definitely out of his reach.

“I am appealing to the Government not to turn its back on artists. It should instead give us the muscle to enable us actively engage in artwork that would, apart from enabling us earn our daily bread, also generate a lot of foreign exchange,” he observes.

He adds that as a consequence, scores of tourists would flock the country to among other things, buy local artworks and create employment opportunities for the youth.

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Unfiltered, uninhibited…. just the gruesome truth

ISSUE 016, April 16-30, 2010

Diversification to bamboo works Monetary benefits of a neglected tree emerge

By Reject Correspondent

It can be used for making jewellery, handicrafts, fencing, raw materials for minor cottages, light industrial use for tooth picks, basket-making and match-sticks among other uses.

In Tanzania and Uganda, the Acholi tribe eat young bamboo shoots during famine.

The shoots are also served as a vegetable dish in a number of African and Asian nations.

In China, the bamboo has been used for ages in the manufacture of pulp and paper.

Indeed, the origins of paper are traced to the bamboo tree.

Yet not many think of it as a tree that can be planted in efforts towards poverty alleviation. One farmer, from the semi-arid lands of Kitui has come to realise that from this neglected tree, he can lead a very comfortable life without having to worry where his next meal is going to come from.

“I have not harvested the bamboo trees yet but my research shows that from one clump of the tree, one can fetch up to KSh5,000 and given that a farmer has 1,000 clumps...” says Mr Masila Kindiu, whose farming exploits are to be found in the semiarid Kisasi Location, Kitui District.

Kindiu has appreciated the novelty of diversification and proceeded to venture into bamboo tree cultivation among other exotic crops.

Farmer Musila Kindiu admires a bamboo plant at his farm in Kisasi location. Inset: Stephen Maingi from KEFRI demonstrates how to propagate bamboo culms through vegetation. Picture: Reject correspondent

Determination His innovative ideas are working with the sole aim of turning his desolate region green. However, life has not always been rosy for the budding farmer, as his farm straddles the Mwiwe River, which has proved to be a threat whenever it floods.

Being the innovative man that he is, Kindiu has been forced to embark on tough options to safeguard his livelihood. He spent a tidy sum to build gabions and concrete walls along the river banks.

A sizeable chunk of his land had previously been rendered useless, compelling him to revert to the relatively prohibitive measures that are way beyond the means of the average Kenyan farmer.

The reclaimed portion is now dotted with nappier grass and various varieties of exotic trees that he believes, will improve soil texture, in addition to preventing soil erosion.

That not being enough, the farmer has planted hundreds of bamboo trees, to not only secure the soil, but also afford him an extra income from an otherwise neglected tree of the dry lands, whose full potential has yet to be tapped.

Source of income “A farmer with 1,000 clumps of the bamboo, stands to earn about KSh5 million in a year, given the estimate of KSh5,000 per clump,” says Kindiu.

He strongly believes that if commercial production of the crop is maximised, earnings from the harvests will outdo maize, beans and other food crops. His views are

His innovative ideas are working with the sole aim of turning his desolate region green.

However, life has not always been rosy for the budding farmer, as his farm straddles the Mwiwe River, which has proved to be a threat whenever it floods.

supported by researchers from Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI).

“Depending on species and conditions of the planting site, bamboo is usually ready for harvesting within nine to 10 years,” says Ms Josephine Musyoki, a researcher at KEFRI. She says following a presidential ban on bamboo harvest in 1986, KEFRI initiated a programme to investigate potential and strategies for its cultivation and utilisation.

Kindiu is one of the farmers in Mwingi and Kitui districts practicing bamboo farming with support from the KEFRI. Spearheaded by the Kitui Dryland Regional Centre, the farmers are now helping provide an alternative to the diminishing timber from exotic and indigenous trees, in addition to restoring the lost bamboo forest cover.

Kindiu says edible bamboo shoots are common in oriental countries especially China, Japan, Taiwan and Thailand, adding that shoots of the tree can be exported to those countries.

KEFRI is advancing vegetative propagation of bamboo as it takes 40 years for the trees to produce seeds. The tree, initially viewed as a weed, has turned out to be a multipurpose plant and a valuable timber substitute.

New species According to the researcher, 18 bamboo species have been established, but only the oxytenanthera abyssinica variety that was introduced from Zimbabwe and Sudan thrives in the country.

Musyoki says: “Research collaboration

between KEFRI and several Asian institutions have come up with 20 more species adaptable in areas where the local bamboo does not thrive.”

Under the funding from the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC), KEFRI is partnering with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) in the East African Bamboo Project (EABP). “The project involves plantation feasibility studies, market research and value addition in bamboo,” explains Musyoki.

A nursery technologist at KEFRI, Mr Stephen Maingi, says culms of bamboo cut for propagation, stay in the nursery for six months for complete development of both roots and shoots.

“The culms are sprayed with pyrinex termicide and completely covered with sand and flooded with water until they start growing,’’ he explains.

The best culm cuttings for propagation are those obtained from the lower and thicker part which has vigour to generate roots and shoots.

A recent marketing study of bamboo products shows that culms of the Alpine bamboo range between KSh100 and KSh150 per culm of six metres. The farm gate selling prize is KSh80 per culm of 6.5 metres. Culms of D. giganteus bamboo species sell at KSh1,400 per culm of 15 metres at the Bamboo Technology Centre (BTC), Thika, while bamboo seedlings sell at between KSh150 and KSh300 per plant, depending on the species and the size.

Unfiltered, uninhibited…. just the gruesome truth

ISSUE 016, April 15-30, 2010

11

Sorghum set to change farmers’ fortunes

By Muasya Charles Two years ago, Ms Dorcas Wambua was a lowly farmer in Yumbisye Village, Kisasi Location. Then she lived from hand to mouth in this semi-arid region.

That was before she started sorghum farming on commercial basis after attending a workshop organised jointly by the Ministry of Agriculture and the East African Breweries Company.

Financial gain Previously, she planted the crop only for domestic consumption as the prices were low and there were no ready buyers.

Today, Wambua earns between KSh15,000 to KSh20,000 from every harvest. “The new buyer is offering KSh20 per kilogramme which is much better compared to three shillings that was the fetching price previously,” says Wambua.

And she is not regretting because many of her household’s need are taken care of.

And Wambua is not alone. A farmer from Songumo Village, Mutomo District, Simeon Makau has increased acreage of sorghum from three to four acres after the East African Breweries moved to buy the gaddam variety. In the last season he harvested 10 bags which earned him KSh18,000. He hopes to double his output this season.

“Our area is disadvantaged by unpredictable rains but since sorghum needs little rain, the new marketing outlet will greatly improve our livelihoods,” says Mutua.

More than 30 farmers in the area have adopted the modern technology of sorghum production and plans are underway to form an association to sell the produce in a central market to avoid exploitation by the middle men. ‘’From the sorghum, I have been able to buy two bulls for ploughing my shamba and hope this will enable me to produce more,” says Mutua. However, apart from the money it can fetch, sorghum has high nutritional value and is a good source for porridge.

Sorghum was initially viewed as a crop for the poor and marginalised in the drought-prone arid and semi-arid regions of Kenya.

Weather change As a consequence, the mostly subsistence crop that had thrived in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, almost disappeared from most of the farms, losing out to maize in the grains sector. However, sorghum is now turning out to be the gold that millions of Kenyans have been looking for, more so after the just-ended catastrophic drought that ravaged most of the country.

And it is all thanks to the good rainfall that graced most of the country in the fourth quarter of 2009, turning the much vilified sorghum into an instant cash crop for both domestic consumption and commercial beer-making.

Sorghum farmers in the larger Kitui District are expected to make impressive profits from sales, following harvests considered the best ever.

An estimated 15,000 farmers in the region are expected to benefit from sale of the crop to the East African Breweries

Dorcas Wambua attends to her sorghum farm in Yumbisye village. Residents in the larger Kitui District have adopted sorghum farming which is attracting good prices. Picture: Muasya Charles

Limited, the region’s leading beer and beverage manufacturer. The firm is reported to be adopting sorghum for use in its beer manufacture instead of barley.

sensitization Farmers in Mwingi, Kitui, Kyuso and Mutomo have been sensitised on the importance of turning to sorghum as a cash crop. It was previously grown in small patches of land, while maize and beans featured as the main food crops.

Africa Harvest and East Africa Breweries Limited recently toured the expansive Mwingi District to sensitise and educate farmers on the novelty of sorghum as a cash earner.

Partnering with East Africa Malting Limited, a subsidiary of EABL, Africa Harvest and Equity Bank, the tour party familiarised farmers on how to maximize sorghum production to enhance the value chain in the country.

Under the programme, the bank disburses small loans to farmers for farm inputs, while Africa Harvest gives technical advice so that farmers produce the best quality to suit the needs of the East African Malting Company.

The use of sorghum in the brewing industry is not new. Its commercial use could not, however, be realised due to the miniscule harvests that were attributed to poor soils and minimal rainfall in its regions of production.

High demand Last year’s short rains season, combined with a strong demand for barley, coupled with high importation costs, compelled EABL to source for sorghum, barley’s alternative.

The programme has taken off in the lower zones of Eastern Province — Kitui, Makueni, Machakos, Tharaka, Embu and some parts of the larger Meru Districts.

Ms Rose Mutuku of Smart Logistics, the firm hired to source the grain from farmers on behalf of the East African Malt, says EABL requires over 60,000 tonnes of barley or sorghum yearly for its beer production.

However, farmers have expressed their reluctance to cultivate sorghum in large quantities over doubts of its economic viability. In the event the programme fails to realise the desired volumes, the beer manufacturer may be forced to import the grain from Tanzania.

Africa Harvest Technology Deployment Director, Dr Rose Njeru says they distributed seeds to the farmers last year. She hopes the enhanced sorghum sales will greatly boost incomes of the poor peasant farmers, in addition to realising the potential of the otherwise neglected sorghum grain.

EABL distributed 20 tonnes of the gaddam seeds of the white sorghum variety, which is ideal for brewing. Once harvested, the firm committed itself to purchasing the crop through 50 collection centres.

Dr Florence Wambugu, Chief Executive Officer of Africa Harvest, expects farmers to improve their harvests if they stay true to the training and advice they received from the experts.

Like most farmers, Mr Muthengi Mutua of Mwingi says after attending an awareness creation session on sorghum production by Farm Africa, he devoted six acres to sorghum and managed to harvest a total of 30 bags of 90 kilogrammes each. He sold the harvest for KSh17 per kg.

“Other farmers have borrowed my idea, and are now enjoying the benefits,” says

Mutua. He now plans to increase the acreage under sorghum.

Local leaders are now encouraging farmers to plant traditional food crops other than maize and beans, to improve their incomes and enhance food security.

Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka advised farmers to work in partnership with local agencies and companies to exploit the neglected potential to improve their livelihoods.

He, however, cautions beer brewing companies interested in sorghum to ensure that the farmers are paid in time to motivate them.

Local production Members of Parliament, Messrs Kiema Kilonzo (Mutito) and Isaac Muoki (Mutomo) say the Government should impose heavy taxes for barley importation as a way of encouraging sorghum production in the country. Sorghum production is gaining momentum as a KSh1.3 billion global scientific research on improvement of the grains gets under way. The project aims at developing more nutritious and easily digestible sorghum varieties for different regions through genetic engineering.

Under the Africa Bio-fortified Sorghum (ABS), nine global scientific research bodies have come together to develop the nutritional value of sorghum. The bodies involved in the research include Kenya’s Africa Harvest, South Africa Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Pioneer Hibred International and the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) based in Iowa, USA among others. The researchers say if the project succeeds, it will improve the health of nearly 300million poor people in the world, as the grain is rich in vitamins.

Unfiltered, uninhibited…. just the gruesome truth

12

ISSUE 016, April 16-30, 2010

Ikutha: The slavery transit point

The historical Ikutha African Inland Church.

The site will be refurbished without altering its original architecture.

Inset: A tourist is shown the Ikutha AIC historical site. KWS has opened a gate from Tsavo National Game Park near Ikutha as the site is of great interest to tourists.

D

By Muasya Charles

espite its great significance to the country’s history, Ikutha Market in Ukambani, Eastern Kenya, is relatively unknown to most Kenyans other than those with a keen interest in its past history.

History

However, this market has very important historical relevance. It bears significance to the infamy of the slave trade that ravaged the region in the 19th Century. Ikutha Market was the gateway for slaves en-route to the Port of Mombasa for shipping to the Middle East and the West.

Amazingly, a building that dates back to 1895, and in which human trade was transacted, still stands firm, defying time and the baking hot temperatures that typify most of the semi-arid region.

It is a building that harbours dark secrets of the trauma and untold suffering that thousands of hapless men, women and children endured as they were brutally driven to slavery in foreign lands.

Catchy decorations bedeck its concrete gate, belying the human tragedy and catastrophe that befell the hapless victims of slavery prior to the coming of the Christian and colonial explorers, and the anti-slavery crusade that followed.

The inscription “African Inland Church founder Johannes Hofman historical site and cemetery 1895-1914” emphasises the advent of Christian Church in the region and Kenya at large, in the wake of the slave trade.

At the site are the remains of one of the world’s famous and renowned German

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missionary and explorer Johannes Hofman’s family members, who died there after the missionary was taken back home as a prisoner of war by the British Colonial authorities.

It is here that the African Inland Church has its origins before spreading to other parts of the country in subsequent years.

Tourist attraction The building is of great significance to the church followers, who have come to regard it as a sacred shrine even after a modern church building was constructed next to it.

History has it that the wife, children and helpers of the missionary were buried at the site during the First World War. The ruins of the buildings left behind by the missionary are in the process of being refurbished by the local county council, with an eye to making it a tourist attraction, especially for visitors from Germany.

Five graves dot the compound that is overlooked by a modern church building and a girls’ secondary school. The church and the school were built in memory of the missionary through the assistance of former President Daniel Moi, himself a devout AIC adherent. Moi presided over a fundraising meeting at which money was raised for the project.

Historians believe the Rev Hoffman and his wife Emilie, were following fellow German missionaries Reffman and Dr Krapf from Rabai near Mombasa to Ukambani but lost track.

Rev Johannes Hofman was dispatched from Liepzm town in Germany by the Church Mission Society (CMS) in a group of other missionaries to spread the gospel.

He briefly stayed in Rabai before embarking on a trail of Reffman’s exploration to Ukambani. He settled in Ikutha after losing track of his Rev Reffman and by 1897 established a school where he taught the local community how to read and write.

He subsequently built the first church in Ikutha with assistance from porters who carried building materials from Kibwezi, 80 kilometres away.

Hofman, thereafter, built another church at Kanzikuin 1899 before moving to Mulango near Kitui town, now home of the AIC church and Theological College. Hofman was arrested as a prisoner of war at the onset of the First World War and returned to Germany, leaving his wife, children and helpers in Ikutha where they later died from malaria.

Names on the gravestones at Ikutha include Johanne Wills, Johannes Eduard Hofman, Hanna Hofman and Sauberlicre

Catchy decorations bedeck its concrete gate, belying the human tragedy and catastrophe that befell the hapless victims of slavery prior to the coming of the Christian and colonial explorers, and the anti-slavery crusade that followed.

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

Programme Officer: Florence Sipalla

Programme Assistant: Mercy Mumo

Editor: Jane Godia

Designer: Noel Lumbama

Copy Editor: Frank Ojiambo

Contributors: Fred Okoth, Musembi Nzengu, Jane Mugambi, Joseph Mukubwa, Hussein Dido, Charles Njeru, Mboya Muthusi, Boniface Mulu, Odhiambo Odhiambo, Carolyne Oyugi, Jeff Mwangi, Gilbert Ochieng, Nicholas odhiambo, and Muasya Charles

Hofman. There is another grave with no name, but believed to contain the remains of an unidentified helper.

Pastor Joel Mwema who is in charge at Ikutha, says the new church was built in recognition of Johannes Hofman for his good work that is still appreciated in the area.

Other activities initiated in his honour include a children’s home for the orphans, and a girls’ secondary school and environment conservation project.

Kitui and Mutomo Game Warden, Mr Joseph Kavi says that Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) views the site as a good tourist attraction site given its proximity to the gate of the world-famous Tsavo East National Park.

“It has the potential for tourism if stringent measures are taken to refurbish it,” he says, adding “it was time for local residents to tap resources in their midst to improve their living conditions”.

Clerk to the Kitui County Council, Mr George Wambua, says the council has set aside funds to refurbish the potential tourist sites in its jurisdiction to improve its revenue base.

“All ruins left by Hofman in Ikutha will not only be protected, but given a face-lift without altering the original architecture,” says Wambua.

Other impressive sites include the legendary Nzambani rock that carries the myth of changing one’s sex if he or she walks around it seven times.

Wambua laments the absence of a chronicled documentation of Hofman’s activities and is appealing for assistance towards such effort that should include the whereabouts of his remaining relatives, particularly for members of the AIC.

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