Read more Reject stories online at w w w. m d c a f r i c a . o r g

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

June 1-15, 2012

ISSUE 063

Continued on page 4

Kenyans still groping in the dark

As Kenyans mark this year’s Madaraka Day Celebrations, thousands are still grappling with poverty, diseases and illiteracy which were definitive features at independence

By ROBERT WANJALA

Celebrated every first day of June, Ma-daraka Day reminds Kenyans of the day Kenya walked out of the dark shadows of its colonial master.

This was no mean achievement. The day in 1963 was a significant landmark in the vicious struggle that led to the in-dependence of Kenya.

Forty-nine years today, Kenyans are still groping in the dark through ram-paging poverty, diseases, illiteracy, high cost of living and run-away unemploy-ment.

“Poverty and unemployment is our biggest challenge. Yes we are an inde-pendent country yet still reeling under colonial poverty and pangs of hunger,” says Martin Saenyi, a handcart puller in Eldoret.

Many are the days when Saenyi, 30, a father of one, returns home empty-handed. With pangs of hunger gnaw-ing at his empty stomach he retires to bed, uncertain about what the next day would bring.

Unbearable“Life is just cruel and unbearable. I

hardly make a hundred shillings. It is crazy managing food, rent, clothes and other house necessities out of a hun-dred bob,” laments Saenyi.

He adds: “It’s difficult sometimes, pushing the cart, especially when you haven’t eaten properly. We have had to forego lunch in order to save enough to meet household needs in the evening.”

His fears are confirmed by Planning Minister Wycliffe Oparanya’s unveiling of Kenya’s annual Economic Survey, which projected more harsh economic times ahead for Kenyans.

The economy of the country dipped

from 5.8 per cent in 2010 to 4.4 per cent last year. While the Planning Min-ister says there would be an economic growth between 3.4 and 4.5 per cent, Kenya’s living standards continue to deteriorate, with an over 14 per cent in-flation burden being propelled by high food and fuel prices.

Irresponsible Leaders Saenyi is not the only one. Moses

Rono, 29, a father of two, says the strug-gling economy is as result of irresponsi-ble leadership.

“Our leaders are never concerned about issues affecting the ordinary citizen. All they care about is how to remain in power. I never took part in championing for Kenya’s independ-ence yet I don’t believe what we are witnessing in the country today is what our forefathers struggled for,” observes Rono, who is also a handcart puller.

Rono, a Standard Five school drop-out, blames politics for the problems facing the country: “We are heading for another general election and politicians are busy traversing the country mak-ing those popular promises that never come to pass after they are elected.”

He adds that the unemployment sit-uation in the country is at its worst level and nothing practical is being heard on how the situation would be addressed

by those seeking various political posts. “Instead all we are witnessing is inter-community groupings against the rest of Kenyans,” notes Rono.

“Majority of Kenyans have re-mained slaves of misery and poverty. The economic disparities testify that in-deed we are still in the colonial hands, not the British but African ones,” ob-serves Bishop Wilson Kurui of Jesus Love Ministries.

“I think the government has mis-placed priorities. We are headed for de-volved system of government yet there is no clear mechanism in place on how the resources of various counties will be distributed to close the gap between the rich and poor counties. In spite of the resources such as land, there is no clear modalities on how counties can harness land to enhance food security for the country,” notes Kurui.

The clergyman also faults the gov-ernment, saying the education system is no longer adding any value to the

country. “It is unimaginable when you com-

pare graduates leaving institutions of higher learning against the number of formal jobs being created,” he says.

According to Kurui, the Govern-ment must now direct its resources to revamping village polytechnics be-cause the informal sector is providing practical solutions in resolving the un-employment situation in the country.

Technical Skills“For the Government to clamp

down on the runaway unemployment, it should critically lay emphasis on tech-nical skills. In this way the common man will be self-reliant,” he observes.

Kurui attributes the stagnated econ-omy to either poor government policies or its implementation. The Economic Survey compiled by Kenya National Bureau of Statistics shows that the in-formal sector leads in job creation, with about 85.7 per cent. About 520,000 from 445,900 jobs were created the re-port indicates.

Jane Kipyego who owns a green grocery shop says her business is no longer making any profit and the high cost of living has seen her customers reduce. “Most of us are just surviving from hand-to-mouth,” says Kipyego, a mother of three.

The long journey to self-rule was pegged on pillars that included achiev-

ing education for all, eradicating diseas-es and reducing illiteracy among others.

Simon Kitur, programme officer at the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, says the country is yet to achieve most of these goals: “Poverty, epidemic diseases, illiteracy among other social issues remain key challeng-es facing Kenyans.”

These issues have left most Kenyans with little to celebrate today. Kenyans’ attitudes on celebrating public holidays have drastically changed.

“Most of these public holidays are no longer tenable. What is there to cel-ebrate about anyway when most Ken-yans are struggling with how to defeat poverty in a failed economy,” reiterates Kitur.

He notes that accessing essential services comes at a high cost: “Fuel prices go up every other day without any explanations from the Govern-ment,” Kitur observes.

“It leaves no doubt that the ever-increasing prices, especially during electioneering periods, could have the bearings of raising money for political campaigns,” he claims.

“As a country, uncertainty is in-creasingly growing among the citizens; hunger, diseases, unclear election date, insecurity, raging floods are but a few of the worries eating citizens up,” he notes.

Corruption is another monster that

Kenya marks 49 years of independence yet many of its citizens feel that there is nothing much to celebrate. They are stuck between dealing with the economic uncertainty in their lives and

showing patriotism for the country. Picture: Robert Wanjala

“Majority of Kenyans have remained slaves of misery and poverty. The economic disparities testify that indeed we are still in the colonial

hands, not the British but African ones”— Bishop Wilson Kurui

2 U n f i l t e r e d , u n i n h i b i t e d … j u s t t h e g r u e s o m e t r u t h ISSUE 063, June 1-15, 2012

Boy loses arm due to medical

negligenceBy ROBBY NGOJHI

“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” so goes a well-known prov-erb, whose literal meaning suggests too little time set aside for games and fun can make youngsters fail to per-form well in their academics.

This justifies the reason why many schools slot time amidst learning ses-sions to enable students to enjoy a health break.

However, for Simon Mjomba, 11, a Standard Five pupil at Voi Primary School, a health break turned tragic after he fell on the ground and sus-tained slight bruises and a fracture on his right arm.

This marked the beginning of complications that saw his arm am-putated in what many believe was as result of negligence by the medical personnel.

His mother, Margaret Memshomi, strongly believes that this could have been avoided if the doctor’s had han-dled the boy with the care he deserved.

She says after the accident her son was rushed by teachers to Moi Dis-trict Hospital for treatment.

Fracture“I was informed and when I went

to the hospital I realised that he had sustained a fracture on his forearm and a deep cut that exposed his bone on the skin,” she explains.

At the hospital, she says that nurs-es went ahead to put a plaster on the arm amidst her protests because she knew he had a cut.

However, they told me not to worry because they had administered an in-jection to heal the wound,” she recalls.

Memshomi, a single mother of three, says that when they left the hospital, her son complained of se-vere pain and cried persistently, “but I could not give him any relief,” she says.

The following day Memshomi took the boy back to the hospital where the nurses un-wrapped the plaster and dressed the wound before deploying another plaster.

“But when we went back home his condition worsened and Simon kept complaining. I was very worried be-cause a stench was now emanating from the arm and I couldn’t stand it.

“I took him back to the facility

again, but they said they could not help the boy since they were busy attending other patients who had been involved in a road accident. So we went back home.

“However, the following day when we returned I was shocked when the doctor unwrapped the arm and noticed that it had started decomposing,” she notes.

Amidst tears Memshomi re-veals: “Daktari alinyamaza kisha akasema yote ni ya Mungu itabidi mkono huu ukatwe (The doctor remained silent for a while then he said we shall leave everything to God because the arm has to be amputated).”

The incident has infuriated residents, including human rights activists, who have accused doctors of laxity and threatened to hold a demonstration to protest poor ser-vices at the facility.

“This goes to show just how a poor African child can be exposed to suffering even at the hands of those who are supposed to give care. There is no question that this was sheer doc-tor’s negligence and ignorance.

“If the nurses at the hospital lis-tened to the complaints of the child’s mother, the case couldn’t have gone this far. They went ahead to deploy the plaster on the boys hand even after the mother expressed fears that young Mjomba had sustained bruises on the arm,” says Hadji Mwakio of Taita Taveta Human Rights Watch.

He accuses the doctor in charge of Moi Hospital of failing to manage his staff properly.

Notes Mwakio: “The doctor could

be competent in his job, but he has been unable to rein in on those re-sponsible for the boy’s condition.”

Similar IncidentsResidents alleged that similar in-

cidents have been occurring at the hospital, and called on both minis-ters in charge of Public Health and Medical Services respectively to in-tervene.

“Last year a woman in labour died as nurses watched because they claimed that they were busy. We want Beth Mugo and Prof Anyang Nyong’o to come here and find out what is the problem with the facility. If there is shortage of staff, we need to know because we are suffering a

lot,” said an irate trader at Voi Market.We traced Mjomba to the hospi-

tal’s Paediatric ward where he was ad-mitted. The boy expressed fears that the amputation would derail his edu-cation because he lost his right arm, which he uses for writing.

Mjomba now has to contend with the stark challenge of practicing how to use his left hand for the rest of his life.

However, relatives and friends

have been visiting the family at their home in Mwakingali to encourage the boy that all is not lost and he can still write in the future.

Contacted, Moi Hospital’s Medical Superintendent Dr Bernard Mweru declined to comment on the issue and said it was under investigation.

“I cannot comment on something which is under investigation,” noted Mweru.

Man ditches family, cites constitutionBy MORRIS MUGAMBI

They argue that what a man can do, a woman can do better; this is an argument that many women put across when they want to challenge male dominance.

But this analogy has become a harping point for men who want to run away from their re-sponsibility.

Mary Wangari (not her real name), one of the hawkers along Bunyala Road in Nairobi, has been forced to take up responsibilities as the head of her family after her husband abandoned her

with two children.Wangari has to wake up early in the morn-

ing and prepare her two children for school be-fore proceeding to Gikomba market to purchase fruits, which she hawks along the road in order to fend for her family.

PromulgationShe says that her husband, Mike Miuthemi

(not his real name), left her and the children immediately after the promulgation of the Con-stitution. He claimed that it had made them equal; a situation she was not ready to take in

the house.In tears, Wangari says that at no point did she

pretend to be equal with the husband, and he only used that as an excuse for abandoning them.

Apparently Wangari and the husband lived happily in the cozy suburbs of South B, but since then life has taken a U-turn.

Only two months after the husband aban-doned them they were forced to move away and settle in the nearby Mukuru kwa Njenga slums, where the rent is affordable for her.

Wangari says that she has been forced to sell one item or the other every time her two chil-

dren are reopening school, as the meagre income she generates from the hawking business is only enough to cater for food and rent.

Compel“I make around KSh400 on a good day, which

is not enough bearing in mind the high cost of living in Kenya today,” she explains.

The 30-year-old mother believes she is not the only one suffering the fate of irresponsible male behaviour and pleads with the Govern-ment to compel men to take responsibility in their homes.

Simon Mjomba and his mother Margaret Memshomi at the

Pediatric ward in Voi’s Moi District Hospital where the boy was admitted after his arm was amputated. The parents blame

the hospital attendants for negligence. Pictures: Robby Ngojhi

“Last year a woman in labour died as nurses watched because they claimed that they were busy. We want Beth Mugo and Prof

Anyang Nyong’o to come here and find out the problem with the facility. If there is shortage

of staff, we need to know because we are suffering a lot.” — A trader at Voi Market

3U n f i l t e r e d , u n i n h i b i t e d … j u s t t h e g r u e s o m e t r u t hISSUE 063, June 1-15, 2012

By MNYAZI JOE

Today one can hardly come across elderly men attending celebrations, particularly at the district level. In Malindi Constituency, for example, those who are there do not find any need for attending the celebrations. Reasons? The government is not interested in them.

A good example is Mzee Katana Kalulu, aged 92, who learnt driving during the Second World War and became one of the first drivers in his area. His physical appearance is a symbol of the poverty that has taken root in him.

He cannot hold back tears during the interview, as it reminds him of the troubles and bloodshed he encountered during the war, only to be left in the darkness to suffer alone while those who never fought enjoy the fruits of liberation.

Touts“It is very sad that nowadays touts can throw

me out of a matatu if I do not have enough fare to take me home, not knowing that we fought hard to bring Kenya where it is today,’’ he says.

Kalulu was recruited to go for the Second World War at a time when the colonial was rul-ing the country. During the war he was chosen to be an assistant to a colonial driver. He would wash the vehicle and ensure that it was clean and ready for operations.

Due to his closeness with the colonial driver, who also became a personal friend, Kalulu man-aged to learn driving skills the hard way.

Luckily for him, he survived and came home where, he became a driver of buses belonging to some of the richest men in Malindi.

At first an Arabcalled Awadh Mkale from the Ganda area employed him, before he moved on to Kabwere Wanje and Kajoro, earning only KSh15 a month.

Kabwere Wanje is known to be among the rich-est Giriama medicine men of the time who mar-ried many wives.

When news about the release of Jomo Kenyatta from prison came, and for him to become the president Kenya, Kalulu was among those who went to Nairobi to welcome him home, together with other Mau Mau warriors.

“We were called by Ronald Ngala to accom-pany him to Nairobi for the ceremony of welcom-ing in our leader. However, our disappointment was felt right at the airport,” he says.

DisappointmentKalulu recalls that on the material day those

from Mount Kenya region where Kenyatta hails from were very harsh to them and very chaotic.

This was as a result of ‘their own man’ who had been jailed and now in the process of getting into power.

Ronald Ngala, he recalls, had a vision and loved all the heroes, he wanted to ensure they were rec-ognised at any public functions.

Even Kenyatta, he says, was very much con-cerned about them. He would react angrily when-ever they were mistreated.

“At one time,” Kalulu says, “Kenyatta ordered his security men to escort us to the VIP area and see to it that we sat comfortably when he saw us standing in the sun in Mombasa.”

This was just during those times when the fighters could be recognised, though not to an ex-tent of being assisted to improve their standards of living.

Illiteracy also contributed to the poverty that he is now faced with because during his early age a friend lured him to play traditional Gonda dance, and that did not give him a chance to an education.

He married nine wives due to the influence of Kabwere, unknown to him that it would be diffi-cult to bring up the children. To have many wives was a sign of wealth during those times.

According to Kalulu, the colonial government

was better than the government that took over power.

On the first Madaraka Day, on June 1, 1963, Kalulu and his fellow freedom fighters were called at the DO’s office in Kilifi to oversee the lowering of the union flag that was being replaced with the new Kenyan flag.

High hopes“We had high hopes of being part

of the liberation to live better lives, un-fortunately things turned round and we were dumped and left to die,” he says while weaving a rope, which he sells to earn a living.

He says at home there is nothing to show that he was among those who fought for the country’s independence; be it land, a good house or better meals.

Kalulu says the organisations of such important celebrations are no longer the same, like the previous ones when they were accorded respect.

“Government officials have changed and do not bother who the freedom fighters. One can be left standing in the sun for the duration the cel-ebration lasts, without any refreshments or rec-ognition to ensure they are treated with respect,” observes Kalulu.

“The Government should recognise war vet-erans because they are very few remaining now failure to which the future generations will know very little about their heroes,’’ he says.

His greatest concern today is the manner in which elderly men are being hacked to death sim-ply over suspicion that they are practicing witch-craft in the watchful eyes of the government.

“I wonder why the Government cannot take action to protect such key people in the society despite the fact that most of the killers are known but walk Scot free in the villages,” observes Kalulu.

He says the police need to take the issue seri-ously and act fast to end the innocent killings. “In the olden days such cases of witchcraft used to be resolved in the

Kaya, but nowadays youths have resorted to take the law into their own hands killing them in cold blood fearlessly.”

Kalulu says even the current security mecha-nism has failed because they never take action. He feels the government should assist and protect old people because most of them are languishing in poverty.

Had the government recognized them, which is just but a mere wish, they would be the proud owners of beautiful homes with wealth acquired from their efforts in the fight for independence of the country.

Just like Kalulu, Raymond Thoya, who was undergoing teachers training during Madaraka Day, feels their expectations have not been met.

Thoya, 74, says the liberation was not com-plete: not to the expectations of Kenyans, particu-larly at the Coast.

According to Thoya, the Coast had two colo-nial masters — Arabs and British — the Coast people were optimistic that after Madaraka Day all of them would go back to their country and bring sanity to the locals.

He says the Arabs were among the biggest op-pressors for the locals and would intimidate them whenever they went to see the administration

chiefs.“One had to see the Arab to

seek permission to see the Colo-nial District Commissioner and it would be hell because their statements were normally irri-tating,’’ recalls the retired teacher.

The Arabs were also opposed to the mis-sionaries, a fact that contributed to the low standards of education in the region.

It is at the Coast where the missionaries first landed in Rabai, before they spread to other parts of the country, but the Arabs fear-ing competition if the locals accessed educa-tion, used to oppose the move to construct of churches and schools.

“The rich Arabs would take their children to school in Mombasa while the poor and marginalized never got a chance to get educa-tion,” recalls Thoya.

One such area is Nyongoro in Witu, which stayed for long without getting a school; a problem that contributed to the low education standards, until the some leaders decided to take action.

“People were forced to walk on foot from Witu to Kaloleni, over 300 kilometres, to look for mis-sionaries so that they could access education,” he says.

OppressionThe issue of delay in access to education, and

the oppressions of the Arabs who owned huge chunks of land, really contributed to the high pov-erty levels, and the elders feel liberation is yet to come.

When Jaramogi Odinga Oginga, the then Vice President of Kenya, published the book ‘Not Yet Uhuru’, he was partly referring to the Coastal region and used to publicly advocate for the lo-cals, but due to strong opposition from the serv-ing president he did not get much for them.

Thoya thinks this was as a result of secret deals for sharing of resources.

“The expectations of the Coast people have not been met, the land injustice, historical injus-tices are still there as people have no access to title deeds, those favoured are those from the commu-nity in government,” he says.

Thoya says for this reason successive govern-ments have ignored Coast people and failed to ad-

dress the land issue.He says people lost interest in the Madaraka

Day celebrations because of the injustices. “Ini-tially the government would celebrate it in style withbulls being slaughtered and lots of refresh-ments flowing. However, things have changed and nowadays it is those senior officers who have a chance to sit in high tables and attended lunch ceremonies in big hotels while the locals spend the whole day without food and under the hot sun,” observes Thoya.

“I have no time to waste under the sun listen-ing to people who have no interests with the local person and just serve their own interests because we cannot boast of having enjoyed the fruits of uhuru,” he says.

The elders accuse the provincial administration of having contributed to ethnicity and discrimina-tion among locals.

As Kaya elders, they feel there is need for those who fought for independence in Kenya be recognised, identified and proper records put in place for future generations.

According to Joseph Karisa Mwarandu, a prominent lawyer and a Giriama Kaya elder, those who currently enjoy the fruits of Madaraka are very few, and power is just being passed around this group.

“It’s not justified for one who fought for inde-pendence to die poor without any piece of land, the government needs to respect them and reward them before they all die,” he notes.

Mwarandu also calls for the history of free-dom fighting to be written afresh for the Govern-ment to get the right information about all the heroes who participated in the fight.

“If all this is done and properly kept on record the country will enjoy Madaraka Day fully feel as part of the entire nation’s struggle for indepen-dence.”

Freedom fighters lose interest in Madaraka Day

Mzee Katana Kalulu,a driver during the fight for independence who like

many other freedom fighters lives from hands to mouth. He performs

cultural activities at the Malindi District Cultural Association

Secretariat. Below Joseph Karisa Mwarandu a Kaya Elder.

Picture: Mnyazi Joe

“I have no time to waste under the sun listening to people who have no interests with the local person and just serve

their own interests because we cannot boast of having enjoyed the fruits of uhuru.”

— Mzee MathewsKogo.

4 U n f i l t e r e d , u n i n h i b i t e d … j u s t t h e g r u e s o m e t r u t h ISSUE 063, June 1-15, 2012

has refused to die. “Despite having passed the new Constitution both our leaders and we the public have played a major role in derailing its implementa-tion,” he observes.

“The pulling in different direction right from the President and Prime Minister to the Cabinet is greatly in-juring the implementation process of the Constitution. Complicating the process further are the citizens who instead of demanding the law to be followed rally behind their leaders per-petuating tribal or community inclina-tion,” Kitur adds.

Kitur is concerned at the pace at which the implementation of the constitution is moving. “Kenyans should shed off the mentality of fol-

lowing blindly what their perceived community leaders say. They need to measure up their (leaders) move and utterances with what the constitution say and ultimately choose to support the law and not the individual,” the of-ficer advises.

“Greed, selfish ambition and lack of integrity is what drives most of our leaders in the post independence his-tory,” observes a former district com-missioner of both Kenyatta and Moi governments.

The former DC, who did not want his name used because he is now a leader in a certain church, had no kind words for the present political leaders.

“A civil servant in colonial days remained a civil servant. Civil serv-ants were not supposed to involve in

any other business activities alongside their duties as that could compromise service delivery to the people,” he says.

“Kenyans are yet to enjoy the fruit of their struggle. The gap between the rich and poor continues to widen each day. If the poor in those days is still ex-isting wobbling under the heavy load of economy and poverty then you do not to ask whether we are self governed or still under the hand of colonial mas-ter,” notes the 72 year-old ex-commis-sioner.

Today’s celebration brings the country so close to marking its Golden Jubilee – 50 years as an independent state in next year. Yet in the 49 years of independence, lives of those who took part in the struggle and the supposed beneficiaries remain unchanged.

Busia residents still struggle to

access health services

Kilifi community urged to borrow a leaf from freedom fighters

By GILBERT OCHIENG

As Kenyans mark 49 years of indepen-dence, the common man has very little to celebrate about.

Majority still cannot afford the ex-orbitant cost of treatment in public health institutions as well as the high cost of living.

Despite the alleged introduction of the so-called free primary education, majority of school going children are out of school due to the re-introduc-tion of illegal levies, which majority of parents cannot afford.

Bad governance coupled with the desire to get rich overnight has led to the demise of well established manufactur-ing plants; hence the high rate of unem-ployment, especially among the youth.

According to Andrew Odongo Nyangweso, a programme coordinator with the Institute of Human Rights and Civic Values, Busia County the gap be-tween the “have and the-have not” has continued to widen.

He says that at the time of indepen-dence, the Kenya government prom-ised Kenyans free healthcare in the hope that a healthy population could lead the new country towards greater economic development. By 1965 the government had formalized this “free health for all” concept and abolished user fees for people seeking care in public clinics, which, at the time, were being managed at the local level.

Odongo recalls how in 1970 the Ministry of Health nationalised the

health system and took charge of all public health facilities, adding that eco-nomic stagnation after 1973 and a dearth of funds avail-able for operating clinics at the community level led the Ministry of Health to rein-state user fees in 1989.

“A reform process in 1992 led to the creation of the District Health Manage-ment boards to facilitate cost-sharing and ensure the availability of funds for health services in peripheral areas. Persistent financial difficulties led the government to undertake a more in-tensive restructuring of the health sys-tem by the mid 1990s paving the way for corruption in the health sector,” says Odongo.

Human rightsThe human rights coordinator fur-

ther states that in 1994, the government published the Kenya Health Policy Framework Paper, which envisioned the provision of “quality health care that is acceptable, affordable and accessible to all by 2010”.

“With decentralization as the guid-ing strategy for managing the country’s health care needs, the policy frame-work has been implemented through two five-year plans. The first, National Health Sector Strategic Plan covered the period between 1999 and 2004 whereas the second covered the period between 2005 and 2010,” says Odongo.

He says according to the World

Health Organization, Kenya still faces a significant shortage of physicians, with only 4,500 in the entire country. The United States counts on 26 physicians per 10,000 people, compared to Kenya, which has just one doctor per 10,000 residents, a ratio that is below average for the African region.

“More than 50 per cent of Kenyan physicians practice in Nairobi, which, with an estimated three million people, represents a small fraction of the coun-try’s population. Only 1,000 physicians work in the public sector which serves majority of Kenyans,” says Odongo, adding that a corps of 37,000 nurses supplements physician care, as do tra-ditional mid-wives, pharmacists and community health workers.

MigrationAccording to Odongo, migration of

trained health workers from the pub-lic sector to higher paying positions in the private sector, or outside Kenya al-together, has made retaining qualified health personnel a persistent challenge. According to a study undertaken in 2000, Kenya has one of the highest net migration rates by doctors the world over, with 51 percent leaving the coun-try in search of greener pastures else-where.

“Lack of health personnel has made it difficult for the government to carry out adequate disease surveillance and maintain accurate data about disease outbreaks that will facilitate reporting of relevant findings to neighbouring coun-tries and international organizations for immediate preventive measures to be taken to curb possible spread of the dis-ease,” says Odongo.

On finance, Odongo says Kenya’s total expenditure on health as a percent-age of Gross Domestic Product [GDP] was in the region of 4.6 percent in 2006, according to the 2009 World Health Statistics Report. He adds that in 2006

Kenya spent $29 per capita on health services; several dollars below the $34 the World Health Organisation rec-ommended countries should spend to provide a minimum health package for their citizens.

He says Kenyans who are normally employed, and whose income exceeds a set threshold, participate in the National Health Insurance Fund, and that by ear-ly 1990s there was an estimated 1.3 mil-lion workers and 8 million dependants covered by the insurance scheme which was established in 1966.

“Recent efforts to reform the NHIF, and to extend its services to a greater portion of the population through the creation of a National Social Health Insurance Fund, are expected to fail due to corruption and political opposi-tion. Proponents envisions the funds as a “pay-in-advance” insurance scheme that would enable a greater number of Kenyans to set aside funds for necessary physician visits, medical procedures and pharmaceuticals,” he says. He adds that private medical associations opposed the reform on the grounds that the scheme would designate preferred providers and facilities, hence causing their members to lose business from “pay-as-you-go” clients.

However, he says civil service and teachers’ unions mobilised against the plan because members did not want to forego receiving their medical benefits as cash disbursements, which some use to supplement their salaries.

“As far as government spending is concerned, the Ministry of Finance sets three year budget ceilings for each sector. In practical terms this means the Ministry of Health creates a budget based on what the Finance Ministry has said it will allocate for health ex-penditures rather then submit a budget request based on actual needs. The Min-istry of Health then disseminates the funds it receives through the respective

District Health Management Boards,” says Odongo.

ReportHe at the same time says that in a

2010 report, the World Bank described sub-Saharan Africa as the most formi-dable development challenge, adding that the report highlighted the perva-sive corruption in Africa, taking special note of widespread “quiet corruption”; a term referring to the ‘failure of public servants to deliver goods or services paid for by the governments’ that do not involve monetary exchange.

“Although Kenya has enacted safe-guards against corruption, the country is not exceptional. In 1956, a Preven-tion of Corruption Act was adopted and laws governing procurement passed to ensure transparency and accountability, but corruption is still deeply rooted in all public institutions and condoned at the highest political level,” says the activist. He adds that, according to a report by the US based council on foreign rela-tions, 45 constitutional amendments have strengthened the executive’s power since independence.

On education, Odongo says that the attainment of universal primary educa-tion has been a long-term objective of the government since independence, but declining gross enrolment rates and completion rates of less than 50 per cent over the past ten years present a consid-erable challenge to policy makers.

“There is a growing concern on the part of various stakeholders about the declining achievement, enrolment and increasing school dropout rates. The government, parents, non-governmen-tal organisations and donors have recog-nised that, although major strides have been made in education in qualitative terms, there are serious shortcomings that need to be addressed as a matter of urgency to streamline the education sys-tem,” says Odongo.

Continued from page 1

Kenyans still groping in the dark

“More than 50 per cent of Kenyan physicians practice in Nairobi, which, with an

estimated three million people, represents a small fraction of

the country’s population. Only 1,000 physicians work in the public sector which

serves majority of Kenyans.” — Andrew Odongo

Pupils of St Christine Community School -Kibera entertaining guests during this years World AIDS Vaccine Day. Many children in Kenya can not attend Public Primary Schools because of many hidden levies despite

introduction of Free and Compulsory Primary Education. Pictures by Gilbert Ochieng and Carolyne Oyugi

By YUSUF AMIN

Leaders from Kilifi County have urged the community to familiarise themselves with the aspirations of freedom fighter, Mekatilili wa Menza.

Led by chairman of Kaya Godho-ma Mangi Mitsanze, the leaders urged the community to recognise the efforts that Mekatilili made in her attempts to liberate the country from the yoke of colonialism.

“The burial site where the fighter Mi-katilili was laid to rest can be useful to those who want to learn more about her history,” Mitsanze noted.

He urged the Kilifi community to

embrace education seriously and also get a clear picture of the importance of the area where Mikatilili was buried.

His sentiments were echoed by Fisheries Minister, Amason Kingi who urged the Coastal people to invest in education so that they can be able to know how county governments are run.

“You should elect leaders like Meka-tili wa Menza who fought fearlessly for the freedom of her people without dis-crimination,” observed Kingi.

He said everyone needs to be in-volved in developing strategies on how education in Kilifi County can be im-proved.

5U n f i l t e r e d , u n i n h i b i t e d … j u s t t h e g r u e s o m e t r u t hISSUE 063, June 1-15, 2012

Soldier reminisces Hiroshima war By DAVID KIRWA

At the advanced age at 107 years not many people can recall events which happened many decades back, but for a soldier who fought in the Second World War, his story is very clear and an indication of a sharp memory.

He narrates events after events as if they happened yesterday. Today few of the remain-ing soldiers who played an active role in the Second World War (WW11) could remember things as much as Mzee Mathews Kogo does.

Kogo recalls every event, yet many years have passed. Currently, very few elders can recall what happened in their youthful years.

Battle frontWhen you listen to his narrations, how he

fought during WW11, it flows fluently. One is able to visualise exactly what happened in the battlefront as he recounts events as they un-folded some 67 years ago.

During an interview at his Mogoon Village in Tinderet District, Nandi County, Kogo re-calls details which many people may not re-member because it is not documented.

It is, however, surprising Kogo has such a sharp mind and can tell all that took place at the dark year of the Kenyan History.

To historians it’s almost impossible to find a living witness testifying about the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan at the end of World War II.

He says that “the war cost thousands of lives and many more others were reduced to cripples; a historical mockery on man’s scien-tific inventions and war.”

Kogo explains that it was because of the lit-tle education that he got before Kenya attained its independence that enabled him to acquire a lot of experience during colonial era. He also exposed, and does not regret or feel frustrated by, the memories of the war.

Mzee Kogo says that he likes sharing his experiences and telling stories to his grand-children.

Knowing very well that he is living in sun-set years, Kogo spends most of his time watch-ing over his livestock as they graze.

Many local villagers are amazed at his memoires and unique ways of recalling histor-ical events. He says that man can live for long if well taken care of.

PraisesKogo is full of praises for the colonial gov-

ernment, which made him receive basic edu-cation. “Though I was forced to go to school, I must admit that it later changed my way of thinking and assisted me in so many ways,” he observes.

In 1917 Kogo was dragged to Africa Inland Mission Kapsabet School (now Kapsabet Boys’ High School) where he stayed for two years without going home even for holidays.

He explains: “My late father was a church leader and he took children from destitute backgrounds to school. He helped the white missionaries who wanted Africans to acquire education by force. My father was embar-rassed when local villagers questioned him why he forced other people’s children to go school and get education but he could not take one of his own.”

Mzee Kogo recalls that it was because of being embarrassed by public outrage that he was taken to school.

During those days, Kogo says, children in school were not allowed to go home for at least two years because it was feared by missionary teachers that they would not return.

He says it was the duty of missionary teach-ers to monitor and judge if those school going children would return before letting them go home for holidays.

Interestingly, Kogo says, he did not like the life in school, and so he did not go back when he was released for holiday.

Instead, he went into hiding in a relative’s home where he herded livestock. “My mother

saw the changes in me and was not happy. She decided to take me to a place where I hid so that neighbours who had children in school will not complain that I had remained at home.”

However, as things turned out, it was while at his relative’s home that he met a Kenyan clerk - who was working in the white settler’s farm - who took him to pick berries.

He says there were so many other young children, and the clerk, whose name he could not remember, kept records of how much ber-ries each one of them picked.

PromotionOne day, Kogo realised that the clerk mis-

spelled the names of many workers. He went ahead and corrected him, only to be found out by George David, the white settler, who was surprised that he could read and write. He in-stantly promoted him to a clerk.

Meanwhile, Kogo became friends with George, the white settler, and in 1936 he trav-elled to Nairobi city with the settler, where Kogo was recruited into the King’s African Rifles.

After intensive training the following year, Kogo was posted to Mogadishu to fight Ital-ians together with other KAR men on the side of the Germans. This was his first time fight-ing in a foreign country and he was afraid of war, but later on got used to the situation and fought like the other soldiers.

In 1940 Kogo was taken to Jinja, Uganda where he taught his fellow KAR army the Eng-lish language to allow good communication while in the battlefield.

In 1942, he went to Mombasa where he was trained to use heavy war machinery. After six months he was taken to China, where he helped in fighting Japanese.

“Fighting the Japanese army was really tough though they had powerful machinery and could not give up easily,” he says.

Kogo’s old body trembles as he recalls how he narrowly escaped the adverse effects of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. He remembers that when the explo-sion occurred, they were given masks to avoid sniffing the poisoned air which could kill them.

After the war, he went to Europe to conduct a research on the causes of the war and visited Wales, Scotland and other countries where he tried to find the cause of the war and how to prevent its reoccurrence.

Family In 1948, Kogo came back to Kenya where

he married his first wife and dedicated his time as a farmer with the little money he was given after the war.

He remarks that many of his villagers to date believe his wealth comes from the fact that he was paid well after the war a notion that he disputes.

“I was given very little money and so I worked very hard after that,” he reiterates. In 1949, Kogo was nominated by settlers to serve as a councillor of the Legislative Council where he worked hard with settlers. He served in the position well and in 1950 he was elected a councillor of Kapchekendi Ward, Kilibwoni Division, in the larger Nandi District. He served for 10 years before retiring to farming.

“My three wives are contented and all my 24 children went to school and many of them went through universities and are currently working in different parts of the country.”

Kogo says that he is a proud grandfather advising his children and the many grand-children about life. He adds that in his com-munity people do not count children like they count animals. “I even got the number of my children because one of my sons told me the number of my grandchildren,”

He advises parents in Nandi Community to ensure children of both sexes acquire education and says he has lived for many years because he does not drink alcohol.

Fighting the Japanese army was really tough though we had powerfull machinery and could not give up easily.”

— Mzee Mathews Kogo

Women and youth insist that peace must prevailThe message of peace is more rele-vant to the country now than since celebrating the first Madaraka Day 49 years ago.

As the country braces for the first General Elections under the new Constitution in the next few months, it is a welcome relief to hear a cross-section of women and journalists at the grassroots stand-ing up to join civil society organ-isations and partners as peace am-bassadors and champions in their areas of operation.

Everywhere the message is the same: never again will they allow a repeat of the 2007-2008 post-elec-tion violence that robbed them of their dignity, loved ones, property and peaceful co-existence with their neighbours.

They have also vowed to ensure that no innocent blood will be split just because of politicians, political parties and elections - which is a one day event, and life must go on thereafter.

The women and journalists’ message has been the same from Garissa in North Eastern Province to Nairobi’s Kibera slums; Kitale, Eldoret and Nakuru in Rift Valley Province to Thika and Murang’a in Central Province to Isiolo in East-ern Province where the AWC-Tu-

vuke Initiative campaign team has held workshops so far.

Indeed, it is a reality that four years down the road, the major challenges still facing the coun-try are ethnicity, partisanship and politicization of all issues, corrup-tion, high unemployment espe-cially among the youth, and the unresolved land question among others.

The other time bomb is the ris-ing tension and suspicion between communities who were directly and/or indirectly affected by the PEV, which left over 1,000 men, women and children killed and over 600,000 others displaced, raped and maimed.

But that is now behind us as a nation, and the myriad peace ini-tiatives and campaigns being rolled out throughout the country will address and ensure that reason, and not emotions, prevail as the country prepares to hold its first General Elections under a new Constitution.

With the new laws, the country continues to face challenges, such as: interpreting the D-Day, imple-mentation of affirmative action principles, as well as providing civic and voter education. There is every need to make sure that the Kenyan voter understands the voting process to be able to cast six ballots for the presidential;

senatorial, governorship, women’s representative, mayors (where ap-plicable) and county representa-tive.

Indeed, Kenyans can now stand tall as they sing the first stanza of the national anthem: “Oh God of all creation

Bless this our land and nationJustice be our shield and de-

fenderMay we dwell in unity

Peace and libertyPlenty be found within our bor-

ders.”Article 19 (1 and 2) of Chap-

ter Four, The Bill of Rights, states as follows: “The Bill of Rights is

an integral part of Kenya’s demo-cratic state and is the framework for social, economic and cultural policies. The purpose of recognis-ing and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms is to preserve the dignity of the indi-viduals and communities and to promote social justice and the re-alisation of the potential of all hu-man beings.”

Several of the women and jour-nalists who have been empow-ered at the recent AWC-organised workshops have volunteered to be peace champions and ambassadors in their respective homes, neigh-bourhoods and in the community they hail from, for the love of their country.

As Kenyans celebrate Mada-raka Day, they should reflect on the words of wisdom by a Chinese sage Lao Tzu (570-490 B.C.)

“If there is to be peace in the world, there must be peace in the nations. If there is to be peace in the nations, there must be peace in the cities. If there is to be peace in the cities, there must be peace between neighbours. If there is to be peace between neighbours, there must be peace in the home. If there is to be peace in the home, there must be peace in the heart.”

By ODHIAMBO ORLALE

6 U n f i l t e r e d , u n i n h i b i t e d … j u s t t h e g r u e s o m e t r u t h ISSUE 063, June 1-15, 2012

Report cites violence triggers ahead of elections

Impunity still reigns high......As post poll sexual violence victims cry for justice

By FAITH MUIRURI

Events that followed the 2007 Post Election Violence left her frail and weak. She was gang raped at the height of the violence and infected with a venereal disease. Her husband abandoned her after the rape incident and she has had to fend for her four children single-handedly. She lost her business to arsonists and almost lost the resilience to bounce back.

“It is by the grace of God that I am still alive and standing strong be-cause I lost totally everything during the chaos. The compensation pack-age by the Government was a mock-ery and was not enough to revamp my business,” she explains during the launch of the international campaign to stop rape and gender violence in conflict held at the freedom corner in Nairobi just a few days before the country marks 49 years of indepen-dence.

Nyambura was a charcoal dealer in Narok North Constituency when the violence erupted and she watched in disbelief as her stock was torched by the gang that also raped and impreg-nated her.

PoliceHer attempts to seek refuge at the

nearby police station bore no fruit. “The police told me that you voted for PNU in support of their cam-paign slogan “kazi iendelee (Swahili for work continues), how are we sup-posed to help you,” she recalls.

Nyambura fled the area to Naiva-sha where she has joined a group of women to form the KIDIPA Raped Women Self Help Group.

The group has managed to buy a piece of land where they have settled with their families and mainly rely on casual jobs for survival.

Nyambura is not alone in this.

Zipporah Yala also suffered a simi-lar predicament. “On December 31, 2007, I was in my house in Baba Ndogo area of Nairobi when a gang of about 200 young men raided our residential building. “They broke into my house and hit me hard us-ing a metal bar. They raped me and inserted the bar into my private parts and left me for the dead. When I re-gained consciousness, I realised I was bleeding profusely from my private parts and had to undergo a minor operation at the Kilimanjaro Nurs-ing Home to have the metal bar re-moved,” Yala recalls.

Five years laterHowever, justice has remained elu-

sive for the two women who suffered life altering injuries and have to solely depend on medication for their sur-vival while their perpetrators remain at large.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) case notwithstanding, the Government has failed to prosecute cases related to the post election vio-lence; nearly five years after the al-leged crimes were committed. These women have nothing to celebrate about today. They are looking for jus-tice from a government that is tasked to protect them.

According to a report compiled by the Directorate of Public Pros-

ecutions, there are 400 cases under active probe but investigations into more than 5,000 cases have stalled due to lack of evidence.

The government has only managed to prosecute about 500 of the reported 6,081 cases that range from murder to arson and destruction of property by political gangs.

And as the country braces itself for yet another General Election, thousands of survivors throughout the country are still crying for justice. Majority have never received medi-cal, psychosocial assistance or repara-tions for the crimes that were afflicted against them.

Speaking during the launch, the special rapporteur on the freedom of Assembly and Association, UN Hu-man Rights Council Maina Kiai says that the culture of impunity in the country, still persists to this day and perpetrators have never been held ac-countable.

He says that lack of support for survivors of gender violence and the culture of impunity throughout the justice system has complicated matters for survivors.

He says that rapists who include police officers must be held account-able to avert similar incidents in the future.

The ambassador and permanent representative to UNEP and UN-

Habitat, embassy of Finland Sofie From- Emmesberger echoes similar sentiments and adds that perpetra-tors must be brought to justice to de-ter future offenders.

Speaking at the launch, Lady Jus-tice Effie Awuor said that the post election violence paints a gloomy pic-ture of sexual and gender violence in conflict situation.

Task forceJustice Awuor who chairs the task

force on the implementation of the Sexual Offenses Act said that statis-tics from Nairobi women indicate that about 443 of sexual and gender based violence were attended to be-tween January and February 2008.

“Of these, 80 percent were rape and defilement, 9 percent were physical assault, 7 percent domestic violence while 4 percent were inde-cent assaults, most of which were ethnically driven. She said that other cases included forced female and male genital mutilation perpetrated by neighbours, gang members and security officers,” she revealed.

She said that the task force has de-veloped a National policy framework for implementation of the Sexual Of-fenses Act and recommend mecha-nisms for inter sectoral coordination among various implementers of the Act.

Justice Awuor said that the task force was working out modalities to develop regulations for implementa-tion of the Act.

Lady Justice Njoki Ndung’u who was the chief guest at the launch said that the campaign will require urgent and bold political leadership to pre-vent rape in conflict, to protect civil-ians and rape survivors and call for justice for all.

She lamented that data on rape was highly inaccurate due to the extreme stigma attached to survivors and the failure of reporting mechanisms.

She said that rape and gender vio-lence is still widespread in the country especially in slum areas and requires political will to stop this problem.

As Kenyans are already engaged in elections campaign, women are expressing reservations over their se-curity.

According to Ndung’u, the govern-ment must also set aside funds to assist survivors’ psychosocial, medical and legal needs and put in place a special police unit to address the issue.

She called on the Government to prosecute those who are responsible for perpetuating rape and gender vio-lence while providing survivors with much needed reparations.

“Most people do not know the im-pact that rape and gender violence has on survivors in society. It leaves a life-long effect on the individual and their community. Stigmatization and lack of support for survivors lead to fur-ther problems,” explained Ndung’u.

The campaign targets four coun-tries namely Kenya, Burma, Colum-bia and the Democratic Republic of Congo

The International Campaign to stop Rape and Gender Violence in conflict is led by the Women Peace Laureates of the Nobel Women Initia-tive in Ottawa, Canada.

By FAITH MUIRURI

Even as efforts to reconcile communities in conflict prone areas gain momentum across the country, a new report has identified pos-sible triggers to ethnic violence ahead of the elections.

The report cites the delineation of constitu-ency boundaries among factors likely to trig-ger flare-ups and erode gains made in restoring peace in hot spot areas.

The criminal cases against the four Kenyans at the International Criminal Court (ICC) also feature in factors likely to heighten tension ahead of the elections.

Victims “This should provide more justification for

monitoring the situation, especially with re-spect to possible treatment of communities perceived as victims of post election violence,” adds the report.

The baseline report by the Constitution and Reform Education Consortium (CRECO) on conflict mapping and profiles of 47 counties in Kenya, points out that 80 per cent of the coun-ties rank within the moderate to high risk of conflict areas.

Counties more prone to violence include Marsabit, Isiolo, Mandera, Wajir, Narok, Ga-

rissa, Tana River, Mombasa, Kwale, Kilifi, Nai-robi, Trans Nzoia, Migori, Nyamira, Bomet, Kiambu, Uasin Gishu, Turkana, West Pokot, Laikipia, Nakuru, Kisumu, Bungoma and Kir-inyaga.

According to the report, cases of ethnic in-tolerance, border conflicts, political party zon-ing, competition over land and other resourc-es, proliferation of small arms, weak security and poverty still rank high among factors that divide communities in clash prone areas.

GrievancesThe report underscores the need to moni-

tor areas worst hit by Post Election Violence during the pre-election period, largely due to the unsettled or unresolved deep seated griev-ances.

The lobby group calls on the govern-ment through the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and the Na-tional Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) to support warring groups to develop dispute resolution mechanisms ahead of the elections.

The lobby group further challenges the Parliamentary Budget Committee and the Commission on Revenue Allocation to ensure both the National and the County budgets are aligned to address past and present cases of ex-

clusion and marginalisation as outlined in the Constitution.

Other recommendations include putting in place necessary infrastructure to closely moni-tor the counties prone to election related con-flicts.

The report also calls for the establishment of a national peace platform similar to the one that existed prior to the 2010 referendum un-der the banner of Uwiano (cohesion).

“The platform should promote advocacy ef-forts by the CSOs to sensitise the public on na-tional issues that have implications on conflict factors at the local level,” explains the report.

Further, the CSOs should monitor compli-ance to the international, regional and local human rights and governance standards.

The report at the same time calls for con-certed efforts to ensure that all political and democratic rights and governance processes during the upcoming elections are respected protected and promoted.

The report lays emphasis on the need for CSOs to participate effectively in existing District Peace Committees and advocate for the transition of these structures into County peace committees with a clear and strength-ened statutory mandate of coordinating peace matters.

The report further proposes that CSOs safe-

guard the rights of women, children, youth, el-derly and other marginalised groups by ensur-ing representation and participation of these groups in the upcoming elections.

CSOs must also ensure that IEBC, the police force, judiciary and other institutions within the criminal justice system are ade-quately funded to deliver their mandate.

The report recommends that communities need to acknowledge that the country does not belong to any particular ethnic group or a combination of any.

“After having bequeathed ourselves and our future generations a new constitution, it is very important that all communities respect all hu-man rights for all persons, respect the values of the constitution, promote principles of gover-nance and also defend and protect it,” affirms the report.

Kenyans must also condemn violence and put to task politicians who preach violence and learn to solve political and social differences amicably.

They must also start banishing impunity at local levels, especially at County levels. All communities belong to all counties as no county was established exclusively for any par-ticular community. Kenyans must learn to ac-commodate minorities within counties where they are the majority.

“Most people do not know the impact that rape and gender violence has on survivors in society. It leaves a lifelong effect on the individual and their

community. Stigmatization and lack of support for survivors lead to further problems.”

— Lady Justice Njoki Ndung’u

7U n f i l t e r e d , u n i n h i b i t e d … j u s t t h e g r u e s o m e t r u t hISSUE 063, June 1-15, 2012

Fresh details emerge in Bagalla, Buthutha attacks By ABJATA KHALIF

Fresh details are emerging following gruesome attacks in Bagalla and Buthutha villages of Wa-jir West District.

The attackers feel betrayed by senior politi-cians, local elders, and the armed Oromo outfit that masterminded the massacre that left thou-sands of people dead, dozens of young girls ab-ducted, and their herds of livestock taken across the border.

The attackers, who were mobilised a few months before the raid, were taken through cultural orientation and an elaborate oath sys-tem.

They had firm instructions to aid another group that was heavily armed to gain access to the two villages, which are rich with pasture and water and have thousands of livestock that retreat to the area due to availability of natural resources.

According to Huka Dambelo, the plan to at-tack the pastoralist community of Degodia in Wajir District was in the offing. Talks were ev-erywhere within communities living in Mars-abit and Moyale, but the time of the attack was only known to the elders and powerful politi-cians under the regime.

According to the attacker [Dambelo], the period before the attack, the Oromo Libera-tion Army was training in various locations in the region, including: Makutano, Ambala, Uran, Dambalafanchana, Kinisha, and areas within Sololo of the Moyale District.

SympathyThe local community accommodated the

Oromo rebels, as they were sympathetic to their mission of liberating Ethiopia from the current regime of Meles Zenawi. They also offered the local communities in Moyale and Marsabit protection from their enemies, apart from also offering the local security contracting where Oromo wage attacks on other pastoralist com-munities on the direction and blessing of com-munities living in the two districts.

“In that period when Bagalla took place, everybody was aware of the heavy presence of Oromo rebels in Uran, Kinisha, Sololo, Dam-balafanchana, Ambala and Makutano areas, and even Kenyan government failed to attack them or expel them from Kenyan side of the border due to agreement between our politi-cians and the then government of Kenya,” ex-plains Dambelo.

The presence of the rebels and their training activities in the respective camps prompted the Ethiopia government to issue a protest note to the Kenyan government.

A joint country delegation meeting over the matter on the Ethiopian side of the border, which was attended by then Moyale District Commissioner a Mr Kipkabut, turned chaotic after the Ethiopian delegation, led by Colonel Medina, categorically blamed local politicians in Moyale and Marsabit of harbouring the rebels, and reaching a pact with the former Kenyan administration for the Oromo armed men to remain in Kenyan territory and wage guerrilla attacks in Ethiopia, and other areas within Kenya that included Wajir and Isiolo.

InterviewAn elaborate interview with one of the at-

tackers, a Mr Dambelo, illustrates a web, and a wider conspiracy that brings insecurity ap-paratuses, local elders, politicians — both serving the local authorities and parliament — in the plot, as well as some local women and youths in the planning, mobilisation, aid-ing, and waging the attack. It left thousands of people dead, hundreds of young girls ab-ducted and taken across the border to be forcefully married by the rebels, and 17,000 heads of livestock rustled and taken to various Oromo liberation training camps. The bulk of it was then sold in various markets including: southern Sudan, Kenya, and areas inhabited by Oromo people in Ethiopia. The proceeds of the loot were shared, with the sponsors of the attack taking the lion’s share and the rebels

taking the remaining part.However, it’s the sharing of the loot and the

disagreement over the sharing of the young abducted girls that brought a crack within the close-knit local and Oromo outfits. The local youths denied their demand of getting some of the stolen livestock, while others demanded that they be given some of the abducted girls for marriage.

The demand irked the politicians, with a late vocal MP from the area ordering that the demanding youths be arrested. The elders accused them of going against the oath they took to conduct the raid and assist the rebels in accessing the areas without any demand, as they were undertaking a communal obligation of raiding their neighbouring nemesis in the Wajir area.

Abducted girlsDambelo recalls: “After the raid, one armed

Oromo group took herds of livestock toward Uran area and toward the border, and the other group took abducted girls toward Dam-balafancahana area, and after reaching the area the Oromo armed men ordered the local youths to retreat to their villages in Marsabit and Moyale while, and that caused friction between us as our local youth commander,

who, appointed by elders and the local poli-tician, staged protest and ordered the Oromo men to share lots and abducted girls with them. A stand-off ensued and some Oromo men fired several bullets in the air to scare us but we remained put until they overpowered us and crossed the border.’’

The local attacker further claims that the at-tackers sent a distress call and communication through traditional means to elders. When they reached their respective village, elders were at hand to convince them into dropping their de-mand but it was all in vain.

“The elders were at hand to receive us, with elders meeting that threatened us with a curse if we proceeded with our demand of asking for the loots and the abducted girls. They told us that our duty was to protect our commu-nity against the enemy. But the youths could not hear any of this and we demanded for our share, lest we refuse to participate in any such mission in future or spill the beans.”

According to Dambelo the highly charged meeting ended in a sour note, with elders sum-moning the local leaders and parliamentarians to solve the impasse. This also failed to work.

“I remember a second meeting was called, and local leader and parliamentarian partici-pated to persuade us, and even went to the ex-

tent of offering us local girls to ward off our demand for the abducted girls, and also some cash promise to stop us from demanding the stolen livestock. We told them that we need our share of both the loots and the abducted girls, and we informed them that we will not participate in future attacks across our district border.”

StandoffThe second standoff between the youths and

the local elders and parliamentarians sparked a mass arrest on the local attackers. They were taken to various police stations across Marsabit and Moyale without any charges being pre-ferred against them. No offence was booked in the police occurrence book to justify their ar-rest.

The controversy surrounding the arrest of the local armed attackers caught the eye of the Kenyan parliament in 1999. When the is-sues was brought to the house the government denied that such arrest took place, and further denied the role of local youths in the Bagalla massacre. The government only claimed some elements of the Oromo Liberation Front par-ticipated in the raids, and only a few hundred people were killed.

However, Dambelo asserts that there were mass arrests following disagreement between the leaders and the youths, and that they were warned in the police stations to stop disturb-ing local elders and community with unnec-essary demands that might spark violence in the area.

‘’There were massive arrests, and all youths who participated were taken to various police posts and station in Moyale and Marsabit, and we were warned to stop disturbing the respect-ed elders and the local communities. Some po-lice officers warned us with dire consequences if we continue with our demands. One police officer told me, and our local youth command-er, if we have missed girls from our locality, and what good things are in the abducted girls and not the local girls?”

Pastoralists community waiting as their animals drink water and carry some home in Bagalla area. The attackers feel betrayed by senior politicians, local leaders and the armed Oromo outfit that they allege masterminded the massacre that left

thousands of people dead. Picture: Abjata Khalif

“In that period when Bagalla took place, everybody was aware of the heavy presence of Oromo rebels in

Uran, Kinisha, Sololo, Dambalafanchana, Ambala and Makutano areas, and even Kenyan government

failed to attack them or expel them from Kenyan side of the border due to agreement between our politicians and the then government of Kenya,”

— Huka Dambelo

8 U n f i l t e r e d , u n i n h i b i t e d … j u s t t h e g r u e s o m e t r u t h ISSUE 063, June 1-15, 2012

Youth dominate curio shops in MalindiBy ROBERT NYAGAH

Youth in Malindi are quickly taking charge of curio trade and replacing enterprises previously dominated by the old guard. Majority are now actively involved in curio trade, previously a do-main for the older male adults in the community.

This is a major shift from tradition where young people have been on the spotlight for generating income through anti-social activi-ties leading among them to commercial sex work and drug trafficking.

The Reject caught up with Irene Njeri Gitau at her stall inside the Malindi Tourist Market which is often patronised by tourists eager to buy African curios among other items.

Njeri, engages a wide smile as she arranges her curio items and decorated baskets at her stall inside the now not too busy market in Kilifi County.

Although Malindi is presently experiencing a general a decreased turnout of guests in the wake of the start of the low tourist season which starts in April and ends in mid July every year, Njeri, exudes great confidence as she removes dust from various items and arranges them neatly in the shelves.

DisappointmentMany stalls in her neighbourhood are closed

with owners disappointed that tourists have not been flowing to the market. However, Njeri has decided not to close her stall just in case she gets the surprise customer.

“Instead of being idle and wasting time at home, I have decided I should just come and rearrange the items to make the stall neat,” Njeri explains as she removes dust from her sparkling white pair of long trousers.

 “I must confess things have been fine for me here in Malindi both social and in the business arena because my earnings have been generally adequate to satisfy all my basics needs,” she ob-serves.

Njeri, 30 and a mother of two studied for a business certificate course immediately af-ter she completed her secondary school. The knowledge and skills she gained at college en-couraged her to start the business in 2003, two years after Form Four examinations.

After college she briefly did freelance mar-keting for a leading company in Kenya, a job that enabled her save some money to start the curio business with a capital of KSh50,000. Today she boasts of a turnover of about KSh250,000.

Njeri is happy that as a woman she is able to operate in a free and fair business atmosphere and earn her profits based on hard work and being aggressive in marketing.

“Business here depends on the traders’ qual-ity of stock and marketing and I am happy that sometimes the sales I make are good and that I operate in a good environment where competi-tion is fair and the relationship between traders and the authorities in good,” she explains.

EqualityGiven that Malindi depends on tourists,

Njeri has been able to learn basic Italian and German to enable her communicate effectively.

Njeri’s son is in a boarding school and she is able to comfortably pay school fees and meet all her family’s basic needs without feeling stressed about life generally.

“I am able to the rent for my house and stall and sometimes afford some entertainment for my children, although I do not overwhelm my-self with entertainment.”

Njeri is happy that she is able to undertake business in a tourism oriented town where peace is always paramount and has never been lost. “I thank God and the government that Ma-lindi has always been an island of peace even when tribal clashes hit other areas, Malindi re-mained peaceful and that helped the tourism industry to recover and prosper.”

She appreciate doing business in Kenya at the age of 30 just when the country has gained a new and good constitution whose proper and good implementation will mean that the op-

portunities for her and other Kenyans to prosper are there.

She says that if one pursuing the positive attributes of Malindi, one can grow socially and in business mainly because Malindi people are positively social and friendly and the fact that tourism is the pillar of the town’s economy makes the area friendly to both local and international personalities. This widens the opportunity to make good contacts across the board.

AppreciateNjeri notes that unlike many other towns

in Kenya, Malindi has a good road network, adequate and reliable water as well as elec-tricity supply all of which make the town good and perhaps even addictive.

She confesses that as Kenya celebrates 49 years of independence she appreciates the fact that she stays in a town where movement is not curtailed while security and health facilities are easily accessible.

“I would wish to permanently stay in Malindi and through my earning in tourism I intend to ac-quire my own land and build a home in the very near future...the prospects for a better tomorrow are clear to me and I cannot abandon Malindi.”

Njeri explains that the best thing to have happened during her prime age was the prom-ulgation of the constitution and the assurance that it will be implemented in her life time God willing.

“I am aware of the rights of women at vari-ous levels of governance and I am excited that women of Kenya have a good future where their rights will not be ignored or downtrodden as it used to happen in the past when they were treated like second citizens of this country.”

The Malindi Tourist Market has more than

700 stalls and according to Njeri, the stalls are still dominated by men and elderly people. However, she sees a future where young men and women will take over business and im-prove the infrastructure and other areas of the market to make it more attractive to customers who are mainly tourists.

“I am sure that in future this market will be pre-planned by young people who are slowly taking over the country’s economic sector,” notes Njeri.

Listening to Njeri, one is exposed to a young person who is looking ahead and truly hoping for a great future as a business lady and a family person. “I would like all Kenyans and especially young people taking the challenges of life with-out giving up or expecting too much from their parents and the Government.”

According to Njeri, the Government should be lauded for creating a conducive environment for progress at school and in the commercial sector and nobody should lament that things are so bad. At the end of the interview the smile of hope, confidence and joy is left on her face and one can tell that she is proud to be a Kenyan.

Irene Njeri displaying her products at her stall inside the Malindi

Tourist Market .The market is often patronised by tourists eager to buy

African curios among other items. Most businesses have however closed

down due to the low turnout of tourists. Pictures: Robert Nyagah

“I am aware of the rights of women at various levels of governance and I am excited that women of Kenya have a good future where their rights will not be ignored or

downtrodden as it used to happen in the past when they were treated like second hand citizens of this country.”

9U n f i l t e r e d , u n i n h i b i t e d … j u s t t h e g r u e s o m e t r u t hISSUE 063, June 1-15, 2012

Families displaced by raging floods Kilifi County lags behind in education

By JANE MUGAMBI

About 20 families are currently homeless, having been displaced by floods following a heavy down pour that has been witnessed in Kirinyaga County.

The families fled their homes recently after their houses were sub-merged and property worth thou-sands of shillings destroyed at Ga-tuiri village in Mwea West Division. Among the property swept away by floods were toilets, clothes, utensils and crops.

They were woken up by floods which submerged their houses and left the area for safety immediately. A victim, James Muriuki, said he and his family escaped death by a whis-ker when they were woken up by the water, which was in their house, when their beds were soaked.

Muriuki claimed that they al-most drowned when the floods hit the village at midnight, terming their escape as lucky. “It is through God’s luck that my family was able to escape from the floods immedi-

ately the houses started being swept away,” Muriuki said.

Good samaritanThe victims are now being accom-

modated by good Samaritans who rescued them while others are spend-ing their night in the cold. Another vic-tim, Susan Wanjiku said she and other family members lost everything to the floods.

They are now appealing to well wish-ers and the Red Cross to donate clothes, food and other necessities. They are also appealing for assistance to be able to construct new dwelling places.

Area assistant Chief Justus Wanjohi

said the situation is bad and the victims needed to be assisted. He said the fami-lies require food, clothes and drugs ur-gently for them to survive.

Wanjohi warned of a possible out-break of diseases because of poor sani-tation. “The toilets in the village were completely destroyed by rain storms and there could be an outbreak of dis-eases if urgent measures are not taken,” he said.

Wanjohi advised the residents, espe-cially those living in flat areas of Mwea plains, to be alert and move to higher grounds to avoid being drowned. The heavy rains have wreaked havoc in the area.

“It has destroyed bridges, crops and killed three people - among them two girls, aged two years,” not-ed Wanjohi.

One of the victims, aged 30 years, drowned at Marurumo village as he was crossing the flooded Nyamindi River. His body is yet to be retrieved.

This comes barely a week after the area MP, Peter Gitau, urged those that had settled along River Thiba’s bank to vacate from the water way.

“It has destroyed bridges, crops and killed three people

among them two girls aged two years.”

— Justus Wanjohi

Man who broke served Mau Mau rebels with fire armsBy GILBERT OCHIENG

Forty nine years after Kenya attained her independence from the yoke of co-lonialists, a former street urchin recalls how, in the company of his colleagues would break into the armory at Indus-trial Area Remand Home, then the main prison and arms depot during the colonial era to supply the Mau Mau fighters with fire-arms and food ration.

Read on;Lester Owino, alias professor, 83, a

former street urchin who hails from Namwitsula village, Marachi West lo-cation, Butula district in Busia Coun-ty is considering himself as one of the forgotten Mau Mau heroes, dead or alive, who fought relentlessly for the liberation of Kenyans from the cruel hands of the colonial regime.

“As street children, we suffered a great deal. The colonial soldiers who used to patrol the streets of Nairobi, especially in Ngara estate which was our base would whip us on sight and at times unleash their dogs if we at-tempted to escape,” says Owino.

He adds: “The colonial govern-ment never wanted us to wear shoes, trousers or any other decent clothing. Women were forced to wear frocks [khaki stackpots]. They did not even want us to move closer to their posh residential homes and would in most occasions beat us up when caught.”

So in 1945, Owino and his col-leagues decided “enough was enough”. They had grown tired of persistent ha-rassment by the colonial regime. Owino invented a catapult which they would use as a weapon to defend themselves.

“Between 1946 and 1947, we de-clared a war we dubbed “Muhure Ki-ongo” a Kikuyu term meaning “hit the head”. We would engage them in a hide and seek battle akin to the guerilla war considering that most parts of Nairobi were by then bushy, a conducive envi-ronment that enabled us to hit the white men with our only defensive weapon, a catapult using rounded metal bolts we made from used car batteries instead of stones, gorging out their eyes,” says Owino.

The former street child, who was the mastermind of the group of street

children, further says the irate white men retaliated by chasing them on horseback, shooting the unfortunate ones dead, with majority of them man-aging to escape into the bush.

“It was survival for the fittest. Who-ever was not swift enough would bear the brunt of the merciless brutes” says Owino.

Lester and his colleagues were however determined to continue tack-ling the ruthless white men through every means at their disposal.

And in 1948, when the late found-ing President Jomo Kenyatta as the chairman of Kenya African Union party went to Kaloleni Social Hall to address a public gathering as the war against the colonial regime gathered

momentum and told people to join the Mau Mau movement and fight vehemently, “we willingly volunteered to fight the enemy considering that we had suffered most”

“Our duty was to go to Industrial Area police depot and break into the armory and steal fire-arms and food rations. We had the master key so we could sneak into the armory in the wee hours of the night ensuring nobody has spotted us, pick the fire-arms and food rations and leave hur-riedly,” explains Lester.

However, not all the white men were harsh to the Africans. A few of them proved so helpful.

“Three white men assisted us a great deal in our liberation struggle against

the colonial regime. One of them was an Indian known as Assanandis whereas the other two white men were known as Pio Gama Pinto and William Meyer,” says Owino, adding that the three Good Samaritans in most occasions offered their lorries that we used to transport the fire-arms and food rations to the Mau Mau fighters who were operating from the Aberdare and Mount Ke-nya forests.

Owino further says the people of Kiambu were not affected dur-ing the colonial regime as most of them had ac-cepted to use the British passes because majority of them were employed by them, adding that the areas that were seriously affected dur-ing the colonial regime were Nyeri, Murang’a. Kirinyaga and Thompson Falls because the natives had rejected the British passes.

However, the former street urchin says their determination to continue fighting the colonial regime was cut short when the founding father of the Nation the late Jomo Kenyatta was ar-

rested and detained at Kapenguria by the colonial soldiers in 1952.

“Our effort to continue fighting the colonial regime was thwarted when the founding father of the nation the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta who had been our only source of inspiration was unfortunately arrested by the co-lonial soldiers. So we had no option but to give up the fight,” says Owino, adding that he is extremely glad that Kenya finally became an independent nation.

By YUSUF AMIN

The Kenya Primary School Head-teacher Association (KEPSHA), Kilifi Chapter has launched its strategic plan. The plan was launched at an oc-casion presided over by Coast Provin-cial Director Tom Majani at Kibarani School for the Deaf recently.

Majani said the county might be forced to employ professionals from other counties due to lack of educat-ed people from the county.

“It will be sad to see many jobs created by the county governments being taken by people from other counties while youth the county re-mains jobless,” Majani lamented.

He advised leaders and parents to hold regular meetings with teachers and other stakeholders in order to plan how to scale-up the academic performance in the local schools.

UnisonAs school managers, the PDE

urged head teachers to work in unison with other teachers and subordinates for the common goal of uplifting the education standards in the county.

“You should set standards for your schools and make sure you meet the target,” reiterated Majani. He advised school heads to work against time so as to “make sure that the strategic plan is implemented or else other counties will copy and use it in their areas”.

 “Teachers should liaise with other stakeholders so that everyone in the community gets a share in the promo-tion of education,” urged Majani.  

He cautioned leaders and teach-ers against divisiveness which he said had further resulted into low educa-tion standards in the area.

However, Kilifi KEPSHA secre-tary, Joseph Tembo Mwangome said most political leaders have not been supportive despite requests by school committees.

“Many schools are in a sorry state and lacked class rooms and other in-frastructural materials,” Mwangome said.

He said most schools are over-crowded and asked leaders and the government to formulate ways of im-proving the infrastructure to cater for the ever rising number of students.

Lester Owino showing how they used to terrorize the colonialists during his

childhood. Pictures: Gilbert Ochieng“Our duty was to go to Industrial Area police depot and break into the armory and steal

fire-arms and food rations. We had the master key so we could sneak into the armory in the wee hours of the night ensuring nobody has

spotted us, pick the firearms and food rations and leave hurriedly.”

— Lester Owino

10 U n f i l t e r e d , u n i n h i b i t e d … j u s t t h e g r u e s o m e t r u t h ISSUE 063, June 1-15, 2012

New guidelines promotes adoption of GMOs

New fish breeding project unveiled

Government receives funds for fish research

By DAVID KIARIE

As the debate on the safety of geneti-cally modified food continues, the Ministry of Higher Education Sci-ence and Technology (MOHEST) has launched a national guideline to ensure proper application of biotech-nology.

The National Bio-safety Strategic Plan 2011-2015 will give the players in the sector a guideline on transfer, handling and usage of the technology to ensure human and animal health, and the safety of the environment.

“The government acknowledges the need to ensure technologies are appropriately applied. The safety of the people and conservation of the already fragile environment are key considerations as scientists and other stakeholders explore the ways to exploit the benefits that geneti-cally modified technology presents,” said the minister for MOHEST Prof. Margaret Kamar, who spoke during the launch of the National Bio-safety Authority Strategic Plan and Service Charter in Nairobi.

BenefitsKamar said although the subject

on modern biotechnology and its application, particularly in agricul-ture continues to dominate public discussions nationally, in the African region, and even globally, there is a general consensus that its use in ag-riculture presents enormous potential benefits to the farming communities.

“This is indeed a beacon of hope to our agricultural sector, which is the backbone of our country and most economies throughout the country,” the minister said.

The five-year strategic plan is in line with Kenya’s development blue print of Vision 2030, which acknowl-edges enhanced agricultural produc-tivity and industrial development will be key contributors to improvement of the economy.

The blue print further addresses

the issue of environment conserva-tion, assurance of the right of Kenyans and promotion of science, technology and innovative initiatives.

The government has managed to develop a functional bio-safety regu-latory framework through enactment of the Bio-safety Act 2009, which established the National Bio-Safety Authority (NBA) as an administra-tive mechanism. The Act guides the development and publishing of the bio-safety implementing regulations.

Kamar said the adoption of mod-ern biotechnology in Kenya would help in maximising agricultural and industrial productivity, protection of the environment, conserving biodi-versity and improving the quality of human welfare.

BiosafetyShe said that Kenya needs to effec-

tively implement her legal and regula-tory framework to ensure biosafety.

“The necessary capacity must be put in place to ensure that the appro-priate safety measures are taken into account at development, commercial-ization and trading of all technology related products,” said Kamar.

She said as a way of supporting the biosafety activities in the country it is important to have an effective knowledge creation and management system, and announced that her min-istry would soon establish a centre of excellence on biosafety at one of the public universities in the country.

The system, she said, would also help in guiding the collection, pro-cessing and dissemination of relevant information on all the activities, their

likely consequences and possible management procedures and proto-cols.

Kamar further stressed the need to mount timely tracking of the develop-ment and implementation of various GM programmes and initiatives in the country and beyond. They are needed as a way of monitoring the na-tional progress and keeping informed on current and emerging bio-safety issues.

She said the launch of the national bio-safety authority Strategic Plan and Service Charter is a message to Kenyans that the authority is ready to deliver services to them in a profes-sionally responsible and transparent manner.

Kenya is among the 160 countries that support Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety that was adopted in the year 2000. The protocol is a supple-ment of the United Nations Conven-tion on Biological Diversity signed in 1992.

TrialsAlthough no genetically modi-

fied crops have been commercialized in Kenya, cotton, cassava, maize and sweet potatoes are under confined trials. In addition, sorghum is under contained greenhouse trials.

“The National Bio-safety Author-ity has approved transit and impor-tation of genetically modified food,” said Willy Tonui, NBA chief executive officer.

He noted: “The authority’s man-date includes regulation of all activi-ties involving genetically modified organisms in food, feed, research, industry, trade and environmental release.”

Senior Science secretary in the Ministry of higher education science and technology Dr. Edwardina Ndine also encouraged the media to report-frequently and accurately about bio-technology.

“We can solve most of our prob-lems by embracing the new tech-nologies that have been designed to aleviate poverty and hunger in Kenya,”she said.

By CAROLINE WANGECHI

The Ministry of Fisheries Development has established an ambitious programme to train fish farmers on how to breed fish with the aim of improving quality of meat and en-sure constant supply of fish in the local and international market.

The programme will train 150 farmers drawn from across the country in the 160 constituencies where the government has established 200 fish ponds in each constitu-ency through the economic stimulus pro-gramme.

The farmers are currently undergoing training at the National Aquaculture Re-search Development and Training Centre in Sagana Kirinyaga County. Speaking during the official opening of the training, Fisher-ies Permanent Secretary Prof Micheni Ntiba said the project intends to train farmers in the breeding.

“When fish are mixed in a pond the male spend most of their time reproducing while the female spend most of the time laying eggs and protecting the young ones hence affecting their growth and quality of meat,” explained Ntiba.

He noted that the programme aims at training farmers in the production of male fingerlings and rear them separately in a pond to ensure that they pack meat properly hence boost quality of meat as well as fetch better income for the farmers.

They will then be mandated to produce certified male fingerlings in their respective localities and supply them to other farmers locally.

“Production of certified seed should be enforced by the government so as not to frustrate farmers,” Ntiba reiterated.

He noted that the ministry will also maintain a brood stock of female fish to pro-duce eggs for reproduction purposes. The permanent secretary noted that many coun-tries that have achieved medium income sta-tus in the world have relied on fish to drive their economies.

However, he called on all the stakehold-ers in the fish industry to partner with his ministry to ensure that they create aware-ness about fish across the country. In the last three years Kenya has made tremendous progress in the production of fish and stands at number four in Africa. “We are geared to become number one soon,” observed Ntiba.

By CAROLINE WANGECHI

The Kenya government has received money through the Ministry of Fisheries Research from the Association for Strengthening Agri-cultural Research in eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA).

According to the programme coordinator, Jean Ndikumana, the money will be used for re-search on fish farming in three countries: Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. “The money will be used by scientists to help improve the fish breeds that are in the aqua training schools,” he noted.

According to the Fisheries Permanent Sec-retary, Prof. Micheni Ntiba, more is needed for projects. He adds that lack of knowledge by farm-ers was hampering the growth of the farming.

Knowledge“With the KSh2.4 million that ASARECA has

given the ministry for research, we expect farm-ers to get knowledge on fish farming to increase the production,” noted Ntiba.

The money is set for the first phase, which will last for two years. He adds that, if the project is successful, there will be a second phase that will run for two more years, where farmers are in-volved.

Ntiba added that the project will incorporate the private sector to undertake capacity building and also to make sure that the demand for feeds and fingerings is met. He adds that the govern-ment has not been able to satisfy the market, which is very big.

Director of Marine Kazungu noted that the marine institute is leading in the process of re-search where they are going to formulate quality feeds production. “We will also make sure that the required quantities are availed without failure to make sure that farmers do not incur losses,” ob-served Kazungu.

On cooling plants, the government has put up four facilities in Rongo in Migori, Imenti South in Meru, Tetu in Nyeri, which is ongoing. In Kaka-mega a programme to preserve the fish for a lon-ger time is ongoing since most get bad very fast, resulting in losses to farmers.

The project will reduce fishing on the oceans, lakes and rivers, but will enhance food security, create employment and wealth, and enhance healthy living for many Kenyans.

Through the KSh6 billion project, tilapia and cat fish fingerings are expected to increase from 50 million fingerings to 100 million fingerings, increasing the metric tonnes to 200,000 in the long term from 30,000 metric.

Dr. Edwardina Ndine addressing journalists on the importance of embracing technology. Kenyans have has been receiving contradicting stories from politicians opposing biotechnology products

like GMO food. Picture: Carolyne Oyugi

“We can solve most of our problems by embracing the new technologies that have been

designed to alleviate poverty and hunger in Kenya,”

— Dr. Edwardina Ndine

11U n f i l t e r e d , u n i n h i b i t e d … j u s t t h e g r u e s o m e t r u t hISSUE 063, June 1-15, 2012

Money disbursed for farmers to invest in agriculture

Farmers set to benefit from a dairy cooling plant

Government challenged to increase funding for agriculture

By AYOKI ONYANGO

Kenya can only produce sufficient food if agri-culture receives adequate funding and adopts policies that encourage efficient and effective use of available innovations and services from the agricultural institutions.

According to the director of the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), Dr Ephraim Mukisira there is need to encourage farmers to adopt to new technologies and in-novations to help boost production.

Mukisira said Kenya has already embraced “green revolution” and developed varieties of crops, like rice and maize, which require little rainfall.

“Such innovation can save Kenya and other African countries from the increasing dependency on imported crops,” he explained during the second World Congress of Agro-forest workshop in Nairobi.

Mukisira said similar progress has been noted in soya beans and pasture crops of fod-ders, like Napier-grass.

According to Dr. Paul Gichuhi, an agricul-tural researcher from KARI, the Government needs to take the issue of sustainable funding and full modernization of gene banks seri-ously in this era of biodiversity conservation.

Kenya passed a bio-safety law, which paved the way for commercialization of genetically modified products.

The severe famine in Kenya and other African countries has underscored the need to re-examine research institutions that deal with agriculture, forestry, environment, wild-life and fisheries, including their achieve-ments and challenges.

There is also need to examine the environ-ment in which such institutions operate on global, regional and national levels.

“African heads of state who met in Libya in 2009 urged governments in this region to allocate at least 10 per cent of their budgets to agriculture as the most important sector,” noted Dr Daniel Nyamai, a lead researcher with the Kenyan Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI).

He said Kenya should direct its efforts towards utilisation of products and services available in national research institutions that deal with various aspects of food and cash crops production, livestock, agro forestry and forestry.

By CATHERINE WAHOME

Most dairy farmers in the country, especially in the rural areas, find it advisable and profitable to form co-operative societies for easy market-ing of their products.

Formed just a year after the coun-try gained independence, Watuka Farmers Co-operative Society is sit-uated in Watuka sub-location, Kieni West District, Central Province.

It was formed a year after inde-pendence, when a group of members came out with the same interest of marketing their raw milk collectively. By so doing, the cost of collection and transportation was minimized.

In the same year, the society was registered under co-operative so-ciety number 1071, and it immedi-ately started its operations. Though it started with only 50 members, it has since grown in number.

Initially the farmers tirelessly supported the Sacco through deliv-ery of raw milk which was the sold to the Kenya Co-operative Cream-eries (KCC).

Main sourceThough the milk was paid at a

rate between 20 to 30 cents, it be-came the main source of income in the area, apart from a few who prac-ticed horticultural farming.

The society was mainly a pre-serve for old men since no woman were allowed to own any property then, and young men by then did not own any cattle or sheep.

Despite the fact that members benefitted from the milk sales, the society still faced a lot of challeng-es. Sometimes it lost the confidence from its members, especially after the collapse of KCC and liberaliza-tion era.

HorticultureAccording to Joseph Nduhiu

Muthui, a manager with the soci-ety, KCC did not pay for the raw milk to a tune of KSh4.2 million. “This seriously crippled the society whereby many members turned to horticulture farming,” Nduhiu notes.

The society had to introduce ex-tra services to members in order to

restore confidence. Some of these services included; giving advances to members, stores for resale, Arti-ficial Insemination [AI], and link-ing members to access loans from Taifa Sacco.

During the liberalization era the society witnessed the worst chal-lenges. Other competitors invaded the society’s whole area of operation, buying milk from members at prices higher than what the society could afford. Several of the society’s mem-bers started selling raw milk to the new comers because of their hiked prices.

Due to these shortcomings, six co-operative societies, which in-clude: Watuka, Endarasha, Gata-ragwa,

Lamuria, Mweiga and Thuruth-uru, joined together to put up Kieni Dairy Products Limited (KDP) to act as their marketer. Since February 2010, Watuka has been delivering its milk here for KDP to market.

FightAccording Thuita, who is in his

30th year in the society as the chair-man, “things have not been that easy for us, but we had to fight and make sure we give our members the best we can. Most of the people who de-fected from the society are now try-ing to come back to their roots since the society is slowly transforming to an industry.”

He adds that the society has 690 registered members, with only 400 members being active. There are 458 males, 201 female and 31 youth.

He is calling upon more young people to join the sector, stating that

one cannot compare horticulture farming with dairy farming.

“You may have planted a lot of onions or carrots and cabbag-es and when rainfall fails, your crops will also fail but in dairy farming, milk produc-tion will still go on and there are no brokers in the society,” he ob-serves.

The cooling plant has assisted farmers in keeping their milk fresh. Though the place is situated in the Aberdare Ranges, and one of the coolest plac-es in the district, with the adverse change of climate milk used to go dab most of the time, due to a lot of heat.

The society is currently collect-ing 3,700 kilos of milk per day. The highest production noted last year was between June and December; at an average of 4,8000 kilos per day.

Nduhiu notes that the Kenya Bu-reau officials have visited the society twice, and the process of getting cer-tified might be through soon.

Watuka Farmers Co-operative Society, is the only one in the whole of Kieni West district to have such machines.

By KARIUKI MWANGI

The government has disbursed an additional KSh2 billion to the Agri-cultural Finance Corporation so as to ensure that there is enough money for farmers to borrow and invest more in agriculture.

Agriculture minister, Dr Sally Kosgey said the funding aims at in-creasing agricultural output and al-leviating hunger.

The minister said that farmers now need to start taking up loans with the agricultural finance corporation, since the interest rate is as low as 10 per cent in comparison to other financial insti-tutions, which lend money at 30 per cent interest rate.

Speaking in Chogoria, Tharaka Nithi County during the official open-ing of Agricultural Finance Corpora-tion offices in the area, Kosgey said

that they have opened an additional six branches in the country so as to bring corporation services closer to the farmers.

“We have opened six new branch-es of AFC to bring the branches to 42, and we will continue until we reach to all the 47 counties of the country,” she said, adding that the new AFC has improved services to benefit the farmers.

Kosgey said that the ministry has increased the allocation of the various AFC branches in the coun-try to a tune of KSh100 million per branch as compared to KSh17 mil-lion previously, saying that with such an allocation more farmers will borrow more money. “Our aim is to reach a customer clientele of 150,000 by next year, so as to boost the food security and help in the reduction of poverty levels

in the country,” explained Kosgey, adding that agriculture is a major contributor to the realization of Vi-sion 2030.

The minister pointed out that the corporation has also introduced a new loan sector — stawisha loan — which will benefit the women and the youths who are interested in the loans for farming, but do not have collaterals.

“Most of the youths and women are unable to secure loans from in-stitutions due to lack of collaterals, such as log books and title deeds, and this loan will give them an opportu-nity to acquire loans for their agri-cultural development,” Kosgey noted. She said her ministry is waiting for more funding from the Treasury for the purchase of top dressing fertil-izers, which will be disbursed to the farmers at a subsidized cost and en-

sure good productivity. The minister also called upon

the farmers in the area that receives minimal rainfall distribution to fo-

cus more on sorghum, millet cassava and other crops that can survive with little rain, thus complimenting the maize produced in other areas.

Fisheries Permanent secretary Japheth Ntiba addressing the media at Sagana Aquaculture training school in Kirinyaga County with Kenya

Marine, fisheries research Institute director Johnston Kazungu and far right is Dr Harrison Charo. Picture: Kariuki Mwangi

Members of Watuka Farmers Co-operative Society(WFCS),during a

tarining.Joseph Thuita, the societys chairman with a JICA staff launching

the cooling plant. The cooling machine has improved milk storage in Kieni West

District.Pictures: Catherine Wahome

12 U n f i l t e r e d , u n i n h i b i t e d … j u s t t h e g r u e s o m e t r u t h ISSUE 063, June 1-15, 2012

By MARTIN MURITHI

She was circumcised between 1900 and 1910 during the famous drought known as ‘Kiaramu’ and recalls very little about major historical events such as Mau Mau War. However, she has an archive of historic events of the Meru Tradi-tion in her mind.

It is on a hot Wednesday afternoon and a motor bike ride is the ultimate transport op-tion for us. As we ride from Mikinduri Market we negotiate several bends then take on a foot path that leads us to the homestead of Nkoroi M’Ikunyua, a woman who has survived to tell legends of the yester years.

It is here in Mayowe Village of Anjuki loca-tion in Tigania East District where she was born in the late 1880s, but she can’t really recall the ex-act year. All she confirms is that she is older than the first President of Kenya Jomo Kenyatta.

This fact I confirmed from the elders after she disclosed her age set, which is ‘Michubu Nkuru’. All generations in the Meru Community are classified in age sets, each running 30 years. She has survived to see four age sets, and tells the story as if it were yesterday.

Nkoroi was born in a family of four, among them two girls and two boys of the late M’Ikunyua Kiramunya. All her brothers and sis-ters died several years back.

Her childrenShe had a family with two children who she

says died at tender ages, but sarcastically I in-quire and I am informed that her younger son died in 1997 at the age of 63.

“Like every community, life begins at concep-tion, tradition was not forbidden and discipline was a must in the family. A young girl was not sup-posed to get pregnant when at her father’s house,” are the words of wisdom that come from her.

“If this happened young men of her age set would take her to the riverbed and squeeze the little foetus out before it was old enough to be seen by parents. The girl could then be washed clean to avoid her being an outcast in the com-munity.”

In times of courtship, Nkoroi recalls, a man was not allowed to visit the girl’s home during the day. Sex was not forbidden as long as she never became pregnant. The young girl had the obligation of serving her boyfriend with food and no one else could have done so.

“When a young man visited the family of the girl he intended to marry, he would be es-corted by others of his age set and on reaching at the gates they would madly scream to alert the women and parents who then took off leav-ing the homestead under the care of the young man,” says Nkoroi.

After spending at least three nights the young man, after making the decision to marry, would organise for his loved one to be circumcised.

Circumcisers, whether of men or women, were not paid any money but were instead given grinded porridge.

After the girl healed the young man would

take her away to his home and they were free to have as many children as they wished. Men were only allowed to marry two wives.

According to Nkoroi, when a woman gave birth, a goat was slaughtered in her honour by the husband as a sign of appreciation.

On very rare occasions did the families then slaughter cows, but they used to feed off fresh blood of the animals and just in case one of the cows died, regardless of what had caused death, the clan was invited to share the meat.

It was a golden past; they never used sufurias but clay pots. Their meals were freshly indige-nous and comprised of black beans, millet, yams, grinded porridge, bananas, cowpeas, arrowroots and fresh cow blood.

Nkoroi affirms that this is the source of her strength because apart from maize, which has added to her recipe, she has stuck to those types of food and for this reason she rarely falls ill.

Before the coming of the whites, their hygiene was maintained by water only. Cow fat was their treasured body lotion, after it was thoroughly shaken in a gourd. Any excess would be taken to the market for exchange with other goodies that were not available in the home.

Barter trade was their main form of trade. Gakoromone, Muthaara, Kunati, Mikinduri and Kathama were the main markets, and they dealt with various commodities.

Entertainment was their way of bringing the community together; they sang Nkiro songs and young men from separate clans wrestled in con-tests which were used to promote peace and in-tegration among the Meru.

Burial“In case of death of a family member, there

would be no burial. However, the woman who was bereaved would carry the corpse and throw it into the forest to be eaten by hyenas,” notes Nkoroi.

A striking belief those days is that if one had indulged in sorcery acts, the hyenas never ate his body. “If this happened a witchdoctor would be called to cleanse the body and by six in the evening you could come across the hyenas wooing around searching for the body. The fol-lowing day you could not trace even a bone,” she explains.

Tales never ended and a woman who had handled the body needed cleansing as well. Un-less this was done she was not allowed to indulge in any community activities or even fetch water from the river with other women. “She could not even cross the road when cows were crossing. It was a norm,” affirms Nkoroi.

The woman would be cleansed by having sex

with outcasts of a clan or family called ‘Mwenji’. Animal skin played an essential role in the

community those days. Thinned skins were used to wrap new born babies and were also used as sanitary towels for women who experienced their menses.

“The skins used for holding menses were never washed in water. We used to apply fat and then dry them in the sun. We could not wash them because we believed it would bring a mis-fortune to the family,” she ascertains.

Husbands normally swapped wives where one could sleep with his friend’s wife once he vis-ited the home with plenty of yams. The husband would leave the home in disguise that the wife’s ‘Bankiro’ had come home.

Granny Nkoroi cannot recall when education was introduced in the community but claims her younger brother, M’Nchebere M’Ikunyua, was the first to attend a missionary school.

DutiesBefore then, she says, young children spent

their days in the open fields grazing. Women were staying at home tending the farms, whereas elder men spent most of their time seated in the jury house (currently known as Njuri Ncheke

Shrine) chatting and listening to cases.Nkoroi says the current generation has

trampled upon the good old days of the past and perverted the traditions of the community due to education.

However, she urges young people to intellec-tually dedicate themselves to it because it is the only way to survive, and the world is generally competitive.

“In our days we used to do things wholly dedicated and used to give our all into whatever we did, likewise, young people who have many more years to live need to dedicate their whole energy into what they are doing to earn their living. Life is difficult and you can only make it if you are tough,” advises Nkoroi.

Surviving all these years in a lonely house is not possible but due to a good neighbour, Be-retina Kobia, Nkoroi has had to share all the joys and pleasures of the world and she may be the next oldest woman living in Kenya.

Kobia undertakes all the responsibilities, including bathing her, feeding and maintaining her general welfare — a task which very few can undertake, even if it were for their own parents.

“It only takes a great heart and dedication to care for Nkoroi, there are ups and downs but I have made her feel she really belongs to this world all these years. She has made me learn a lot and would not desire to depart from her when she has not educated me more,” says Kobia.

She adds. “Nkoroi has helped moulds many people’s character and her advice has changed many especially the youth who have indulged into drug abuse and other vices.”

Executive Director: Rosemary Okello Editor: Jane Godia Sub-Editors: Joyce Chimbi, Carolyne Oyugi and Faith Muiruri Designer: Noel Lumbama

Contributors: Robert Wanjala, Morris Mugambi, Robby Ngojhi, Mnyazi Joe, Gilbert Ochieng, David Kirwa, Odhiambo Orlale, Faith Muiruri, Abjata Khalif, Robert Nyagah, Jane Mugambi, Yusuf Amin, David Kiarie, Caroline Wangechi, Catherine Wahome, Kariuki Mwangi and Martin Murithi.

Write to:

info@mdcafrica.org

The paper is produced with funds from

www.mdcafrica.org

130 year old Nkoroi M’Ikunyua being helped by Beretina Kobia to a tree shade. Despite her old age,the old granny remembers details of events that happened

more than a century ago. Pictures: Martin Murithi

A Century plus 30, granny recalls the good old days

“If this happened young men of her age set would take her to the riverbed and squeeze the little fetus out before it was old enough to be seen by parents. The girl could then be washed

clean to avoid her being an outcast in the community.”