Day: April 5, 2024

West Pokot County has been hitting the limelight for various bad reasons but with the upcoming development of various partners, the county’s name tag ‘The County of Hidden Treasures’ is soon coming to fruition.

With the official commissioning of the Clinker Production Company scheduled for next week at Sebit limestone mines in Kipkomo Sub County along the Kapenguria-Lodwar Highway, the county is set to experience a paradigm shift with residents adapting to new forms of livelihoods.

Clinker is a nodular material produced in the kilning process during cement production and is used as the binder in many cement products.

Besides limestone, there are gold deposits in various parts of the county although residents have been using crude mining methods to extract the minerals.

During a site visit to ensure matters of mining compliance are met before the Head of State’s visit and commissioning of the company next week, Mining Principal Secretary (PS) Elijah Mwangi said the Sh45 billion worth mining investment by
a private investor is a big boost in opening up job opportunities across the country with all cement production companies in the country being assured of the availability of raw material locally.

‘With this kind of investment, once the company goes into full capacity, the clinker demands by the cement factories in the country will have been met and the excess available for export. Currently the production is enough feed for all cement factories in the country,’ said PS Mwangi.

He assured of the government’s unconditional support encouraging those willing to invest in the mining sector to engage the latest technology to explore the abundant untapped mineral resources in various parts of the country.

The PS revealed that the company currently has a capacity of employing 2,500 people most of whom are from the local community hence a boost to various sectors of the economy.

Mining PS Elijah Mwangi (centre left) with Devki Group of Companies Chair Narendra Raval (right) during a tour of a Clinker Production Co
mpany at Sebit in Kipkomo Sub County in West Pokot County on Thursday April 4, 2024.

‘The community is going to enjoy immense benefits from this factory as it is already being witnessed since the construction works started. We have seen several residential houses coming up and soon this area will become an industrial centre,’ stated the Mining PS highlighting that the increased transport activities in the area has also been witnessed.

He disclosed that the royalty from the company that will be paid to the National Government, 20 percent of it will be channeled back to the host county government with another 10 percent of the total production to the community and 1 percent of the revenue collected going to the immediate residents.

PS Mwangi added that the residents will also enjoy educational, health and business support courtesy of the company’s Community Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes calling on the community members to constitute a Community Development management Committee for realisation of the
activities.

The PS lauded the DEVKI Group of Companies for choosing West Pokot County as one of its mining investment destinations noting that the move will supplement the government’s agenda of equitable distribution of development activities even to the so called marginalised areas.

‘We must as a government appreciate the investor since so far it has employed 11,000 people across its companies within the country,’ posed Mwangi.

The Companies’ Group Chair Dr Narendra Raval said they had chosen rural areas for their investment plans so as to create job opportunities for the communities and help change negative perceptions underlying such destinations.

‘We have had such investments in areas such as Kajiado, Samburu and now Sebit in West Pokot. The perception about West Pokot has been wrong from what we have experienced since we started this investment here,’ observed Dr Raval popularly known as Guru.

He described the Pokot community as very hospitable and nice people to interact with and work together rei
terating that he together with his team have been spending most of the time in the county without being troubled.

The Board Chair has appealed to the community members to come together and own the company since they stand to benefit from it on matters of employment, education, health among other essential services.

He vowed that the Group’s dream is to change lives of the locals through various forms of empowerment as per the community’s needs, promising to pay visits often.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Turkana county commissioner Julius Kavita has vowed to ensure strict adherence to the national government directives on the sale and consumption of alcoholic drinks.

Addressing members of the public in Lodwar on Thursday, Kavita said the county security team would not relax the rules that have seen many bars and wine and spirits shops closed in the county until they comply with the stipulated regulations.

He was responding to calls from bar operators who decried loss of business and which had caused them to sack their bar attendants as a result.

A bar operator who is also the chairperson of the Lodwar county drivers and transporters association Ronald Manywele had requested the commissioner to consider allowing them to resume their operations.

‘We are requesting you as the commissioner to consider the plight of our fellow businesspersons and workers who have no other source of income. Many bar attendants have lost their jobs and are staring at being evicted from their houses for lack of rent,’ said Manyw
ele.

In his response, Kavita said,’ I have made covert visits to Lodwar county referral hospital and have not found anyone admitted for not consuming alcohol’.

However, he promised those who would have complied with the new directives issued by the government that they will be allowed to reopen their businesses next week.

They will be required to observe the law and those who flout the regulations will be dealt with in accordance with the law.

The commissioner at the same time urged residents to cooperate with law enforcement agencies in arresting illicit and counterfeit liquor from a neighbouring country.

When asked to intervene by the bar operators, Governor Jeremiah Lomorkuai said his hands were tied because the directive was from the presidency and there was nothing much he could do.

Scores of people have been arrested and arraigned in court in the county for flouting the directive on the sale and consumption of alcohol with some having been penalized hefty fines as high as Sh140,000 for the offence
s.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Kirinyaga county government has started the distribution of free uniforms and other learning materials to all ECDE learners and bursaries totaling Sh147.5 million to secondary students.

During an event held at the county headquarters in Kutus on Thursday, Governor Anne Waiguru issued 15,000 complete sets of uniforms to be distributed to all the ECDE learners.

The sets consisted of shorts, shirts, sweaters for both boys and girls, and socks for both boys and girls, and tunics, blouses.

The uniforms have distinct colours for different constituencies, where ECDE learners from Ndia and Mwea will be wearing blue, while Kirinyaga Central and Gichugu will be wearing green-coloured uniforms.

Speaking at the function, Waiguru said that the County is the first to give out ECDE learners’ school uniforms adding that her administration is committed to sustained production of the uniforms that are sewed at the county-owned Kaitheri Apparel Centre.

‘The uniforms have been produced locally at Kaitheri Apparel Factory t
hrough the Wezesha Mama Initiative, driven by the county government. We will be distributing them for free, and we hope to produce another set in 3 months,’ she said.

The governor added that the uniform project came about during public participation forums where parents expressed frustration with having to source uniforms at exorbitant prices from commercial dealers.

At the same time, she noted that her administration will move further into producing leather shoes for the children.

This, she said, will be done by educating farmers on hides and skins’ management so that they can supply them to potential leather processors at the upcoming Sagana Industrial Park.

To further boost ECDE learning in the county, Waiguru said that plans to undertake a school feeding programme are underway, whereby every learner will receive a packet of milk twice a week as a starting point.

Governor Waiguru also disbursed Sh147.5 million in bursaries to benefit 45,000 students from needy backgrounds.

Out of these students, 35,6
56 are drawn from secondary schools, 5,443 from colleges, and 3,901 from various universities.

Kirinyaga County had disbursed bursaries worth Sh413.8 million in the past six years, benefiting 146,211 deserving students.

The current disbursement is so far the largest and a great improvement from the Sh70 million given in 2019.

Waiguru reaffirmed her commitment to supporting the improvement of the county’s academic performance and giving every child the opportunity to fulfill their potential.

‘We are committed to supporting our children’s education since we believe that every one of them should have the opportunity and means to realise their full potential regardless of their circumstances,’ she said.

She urged the bursary recipients to maintain their academic focus, emphasising the importance of education in shaping their futures and contributing meaningfully to their communities and the nation.

The chairperson of the education committee in Kirinyaga County Assembly Charles Nyamu applauded the governor f
or the timely disbursement of funds since it gives the parents enough room to plan for the coming term.

‘To our parents, let us take care of our children from drug abuse, which has been a hazard in the education sector. My call is also to the parents: let us work together with our teachers to make sure their children get the best, and from the county government side, we will make sure we support you,’ he said.

Githigiriri MCA, Benson Ngahu called on the county assembly education committee to find a way to identify needy children from the area, saying people from other counties may be disguising as hailing from the county.

Moses Mutahi, Headteacher of Gakoingi Primary School, has thanked the County Government for supplying ECDE centres with the uniforms and learning materials saying it will boost learning.

‘We have been facing a lot of challenges in our primary school where parents sometimes bring their children to school without a uniform, making it hard to send their children home since every child has t
he right to education. My appeal to parents: once they get this uniform, let’s take care of it and let our children be neat,’ he said.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The security team in Narok Central Sub County have reclaimed back a government house that had been grabbed by a private developer at the Narok town public servants’ residential houses quarters.

Narok Central Assistant County Commissioner AbdiShakur Ali, who led the process said his office had given ten days’ notice to all private developers living and renting out government houses to vacate the premises or risk being forcefully removed.

Ali said despite having given notice to the private developer, Hellen Ngare, to vacate the premises, she ignored and continued living on the government land, that she was letting out to the members of the public.

The house is located next to Kenya Forest Service offices which Ms Ngare had fenced with iron sheets to bar any person from accessing the compound.

Police officers however removed the illegal semi-permanent fence and restored the house to its former state.

Ali said the house is among several other government houses and land illegally acquired by private individu
als in the town.

Among other land that is alleged to have been occupied by private developers is the Administration Police residential area and Narok GK prisons land.

‘It is important that concerned departments, especially the state department for housing, prioritise titling of their assets to avert more grabbing and reclaim back what is already claimed by private individuals,’ he said.

Ali revealed that the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) is investigating a number of government land parcels that are allegedly owned by private individuals.

‘We as the government will use any legal means to reclaim the land occupied by private developers. I advise any person living illegally in government land to quit before they are forcefully removed,’ he said.

He said many people have moved to court to bar the government from reclaiming their land, hence calling on the judiciary to speed up the cases so that justice can prevail.

On her part, Ms Ngare said she acquired the land in 1996 when it was allocated
by the defunct county council.

Source: Kenya News Agency

A registration and sensitization campaign of Kiambu county Afya dubbed ‘Wamatangi Care’ begun Thursday in all Kiambu sub counties.

The health campaign aims at empowering Kiambu residents with comprehensive knowledge on the array of services covered by Kiambu Afya.

Speaking to KNA, a Community Health Promoter at the Kiambu level 5 hospital Susan Nyambura said the campaign was mostly meant to target the aged who cannot leave their house doors, people with disabilities and the financially challenged.

‘A lot of people are turning up for the aid of this healthcare, compared to the first phase and it has brought so much positivity in the healthcare sector,’ she added

Nyambura stated that Kiambu residents were privileged as with the registration, they could access other treatments such as those of chronic illnesses under comprehensive health coverage.

The Scheme rules out the active members of National Health Insurance Fund that is transitioning to Social Health Insurance Fund, and gives first priority to thos
e struggling financially.

The campaign targets about 500,000 people with a 60 percent turn up for the ongoing registration following the drive being channeled through 10 Community Health Promoters per each Sub-County in Kiambu.

Speaking to KNA, most people who turned up for registration expressed optimism saying the scheme would relieve them of hospital expenses which were beyond their reach.

‘I have come to enroll in this programme. I hope it will be a turning point for me since I suffer from diabetes and the medicine is expensive,’ Rita Njeri a resident of Kirigiti said.

Another resident from Githunguri, Samuel Maina, said that most families were struggling when it comes to health care for their families and he hoped the ‘Wamatangi Care’ programme is sustained by the County government.

‘Governor Wamatangi has done a lot when it comes to health care and we have seen a lot of improvement in hospitals within Kiambu. I am hoping he keeps the momentum and addresses health matters in the County,’ Maina said.

The Kiambu Afya programme launched in October last year is enabling area residents to access healthcare services at an affordable cost. Over 300,000 people were registered in the first phase.

The programme is a collaboration between the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) and the Kiambu County government, offering an affordable healthcare package to recipients.

Residents who enroll in the programme could access in-patient services at accredited government hospitals. Outpatient care is also included in the package and the programme also provides enhanced coverage for chronic conditions such as hypertension and diabetes.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The Federation of Women lawyers (FIDA), supported by USAID-ELGIA convened a public participation forum involving Machakos County Assembly women caucus in an open dialogue between female leaders and the public to discuss issues relating to women leadership and governance.

Virginia Kibunja, a Programme Officer from FIDA while speaking to the media at the Machakos Social Hall, emphasised that the forum was meant to bring women together and discuss how to eliminate barriers that hinder them from political participation.

Kibunja highlighted FIDA’s objective to encourage active engagement of citizens in the democratic process by providing a platform for them to voice their concerns, provide feedback and contribute to governance and legal reform process.

She added Machakos was chosen as a host because of its top women leadership and FIDA was committed to making the citizens understand their role in promoting women in leadership and how to deal with the challenges facing them.

Kibunja also said the federation wa
s assessing the progress and achievements made by the women leaders since they rose to power in the last one year

‘We have worked with the Machakos County Assembly where we have conducted membership training with them and helped the women in capacity building that will equip them effectively to come up with gender responsive legislation,’ said Kibunja.

She noted that financial constraints were one of the key constraints that women seeking leadership in Kenya face.

Others are stereotyping and social norms that Kibunja said needed to be tackled to promote women to more leadership positions by 2027.

‘Electoral based violence was also mentioned in the forum and online bullying during campaigns and voting process discouraged the majority of the women from vying for the political seats,’ she added.

A similar public participation forum is also being carried out in other counties such as Nakuru and Kirinyaga to enhance accountability and responsiveness in women governance and leadership and also to increase enga
gement of citizens in the democratic process.

On her part Machakos County Assembly Speaker Ann Kiusya reiterated that cultural norms are some of the challenges that women face while seeking political seats.

‘Women are capable of leadership and can achieve great things when supported, as the Speaker of the County Assembly of Machakos I am equal to the task and have been doing my work well,’ added Kiusya.

She decried the low number of elected female members of the County Assembly and encouraged the community to support women and fill the gap of women leadership in the country.

FIDA is a nonprofit non-partisan membership organization whose vision in society is to uphold and respect the rights of women and to also promote women’s individual and collective power to claim their rights in all spheres of life.

FIDA has also established itself as a leading advocate for democracy, good governance and the empowerment of women in leadership roles nationwide.

Source: Kenya News Agency