Items by Phil

Kenya Environmental & Political News Weblog

• Kenya Government Launches Anti-malaria Campaign

  Posted: October 10, 2008, 2:35 pm by Phil

  Photo: Zofeen Ebrahim/IRIN The Ministry of Health has launched a nationwide campaign to retreat at least 1.8 million bed nets with long-lasting insecticide to control the spread of malaria as the rainy season sets in NAIROBI, 10 October 2008 (IRIN) - Kenya’s Ministry of Health has launched a four-day nationwide campaign to retreat at least [...]

• Rising Demand for Male Circumcision

  Posted: October 10, 2008, 2:35 pm by Phil

  Photo: Manoocher Deghati/IRIN Boys wait to be circumcised at Migosi health centre in Kisumu KISUMU, 9 October 2008 (PlusNews) - Health facilities in Nyanza Province in western Kenya are struggling to meet the demand for medical male circumcisions since politicians threw their weight behind efforts to promote the procedure as a way of reducing HIV [...]

• UNEP Earmarks Mau Forest and Nairobi Dam For Recovery

  Posted: October 6, 2008, 7:20 pm by Phil

  Ecosystem renovation - bring it on back A ‘lost’ lake in Mali and a Kenyan forest that is the water tower for key rivers and lakes in East Africa are among two country projects aimed at bringing significant degraded and denuded ecosystems back from the brink. The projects are among several being drawn up and spearheaded [...]

• Today is World Habitat Day

  Posted: October 6, 2008, 12:39 pm by Phil

  The United Nations has designated the first Monday in October each year as World Habitat Day. The idea is to reflect on the state of our towns and cities and the basic right to adequate shelter for all. It is also intended to remind the world of its collective responsibility for the future of the [...]

• Kenya Internally Displaced Struggle to Rebuild Their Lives

  Posted: October 2, 2008, 1:59 pm by Phil

  Photo: Manoocher Deghati/IRIN Children carry firewood at the Nakuru IDP camp in April: Camp closure has left thousands stranded at transit camps or yet to fully resettle on their farms NAKURU, 30 September 2008 (IRIN) - The decision to close camps for Kenyans displaced by post-election violence was hasty and has left thousands in Rift Valley [...]

• Circumcision Booms in Kenya

  Posted: October 2, 2008, 1:57 pm by Phil

  Kenya government hopes to circumcise two million people in the Luo province where the practice is abhorred. Top politicians from the area confessed they have gone to have the foreskin of their male organs removed as part of an awareness to curb HIV/AIDS. They spoke to spur people on to go and circumcise. Standing before [...]

• Protecting the Environment Will Combat Poverty: Wangari Maathai

  Posted: October 1, 2008, 4:50 pm by Phil

  photo: Ricardo Medina The morning plenary session at the Clinton Global Initiative meeting last Friday was on the “Global Impact of Rural Innovation” and had quite a distinguished panel of speakers. Well, every session at CGI had impressive credentials, but this one was particularly inspirational. Here are some of the highlights from Wangari Maathai , founder [...]

• Young Consumers’ Guide to Eco-Friendly Living

  Posted: October 1, 2008, 4:49 pm by Phil

  UNEP and UNESCO Announce a New and Updated Edition of the Popular YouthXchange Training Kit Paris/Nairobi – October 1st, 2008.  How to balance looking cool and feeling cool with the need to combat climate are among the key tips in the new United Nations YouthXchange Training kit. This updated version of the guide also gets [...]

• Kenya Among African Countries Shifting Focus to Biotechnology

  Posted: September 29, 2008, 5:36 pm by Phil

  Poor agricultural yields and rising food insecurity in sub – Saharan Africa has brought into sharp focus the role of modern agricultural technology in human development. Heightening food insecurity in Kenya, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe and several other African countries of the region has stimulated political and public attention on genetic engineering in general [...]

• Syngenta’s Tropical Sugar Beet Receives World Business and Development Award

  Posted: September 29, 2008, 5:36 pm by Phil

  Basel, Switzerland, Syngenta announced that yesterday it received the 2008 World Business and Development Award (WBDA) for the development and successful introduction of a new sugar beet that can be grown under tropical climate conditions and brings significant advantages to farmers, the environment, the sugar and ethanol industries and the economy. The WBDA, presented by the [...]

• Environment, Climate Change and the MDGs: Reshaping the Development Agenda

  Posted: September 23, 2008, 8:01 pm by Phil

  On 25 September 2008, the UN Secretary-General and the President of the General Assembly will jointly convene the High-level Event on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) at UN Headquarters in New York. While significant progress has been made in some areas, scaled-up efforts by all stakeholders are urgently needed in [...]

• 40,000 Riparian Livelihoods Threatened as Tana River Changes Course

  Posted: September 23, 2008, 7:29 pm by Phil

  Photo: Julius Mwelu/IRIN The Tana River has changed course threatening the livelihoods of thousands of people TANA RIVER, 22 September 2008 (IRIN) - The riparian livelihoods of more than 40,000 people in southeast Kenya are under threat because of the sudden change of course of the Tana River, the longest in the country. “People in six [...]

• Starting Today: Millions Poised to Clean Up the World

  Posted: September 18, 2008, 5:57 pm by Phil

  On 19-21 September, the 16th Clean Up the World weekend will see millions of volunteers come together in more than 100 countries to clean up their environment. The theme of this year’s event is ‘Start Today… Save Tomorrow - Clean Up our Climate’. One focus is the tide of trash polluting the world’s seas-it is estimated there [...]

• Migrant Birds in Hot Water!

  Posted: September 18, 2008, 5:47 pm by Phil

  Climate change is a major threat to migratory waterbirds, according to a new report by the British Trust for Ornithology and Wetlands International. Of 235 species of migratory waterbirds protected in Europe and Africa, all except one are experiencing some threat from climate change, and nine species face severe threats that could cause extinction. Antananarivo, [...]

• Nairobi’s Changing Face: The ENG Kenya Bench Project

  Posted: September 16, 2008, 12:24 pm by Phil

  Towards enhancing the City’s beauty and being responsive to the community’s needs, the City Council of Nairobi has partnered with a leading Outdoor Media Company ENG Kenya to install high quality benches in prime locations around the City under a Public Private Partnership. The unique ergonomically designed street bench will be seen across 250 locations of [...]

• HIV/AIDS: Young Girls the New Bait for Kenyan Fishermen

  Posted: September 13, 2008, 5:18 pm by Phil

  Photo: Kenneth Ocuor/IRIN Fishermen hold the key to the fish traders’ livelihoods KISUMU, 12 September 2008 (PlusNews) - Dunga Beach, along the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya’s western city of Kisumu, erupts into activity when the boats bring in their catch. Female fishmongers scramble along the beach to buy fish, shouting themselves hoarse to [...]

• Thirteen Dead in Mandera Clashes Over Water

  Posted: September 13, 2008, 4:50 pm by Phil

  Photo: Neil Thomas/IRIN The clash was over water NAIROBI, 12 September 2008 (IRIN) - At least 13 people have been killed in inter-clan clashes over water in the north-eastern region of Mandera, a humanitarian official has said. “The two clans clashed over the ownership of a borehole,” Titus Mung’ou of the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) [...]

• Separated Kenyan Children Eking a Living in Rift Valley Town

  Posted: September 11, 2008, 9:41 am by Phil

  Photo: Allan Gichigi/IRIN Children in a crowded class at the Moto primary school in Molo town: Some returnees have left their children in the town due to a lack of schools in areas of return NAIROBI, 10 September 2008 (IRIN) - Months after the Kenyan government began resettling hundreds of thousands of people displaced during clashes [...]

• Kenya Sex Workers Offer Hope for HIV Prevention

  Posted: September 11, 2008, 9:40 am by Phil

  Photo: IRIN A sex worker in Kibera, a Nairobi slum NAIROBI, 8 September 2008 (PlusNews) - A study of Kenyan sex workers who appear to be immune to HIV could provide important clues to the development of an effective AIDS vaccine. A team of researchers from Canada’s University of Manitoba and Kenya’s University of Nairobi, who [...]

• A Snapshot of the Situation of Women’s Rights in Kenya

  Posted: September 8, 2008, 11:33 am by Phil

  Women’s organizing in Kenya has been going on for decades, since long before the country’s independence from colonial rule. The oldest women’s organization, the Maendeleo ya Wanawake[2] Organization (MYWO) was started in 1952. Although it was started by a group of white settler women, the organization has the widest grassroots penetration in the country, with [...]

• Kenya: Environmental Compliance is a Necessity, not an Option

  Posted: September 8, 2008, 11:33 am by Phil

  Kenyans have awakened to the need for environmental compliance. This is evident in the ongoing debates on various environmental issues. There is now a realization that economic development and environmental issues are inseparable and reconciling laws and policies governing the broader sectors are vital if environmental degradation is to be arrested. This is in turn [...]

• Kibera: From Rubbish Dump to Cabbage Patch

  Posted: September 4, 2008, 10:50 am by Phil

  Photo: Julius Mwelu/IRIN This organic farm in the sprawling Kibera slum is providing residents with a source of income NAIROBI, 3 September 2008 (IRIN) - Rubbish is everywhere in Kibera, Africa’s largest slum, just a few kilometres from the centre of Nairobi. It lies not just between the ramshackle dwellings, but often underneath them, rendering [...]

• Kenya Government Peace-making ‘a failure’

  Posted: September 4, 2008, 10:50 am by Phil

  The Kenyan government has failed to support vital peace-making efforts aimed at healing ethnic divisions in the country, following the country’s worst outbreak of violence since independence, says the international human rights organization, Minority Rights Group International (MRG) In a new briefing paper, Kenya six months on: a new beginning or business as usual? MRG says [...]

• UN-backed Forum Examines Role of ICT in Achieving the MDGs

  Posted: August 25, 2008, 3:38 pm by Phil

  23 August 2007 – Over 1,000 participants from 66 countries have gathered at the United Nations Centre in Addis Ababa to explore how the latest information and communication technology (ICT) can help countries overcome poverty and advance development. “ICT for Development and Prosperity” is the theme for the three-day World Information Technology Forum which kicked off [...]

• WHO & UNEP Join to Combat Environment-Related Disease in Africa

  Posted: August 25, 2008, 3:37 pm by Phil

  First African Inter-Ministerial Conference on Health and Environment Brazzaville/Nairobi, 22 August 2008 - Diseases caused by environmental change are responsible for too many deaths in Africa. In 2002 alone, unsafe water, pollution, poor sanitation, inadequate waste disposal, insufficient disease vector control and exposure to chemicals claimed about 2.4 million lives. In a bid to address this challenge, [...]

• High Levels of Stigma Persist in Kenya’s NEP

  Posted: August 22, 2008, 4:17 pm by Phil

  Photo: Neil Thomas/IRIN Young women can’t talk about sex with their elders IJARA, 21 August 2008 (PlusNews) - For the past ten months, health workers at Ijara District Hospital in Kenya’s North Eastern Province have been caring for two children, aged six and seven, who were abandoned by their father after he discovered he was HIV-positive. [...]

• KENYA: The Lure of Dodgy Herbal “cures” for HIV

  Posted: August 22, 2008, 4:16 pm by Phil

  Photo: Keishamaza Rukikaire/IRIN Quacks posing as traditional herbalists have fooled many HIV-positive people MOMBASA, 21 August 2008 (PlusNews) - People in Kenya’s Coast Province, believed not to be genuine herbalists, are selling concoctions purported to treat HIV and persuading many patients on life-prolonging antiretroviral (ARV) drugs to abandon their medication. Omari Mwanjama, of the National AIDS [...]

• Kenya’s Post Poll Violence: Africa’s Elders Seize a Leading Role

  Posted: August 16, 2008, 3:36 pm by Phil

  In January, one of Africa’s most stable democracies was violently ripping itself apart. How was it saved? In a four-part special report, the key players tell what happened. By Scott Baldauf | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor NAIROBI, KENYA - Kenya’s peace talks have barely begun. But the atmosphere in the Orchid Room of [...]

• Danger: The African Elephant Under Siege from Poachers!

  Posted: August 16, 2008, 3:26 pm by Phil

  Massacre of the giants: Once hunted to near extinction, Africa’s elephants slowly pulled back from the brink …But the end of a ban on ivory slaves - backed by Britain - has launched a savage new bloodbath by ruthless poachers By Sue Reid Last updated at 10:54 PM on 15th August 2008 With the poisoned tip of a [...]

• Food Reserves Set to Plummet in Central Province

  Posted: August 15, 2008, 7:20 pm by Phil

  Photo: Waweru Mugo/IRIN Ruth Wangechi examines her failed maize crop in Thung’ari village, Nyeri NYERI, 13 August 2008 (IRIN) - Poor rains and the presence of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Central Kenya, a traditionally food-secure region, have stretched available resources with government and humanitarian officials predicting a sharp drop in food reserves. “This year has [...]

• Boosting Biofuels Without Compromising Food Security

  Posted: August 15, 2008, 7:15 pm by Phil

  Photo: Julius Mwelu/IRIN The Jatropha’s deceitfully luscious yellow fruit are poisonous; however, these glossy black seeds have an oil content of 37 percent NAIROBI, 13 August 2008 (IRIN) - The oil-rich seed of a poisonous shrub that thrives in arid climates with poor soil lies at the heart of plans by Kenya to reduce its [...]

• New Report Identifies Gender Inequality as a Barrier to Kenya’s Development

  Posted: August 12, 2008, 12:00 pm by Phil

  New Institute of Economic Affairs report identifies gender inequality as a barrier to Kenya’s development The Institute of Economic Affairs’ (IEA) latest report on the socio-economic status of women in Kenya says women have made minimal strides in their quest to bridge the inequality gap. However, this state of affairs is not blamed solely on women [...]

• Give Women Land Rights and Make Poverty History

  Posted: August 12, 2008, 11:59 am by Phil

  The recent statement by the Minister for Lands, Hon. James Orengo that the National Land Policy is ready for cabinet deliberation and final approval is something that is overdue.  But for the majority of Kenyan women who wallow in poverty and are destitute, the announcement has generated a lot of excitement as they have for [...]

• Enforcement of the Sexual Offences Act in Kenya

  Posted: August 12, 2008, 11:59 am by Phil

  INTRODUCTION Is the criminal justice system in Kenya well equipped to protect women from gender-based violence? This a critical question because in July this year, the Sexual Offences Act (SOA) is celebrating two years of existence having came into force on 21 July 2006. It has been lauded as an evolutionally piece of legislation that provides [...]

• What We Are Doing About Climate Change

  Posted: August 7, 2008, 4:29 pm by Phil

  Photo: UN Library Years of poorly regulated emissions have made the earth warmer JOHANNESBURG, 5 August 2008 (IRIN) - In developing countries, where survival is often a daily struggle, people cannot afford to wait for their government to bail them out. Many are living in the grip of climate change, coping with frequent droughts, heavy [...]

• NASA Data Show African Droughts Linked To Warmer Indian Ocean

  Posted: August 7, 2008, 4:28 pm by Phil

  A new study, co-funded by NASA, has identified a link between a warming Indian Ocean and less rainfall in eastern and southern Africa. Computer models and observations show a decline in rainfall, with implications for the region’s food security. Rainfall in eastern Africa during the rainy season, which runs from March through May, has [...]

• Dial M for Cash

  Posted: August 5, 2008, 9:48 am by Phil

  Photo: Anne Ejakait/Concern Worldwide Mobile phones are increasingly being used in delivering aid NAIROBI, 4 August 2008 (IRIN) - Hard-pressed to find efficient ways of delivering aid, humanitarian agencies are turning to new technologies. One such innovation involves mobile phones to send cash. One such project was piloted in Baringo North and Pokot East Districts of [...]

• Breast is Best, Even for Mothers with HIV

  Posted: August 5, 2008, 9:48 am by Phil

  Photo: Julius Mwelu/IRIN The WHO recommends breastfeeding for the first six months of a child’s life NAIROBI, 4 August 2008 (PlusNews) - The risk of an HIV-positive mother infecting her child through breastfeeding can be significantly reduced by antiretroviral treatment (ART), say health officials in Kenya. “HIV-positive mothers on ART lower the risk of transmission through [...]

• Insecurity Heightens Poverty in Northwest Kenya

  Posted: July 31, 2008, 10:55 am by Phil

  Photo: Ann Weru/IRIN Residents often have to rely on police reservists and have organised local security to safeguard their livestock LODWAR, 29 July 2008 (IRIN) - John Lochimoe used to own several heads of cattle that his grandfather left him, until raiders from the neighbouring Pokot District of northwestern Kenya took the animals. “All the cows [...]

• Kiambaa IDPs Still Afraid to Return Home

  Posted: July 31, 2008, 10:54 am by Phil

  Photo: Julius Mwelu/IRIN Stephen Kariuki Gichuhi, chairman of the IDPs who have sought shelter at the Ngecha All Nations Gospel Church in Limuru LIMURU, 30 July 2008 (IRIN) - Hundreds of internally displaced persons (IDPs) who fled Kenya’s Rift Valley Province after their church was set ablaze in January’s post-election violence, burning to death some of [...]

• The Connection Between High Food Prices and Grand Corruption

  Posted: July 29, 2008, 6:59 pm by Phil

  Bunge La Mwananchi held a forum on Wednesday 2nd July, 2008 at Professional Centre Nairobi, between 1.00 pm and 5.00 pm. as part of its civil awareness initiative to rally people around issues that affect them. Bunge La Mwananchi had in the recent past organised an activity in which Kenyans held street protest to complain [...]

• Investigate “torture” in Mt Elgon Operation, Kenya Govt Urged

  Posted: July 29, 2008, 6:57 pm by Phil

  Photo: Ann Weru/IRIN People displaced by the conflict in Mt Elgon are slowly returning home. HRW says the government must investigate claims of torture NAIROBI, 28 July 2008 (IRIN) - A public inquiry should be set up into “torture and war crimes” committed by the Sabaot Land Defence Forces (SLDF) militia and the military in [...]

• Cholera Outbreaks in W. Kenya Blamed on Contaminated Water

  Posted: July 29, 2008, 6:56 pm by Phil

  Photo: Julius Mwelu/IRIN Drinking contaminated water is one of the main causes of cholera NAIROBI, 29 July 2008 (IRIN) - Recurrent outbreaks of cholera in the western province of Nyanza are caused by widespread water contamination, including seepage from latrines, health officials said. “The major contributor to the recent outbreaks in the area was unsafe water,” [...]

• More Education Equals Less Teen Pregnancy and HIV

  Posted: July 26, 2008, 1:11 pm by Phil

  Photo: Julius Mwelu/IRIN Girls who stay in school are less likely to contract HIV NAIROBI, 25 July 2008 (PlusNews) - Keeping Kenyan girls in school and ensuring they have access to HIV and sex education has a dramatic effect on lowering future levels of HIV, according to experts. “Young people do not have the information they [...]

• PMTCT Services not Reaching Rural Women in Kenya

  Posted: July 26, 2008, 1:11 pm by Phil

  Photo: Manoocher Deghati/IRIN Many of the women are unaware of their status ISIOLO, 24 July 2008 (PlusNews) - The government’s campaign to prevent HIV transmission from mother to child is failing pregnant HIV-positive women in Kenya’s remote rural areas. A shortage of testing sites and trained medical staff in rural areas means many of these women [...]

• No Substitute for Support When Taking ARVs

  Posted: July 26, 2008, 1:07 pm by Phil

  Photo: Waweru Mugo/IRIN “They know where the shoe pinches most” MERU, 16 July 2008 (PlusNews) - “We [people living with HIV] must eat well, must keep off stress - it is not good for you … if you can, please walk out on anything annoying and go and watch Vitimbi [a popular TV sitcom] or [...]

• Q&A: How Not to Resettle IDPs

  Posted: July 23, 2008, 3:48 pm by Phil

  Interview with Prisca Kamungi, Director of the Internal Displacement Policy and Advocacy Centre NAIROBI, Jul 22 (IPS) - Operation Rudi Nyumbani (Return Home, in Kiswahili), designed to help about 350,000 IDPs living in camps across the country go back to their homes and farms has achieved its primary objective, at least according to the Kenyan government. [...]

• Hundreds Still Displaced in Nairobi

  Posted: July 23, 2008, 3:02 pm by Phil

  Photo: Allan Gichigi/IRIN IDPs at the Mathare Chief’s camp in Nairobi. NAIROBI, 22 July 2008 (IRIN) - Hundreds of Kenyans displaced during post-election violence in early 2008 in the capital, Nairobi, are still in camps more than two months after the government launched a countrywide resettlement programme. “Many of the displaced were tenants whose houses [...]

• Mau Forest Destruction Will Cost the Kenya Economy US$300M

  Posted: July 19, 2008, 2:39 pm by Phil

  Protecting Mau Forest in Kenya’s Economic Interest Nairobi, 17 July 2008-Kenya stands to lose a nature-based economic asset worth over US $300 million alone to the tea, tourism and energy sectors if the forest of the Mau Complex continues to be degraded and destroyed, the UN Environment Programme said today. The Prime Minister of Kenya, Raila [...]

• Tackling Corruption in Humanitarian Intervention

  Posted: July 19, 2008, 2:39 pm by Phil

  Photo: Anthony Morland/IRIN Bribe taking: A new report urges humanitarian agencies to work harder and more closely together to minimise various forms of corruption that can affect the delivery of emergency aid NAIROBI, 18 July 2008 (IRIN) - Humanitarian agencies should work harder and more closely together to minimise various forms of corruption that can [...]

• Healthcare Hurdles in Nairobi’s Slums

  Posted: July 11, 2008, 10:26 pm by Phil

  Photo: Manoocher Deghati/IRIN Slums are underserved in terms of access to basic amenities NAIROBI, 11 July 2008 (IRIN) - Quality healthcare is a luxury often beyond the reach of those who live in Nairobi’s slums, such as mother-of-seven Grace Awour Opondo. “When you are sick you buy medicine from the local shops,” Opondo told IRIN. “If [...]

• Post-Violence Sex Work Boom in Kenya

  Posted: July 11, 2008, 9:56 pm by Phil

  Photo: Eva-Lotta Jansson/IRIN Desperation limits your options MOMBASA, 9 July 2008 (PlusNews) - Like thousands of other Kenyans, Susan Wairimu, 17, was displaced from her home in the Rift Valley Province’s Molo district during the violence that followed a disputed presidential election in December 2007 and sought shelter in the nearby town of Nakuru. A cousin [...]

• UN Opens 1st Zero Emission Community Power Centre in Rural Kenya

  Posted: July 9, 2008, 6:01 pm by Phil

  8 July 2008 – The first power-generating centre using environmentally friendly hydro and solar power has been inaugurated in a Kenyan village 150 kilometres north east of Nairobi by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). Apart from generating electricity, the new centre, in Kibai village in Kenya’s Kerugoya division, promotes the use of Light Emitting [...]

• Courting Disaster: Why Kenyans Must Stop Oloolua Nuclear Waste Plant

  Posted: July 9, 2008, 5:59 pm by Phil

  Kenya is a few days away from hosting the first ever dreaded and less understood radioactive waste processing facility at Oloolua, located at the institute of primate research in Kajiado district. If the facility is allowed to proceed, Kenyans will without doubt pay dearly, in the same way history is certain to harshly judge the [...]

• New Kenya Law Could Raise Food Prices Further

  Posted: July 8, 2008, 11:52 am by Phil

  Photo: Julius Mwelu/IRIN Some of the products, with the standardization mark, on a supermarket shelf NAIROBI, 4 July 2008 (IRIN) - Prices of food in Kenya, which have already risen by 50 percent since the start of 2008, could increase further following a new government regulation, a consumer watch group has warned. From October, all food [...]

• Kenya IDPs Hold Out for Better Compensation

  Posted: July 8, 2008, 11:50 am by Phil

  Photo: Manoocher Deghati/IRIN IDPs are choosing to remain in the camps in the hope of a better government compensation package NAKURU, 7 July 2008 (IRIN) - Jane Wanjiru Maina, a mother of seven, is tired of living in an internally displaced people’s (IDP) camp in the show grounds of Nakuru, in the Rift Valley. “The tents [...]

• Climate Challenge to Achieving the Millennium Development Goals in Africa

  Posted: July 3, 2008, 1:24 pm by Phil

  The challenge of meeting the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in African countries is compounded by the grave long-term risk posed by climate change. That is the message of a report released today by the United Nations and the African Union. African countries demonstrably require additional resources for adaptation since they are particularly vulnerable to the [...]

• Kenya IDPs: Nicholas Nyanumba: “We voted but our leaders are not helping us”

  Posted: July 3, 2008, 1:22 pm by Phil

  Photo: Ann Weru/IRIN Nicholas Nyanumba believes the government’s compensation plan is inadequate NAKURU, 2 July 2008 (IRIN) - Nicholas Nyanumba is one of 12,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) living in a temporary camp set up in the show grounds of the Rift Valley town of Nakuru. Nyanumba was displaced when fighting broke out in his hometown [...]

• Kenyan IDP Monica Mumbi: “There is nothing to go back to”

  Posted: June 25, 2008, 11:52 pm by Phil

  Photo: Julius Mwelu/IRIN Monica Mumbi at the Navaisha IDP camp NAIVASHA, 25 June 2008 (IRIN) - Monica Mumbi left her hometown of Molo, in Rift Valley Province, in February for the Naivasha internally displaced persons (IDP) camp after violence broke out in her town over the disputed elections. Mumbi spoke to IRIN about her experiences [...]

• Cholera Outbreak Confirmed in Kenya’s Western Region

  Posted: June 25, 2008, 11:44 pm by Phil

  Photo: Allan Gichigi/IRIN Contaminated water sources are a principal cause of cholera outbreaks NAIROBI, 25 June 2008 (IRIN) - An outbreak of cholera has been confirmed in the Kisumu municipality in the western region, a senior health official has said. “At least 13 out of 38 cases sampled for cholera have tested positive,” Shahnaaz Sharif, the [...]

• Insecurity & Education Hold Kenyan IDPs in Camps

  Posted: June 24, 2008, 12:19 am by Phil

  Photo: Julius Mwelu/IRIN Samuel Karanja at Naivasha stadium camp for internally displaced Kenyans NAIVASHA, 24 June 2008 (IRIN) - Samuel Karanja was a resident of Narok North district in Kenya’s Rift Valley Province until he was displaced in the post-election violence this year. Karanja, a former shop-owner, has spent the past six months in two internally [...]

• Kenya HIV/AIDS: The Cutting Edge (multimedia)

  Posted: June 24, 2008, 12:14 am by Phil

  Photo: Manoocher Deghati/IRIN Boys waiting to be circumcised at Migosi health centre, Nyanza KISUMU, 24 June 2008 (PlusNews) - The reproductive health NGO, Marie Stopes Kenya (MSK), has started a mobile circumcision pilot project in the western, largely non-circumcising province of Nyanza. Audio Slideshow Click here to listen and view IRIN/PlusNews recently visited one MSK mobile clinic in [...]

• Mind Your Language - A Short Guide to African HIV/AIDS Slang

  Posted: June 24, 2008, 12:13 am by Phil

  Photo: Anthony Kaminju/IRIN Word play JOHANNESBURG, 18 June 2008 (PlusNews) - HIV has hit our lives, our families, our economies; it also shapes the way we talk. IRIN/PlusNews looks at how the virus and its impact translates into everyday speech from the streets of Lagos to the townships of Johannesburg, and finds that despite the [...]

• Mount Elgon, Kenya: A Terrorized Population in Desperate Need of Assistance

  Posted: June 19, 2008, 10:17 pm by Phil

  BRUSSELS/NAIROBI - June 17 - The international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is calling for an immediate increase in assistance for the people of Mount Elgon in western Kenya, and an end to the indiscriminate violence they have endured for almost two years. Since August 2006, the civilian population of Mount Elgon [...]

• Linking Sport and the Environment to the Peace and Poverty Agenda in Kenya

  Posted: June 19, 2008, 10:15 pm by Phil

  UNEP and Underprivileged Children and Youth Kick Off New Reconciliation Initiative Nairobi, 18 June 2008–More than 300 children and teenagers from across Nairobi will gather on 21 June for the launch of a three-month event to promote peace and reconciliation. The ‘Play for the Planet: Play for Peace’ initiative, organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), [...]

• UNEP Supports “World Class Vision” for Nairobi

  Posted: June 17, 2008, 6:34 pm by Phil

  Package Targets River Clean-Ups to Waste Management Nairobi, 16 June 2008-A wide-ranging new initiative to assist in greening Kenya’s capital city has been drawn up by the UN Environment Programme(UNEP) in cooperation with the government, the city council, donors and UN-Habitat. Today Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director held discussions in Gigiri with Honorable [...]

• Heavy Rain Displaces Thousands at Kenya’s Coast

  Posted: June 17, 2008, 6:24 pm by Phil

  Photo: UN The floods have displaced at least 2,000 families TANA, 17 June 2008 (IRIN) - Thousands of people have been displaced in the Tana Delta District on the Kenyan coast following heavy rain over the past few days, according to a senior official with the provincial administration. “The floods have also submerged crops and [...]

• Regional Budgets Expect to Ease Food Crisis

  Posted: June 13, 2008, 11:03 pm by Phil

  Photo: Julius Mwelu/IRIN A woman sells potatoes in a city market, Nairobi EAST AFRICA, 13 June 2008 (IRIN) - Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, in their budget proposals for the 2008-2009 financial year, announced measures to cushion their populations against soaring food prices. “The government has zero-rated VAT [Value Added Tax] on wheat flour, milk, and maize [...]

• Food Crisis Prompts Diet Changes in Kenya

  Posted: June 13, 2008, 11:02 pm by Phil

  Photo: Julius Mwelu/IRIN Lunch time at a school in Nairobi’s Mathare slums: Many Kenyans are facing food insecurity following sharp food prices, drought and post-election violence in January and February NAIROBI, 12 June 2008 (IRIN) - A 50 percent rise in food prices in Kenya since the start of 2008 has led many people to [...]

• Four Dead in Kenya Black Fever Outbreak

  Posted: June 13, 2008, 11:01 pm by Phil

  Photo: Jane Some/IRIN An outbreak of kalazar, or black fever, has been reported in Isiolo and Wajir in northeastern Kenya NAIROBI, 11 June 2008 (IRIN) - Four people have died in an outbreak of visceral leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease also known as kalazar or black fever, in Isiolo and Wajir in northeastern Kenya, according to [...]

• Environmental Change Re-Draws Atlas of Africa

  Posted: June 11, 2008, 2:46 pm by Phil

  Glacial Retreat to Rapid Urbanization Chronicled in Landmark Satellite Report to Africa’s Environment Ministers Johannesburg/Nairobi/London, 10 June 2008-Africa’s rapidly changing environmental landscape, from the disappearance of glaciers in Uganda’s Rwenzori Mountains to the loss of Cape Town’s unique “fynbos” vegetation, is presented today to the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment(AMCEN). The Atlas, compiled on behalf of [...]

• Kenya Launches Renewable Energy Blueprint

  Posted: June 11, 2008, 2:26 pm by Phil

  The Kenyan government has launched a blue print for promoting Kenya’s renewable energy sources while at the same time conserving non-renewable energy sources. The Kenya Energy Sector Environment Program (KEEP) which was launched by six state corporations will promote efficient energy use and environmental conservation. Speaking during the launch in Nairobi late Monday, Prime Minister Raila Odinga [...]

• World Environment Day 2008 Guides the Global Public Towards Climate Neutrality

  Posted: June 5, 2008, 12:34 pm by Phil

  “Kick the CO2 Habit” - UNEP Says It May Be Easier Than You Think Wellington/Nairobi, 5 June 2008 - Adopting a climate-friendly lifestyle needn’t require drastic changes or major sacrifices. People in the developed world, as well as some rapidly developing countries and cities - from Manchester and Manhattan to Moscow and Mumbai - can start [...]

• Dr. Richard Leakey: How Climate Change Affects East Africa

  Posted: June 4, 2008, 11:08 am by Phil

  Dr. Richard Leakey talks on climate change with WildlifeDirect’s former Communications Manager, Dipesh Pabari of Sukuma Kenya How is climate change beginning to affect Kenya and East Africa as a whole? There is a huge gap in our knowledge on the impact of climate change in East Africa. At the moment, very little research is being done [...]

• World Environment Day and an Interview with UNEP’s Achim Steiner

  Posted: June 4, 2008, 11:06 am by Phil

  Last week, Treehugger Writer Bonnie Hulkower interviewed Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the United Nation’s Environmental Programme (UNEP). Steiner was unanimously elected to his position in 2006, and is in the middle of serving a four year term. Mr. Steiner has managed 1,000 people in 42 countries, and is especially known for building partnerships between [...]

• Kenyan Student’s Suicide Reveals Gaps in HIV Education

  Posted: May 28, 2008, 10:01 pm by Phil

  Photo: Kristy Siegfried/IRIN Only nine out of 16 HIV testing centres in North Eastern Province are functioning GARISSA, 28 May 2008 (PlusNews) - The recent suicide of a secondary school student in Kenya’s North Eastern Province after he was diagnosed as HIV positive has highlighted the shortage of qualified counsellors in the region, and the [...]

• Kenyan reconciliation Jeopardized Without Bolstered Efforts, warns UN Envoy

  Posted: May 28, 2008, 10:00 pm by Phil

  DPs at a shelter in the Rift Valley Province (file photo) 27 May 2008 – Stepped-up measures are crucial to ensure the sustainable return of those forced to flee their homes by post-electoral violence that swept through Kenya earlier this year, a United Nations envoy cautioned today.“In the absence of substantially increased efforts, we will jeopardize [...]

• Kenya’s IDPs in Central Reluctant to Return to Rift Valley

  Posted: May 27, 2008, 1:04 pm by Phil

  Photo: Waweru Mugo/IRIN Samuel Ngumo Kamau and wife, Teresia Muthoni, and their three-week old baby RURING’U, 23 May 2008 (IRIN) - Samuel Ngumo Kamau cannot dispel the images of burning houses and Kenyans killing each other from his mind – a key factor in his decision not to return to his home of nearly four [...]

• Plastic Not Fantastic? - Bag Bans Around the World

  Posted: May 27, 2008, 1:00 pm by Phil

  (Reuters) — China will become the latest country to outlaw ultra-thin plastic bags, when a ban takes effect on Sunday, in a bid to cut pollution and save resources. The ban, announced by the State Council in January, halts the production of bags that are thinner than 0.025 mm and forbids their use in supermarkets and [...]

• HIV/AIDS: The Little Kenyan Village That Could

  Posted: May 23, 2008, 5:33 pm by Phil

  Photo: Keishamaza Rukikaire/IRIN Two-and-a-half year old Tito, the Nyumbani village’s youngest resident, with his grandmother outside their home. KITUI , 22 May 2008 (PlusNews) - The word ‘nyumbani’ means home in Swahili, and that is exactly what a pilot village in the eastern Kenyan district of Kitui is trying to provide for two generations devastated [...]

• Is Agricultural Biodiversity Another Way Out For Global Food Crisis?

  Posted: May 23, 2008, 4:39 pm by Phil

  Another possible way out for coping with the global food crisis is stressed here on Wednesday amid United Nation (UN) sets “Biodiversity and Agriculture” as theme of the International Day of Biological Diversity (IBD) this year. “The protection of the world’s biodiversity is essential to the world’s food supply,” said Ahmed Djoghlaf, executive secretary of the [...]

• WAJIBU: Redifining Ourselves

  Posted: May 21, 2008, 3:46 pm by Phil

  “People who ignore their history are bound to repeat it” (Desmond Tutu) If we really wish never again to see a repetition of the traumatic events that we experienced after the 2007 elections, we CANNOT AND WE MUST NOT bury the memory of what happened in the early months of 2008. WAJIBU, in this [...]

• UN to Help Kenya’s Maasai People to Preserve Their Heritage

  Posted: May 21, 2008, 3:17 pm by Phil

  20 May 2008 –Two people from the Maasai community of Laikipia in Kenya are to be given training in documenting and archiving their cultural heritage through a new project launched today by the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).The two people from the Maasai community will travel with an expert from the National Museums [...]

• Kenya’s Mt. Elgon: Guns recovered, SLDF Militiamen Surrender After Leader’s Killing

  Posted: May 20, 2008, 10:28 am by Phil

  Photo: Julius Mwelu/IRIN A joint operation with army and police officers has been deployed in Mt Elgon since March NAIROBI, 19 May 2008 (IRIN) - Kenyan security officers have recovered more guns and witnessed “several” militiamen surrendering after the killing of a militia leader in the western Mt Elgon district, a police official told IRIN [...]

• Claims of Torture by Army & Militia, as Food Shortages Grip Mt Elgon

  Posted: May 20, 2008, 10:25 am by Phil

  Photo: Ann Weru/IRIN Displaced people from Mt Elgon area receiving food aid in Bungoma NAIROBI, 16 May 2008 (IRIN) - The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) has called for an investigation into allegations of torture committed by security forces deployed in the clash-torn Mt Elgon district in western Kenya. “In seeking to return sanity [...]

• Tax Evasion Costs the Lives of 1,000 Children a Day

  Posted: May 19, 2008, 4:22 pm by Phil

  The lives of 1,000 young children a day are being lost to disease and poverty in poor countries because of illegal trade-related tax evasion, says a new report from Christian Aid. It has calculated that this evasion costs the developing world at least US$160bn in lost revenue annually. The culprits are companies using false accounting to [...]

• KENYA: Muslim Clerics Declare War on Condoms

  Posted: May 15, 2008, 12:51 pm by Phil

  Photo: Neil Thomas/IRIN Muslim leaders have promised to preach against the use and distribution of condoms in northeastern Kenya GARISSA, 12 May 2008 (PlusNews) - Muslim leaders in Kenya’s North Eastern Province have resolved to campaign against the promotion of condoms as a means of preventing HIV. The decision was made after a recent meeting on [...]

• Billion Tree Campaign to Grow into the Seven Billion Tree Campaign

  Posted: May 15, 2008, 12:47 pm by Phil

  Grassroots Initiative Hits Two Billion Mark -Target Raised to Over One Tree Per Person by Crucial 2009 Climate Convention Meeting Nairobi, 13 May 2008 - A unique worldwide tree planting initiative, aimed at empowering citizens to corporations and people up to presidents to embrace the climate change challenge, has now set its sights on planting seven [...]

• Food Price Crisis: A Wake-Up Call for Food Sovereignty

  Posted: May 13, 2008, 1:49 pm by Phil

  Food prices have been increasing sharply. According to the World Bank, global food prices have climbed by 83% over the last three years. The real price of rice rose to a 19-year high in March 2008, an increase of 50% in two weeks alone while the real price of wheat hit a 28-year high, triggering [...]

• An Answer to the Global Food Crisis: Peasants & Small Scale Farmers Can Feed the World

  Posted: May 13, 2008, 1:45 pm by Phil

  Prices on the world market for cereals are rising. Wheat prices increased by 130% in the period between March 2007-March 2008. Rice prices increased by almost 80% in the period up to 2008. Maize prices increased by 35% between March 2007 and March 2008 (1). In countries that depend heavily on food imports some [...]

• Financing Boost for Kenya’s Small Farmers

  Posted: May 7, 2008, 1:49 pm by Phil

  Photo: Manoocher Deghati/IRIN The cost of food is rising, placing a disproportionate burden on the poor who spend most of their income on consumables NAIROBI, 6 May 2008 (IRIN) - Small farmers and agricultural enterprises are the main beneficiaries of a financing partnership launched on 6 May to help them break out of poverty and [...]

• Call to End E-Waste Dumping in Developing Countries

  Posted: May 7, 2008, 1:48 pm by Phil

  The world federation of consumer organisations, Consumers International (CI), today called for tighter government monitoring to prevent the continued dumping of toxic e-waste on the developing world. The call comes as investigations by CI’s corporate watchdog partner, DanWatch, indicate that half a million second-hand computers are imported to Nigeria every month. The vast majority are obsolete [...]

• Compensation, Fear of Attacks Keeping Kenyan IDPs in Rift Valley Camps

  Posted: May 2, 2008, 10:12 am by Phil

  Photo: Manoocher Deghati/IRIN A young boy drinks rain water at the displaced camp at Eldoret. April 2008. The heavy downpour brings a risk of waterborne diseases that can hit the camp. ELDORET, 1 May 2008 (IRIN) - Along the Nakuru-Eldoret road, the charred remains of homes and businesses scar the picturesque landscape of Kenya’s Rift [...]

• Kenya Clergy Urged to Ditch Sanctimony in HIV Fight

  Posted: May 1, 2008, 12:09 pm by Phil

  Photo: Ann Weru/IRIN Canon Gideon Byamugisha, who facilitated the meeting, was the first member of the African clergy to disclose his HIV status NAIROBI, 30 April 2008 (PlusNews) - When Bishop James Otieno Okombo revealed he was HIV-positive in 1996, his archbishop summarily dismissed him, calling him a sinner and a disgrace to his church. “He [...]

• African Organizations Join Forces to Push for 15% Health Budget Commitment

  Posted: May 1, 2008, 12:07 pm by Phil

  It is the 7th anniversary of the pledge by African Union member states to allocate 15% of national budgets to health. In a statement to mark the anniversary, Archbishop Tutu stated: “The AU Abuja 15% pledge is one of the most important commitments African leaders have made to health development and financing, and [...]

• Kenya IDPs: Rosemary Kuria: “These children belong here, where else can I take them?”

  Posted: April 30, 2008, 2:52 pm by Phil

  ELDORET, 28 April 2008 (IRIN) - Rosemary Kuria, 40, has managed to remain cheerful and energetic, despite camping with at least 14,000 other internally displaced persons (IDPs) at the showground in Eldoret, in Kenya’s Rift Valley Province. Kuria, a mother of three girls, is optimistic that the country’s leadership will soon find a solution [...]

• Kenya IDPs: Camp Conditions Harsh for HIV-positive People

  Posted: April 30, 2008, 2:48 pm by Phil

  Photo: Manoocher Deghati/IRIN IDPs have insufficient food, soap and warm clothing in the camps NAKURU, 29 April 2008 (PlusNews) - Harsh living conditions and the onset of the cold rainy season in Kenya are making it increasingly difficult for HIV-positive people displaced in the recent post-election violence to stay healthy, according to health workers in [...]

You Missed This

• Kivuitu’s ECK All Set to Conduct By-Elections

  Posted: April 30, 2008, 7:05 am by Phil

  The ECK has finally announced that by-elections will be conducted in five constituencies and 55 wards civic wards on June 11th 2008. The constituencies are: Ainamoi, Emuhaya, Embakasi, Wajir East and Kilgoris.
  
  No, no, you’re not imagining things. Oh yes, the one and only Samuel Kivuitu, Kihara Muttu, Muturi Kigano and the rest of the crowd, are all set to supervise elections in June, just six months after bungling the general elections!
  
  With the country deeply divided, upwards of 1500 Kenyans dead; more than half a million others living as refugees in their own country and the constitution having had to be amended so as to accommodate a power sharing deal, one would imagine that the individuals responsible for this unfortunate turn of events would be sitting at a remand jail awaiting to be taken to court to face criminal negligence charges. And how WRONG one would be.
  
  Sure, there are some positive things that have arisen out of Kivuitu’s massive cock-up, but the negative aspects far outweigh them. The 2007 election failure impacted on many lives, affected businesses, disrupted education and agriculture plus much more, not just in Kenya, but throughout the Eastern African region. Yet, the clumsy and inept ECK commissioners who are 100% responsible for this tragedy still sit pretty in their red carpet aircon offices enjoying hefty emoluments on tax payer account. All this while thousands of Kenyans mourn their dead relatives and many others sleep in rain soaked tents. What an insult!
  
  Out of step with the real world
  
  Admittedly, there is urgent need for constituencies without MPs to get representation in parliament. But should current ECK commissioners, now hiding behind constitutional security of tenure, be allowed to oversee by-elections, let alone hold public offices? Personally, recalling events at KICC in December 2007 and Kivuitu’s arrogant attitude ever since, I wouldn’t trust any of those ECK commissioners to serve as members of a village borehole committee.
  
  Flashback: Towards the doomsday
  
  It would seem that Kivuitu’s fate and that of his fellow commissioners lie in the hands of Mwai Kibaki as president. The ECK is governed by Chapter 41 of the Constitution of Kenya which inter-alia says: “....... 5) A member of the Commission may be removed from office only for inability to exercise the functions of his office (whether arising from infirmity of body or mind or from any other cause) or for misbehavior, and shall not be so removed except in accordance with this section.
  (6) A member of the Commission shall be removed from office by the President if the question of his removal from office has been referred to a tribunal appointed under subsection (7) and the tribunal has recommended to the President that he ought to be removed from office for inability as aforesaid or for misbehavior.
  (7) If the President considers that the question of removing a member of the Commission under this section ought to be investigated, then—
  (a) the President shall appoint a tribunal, which shall consist of a chairman and four other members selected by the President........” The big question is whether the president will listen to the voices of reason and appoint the tribunal. Highly unlikely!
  
  The Independent Review Commission headed by Justice Johann Kriegler set up to investigate general elections fiasco will hold countrywide meetings to gather evidence and has given interest groups up to 16th May to submit their written memoranda.
  
  The influential Kenya National Commission on Human Rights Chairman, Mr Maina Kiai, has called for the Kenya Government to seek assistance from the United Nations Electoral Assistance Division (UNEAD) to oversee the by-elections. Maina reckons that the fact that there is an official inquiry into the conduct of the ECK is enough reason to ask for international assistance. He adds that the ECK lost credibility and integrity to conduct other elections after they messed up last year's polls.
  
  On their part, the Secretary General of the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya Sheikh Mohammed Dor has said that the Government ought to abolish the ECK and create a new representative commission so as to ensure free and fair elections.
  
  Safina Party Leader and former Kikuyu MP Mr Paul Muite has also called for the reconstitution of the ECK before the June by-elections. Muite said it would be unacceptable for the ECK as currently constituted to run the repeat polls. "A majority of the commissioners are partisan, having being handpicked by one side of the political divide. Elections are like justice - they must not only be free and fair, but they must also be perceived to have been free and fair," said Muite. Instead, he urged for "an urgent constitutional amendment" to be fast-tracked in Parliament to put in place a professional ECK to conduct all future elections. Muite is foreseeing violent protests ahead citing Embakasi constituency which has the potential to easily become a flashpoint constituency to trigger off fresh violence if the outcome of the repeat polls was disputed.
  
  It might be recalled that the European Union (EU), the Commonwealth and the African Union election observers all condemned the ECK saying that it failed to meet "international standards of transparency in key areas of its mandate".
  
  All the international observer reports recommended that ECK be completely overhauled to build confidence in its independence and professionalism and also to ensure that it is credible, transparent and impartial.
  
  I can only see more trouble for this country if the ECK, as currently constituted, goes ahead to oversee the by-elections in June.
  
  
  Mombasa businessman faces the wrath of a stripper

Kenya Environmental & Political News Weblog

• ARV Programmes Slowly Recovering From Kenya Post-election Crisis

  Posted: April 29, 2008, 12:21 pm by Phil

  Photo: Manoocher Deghati/IRIN AMPATH has opened a satellite centre in the Nakuru Showground IDP camp where patients can receive ARVs ELDORET, 28 April 2008 (PlusNews) - Thousands of Kenyans who dropped out of HIV treatment programmes in January as a result of the country’s post-election violence are gradually returning to clinics and the antiretroviral (ARV) [...]

• Henry Mwitirere, Kenya, “I’m displaced but at least I can help other HIV-positive people”

  Posted: April 29, 2008, 12:14 pm by Phil

  Photo: Manoocher Deghati/IRIN Mwiterere and his family of seven children now live in a two-roomed house in Nakuru, but are still better off than most IDPs NAKURU, 28 April 2008 (PlusNews) - Henry Kamau Mwiterere works with the Academic Model for the Prevention and Treatment of HIV (AMPATH) as a facilitator for HIV support groups [...]

Blah blah blah

Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

Guess what ... yeah ... fish cakes.

The end of the fish cakes