Reject Online Issue 91

ISSUE 091, October 1-30, 2013

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

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October 1- 30, 2013

ISSUE 091

Challenges in the VAT bill

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

Review VAT law, Public cry out New law leaves the common man taking more options on priorities

By DUNCAN MBOYAH Shock and outrage is how the public received news of the controversial value Added Tax (VAT) on essential commodities.

“The Government is playing with us. They are busy telling women to give birth free of charge and a month later they increase prices of milk and other

commodities. What will these children born in public hospitals feed on?” asks Immaculate Aluoch on her social media page.

Aluoch now wants fellow women to be careful and plan their families to cope with rising cost of living.

She was reacting to the recently imposed Value Added Tax (VAT) on consumable products that became ef-

fective on September 9, following the President’s assent.

Whereas, Aluoch like many other citizens is having difficulties in acquiring basic commodities at affordable prices, consumable commodity processors too are feeling the heat and are already having difficulties adjusting to the new law.

The rise in cost of items follows an

From left: Women selling their wares at the market. Customers compare prices of maize flour at a supermarket after the introduction of the VAT bill. Pictures: Reject Correspondent implementation of a new tax — related law that came into effect in September — pushing prices of different commodities that were initially zero-rated up by 16 per cent.

Kenya Dairy Processors Association (KDBA) notes that imposition of 16 per cent VAT on processed milk has given hawkers of raw products an upper hand as they quote lower prices.

“Sales of milk have dropped by 25 per cent following the enactment of VAT on the product at the beginning of September,” says Kirui Langat, chairman Kenya Dairy Processors Association.

He notes that the new tax had led to the increase by KSh10 for half litre packet of milk to KSh55, compared to Continued on page 4

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ISSUE 091, October 1-30, 2013

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Disabled need all the support they can get

By ROBERT NYAGAH

Affirmative action for the disabled is still lacking in the country. This is why the Kilifi County Assembly nominated member, Sophie Burns Chokwe, is calling on the national and county governments to set up commercial centres and workshops where those living with disabilities can produce various items for sale as a means to earn income and improve their standards of living.

“The governments should work closely with the private sector to fund such establishments to create jobs and opportunities for those living with disability,” she said.

Chokwe was nominated to the Kilifi County Assembly courtesy of her disability, noted that lack of central production units catering specifically for those with disabilities is disadvantaging them all over the country.

Compete

In an interview with Reject in Malindi, Chokwe who is the chairperson of the Haki Disabled Self-Help Group said that many disabled people with skills to produce marketable products were suffering from unfair competition.

“Most commercial areas and systems in Kenya were inaccessible and unfavourable to those with disabilities and hence denied such people a market for their produce,” Chokwe said.

She noted that the Government and private sector funding to income generating projects to those with dis-

abilities was too little adding that demands and conditions were tough for already disadvantaged people.

“Government-funding is very low and cannot adequately address our plight, currently we are getting KSh50,000 for registered groups of people with disabilities. This is peanuts,” said Chokwe.

She noted that due to the low funding, much which was inadequate for strong economically viable projects to produce items for sale and generate profits, many people with disabilities had given up after realising that the capital offered was too small.

Dedicate

She suggested that the Government needed to dedicate a special fund towards those with disabilities and avoid placing them in the same system to compete with the strong and able bodied.

Chokwe said when organisation

started seven years ago, membership stood at 100 but due to financial crisis and collapse of most of the poorly-funded income generating activities, only a mere 10 members had remained.

Despite producing high quality products such as bead decorated baskets and sandals as well crocheted mats, the group’s success has been hampered by poor marketing and lack of access to markets where competition was too stiff.

“I am confident that if my members are assisted with a fully equipped workshop and centre where to display items for sale locally and abroad, we will succeed and move away from the present scenario where many of us have to beg,” noted Chokwe.

Her organisation has secured a contract to sell baskets, sandals and mats to a Mombasa based exporter but faces problems in raising enough capital for large consignments.

“Most commercial areas and systems in Kenya were inaccessible and unfavourable to those with disabilities and hence denied such people a market for their produce.”

— Sophie Burns Chokwe

Sophie Burns Chokwe who was nominated to the Kilifi County Assembly displays various baskets for sale in Malindi.

Pictures: Robert Nyagah The tourism industry has also let those with disabilities down by failing to set space specifically for them to market their produce to tourists.

According to Chokwe national government should allocate a percentage of the export market in various goods to those with disabilities in a bid

to boost them to sustain themselves.

Despite being elevated to a ward county representative, she has not abandoned her group and participates in production of items in company of her colleagues at the organization’s makeshift centre at the former Malindi Children’s Office building.

Businesses bear brunt of new traffic rules

By JACK JOSHUA Scores of businesses in Mombasa West are at the verge of closure following the new traffic rules set by the County government and Kenya National Highways Authority.

The rules crafted with an aim of decongesting the road leading to Moi International Airport have since become a nightmare to businessmen operating along the Port-ReitzAirport Road.

Fuel stations along the road are the worst hit as heavy transit trucks avoid the route for fear of heavy fines. Managers of filling stations along the route lamented a sharp plunge in fuel sales, especially diesel since diversion of heavy trucks.

“Sales have come down to 20 per cent. In normal days, we used to make sales of up to 1.2 million litres per month but we fear we might hardly manage even 400,000 litres if the laws are not relaxed,” said Abdulsalaam Noorani, director Changamwe Shell Service Station Limited located at Airport Road junction.

The new rules arrived at by KENHA and Mombasa County requires trucks leaving the port to Container Freight Stations (CFS) to Nairobi use the Refinery route and Jomvu Road, respectively.

At a press briefing recently, Governor Hassan Joho said the rules were part of measures aimed at decongesting the Kibarani stretch, easing incessant jams at Mariakani weighbridge and ultimately the entire Northern Corridor to ensure trucks carrying goods reach Uganda within five days.

A few weeks ago, at a function in Changamwe, the governor reiterated that the rules were there to stay while hailing the coming down of fare, which he attributed to the traffic rules.

Noorani expressed fears he may not man-

age to recover KSh150 million he had used to renovate the station which records the highest fuel sale in the country and which is second in Africa.

The businessman said he was considering laying down half of the 50 workers at the station.

“The diversion of trucks which are the lifeline of filling stations along this route is fast pushing us out of business. I may have to reduce the current number of employees by half if the current situation persists,” said Noorani.

Fear

He said truck drivers avoid fueling at the filling station for fear of heavy fine.

He accused KENHA and the county’s leadership of side-lining filling station owners and other stakeholders in coming up with the laws which have left fuel stations owners with no option but to rely on Public Service Vehicles (PSV) and saloon cars, which he says are light consumers and which cannot adequately sustain the business.

“I do not understand why, we, fuel station owners along Port Reitz-Airport Road, were not involved in the coming up with the laws.

We also do not want traffic jams and we would have been happy to be part of the solution of decongesting the city but not by killing our businesses,” said Noorani.

He asked area MP Omar Mwinyi, County leadership and KENHA to look into ways of averting the crisis which he says will not only lead to businesses laying off workers but also dipping of Mombasa County revenue collections.

He suggests a one way route, which will ensure the trucks heading to various CFS stations in the area continue fueling at the stations along

the Airport Road but use another route when leaving the stations en route Nairobi.

Hussein Mohamed, of City Petroleum Company Limited who owns a filling station near Mainland Matatu terminus, off Airport Road, also lamented dwindled sales adding he may not meet his monthly target of 200,000 litres.

“This week we have not fuelled even a single truck. Before we used to refuel three or four trucks in a day,” said Mohamed, adding he might be forced to send away half of his 15-man workforce if the rules remain.

Mohamed says he has since lost five tenders from five transit goods transporter companies due to the diversion since the laws took effect.

He says truck owners have kept off the station after one of the truck drivers whose truck was found fueling at his station was fined KSh50,000.

“The laws are only aimed to benefit a few wealthy individuals who use air transport but care less to persons who rely on business to put food on the table,” said Mohamed.

Further, he accused traffic police officers of selective implementation of the laws, citing instances where some trucks owned by wellconnected persons use the road in disregard of the rules.

At Bomu Hospital within the same area, trucks block the hospital gate making it hard for ambulances to move in and out. The hospital is along the route earmarked for use by trucks heading to container yards.

“We now have to close windows of the wards to protect patients from dust and noise, something we used not to do before,” said Dr. Aabid Ahmed, the hospital’s Chief Executive Officer.

According Ahmed, the grid-locked jam outside the hospital has made it difficult for consultants and patients to reach the hospital.

“Last week, 17 casualties from a godown accident were brought to the hospital but we were forced to get them from the stage because of the gridlocked jam,” said Ahmed. He added: “Even medical consultants coming into the hospital are forced to leave their vehicles a long way off.”

Transit

Small businessmen along the route at Soweto, one of the designated routes for transit trucks heading to container yards also decry diminished sales as customers fear being run over by the trucks.

“The dust is disturbing, plus most customers keep off the shades for fear of being ran over by the trucks,” said Ruth Wamuyu, who operates a kiosk selling household items.

Speaking at Changamwe three weeks ago, area Member of Parliament, Omar Mwinyi promised to meet KENHA officials, Joho and transport stakeholders to seek a solution to the problem.

He said the traffic rules had adversely affected businesses, hospitals and learning in some of the schools along the new routes.

However, in another forum in Changamwe, Joho maintained the rules are there to stay, noting that they had been crafted with the welfare of Changamwe and Magongo residents who were forced by the incessant jams to pay more for the fare.

“We took the decision with regard to the welfare of majority of Changamwe and Jomvu residents and who have every right to reach home early. I have heard some businessmen along the road lamenting that business has come down but I want to state the rules shall remain until we introduce a dual carriageway,” he stressed.

ISSUE 091, October 1-30, 2013

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

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Agony of unexploded military device

By Ekuwam Adou For the past six years Natoren Lenakio has been seeking justice since her hand was blown off by an unexploded device believed to have been left behind by British military in Laikipia County.

Lenakio screamed her heart out after the grenade went off throwing her into a state of unconsciousness as women who were fetching firewood nearby rushed to her help.

Memories of that dark day that left her with a lost her right hand are still etched in her mind.

It was on June 12, 2006, when Lenakio woke up early, prepared porridge for her children and performed other household chores before setting off for her routine work of collecting firewood for sale.

She trekked up to the thickets at Laerosoro area in Samburu County, and started picking dried firewood when she stumbled on a rusty metallic device while picking a big block of firewood. What followed forever changed her life.

Lenakio was subsequently rushed to Archers Post Health Centre, run by the Catholic Church, where she received first aid, before being referred to Wamba Mission Hospital, which had better health services.

For the next eight months she was bedridden and left with a medical bill of KSh140,000, which she has not been able to clear to date.

She had joined the list of other unfortunate victims of unexploded military ordinance allegedly left behind

by British army soldiers who train in the area.

Victims

The once bubbling woman has been reduced to depending on Government relief food.

Lenakio is not alone in this tragedy. Another victim, Kapua Lekomon, narrated how when he was out herding the his family cattle, he stepped on an explosive device left out in the grazing fields.

“I fell and woke up after a few min-

utes to find my body burning,” he recalled.

Leakono Paul 45, said he was lucky to survive after he curiously hit with a walking stick a seemingly shiny harmless object that resulted into a thunderous explosion where he suffered burns all over the body and even lost his testicles. He only survived by the grace of God after he underwent extensive treatment at Wamba Mission Hospital.

Lepartobiko Joseph, 65, who suffered abdomen burns, recounted events leading to his injury after he accidentally stepped into a rusty metallic object.

It is worse for Purity Mureithi and Leshukudule Ntasogon who are yet to come to terms with the loss of their loved ones.

It was just a day like any other for Mureithi and her husband. She had woken up early to prepare children for school and escorted them leaving him behind.

Nakero Lenapangai who received left hand injuries after an undetonated bomb left behind by the British army. Picture: Ekuwam Adou

Attempt

“While coming back to the house, I heard a loud bang near the scrap metal store. I rushed there only to meet his lifeless body torn into pieces. I passed out,” recalls Mureithi.

Her futile attempts to seek justice from the British authorities have fallen on deaf ears despite having the requisite documents (death certificate no.118086 issued at Wamba Hospital clearly showing that he died from multiple injuries after a bomb blast).

These are among dozens of victims who have been maimed or killed by unexploded military ordinance at the British army training grounds.

Besides deaths and injuries, there is also concern over environmental degradation besides air pollution by the military exercises.

According to Stanley Lonyakopiro, an elder who is a former councillor, there is an unprecedented upsurge of cases of induced abortions and miscarriage by pregnant women in the area due to toxic explosives used during the training.

Hearing impairment among the area residents has increased due to excessive noise pollution brought about by bombings and shootings in the range. According to Aloise Leariwala, Chairman Lesosia Group Ranch, there are about 14 reported cases for people injured around the group ranch since 2006. All cases have been reported to the police.

Another seven have lost their lives, and their families have all relevant documentation (death certificates).

The most notable case was the shooting of a civilian John Lerete last year at Laerosoro Training Range,

prompting public outcry with calls for relocation of the British army soldiers training in the area.

The dust only settled after British authorities acted by taking back the soldier involved with pledge of compensating the victim’s family.

Parade

However Leariwala says: “We are currently engaged with Kenya Defence Force to find solutions over our concerns and community dialogue meetings are at an advanced stage.”

Efforts to get comments from Kenya Defence Force were futile with officers involved in talks refusing to divulge any details citing confidentiality over security matters.

Late last year, the victims were paraded before the Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations who visited the area.

The House committee which was

then led by the chairman Adan Keynan — now Member of Parliament Eldas — came face to face with the gravity of the matter, was shocked to hear from victims who sustained various injuries from the explosives.

Britain has in the recent past acknowledged and paid compensation for injuries and deaths caused by ammunition left at the training field in Samburu East. The last of such payments was in 2003 when over KSh500 million was paid out to victims and relatives of the affected after an out of court settlement by a London law firm Leigh and Day Company.

The same company recently successfully negotiated for about £20 million (about KSh2.6 billion) compensation for 5,228 Mau Mau war veterans. The amounts translated to about £3,000 (slightly over KSh300,000) per victim.

British army not out of the woods yet

By Ekuwam Adou The British government is not out of the woods yet as far as Samburu and Laikipia county residents are concerned.

Pastoralists from Northern Kenya are up in arms demanding compensation over injuries and deaths caused by unexploded military ordinance allegedly left behind by British army soldiers in the training ranges.

This comes hot in the heels of a £20 million (about KSh2.6 billion) compensation claim awarded by a British court to Mau Mau War Veterans Association members last year.

The communities are not only asking for compensation for deaths and or injuries, but are lodging claims over land used by British army soldiers at Archers Post, Samburu East and Doldol in Laikipia.

They accuse the army of encroaching on community land and

hence not only denying the pastoralist community the much valued pasture for their livestock, but also exposing them to unnecessary danger due to ammunition.

Under the post-independence bilateral agreement signed by Kenyan and British government, soldiers from Britain are deployed to the country yearly.

In the 40-year military co-operation agreement, troops from the 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment Battle group, 3 PARA as well as medics, logistical staff, engineers and artillery experts undergo training at the said sites.

Intensify

Other units include HQ 16 Air Assault Brigade, 216 Signal Squadron, 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, 13 Air Assault Support Regiment Royal Logistic Corps, 16 Medical Regiment, engineers from 23 Engineer Regiment (Air Assault) based at Woodbridge, Suffolk

and 33 Engineer Regiment (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) based in Wimbish, Essex.

Soldiers from Britain undergo desert and jungle high intensity training in rough and harsh terrain coupled by debilitating climatic conditions at in the Northern frontier.

The conditions are mostly found at Archers Post in Samburu East and Doldol in Laikipia.

British army soldiers who undergo such training in Kenya are usually posted to Afghanistan and other trouble spots around the world.

The training ranges at Archers Post are held within Laerosoro area which is owned communally through legally registered group ranches.

At Doldol, the training fields are in Mukogondo area which is also owned by pastoral Dorobo community through legally registered group ranches.

The operational headquarters of British Army Training Unit in Kenya

(BATUK) is at Nanyuki where they pitched camp at the former ASK showground which was leased to the British government.

Controversy

The soldiers have courted controversy for a long period of time.

In Nanyuki town where they have set up base, the soldiers are famed for partying and nightlife where commercial sex workers have made fortunes. The bar owners and other businessmen are happy with them as they smile all the way to the bank.

The local economy of the area has been boosted by their presence and wide pockets.

It has not been all rosy for the soldiers whom litany of legal suits have been raised in the past mainly due to their conduct within and outside the training fields.

The pastoralist communities in areas where they train commenced legal proceedings in 2000 seeking

compensation over injuries and deaths attributed to undetonated ammunitions left behind by soldiers at the training ranges.

The legal proceedings fronted by now famous London solicitors Leigh Day and Company persuaded the British authorities to cough over KSh500 million in an out of court settlement in 2002.

The pay-out attracted other flurry of claims with women in Laikipia and Samburu raising issues of rape

by British army soldiers.

The British authorities were once again forced to intervene and investigate the allegations, where some women even paraded children of mixed race as proof of alleged rape.

The matter was quietly resolved by the British Government, with claims that some women may have been paid.

This is the second attempt by the pastoralist communities to lay compensation claims over deaths and injuries, only this time going further for land valuation and other benefits.

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Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Challenges in the VAT bill

ISSUE 091, October 1-30, 2013

Inflation hits Kisumu hard as VAT takes effect

By AJANGA KHAYESI At the beginning of this year, life was a bit inexpensive in Kisumu town as Kenyans were preparing for the March 4 General Elections.

However, in recent months life has changed following the Government’s decision to introduce Value Added Tax (VAT) on items that directly have an effect on the common man’s daily life.

At Kibuye open-air market in Kisumu, reputed to be one of the largest in East and Central Africa, business has drastically dropped.

The usually over crowded market place with traders traversing from Western Kenya, Rift Valley and Nyanza regions as well as the neighbouring countries of Uganda and Tanzania, recently had handful scores of business people.

A survey by the Reject reveals that merchants outnumbered buyers with very low volume of business reported.

“For the last two months we have been experiencing a decrease in buyers as prices of commodities keep on going up almost every weekend,” says Micah Owino.

As a watermelon farmer from Nyakach, Owino sells the fruits to wholesalers and retailers. He blames the rise on high transport charges and farm inputs.

The six kilogramme water melon which used to sell at KSh200 now goes for KSh300 while the five kilogramme fruit goes for KSh250 from KSh200, while the four kilogramme sells at KSh100.

With a family of five children, Owino has cut down on some household items like soap, tomatoes, onions and cooking oil.

Reduce

Owino is asking the Government to scrap off the VAT or reduce it to an affordable rate.

Like Owino, the Irish potato sellers are also crying foul since most buyers cannot afford the current price of KSh3,200 per sack of 120 kilogrammes.

According to Teresia Peter and Lillian Njoki, the perishable potatoes transported from Molo, Marakwet and Narok are sold on credit to avoid wastage.

Teresia says that potato sellers have formed business groups to manage the high transport cost.

Transporters charge KSh2,200 per sack of potato which makes it very expensive for an individual trader to pay KSh22,000 for a lorry carrying 40 sacks of the popular product especially by restaurant owners who sale chips.

“The introduction of VAT has increased fuel

prices, and county market charges are sending away buyers thus making business people pay heavily on the items,” says Njoki.

Julia Moraa sells large bananas from Kisii at KSh500 while the smaller ones go for KSh250.

Consumers are forced to pay more for beans, rice, green grams, simsim, finger millet, groundnuts, cowpeas seeds, maize, cassava, and green maize.

Mary Anyango sells cereals at the Kibuye market. A two kilograms tin of ground nuts goes for KSh90, while the same quantity for rice goes for KSh220.

“The local vegetables, mito, managu, sukuma wiki among others are sold at a loss since residents buy in very low quantities,” says Leah Ondieki.

Discourse

Second hand clothes (mitumba) sellers Hellen Ochieng and Beatrice Opewe, explain why the section was badly hit by the low turnout of buyers.

Most sellers were either busy browsing social media on their mobile phones, listening to FM radio stations or gathered in small groups discussing in low tones about the poor business of the day.

“People are buying food, but not clothes. Today we have no customers, no money and no sales.”

Hospitality service providers in Kisumu town are also encountering similar challenges as the rest of Kenyans.

Hotelier Betty Auma has increased the entire menu by KSh10. A chapati is selling at KSh20 from KSh10, a cup of tea at KSh30 and fried beef at KSh100.

However, Auma says although sugar has remained at KSh130 per kilogramme, a packet of 500ml of milk is selling at KSh65 from KSh40.

Guest houses and hospitals are finding it difficult to increase service charges for accommodation and meals.

“Some customers are opting to eat from food vendors outside the hotel and only come in to sleep,” says Beatrice Buyenzi, manager at Fairgrass Hotel.

From top: A water melon retailer at the Kibuye market in Kisumu town. Buyers at the cereal section of the market. Business has been slow in the market since the introduction of the VAT bill.

Pictures: Ajanga Khayesi Maria Adhiambo reasons that the kitchen has become a great burden to most women in the villages.

“The newly introduced taxes including the

VAT, fuel levies, and the ten per cent on every money transaction in the banks have burdened women making life unbearable,” says Adhiambo.

New law leaves the common man taking more options on priorities

Continued from page 8 unprocessed milk that was not covered by the tax.

“We have invested heavily in the dairy sector but the VAT Act 2013 is now crippling our efforts towards growth of the industry,” laments Langat.

Since the introduction of the tax, the volume of milk sales has dropped by more than 20 per cent while the New KCC alone has seen a drop of 18 per cent.

The Consumers Federation of Kenya (CFK) on its part blames Treasury for rushing in to approve the controversial tax without putting in place

mechanisms for a transition.

According to Stephen Mutoro, Secretary General Consumers Federation, Parliament should have delayed the implementation of the tax.

“The cost of living is challenging too many people currently and Parliament must give this matter priority,” he added.

Inform

He noted that the cost of food, energy, transport, education, health and other essential services are increasing daily.

“We urge consumers to make very

informed choices in terms of the balance between their very basic survival, quality and variety of food choices as well as their affordability,” he said.

However, Mutoro appealed to manufacturers to avoid overcharging consumers as prices of various commodities are set to increase in the country.

President Uhuru Kenyatta assented to the Value Added Tax Bill passed by Kenya’s Parliament in August facilitating its gazettement and implementation.

Kenyans now have to dig deeper into their pockets to access the goods as prices continue to skyrocket.

The consumer body said it has projected that inflation would rise to double digits and that foreign direct investments would dip by at least 50 per cent by the end of the year.

The new law is part of measures aimed at reforming Kenya’s tax system in order to achieve higher revenue targets to meet the country’s growing wage bill.

The bill had been in Parliament for the past three years. According to Consumer Federation Kenya, zerorating food will have a direct positive welfare effect on the poor.

The Treasury has argued that it

would rather tax consumption than incentive production, though in theory that move may work.

In practice, however, given a complex market such as Kenya which is largely controlled by cartels than government, the rise in consumer prices will be unstoppable.

Mutoro said the reality of Kenya transforming itself into a full-fledged black market economy beckons.

In the meantime, as things stand, consumers must change their lifestyles by reducing expenditure in order to cope with the volatile market at the moment.

ISSUE 091, October 1-30, 2013

Challenges in the VAT bill

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Inflation

5

forcing children out of school

By HUSSEIN DIDO Fourteen year old Evans Juma, who lives with his grandmother in Bulapesa village in Isiolo town has dropped out of Standard Seven.

Juma had high expectations when the Jubilee government took over leadership with pledges that they would offer free laptops to primary school pupils.

Juma’s hope to achieve his dream was shattered last holiday when he dropped out of school to join garage boys in order to learn the skill of repairing punctures and other skills to eke a living.

However, Juma is not alone.

He joins thousands of pupils who dropped out of school to meet increasing demands following high cost of living despite the over 10-year-old Government sponsored free primary education.

Juma expected that the new government would help him complete the eight year primary school and join secondary school to take up a career in engineering.

“For those living in urban areas and from families that are blessed to have basic needs on the tables this might sound far-fetched,” he says.

Juma who is an orphan regrets that he was forced to cut short his studies last month in order to make ends meet after his grandmother was unable to fed and educate them due to the high cost of living.

“When schools are on, we would benefit from the school feeding programme because I could eat lunch and skip dinner while grandmother feeds from neighbours,” says Juma. He adds: “Now due to the high cost of food

sometimes she goes without meals.”

He opted to join jua-kali (mechanical work) after a friend introduced him to the garage during the holidays last month.

He told the Reject that what he earns from the garage will keep the two going although it was not enough to buy food.

“I am just learning and helping others to repair, handle basic machines and perform basic and simple work to earn KSh200 daily from the garage,” Juma said.

Introduce

The cost of the essential goods and items has doubled in the past month after VAT bill was introduced.

While the country faces high cost of living, the businessmen and other working class are also facing hard economic times.

A civil servant, Mohamed Abduba, who earns slightly more than KSh28,000 a month, says the high cost of living had forced his family to skip meals in order to meet some of the basic needs.

According Abduba, expectations were very high when the Jubilee government took over but now things are different.

“The government should come up with a clear policy to address issues that affect the common Kenyans,” says Abduba.

Prices of fruits, bread, milk and cereals have increased twice or thrice from the previous prices forcing consumers to opt for other meals or change their diets completely.

A visit to Merti District in Isiolo County revealed that some communities were working out strategies of

Young children in Museve Sub-location in Kitui County carry bundles of sugarcane to the bus stop for sale. Children in the rural areas have been forced to abandon school to supplement family income. Picture: Ken Ndambu diversifying from pastoralism to agriculture in order to survive.

A herdsman, Mohamed Godana said that he had embarked on farming in order to avert buying goods from shops.

He says the only option was empowerment through enhanced agricultural practices and irrigation to offer a lasting solution to the inflation.

“We intend to feed on what we produce locally in order to avert crisis and high cost of buying goods from the shop,” said the farmer.

He asked the county government to allocate more funds towards agriculture in order to revive irrigation schemes to address the issues of food insecurity.

He said children under five years, pregnant women and the elderly were always badly affected by food insecurity especially during the dry spell.

Relief and international organisations that include the Kenya Red Cross,

Action Aid and United Nations Children’s Fund say nearly 300,000 children may succumb to starvation unless urgent measures are taken to provide them with food as milk prices shot up.

Implicate

High inflation and recurrent drought in northern parts of Kenya have had serious socio-economic and political implications on pastoral communities.

Both North Eastern and upper Eastern provinces are prone to drought. Records indicate that a major drought is likely to occur every four to eight years.

Isiolo Deputy Governor, Mohamed Gulleid, regretted that the high cost of living was pushing away the communities from essential diets.

He called on the Ministry of Agriculture to hasten the process of reviving irrigation schemes in the region.

He said the national Government

had pledged to allocate KSh5 billion this financial year to revive the irrigation schemes to address issues of food insecurity in the county.

Gulleid noted that pastoralists were caught unawares by drought, which finds them completely unprepared.

“We do not want to rely on relief food donations and livestock off-take programmes to cushion the communities. We want them to have surplus food through their efforts,” reiterated Gulleid.

Some of the herders who moved with their herds to neighbouring districts in search of pasture and water rarely bring them home due to the ravaging drought.

“Pastoralists have had to learn that unpreparedness and lack of resilience by the Government, private and community levels had cost them billions and that they must remain hardy to overcome high cost of prices,” he advised.

Mother hawks water in managing harsh times

By DAVID NJAAGA The recent move by the Government to increase Value added Tax (VAT) on basic consumer commodities by 16 per cent has made life difficult for most Kenyans.

Most people are now forced to work extra hours to make that extra shilling, in an attempt to sustain their livelihoods.

By and large this upsurge has been attributed to the Government’s struggle to raise money for better management of the county’s operation.

Kenyans, particularly those living in the slum areas still suffer inaudibly as they wonder what will happen if they fail to put food on the table, hence pulling up their socks as they have no alternative.

This has, however, set no limits to what people can do to make ends meet, with some women being forced to venture into pushing handcarts as a job, a previous preserve of men.

Teresia Wangui, 32 is among

many women in Kaloleni Estate in Nairobi who have tasted and experienced the hardships of city life.

She uses the cart to supply clean water to her neighbours and other residents.

“Life has proved to be very difficult for me that is why you find me working in this environment,” she says.

In her previous business (green grocer) the reality of a harsh economic situation had made the consistence of customers coming to her kiosk to drop, leaving her with no option but to look for a more sustainable business.

“I realised the sukuma wiki (kales) business was not working for me and so I decided to shift my focus on where not many women would feel appreciated by the society working,” says Wangui.

She notes that her decision to start the water hawking business has paid dividends.

She explains: “Every day I make a minimum of KSh900 in profit as opposed to my previous occupation

where I was getting KSh300 after struggling.”

Despite the fact that she is the only one who has embraced the work in this region, it puts her at a better position of having not to compete with her workmates for customers.

Compete

“Men here do not compete with me, in fact most customers prefer a woman’s service than that of a man as they have been used to men for long and the fact that my services are fairly inexpensive,” she adds.

This puts her at an advantage of earning a decent living for herself and her daughter, Alice 11, who is in class seven at the nearby Kaloleni Primary School.

She agrees that with the current economic state, very few will survive without making sacrifices.

“My work, which may seem to be an awkward occupation, remains my dearest because it feeds me,” she says.

Wangui has decided to put her interests first and ignore public opin-

ion.

“I know I am not alone. So many women are suffering and have nothing to do but because they fear what the community will say about them, something that does not worry me at all,” she says with confidence.

She is now beginning to build a network of customers in the larger area of the neighbourhood and believes that she will make it in life no matter what people say about her.

“My fellow women think I am crazy at times when they see me pushing the handcart. I am comfortable with what I am doing. Successful people start from far, and I am not an exception,” Wangui notes.

Boost

Wangui has a dream that within the next two years she would have saved enough money to buy a watertanker to boost her business.

Nevertheless Wangui says if Kenya government can with speed assure its citizens of an additional VAT that will result in better services, then Kenyans can be accommodative and

understanding.

However, she notes if with the VAT Kenyans will continue getting poor access to basic necessities, and then there is no relief in sight.

“From this new move by the Government, I expect to see better roads, better social services and an improvement in the education system,” she notes.

For now, she says, it is a matter of wait-and-see the change that will be brought by the new tax increase.

“In the meantime let us commit to working for the great nation as we wait for the fruits that will come out of the citizen’s contribution,” she adds.

Over 50 per cent of the world’s hungry in the world are women with 98 per cent of the world’s undernourished people living in the developing countries.

With the current economic trend the level of poverty is projected to increase tremendously, a move that will inhibit the country from realising its vision 2030.

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Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Challenges in the VAT bill

ISSUE 091, October 1-30, 2013

VAT leaves widows and orphans more vulnerable

By GILBERT OCHIENG

Kenyans are not only angry but also hungry because of the recent increases on prices essential items.

They are now accusing the Government of ignoring the plight of ordinary people who cannot afford to put a single meal on the table.

Scores of people interviewed by the Reject have strongly opposed the move by parliamentarians to pass the VAT Bill that has forced manufacturers to increase prices of essential commodities, a situation that has forced the common man to resort to traditional foods owing to the high cost of basic commodities.

One such poor Kenyan who even before the introduction of the bill has been leading a miserable life is Phylister Awino Wanyama, a widow aged 50 from Bukhoba Village, Bunyala East location, Busia County.

The widow, who has been bearing the burden of providing for the needs of her five grandchildren, says that since the death the children’s parents several years back, she has been forced to do odd jobs to feed and clothe them.

Wanyama says her life and that of her grand-children has been worsened by the recent passage of the VAT Bill.

“The introduction of VAT Bill is a death penalty to me and my five grandchildren as we have now been forced to forgo milk, sugar and bread. We have instead resorted to porridge without sugar, cassava or potatoes owing to the steep rise in the price of the said basic

commodities,” explains the widow.

In Bunyala, a spot check revealed that most shops sell a quarter and half litre packets of fresh milk at KSh50 and KSh75 respectively.

Recall

“Before I allow my grandchildren to go to school, we wake up at cockcrow to work on other peoples’ farms where we are paid KSh200 which I use to buy for them breakfast and lunch,” explains Awino, adding that at times the farm owners fail to pay them their dues with a promise to pay later in the day.

Awino recalls that the last time they ate chapati was last December when a distant relative visited them at their Bukhoba Village and did for them some shopping, an occasion they considered as God-sent.

“I had planned to buy only a kilo of rice and a quarter kilo of sugar for my grand-children last Christmas Day with the little money I had saved because I could not afford to buy a packet of wheat flour, but I thank God for bringing us a relative who visited with some shopping,” says Awino.

In order to find food for her grandchildren, Awino has opted to venture into fish trade, at times trekking all the way to Mulukoba Beach in Port Victoria to buy dagga (omena) which she sells at Harambee market in Siaya County.

“The difficult life we have been going through has compelled me to try my hand on fish trade with the little cash I had saved after doing casual

Phylister Awino Wanyama, 50, a widow with her orphaned grand-children outside her house at Bukhoba village in Ruambwa. Picture: Gilbert Ochieng work on farms and as a housemaid, but life proved to be even more harsh to me at the start and at times I would be forced to walk all the way to Mulukoba Beach due to lack of money for transport,” says the widow.

Awino has since deserted the business and ventured into sand harvesting business from the banks of River Nzoia.

“At the moment, I have engaged some youth who I pay to scoop sand from River Nzoia which I sell to build-

ing contractors.”

The widow is appealing to the Government and especially parliamentarians not to burden the common man and instead make life affordable by reviewing the VAT bill.

Concerns arise over contraceptive failure and increased cases of induced abortion

By DAVID NJAAGA Poverty is being blamed for the rise in abortion cases among married women.

However, the story could be different as some couples attribute the problem to the side effects of some contraceptives.

Peter Kinyanjui, 49, a resident of Kikuyu town, Kiambu County is among many who have lived to the experience as a result of his wife using a family planning method.

His wife Gladys Nyambura 30, started using the implant contraceptive after they had their first child in 1999.

“We decided on the implant birth control method because in our opinion it was the best to sustain our sexual relationship and child spacing without having to worry about an unplanned pregnancy,” explains Kinyanjui, a father of two.

Initially the contraceptive worked well for his wife. “We used to be intimate almost every day and everything seemed to be okay.”

However, two years down the line, his wife started showing a lack of interest in sex and always gave excuses for not being intimate with him.

“As time went by, I realised she was losing her sexual desires towards me and it raised my concern over the sudden change only to discover that the contraceptive was affecting her normal hormonal functioning,” he explains.

However, Kinyanjui, acknowledges that they did not seek the right information before deciding on the suitable contraceptive method and that could be the possible reason of his wife’s problem.

Nyambura, says that after using the implant for some time, the flow of her

monthly periods gradually reduced and became lighter as her sex drive declined.

“It started with severe headache then sore breasts as my weight increased,” she recalls.

She later agreed with her husband that they remove the implant. It was after removing the implant that the problem disappeared and life returned to normal.

Nyambura says that her husband always complained about her having the implant. “Six months after the termination of the implant, I got pregnant.”

However, her husband demanded that she procures an abortion on the grounds that they were not ready to raise more children.

“So I went ahead and had the abortion.”

Kinyanjui on his defence says the reason for his move was that he needed frequent sexual intimacy from his wife of which the implant was denying him due to her low sex drive.

However, Dr Elizabeth Kimani, an associate research scientist, African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC), acknowledges that negative consequences associated with unsafe abortion can be prevented with improved access to comprehensive abortion care including proper counselling and effective contraceptive access.

Counsel

According to Vania Kibui, a policy associate at IPAS Alliance Africa, lack of proper knowledge from an expert among most married women has resulted to them seeking information from quacks, including on abortion.

“Lack of proper counselling for women and girls could contribute to

them taking abortion lightly.

Her sentiments are echoed by Dr Joachim Osur, Director IPAS Africa Alliance, who notes that though the Constitution does give right of choice, it does not open a leeway for illegal termination of pregnancy adding that attempts to have unsafe abortion can lead to serious complications to a woman.

“The right information on the dangers associated with unsafe abortion women should be integrated in safe motherhood programs among other reproductive health issues,” says Kabui.

Research

In Kenya, nearly 120,000 women receive care for complications resulting from unsafe abortion in health facilities. In most regions, lack of access to safe abortion would result to death of women and girls where they lack funds to facilitate their need.

Kenya and Uganda rank high in the world with relatively high abortion rates of 39 and 54 per cent respectively. In Kenya, 250,000 million abortion cases are recorded every year.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that over 500,000 women die annually from pregnancy related causes with at least 13 per cent of those deaths and other injuries emanating from unsafe abortion.

Eliminating unsafe abortion will play a significant role towards achieving Millennium Development Goal number Five targets and also ensuring there were fewer maternal deaths, lower maternal morbidity and better reproductive health.

To achieve this, the Government should ensure that the women were empowered so as to avoid unintended

An array of different contraceptives. Periodic failure of contraceptives has lead to an increase in unsafe abortions.

Pictures: Reject Correspondent pregnancy and unsafe abortion. Investing in maternal health is a political and social imperative, as well as a cost effective way to strengthen Kenya’s healthcare system.

According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) maternal mortality in Kenya has remained unacceptably high at 488 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births (with some regions reporting maternal mortality ratios of 1,000/100,000 live births) in 2008/2009, an increase from 414/100,000 in 2003, 590/100,000 in 1998.

Most maternal deaths are due to causes directly related to pregnancy and childbirth unsafe abortion and obstetric complications such as severe bleeding, infection, hypertensive disorders, and obstructed labour. Others are due to causes such as malaria, diabetes, hepatitis, and anaemia, which are aggravated by pregnancy.

The proportion of women making

the recommended number of ante-natal care visits of four and above declined from 64 per cent in 1993 to 52 per cent in 2003 and to 47 per cent in 2008/2009, while the proportion receiving skilled care during delivery declined from 45 per cent in 1998 to 42 per cent in 2003.

Skilled attendance at birth increased to 44 per cent in 2008/2009.

The contraceptive prevalence rate for modern methods among married women increased from 32 per cent to 39 per cent between 2003 and 2008/2009 while at the same time, the use of 64 traditional methods decreased from eight to six per cent of married women. The unmet need for family planning, which is still considered high, has remained at 24 per cent since 1998. This has largely been attributed to inadequate service provision, poor access due to persistent family planning commodity insecurity and limited resource allocation.

Additional information from UNDP Website

ISSUE 091, October 1-30, 2013

Challenges in the VAT bill

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

It is tough going for youth

7

By ANDREW ELIJAH Elizabeth Mutahi is a bartender within Kitui County, having worked in several pubs and restaurants for the past four years since dropping out of high school due to lack of school fees.

The 23 year old says her salary has never been sufficient to sustain her livelihood.

She has also been barely able to send back home some money to support her siblings and aging mother.

The Form Two drop-out, however, admits that the rising cost of living is a huge blow.

Says Mutahi: “The cost of goods is too high yet my income is still the same so I have to make the right priorities to make ends meet.”

Apparently, the young woman says the going has become so tough for her to the extent of doing away with some commodities she calls ‘delicacies’ like eggs, margarine and fruits which used to complete her meals previously.

“Nowadays I take meat once a week and I alternate eggs with bread in the morning because I cannot afford both every day,” she explains.

Lamenting the skyrocketed price of milk, sugar and bread after introduction of the unpopular Value Added Tax (VAT) on basic commodities, Mutahi says at times she is forced to skip breakfast on certain days.

“I will be honest, I go without it sometimes,” she quips.

However, Mutahi believes had she completed her education and gotten formal employment, perhaps things would be better.

“The pressure is too much on the uneducated class as compared to the educated since the latter have better jobs and salaries,” she notes.

However, Mutahi is not the only youth whose life has been affected by the high cost of living following a decision by the Government to tax

“The cost of goods is too high yet my income is still the same so I have to make the right priorities to make ends meet.”

“I told my mother the other day I cannot afford milk and bread everyday not unless she wants me to work for the stomach alone.”

— Elizabeth Mutahi

— Mulang’a Mutisya

“I have a five month old son who takes two packets of milk every day, his mother should also eat well to breast feed him. You tell me if there will be any money left for leisure.”

— Augustus Muasya,

basic commodities.

Mulang’a Mutisya, 25, is a college graduate who says things have equally gone haywire for both the educated and the uneducated as the cost of living keeps rising.

The computer engineer, who is yet to complete a year in formal employment, says his life has been turned upside down by the high cost of living caused by the hiked prices of household items.

“It is quite unfair to me having just started working the other day,” he laments.

Mutisya who still lives with his parents says he no longer takes home some of the items he usually bought

on his way from work. He faults the Government for its decision to tax basic goods claiming if the cost of living retains such a gradient then Kenyans will have no choice but lose confidence with the government of the day.

Inflation

“Looking at the way the price of goods, cost of living and inflation rate has been rising, Kenyans must really be resilient and hardworking people to cope with it,” he says.

The last born in a family of five says he used to buy milk and bread for his family everyday but that has since stopped.

“I told my mother the other day I

cannot afford milk and bread everyday not unless she wants me to work for the stomach alone,” the young man quips.

Mutisya who bought his mother a solar panel to light her house last month claims it is now too difficult to save money for any development project as well as sparing any for leisure during the weekends.

His sentiments are echoed by fellow youth Augustus Muasya who just started family life.

“I have a five month old son who takes two packets of milk every day, his mother should also eat well to breast feed him. You tell me if there will be any money left for leisure,” a

rhetoric Muasya says.

The 28-year-old electrician who lives in Nairobi with his young family says it has been a routine for him and his friends to go out every weekend and enjoy themselves after a long week at work but now citing the harsh economic conditions they cannot manage.

Manage

Muasya says if things continue the way they are, then he may consider taking a job outside the country, mostly in the Middle East where he has a couple of his colleagues working to avoid the harsh economic conditions.

Farmers in Trans-Nzoia County hard-hit by new taxes

By ABISAI AMUGUNE Farming has never been more frustrating for Erastus Seroney than it is now.

His hopes were high when he voted on March 4, in the General election as he expected the new crop of leaders he had chosen would defend the common man by fighting to lower the cost of farm inputs and living.

Right from the President, Senator, MPs, Governor and Ward Representative, this Trans-Nzoia commercial farmer had hoped that it was time for the farming community to heave a sigh of relief with expected reduced tariffs on agricultural inputs.

However, things are not as he had hoped. Seroney, who has a farm Kibomet, was as shocked as his neighbours when the Government increased tax rates on acquisition of farm inputs including fertilisers.

Through the newly introduced VAT Bill 2013 which had been assented to by President Uhuru

Kenyatta and which became operational on September 2, Seroney was now going to pay an additional 16 per cent on all types of fertilizers he would purchase throughout the next planting seasons.

The increments are not small.

For example a 50 kilogramme bag of DAP that used to cost KSh2,500 is now going for KSh2,750.

Expectations

Together with his dairy counterpart Patrick Kimeli, Seroney had hoped that the Trans-Nzoia Senator Henry Ole Ndiema teaming up with the local MPs would rise up to the occasion and defend local farmers against the rising costs on farm inputs.

High expectations had been hinged on the Kiminini MP Dr Chris Wamalwa, himself as a farmer, to be at the forefront of voicing concern for the Kenyan farmers, especially with his motion which had called for the establishment of local fertilizers factory.

The MPs from the County include David Wafula (Saboti), Dr

Robert Pokose (Endebess), Ferdinand Wanyonyi (Kwanza), Wisley Korir (Cherangani) and Janet Nangabo (Women Representative).

The County also has two nominated resident senators Zipporah Kittony (KANU) and Catherine Mukite (Ford-Kenya).

Following enactment of the Bill into law, Trans-Nzoia both as a consumer and the country’s food basket will hardest hit by the new rates.

According to the approved changes, a number of goods which had been zero-rated were brought into the tax bracket. These include newspapers, textbooks, milk, fertilizers, cooking gas and electricity.

All processed goods were affected.

Earlier, Parliament had struggled to amend the Bill to exclude such goods such as rice, maize, wheat and sanitary pads.

Even as President Uhuru unveiled the Uwezo Fund for youth and women, questions were being raised as to whether the beneficiaries should consider directing some of the money towards social upkeep

or development projects.

Michael Barasa, whose Saboti Group had intended to invest in the milk industry, was at loss to explain to his members how the project would be viable when hawking of the product was prohibited.

According to Kipkurui arap Lagat, chairman of the Dairy Producers Association the industry was not doing well. “Due to prevalence for unprocessed milk by consumers, the industry has been recording huge losses owing to costs of manufacturing of packaging of materials,” said Lagat.

For Arthur Kamau, chairman of the Kenya Booksellers and Stationery Association, the free primary and secondary education will be affected by the new tax on textbooks.

Process

Principal of St. Brigid’s Girls High School Rosemary Wanaswa says though wheat was exempted from the VAT 2013 Act, her school was lucky to have already established a school’s bakery. Bread is categorized as a processed product

that the government has clarified does not fall under the VAT taxed bracket.

Players in the tourism industry also expressed fears that the 16 per cent VAT rise that perked on parking and game drive fees would divert potential visitors to the neighbouring countries.

Trans-Nzoia has two national parks — Mt. Elgon and Saiwa. It is expected that with KWS implementing the VAT Act, the move would hurt the local tourism industry.

Already the Government has realised the hard times facing the consumers and has warned of penalties on traders who have capitalised on the new tax tariffs to exploit the public.

Kenyatta said: “Despite the VAT law allowing for the tap increases, the Jubilee government is committed to the promise of caring for the welfare of Kenyans by cutting down on the cost of living.”

The Head of State also warned against dishonest traders as the VAT law takes its course.

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Challenges in the VAT bill

ISSUE 091, October 1-30, 2013

Major setback for those living with HIV

….as the VAT law takes effect resulting in high food prices, HIV positive people are not having it easy, writes DIANA WANYONYI Mwanaisha Kadzo Hamisi, a mother of five has lived with the HIV virus for 10 years. Life has not been easy for her and things went worse with the introduction of the new Value Added Tax (VAT) law put in place by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).

For Hamisi who resides in Marene area, Mariakani Location, Kilifi County with her family, the 16 per cent VAT law put in place has forced her to cut further some essential basic needs her family depends on.

Her husband who is a casual labourer in a private company is unable to provide for their children.

“My husband who is the breadwinner has also been living with HIV for over 13 years now. Before the VAT law was passed, we would spend KSh200 per day on three meals inclusive of two packets of milk. Today we only manage KSh120 for buying food and other essentials exclusive of milk,” explains Hamisi.

“Lack of one meal is a major challenge that we are facing especially those of us who are taking the ARVs drugs daily as the medicine is very strong and we need to eat enough food. My children are forced to go to school on an empty stomach during lunch time, this has really affected the health of one of them who is also living with the virus. Her health is not good at all,” she said.

Hamisi said that she has been forced to reduce on buying two

packets of milk daily to one packet which she specifically buys once a week.

“We are forced to minimise on our budget especially on buying milk.

Initially we used to buy two packets of milk daily which we shared one packet amongst the three of us living with the HIV virus and the other packet was used to prepare tea in the morning for the whole family, we buy one packet of milk every Friday,” she uttered.

Besides milk, Hamisi said that she has to dig further in her pocket to buy a 20 litre jerri can of water that now costs KSh10 from KSh5 daily.

“Initially we used to buy 10 jericans of fresh water with KSh50 daily but now water vendors have hiked the commodity with KSh5 more. We now manage to buy only five jericans of water daily which is not enough,” complained Hamisi.

Essentials

According to Titus Kalama, a retail and wholesale shopkeeper in Mariakani, they have also been forced to increase prices of essential commodities such as sugar, maize flour, cooking fat, kerosene and charcoal putting the blame on the suppliers who he says increased prices immediately the VAT bill was passed.

“I know it is not fair and pocket friendly to low income earners who are now forced to dig further into their pockets to buy the goods. Late-

Esther Mugambi a fish seller at Tsangalaweni – Mwembelegeza area in Kisauni district, Mombasa County. Below: Fatuma Sadiq a village elder of Tsangalaweni village.

Pictures: Diana Wanyonyi ly some of my long time customers have ended up buying some of goods on half kilogramme basis,” he observed.

“One kilogramme of sugar is now KSh150 instead of KSh130, we sell two kilogramme packet of maize flour at KSh140 instead of KSh120. This mess can only be rectified if the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) bans the VAT or if parliament implements the act because the most affected person is the common mwananchi,” said Kalama.

Esther Mugambi a fish seller and mother of five who is staying with Karisa*, a 13-year-old orphan boy who is HIV positive, says she is not able to buy a packet of milk for him since the introductory of VAT. Mugambi who lives in Tsangalaweni–Mwembelegeza area in Kisauni District, Mombasa County says she has opted to buy ripe bananas everyday that costs KSh20 daily for Karisa

instead of buying a packet of milk which costs KSh65.

“The money I get from selling fish is not enough. Everything is very expensive lately. I used to buy one kilogramme of fish at Majengo market at KSh120 now its KSh140. Nowadays I buy one and a half kilogrammes and the profit is not that much,” she said.

Challenge

“Karisa’s health has detoriated since I stopped buying him milk few weeks ago, this is because the milk is very expensive.”

The major challenge she is now facing is lack of finances to pay school fees for her children.

“Since the beginning of this year, one of the children who was in class five has eye problems and has not reported to special schools for the disabled in the southern parts of the Coast region because we are unable to pay the fee of KSh2000 and to pro-

vide daily public transport of KSh200.

My husband is a casual worker in construction sites and his income is not enough to cater for the family’s needs.”

Fatuma Sadiq, a village elder of Tsangalaweni village said that life has been very expensive this recent years compared to 20 years ago.

“Life has really changed for the past years, I remember in the late 1980s everything was affordable and pocket friendly, a packet of milk used to cost KSh5. We have since stopped buying the milk instead we prepare porridge or black tea. Something should be done quickly to rectify of the price of basic food prices,” said Sadiq.

For Hamisi and Mugambi their only hope is the amendment of the VAT bill.

New study shows HIV prevalence is higher among women in urban areas

By HENRY OWINO Urban women aged between 15-64 years have higher prevalence of HIV and Aids says a new study.

According to Kenya AIDS Indicator Survey (KAIS) study report 2012, the current rate is currently at 6.9 per cent compared to men at 4.4 per cent.

The most shocking phenomenon is that most of those women are well educated and informed about modes of transmission and risks involved in the disease.

The study further shows that the prevalence was even higher among married women with better education levels than men. However, the number of women who know their HIV status increased in 2012 compared to 2007.

Kenya with a population of more than 40 million people, the research indicates that sexual transmission remains the highest mode of virus transmission accounting for 93.7 per cent of all new HIV infections.

According to Dr William Maina, head of NASCOP, the prevalence of HIV infection increased with age and was highest in the oldest age group between 35-49 years. On the other hand, a similar dose response relationship

was also established for HIV infection increasing number of pregnancies.

Dr Maina said separated/divorced/ widowed women were almost five-fold more likely to be infected compared to married women in monogamous relationships. Transmit

Transmit

In terms of marital status, the survey showed that women who had been widowed had a higher rate of HIV infection than those who were married, divorced or separated or had never been married. When it comes to testing, more women had been tested for HIV than their male counterparts at 80 per cent and 63 per cent respectively.

Sexually transmitted infections, which increase the chances of HIV

transmission and acquisition of HIV, can occur in women without being recognised. This increases the chances of HIV transmission and acquisition by women.

Furthermore, women in some African cultures use herbs to tighten the vagina to remedy what they call “dry sex” which causes tears in the genital tract during sex and makes women more likely to transmit or acquire HIV. “Remember that sexual violence is also common, including rape and defilement. For example, women do not bargain for sex with their husbands, men who are infected with HIV believe that a virgin can “cleanse” them of HIV and Aids,” Dr Maina said.

Maya Harper, UNEP Country Coordinator and Representative, said in

Kenya a number of young girls have reported forceful initiation into sex by older sexual partners.

Harper regretted that social construction of masculinity and femininity renders women powerless to demand for their rights, including not questioning infidelity of their husbands.

She realised that fear of violence amongst women leads to acceptance of sex and without any protection.

“There is a multitude of socio-cultural factors that increase vulnerability of women to HIV and Aids. The subordination of African women creates vulnerability to HIV infection through economic dependency, lack of assets, and lack of protection against abuse and exploitation,” Harper noted.

Harper noted that most women in

“Remember that sexual violence is also common, including rape and defilement. For example, women do not bargain for sex with their husbands, men who are infected with HIV believe that a virgin can “cleanse” them of HIV and Aids.”

— Dr Maina.

African societies are subjected to discrimination and denied their rights from their youth onwards. She added that the cultures also tolerates for multiple sexual partnerships, including extra-marital sex by men. Marriage and monogamous relationships do not protect women.

Partner

James Maina, Director KETAM, says that there are common sayings such as, “Aids can meet you in the bedroom,” “In polygamous societies, a man can have many sexual partners but a woman has to be faithful to one.”

“There is a danger of young women seeking sexual satisfaction outside marriage, thus exposing them to risks of HIV. Poverty among women should be addressed through including women in poverty eradication programmes,” Maina urged.

He called on the two levels, national and County, of governments to institute legislation to protect women’s rights, access to resources, fair allocation of treatment, address violence and abuse against women, enforce legislation against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and other actions to address the low status of women.

ISSUE 091, October 1-30, 2013

Organisations seek commitment to implementation of ICPD beyond 2014

By JOYCE CHIMBI An increasing number of African countries are being hailed for their best practices in diagnosing, treating and preventing those infected with HIV or suffering from Aids. These countries include Malawi, Ethiopia, Ghana and South Africa.

This emerged during a recent Civil Society Organisation’s (CSO) pre-Regional Conference on Population and Development held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In a statement released by the CSOs, African governments were commended for the progress they have made towards the realization of the commitments to the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action (PoA).

Addressing the Conference, Lucien Kouakou, Regional Director International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) Africa noted: “CSOs must partner and intensify their advocacy efforts towards promotion of the objectives of the ICPD programme of action.” He added: “This forum provides an opportunity to dialogue and to define the ICPD agenda post-2014 and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) agenda post-2015 in Africa.”

A statement by the CSOs read in part: “Since 1994, virtually all African governments have revised their policy commitments to reflect the ICPD paradigm and put in place systems and institutions to steer and oversee the implementation of the ICPD programme of action. Some governments have demonstrated high-level leadership, committed considerable resources, and adopted innovative strategies towards the realization of the ICPD programme of action.”

Across many African countries, progress was also noted in food security, attainment of basic education, child survival, health status of people living with HIV, access to contraception and other reproductive health services.

In Malawi, for instance, there has been extensive scaling up of integrated HIV services. According to an African Regional Report which informed discussions during the pre-Conference in Ethiopia, “the proportion of women aged 15 to 49 years, who have ever been tested for HIV and received their results in the 12 months before the

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Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

survey rose from two per cent in 2005 to 20 per cent in 2011 while the proportion of men rose from two per cent to 21 per cent in the same period.”

Report

The report also indicated that the knowledge of HIV [in Ethiopia] is almost universal “because 97 per cent of women and 99 per cent of men had heard of AIDS in 2011”.

Ghana has long been hailed for its best practices in reducing maternal and infant mortality, but that is not the only area in which the country is recording significant progress. According to the report (African Regional Report which was funded by UNECA and UNFPA) “Ghana reported almost universal awareness of HIV (98%).”

Further, “prevalence of HIV in Ghana declined by 31 per cent from 2009 to 2010 to a median prevalence rate of 2 per cent among pregnant women”.

In spite of this progress, African CSOs also noted that there were significant deficiencies in the implementation of the ICPD programme of action. These include “limited access to sexual reproductive health rights information and services. Many countries have failed to honour their policy commitments by allocating adequate resources and implementing intervention programmes. As such, progress has largely been slow.

This has not been inclusive and there are big differences in progress made across countries and among various population sub-groups within countries. This has disproportionately affected women and youth.”

Position

The African CSOs ICPD programme of action beyond 2014 position is that there were still “unacceptably high proportions of people in Africa still living in abject poverty and bear high disease burdens due to poor sexual and reproductive health, other infectious diseases and increasingly non-communicable diseases. The continent harbours a disproportionately high share of maternal and child deaths, the HIV and AIDS burden, teenage pregnancy, and general poverty.”

In 2012 alone, about 53 per cent

of women (58 million in total) who wanted to delay or stop childbearing were not using a modern method of contraception.

The CSOs further confirmed that “women’s social capital remains very low and entrenched inequality between men and women continues to counter socio-economic development efforts. The situation is compounded by the region’s rapid population growth, effects of global warming, internal and or civil conflicts, and limited accountability in use of public resources”.

In Kenya, for instance “Maternal mortality is unnecessarily high, over 500 deaths per 100,000 live births. Yet we know the causes, the most important being poor health-seeking behaviour of Kenyan women and little investment in health as a government priority and we also know the ‘treatment’ of it, which means we know the solutions,” says Dr Simon Mueke, Acting Senior Director of Medical Services.

Deliver

Government statistics show that in rural and slum areas, maternal mortality is much higher. For instance, for every 100,000 women who deliver in slum areas such as Kibera and Mathare, at least 700 of them die.

According to Mueke, addressing and improving maternal health as well as Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights issue (SRHR) “is multisectoral. Issues of education, gender and women empowerment, roads, agriculture, partnerships, human rights can only be dealt with from that perspective”.

While Kenya made a major step

Participants follow proceedings during the recently held International Conference on Population and Development in Addis Ababa Ethiopia.

Photo: Courtesy IPPF Africa Region.

towards reducing maternal mortality by enabling mothers to deliver in public hospitals at no cost, Mueke says that “removing the financial barrier alone, without complementary human resource and infrastructure improvement cannot reduce maternal mortality in Kenya”.

The CSOs position acknowledged that “Africa’s population dynamics influence opportunities for sustainable human development which are shaped by decisions and actions that people take and should be integrated in development planning.

Population dividends include rapidly growing population and young age structure due to high fertility, rapid urbanization due to high levels of internal migration and natural increase, rising international migration due to inequities in economic opportunities and increasing regional integration, and changing household and family structures.

With population and health being so intricately intertwined, Mueke says: “Without reducing population growth and availing safe abortion services to needy women in Kenya, women will continue dying of pregnancy related complications.”

It is advisable that family planning (FP) and contraceptive methods be used at 95 per cent level of those in need. It has been noted that unsafe abortion contributes to more than 35 per cent of maternal deaths.

Under the Clinton Administration in the United States, the then First Lady Hillary Clinton fought long and hard for the rights of women, and particularly employing the pro-choice approach where women could chose to keep or terminate a pregnancy.

“CSOs must partner and intensify their advocacy efforts towards promotion of the objectives of the ICPD programme of action.”

— Lucien Kouakou, Regional Director International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF)

Although hers is a much more liberal society, she too faced tough opposition. Her focus was to make abortion safe, legal and rare.

Value

Mueke further adds: “Without valuing Kenyan women by stamping out harmful traditional practices like ‘morannism’, child marriages, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), treating women and girls with dignity and equitably and recognising that lives of Kenyan women really count, we cannot win this war against morbidity and mortality burdened on our women.”

Youths were not left out of the discussions. During the pre-conference meeting for youths, the position was that Africa must be prepared for its young population. Currently, young people account for about 42 per cent of the Africa’s population and there is also a large population of dependants under 15 years.

However, pushing governments to address deficiencies in the implementation of ICPD programme of action is not the sole challenge that African CSOs have to contend with.

During plenary discussions at the pre-conference sessions, a heated discussion ensued among participants.

The bone of contention was the misconception among several participants who consider gender based violence (GBV) as synonymous to violence against women (VAW).

As a result, the participants were encouraged to re-educate themselves on concepts that drive the work that CSOs are undertaking across Africa.

Nonetheless, in keeping with the objective of the conference, CSOs called upon “regional bodies such as the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, governments and other development partners to recommit to the ICPD agenda post-2014 by closing the policy-practice gap”.

According to the CSOs: “This will only be possible if governments increase financial and technical investments in the largely known interventions and technologies for addressing Africa’s population and development challenges. In particular, we underscore the importance of strong political will and commitment for the achievement of the ICPD programme of action objectives.”

10

ISSUE 091, October 1-30, 2013

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Rise of street families cause for concern

By JACK JOSHUA

For eight-year-old Said, Mombasa streets are that he calls home.

Said is just one of the many child beggars along the coastal city’s major roads who live off the main streets through begging.

“We try to catch some sleep during daytime as it is hard to sleep at night,” he says.

While some of them are sent by their parents to beg, some have an aura of mystery that leaves one wondering how they survive on their own.

Most of the street families who spoke to the Reject cited poverty and the cruel hand of death that snatched loved ones from them as the forces that pushed them to seek refuge in the streets.

By the same token, the street families have to contend with myriad challenges of hunger and bloodthirsty mosquitoes that keep the young ones off from falling asleep.

“Sometimes I approach people to stop so that they can listen to me but they just walk away. I think they just look down upon people who survive from the streets,” says seven-year-old Mercy.

Mercy’s mother, who declines to give her daughter’s second name, has two other younger children who sit and beg outside a bank along Digo Road.

She says when the few passersby who support them with foodstuffs fail; she is forced to send her children to scavenge for food in the rubbish bins of hotels. She also cites constant harassment by city council askaris during the night.

“Sometimes I think of killing myself as I keep wondering why I have to lead this kind of life when

other children my age live in homes where they their needs are met,” says Osman who has been living in the streets for almost ten years.

A peek into their lives and that of their families also shows how the institution of family is threatened by poverty and social misfortunes.

Apart from death of parents and grinding poverty pushing the children into the streets, the choice of a carefree lifestyle coupled with lack of parental guidance continues to haunt the child’s development.

For instance, Edwin, who was born in Kisauni ended up in the streets with his mother due to poverty.

Another girl who only gave her name as Mary disclosed of how she ended up in the streets after her parents passed on in a fatal road accident at the Kibarani black spot in August last year.

Refuge

Ironically, Mary says she feels safer in the streets rather than with the nun who offered her refuge.

While some of the children give their mothers the money they collect, some of them use the money to buy food and sometimes hard drugs such as sniffing glue and cigarettes, a situation that has led to increase of juvenile crime in the area.

It is not uncommon to see children below 18 years answering to charges of petty theft among other crimes at the Mombasa Law Courts.

As the high cost of living pushes many to the streets, the local authority says it is trying all it can to ensure

A passer by dishes out coins to begging children along the busy Digo Road in Mombasa County.

Picture: Jack Joshua street families are rehabilitated.

Former Mombasa town clerk Tubman Otieno expressed optimism of a solution to the street children problem once the county assembly passes laws to finance the project.

The issue on how to rehabilitate the street families was top of the agenda when the Transition Authority officials met with the area leaders recently to sensitise the locals on the value of devolution.

Residents out to tame Cholera in Kitui County

By ABEL MUTUKU In an effort to stem increasing cases of cholera outbreak and advocating use of toilets in promotion of personal and public hygiene, residents of Kanyangi, Kitui County have devised a method to achieve good results.

The locals have pioneered a unique way dubbed “Tumia Choo Epuka Aibu (Use the latrine to escape shame)” to name and shame those who relieve themselves in the bushes.

This is a contrast to Nairobi’s informal settlement where many residents use “flying toilets” to dispose off their human waste.

The method introduced by the residents has gained support of local public health officials and involves pinning the names of the “offenders” on a notice board at the local administrator’s offices for a period of not less than one week.

A fine of a goat or a sheep is also imposed on those caught in the act. A similar fate will

also befall households with no toilet facilities.

According to Benjamin Muinde, public health promotion volunteer in Lower Yatta District, the animals collected as fines are later sold and the proceeds used to fund community projects like the construction of gabions to stem soil erosion and rehabilitate local roads.

Speaking at a health stakeholders meeting in Kitui town recently, Muinde noted that the initiative, which has been in force for the last two years, was borne out of the realisation that people were losing lives to diseases related to poor disposal of human waste.

Complain

By then, many residents had been complaining of incurring heavy hospital bills while seeking treatment for diarrhoea and related ailments.

As a result of the initiative, the area has in the recent past registered a decline in the number of cholera cases reported.

“Since its implementation the (tumia choo epuka aibu) initiative has brought remarkable changes in the locality as cases of cholera and other water borne disease have dropped and we no longer receive many patients in our clinics,” explained Muinde.

The residents have also embraced the initiative with local leaders, council of elders and medics being at the forefront.

One of them, Mutua Mwangu, who lives at Kanyangi, says incidents of locals relieving themselves in the bushes were so rampant that the human waste ended up contaminating water sources.

“However, since the programme was rolled out, such incidents have declined save for a few cases in unusual circumstances,” noted Mwangu.

Local primary schools have also been enlisted in the initiative with pupils being encouraged to report those who relieve themselves in the bushes.

Names of the culprits are pinned on the school noticeboards for a similar period.

“When I was the Town clerk, we established a drop-in center at Tononoka where we ensured street families were rehabilitated. We also assisted some of the street children to trace their homes while we took some of them to school,” said Otieno.

Charity

The former town clerk hailed efforts by charitable organisations and some banks which support a number

of rehabilitated children by committing to pay their school fees.

However, the idea of going back to school appears remote not only to the youngsters but also to the parents who cannot comprehend the idea of having to buy school uniform and other requirements.

Some of the street mothers said they barely get enough to cater for their daily needs and cannot think of taking their children to school.

Boys, men face the knife in fight to reduce HIV infections

By OMAR MWALAGO Over 5,000 boys and men were circumcised in the past year in Coast region by an international non-governmental organisation involved in fighting the spread of HIV and AIDs. The free service was organised by Doctors Worldwide, an international nongovernmental organisation with branches in Kenya.

In the past month, over 79 children at Madrasa-thul Khairat in Vuga Mwanangati in Matuga District, Kwale County, faced the knife.

According to Dr Abu Bakar Badawi, the project manager, the organisation is focusing on long term health sustainability projects.

Badawi noted that their main aim during the exercise is to assist local communities on issues of reproductive health among others.

“We are focusing on HIV and AIDS reduction in our projects in line with the recommendations of World Health Organisation (WHO),” he said.

Professional doctors and clinical officers drawn from various health facilities across the country are involved in the exercise.

The circumcision project was launched

last year in Mombasa and it targets 50,000 children in the country, and especially those from the coast region.

“Since last year we have been able to circumcise about 5,000 and it is our hope that as we move to different parts of the region our target will be reached,” Badawi noted.

The circumcision being done by the organisation is unique in comparison to the normal one done in public and other private hospitals across the country.

Exercise

They use special devices during the exercise which are manufactured in Turkey.

“We do not do stitching and there is no bleeding at all because the device we use, known as Alisklamp, is made in such a way that it remains on the body once the unwanted skin is cut off until it is removed after three days,” Badawi explained.

According to Sheikh Said Mchanjo, organiser of the exercise, many families in the area who could not afford to take their children to hospital for circumcision have benefitted.

“The exercise was also meant to help reduce HIV infections in the region,” said Mchanjo.

ISSUE 091, October 1-30, 2013

11

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Said Mohamed

Naivasha moves a notch Making life bearable for those living with cancer higher to tame TB defaulters

By JACK JOSHUA

As I make my way through the narrow winding ramp that leads to the Rahimtullah Cancer Ward at the Coast Provincial General Provincial Hospital, I am greeted by an eerie silence that is uncommon in the other wards there.

At the end of the ramp is the office of Dr Said Mohamed, in the oncology unit.

“When we started in 2006, we were taking care of about 10 patients but we are now taking care of more than 500 cancer patients,” explains Mohamed, a senior doctor at the hospital. He adds: “There are also more than 200 unregistered patients. We do not turn away anyone who comes for treatment.”

The work is full of surprises as Mohamed recalls a case of a patient with thymus gland cancer who came to seek treatment at a time when his condition had progressed and it was too late to help him leading to his death in the hands of the medics.

“We did all we could but he succumbed to cancer. The scan results showed the disease had spread to various organs of the body including the liver and pancreas,” says Mohamed who specializes in internal medicine and has been working at the ward for the past two years.

Most of those who come to seek treatment at Rahimtullah suffer from the leading cases of cancer— breast, prostate and liver.

However, the oncologist laments that most of the cancer cases brought to them are usually found to have spread to other organs by the time they are reported.

“Few cases are localised at the time of diagnosis,” Mohamed notes, a situation which he attributes to cultural beliefs that prevent most people from seeking treatment at the earliest sign of the illness.

Ignorance

He also blames fatalities from cancer to ignorance noting many people do not know or do not take seriously early signs and symptoms that may include fatigue, dizziness, irritability, weight loss, anxiety and depression in case of pancreatic or liver cancer.

Mohamed also identifies belief in witchcraft and superstition as one of the causes of early deaths of cancer patients as many locals seek help from traditional healers first before going for conventional medicine.

“Most cancers can have their progress slowed down and a patient’s life prolonged if diag-

By DAVID KIMANI

Dr Said Mohamed attending to 57-year-old Phenny Mshamba who suffers from breast cancer.

Pictures: Jack Joshua nosed early and treatment started immediately,” explains Mohamed.

He adds: “Most benign growths if diagnosed early can be removed and patient’s life prolonged.”

However, patients diagnosed with malignant and aggressive forms of cancer have a shorter lifespan; from a few months to several years after diagnosis.

However, records of cancer patients at the Rahimtullah Ward are alarming. Out of about 500 patients being cared for at the facility, 300 patients are being treated for breast cancer.

“Breast cancer is indeed a threat,” observes Mohamed adding the high cost of drugs to treat breast cancer does not make matters any better. “One course of treatment can cost up to KSh50,000 depending on the form of cancer,” he explains.

Working at the Rahimtullah Ward also comes with its own set of challenges.

The more serious sick pa-

tients are admitted and attended to at the ward, but most of them are on the day care programme.

Some patients receive treatment daily while others on a monthly basis.

As at now, Rahimtullah Wing attends only to chemotherapy needs of patients, while patients who need to undergo radiotherapy have to travel to Kenyatta National or MP Shah hospitals in Nairobi. While the patient waiting list is long at the national referral hospital, one may have to wait for up to six months to be attended. At MP Shah, a private hospital, the costs are prohibitive for the ordinary person who is struggling to survive.

In the year 2010, Bamburi Cement Company in partnership with Coast General Provincial Hospital renovated the old ward whose construction had been realised through donations from I.S Rahimtullah family in the 1960s and thereafter named

“Most cancers can have their progress slowed down and a patient’s life prolonged if diagnosed early and treatment started immediately,” — Dr Said Mohamed

after the family. To date, the ward is referred as the private wing of Coast General Provincial Hospital.

The ward is open 24 hours, seven days a week and Mohamed works with two other doctors, a consultant physician and a nephrologist. A general practitioner and nurse are attached to the ward. However, once every month an oncologist from Nairobi comes to attend to patients with complicated cases.

Role

Fenny Mshamba, 57, who hails from Jomvu in Mombasa city, has lived with breast cancer for 16 years. Mshamba had her left breast removed four years ago and goes for her monthly clinic visit religiously saying doctors have played a big role in building her hope. She has been attending clinic at Rahimtullah Wing since 2011.

“The encouragements I receive here from doctors make me believe that I will overcome,” says the mother of three, who echoes Mohamed’s concern that the cost of medicines very high.

In the meantime the oncologist is engrossed in looking after his patients to improve the quality of life, their conditions notwithstanding. He notes the few poorly equipped wards in Rahimtulla cannot cater for cancer patients in their last days let alone provide good palliative care to ensure they pass on peacefully and with dignity.

He blames the rise in cancer cases in the region to lifestyle changes where most people eat refined foods and avoid fruits.

The war against tuberculosis has been taken to the grassroots in Nakuru County in a bid to deal with those who default in taking their medication. With the move, cases of tuberculosis defaulters are expected to reduce in Naivasha sub-county after African Medical Research Foundation (AMREF) in conjunction with Naivasha District Hospital donated over 14 bicycles to community health workers to promote the campaign.

The bicycles will be used by the health workers to promote campaigns in taming TB in the sub-county.

Speaking at the event where the bicycles were donated, Helen Githura, Naivasha District Public Health Nurse said there has been a seven to eight per cent increase of TB defaulters among the population living with the disease in the sub-county.

Githura said that TB patients who fail to stick to the prescribed medication might lead to new cases of the highly communicable disease.

“When such patients fail to adhere to the prescription, those they live with are at a great risk of contracting the disease,” explained Githura.

She added: “However, with the dispensation of the bicycles, there will be reduced cases of the disease in the sub-county because the community health workers will get more in touch with the people in their area of jurisdiction.”

Githura appealed to members of the public living with the disease and are already on medication to adhere to the treatment regimen.

“Contrary to what many people hold, tuberculosis is treatable within six months of disciplined adherence to the prescription,” she noted.

She reiterated that the disease cannot be transmitted to other people after two weeks of proper treatment.

Githura said patients who do not follow their medication as prescribed are at great risk of developing multi-drug resistance tuberculosis, which is not only expensive to treat but also takes a longer time.

Suffer

“It costs about KSh1.2 million to treat a single patient suffering from multi-drug resistance tuberculosis. The time frame for treatment for the disease is approximately two years,” she explained.

Githura urged members of the public to go for regular check-ups at health facilities especially when they develop coughs that last for more than two weeks.

“Treatment of TB at public health facilities is free of charge and there should not be a reason why people should suffer in silence,” said Githura.

The medical department does not spare prolonged tuberculosis defaulters as they can be kept under custody until their health improves to a point where they cannot transmit the disease.

“In case of prolonged defaulting by a patient, we obtain a court order so that we can keep the patient under close surveillance to curb possible spread of the disease,” said Githura.

Speaking at the same function, Naivasha sub-county tuberculosis coordinator Samuel Ngetich expressed optimism in the bicycle project which will not only reduce cases of defaulters but also of the disease at large.

“The disease is currently under control with the only challenge being upcoming cases of defaulters which I hope will be countered by the bicycle project we have launched,” said Ngetich.

Among the areas that the bicycles have been donated in the sub-county include Oserian, Karagita, Naivasha town and Finlays.

12

ISSUE 091, October 1-30, 2013

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Life brightens for pre-school teachers

Negative use of social media by young people worrying

By BONIFACE MULU Early childhood Development teachers have every reason to smile because those who have been teaching in public schools will be employed by the Kitui County government.

According to Pascal Makite, County Education Director they have employed the first phase of the teachers and are working on the next phase.

“All of them will be absorbed in employment irrespective of one’s age and academic qualifications,” Makite noted.

He also announced that after the government has employed those teachers, it will train those who have not been trained as pre-school teachers.

The pre-school teachers working in private schools will also be absorbed.

Makite was speaking during the fifth graduation ceremony where about 117 students graduated from the Kitui Early Childhood Education Training Centre.

Ninety of the graduates were on the diploma programme and 27 on certificate programme. Makite said that his office fully supported preschool education in Kitui County because it had been mainstreamed within primary schools by the national government.

“I have handed over the preschool education programme to the Kitui County Governor’s office” he said.

Makite noted that early childhood education teachers are very important because they are the one who mould children.

“The future of the child is from that teacher,” Makite observed.

Join

He appreciated the men who have joined the early childhood education development as teachers for children because many people see it as a job for women alone.

The Kenya Early Childhood Education Private Training Institutions Association National Treasurer, Patrick Mbunzi, expressed concern over the questionable mushrooming of the early childhood education colleges in Kenya.

“The questionable colleges are not registered by the Government of Kenya. These are briefcase offices,” says Mbunzi, who is also Managing Director at the Kitui Early Childhood Education Training Centre.

Mbunzi added that the Centre will work in cooperation with the Education Ministry’s directorate, Quality Assurance and Standards Department, Kenya Institute of Education, Kenya National Examinations Council and KECEPTIA among other stakeholders.

The KECEPTIA official asked the pre-school teachers who are not trained to get training.

In his speech, Sammy Mutia Principal at the Centre said that the certificates and diplomas are a stepping board for the graduates and encouraged them to use the universities around to enroll for degree programmes to boost their careers.

By MERCY MUMO Mass exposure of children to the Internet is posing a challenge to parents as far as safety and morals are concerned.

Low digital literacy among parents is also posing a major challenge as far as controlling internet content consumption is concerned.

During the launch of a study dubbed “A private (public) space: Examining the use and impact of digital and social media among adolescents in Kenya”, it was evident that there is a need to increase awareness among the youth of the risks involved when engaging in unsafe behaviour online.

The study by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) noted that the changing media landscape in Kenya, largely due to the increased availability of cheap web-enabled mobile phones, had changed the way young people seek information and news, make new connections and access entertainment.

According to Kanyankore Marcel Rudasingwa, UNICEF Kenya Representative, the Internet has had a major impact on almost every aspect of our lives.

“If there is one group of people that has easily adapted to this new technology, it is young people. Their lives have been transformed by the increased availability of internet access,” Rudasingwa said.

Young people need guidance on how to navigate the Internet safely and create awareness of the potentially positive aspects as well as balancing their freedom and responsibilities.

Article 13 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child states that: “The child shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the child’s choice.”

With Kenya’s mobile penetration standing at over 75 per cent, Kenya is on the road to realising this right as young people are part of the growing mobile savvy population.

In contrast to that, Internet penetration in the country stood at 28 per cent by mid-last year.

“The freedom that young people have in accessing the Internet and social media on their mobile phones provides them with that private space that they desire to explore their own identities, free from the influence and interference of adults in their offline lives,” noted Rudasingwa.

Article 16 goes on to state that: “No child shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family, or correspondence, or to unlawful attacks on his or her honour and reputation.

The child has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.”

Employ

Currently, the Government does not employ technical filtering or any administrative censorship system on the Internet to restrict access to political or other content with the exception of the monitoring done by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) prior to the March 4, General Election.

Since there are no laws that govern accessibility to Internet content,

Youth surfing at a cyber cafe in town. Most young people only have an abstract sense of the risks and safety issues surrounding their digital and social media use.

Picture: Reject Correspondent young children are left exposed to a variety of content with almost no adult supervision.

The study also shows that awareness of the risks and consequences of engaging in unsafe behaviour online is low and most young people only have an abstract sense of the risks and safety issues surrounding their digital and social media use.

Many of them are under the impression that repercussions of risky behaviour only happen to other people. Others do not think meeting friends online or suggestive selfexposure may be harmful.

The low digital literacy among parents also poses a major challenge to online safety of children. The exposure of children to vices such as cyber bullying, pornography, exploitation, potential harassment and exposure to unsuitable content is higher.

Research

Academic research on children’s Internet use has shown that there are both positive and negative aspects.

Adults and children access risks and opportunities differently.

“However, the Government is committed to establishing a national child protection system in partner-

“Technology is doing a lot of harm than good. The usage and impact of social media needs to be viewed from a child’s rights perspective. The Internet may have positive impact on the intellectual growth of the child but the main objective should be to protect them from harm.”

— Lydia Muiru

ship with the telecommunications sector,” says John Omo, Secretary Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK).

The Internet has played a big role in the provision of education. The reduced cost of access has also enabled many young people to access mobile phones.

“The level of insecurity in cyber space is high and this is the reason why CCK is in the process of formulating policies to curb the rising rate of internet crime,” Omo noted.

He added: “The Government also intends to block some sites that may have bad content since majority of young persons are not aware of the dangers associated with use of the Internet.”

According to Lydia Muiru, Children Affairs’ Secretary, cyber insecurity is a worrying trend in the department and at the home front.

“Technology is doing a lot of harm than good. The usage and impact of social media needs to be viewed from a child’s rights perspective. The Internet may have positive impact on the intellectual growth of the child but the main objective should be to protect them from harm.”

Muiru notes that the best way to protect children is by educating them on ways of being safe as they chat with strangers, are counselled and closely monitored by parents and guardians.

“We have to take responsibility as parents to protect our children. It’s our collective responsibility. Everybody has to play his or her part,” said Muiru.

She further noted that the media ought to be cautious how they break news stories to the public so as not to elicit curiosity of the child to access the content. Stories should be done in the interest of all consumers.

ISSUE 091, October 1-30, 2013

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

13

Women to benefit from dairy loans

By BEN OROKO

In Africa, women are known to produce up to 80 per cent of the food and when it comes to access of agricultural inputs and extension services, they only access seven per cent of agricultural extension services, less than 10 per cent of the credit offered to small-holder farmers and only own one per cent of the land.

Based on the above scenario, women are often found concentrated in subsistence agricultural practices and unpaid farm labour, excluding them from more lucrative income generation agricultural investment opportunities such as cash crop ventures.

It is against this background that women who constitute majority of milk hawkers in Gusii are now a happy lot following Wakenya Pamoja Sacco Society’s dairy value chain loan product targeting farmers in organised groups.

According to Fred Miruka, the Sacco’s agri-business manager, the value chain project focuses in assisting small-holder farmers to move from subsistence to agri-business through modern farming technologies.

“Dairy value chain project will empower rural-based women’s groups engaged in dairy farming acquire milk processing and transport equipment to enhance the dairy subsector’s productivity in the region,” Miruka notes.

He says the project will facilitate dairy farmers, particularly women in organised groups to acquire milk coolers for their evening milking awaiting transport to the market the following day to avert wastage.

The agri-business project will support dairy farming focused selfhelp groups and strengthen their position in the dairy value chain economically empower women who play a key role in agricultural and dairy farming investments.

“Through the Sacco’s dairy value chain project, farmers can now add value to their milk production through conversion of fresh milk into other products such as mala, yoghurt, cheese, butter and other processes that increase the shelf life of the product to facilitate optimization of marketing,” explains Miruka.

He notes that the project will promote gender-responsive farming technologies such as zero-grazing which does not require a lot of land since women have limited access to land due to cultural practices that face them.

Facilitate

Besides facilitating group formation among dairy farmers, Miruka notes that the project will involve value chain mapping, acquisition of milk processing and transport equipment for the small-holder dairy farmers to maximize their returns in

the dairy sub-sector.

“With improvement in the dairy sub-sector in the region, it is expected that more women will be encouraged to join the primary producer co-operative societies and actively participate in leadership and governance activities of the institutions to the advantage of women folk,” observes Miruka.

Dairy value chain loan targets dairy farmers in a registered group with a minimum of five farmers and a maximum of 20. The group must be two years old for the farmers to qualify for the loan.

The farmers guarantee one another on group collateral basis, with farmers receiving a minimum loan of KSh17,500 and a maximum loan of KSh51,000 for three dairy cows.

Miruka discloses that the major achievement of dairy value chain loans is improvement of the dairy farmers’ dairy breeds through Artificial Insemination (A.I) services that are financed by the Sacco’s loans.

The value chain project will work efficiently if the extension services are streamlined to ensure farmers engage in productive agribusiness farming ventures as op-

“With improvement in the dairy sub-sector in the region, it is expected that more women will be encouraged to join the primary producer co-operative societies and actively participate in leadership and governance activities of the institutions to the advantage of women folk.”

— Fred Miruka,

A dairy farmer feeding her cow in Kisii County. Dairy value chain loan targets dairy farmers in a registered group with a minimum of five farmers and a maximum of 20.

Picture: Ben Oroko posed to subsistence farming.

He laments that unlike dairy value chain, the demand for banana value chain loans is not high due to scarcity of land and low pace at which local communities embraced technologically-proven tissue culture bananas which the Sacco has been allocating funds to.

The project was initiated in 2010 on a pilot basis during which the Sacco set aside KSh10million and to date the budget has continued growing tremendously with the Sacco currently projecting to disburse KSh60million for the year 2013.

Manage

According to Miruka, fish farming which is also the Sacco’ target is facing a challenge due to lack of intensified extension services to educate farmers on the importance of practicing fish farming as a business venture.

Agnes Bosire a small-holder dairy farmer from Gucha District, Kisii

County, welcomes the Sacco’s dairy value chain initiative, saying it will economically empower rural women who have been suffering under the dirty tricks of mushrooming milk vendors who prey on unsuspecting women milk hawkers, paying them poorly.

“Dairy plays a key role as a source of livelihood in the rural areas with families producing milk showing registering low poverty index. Dairy farming enterprise is a good business venture that provides food, employment and high cash returns to the farmer,” observes Bosire.

She notes that if the Sacco will facilitate organized dairy farmers groups to come up with centralized milk bars and kiosks in the market centres and urban areas, their problems in milk marketing will be addressed.

“We will be economically empowered unlike the current situation where most of us are exploited by milk vendors,” says Bosire.

Executive Director: Arthur Okwemba Editor: Jane Godia Programme Officer: Mercy Mumo

Write to: info@mdcafrica.org

Sub-Editors: Joyce Chimbi and Odhiambo Orlale Designer: Noel Lumbama

www.mdcafrica.org

Contributors: Duncan Mboyah, Robert Nyagah, Jack Joshua, Ekuwam Adou, Ajanga Khayesi, Hussein Dido, Gilbert Ochieng, Andrew Elijah, Abisai Amugune, David Njaaga, Boniface Mulu, Diana Wanyonyi, Henry Owino, David Kimani, Abel Mutuku, Omar Mwalago and Ben Oroko

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