Reject Online Issue 93

ISSUE 093, December 1-30, 2013

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

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December 1- 30, 2013

ISSUE 093

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

Drug injections blamed for rise in HIV Cases

BY HENRY KAHARA Almost 29 years since the first HIV case was reported in Kenya, the fight against the epidemic is not going down as new challenges emerge.

Stakeholders are being challenged on other ways through which the virus is being spread.

Most people only know that HIV is transmitted through sexual intercourse and breastfeeding.

For long the fight to reduce new infections of the virus has been fought using a similar way which warns people against indulging in sex without using a condom, while the reality is that the virus can also be spread in numerous other ways.

HIV continues to have a disproportionate impact on sex workers, men who have sex with men and people who inject drugs. It is also emerging that people who inject drugs are the worst as far as spreading the virus is concerned: evidence from 49 countries shows that their risk of being infected with HIV is 22 times higher than the general population. This is according to report by Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, (UNAIDS) World AIDS Day Report 2012.

Recover

Charles Wanjohi, an HIV survivor and a recovering drug user, says he has seen drug addicts spreading HIV virus.

“Personally I got infected through sharing syringes with my colleagues who were positive,” explains Wanjohi who has been on drugs for the last 23 years. He attests to seeing many of his friends die of AIDs. “Most drug-users do not indulge in sex because it is the drug that makes them feel lively.

They mostly spread the virus through sharing syringes,” explains Wanjohi.

“I have been conducting peer education to drug users in the past two years, beseeching them to stop abusing drugs for this will just torment them and destroy their lives,” says Wanjohi.

He reiterates: “I have used drugs. I started with smoking before up grading to injections. Drugs will cost you your life and a place in the society.”

Introduce

Fresh from school and searching for his place in life, Wanjohi was introduced to drugs by two Nigerians with whom he was doing business with in 1989. At that time he was not infected with HIV and he had no information that he could be infected.

Having transformed from being a drug user,

Wanjohi says his main role now is to encourage drug abusers to stop.

“Currently my main duty is to urge drug users to stop using them and instead go for voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) so that they can know their status,” he says adding that so far five people have heeded to his call.

At the same time he is urging them to maintain cleanliness and ensure they eat nutritious food.

“I know areas where drug users operate in.

Many of them also know me and I reach out to them as a friend and role model,” he says.

“On top of drugs destroying my life they have also left me destitute. I have virus and my life is tattered but I am happy I have realized it and I am on the track to making it,” says former student of Nairobi Technical High School which is today known as the Nairobi Technical Institute.

People who use drugs, including those who inject them are increasingly recognised as an atrisk population in Kenya.

A recent rapid situational analysis of People Who Inject Drugs (PWID) in Nairobi and Coast provinces highlights that HIV prevalence is high among them, ranging from 17 percent to 47 per cent among males and females respectively.

According to United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) study in 2004, 80 percent of injectors in three urban centres reported sharing injection devices, with 50 per cent being HIV positive in the coastal city of Mombasa.

According to World Health Organisation (WHO) study in Nairobi, HIV prevalence was 53 per cent among People Who Inject Drugs, twothirds of whom are also reported to be sexual risks. Access to harm reduction services is limited as public clinics do not provide medicallyassisted therapy.

Recognise

The report by UNAIDS indicates that there were more than 700,000 new HIV infections globally in 2011 than in 2001. However, Africa has cut AIDS-related deaths by one third in the past six years.

In the past two years there has been a 60 per cent increase in the number of people accessing lifesaving treatment. About eight million people are on anti-retroviral therapy.

As the global HIV prevalence trend appears to have stabilised, there is disturbing evidence suggesting that global HIV prevalence among men who have sex with men may have increased between 2010 and 2012.

Charles Wanjohi, contracted HIV through sharing of syringes to inject drugs. He is now campaigning against drug abuse and prevention of the spread of HIV. Pictures :Henry Kahara

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ISSUE 093, December 1-30, 2013

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Hundreds saved from child labour through Vocational training

By Gibert Ochieng The International Labour Organization/ International Programme on Elimination of Child Labour [ILO/ IPEC] through SNAP project with the funding from the United States Department of Labour have withdrawn scores of children in Busia County from worst forms of child labour that had been carried out both in private and public areas to impacting them with skills.

Majority of the affected children had been driven out of schools and forced to seek for casual employment in sugarcane plantations, homes, hand harvesting and construction sites, jaggeries among others due to poverty in an effort to earn their daily bread.

Maureen Awino, 18, an orphan and a mother of one from Nambale Sub-County is one of the beneficiaries of the vocational training programme under the ILO/IPEC SNAP project who had undergone a hairdressing course in Nambale.

Education

The orphaned girl, a former student of Muslim Girls secondary school in Mumias says she was forced to drop out of school in Form Two after the death of her parents who had been paying fees and providing for their basic needs.

“After the death of my parents, life proved extremely difficult for me as I was now forced to take care of my siblings though we moved to our Aunt’s

place. I had to seek casual work in sugarcane and maize plantations then to a local restaurant where I was paid as little as Ksh 50 per day to supplement what she had,” explains Awino, adding that at times she was given food in return for the work and would share the same with her siblings.

Due to commitment and entrepreneurial innovation, she has proved to her clients that she is indeed a professional hairdresser by offering services in make-shift salon under a tree at their home.

“I offer mobile services to my clients from their homes and business premises and they have really appreciated the expert service I provide to them,” she says, adding that initially she had been forced to provide the services for free as she was by then still green in the field whereas wining confidence of the clients..

She however admits that the training she has undergone has completely transformed her life as well as that of her siblings.

“I am at the moment in a position to make between Ksh 150 and Ksh 200 per day because when you provide the service locally the return is always low,” says the orphan, adding that through the earning she has been able to withdraw her younger sister who had been employed as a house help in the neighborhood as well as sending her brother back to school.

Salima Hussein, Maureen’s maternal aunt believes that her niece is hard working and visionary confessing

that the burden she had of raising children after the demise of their parents was now being addressed through the support of the niece.

“I thank God for Maureen for she is helping to support the family. Am a widow with no income but lives on hope. I know one day she will own a big salon as she is hardworking.

Salima notes that she could not manage to send the young ones to school Maureen Awino an orphan attending to a client at her make-shift what her niece is commit- beauty salon at home. Maureen is one of the beneficiaries of ILO/IPEC- SNAP ted to do. She links Mauproject with funding from United States Department of Labour aimed at reen’s commitment to takeliminating child labour. Picture: Gilbert Ochieng ing her siblings to school to the love she had for says their dreams of owning a mod- actively participate in elimination of education explaining that she was bright in school before drop- ern hairdressing salon has been child labour by training others,” says realized-thanks to the director of Makokha, adding that there is urgent ping due to fees.

Rural Education and Empower- need to empower them to be able to ment Programme(REEP) Mary Ma- empower others.

She further says that the beauty As she does business, Maureen is kokha, a local non-governmental giving back by training her peers on organization based in the County salon to be co-owned by the three will hairdressing skills some of whom are and one of the project’s implement- serve as a centre of excellence aimed at inspiring other girls to follow suit. employed in various sectors to offer ing agency.

“We had realized that some of the REEP has set up a modern and manual work. She does this at her free time without charges as she explains well equipped Beauty salon in Nam- beneficiaries had the skills but had that whenever she reflects her past she bale Town for the trio and has also failed to put the same to good use feels giving back to the community paid a three month advance rent for hence the need to make a follow up and advise them accordingly,” says for free. These has seen local girls who them.

Makokha says the organization Makokha. dropped out of school withdraw from The salon that is under the final their manual works to seek hairdress- had chosen to support the three due to stages of furnishing will be handed their commitment to the programme. ing skills from her.

“Maureen is committed to her duty officially to the trio early December Maureen and other two fellow beneficiaries of the SNAP project and I believe she has the goodwill to this year.

Dreams

Initiative to fight child labour launched

By GILBERT OCHIENG Agricultural sector has been identified as one of the major challenges in the fight against rampant child labour in Western Kenya.

Most children from poor families are being forced to work as casual labourers in cane plantations at the expense of education due to the high poverty rate.

The International Labour Organisation, International Programme on Elimination of Child Labour and the United States Department of Labour are providing funds to facilitate the provision of a chipping machine and a solar drier under a SNAP project for Tangakona Commercial village.

Engage

According to Alloys Obiasi, coordinator Tangakona commercial village project, the availability of a chipping machine and a solar drier has empowered the group to realise their dream of engaging in commercialisation of cassava and potato which, according to them was unachievable due to

lack of funds.

“The project has positively reduced child labour and improved on the livelihoods of most families in the area as majority of families involved as well as those not in the project are now in a position to provide for their family’s basic needs and also send their children to school,” says Obiasi.

He explains: “The chipping machine and the Solar drier has enabled us to harvest cassava and sweet potatoes within the shortest time possible unlike before when we used to spend too much time harvesting the same.”

According to Kenneth Ekisa, the group’s chairman, members of Tangakona Commercial Village started in late 1990s to address an outbreak of cassava mosaic disease that had by then hit the crop, which was the county’s staple food.

Today, the farmers have a ready market and are supported by Kirinyaga Millers, Kenya Energy Alliance and Familia Food Industries that depend on chipped cassava.

“Increase in demand for cassava and sweet potato prod-

ucts has forced the group to start giving seedlings and fertiliser to farmers at a subsidised rate in order to increase production,” notes Obiasi.

Transform

Monica Onga’ria, a widow and mother of four who is a member of the group says the project has transformed her family’s livelihood as she is now in a position to provide for them unlike before when she used to beg for food from wellwishers and relatives.

“I had lost all hope of earning a living following the death of my husband years back but since I embraced the project I am now able to support my family through cassava and potato farming,” says Onga’ria.

She reveals that previously she would send her children to work in sugarcane plantations for a living.

Members of Tangakona l Village sell cassava cuttings at a cost of KSh500 a sack. The group has signed a contract with the Kenya Red Cross Society to supply it with a total of 4,000 bags of cassava cuttings to be imported to Siaya County.

Members of Tangakona commercial village inspecting chipped cassava in the solar drier donated by International Labour Organization in order to eliminate child labour.

Picture: Gilbert Ochieng Members of Tangakona commercial village inspecting chipped cassava in the solar drier donated by International Labour Organization in order to eliminate child labour.

Picture: Gilbert Ochieng Prior to that, the group had supplied over 6,000 bags of the same to a non-governmental organisation known as One Acre Fund.

According to Patrick Were, a market/trade manager with Farm Concern International, a market development trust

in Busia County, the success has been linked to Tangakona Commercial Village whose members are disciplined and committed.

He says the drier and chipping machine has given farmers the confidence to produce more as they are now in a posi-

tion to store and preserve their produce.

“The chipping machine and solar drier has opened up the village to the wider market as the buyers (firms) have confidence in the quality of the product they are purchasing,” he says.

ISSUE 093, December 1-30, 2013

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

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Community volunteer changes women’s lives in Sudan

BY REJECT CORRESPONDENT The zeal by volunteers to use their skills to empower others is often rare.

However, for 34-year-old Intissar Elobeid — a dynamic young woman who lives in Kassala State, volunteering is all about making a difference to the people who need a helping hand.

Intissar has dedicated much of her time over the past 10 years in supporting Plan Sudan programmes in Elgineed community, River Atbara Program Unit. She is committed, intelligent and always available to support and engage all members of her community, no matter their age.

“The best thing about being a volunteer is promoting change and becoming part of it. When we first started, all the women in my community did not know how to read and write.”

Majority were unaware of the issues that affect their lives but now through the Regenerated Freirean Literacy through Empowering Community Techniques (REFLECT) programme supported by Plan Sudan, more than 200 Women in Elgineed community know how to read and write.

Literacy

“We have made change possible through REFLECT,” says Intissar who is a facilitator for one of the REFLECT circles.

REFLECT is an innovative approach to adult learning and social change promoted by Plan in Sudan.

The programme empowers groups of learners to develop their own learning materials and activities that include drama, story-telling and songs which reflect their socioeconomic

and political circumstances. As such, the development of literacy and other related skills is closely linked to people’s everyday life As an active member of the community development committee, Intissar not only works with other community volunteers but also visits families and REFLECT groups supported by Plan Sudan’s child centred community development programme.

For her, the REFLECT programme implemented by Plan Sudan is a perfect match for the women in her community.

Inovation

“The programme has helped to create social links for the families.

Women have become more of producers than consumers, as they are more proactive and innovative. They produce furniture and decoration items using locally available materials and sell them to villages and neighbouring communities,” said Intissar.

According to Intissar, the programme has helped to improve families’ income and living conditions.

“Women are now able to pay their children’s school fees and give financial contributions towards the implementation of some community development projects in the area,” she says.

For the women of the nomad community in Irak village, Awad Ahmed Allah symbolises the promise of the past and hope for the future.

At the age of 68, he is not resting but keeps himself busy, spending two to three hours every day teaching basic literacy to the women in his community. He has also initiated various skills development and income generating activities for the women.

skills,” says Awad.

A father of four girls and a boy, Awad is basically a farmer. He was the only one who went to school in his entire community. Completing secondary education was not an easy task for him.

“I struggled to go to school which was 10 kilometres away. It was painful but I was so determined to complete my education. I always knew that one day I would bring education to the door step of my people.”

Dignity

Awad’s family migrated to Irak village two decades ago along with 80 other nomadic families. They had to leave their ancestral village Hiradana and move to Irak for better living opportunities. Irak was then quite a large village with a high literacy rate. People initially treated the nomads like subordinates. Hence it was difficult for the nomad community to integrate within the main village. They felt ignored and looked upon as second class citizens by the others. For Awad, it was a question of dignity and self-respect for his

Training

Through his efforts, women from his community have gone through a series of training in sewing, biscuit making and First Aid among others.

“As they started learning to read and write, they also started thinking about their economic security and prosperity. They wanted to support their families in a significant way.

Now they make school bags, biscuits and fruit jam. They have learnt life

“The programme has helped to create social links for the families. Women have become more of producers than consumers, as they are more proactive and innovative. They produce furniture and decoration items using locally available materials and sell them to villages and neighbouring communities.”

— Intissar Elobeid

people.

“Unless I train my people, teach them how to read and write, I can’t live in dignity,” he vowed.

Awad attended the REFLECT training facilitated by Plan Sudan in 2004. He then formed a centre to train the women from his community on basic literacy applying the REFLECT approach.

Awad’s determination gave him the energy and enthusiasm to achieve something, to make 46 women of his community learn to read and write in a period of four years. The number may be small yet a huge leap for the women in terms of pride, dignity and status in their community. The wonderful part is that the first six women who were trained are now his co facilitators.

“In the first year I could convince only six women to attend my classes.

During the second year, the number increased to eight. My wife was among the eight but now we have 32 women attending the classes,” says Awad. He adds: “I feel happy that women from the main village too attend the classes.

Thanks to Plan for supporting the centre with supplies, stationeries, equipment and sewing machines.”

Awad now is a member of community committee of Irak village. He is relentless in his efforts against illiteracy in his community. He now plans to focus on men and work with them.

“I am happy that I have been able to inculcate dignity and self-respect among our people. They are no longer looked upon as lesser citizens. They are now treated equally,” says Awad.

— Courtesy Plan International

Sex workers turn a new leaf

By Raphael Wanjala Sex workers in Malaba town have now seen the light. A good number of them have joined an anti-HIV-AIDs campaign as volunteers and are spearheading the fight against HIV/AIDS among their colleagues and residents of the border town.

Six of them have joined the volunteers program and are currently encouraging residents to know their status and lead responsible lives.

AMPATH Malaba Testing and Counseling centre officer, Samuel Emukule, says more than 100 sex workers have undergone HIV testing in the town.

Reduce

The officer says this will help reduce the prevalence rate to below three per cent in the border town which had been on the spot for having a prevalence rate of 15 per cent a few years back.

“This project is aimed at reducing HIV prevalence to less than three per cent in the border town of Malaba. The inclusion of sex workers in the project has given us a major boost as very many of them have already turned up for the testing and are encouraging others to turn up for the exercise,” says Emukule.

The program has enrolled the volunteers as CommunityHealthWorkerswithanaimofreaching their colleagues and the larger community.

On her part, Monica Mwende, a volunteer, said

Trucks lined up to cross the Kenya-Uganda border at Malaba. Presence of trucks at Malaba has been blamed for increase of prostitution in the town. Picture :Courtesy they decided to join the program as they were more at risk in their work place.

She noted that sex workers were generally viewed as leading dangerous lives, it was that information that Mwende’s team was working with the community to dispel the notion.

Concern

“We have always been on the receiving end, is as far as irresponsible living is concerned, and we are telling the public that it is not the case. We are in business as any other trader and

“We have always been on the receiving end as far as irresponsible living is concerned. We are therefore telling the public that it is not the case. We are in business as any other trader and that does not mean we don’t fear HIV.” — Monica Mwende.

that does not mean we don’t fear HIV,” she said.

Among other tests clients undergo is blood pressure and sugar test which are said to be very common diseases in the country currently. The NGO also carries out night testing famously known as ‘Moonlight VCT’s twice a month to encourage those who may fear to visit the Centre during the day. Truck drivers have also not been left out of the project.

Malaba branch Long-Distance Truck Drivers Association official, James Kariuki, said their members no longer live a careless life as they used to do. Kariuki says they have counseled and given their members civic education to asked tem to regularly go for VCT and live responsible lives.

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Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

ISSUE 093, December 1-30, 2013

Slums children are yet to access quality education

BY HENRY KAHARA Despite basic education being a Constitutional right to all children in Kenya, thousands of children from poor backgrounds are yet to access it.

According to a report by United Nations’ Education Science Culture Organization (UNESCO), dubbed “Education for all monitoring report 2012” , a million children in Kenya are still out of school, two years to the deadline set by government to realize Universal Primary Education by 2015.

The report shows disparities in quality of education or even lack of it, between the children from poorest and wealthiest backgrounds.

Drop

In this case, Nasibu Aliow, an orphan aged 12 is perfect example. Nasibu dropped out of school while in class three. This was after the death of her mother in 2010. Nasibu was left under the care of her elderly father.

One year later, she enrolled at Great Hope Academy, an informal school in Korogocho, where she is in “class five”.

The school helps children who can’t afford to access formal education in Korogocho.

“This is not a school per se. It’s a set of class where we are divided in groups from class one to class five and we are all under care of three teachers,” says Nasibu.

Currently she and three other pupils occupy the top most class, “class five” in Great Hope Academy.

For now Nasibu urges well-wisher to support her in order to realize her childhood dream, becoming a dentist.

A dream she can only realize if in a better school where she has resources.

“I would like to be a dentist in fu-

ture,” she says adding that she had been a victim of tooth ache.

According to Halima Osman a resident in Korogocho, “there are very many children in slums who don’t attend school leave alone informal school.”

Children who originate from humble background face challenges which bar them from accessing education.

“Education starts from home preparation, eating well, where they stay and so on,” she says. Halima further notes that, “some children are orphans and they are under care of their guardians who are not able to meet their needs fully. Some guardians are elderly; they don’t have a source of income they survive under the mercies of their children and good Samaritans.”

Despite that Primary education is free in public schools there is cost parents are expected to cater for like, buying uniforms and tuition money.

Halima says that school drop outs has seen emerging of goons who are robbing people at night. “Today boys who are mugging people here in Korogocho are between the ages of 13-17 years,” she says.

She adds that girls at the age of 12 years are all over in the slums at night doing commercial sex, all in search for money.

“Many of these children involving themselves in these vices are primary school dropouts,” she reiterates. This is a time bomb and I can’t imagine how our country will be five years from now.

Marginalise

According to a research released

by African Population and Health Research Center APHRC gains has been made in accessing of education since the introduction of universal free pri-

School children playing at a school in Kibera slum. Children from humble background face challenges which bar them from accessing education. Picture: Courtesy mary education but much need to be done.

The report indicates children who come from marginalized zones including in the slums face challenges in accessing education.

The report indicates that there aren’t enough public schools in slum areas to meet the needs of community.

This has made parents living in slums to opt in taking their children to schools charging fees. 47 per cent of the urban poor are enrolled in non –governmental primary schools.

The report show that the government need to support low cost private schools in slums areas through finan-

cial and technical support that would help them avail Free Primary Education to children living in these areas.

Speaking during the launch of the report Cabinet Secretary, for Education Science and Technology, Prof.

Jacob Kaimenyi urged county governments under whose docket the Village Polytechnics and Early Childhood Development centers fall, to prioritize provision of resources that will enable skills to be developed to improve and boost opportunities for young people.

“It is clear from the report that preference on the choice of school depend in the presence or absence of equality Early Childhood Development center

in large urban informal settlements,” said Kaimenyi.

Kaimenyi also noted that, it’s the right of every Kenyan child to access free and compulsory education as enshrined in the Basic Education Act 2013 as well as in Kenyan Constitution.

Article 53 of the Constitution states: “every child has the right– b) to free and compulsory basic education”. However, thousands of Kenyan children can’t access basic education regardless of its quality.

“It’s our duty as Kenyans to ensure that no child is denied the inalienable right to access quality education,” says Kaimenyi.

Transforming lives through self help group

BY GILBERT OCHIENG For Etekwa self help group, Income generating activities has been at the centre of their advocacy as their activities have transformed the community’s welfare. The group that covers Walatsi location of Nambale district, Busia County, has changed the livelihoods of many in the location through commercialization of farming.

The twenty five members self help group started four years ago as a merry go round and latter gained prominence through their agricultural activities.

The group is among other groups that benefitted from the income generating activities programme initiated by the ILO/IPEC through the SNAP project that was funded by the United States Department of Labour (USDOL) aimed at empowering the community to eradicate Child labour.

Success

The group has seen much success in banana farming as the members who embraced who the project have fetched a lot of cash from the crop. The group has also distributed seedlings to non members that have seen banana production in the location flourish.

Francis Mukadi the group’s chairperson acknowledges that banana growing has been for long been taken for home consumption with little attachment of the crop to cash. It was regarded as a cash crop to other regions.

Since the group started the project on commercial ground, many locals have

been inspired and are now cultivating banana on large scale.

“It was uncommon for families here to engage themselves in banana growing as a cash crop but currently almost every house hold has better part of their farm planted bananas” he says The chairperson reveals that members and non members are advised to set aside piece of land for agribusiness and another for kitchen gardening.

This he says has helped solve malnutrition among families that has ventured in the project as well as earning them extra coin for the provision of other basic needs since a bunch of banana is sold at between Ksh 1000 and 1200.

Mukadi however points out the market is a challenge as most traders who buy the produce are always middle men who take advantage to pay little as they transport to lucrative markets outside the county.

Etekwa also practice bee farming that has seen farmers earn handsomely from the project which was implemented alongside banana. Almost every group member has at least three bee hives.

The chairperson says that initially some members became fiery of bee keeping but after some time they embraced and now earn a living from the project too. He says that market for honey is available as the demand for clean honey is high.

“With honey the demand is high and we give priority to our local su-

permarkets in Busia. We also sell our honey at Ksh. 800 per litre and we can harvest at least 2 t0 3 litres per hive with a triple harvest annually.”

The group has a total of 52 beehives among its members as non members in Walatsi and its surrounding are also practicing bee farming. They note that lack of honey processing machine has been a major challenge as they incur loss through manual processing that is associated with wastage.

Through the income generated from the two projects, the self help group has initiated chicken rearing among its members as they encouraged local species which has done well and given the farmers good returns.

Cost

The chicken project is embraced by almost all households in the location as some have kept over a hundred local chickens that they sell to hotels and individuals after few months of rearing claiming that local chicken has ready market and has least costs to maintain.

Members of the group also exercise kitchen gardening which they are encouraged to grow local vegetables for home consumption. Besides, the farmers also cultivate drought resistance and fast growing sweet potato species that has largely helped address the malnutrition in the community.

According to locals, the IGA programme opened eyes for many as issues of food security and general sustainability for households has been addressed.

Sarah Anyango a beneficiary of the project admits that the project has had great impact in the life of her family as she has managed to send her children back to school through the earnings she got from the sale of bananas and chicken.

“Am not the group member but through its members we got knowledge and embraced the project. At least this year I have been able to pay tuition fees for my children and fend them. She says Anyango like many other locals confirms that it was risk taking during the initial stages of the project but now they celebrate as they welcome any other programme.

Mary Makokha director Rural Education and Economic Programme (REEP) a local organization and one of the implementing agencies of the SNAP project gives a thumps up for the group as being exemplary in its performance citing transformation the community has undergone viewing it as total surgery.

Mary notes that through the project Child labor has greatly reduced since many children are now in school with their parents managing to pay for their tuition. She also points out poverty as having been the cause to cases of child labour in the area which is becoming a thing of the past.

“It was poverty that made parents to send their children to work for cash to make ends meet and now that the community has enough food cases of child labour are rarely recorded

and I applaud the group for the work they did.”

Area chief Francis Waswa who is also a member of the group and Location child labour committee (LCLC) member is a happy man as he attributes improved security in Walatsi location to the prevalence of the project citing commitment members of the community has to their income generating projects and the availability of food in plenty.

Challenge

The chief however gives a challenge to the neighboring locations to visit successful programs like this to learn and transfer knowledge to their locality as a matter of enhancing an all inclusive development in the district and county in general.

Hon John Bunyasi Member of Parliament for Nambale constituency believes that through such programmes the area is heading towards development as commercializing farming and other projects is the path to go.

The Mp admits that food security is a major problem among his constituents as he appreciates the efforts done

by Etekwa self help group to transform livelihood in Walatsi location.

“This is a noble exercise by the group and other likeminded groups and I encourage other groups and individuals to emulate. Other players are also invited to come and invest in human capital as we will help to source for market to whatever produced.” The MP laments.

ISSUE 093, December 1-30, 2013

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

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Maternal death rates alarming

BY Yusuf Amin The rate at which pregnant women die in the process of giving birth is now sending an alarm as the number seems to keep on growing every day in Kenya, especially in rural areas. And if measures are not taken, then in a few years to come, it might turn to be another disaster befalling not just the Kenyan women, but the society at large.

There are now concerns in Kilifi County after the department of health raised an alarm on the same.

The county is now concerned after it emerged that more women die every year due to delivery complication.

Most of those affected are those who deliver in their homes.

The department further revealed that the deaths have been caused by lack of adequate equipment to ensure that emergency maternity services are offered to pregnant women in time.

Delivery

Addressing county government and health stakeholders in Kilifi county hospital during official opening of a new delivery theatre, Kilifi county executive officer in charge of health Dr Swabah Omar said that efforts are made to make sure that no single mother dies due to delivery complications.

“We are very much concerned about the rising number of maternal deaths in our county. The statics in our possession show that over 200 women die while giving birth with rural areas being the mostly affected.

This has come to our attention and currently working hard to bring these problems to an end,” she said.

She added that health officials in the county including midwives will work together to make sure that both basic and emergency maternity services in the county have been improved in time to rescue the lives of the women.

“When we talk about maternal deaths, our reflections show that in every 100,000 live births, a total of 488 deaths are reported, which translate to over 200 women dying every year in Kilifi County. This is disturbing and as county health officials, we are currently working towards improved infrastructures in our health institutions in the county,” she said.

Awareness

She further asked leaders in the county to make sure they have sensitized women to give birth in the hospitals so that their lives may not be in danger.

Dr Swabah also asked the county government to improve the infrastructure of the Kilifi district hospital which is partly in dilapidated situation with some structures being built in the late 50s.

“We urge our community to support our effort by utilizing these services, let’s all encourage our pregnant mothers to come and deliver in our health facilities so that we can be able to guarantee them safe deliveries and appropriate intervene during emergencies,” she noted with concern.

She said that in the five years strategic plan for health sector, the county has carefully targeted to have a fair balance between the preventive and curative services.

One of the challenges she said was lack of nursing staffs and other health equipments that have hin-

dered the offering of good healthcare to all in Kilifi and the entire coast region.

“Yes we have some challenges ranging from lack of nurses and other professionals in the health sector. This is a clear indication that we still have a long way to go in as far as good health for the Kilifi people are concerned,” she said.

She added that on the preventive front the health sector in Kilifi County will focus on improving access to preventive maternal and child health services including antenatal services for pregnant women, safe deliveries by skilled midwives and childhood immunization services.

Improve

During the handing over of the facility, Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi promised to improve the health sector in the county so that the number of maternal deaths can be reduced in the community.

“We know that we have challenges in the health sector, but much as we know, this can be slowly tacked and get a lasting solution,” he said.

He further asked the community

to keep away traditions that bar them from delivering in the hospitals.

The governor expressed his concerns over maternal deaths caused by traditional birth attendants.

He urged the Kilifi county hospital staffs to well use the new theater to serve the women in terms of de-

“We know that we have challenges in the health sector, but much as we know, this can be slowly tacked and get a lasting solution.”

— Amason Kingi

The new theatre that is meant to help tackle deliveries with complications at Kilifi County Hospital. Below: mothers who have just given birth at the hospital’s maternity ward.

Pictures: Yusuf Amin livery. In doing this he said that pregnant women may not leave in fear of deaths during delivery.

He thanked the Safaricom foundation and friends of Kilifi hospital for building the facility at a cost of Ksh 6 million.

Facility

Safaricom foundation coordinator Les Baillie said that the foundation equipped the theatre because health sector is one of the objectives of the foundation.

“We know that the health sector plays an important role in the development of this country. Safaricom is committed to good health, we decided

to equip this theatre with an aim of helping our mothers to deliver safely,” he said.

He also asked the Kilifi district heath officers to make sure that they have used the facility well for the development of the health sector in the county.

Kilifi county women leaders led

by Kilifi county assembly nominated member Christine Zawadi said that they will also conduct civic education to various parts of the county to women on the importance of delivering in hospitals.

“We will have barazas to educate women,” she said during a public baraza in Kilifi town.

6

ISSUE 093, December 1-30, 2013

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Mixed reactions shroud female condom

BY Joyce Chimbi Although a growing number of people are beginning to discuss the female condom as an option for the African woman, this dual method of protection continues to attract mixed reactions.

While the female condom is the only product to date that simultaneously protects a woman from both pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), including HIV, it has largely been received with curiosity since myths and misconceptions have extensively preceded it.

Misconceptions

These misconceptions range from the supposed noise that the female condom makes, to the fear that it may disappear within the body of a woman during intercourse.

“We have discovered that most of the people advancing these misconceptions have never even used the female condom. Those who have used it say that the female condom is a much better model,” says Angela Ogugua, an advocate of the female condom.

While advocates for the female condom claim that the low distribution of the product and failure by African governments to integrate it within its health system is to blame for the low uptake, potential clients claim that the cost is prohibitive and quality poor. Others also claim that the female condom is not as accessible as the male condom.

Nonetheless, it would appear that this disparity arises right from the point of manufacture. According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), in 2005 there were only 13.9 million female condoms in distribution worldwide, and six to nine billion

male condoms.

According to Ogugua, the female condom is more superior to the male condom. “It [female condom] is wider, has more lubrication, heats up and adjusts to body temperature meaning that the users cannot even tell that they are using a condom.”

Not everyone agrees though. “The female condom as it is now is not appropriate for a hot country like Niger,” says Hachimou Zara, Director of programmes at ANBEF, an association of family planning.

She adds: “Also, unlike the male condom, which is thin and easy to use, women have complained that the female condom is bulky and uncomfortable,”

Lubricants

Beatrijs Janssen from the RutgersWPF, a sexual reproductive health rights non-governmental organisation based in the Netherlands disagrees.

According to Janssen, in most instances, one has to use external lubricants while using the male condom “and that is not the case with the female condom. It [female condom] is well lubricated. Also, the female condom increases pleasure too. It has a ring that is very stimulating. While the first female condom [FC1] had some shortcomings, the improved version FC2, has addressed those shortcomings.”

Janssen further explains that the female condom is WHO certified and has a 97 percent dual protection just like the male condom.

Janssen further explains that in countries such as Nigeria, Camer-

Researchers have been encouraging women to embrace female condoms as a way of preventing transmission of HIV. The condom however has been met with a lot of resistance hence poor usage.

Picture : Courtesy oon and Mozambique, there is a notable increase in the use of the female condom and this has been attributed to male involvement as well as targeting socio-economic areas where information can easily pass like salons. “Women spend a lot of time in salons and so targeting hairdressers has worked very well in Cameron,” explains Ogugua.

However, inspite of the misconceptions around the female condom, founded or not, gender experts explain that the issue is not so much the qual-

“The female condom as it is now is not appropriate for a hot country like Niger.”

—says Hachimou Zara, Director of programmes at ANBEF.

ity of the condom but power imbalances between the users.

“Was the female condom developed to broaden contraceptive choices or to empower women? The female condom is about power. A majority of African women cannot negotiate for safe sex, let alone buy a condom and bring it at home,” says Jane Wairimu, a gender expert in Kenya.

Access

These discussions raged on during the third International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP) held in Addis Ababa Ethiopia under the theme “Full Access, Full Choice”.

“Full access and full choice cannot be realised against a backdrop of a significantly disempowered African

woman,” Wairimu explained.

According to a participant at the conference who identified himself only as Haile, “the female condom is about power. Very few men here in Ethiopia can agree to use a female condom, men feel that they should make all the decisions regarding sexual relations”.

“People still treat the male condom with a lot of secrecy. When you want to buy the male condom you use some codes, we usually say, yachin neger [give me a condom],” Haile expounded.

However, Haile says that there is nothing wrong with the female condom “but it is too early for it. Sometime in the future, people will embrace it, but not now.”

New method to manage new-born deaths

BY HENRY OWINO

However, the country’s public health hospitals have an acute shortage of incubators. There The Reproductive Health Division at Kenyatta are only about 90 incubators at national and National Hospital has now devised Kangaroo provincial hospitals in the country. As at April, Mother Care method to make up for the big this year, there were 404 pre-term babies born gap to help save more babies. in those facilities.

The method is derived from the animal To worsen situation, not all these incubaname (Kangaroo) in the way it carries its young tors are functional yet some Counties have one in a pouch under its belly. The mothers are none at all to cater for the number of preterm also encouraged to hold their pre-term babies babies delivered regionally. close to their chest to provide warmth to the However, when premature babies are born baby. in health facilities, their chances of surviving There is a Kangaroo Ward at the hospital is greater compared to those born at home. for mothers with pre-term babies where doc- Pre-term babies born at home are almost tors are providing mothers with skills. How- twice as likely to die as those born in health ever, this is being done to minimise chances of facilities. deaths as there are not enough incubators to handle the high demand.

For instance, babies born in Nairobi are five There is also need to train more nurses from other health facilities countrywide on times more likely to be born in health facilities this devised incubator to reduce congestion at than babies born in in North Eastern Province.

Kenyatta National Hospital and other referrals. Only two out of every five babies born in Kenya are delivered in a health facility.

At the Kenyatta National Hospital, the bigOver the last two decades there has been no gest referral hospital in sub-Saharan Africa has real progress in reducing deaths among new- about 50 incubators and unfortunately only borns due to a severe shortage of incubators about 10 are in proper condition to handle prethat could improve chances of their babies’ term babies. survival.

The hospital receives several pre-term baApproximately 14,700 pre-term babies bies from other health facilities with biggest die within their first month of life every year, number coming from Pumwani Maternity meaning that one out of 13 premature babies Hospital. in Kenya die from complications of pre-term In one session, Kenyatta National Hospibirth. tal handles between 100-120 pre-term babies

Survival

Progress

Women are now taking care of their prematurely born babies using a kangaroo-like method due to lack of enough incubators.

Picture : Courtesy which is far much beyond its capacity. This forces doctors to put two babies in an incubator, a situation that is not recommended as it may lead to infections. Sharing of the incubators among the preterm babies complicates their chances of survival as every baby has its own health problems.

Government must now invest in maternal health to minimize maternal mortality.

Currently the death rate of children at birth is said to be 488 out of 100,000 live births. This must be improved by the Government wants to achieve millennium development goal four by 2015.

ISSUE 093, December 1-30, 2013

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

The journey that took 50 years Youth employment at a cross-road

By HENRY KAHARA For more than 50 years they have been fighting for their place in the republic of Kenya. While they settled in Kenya during colonial days as British military, they have since lived as aliens.

The Nubian community arrived in Kenya in early 1900s. They migrated from Sudan as British military; Britons used them in the first and Second World War. According to Yusuf Diab an elder and Secretary to the Nubian council of elders, “our fore fathers were coerced by Britons to join the Army here in Kenya. Britons had a strategy of moving people with their families, so they were moved with their wives and children and they were settled to different part of Kenya. Some of our relatives were settled in Eldama Ravine, Nyanza, Migori and in Kisii. Those are some of areas Britons had interest in as they were good for farming. The other group was settled here in Kibra.” According to Diab, Nubians were the first people to settle in Kibra.

Land

“The whole of Kibra was a forest full of wild animals. Kibra is Nubian name meaning land of forest,” explains Yusuf.

According to Yusuf they were the first people to occupy Kibra and were settled in an over 4, 000 acres piece of land. The land was divided into three; settlement, farming and shooting rage area. Settlement was homestead areas currently; Makina, Kilindi and part of Ayeni estate.

“At that time they were not allowed to build permanent houses although few could have afforded to build permanent houses,” says Yusuf showing a map where 577 families were settled.

He points for me his grandfather’s land number 174 in an old but wellkept map in his office at Jamii Mosque in Kibera. Each portion has its number and name written at one edge of that map. His grandfather Deyed Aljab owned 1.6 acres he was among the first people to be settled in Kibra.

“The only problem was that this people were not issued with title deeds,” he says.

Farming zone included grazing area that is Impara and Joseph Kangethe area; they did some farming at Langata area. The other zone was shooting range the famous Line Saba.

Zone

“The military used to do shooting practice in this area, hence the name shooting range of which people translated to line shabaha, currently line saba,” says Yusuf.

He narrates that shooting range was just an area of practical’s for the military. “At that time the Barrack was located at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH),” he says.

The battle to have Kibra land registered as a Nubian land started in 1938. “At this time some Nubian’s had retired from the military and they wanted to settle. Many of them worked as drivers in Nairobi and they could have afforded to build perma-

7

BY Abisai Amugune Youth joblessness is a national crisis that must be addressed as a matter of urgency.

In Trans Nzoia, the problem is even worse as the youth wait in vain to be assisted by the county government.

One of them, Bernard Alliangoda Lusaka is not impressed by the way the county government is handling the issue of unemployment among the youth in the area.

Lusaka alias Bcool from Motosiet, Cheranganyi Constituency says hundreds of youth in the county are being denied access to employment due to lack of proper coordination.

Represent

Yusuf Diab ,an elder and secretary to the Nubian council of elders displaying a photo of his grandfather and other Nubians when they first arrived in Kibra. Picture: Henry Kahara. nent structures, but the British were against the idea,” he says.

“At that time commercial places like Nairobi were coming up,” he says noting that Kibra is older than Nairobi city.

The community wanted to know why they are not registered as the owners of that land. At this time Nubians had already started putting pressure on British Government to take them back to their original land, Sudan.

“The world war two was shaping up, Kibra was converted to recruitment ground for soldiers,” he says adding that people like Bildad Kagia a veteran freedom fighter and an army in the Second World War was recruited in the area.

“After World War Two, many people went back to their villages.

It’s at this the time when they started agitating for independence. Africans wanted their children to get a chance to go to schools. Education was precious services for the few Africans, the whites and the Asians dominated schools,” he says Yusuf notes that lack of formal education to Nubians made them to rank behind even after independence. “The problem with Nubians is that they never got a chance to go to school earlier enough like other communities. Many communities especially from Christian religion were lucky that missionaries built schools for them and they children benefited much. Many Muslim communities got only religion education. So, even after independence the people who benefited much are those who had a chance for secular education,” he explains.

He spots education as an up to date problem where he notes that the first and the only High school in Kibra was built in 2010, Olympic High School.

“For many Kibra children education, and particularly secondary education, is a luxury item. At age 13/14, unless the parent can afford the secondary school fees many vulnerable Kibra teenagers cannot continue in school,” says Yusuf.

Yusuf adds that it’s unfortunate that the community has been left

behind, despite its efforts to fight for independence.

Community

“The Britons wanted us to collaborate with them to fight maumau, but as Africans we refused to fight our people. Actually we were of great help to maumau. Maumau used Kibra as hide out,” he explains adding that first Nairobi KANU chairman was a Nubian.

“Adam Abdufarji a Nubian was the first Kenya African National Union (KANU) chairman in Nairobi,” he says as he displays some photo of Nubian leaders with Kenya’s first president Jomo Kenyatta in state house.

Although he confesses that lack of education cost them to have a share in the Kenyatta’s government he says that he also does not understand why Kenyatta did not recognize them just like any other community in Kenya.

“But I think at that time he was old and overwhelmed by the new duties as the prime minister of the young nation plus political fights from the fellow politicians,” concludes Yusuf.

Although the community is yet to be gazzetted as Kenyan tribe he says that they are happy that in 2009 census they were recognized as a tribe in Kenya.

“2009 census was our first time to be registered as Nubians other census since 1969 we have always been referred as others. Now our code is 220,” he says happily.

“The fact that we now have the code, we believe we are in Kenya legally,” he says.

For now Yusuf is even happier that the government has promised to give them title deed in this land they have occupied since the time they came in Kenya. “Land’s Cabinet Secretary, Charity Ngilu was here and she promised us title deeds and were it not the hitches going in the land ministry we could be having those title deeds.”

Lands, Housing and Urban Development Cabinet Secretary has been at loggerheads with the National Land Commission (NLC) over issuance of title deeds.

According to Kenya bureau of statistics 2009 census there are 15, 463 Nubians in Kenya.

Lusaka, who was in the company of the youth representatives Julius Matofari and Alfayo Muganda, says they are opposed to a plan by two giant chain of supermarkets to bring “expatriates” to work in their outlets scheduled to be opened in Kitale.

Tuskys and Nakumatt group of supermarkets are making their final touches before opening to the public.

According to Lusaka, Matofari and Muganda at least 70 percent of the workers should be hired locally in respect of the devolved system of county government.

Lusaka, a professional musician who unsuccessfully contested the Motosiet Ward in the General Elections says he has the constitutional right to defend the youth in TransNzoia.

However, the Trans Nzoia County Governor Patrick Khaemba says his government has set aside KSh50 million which will be used to construct a modern youth polytechnic to tap young people’s potential.

He notes that it is only through employment of the youth and accessibility to funds that they can be involved in the county’s development.

Devolve

Khaemba also notes that the harsh conditions placed on the devolved funds are an impediment for the youth to access the money.

However, Dr Chris Wamalwa who is the MP for Kiminini has a different approach to addressing the issue.

Wamalwa has started a campaign to transform Kitale Technical Training Institute into a fully-pledged university college “to produce more graduates”.

According to Wamalwa, the change of status of the institute will address the problem of unemployment among the youth.

However, Trans Nzoia senator Henry ole Ndiema argues that the county is saturated with many private university colleges which have produced graduates who are looking for jobs.

According to Ndiema phasing out Kitale Technical Training Institute will be like “killing” the medium-colleges which produce graduates with technical skills that are required in the labour market.

The Senator cites the case of Pe-

ter Wanyama, who graduated with a Bachelor in Commerce and Business Management from a local private university college, and has had to join a driving school in order to be more marketable.

Says Wanyama: “I have had to get a driving licence so that I can land a driver’s job in case my degree is not relevant.”

A jua kali artisan, Ochieng Ogolla, had to open a garage after graduating from Kitale Technical Training Institute with workforce of five youth.

“There is nothing as frustrating as having a degree that cannot help one get employment,” says Ochieng.

Streets in Kitale are awash with youth seeking employment or engaging in any acts that could earn them a living.

From mugging to phone snatching, many of the youths have found themselves in the hands of the police or ended up as victims of mob justice.

Engage

Two months ago, armed police engaged notorious youth in running battles after they became a security threat to members of the public. During the incident, some security men were pelted with stones and other crude objects before some of the youth were arrested and arraigned in court.

But the situation has continued to get out of hand as more youth are idle and are seen along the roadsides and bus parks passing their time there.

With fewer industries in Kitale, a handful of youths are seen at the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB), New KCC, Kenya Seed Company, Western Seed Company and Mombasa outlets targeting casual employment.

According to Khaemba, the county government is looking for land for the purpose of industrial growth in Kitale town.

“To achieve this, parts of the forest land in town will have to be degazetted to pave way for the industrial zone. Youth will be grouped in co-operative movements to acquire supportive loans,” says Khaemba.

A deal has been struck with the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) where Export Processing Zone (EPZ) is planning to put up small industries on plots to be acquired on part of the land owned by Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC).

According to Martin Waliaula the chief executive officer of the KNCCI Trans-Nzoia branch, negotiations between the two partners are at an advanced stage.

However, Lusaka, Matofari and Muganda are not happy with the way the county government is approaching the unemployment crisis.

The three are demanding for stakeholders’ consultative meetings to chart the way forward, reiterating that it should not be left solely in the hands of the governor.

Says Lusaka: “We want to have access to the strategic plan for the youth. We should be involved as participants.’’

8

ISSUE 093, December 1-30, 2013

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Nubians retain their rich culture

By Henry Kahara

Nubian cultural ambassador Siyama Ismail says that one of her main duty now is to make sure that her community retains its identity in the midst of challenges facing communities.

“There are a lot of challenges facing communities in Kenya. This has seen many of them losing their identity but I want my community to be recognized all over Kenya and East Africa,” she vows.

They have lived in Kenya for more than 100 years having arrived as British Military but despite them living in the capital city where fashion is the order of the day their rich culture remains to be their trademark.

This is contrary to many Kenyan communities who have abandoned their culture and embraced the western culture. Currently many people in Kenya has let go their traditions in order to give a room to western style which they think is more civilized. Some has gone to an extent that they can’t communicate using their first language.

Maintain

Culture

According to Yusuf Diab an elder, and the secretary of council of elders’ Nubian community, culture is very important, it makes a community relevant.

“I think the reason why we haven’t changed our culture is because it doesn’t contradict much with the western culture which people think is more advanced.”

According to the primary archaeological survey of Nubia, conducted between 1907 and 1910; it revealed that Nubia has possessed an advanced culture since the Predynastic period.

Yusuf says that although their dressing style has not changed the language is slowly getting extinct. “Our language is in trouble. Some of our children can’t speak Nubian they are lost in English and in Kiswahili. We are encouraging parents to try and teach their children Nubian,” says Yusuf.

“Maintaining your dialect in a cosmopolitan town like Nairobi is very challenging,” he confesses.

“We don’t spend a lot of time with our children. Most of the time they are in school with other children from different communities, they

Nubian women explaining their culture (right) Nubian cultural ambassador, Siyama Ismail with her friend Hadija Doka. Picture : Henry Kahara. therefore, use Kiswahili and English to communicate. The same is repeated back at home while playing. They rarely have time to speak local language,” he explains.

“We are urging their parents to make sure they speak to them in the Nubian language at home. This will help to keep our language a live,” he adds.

Reference

Yusuf adds that the fact that their language has never been written is a threat to their culture. “We are looking on a way we will come up with a Nubian dictionary and a phrase book. We want to archive it. We want people to find refer-

ence material,” he reveals.

Thirty eight years old Hadija Doka a Nubian and a resident in Kibra says that currently they are having trouble with girls who are feeling that wearing long clothes is out dated. “You find some of our girls are wearing miniskirts and tight trousers all in the name of fashion, but we are trying hard to bring them back to normalcy,” says Hadija.

Hadija says that it is a hard task for young women like her to speak to them (girls), but she confesses that they are not ready to relent. “You know, Mwacha mila ni mtumwa a Kiswahili proverb meaning, anyone without a cultural heritage is a slave,” says Hadija a mother of three.

Siyama says that maintaining positive culture in our society is one of the best things a community can do. “As a community it’s good to have an identity,” says Siyama.

Siyama a mother of two won Nubian cultural ambassador title during an event held at Bomas of Kenya on September 2013. “Nubian cultural event is held once per year but it doesn’t receive a lot of attraction like the previous one,” says Siyama.

This will see Siyama with her colleague, Koor Osman who represents Nubian men joining other communities in Kenya to the business of selling the country as tourist destination.

“Our community will now join other communities like Maasai, Mijikenda in selling Kenya as tourist destination,” she says adding that, “we even got recognition in the just concluded Nairobi County miss tourism pageant held on October 2013 at Nairobi National Park.”

“My other duty will be advocating for the rights of women and girls in Kibra,” she concludes.

Facts about Nubian

Nubian basic food is called Kisra it also called gurusa by Ethiopians. This is fermented maize and wheat flour. It’s made like pancake. It’s eaten by sauce made of vegetable such as ochre and beef.

Their traditional wedding takes place for three days.

Merck kicks off initiative to fight diabetes Implementation of the five-year Capacity Advancement program by Merck – the world’s oldest pharmaceutical company – has kicked off with the training of 180 medical students out of the targeted 1,000, on how to diagnose and treat the disease.

Merck’s Capacity Advancement Programme (CAP) has been driven by the rising number of diabetes in the country, with an estimated 1.6 million Kenyans grappling with the condition.

The Merck family member and Chairman of the Board of Partners, Dr Frank Stangenberg –Haverkamp said the Capacity Advancement Program will in addition to training seek to empower diabetics in rural Kenya on ways to manage the disease in order to live a healthier life.

Aim

“This program aims to expand the professional capacity in Africa in the areas of research and development, clinical research, supply-chain integrity and efficiency, Pharmacovigilance, Medical education for the University of Nairobi University medical students and community awareness,” said Dr Stangenberg.

Dr Stangenberg said the project was collaboration between Merck, University of Nairobi and Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI).

The Health Cabinet Secretary Mr James Macharia said the Capacity Advancement Program was launched in Kenya and the rest of Africa earlier this year in order to improve health-

care sector in the continent through educating and empowering those affected by Diabetes in one way or another on how to manage and prevent it.

“This comes in the wake of the Government’s commitment to curb the rising cases of diabetes in the country with more than 1.6 million people affected as Central Kenya records highest prevalence at eight,” said Macharia.

Diabetes causes 4.8 million deaths per year, which equates to more than 13,000 deaths per day with 370 million people estimated to live with the disease globally.

“To provide medical students with Clinical diabetes management course is indeed an innovative programme as this university students are the drivers in enabling us achieve our goal as a Ministry, that of creating public awareness on diabetes prevention and control,” explained Mr Macharia.

The Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) director Dr Solomon Mpoke said the partnership with Merck in research activities will boost the institutions rigorous efforts to improve healthcare in the country in curbing the rising cases of diabetes.

Figures

“With proper statistics in place and the Capacity Advancement program, our combined efforts together with the Ministry of Health and other related bodies will play a critical role in addressing the rising numbers

Dr Frank Stangenberg-Haverkamp the Merck Family Member and the chairman of the board of partners and Rasha Kelej, Program Director, Global Strategy Realization Office- SRO Merck Serono together with medical students at University of Nairobi. Picture: Courtesy. of diabetics in the country,” said Dr Mpoke.

University of Nairobi, Principal Health Sciences, Dr Isaac Kibwage, said the partnership with Merck in implementing the Capacity Advancement Programme in support of diabetes health care in Kenya was critical in tackling the ever rising prevalence rate.

Dr Kibwage said the program will provide European accredited scientific education for diabetes health care providers in rural areas and Clinical management for medical undergraduates of local African universities so

that, ultimately, they act as Diabetes ambassadors.

He pointed out that the program is made possible through an educational grant from Merck and will be conducted initially at the University of Nairobi, University of Namibia and Makerere University in Uganda. The project will next year be extended to more universities in Africa and Other developing countries.

“We applaud Merck for their vision and mission to create awareness about diabetes and to promote better management of the diseased. We hope that together through this pro-

gramme we will indeed make a difference,” noted Dr Kibwage.

Dr Kibwage invited Dr Frank Stangenberg Haverkamp , Merck Family member to plant a tree at the University ground that is named after him as a demonstration of long term partnership and commitment between Merck and University of Nairobi A similar invitation was extended by Dr Solomon Mpoke, director KEMRI – the tree signifying their future cooperation and long term partnership between Merck and KEMRI. Courtesy Merck

ISSUE 093, December 1-30, 2013

A strange fish shocks Malindi residents

Confession

He confessed not to have sighted such a fish and at one time even thought it was a shark faking death for it to attack anything approaching.

After being convinced that the fish was dead and hence harmless, the ranger accompanied by boat owners carried the flat bodied fish into the beach amid curious questions from members of the public and tourists.

More than 10 elderly boat operators who at one time in the early 1960s used to be fishermen, all confessed not to have seen the fish in the Indian Ocean or even in photos.

One of the most experienced Malindi fishermen Mohammed Kale Ba’hasaan 75 said “I have never seen such a fish in my entire career spanning more than 50 years.

This is strange, indeed the sea can hide many wonders” Amid confusion about the identification and safety of the fish, some parents with children restrained them from touching the marine being, fearing that it might be one of the poisonous fishes.

Myths

Amina Mohammed who was at the marine park beach when the fish was brought ashore warned her five year old son “You, Salim please do not touch that fish, it might be poisonous” Although the Malindi National Marine park is associated with the conservation of marine beings, the KWS personnel allowed curious and amazed guests at the beach including tourists to take photos of the rare fish.

But it was not until, the senior warden in charge of the marine park Mr. Felix Mwangangi came out and offered details about the name and the character of the fish that the curiosity among members of the public and even among the members of the media was brought down.

The spectacle turned out to be the Ocean Sunfish and according to Mr. Mwangangi, the ocean sunfish also known as Mola is the heaviest

Tourism stakeholders seek intervention from governors

By Robert Nyagah

By Robert Nyagah A strange fish whose body was swept into the Malindi National Marine Park Beach caused excitement among tourists, members of the public and Kenya Wildlife Marine Park rangers.

Boat owners who take tourists to the park and who before becoming excursion sellers to tourists and used to be fishermen confessed not to have seen such a fish in their activities in the Indian Ocean at time spanning more than 40 years.

On the day the shark like but rare looking fish was discovered at the Park beach recently, many people who observed it appeared completely compounded.

A Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) Malindi Marine park ranger when alerted about the fish floating on the shallow waters of the park at low tide took off in fear on seeing it.

9

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

The six governors heading various counties in Coast Province have been urged to establish an authority to coordinate and promote tourism in the area.

Stakeholders are also asking the county governments to partner and raise capital to assist them take over dormant stakes in the hotel and travel industry firms.

The six governors are Hassan Joho (Mombasa), Mvurya Salim Mgalla (Kwale), Amason Kingi (Kilifi), Johnson Mtuta Mruttu (Taita Taveta) Timmamy Issa Abdalla (Lamu) and Tuneya Hussein Dado (Tana River).

According to Fuad Rudainy a travel agent in Malindi and owner of Tausi Tours and Travel, failure to raise capital locally and internationally would mean that the tourist industry at the Coast could collapse and negatively affect the economy of the region in terms of wealth and job losses.

Capital

Members of the public at the Malindi National Marine Park Beach look in amazement at the rare Sunfish which was swept ashore after it died of unknown causes.

Pictures: Robert Nyagah known bony fish in the world.

With an estimated adult weight of 1,000 kilograms, the fish main habitat is tropical and temperate waters around the globe.

He explained that the Sunfish could be as tall as they are long when their dorsal and ventral fins are extended.

Consumption

The Sunfish are known to consume large amounts of food in order to develop and maintain their great bulk mainly because they prefer a diet of Jellyfish which is classified as nutritionally compromised.

Mr. Mwangangi said the Sunfish is a deep sea species rarely found in the shallow waters of the Indian Ocean and its death could have been prompted by a crash at the Malindi Coast coral reef which contains protruding and at time sharp and dangerous coral stones.

Research in the various scientific marine journals indicate that many areas of sunfish biology, however remain poorly understood, and various research efforts are underway.

Genetic analysis of tissue samples and collection of amateur sighting data has been going on with recent studies indicate a decrease in sunfish populations that may be caused by more frequent by-catch and the increasing popularity of sunfish in human diet.

“We suspect the fish met its death after drifting into the waters towards the shoreline and accidentally crashing against the coral reef which contains some sharp and dangerous protrusions” said the warden.

Ocean sunfish are native to the temperate and tropical waters of every ocean in the world. And despite some research revelations that sunfish moved around mainly by drifting with ocean currents, something strange also emerged with some of the fish having been recorded swimming 26 km in a day, at a top speed of 3.2 kilometers per hour.

The Malindi find is strange according to Mr. Mwangangi given that Sunfish are pelagic and swim at depths of up to 600 metres, an indication that the species is normally a deep sea marine being.

Despite the association with basking in the sun as suggested in the name, research Mr. Mwangangi said indicated that the sunfish actually spend large portions of their lives “submerged at depths greater than 200 in the various Ocean temperature water zones”.

Survival

Researchers indicate that the surface basking behavior, in which the fish swim on their side, presenting its largest profile to the sun, may be a method of “thermally recharging” following dives into deeper, colder water.

The warden explained that the fish has also been sighted in colder waters outside of its usual habitat, such as those southwest of England where there has been evidence of increasing marine temperatures in the recent past.

Although the sunfish are usually found alone swimming in open waters, at times they prefer some shallow parts to take advantage of

resident populations of smaller fish which remove parasites from their skin.

Because sunfish must consume a large volume of prey, their presence in a given area may be used as an indicator of nutrient-rich waters where endangered species may be found hence the reason it may have ended in the neighborhoods of protected Malindi Marine Park.

The fishery by-catch and destruction of ocean sunfish are unregulated worldwide, a report indicates adding that in some areas, the fish are “finned” by fishermen who regard them as worthless bait thieves; this process, in which the fins are cut off, results in the eventual death of the fish, because it can no longer propel itself without its dorsal and anal fins.

The species is also threatened by floating litter such as plastic bags which resemble jellyfish, its main food. Malindi marine park volunteer environmentalist George Edage says that plastics bags can choke and suffocate an individual or fill its stomach to the extent that it starves.

Many areas of sunfish biology remain poorly understood, and various research efforts are underway, including aerial surveys of mola populations and satellite surveillance using pop-off satellite tags.

Genetic analysis of tissue samples and collection of amateur sighting data has been going on with recent studies indicating a decrease in sunfish populations that may be caused by more frequent by-catch and the increasing popularity of sunfish in human diet.

According to Rudainy, the proposed authority will play a key role in assisting local stakeholders and professionals take over the many foreign owned tourist establishments which have collapsed or have been abandoned.

“Coast controls more than 60 per cent stakes in national tourism industry, including accommodation and travel investments. There is an urgent need to have a concerted effort to promote it,” reiterated Rudainy.

In an interview with the Reject in Malindi, Rudainy whose firm has been in operation for more than 25 years, petitioned the national government to assist the Coast region.

He cited Malindi, Watamu and Mambrui, where a large number of idle and collapsing tourist class hotels, villas, private houses and cottages need to be revived by new owners.

He urged the six county governments to come up with laws which will allow automatic takeover of any collapsed or dormant tourist resort within the prime areas such as beach and second row plots.

“It is not fair to allow foreign investors to acquire beach resorts and transform them into small units at the expense of hotel resorts and prime beach plots which are more preferred by wealthy local and foreign investors,” explained Rudainy.

Exploit

Other unique tourism attractions that are unexploited can be found in Tana River, Lamu, Kilifi, Mombasa, Kwale and Taita Taveta.

Rudainy warned that the continued dominance of tourist oriented establishments by foreigners and people from others parts of Kenya made Coast residents look like mere spectators and workers.

“Unless Coast people own hotels, game lodges and tour firms, they will continue to be spectators and only wait for the national Government and international stakeholders to intervene when the industry is strained,” said Rudainy.

He lamented that it was unfortunate that in the last 30 years, foreigners had nearly taken over all the beach hotels and game lodges in the Tsavo East and West national parks at the expense of local investors.

Rudainy noted that even where Kenyans owned hotels, lodges and travel firms, most were funded and at the mercy of foreigners whose identity was shrouded in secrecy.

He said that the present trend in Malindi, Watamu and Mambrui where more than 500 luxury villas and cottages have been abandoned or are on sale by Italian owners should not be taken lightly by the Kilifi County and national governments.

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ISSUE 093, December 1-30, 2013

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Farmers diversify activities to boost income

By Gilbert Ochieng A concerted effort by a 25-member self-help group from Walatsi Location, Nambale Constituency has changed the living standards of the local residents through their engaging in commercial agriculture.

They have benefitted from the financial support of the International Labour Organisation and International Programme on Elimination of Child Labour aimed at eradicating rampant child labour in the area.

Etekwa Self-Help Group stands out as one of the local community based organisations that has benefited from an income generating activity programme initiated by the two nongovernmental organisations, through SNAP project under the sponsorship of United States Department of Labour.

Activity

The group has come a long way since it was formed four years ago.

Some of the activities the group members have engaged in include banana farming which they are renowned for.

The location is now the hub of banana production in Busia County.

According to Francis Mukadi, the group’s chairman, initially the local community had been planting banana on a small scale for domestic consumption due to lack of funds.

“Since the group started commercial farming projects, majority of the neighbours have been inspired and are currently following their footsteps by engaging in large scale cultivation of the crop,” notes Mukadi.

Members and non-members of the self-help group have been encouraged to set aside a portion of their land for agri-business and an extra one for kitchen gardening.

Mukadi observes that the activities undertaken have helped resolve rising cases of malnutrition that had in

the past been posing a serious threat to the lives of most families especially children.

“Returns from the sale of bananas are good; a bunch of banana is selling at between KSh1,000 and KSh1,200,” says Mukadi.

However, one of the major challenges the group members face is where to market their crop and avoid middlemen.

“A part from banana farming, members of Etekwa also engage in bee-keeping which has empowered them to earn a good income from the project,” notes Mukadi.

Each group member owns at least three bee hives and there is a ready market for honey due to high demand.

“We also sell our honey at KSh800 per litre and we can harvest at least two to three litres per bee-hive,” explains Mukadi. The group members have a total of 52 bee-hives.

Challenge

However, another challenge the group faces is lack of a processing machine that has seen them incurring huge losses as they are forced to process their honey manually hence leading to wastage.

The self-help group members have also initiated chicken rearing —local species — project that enabled the members to earn good returns as they supply the same to local hotels.

“The poultry project is undertaken by almost every household in the location with some of them keeping over 100 local chickens that they sell to hotels and individuals,” said Mukadi.

The group members also undertake kitchen gardening where they grow local vegetables for home consumption with some of them cultivating drought resistant sweet potato species.

Sarah Anyango, a beneficiary of the project, says the project has transformed the livelihood of her family. She

Members of the Etekwa self help group inspecting some of their projects under the Income generating activity-(IGA) programmme. The group benefited from the ILO/ IPEC- SNAP project funded

by USDOL to fight child labour.

Pictures: Gilbert Ochieng has been able to pay fees for her children through the proceeds she earns from banana crop farming and poultry.

“Although I am not a member of the group, we were sensitised and I later embraced the project. This year, I have been able to pay tuition fees for my children and also provide for their food,” she explained.

Mary Makokha, director Rural Education and Economic Programme (REEP) a local organisation and one of the implementing agencies of the SNAP project, is happy with them for its exemplary performance which she says has brought positive transformation in the lives of the community where it operates.

Reduce

The rampant child labour in the area has since reduced significantly since many children are now in school as their parents can now pay fees and tuition for them.

“It was poverty that made parents to send their children to work for cash

to make ends meet and now that the community has enough food, cases of child labour are rarely recorded and I applaud the group for the work they have done,” notes Makokha.

John Bunyasi, MP Nambale Constituency, praised the initiative

saying such programmes improve the living standards of the people.

“This is a noble project that deserves support from like-minded groups and I encourage other groups and individuals to borrow a leaf from Etekwa Self-Help Group,” noted Bunyasi.

Fund within devolution to help in climate change adaptation

By DUNCAN MBOYAH Since time immemorial pastoralist communities living in northern Kenya have been experiencing shorter intervals between drought, high temperatures, earlier drying of rivers and changes between dry and wet seasons.

During certain seasons there occurs sporadic rainfall that causes flooding hence destroying the infrastructure.

All this has been blamed on climate change but the opportunity is often lost because management of the problem is done by technocrats who only respond to emergency.

“We have earmarked £500,000 (KSh67.5 million) to be used by people in the county to fund activities that they feel would contribute to their resilience,” explains Victor Orindi, Coordinator of Strengthening Resilience and Adaptation to Climate Change in Kenya plus (StaRCK) Adaptation Consortium Project.

Harvest

In places like Oldonyo Nyiro, local communities have used their allocation in building new sand dams for water harvesting to help decongest already existing overcrowded dams.

Poor governance and exclusion of local voices particularly in planning responses to emerging situations but not putting in place management of natural resources has eroded dryland communities distinctive capacity to adapt.

Building on Kenya’s new constitution, a devolved model of Climate Adaptation Fund is being piloted in Isiolo County and is to be rolled out to other counties at a later date.

In Kina ward, the local people have renovated a collapsed veterinary laboratory to help in the treatment of livestock in the area.

The fund is already making inroads as it puts local priorities at the heart of the development agenda and also integrates local adaptive strategies and innovations into national policy.

The strategy is providing insights that could also help reform development planning systems in other dry lands and counties. Isiolo is the first county to try this new approach to development planning.

Following a successful management in Isiolo, the project has now been extended to cover Wajir, Garissa and Kitui counties for the next three years at a cost of £3.5 million (KSh472.5 million)

Kenya’s adoption of the new constitution of Kenya 2010 that provided for devolution and enactment of legislation such as the County Governments Act 2012, provides a very strong mandate for local people to participate in all aspects of governance. These levels of participation are found at the county, sub-county, ward and even village level.

Success

The programme came up with five ward adaptation planning committees, together with a county-level committee, government planners and local organisations.

They conducted livelihood and local economy resilience assessments incorporating community resource mapping.

Through these assessments, different groups within the wider community identified what either improved or undermined their ability to manage challenges like climate variability, changing market conditions, disease and insecurity.

National government’s fixed and uniform planning as well as budgeting cycle limited local government bodies’ discretionary powers to change plans and transfer resources

between budget lines in response to quickly evolving conditions ‘on the ground’.

Coordination was generally poor across sectors, government institutions and various national funds. The result was badly planned investments, duplication of effort and inefficient use of scarce funds.

Plan

Insufficient coordination between local government and international non-governmental organisations involved in emergency and long-term development responses — and among the NGOs themselves and donors — also exacerbated problems.

Priority

Highly variable rainfall across the arid and semi-arid lands combined with poor weather station coverage (compared with agricultural areas), has meant that downscaled forecasts have sometimes been inaccurate.

Seasonal forecasts produced by the Kenya Meteorological Service (KMS) provide a useful guide to overall conditions, although information has often not been disseminated in an accessible way.

Under the Constitution, county

governments have authority and responsibility for developing the social and economic aspects of their county according to local priorities.

The devolved Climate Adaptation Fund mechanism furthers this objective by building capacity among local people and county government actors to identify, prioritise and fund plans at ward, county and cross-county level for public good-type investments that promote climate resilient growth and adaptive livelihoods.

Each group in the ward appoint 11 people to help manage the programme by helping develop priorities to be funded.

Successful implementation of the Climate Adaptation Fund is providing evidence that counties have the capacity to draw down and invest national climate funds for climate resilient enhancement and highlights the potential for channelling global climate funds in the same way.

The Isiolo project was funded by a partnership between ASAL, Kenya Meteorological Department and the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) while phase two is being funded by DFID, UK Met and the Kings College University of London.

ISSUE 093, December 1-30, 2013

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Experts warn against use of lead-coated paints

By HENRY OWINO

These children need care and attention

By Yusuf Amin Kilifi county hospital social and gender department has rescued over sixteen children who are HIV positive in the past one year.

Most of them were rescued after reports of mistreatment from their families were reported to the hospital authorities. Areas like Misifuni, Tezo, Jaribuni among other rural villages in the vast Kilifi county are recording never ending cases of this nature.

The department has noted that it has sometimes been forced into action after getting reports of mistreatment of the victims from the members of the public.

The debate over to use or not to use lead-based paint continues, 90 years after the League of Nations called for a ban to protect children and pregnant mothers in the developing world on health grounds.

A recent study carried out

by ILima, a local non-governmental organisation shows that local paint has alarming concentration levels of the heavy metal that has been used for ages to make products.

The study sampled 31 oilbased-enamel house products and household paints representing eleven brands manufactured and available in Kenya.

Three samples of the brands were purchased — white, red and yellow —for each, one or more of the samples had very high lead concentration.

Succumb

Exposure

This high risk exposure also causes decreased coordination and shortened attention span as well as aggressive behaviour, difficulty in reading and even disabilities leading to poor performance in class.

Another study carried out

by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Dr Maria Neira, WHO Director for Public Health and Environment during a released during International past event. WHO has warned against use of lead-coated paints.

Poisoning Prevention Week of Action and organised by Picture: Courtesy Global Alliance to Eliminate the number one environmental health of lead based paint or ingest paint conLead Paint, analysed enamel concern for children globally. taminated with dust and soil. He exdecorative paints from nine countries; Neira projected that worldwide, 30 emplified that exposure to even small Argentina, Azerbaijan, Chile, Cote countries have already phased out the amounts of lead can reduce the child’s d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kyrgyzstan, use of lead paint. The Global Alliance to intelligence level and could be responTunisia and Uruguay.

Eliminate Lead Paint, co-led by WHO sible for noted peculiar and violent beThe report found that the majorand UNEP has set a target of 70 counhaviour. ity of the paints tested could not meet tries by 2015.

According to Nick Nuttal, UNEP regulatory standards established in “At the World Summit on Sustainspokesperson and Director of Commost highly industrialised countries. able Development in 2002, governmunications, the World Health OrgaFor example, 90 parts per million ments set a goal that by 2020 chemicals nization figures shows that each year (ppm) in the United States and Canshould be used and produced in ways childhood lead exposure contributes to ada and that some contain astonishthat contribute to the minimisation of an estimated 600,000 new cases of intelingly high and dangerous levels of significant adverse effects on human lectual disabilities. lead. health and the environment. Action to Nuttal disclosed that 99 per cent The report noted that Kenyan paint ban paint with excessive lead will asof children affected by high exposure tested over 69,000 parts per million, a sist towards this 2020 goal,” Neira exto lead live in low and middle income highest concentration of lead content plained. countries. He stated an estimated at more than 750 times higher than 143,000 deaths per year result from the maximum lead content that would lead poisoning and paint is a major be allowed in house paints sold in the Issak Elmi, chief researcher Nacontributor.

United States. tional Environmental Management “This report seeks to catalyse action According to Peter Gilruth, a proAuthority (NEMA), said before older by raising awareness among governgramme officer at the UNEP Division homes undergo any renovation that ments, manufacturers and consumers of Early Warning Assessment, being may regenerate dust, they should be not just that the problem exists, but that exposed to too much lead can cause tested for the presence of lead-based there are cheap and safe alternatives serious health problems to pregnant paint. to lead in use that can lift this health women, their foetus and babies.

In addition, Elmi noted: “Children burden in a very short time,” Nuttal ex“Lead based paint is very attractive and workers are especially at risk when plained. and long lasting but it poses serious surfaces that were painted in the past According to Dr Maria Neira, health risks to pregnant women who with lead paint are repainted or disWHO Director for Public Health and are most vulnerable as its toxin causes turbed by construction and other acEnvironment, lead poisoning remains deformities on unborn babies,” extivities.” plained Gilruth.

According to Elmi paints containing lead are greater pollutants because they seep into almost everything, inGilruth noted that this left a child’s cluding food, water and eventually environment full of lead sources and into bodies where the fatal results are pathways. He added that children are seen. easily exposed to lead from different The cost of replacing lead paint sources such as; paint, gasoline and means that people living in older, solder as well as through different pathpoorly maintained housing are particways such as air, food, water, dust and ularly at risk and this disproportionsoil. ately affects economically-deprived He cautioned that children are also communities. exposed to lead when they ingest chips

Test

Source

11

Lead poisoning remains the number one environmental health concern for children globally.

Most of the victims are usually orphans left behind when their parents succumbed to the deadly disease and are left in the care of ageing grandmothers or uncaring step mothers, neigbours and other persons in their neighborhoods.

Speaking in his office, the officer in charge of the department Christopher Chea noted that most of the children who have been rescued are under the age of sixteen years old.

Chea was saddened by the fact that these children have been going through harsh and unbearable conditions like being denied food, being discriminated from their fellow children by their parents because they are affected by HIV. The officer said that the families who have been taking care of the children have been reluctant in taking the children to the clinic so that they can access HIV drugs that will help them maintain their healthy.

“We were forced to rescue the children because they were facing many challenges that have been the source of their deteriorating healthy status. Many of these victims usually go without food spend sleepless nights in the cold after being chased out of their houses. This is unacceptable,” he said when he led a team of medics to rescue a boy aged 12 years in Msufini village in the surbub of Kilifi town.

The boy was orphaned and has been living under the care of his uncle and ageing grandmother.

Chea also noted that the children who have been rescued will be taken to children’s homes so that they can access well balanced diet and boost their health like other children in the society.

Appeal

“What we do is that we take these children to various children homes since returning them to their families means another nightmare in their lives,” he said.

He also urged the members of the public not to discriminate the children affected with HIV but to help them access drugs in hospitals and education.

He said that rescue missions have been met by several challenges since many family members offer no or little support.

“The children have going through hell. Some even go to point have been biting the children with no proper reason. And those getting the chance to explain about these habits usually give the excuse that they are punishing them,” he said.

The officer asked NGOS to come in and help the children access good infrastructure and help them leave like other people in the society.

“We need to work together in this noble idea. These children need us as their only hope after they were abandoned by their families due to their conditions. We cannot sit back and watch their lives ruined by rogue and uncaring guardians,” he said.

Emma Salama who is a health worker in Kilifi said that the cases of children with HIV positive being discriminated in their homes are rampant.

Saddened as she was, Emma promised the public that they will make sure that such cases are reported at the gender desk.

Care

She asked guardians of these orphans to take care of the children so as to avoid stigma among them.

“We are asking those charged with the responsibility of caring for these children not to discriminate against them but to instead give them the loving care a child expects from his or her guardian,” she said.

Emma who has been in the frontline in curbing the problem has now been conducting civic education to the public so that they can tackle stigma that is now experienced in the remote areas like Jaribuni, Vitengeni and Ganze among other regions.

“It’s undermining the rights of the children, people should take part in helping children who are HIV positive. These children need us as we need them. They should not be stigmatized since they are part and parcel of our society,” she said during the interview. She too had accompanied Chris Chea during the rescue mission at Misufini.

According to Chea the case of Misufini where the old boy was mistreated was pathetic since he was given hard house hold jobs by his uncles’ wife.

She urged mother to be very polite and help the children avoid mishandling them so that they can leave peacefully in the society.

“We are up to help these children but we also urge some NGO to intervene and help us in this rescue,” he said during a press conference in his office.

12

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Girl child dropout rate high in Msambweni

By Omar Mwalago Cases of girls who get pregnant while in school have been high in Msambweni. However, most of them have lacked encouragement to go back to school. Recently however, about 14 out 16 who fell pregnant are going back to school with the help of the head teachers, children’s officers and non-governmental organisations in Kikoneni Location, Msambweni District.

One of the 14 girls was in her second pregnancy, something that has raised concern among leaders in the area.

The magnitude of pregnancies happening in the region are alarming have raised alarm with stakeholders calling for stiff action against those who impregnate pupils.

According to Mbwana Bwatah, area children officer many parents make local arrangements to have those who have defiled their daughters marry them and only try to seek assistance when the arrangement fails.

Bwatah noted that most children in the area are still out of school despite the introduction of free primary education.

He added that school dropout rate in Kikoneni is high and attributes the problem to early pregnancies, early marriages, child labour and poverty.

“School dropout in Kikoneni is rampant and this is due to early pregnancies and marriages that lead to child labour and poverty,” explained Bwatah.

He urged chiefs and their assistants to cooperate with the Children’s Department

in the area to have parents who violate children’s rights by keeping them out of school charged in court.

He noted that majority of the children who are out of school are girls adding that the district has registered a dismal enrolment of girls in school.

He blamed historical, cultural and religious beliefs for hindering the girl child from getting education.

“Cultural and religious beliefs are hindering the girl-child from getting education.

Most of them are forced to marry early so that the parents can get money to cater for the school fees for the boy child,” Bwatah explained.

He observed that the anomaly can only be corrected once the government allocates enough funds to help needy students to avoid dropping out of school.

He blamed parents for failing to ensure that their children attend school regularly to be able to compete with other children in the academics and job market.

“Many parents have infringed on the rights of their children by not taking them to school to benefit from free primary education and serious measures must be taken against parents who violate the right of educating their children,” he said.

Bwatah lamented that while most children are in school, some are seen in trading centres selling groundnuts and maize as others sell second hand clothes.

Some parents have not embraced free primary education which they consider a

Mbwana Bwatah, Msambweni children officer during the interview. Many children in Msambweni still do not enjoy the free primary education.

Picture: Omar Mwalago luxury given the harsh socio-economic conditions and prevailing poverty in the area.

Bwatah asked the stakeholders to implement policies which allow school participation not only among the girl-child but also their male counterparts.

By VALENTINE ATIENO Experts have noted with concern that the five major killers of pregnant women have not been tackled. Among these is stigma and fear of abortion which is a silent killer.

In achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) number five, experts note that the five must be addressed. They also say that unsafe abortion must be given prominence because of the silence over its role as the major cause of the stigma.

Prevent

Women receiving free maternity services at a KMET clinic. Picture: Courtesy resulting in stigma from the community,” explains Oguttu.

Care

Echoing these sentiments, Caroline Nyandat, a reproductive health practitioner, notes that women who have undergone unsafe abortion should go for post-abortion care as it is an important emergency intervention.

She further indicates that the study was aiming at reaching communities, health practitioners and pharmacists who sell the drugs used to procure abortions. It will be conducted in Siaya, Kisii, Kakamega and Vihiga in Western Kenya.

The KSh1.7 million collaborative study is being conducted by Kisumu Medical and Educational Trust (KMET) and is funded by the IPAS.

Electric fence project causing conflict

By Renson Mnyamwezi Residents of Taita-Taveta County are not sleeping easy because of the human-wildlife conflict.

Governor John Mruttu and a senior Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) official are accusing a local community based organisation of inciting residents to oppose the implementation of two donor-funded electric fence projects worth over KSh200 million.

Mruttu and Samuel Rukaria Taita KWS Community Warden said the Maktau-Kishushe-Ndii and Bura-Alia-Kasigau electric fence projects are aimed at minimising persistent human-wildlife conflict and not to grab land as claimed by the civil society officials.

Encroach

Stigma blamed for high rise of post-abortion deaths

Speaking in Kisumu, Monica Oguttu, chief executive officer Kisumu Medical and Education Trust (KMET) said unsafe abortion was the easiest to prevent and manage among the major killers of pregnant women.

“Being the most easy to prevent, it is given the least attention because of the perception people have about it. The stigma around the practice has killed many women silently,” noted Oguttu, referring to a recent study that is out to detect issues surrounding abortion stigma, underlying causes and people’s perception about girls who undertake abortion.

“The public are not well informed on unsafe abortion and health practitioners giving the services lack information on the subject and hence end up stigmatising their clients,” she said.

Oguttu noted that the number of people seeking post-abortion care from health facilities was on the rise because of the evergrowing number of unqualified health practitioner performing illegal abortions in the country.

“When quacks perform abortions, the poor quality services become expensive for those seeking help from them hence

ISSUE 093, December 1-30, 2013

Nyandat announced that safety, efficacy and effectiveness of medical treatment of incomplete abortion provided to women by physicians or midwives in Kenya would be incorporated into the study.

Reports show that most of the women and girls were going to the quacks for the services but were not accessing post-abortion care services at various health care facilities because abortion is illegal in the country.

Nationally, Nyanza is leading in teenage pregnancy resulting in a high rate of unsafe abortion.

Preliminary findings by KMET on abortion stigma through a survey conducted over the last six months indicate that the practice was on the rise because most health practitioners were not well informed on the subject.

A cross section of residents and leaders led by Mwabu, a community based organisation in the region has vehemently opposed the implementation of the fencing projects saying it would encroach on their land.

The officials have asked the government to stop the projects until a boundary dispute between Kenya Wildlife Service and the residents was adequately discussed and addressed.

They faulted the county government for implementing the projects without adequate consultation with them.

“We want the government to resolve the boundary dispute involving the residents and Kenya Wildlife Services first in order to pave way for the implementation of the project,” said Gamaliel Mwangi, the CBO Coordinator.

He asked Kenya Wildlife Services to follow the original boundary established in 1948.

Suffer

“We are wondering why the wildlife conservation body is reluctant to follow the original boundary established during colonial days to avoid confrontation with the local community,” Mwangi said.

He noted that the region suffered one of the worst historical land injustices and huge chunks of land was occupied by private farms.

Speaking at a consultative meeting chaired by the governor in Mwatate town recently, Mwangi said scores of people and domestics animals had been killed or injured in the recent past.

“Frequent invasion of wildlife into settlement areas have promoted poverty and famine in the area. We are blaming the invasion on laxity among KWS personnel,” said Mwangi.

Mruttu and Rukaria told the civil society organisations’ officials to stop interfering with the implementation of the project.

They said the completion of the project was the only lasting solution to the wildlife menace in the region.

They noted elephants were taking advantage of the gap between Maktau and Ndii area to invade farms and destroy property.

“Why do you reject a project aimed at minimising frequent wildlife conflict in the area? You should either support the implementation of the projects or else marauding wild animals will continue killing people and destroying crops,” said Mruttu.

“We want the civil society organisations officials to show residents the way instead of misleading them,” Mruttu pleaded.

Rukaria said the conservation body had prioritised implementation of electric fence projects as a measure to effectively deal with the frequent wildlife attacks.

He added that electric fences in the northern part of the park had been completed while the Bura-Alia project would be extended.

Kenya Wildlife Service has been erecting barriers around the Tsavo National Park to prevent wildlife from straying into people’s settlements.

Measure

Meanwhile the conservation body has put in place measures to effectively deal with persistent human wildlife conflict in the region.

Apart from strategic deployment of the Problem Animal Management Unit (PAMU) in areas prone to wildlife attacks, the conservation body has started completing the stalled electric fence projects and extending the existing ones in the region.

Briefing the press on measures taken to address the wildlife menace in the area, Rukaria said they have deployed PAMU in Kasigau, Bura, Maktau, Kishushe, Jipe, Challa and Mwachabo locations to secure lives and property.

He said they were also using an aircraft to monitor the movement of wildlife in the area.

“We are trans-locating rogue wildlife especially elephants that have been invading farms and destroying food crops,” explained Rukaria.

ISSUE 093, December 1-30, 2013

13

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Recalling Kaya Bombo attacks Victims of Likoni clashes cry out for help

By Omar Mwalago For Sheikh Amir Hamisi Banda, chairman Council of Imams and Preachers (CIPK), August 1997, will remain etched in his mind as the darkest month of his life.

On one particular day during the month of August in 1997, Banda was cornered by security forces in Likoni in Mombasa County, harassed and arrested for being suspected to be one of the ring leaders of a gang who had raided Likoni from Kaya Bombo in South Coast.

His ordeal for an entire year dragged on until he was finally released and set free by the authorities.

“I was arrested on my way home after attending a stakeholders meeting yet I did not know that the Likoni Police Station had been attacked. I was tortured and forced to accept that I organised the attack. I was thoroughly beaten and my legs, hands, knees and stomach were most affected,” Banda recalls.

Clash

The Kaya Bombo clashes took place in South Coast, when armed militia raided the Likoni Police Station, stole ammunition and went on a killing spree, which left several people dead and thousands of families displaced.

Those who survived were left with permanent scars on their bodies that are visible todate.

A gang of armed raiders believed to be hiding in Kaya Bombo and Mlungunipa forests in

“I was arrested on my way home after attending a stakeholders meeting yet I did know that the Likoni Police Station had been attacked.

I was tortured and forced to accept that I organised the attack. I was thoroughly beaten and my legs, hands, knees and stomach were most affected.”

— Sheikh Amir Banda

Kwale and Shimba Hills, attacked and burned down Likoni Police Station on the night of August 13, 1997 where they murdered six police officers and freed several inmates. They then proceeded to the armoury where they stole several guns and rounds of ammunitions, causing mayhem at the police station and entire Likoni area.

The violence was aimed at evicting socalled ‘upcountry people’ because they had businesses within Kwale County and entire south coast region at the ‘expense of indigenous’ Digo Community.

The raiders attacked civilians who were largely non-coastal killing several by shooting or slashing them to death. They set ablaze several motor vehicles and business premises leaving in their wake 70 people dead and thousands homeless.

Torture

Residents of Likoni and Ukunda fled and abandoned their houses for life and safety.

Contingents of regular and General Service Unit (GSU) police descended into South Coast with vengeance and treated all the youth and men from Likoni and Kwale County as suspects. They were arrested and tortured and were forced to accept that they had been involved in the attack on the police station.

According those who survived the tragedy like Banda, security agents tortured, killed, raped and abducted innocent people in the guise of looking for weapons. Todate, some families have not seen some of their relatives who were abducted by police.

Now some of the victims of Kaya Bombo clashes led by their chairman Abdulqadir Abbas are appealing to the Government to compensate them.

Rama Hamisi Mwagua, a victim of police torture is half paralysed after being severely beaten and injured on his private parts and trampled on by trigger happy officers.

“I did not register as a voter because I swore never vote for the rest of my life. What I went through God is my witness. I was severely beaten by merciless policemen while I was innocent,” explains Mwagua.

Another victim, Rama Ali says he is unable to effectively pass urine easily after he was brutally tortured.

From left: Mwanahamisi Janakombo Mwanjama, victims of Kaya Bombo clashes of August 1997 at Mlungunipa Village in Kwale county.

Picture: Omar Mwalago officers and this act affected her psychologically.

My wife developed complications and she died six years later,” he says.

Like Abbas, John Mutheki who is now an elderly man was brutally beaten. The experience left him traumatised and left him mentally unstable. He still has bullet wounds and is now

Recall

Reveal

These are just bits of what happened during the period of the clashes as revealed by the victims.

Abbas who was severely tortured lost everything during the clashes that are alleged to have been planned by prominent and influential leaders in the Kanu government.

“It was a double tragedy for me. I was tortured by police officers during Kaya Bombo clashes in 1997. I have health complications and also lost my business worth one million shillings,” he says.

Abbas recalls that his wife was also tortured and raped by police officers sand incurred complications that led to her death six year later.

“My wife was tortured and raped by police

impotent.

“My wife abandoned me following this beating,” says Mutheki.

Mwanahamisi Juma, who is today 56 years old, recalls how armed men attacked and ordered her to leave her place of residence. They then set her house ablaze reducing all her earthly belongings to ashes.

“I was raped by police officers in turns leaving me unconscious. Since then my husband abandoned me to avoid shame in the society.”

— Mwanakombo Mwanjama

Mwanahamisi recalls how goons tortured her before fleeing with all the cash she had and left her traumatized. She was then saved by GSU officers who took her to KD hospital in Tiwi for treatment.

Mwanakombo Mwanjama said that she was raped by police offices in turns leaving her unconscious. She lamented that since then her husband abandoned her to avoid shame in the society. With tears trickling down her face, Mwanjama recalls how she has been forced to leave without a man for 15 years because whenever she sees one she recalls the 1997 incident.

“Since 1997 I have leaved without a man. For sure I hate men and whenever a man seduces me, I just recall what happened to me and it is painful,” she says.

The victims are now calling on the Government to speed up the process and take action against the perpetrators. They also claim that the Government abandoned them while those affected after 2007 General Election have since been compensated.

Executive Director: Arthur Okwemba Editor: Jane Godia

Write to: info@mdcafrica.org

Programme Officer: Mercy Mumo Sub-Editors: Joyce Chimbi, Carolyne Oyugi and Odhiambo Orlale Designer: Noel Lumbama

www.mdcafrica.org

Contributors: Henry Kahara, Gilbert Ochieng, Raphael Wanjala, Yusuf Amin, Henry Owino, Abisai Amugune, Robert Nyagah, Omar Mwalago, Valentine Atieno, Renson Mnyamwezi.

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