WHAT THE MASS WITHDRAWAL OF ICC MEANS TO KENYA AND AFRICA AT LARGE

he recent move by the African heads of state meeting held in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia to endorse their countries withdraw from ICC has a lot more than what’s is seen. Members of the African Union have backed a Kenyan proposal to push for withdrawal from the

international criminal court, repeating claims that it unfairly targets the con-tinent.Chad’s president, Idriss Déby, who was elected African Union chairman at the two-day summit in Addis Ababa, criticised the court for focusing its efforts on African leaders.“Elsewhere in the world, many things happen, many flagrant violations of human rights, but nobody cares,” Déby said at the close of the summit late on Sunday, which had an official theme of protecting human rights....................................Continued Pg 5

Kenya Members of Parliament Led by Majority Leader Aden Dualeaddress the media Outsidde the ICC Court on April Last year. PHOTO COURTESY

African Presidents Whose Fathers Were Former Presidents

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By Africa World News

ICC AND AU:

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Editorial

Karibu!

We are happy to launch AfricaWorld News in this beautiful land that shows the fullness of Africa. Like our condense message says "Unless the hunted gives his account, the story of the hunt will always favour the hunter, we are out to preach the promises of Kenya. "Unity is strength, division is weakness," so says a Swahili proverb. As such we are here for all Kenyans and the star of the east African sub region.

AfricaWorld News Kenya is publishing online and reach most kenyans at home and diaspora. We also report politics, economy, entertainment and socio-cul-tural news. As we position to serve you better, we enjoin you to let us advertise your ideas and products. Let us publish your interviews, press statements and opinion.

AfricaWorld News Kenya is born to serve and inform. Our values are commit-ment, truth and loyalty.

Shukrani.

Unless the hunted gives their account, the story of the hunt will always favour the hunter.

Happy to launch the AfricaWorld World Kenya

KENYA BUREAU CHIEF GRAPHICS DESIGNER

Eric Bosire

Davis Muriungi

Ukachukwu OkorieEditor-at-large

Happy to launch the Africa news world Kenya, We are ready and ea-ger to tell all stories as they happen, and how they happen.

As a dedicated Kenyan I welcome you to read and follow our stories online at Africa World News Ken-ya on Facebook. We also welcome Special adverts and partnership to promote either your service or product.

Unless the hunted gives their ac-count, the story of the hunt will always favour the hunter.Karibuni.

Meet The Five (5) African Presidents Whose Fathers Were Former Presidents By Eric Bosire The Trend Worldwide

ast year, Justin Trudeau, son of the 15th Prime Minister of Canada Pierre Trudeau, was elected Prime Minister which ushered in Canada’s first

political dynasty. The concept of political dynasties is often perceived as problematic within Africa, even though dynasty is not an anomaly in other parts of the world. The United States, for example, has had two father-son presidents in its history.The first were John Adams and his son, John Quincy Adams, who were the 2nd and 6th Presidents of the U.S. respectively while the second set were George H. W. Bush, who was the 41st President for 1 term, and his son George W. Bush, who was the 43rd President for 2 terms. Asia is the only continent where we have seen an instance of father-daughter presidential leg-acy such as the daughter of Mahatma Ghandi, Indira Ghandi and the daughter of former South Korean President Park Chung-hee, President Pak Geu-hye.With this perspective in mind, here are five current African Presidents, whose fathers have also been president and how they differ from their fathers in governance.

President of KenyaIn 2013 Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta was elected as the 4th President of Kenya. He is the son of the Founding President, Jomo Kenyatta. Kenyatta, known as Kenya’s youngest president, was sworn in 2013 amid a dispute from the Kenya opposition in which his election was challenged and the Ken-yan Supreme Court stamped his election as Valid.

President Uhuru Kenyatta has travelled out of Kenya several times unlike his father who trav-elled only twice during his 15-year rule as Pres-ident. Last year, this elicited sharp reactions on his foreign trips and policy on running Kenya among Social media users in the country.His father was also known to be an authoritarian who carried a fly-whisk as his mark of authority. President Uhuru does not have a natural flair for public speaking but has a powerful voice and can be persuasive when fighting in his corner.

President of BotswanaIan Khama, the current President of Botswana, is the son of Sir Seretse Khama, The country’s first post-independence leader. Ian was born on the 27th of February 1953 during his parents’ exile in England. He took over as President in April 2008 and se-cured a five-year term in the 2009 parliamentary election. He also contested and won the election which took place in 2014.

According to the BBC, critics describe him as an authoritarian while supporters say he is decisive and efficient in his political governance. Ian has been advised to act like his father, Sir Seretse Kha-ma’s who was a statesman and played a vital role in the liberation of the Southern African region rather than give way to notions that harm his relationship with fellow African leaders.

President of DR CongoJoseph Kabila, the current President of DRC has been so since 2001. He assumed the Office of the President ten days after the assassination of his father, President Laurent-Désiré Kabila. He was elected as President in 2006 and re-elected for a second term in 2011.Until 2004, he was famous for being the world’s first president born in the 1970s. The Kabilas’ have ruled for almost 18 years since the country’s post-independence history and unlike his father who had three wives, Joseph Kabila has only one beautiful wife.

President of GabonThe current President of Gabon, Ali Bongo Ondimba, is the son of Omar Bongo who was President from 1967 until his death in 2009. Following the death of his father, Ali Bon-go Ondimba contested for the presidential seat under the Gabonese Democratic Party

(GDP) in 2009 where he won the election with a total of 42% of all the votes cast.

Ali Bongo may not be very dif-ferent from his father as he was accused in 2010 of swindling mil-lions of Dollars of tax payer money to purchase private property in France. Though, critics argue that he has a different style of gover-nance as compared to his father Omar Bongo.

President of TogoThe current President of Togo, Faure Essozim-na Gnassingbé, assumed office after the death of his father, Gnassingbé Eyadéma, in 2005. International leaders originally denounced the naming of Faure as President but he later con-tested and won through a democratic election that was held, becoming the official Head of State.He also contested and won the presidential elections in 2009 and 2015. The Gnassing-bé family has run Togo through its 55-year post-independence history, with five more years to go following the re-election of the cur-rent President.

President Ian Khama and his father on the right

President Uhuru Kenyatta and his father to the right

Left Picture is President Joseph Kabila and his late father (On the right Photo) President Faure Es-sozimna Gnassingbé and his father, Photo Coutesy

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Left Picture is President Joseph Kabila and his late father (On the right Photo) President Faure Es-sozimna Gnassingbé and his father, Photo Coutesy

No threat over Gauge Railway through Park Says Cs Wakhungu

By Maurice Momanyi

he government of Kenya is facing one of the toughest tasks in recent history in terms of securing its national parks in the face

of a rail development project scheduled to tear through several nature parks.The ambitious 500-km standard gauge railway under construction from the coastal city of Mombasa to the capital Nairobi is seen to pose a great threat to the survival of wild animals while also compounding the perennial menace of human-wildlife conflict which has seen many Kenyans lose lives by getting contact with roam-ing animals.Kenya’s cabinet secretary in charge of environ-ment and natural resources Judy Wakhungu says the government is looking at compensating Ken-yans who have happened to fall in the way of the multi-billion shilling Standard Gauge Railway. The problem of human wildlife conflict has been there for decades with affected families seeking compensation from government over loss of lives and injuries inflicted by wild animals on the loose. The compensation is not always easily forthcoming owing to intricate procedures involved.Now the Standard Gauge Railway is seen by by crit-ics as a venture that could aggravate the situation

as aresult of opening up the parks through which the project is expected to pass through. Some of the parks set to be affected are Tsavo East, Tsavo West,

Chyulu, Nairobi National Park, and Hell’s Gate. Game parks in Kenya are a big attraction to foreign tourists since independence and earns the country

substantial ammounts of money in park revenue.Speaking at the reception of a new director general of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) at the agen-cy headquarters in Nairobi, Ms Wakhungu said erecting impenetrable fences around all game parks

and reserves was a priority to the government. She said it is a tedious and expensive exercise, though she did not divulge how much the gov-ernment has to use for the same. We are currently dealing with SGR displace-ment issue and discussions are still ongoing to determine the population segments affected and how we can compensate them and secure the regions,“ she said. We shall erect fences in all ecologically sensitive areas to mitigate loss of lives.“Kenya Wildlife Service board chairman re-nowned conservationist Dr RichardLeakey said it was incumbent upon the new management to be led by Mr Kitili Mbathi to help end the men-ace of poaching and loss of life by human-wild-life contact. Dr Leaky said his board was ready to work with him and other stakeholders to

ensure parks are well run and secure.The new director general is a long time career bank-er; his immediate former post is CEO of Stanbic Bank.

MACHAKOS KNOW YOUR COUNTY

Machakos

By Leah Muthoka

henever you mention the Ivia ya Nzambani (Nzambani Rock) to any Kamba, they will most likely have

a funny story about it. From how the Kamba emerged from the rock, how if you go round the stone you will mysteriously turn to the op-posite sex, to reports of strange noises.

What makes this rock unique is the story behind it that has been passed along from one generation to another. However, it’s clear that the Nzambani rock has an almost sacred signif-icance to the Kamba. Being one of the largest outcrops in Kenya, it is quite a scenic attraction. To the west of the rock you look towards the hills of Machakos and to the east is the South Kitui National Re-serve. Some people are convinced that the rock is living.

How else can you explain the amazing fact that even though the nearby trees are constantly growing throughout the year, they somehow never seem to surpass it. Nzambani Rock is located about 24 Km from Kitui town – a 45 minutes’ drive. On a clear weather day, it can be seen as far as 80.5 Km away.

Environment CS Ann Wakhungu

Experts : cancer would be leading cause of death by end of 2016

hen he world marked world cancer day, Cancer survivors Thursday rallied Ken-yans to go for screening, saying they are living testimonies that early detection is

key to combating the disease.The survivors spoke as Kenyans joined the rest of the world in marking World Cancer Day in Nyeri, with officials outlining plans to improve treatment locally including the setting up of four treatment centres. The centres are to be set in Nyeri, Mom-basa, Nakuru and Kisumu respectivelyStatistics show that Kenyans are generally more aware about the disease, despite this few have been screened, many waiting until they fall ill to get checked. Statistics showing that Most of those who go for regular checks being women.“Even at the Kenyatta National Hospital people only come when they are in advanced stages, and by then all we can do is manage the disease,” said Dr Kahumba who practices at the Kenyatta Na-tional Hospital.By the time Rhoda Obare was diagnosed with cer-vical cancer, the disease had advanced to stage 2 B, but she, like most Kenyans, only went for testing when she felt signs of illness. “I was bleeding ev-eryday so I decided to go for a checkup,” she said.She was referred to the Kenyatta National Hos-pital for radiotherapy and chemotherapy but she would have to wait in line for one and a half years to get treatment. In the meantime the cancer was advancing.An emergency admission would see her pushed to the front of the queue. For close to 6 weeks, she underwent radio therapy and chemotherapy

“It wasn’t easy getting the required amount of mon-ey, especially because I had to do blood tests every day and they are expensive,” she said.Rhoda was declared cancer free in May last year, today she was at the hospital to mark the World Cancer Day, a living testament that local hospitals and doctors can handle the disease.Only about 180 people however showed up at the event where screening was being conducted at no cost.Similarly at Makadara health centre is Faith Mwi-kali. Mwikali also suffered from breast cancer. A disease which she had to cope with for a year, until she went through an operation to remove one of her breast; something that gave her life. “People don’t think they can get the disease,” noted Faith.The event also was marked amid poor turnout and people response. It was cosponsored by the Kenya Red Cross society.Since then faith has taken the initiative for being the cancer ambassador and rally people to go for early checkups to know their health status.Doctors argue that it is cheaper and easier on the body; you don’t have to wait until you’re ill for you to visit a doctor.In the celebrations marked in Nyeri, acting Director of Medical Services Jackson Kioko outlined govern-ment plans to make cancer treatment available to more Kenyans.Cancer is now the third leading cause of death in Kenya. One in every 14 deaths is from cancer, with WHO predicting that by the end of this year, cancer will be the leading cause of death, surpassing HIV, Malaria and TB combined. Thus; the trend is wor-rying for the growth of an economy.

By Eric Bosire

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o legally binding decision was made, and the decision to leave the ICC’s founding Rome statute can be decided

by individual nations. The decision was a “pro-posal … for the AU to develop a roadmap for the withdrawal of African nations”, a Kenyan presi-dential statement read.

Back in Kenya Earlier last year a motion was tabled in parliament to implement the withdrawal from icc by the leader of Majority in the Kenyan Parliament. The motion is due for discussion again when the Kenyan parliament resumes.The war crimes trial of the former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo began last week, rekin-dling a bitter row across Africa over the interna-tional justice system. Set up in 2002 as the last resort to try war crim-inals and perpetrators of genocide never tried at home, the ICC has opened inquiries involving nine nations, all but one of them African: Kenya, Ivory Coast, Libya, Sudan, Democratic Repub-lic of Congo, Central African Republic (twice), Uganda, Mali and Somalia whose president has been slapped with an arrest warrant and, most recently, Georgia. The AU, and particularly Kenya, has accused the court of unfairly targeting Africans for prose-cution. Cases included a failed case to Kenya’s president, Uhuru Kenyatta, and a faltering case against his deputy, William Ruto, for allegedly masterminding deadly post-election violence in 2007-09 in which about 1,200 people died. “We refuse to be carried along in a vehicle that has strayed off course to the detriment of our sovereignty, security and dignity as Africans,” Kenyatta said in a statement.

About one-third of the court’s member states are in Africa. While some leaders criticised the court, others said that was a mistake. “Leaving the ICC with no credible mechanism for justice for mass crimes in sight would be an error of colossal pro-portions,” Kenyan international law Experts have warned in an interview in a local television

“It is far better for member states to stay in the court and advocate reforms, rather than bolting and leaving millions on the continent unprotected by an international court which can step in when national institutions fail.” Says Eric mutua the outgoing Chair of Law Society of KenyaOn Monday the trial of Gbagbo continued, with defence lawyers accusing the current Ivorian president, Alassane Ouattara, of seizing pow-er by force aided by the former colonial ruler France after disputed 2010 elections.

Gbagbo and his co-accused, Charles Blé Goudé, a firebrand militia leader, have denied four charges of crimes against humanity when 3,000 people were killed after the Ivory Coast vote. Their highly anticipated trial opened on Thursday and is set to last three to four years.Gbagbo declared himself the winner of the election in late 2010, which was contested by western powers including France and the US, and theUnited Nations-backed Ouattara. It led to a bitter standoff, with Gbagbo holed up in the fortified presidential palace and Abidjan – the country’s main city and commercial capital – turned into a warzone. The ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has

alleged that Gbagbo, aided by the military, police Members of the African Union have backed a Kenyan proposal to push for withdrawal from the international criminal court, repeating claims that

it unfairly targets the continent.Chad’s president, Idriss Déby, who was elected African Union chairman at the two-day summit in Addis Ababa last week, criticised the court for focusing its efforts on African leaders.“Elsewhere in the world, many things happen, many flagrant violations of human rights, but nobody cares,” Déby said at the close of the sum-mit late on Sunday, which had an official theme of protecting human rights.Speaking in an interview by Ntv, the foreign affairs minister says that its up to the specific countries who had signed the ministerial coference to come up with ways to leave icc. “The Thoughts are just formal and all the legal re-quirements should be dealt with and its earlier time to exit ICC and the time is now”, Amina said here is one more unexpected consequence of Ken-ya's vote to withdraw from the ICC. The ICC was established in 2002 for the major "crimes against peace": war crimes, genocide, crimes against hu-manity, and crimes of aggression. There have been attempts, led by British lawyer Polly Higgins, to add to this list of crimes against peace, "ecocide" – crimes against the environment, and to place

ecocide and crimes against the environment under the jurisdiction of the ICC.If the ICC fails to be seen to addressing established

Raila on ICC withdrawal

In a statement to newsrooms, the opposition lead-er noted that by not sending troops to Burundi, the AU was standing with the incumbent presi-dent whom he accused of running a murderous regime.

“The decision to not to deploy troops is a decision to stand with the incumbent and his murderous regime, against the helpless citizens of Burundi,” read the statement.

Raila also castigated the African leaders for con-centrating all their attention and energies on with-drawing their countries from the Rome Statute without offering an alternative, further accusing them of only looking after their interests.

“Common sense would dictate that talk of with-drawal from the ICC be preceded by presentation of alternative institutions and legal infrastructure to give Africans what they were looking for when they joined the ICC in the first place,” he said.

He stated that it was unwise to withdraw from the ICC without an alterna-tive, as it would expose citizens of African countries to “marauding tyrants”.“For the African Union to leave the ICC before this infrastructure is put up is to expose the population of Africa to marauding tyrants, many of them in con-trol of State power, who can now carry out their

atrocities in the comfort of the knowledge that they

shall never be brought to account for their crimes against humanity,” further read the statement.

crimes against peace, and to effectively prosecute visceral violence against humans, it will make it harder for the ICC to extend its reach.

iCC Court. Photo Coutesy

Politics:

President Uhuru Kenyatta giving his presidential speach to Au Meeting in Ethiphia recently. PHOTO COURTESY

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A PROPOSED DAM TO END CATTLE RUSTLING

ater and Irrigation Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa has affirmed cattle rear-

ing communities that cattle rustling among them will be the thing of the past once the proposed dam in Elgeyo Marakwet County is constructed.

Speaking on Monday during a press briefing in his office Wamalwa stated the Arror Multipurpose dam will pro-mote farming as well facilitate peace-ful coexistence between the neigh-bouring communities which usually clash over livestock theft.“This projects is expected to enhance security between communities living In kerio valley as these communities will engage in irrigation and other alternative livelihoods replacing pastoralism associated with the risk of cattle rustling”, he said.

SOLVE THE DISPUTE OVER UBER TAXIS OR ELSE – TAXI UNION TELLS THE GOVERNMENT

By Eric Bosire & Leah Muthoka

he Kenya United Taxi Organization (KUTO) has now given the government a maximum of seven days to either

solve the dispute pitting them against Uber Taxi drivers, failure to which they would cause paralysis of transport across Nairobi. Ashford Mwangi, the organizations spokes-man, while speaking to the press on Wednes-day said that KUTO will hold massive demon-strations across the city once the ultimatum expires without any action being taken. The drivers further denied claims of having attacked and destroyed vehicles belonging to the new entrants - tax-is partnering with Uber - accusing them of seeking sympathy. Uber taxi drivers have report-ed attacks in the last few days, mainly claiming the tradi-tional taxi drivers as the most likely suspects.Uber launched in Nairobi in 2015, the sixth of nine African cities to host the service. It has since become one of the most popular modes of transport in the city, mainly because it’s a cheaper alternative to tradition-al taxis. Uber drivers in Nairobi reportedly charge half the price of their competitors. A

cash option was introduced in June to cater to the number of Kenyans without credit cards but with mobile money M-Pesa accounts. Following the introduction of the cash pay-ment option, Uber tripled its growth in Nai-robi making it one of the fastest growing cities internationally for the companyMwangi further went ahead to say some Uber drivers are smashing their vehicles in an at-tempt to fool the public. The new Uber service,

which has been termed efficient and reliable, has received fierce resistance in various coun-tries including; Paris and Canada, with the traditional taxi service drivers crying foul over the stiff competition. Since Uber made its debut in the country, taxi

Wamalwa further revealed that the feasibility and evaluation tests were undertaken in 2013 and 2015 respectively and what is remaining is the construc-tion work which is about to start.

Speaking at the same venue Elgeyo Marak-wet Governor Felix Tolgos said the project will bring about land rehabilitation and reclamation and do away with the contin-uous land degradation and slides at Kerio Escarpment.Also present at the press conference were En-vironment Cabinet Secretary Judy Wakhun-gu and Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen among other delegates from the county at large.The Arror Multipurpose dam is a project proposed on River Arror in Elgeyo Marak-wet County which its construction cost is estimated to be Sh26 billion and expected to

take approximately five years to be completed.

Upon completion the dam is expected to gener-ate over 60 MW hydro power as well provide wa-ter for irrigation for over 2,500 hectares of land.

drivers have complained over decline in their busi-ness since the app-based taxi service came along with lower rates.The company’s troubles in Nairobi reflect the broader resistance Uber has been facing when entering new markets. The service has been battling traditional taxi drivers in almost all the 60 countries it is operational. Similar tensions have come to the fore in South Africa where the company hired secu-

rity to protect drivers receiving threats. Last month, French taxi drivers took to the streets across the country to protest against the company’s presence.But Uber believes these reac-tions are typical of taxi monop-olies working hard to protect their turf. The traditional taxi industry “feels threatened by our high quality service and quick response time,” Travis Kalanick, the company’s CEO, said in a 2013 interview.According to Mwangi, who has operated a Taxi business for two decades, he says they have no grudge against the Uber Taxis but they want a free fair and agreeable terms of engagement

within the industry. “Let them come engage us and we will work together”, he says.

However The Cs for Security Gen. Joseph Nkaisery has called for the concerned parties to meet and sort out their matters amicably. He delegated his Ps in Security to oversee the matter so as not to affect the security of passenger’s. The management of Uber, Kenya has kept mum over the issue.

By Erick Maranga

General News:

Environment Cs Eugene Wamalwa (Centre) And Senotor of Elgeyo Marakwet addressing the press after the Launch of the Dam

An Urber Taxi at one of their Parkyards

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Agricultural output will be improved through Kenya- Netherlands Partnership

iringai Kamau. Agribusiness and Private Sector Advisor to the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture Live-

stock and Fisheries

Kenya’s agricultural output is set to increase enormously if partnership deal with a cooper-ation from the Government of Netherlands is sealed, said Kiringai Kamau, adviser to Kenya’s ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries.Currently, the sector contributes 15 per cent to the country’s GDP, but with collaboration of the two economies, this is set to improve following a resolution to move away from aid development to trade.“When we said we are moving form aid to trade, we say we are stopping supporting development through concessions or development but doing inter-trade between two countries,” Kamau saidThe Dutch government has been supporting the Kenyan government through aid, they want to move that to ensure it supports the country

There will be ‘Deadly Violence’ in 2017 Election - Chief Justice Willy Mutunga WARNS By ANWK Correspondent

here are signs politicians are dividing the public along ethnic lines, the president of

the Supreme Court, Justice Will Mutunga has said, and called for their taming to avert vio-lence in the 2017 poll.Willy Mutunga asked the civil society to take action before it is too late. “If you have not heard them then you do not know anything about this country,” he said. He also called for sobriety and tolerance among Kenyans.He spoke in Nairobi on Friday during the launch of the Governance and Human Rights Programme that promotes justice and democ-racy.Mutunga’s warning comes barely amid investi-gations on several politicians, who have issued statement that have termed hateful and inciting and are facing different charges.Last Year, The DPP Keriako Tobiko had or-dered the prosecution of Nairobi ODM chair-man, George Aladwa, who had allegedly said in a political rally in kibera that for Raila to be President some people had to die.Among other politicians facing hate speech charges include, Senator of Machakos John-stone Muthama, Gatundu South Mp Moses Kuria, who denied inciting youths to violence, saying he was quoted out of context and a vid-eo of him edited.

through trade, according to the adviser. “Dutch enterprises will be supported and facilitated by their country.”

Kiringai Kamau. Agribusiness and Private Sector Advisor to the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Agricul-ture Livestock and Fisheries

Kamau said the Kenyan government is committed to making sure that doing business in Kenyan is smooth. Melle Leenstra, Food and Security Development Adviser, Netherlands Embassy, said the two countries were combining trade and development to ensure interests of both parties are met. “As the Dutch embassy, we have taken a decision that the country, as a lower middle income country, is not best served by handouts, we feel that our relationship with Kenyans should be more mature to move from being a donor recipient to a trading partner,” he said.Dutch spend about five million euros annually in the country’s agriculture sector, Leenstar added and further hopes that through this investment the two economies will build sustained relations and create deep impact.“We are trying to improve Kenya’s horticulture sector in three thematic areas. We want to help with food safety through correct use of pesticides, reduction of post-harvest losses and also help small to medium farmers to gain access to mar-kets.”

By Vincent Munga

Meru business woman wins Sh50m for innovative ideaBy Eric Bosire

Meru businesswoman has received a Sh50

million grant for a UK funded organisa-tion for her innovative farming start-up.

Ruth Kinoti, CEO of Shalem Investments, re-ceived the windfall for her ‘A Stitch a Time’ proj-ect that brings together smallholder farmers in order to market their produce at greater volumes so as to compete in a regional market.Speaking during the project’s launch ceremony at Kianjae Market, Food Trade ESA Team Leader, Marc Van Uytvanck, re-iterated the company’s support for the project, saying the organisation is proud to be a part of Shalem Investment’s mis-sion of mobilising farmer groups and creating wealth for small-scale farmers.“We are excited to be part of such an innovative project that targets small-scale farmers and devel-ops strategies to create a unique mechanism of facilitating collective marketing for the farmers and as such increasing the volume of high quality target produce in the regional market,” he said.The project is expected to focus on giving incen-tives to small scale farmers to encourage them to clean and grade their products to increase the prices offered for their produce.Ms Kinoti on her part expressed gratitude for the grant saying it will enable the company to buy post harvest technology to assist farmers to increase the volume of their products in the market.Currently the company has a network of 9,000 smallholder farmers that it connects to in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Rwanda.

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Agricultural output will be improved through Kenya- Netherlands Partnership

THROUGH THE ARTISTIC EYE; JAK KATARIKAWE

By Leonard Munyao

reativity is a form of expression, and a way to channel your skills, talents, beliefs and emotions. Here is a story of an east Afri-

ca’s most successful painter who can barely read or write. Instead of letters, his language is art of painting.

Born Moses Jak Katarikawe in Uganda; born of a painter and a blacksmith. He has over the years earned a living from art, with his piece of work attracting both local and international art pro-moters.

In an exclusive interview with Africa News world, Jak says he was encouraged by her mother who was a potter and a painter. “She motivated me into painting while i was still a young boy”, Katari-kawe asserts jovially. “Majority of My mother’s paintings reflected Uganda tradition and culture”, he adds.

Just like any other youngster he enjoyed look-ing at his father’s livestock during his childhood before he went to the city and ventured into milk selling business. Later he became a taxi driver. Ka-tarikawe`s father was a farmer and a blacksmith. He met Professor David Cook in Makerere Uni-versity and became his everyday customer, some-thing that nurtured their friendship to greater heights.

Kampala Just like any other city where people`s cars are stolen, unfortunately Jak`s car was stolen under mysterious circumstances. This saw him move to Makerere University friend Prof. hoping to be offered a job as his driver by Prof. Cook.

‘’Nikingoja mkubwa wangu nilikuwa najifunza kuchora kwa makaratasi na pia kwa mchanga ili kupitisha wakati(while I was waiting for my boss I used to draw on papers and sand just to pass time)’’explains Jak in Kiswahili. He used to do this hiding from his boss fearing to lose his job.

One day on their way to Dare-salaam still in his line of duty, their car got a puncture and they had to replace the torn tyre. On opening the boot, profes-sor Cook was surprised to find a pile of Jak’s paint-ings. The agitated Jak could not even talk to his boss thinking that, that was the end of his job.

Instead Professor was impressed by Jak’s artwork.

From that time the professor realized that Katari-kawe was a talented painter.

Professor Cook started providing him with material support for painting, and also allowed him to use the university space. And so from that time his star started shining brighter and brighter.

Due to his proven skills later he became the univer-sity music demonstrator where he met James Ngugi currently known as Prof. Ngugi wa Thiongo who was also a great friend to Prof. David Cook

Things turned worse when Idi Amin came to power; forcing Jak to move to Nairobi where Pro-fessor introduced him to gallery Watatu founder the late Ruth Schaffuner and Jochen Schneider

who helped him achieve his goals. From the gallery Watatu he used to learn by observing what the oth-er artists were doing.

Surprisingly Jaks art was a skill earned by talent, since he never went to any formal training on how to draw, but he had all the skills to come up with

excellent paintings compared to those that had been to university. Katarikawes’ art was based on observation, imagination and also dreams. Though he could barely read or write, he could give a story of more than a thousand words in a single painting.

The artist started his first studio at Hilton Hotel but later moved to the Norfolk towers where he stayed for over thirty years, before he moved to his current studio on forest road NairobiSince then, Jak Katarikawe has managed to stage quite a number of exhibition both locally and in-ternationally attracting thousands of buyers world-wide. Some of his artwork is displayed in local art galleries e.g. gallery Watatu, Afrik Kontemp Art Gallery in Uganda and the national museum of Kenya among others.

“Soon I am planning to stage more exhibitions with my family since most of my family members are painters. Katarikawe told Africa World News in his studio along forest road in Nairobi.Katarikawe advices those aspiring to be painters to be devoted and use art to illustrate feelings that can change morals in the society as modern artists in the 21st century since the industry is fast growing.

Jack Katarikawe at his workshop in nairobi

One of Jaks art designs

“Drawing is an ary that if used in a right way, can educate the society”, Says Katarikawe

Special Feature: Art

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Art: Wood carving in Kenyat around three hours from the Nairobi Capital, a drive through the Machakos – Kitui Road is Wamuyu Town. The town

is famously known inth prowess of woodcarv-ing to make specific artifacts for human use. In Kenya, the Kamba community has been famous for wood carving among other economic activ-ities which include basketry, farming, trading, leather tanning among others.It is believed that, Wood carving started in Ukambani at a small village called Wamunyu located along the Kitui-Machakos highway. “The art was introduced in the area in 1918 by one Mutisya Munge after he returned home from Tanganyika the present day Tanzania where he served in the First World War.’’ says Mr. Joseph Mutuku who is the Wamuyu Handcraft society manager

The display of some of the curvingand basketry in the show room PHOTO; LEONARD MUNYAO

Munge who hailed from Kambiti village, near Wamunyu town was born in 1892, and later died in 1936. He was inspired by the artistic prowess of the Zaramo people who resided near Dar-es-salaam from whom he mastered the art of woodcarving. He learnt the skills while serv-ing as a soldier in Tanganyika during the First World War. “The Zaramo people were making the carvings and selling them to the British soldiers serv-ing in the colonial army,’’ explained Mr. Kyalo Ndaya an official at Wamuyu Handcraft Society. Upon his return home, Munge continued carv-ing and even invented new designs which he in scripted with his signature. ‘’He used to compete with his wife who was an expert in basket weav-ing,’’ added Mr. Mutuku. Munge who never wanted people to copy or acquire his skills decided to erect his workshop on top of a tree a few meters from the home-stead. “He did that to shield his knowledge from copycats whom he feared could spoil the market for his products,’’ Mr. Ndaya explained quoting Munge’s documented history. After aging, Munge passed the skills to his sons and neighbors who later ventured into commercial carving leading to birth of the Akamba Carving Movement. Thus a tradition a way of life for the Kamba people was born. The officials said further development of the craft movement after Kenya attained independence led to the forma-tion of Wamunyu Handcraft Co-operative Soci-ety in 1963. “Currently, the society has a mem-bership of over 2,000 artisans after over 5,000 of them shifted base to the Mombasa based Akamba Handcraft Centre at Changamwe,’’ Mr. Mutuku noted Sentiments which are echoed by

Mr. Francis Mutiso the society chairman.

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An artistic work of the late Munge who is the ancenstral father for creative wood carving. Photo; Leornard Munyao

Proceeds generated from the venture have seen Wamunyu town become one of the fastest grow-ing centers in Ukambani as most of the money is invested locally. “some of the landmark build-ings you see here have been built with proceeds generated from wood carving,’’ the manager Mr. Mutuku noted citing a number of successful businessmen in the town who were formerly master wood carvers at Wamunyu handcraft centre. In 1981 European Economic Commission [EEC] built them the Wamunyu handcraft exhibition centre which hosts dozens of work-ing sheds.This was a gesture that stabilized the movement to create and sell their artwork globally. “On average, we currently have a turnover of $ Us Dollars 13.8 million annually which we feel is low owing market limitation,’’ remarked the manager . He however expressed optimism of improvement from the earnings once the mar-keting challenges are addressed. Pointing at the inability of the carvers products to access the lucrative overseas markets where citizenry were obsessed with artistic work. The artisans capitulate their products at the showroom for display to potential buyers after they are through with carving them. They get a remission of 80 percent per each item sold while the remaining 20 percent is retained by the society for meeting overhead and other management expenses.

The Show room

The exhibition centre is characterized by click-ing sounds of adzes as the master artisans and their apprentices split large logs to carve out objects of their choice. Only fitting words such as beautiful, marvelous, wonderful, splendid and magnificent can best describe the products on display when one enters the showroom. The products include human and animal statues and figurines and many other differ-ent carvings in various sizes. Animal carvings include statues and figurines of giraffes, ele-phants, cheaters, gazelles, hippopotamus, lions, buffaloes, and rhinoceros except hyenas. The artisans expressed indifference in making the beast citing low demand. ‘’They [hyena

carvings] have no market and we only make them on order,’’ explained one of the artisans. They all didn`t deny that they feared sculpting the animal for they believe doing so, invited bad omen as believed by Kamba people.

Apart from the human and animal objects, other carvings on display are household items including wooden spoons, bowls, salad servers, and letter openers, sitting stools, drums and other musical instruments, baskets, bracelets, walking sticks and decorative weapons. “The wooden spoons and bows are very popular with the tourists. Most of the carvings we derive them from hard and soft wood tree varieties. E.g. Mahogany, rosewood, black and yellow wood, jacaranda and mango stumps.” expressed Ndaya The society works closely with the Kenya Forest Research Institute [KEFRI], so as to get supplies of different varieties of drought tolerant tree seedlings for planting, and also get advice on the environmental conservation.

According to the officials, most of the tree species had matured for they were planted in 1987 which is 28 years ago when the program was start-ed. ‘’The tree species are ready for exploitation now,’ Mr. Mutuku further said citing Terminalia Brownie, Acacia Mellifera [Melia Volkensii), Jacaranda [Jacaranda Mimosifolia], mango tree [Mangifera Indica] and Grevillea Robusta as the varieties among others. In order to fight the shortage of trees in future, the society has taken a stride to establish a num-ber of tree nurseries inside the exhibition centre. Sometimes back carving logs which were un-available locally used to be acquired from major forests in the country e.g. Karura and Ngong forests before the government slapped a ban on exploitation of forests resources at public forests. “This used to happen years back before the kenya government became serious on environmental conservation. The officials were concerned that Mpingo, the tree variety botanically referred as Dalbergia Melanoxylon and which is commonly used by the carvers was becoming extinct owing to overexploitation without any efforts on replant-ing. It’s very popular with the carvers because it is the hardest and most resistant to pests.

By Leonard Munyao and Eric Bosire

Special Feature: Art

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A shade where the artisans spend most of their time and to the right is seedlings in a tree nursery await-ing to be planted Photo:Leornard Munyao

.......... Continued from Pg 9

hey lamented that its supply was running short and petitioned the government for assistance to secure a permanent por-

tion of land for regeneration of such special tree species and others frequently used by the carvers for the sake of the industry’s future. “The artisans rely more on Muuku botanically referred as Ter-minalia Brownii after supply of Mpingo stumps became scarce,’’ noted Mr. Ndaya

Membership A third of the society’s 2000 plus members are women involved in weaving of baskets, ornament and ciondos (Ornamented baskets). They also have a special role in the final decoration of the woodcarvings done by the men. ‘’Although the carving is restricted to men, women do the final polishing and varnishing of the artifacts,’’ the manager explained noting that although the 2014 members of Wamunyu handcraft Cooperative So-ciety are drawn from other districts in the county. The facility has a daily turnover of over 11,765 Us dollars during the peak season and 5,882 Usdollars when the season is low,’’ noted Mr. Ndaya who used to carve at the centre before.

The Mombasa based artisans are exposed to more marketing opportunities than their Wamunyu counterparts owing to the millions of internation-al tourists who flock the coastal town for holidays

every year,’’ he said with the other officials con-curring.The biggest challenge facing the Wamunyu hand-craft industry is limitation of market, according to the officials which they blamed on improper pen-etration of the lucrative overseas market outlets. ‘’Overseas tourists form the bulk of market for souvenir products but unfortunately our exhibi-tion centre is located

upcountry where the visitors are very rare and in addition we have no means of transporting our cargo to the popular tourists destinations like Mombasa and Nairobi for marketing,’’ explained Mr. Mutuku saying the centre also required a truck for transporting the woodcarvings to the urban centers where the tourists visit frequently.

Price range of the carvings is pegged on size; the

quality of log used and market forces. For exam-ple, an extra size of a giraffe mea-sured in height/ length/width fetches not less than 1,765 us dollars, medium size 94 us dollars and small size 35 us dollars. Mr. Mutuku said the prices were not static but controlled by demand and other prevailing market forces.

The biggest Price range of the carvings is pegged on size; the quality of log used and market forces. For exam-ple, an extra size of a giraffe measured in height/ length/width fetches not less than 1,765 us dol-lars, medium size 94 us dollars and small size 35 us dollars. Mr. Mutuku said the prices were not static but controlled by demand and other prevail-ing market forces. The biggest size of an elephant statue is worth 1,765 us dollars too while similar size of a hippo bared price tag of 1,126 us dollars. Cheater which is diminutive by nature attracted 235 us dollars for the extra large size. ‘’As you can see, the carvings are derived from mpingo stumps

which explains why their pricing is higher than others are,’’ explained Mr. Munyao, the secretary. The animal and human figurines go for between 17 to 35 us dollars. Marvelous Kamba traditional items like guards, calabashes, ciondos, spoons and sugar pots are also on display. Asked why most of the human carvings were designed with the Masaai cultural dress, the officials said the branding was for marketing pur-pose. ‘’Most tourist are familiar with the Maasai cultural values and most carvers choose to design them so to woo buyers,’’ Mr. Ndaya answered. However, he pointed out to other carvings high-lighting the cultural values of several other com-munities, including the replica statue of the Kamba pioneer woodcarver Mutisya Munge. ‘’Some clients and organizations have agreed to

start selling the souvenirs online as an outreach project to attract more buyers for us in American. And other parts of the world, apart from Spain, China and the US, the society is keen to penetrate more market outlets in the Asia, UK and other European Scandinavian countries to improve income for the artisans.’’Said Mr. Maluvu the society vice chairman

The main drawback to the society is the dwin-dling supply of carving logs caused by wanton plunder of the natural vegetation by charcoal burners and timber merchants who continued to exploit the indigenous trees. Work of some artisans, they added was hampered by lack of the specialized carving tools including adzes and several others for doing the finishing which had become expensive.

The officials concurred that sometimes luck come their way when they get orders for carvings worth big sums of money.Additional information By Eric Bosire

Special Feature: Art

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Counties can’t handle garbage collection – Environment CS

By ANWK

he devolution of the waste management function is not working as counties lack the capacity. This is according to Environ-

ment Cabinet Secretary Judy Wakhungu, who has accused counties of poorly handling the manage-ment of refuse after it was transferred from the national government.Wakhungu says counties are finding it difficult to identify dumpsites since no one wants garbage dumped in their neighborhoods, adding that counties have failed to meet National Environ-mental Management Authority requirements.The CS has also added that the government is seeking an alternative dumpsite for Nairobi resi-dents after Dandora reached its capacity ten years ago and the land identified in Ruai is situated on a flight path.Wakhungu has also faulted Kenyans for not disposing of their garbage carefully to keep their environment clean and called for a change of the waste disposal culture.Kapsabet residents recently cried foul over the stench caused by uncollected garbage in the town after cleaners downed their tools protesting un-paid salaries.The residents, led by Nandi County Chamber of Commerce Chairman Mr Samwel Seroney, said the town was no longer habitable as a result of excessive garbage and leaking sewages especially in the market.They faulted the county government for failing to collect garbage from the market despite collect-ing revenue each day from business owners and town residents.Meanwhile, the Nairobi County Government blamed the El Nino rains for the littered city streets.According to City Hall officer in charge of solid waste management, Samuel Ndungu, the heavy rains have made the Dandora dumpsite inacces-sible, leading to a breakdown of most garbage collection trucks.Ndungu is now appealing to the National Youth Service to help in collection of garbage in the city due to lack of garbage collection trucks at City Hall.At the same time members of the CBD Business Community have written to City Hall protesting lack of service delivery including garbage collec-tion in their business area.

Eastleigh North Ward MCA Osman Ibrahim has supported the businessmen who are now saying they will not pay taxes to the Nairobi County Government in 2016 until the county govern-ment delivers services in the area. Sentiments which are echoed by many traders along river road, Nairobi which is the most affectedA spot-check done by ANWK found out heaps of garbage uncollected in every part of Nairobi city, Along Market market that serves Nairobi with food stuff and cereals.

Kenya Prepares To Host Other Dignitaries after Obama and the popeBy Eric Bosire

enya is preparing to host hundreds of government dignitaries, the academic community, students and guests for the

fifth edition of the prestigious DStv Eutelsat Star Awards on 9th February 2016.The DStv Eutelsat Star Awards is organized by MultiChoice Africa and Eutelsat and was started in 1999 to create meaningful engagement with students, the academic community and the sci-entific world.This year’s edition of the DStv Eutelsat Star Awards received a record 1959 entries, almost doubling entries in 2014 and showing the in-creasing interest in this unique event.The Eutelsat Star Awards competition is open to all learners between the age of 14 and 19 who are expected to write an essay or design a poster on how satellites have helped understand and take care of our planet.Kenya will have two finalists in the both the poster and essay writing categories who compete with 36 other finalists from East, West, Central and South Africa for the coveted prize which is a trip for two to Eutelsat in Paris and onwards to a rocket launch.In 2012, Kenyan student, Eva Chemwgorem won the Best Poster Award for her work titled “Af-rica united through satellites.” Eva got a chance to visit Eutelsat’s Paris headquarters where she learnt more on satellite technology. Since it was set up in 2011 by MultiChoice Af-rica and Eutelsat, the DStv Eutelsat Star Awards has attracted the interest of over 5000 students across the continent and more than met its goal to invigorate a passion for science and technol-ogy in secondary school. ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Paolo Nespoli is presiding over the Awards as Jury Chairman for the third year in a row, assisted by an international panel

of skilled industry experts: Ronke Bello, CEO at Innovative Technology Literacy Services Ltd, Nigeria; Dr Jane Munga, Policy Advisor, Kenyan Ministry of Information, Communication,

Technology and Research; Dr. Perkins Muredzi, Dean of School of Industrial Sciences and Tech-nology, Harare Institute of Technology (HIT); Melt Loubser, GM: Broadcast Technology, MultiChoice Africa and Rodney Benn, Regional Director, Eute-lsat.Nespoli has an illustrious career spanning stints at the European Astronaut Centre (ESA/EAC) and NASA’s Johnson Space Centre in Houston before being selected by the Italian Space Agency to fly as an ESA astronaut. Besides crewing on the 2007 Discovery shuttle mission, Nespoli spent over five months in space aboard the International Space Station (ISS) where he was responsible for a range of science and tech-nology experiments and educational activities.

He is preparing a third trip into space in 2017 to

the International Space Station where he will spend five-months. Students in Nairobi will this year have the opportunity to meet him during an outreach event where he will share his adventures in space.

General News

President Barack Obama of USA

Pope Francis greets childrenen at the Kangemi Parish duringhis tourto Kenya last year. PHOTO AWNK

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New Airplane Without Windows, replaced with OLED touch-screens

he Center for Process Innovation, a British technology research company, thinks they’ve got the next big step in aviation transportation figured out. Their

idea is this: they want to remove the windows from passenger planes and replace them with OLED touch-screens that extend along the plane’s entire length and display the view from outside through cameras mounted on the plane’s exterior. Sounds scary? Only if you are afraid of heights and flying.According to them, windows are one of the greatest sources of unnecessary weight in pas-senger planes. Solid walls are stronger and allow the walls to be built thinner as well. The OLED screens that replace the windows would display the view outside and allow passengers to select entertainment and stewardess service.1. OLED screens along the plane’s lengthThis possibility should let the passengers get to see the world from above one hundredth per-cent, not only from the tiny windows. This way the passengers can literally feel like birds and would be able to see the clouds from every side of their seat.

2. What are OLEDs?

OLEDs are a combination of advanced materials that give out their own light when activated by electricity and are typically used to make screens and lighting. Unlike LCD and plasma displays, they do not need a back light, meaning that they use less energy and can be much thinner than other displays, while also displaying a higher contrast. Among ambitions for OLEDs involve printing them on sheets or wallpapering them on rooms, effectively turing the walls into lights.

3. But, being able to look through the plane’s wall won’t be the only thing

These touchscreens will show passengers in-formation about their flight and let them order stewardess service. So no longer pressing that coffee button above your head and waiting for the stewardess service to arrive by your service.4. Hold on! Internet on the plane

Okay, maybe this is even more exciting than everything else, right? (Of course, we are in-ternet addicts!) The screens will also enable internet and media access. So unless you are not interested to stare at the clouds right beside you, you can actually check your e-mail, post some photos of your see-through flight on Facebook and Instagram or chat with your friends while you are thousands of meters in the sky.5. It’s about the weight

The reason given for taking away the portholes is purely economic. No windows means less weight in the fuselage, making them cheaper to fuel and fly. So, it’s not really about the passengers and their fun during the flight. Of course, that story won’t get good sale as the one with the ultimate flying experience in the see through planes. The advertising images will have travelers so happy in their magic flying cloud they don’t notice the turgid coffee breath of the guy next to them or the constant elbowing by the lady in a parachute tracksuit who insists on getting up and stretch-ing every half hour to ward off deep vein throm-bosis.

6. Don’t worry it won’t be cra-zy expensive

Best of all, it will apparently be cheaper for the customers and manufacturers, more fuel efficient, and emit substantially less CO2. Cheap, slim, windowless and environment-friendly: it almost sounds too good to be true. This revolutionary change could potentially cut down on fuel costs, which of course would lead to cheaper flights — and allow manufacturers to produce wider planes, which, thank god means wider seats and more legroom.7. What if you sit by the wing? Would you still be able to see without the wing blocking your sight?

Worried a wing might get in the way of your view? Don’t be. Developers say the cameras mounted on the exterior of the aircraft would provide unobstructed 360-degree views of the world zooming past. Passengers would even re-portedly be able to set their screen to show a live stream of a different portion of the plane.

Source: Sundayolivia blogs

Technology:

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CT CS lauds Air-tel’s for providing free Internet to schools

ICT CS Joe Mucheru (left) during the launch of free internet for schools in Machakos

nformation, Communications and Tech-nology (ICT) Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru has lauded Airtel for provid-ing free Internet connection to schools

through the company’s Free Internet for Schools Program.Speaking on Wednesday at Machakos Boys High School in Machakos County where he launched the program to connect 23 schools to the free Internet under the program, Mucheru said access to the Internet is very important in the current education system as it gives students the opportunity to have access to an unlimited amount of information available online. “I am very pleased to be launching this pro-gram in Machakos County. I would also like to appreciate the fact that Airtel is making tremen-dous contributions in the integration of ICT in the Education sector in Kenya through this program,” said the CS.“In our times, we did not get to use Internet when we were schooling. As the world contin-ues to change, more and more schools all over the world are turning to the Internet for learn-ing resources and that is what the Free Internet

for Schools program is about.”The 23 schools connected to the Internet in Machakos County join another 167 institutions and 250,000 students in 31 counties across Ken-ya. The program is intended to reach 1 million students in all counties across the country by the end of 2016.Speaking at the same event, Airtel Kenya CEO Adil El Youssefi said that the company is com-mitted to the program that it launched in 2014 as it seeks to ensure that more and more stu-dents are able to leverage on educational infor-mation that the Internet provides.“The high speed Internet connectivity that we continue to provide through our Airtel Free Internet for Schools program guarantees stu-dents limitless new educational opportunities,” he said.“We strongly believe that through our program, we are giving learners the freedom to connect to the world of information, helping them to learn better and open up a new world of opportuni-ties for their future.”Present at the launch were Principal Secretar-ies Eng. Victor Kyalo (ICT & Innovation) and Sammy Itemere (Broadcasting & Telecommuni-cations), Machakos County ICT Minister Hellen Kiilu among other top government and educa-tion officials in the county.Source; Citizen Digital

Kenya eyes bud-get deficit of 6.9% in 2016/17 fiscal year

By Agencies, ANWK

Treasury CS Henry Rotich carries a briefcase containing the Government Budget for the 2013/14 fiscal year [Photo: Courtesy]

enya is targeting a budget deficit of 6.9 percent of GDP in the 2016/17 fiscal year (July-June), from a revised 8.1 percent this

fiscal year, the ministry of finance said in a draft budget policy statement.

The East African nation has ramped up spending in recent years, to build a modern railway, new roads and electricity plants, driving up the budget deficit and unnerving investors.

The deficit for this fiscal year is expected to de-cline to 522.3 billion shillings ($5.11 billion), 8.1 percent of gross domestic product, from 569.2 billion shillings, 8.7 percent of GDP, where it was set in a June budget, the Treasury said in the draft budget policy statement posted on its website.The narrower deficit will be arrived at through a reduction in expenditure and borrowing, the ministry said in the draft, which was published for the public to offer comments before it is finalised by the government.

“Borrowing from the domestic market has been revised down to 168.2 billion shillings from 221.5 billion shillings in the budget while external com-mercial borrowing has been raised to substitute for the lower domestic borrowing,” the Treasury said, referring to this fiscal year.The deficit will fall to 6.9 percent of GDP in the next financial year before declining to 4.3 percent in the medium term.Kenya is building a modern railway from the main port of Mombasa to the capital Nairobi and officials blame the investment for the higher bud-get deficit.“Excluding expenditures related to the SGR (Stan-dard Gauge Railway), the deficit declines from 6.3 percent of GDP in 2015/16 to 4.1 percent of GDP over the medium term,” the Treasury said in the draft policy statement.

Business and Technology:Advertiser

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THE FUTURE OF EDUCATION AMIDST TERROR, CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS THORNS

By Brian Erick

andera County lies on the extreme of North Eastern Kenya. It borders So-malia on the Eastern side and Ethiopia

on the Northern side. Being a border county, it has suffered the ripple effect of war, hate and violence that has dominated Somalia for the past over two decades.

Within the county, clan clashes for resources and political representation have also crippled education to a large extent. Education thus remains the only pillar for reconstruction and reconciliation. But how much fruits can be borne?As of today, literacy levels remain critically low with the female gender being the worst hit. This is a reflection of sustained challeng-es in terms of terrorism, culture and religion

over the years that have greatly hampered the development of norms and standards concern-ing education. As a result the education system has become fragmented, affecting the educa-tion image of the whole country. But who is to blame?Most of the problems ailing education in Mandera have been created by the residents of Mandera themselves. The challenges arise from cases of insecurity (both from bandits and ter-rorists), culture and religion. Unless the com-munities open up and change their school of thought and start reading from the same script with the rest of the country as far as education is concerned, the road to a bright future will remain uneven for the many years to come.

Majority of the teachers in the region are non-locals who have spent the better part of their lives in ‘down Kenya’ where the loudest explosion one can ever hear is the burst of a car tyre.

But in Mandera town, due to its proximity to the immediate border town-Bulla Hawa, barely does a night pass without a terrifying sound of gunfire or an explosion.

And in the wake of the most recent beastly ter-ror act in Kenyan Soil famously dubbed #Man-deraMassacre and the KDF camp attack, in which teachers lost their lives, and the military

respectively. Not forgetting the Garissa University attack. What will be its ef-fect on educa-tion? What message do such terrible events send to the non-resident teachers in the region?

They are left dumbfounded, traumatized and threat-ened and as us such they won’t be able to deliver in their respective areas of specialization. The key to passing exams is first creating a conducive environ-ment for learning.

Being an area inhabited by nomads, cultural norms also derail education. Girls suffer the most. They are

forced to remain at home despite having attained the school going age so as to aid in field chores such as looking after goats. As soon as they start ‘swell-ing’ at the chest, they are married off.

They vanish from the public eye. Even in school they cover their faces so as to wall themselves from the from the eyes of any man other than their

husbands. Some are married off while as young as 12! Even those enrolled in school still face a myriad of challenges including absenteeism from school due to drought or family duties, lack of appropriate school materials among others.

They therefore remain without skills that will pre-

Schoolgirls attend a class at Moi Girls Secondary School in Mandera County on February 2, 2015. Local residents are volunteering to fill the gap left by TSC teachers

pare them for a productive future. Even boys from well to do families rarely take education seriously. They are coached in basic busi-ness skills, given access to financial support or live-stock to begin small busi-

nesses at tender ages!

In the adjacent County Garissa, Things are not far much than Mandera. During the Garissa Universi-ty attack it was revealed that, a Nairobi university graduate was the accomplisher to the attackers.

This also leaves many scrapyard of what the educa-tion is giving to the young generation.The mother of all challenges is religion. Even reli-gious leaders themselves have refused to take up the challenge and encourage the students to open up and engage with the rest of the world. With this, they can atleast work hard towards reforming their culture and attitude from within so that they may become compatible with the modern global society. At tender ages, students openly show how they val-ue another version of education taught in the duksis and madrasas rather than the formal education offered under the national education curriculum. The Jihadist software therefore nurtures student hostility towards the non-Muslim teachers since they are Kaffirs.

It becomes thus easier to impart Islamist ideology than any other form of ideology contrary to what religion teaches. Teaching some aspects of literature such as drama, poetry and dance is even considered haramin (Crime) some schools.

The county therefore needs to save itself from ed-ucation meltdown that is currently facing. It must come up with significant plans, programmes and policies or else the end of the tunnel will forever remain dark.

It

should not be forgotten that North Eastern counties of Kenya-Garissa, Wajir and Mandera have consis-tently been ranked bottom among the 47 counties of Kenya both in KCPE and KCSE. Every growth and development must start with education so that the residents are also given a fair chance to compete on an equal basis intellectually and in the job mar-ket with the rest of the world.

“literacy levels remain critically low with the female gender being the worst hit”

Schoolgirls attend a class at Moi Girls Secondary School in Mandera County on February 2, 2015.

County Focus:

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Alaine to launch‘Wafula’ hit

Popular Jamaica Reggae/Dance Hall artist Alaine is expected to jet into Kenya any time from now to launch her new song Wafula which was as a joke posed by Churchil.While appearing on Churchil show last year Churchil himself challenged the Jah Jah Cry hit maker to come up with lyrics to praise a luyha man by the name Wafula. It is out of this that Alaine decided to compose a reggae tune which she is expected to release on this week.

Entertainment:

Bahati releases a new song

ospel artist Kevin Kioko alias Bahati has made a debut after three weeks silence with a new hit dubbed Maisha iko sawa.

The new song reflects the life history of him where he has come from as well what he has achieved so far.The singer at the same time revealed the main rea-son why he decided to stay away from the public limelight arguing that there were some individuals who are doing all they can to bring him down.This prompted him to deactivate both his Face-book and twitter accounts sighting he wouldn’t handle them anymore.He however decided to make a comeback by releasing his new song to proof he is still strong despite the beef from his fellow gospel artist and bloggers whom he says are out there to tarnish his name.

The singer surprised fans tonight with her new effort, letting her daughter steal the lime-light. Beyonce has released a surprise new song and video - with her daughter Blue Ivy taking cen-tre stage throughout. The star did her classic trick of surprising fans by dropping the hit tonight, and this time her new song Formation shows a whole new side of the singer. With explicit lyrics throughout, it flicks from dramatic Mardi Gras costumes to flood scenes and clips of Blue dancing with friends. With a stream of tiny outfits, lingerie, and even a police car - Beyonce has already sent fans into meltdown - even giving Dr. Martin Luther King an appearance.Showing off her winning dance moves, the star begins in a plunging red top and stockings, showing off major cleavage and her toned pins. The song includes lyrics like: “I go hard... Get what’s mine... I’m a star...’Cause I slay...I slay.” She adds: “Okay, okay, ladies, now let’s get in formation, cause I slay / Okay ladies, now let’s get in for-mation, cause I slay / Prove to me you got some coordination / Slay trick, or you get eliminated.” It’s surely no coincidence she dropped the clip tonight- just a day before she performs at the Super Bowl 50 halftime show. The new track is Bey’s first since her Beyoncé: Platinum Edition was released in November 2014. It’s unclear if she’ll perform the song during tomorrow’s halftime show - but according to reports, she was spotted rehearsing it this week. The cover art for the song sees Queen Bey with her head hanging out a car window, looking like a true goddess.

Beyonce releases surprise new song ‘Formation’

By Sunday Mirror

ays are gone when female gospel artistes shied away from flashy and sophisticated lifestyles. The latest crop of musicians in this genre has totally changed the face of gospel music that was previ-

ously seen as boring. Today female gospel artistes are arguably trendier than their counterparts who do secular music.They have become more flashy in their style of dressing, expensive homes and the cars they drive.

Top Kenyan Female Gospel Artists

1. Size 8 2. Joyce Omondi3. Kambua4. Dee5. Chuchu

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Kenya names squad for Rio De Janeiro Olympics

enya Tae Kwondo Association has named a four-member national team that will represent the country in the Rio De Ja-neiro Olympics games qualifiers. Martin Oduor (fin/fly

weight) and Emmanuel Nderitu (Bantam/feath-er) constitute a men team to travel to Mo-rocco where the games will take place on 6-8 February 2016. The women team is composed of Olympian Milkah Akinyi (ban-tam/featherweight) and Gladys Mwaniki (Light-welter). Kenya will face Libya, Senegal and Tunisia opponents in the qualifiers. Speaking during the final trials of the team at Pent House gymnasium, View Park Towers Nairobi, overall team manager Nesmus Wesonga said the team is good to go and make the country proud despite of the challenges facing it. "They lack state of the art equipments but this

By Munga Vincent

Gor Mahia refutes the claims that they fired Nuttal over salary cutBy Eric Maranga

enya Premier League defending Champions Gor Mahia has rubbished the claims that they sacked their Coach Frank Nuttal for refusing to accept his salary to be slashed by half.In a press statement to newsroom the club management stated that they were negotiating with Nuttal over his new season contract.

This comes barely a day after the coach had been quoted saying that he had been relieved his duties due to salary dispute.The news of his sacking had been perceived as a major blow to the club’s future to the commencement of the KPL league which slated for 13th Feb-ruary 2015.

In Saturdays’ match watched by thousands of fans who included Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho, Bandari struggled to find their stride in the opening minutes with Gor Mahia dominating proceedings. Ban-dari’s new signing Sserunkuma repeatedly harassed Gor Mahia’s defence but could not get a break through.

Keli thought he had put Gor Mahia ahead in the ninth minute but his goal was ruled out for off side by assistant referee Caroline Kilel. Nizigiyimana was outstanding at the back as he snuffed out any signs of danger to ensure Sserenkuma was kept at bay.

Musa Mudde, Edwin Lavatsa and Sseren-kuma worked well in attack giving their coach Twahir Muhiddin a combination he will be proud of this season. It was also a morale boosting result for Bandari ahead of the Caf Cup confederation match against St Eloi Lupopo of DRC next week.

Haron Shakava (18) of Gor Mahia FC is shown the red card by centre referee Raymond Onyango (right) after fouling against Dan Sserenkuma of Bandari FC pduring the DSTV Super Sports Cup at the Mbaraki Sports Club, February 06, 2016. Bandari won 1-0. [PHOTO COURTESY

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Part of the team in an Earlier Match PHOTO cOUTESY

will not hinder them from delivering," he said. Akinyi who featured in the 2008 Olympics in Bei-jing where she emerged fourth exuded confidence of steering her teammates to a sterling perfor-

mance.

Arsenal partners with Sport Pesa

rsenal Football Club has welcomed SportPe-sa as its Official Betting Partner in Kenya.This long-term partnership is geared towards

helping SportPesa grow their business in Kenya where they already sponsor the SportPesa Premier League, SportPesa Super 8 League and grassroots football.SportPesa will engage directly with Arsenal supporters in Kenya through the club’s digital channels, promotional activities and marketing initiatives featuring first-team players and club legends. Arsenal fans in Kenya will also be offered a range of club-related benefits, including official merchandise and match tickets to see the team in action at Emirates Stadium.

As part of the partnership, SportPesa will be offering five-day training camps twice per season which will be led by Arsenal-trained coaching staff. These sessions will be designed to ensure that both footballers and coaches in Kenya learn to incorporate the key principles of ‘playing the Ar-senal way’. These camps will also help support the initiatives that SportPesa have in place to identify and nurture talent at a grassroots level.Arsenal will also offer the opportunity for Kenyan football administrators to meet and learn from expert Arsenal staff and take these learnings back to Kenya to help develop their own facilities.Vinai Venkatesham, Arsenal’s Chief Commer-cial Officer, said: “We are delighted to welcome SportPesa as our Official Betting Partner in Kenya. Arsenal has huge support across Africa and we look forward to engaging further with our fans in Kenya while also helping to drive the SportPesa business and, through a wide range of initiatives, the development of football in the country.”Ronald Karauri, SportPesa’s Chief Executive Offi-cer, said: “SportPesa is dedicated to uplifting the football standards in Kenya, and we look working with Arsenal to help achieve this. It is a true testa-ment to the commitment SportPesa has in putting player development at the forefront of any other need.“We are committed to allocating the best resources and support to our players to help them achieve their dreams. Our aim is to see Kenya participate in the 2022 FIFA World Cup. We are also very excited for this partnership and are looking for-ward for greater revolution in the Kenyan football world.”

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