Day: May 3, 2024

The heavy rainfall and resulting flooding in the country has caused significant damage and loss of life, and experts are concerned about a potential increase in waterborne diseases as the floods continue to destroy properties, roads, and infrastructure.

Dr Elias Mwangi, CECM of Health Services Kiambu County pointed out that floods have led to the displacement of people and exacerbated poor sanitation and it was therefore crucial to implement proper planning to address these issues before they escalate.

Dr. Mwangi was speaking during an exercise in Juja where the county distributed chlorine-based aqua tabs for household water treatment, water jerricans, bar soap and buckets to members of the public.

He sounded the alarm about a looming disaster and encouraged families living in high-risk areas to stay vigilant in order to reduce their chances of coming into contact with contaminated water.

The Health Executive specifically highlighted the risk for households with pit latrines, cautioning that flooding cou
ld cause overflow and pollute water sources, increasing the likelihood of waterborne illnesses.

‘During this season of heavy rains and floods, it is essential to prioritize WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) initiatives to mitigate health risks and ensure the well-being of communities. Health risks are elevated during floods due to the flooding of latrines in affected areas leading to the contamination of above ground water with faecal matter.’

‘The problem is significantly worse in urban areas with existing waste disposal issues as this is when waterborne diseases become a ticking time bomb. It is vital for individuals to remain cautious about their health and anyone having symptoms such as abdominal pain, high fever, vomiting and diarrhoea should seek medical help as soon as possible,’ he said.

Dr. Mwangi called for immediate action and assistance from governmental and non-governmental organizations in tackling the looming crises citing that unsafe water and inadequate sanitation would aggravate the t
ransmission of waterborne diseases, posing serious health risks to individuals, adding that without prompt medical intervention, these diseases would lead to severe illness and death.

Waterborne diseases, including cholera, typhoid, dysentery, and hepatitis A, are caused by tiny organisms like viruses and bacteria. These harmful organisms can enter the body through polluted water or through contact with waste material containing the virus.

He explained that in areas affected by the disaster, a major challenge is obtaining clean, uncontaminated water, and urged individuals to avoid drinking water from unknown sources, to boil water before consumption, to steer clear of uncooked foods, and to wash hands thoroughly with soap and water.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Nakuru County’s Department of Health is conducting a comprehensive review of the implementation progress of the Kenya Electronic Medical Records (EMR) roadmap, a project that seeks to digitize all medical records and help the county go paperless with the support of USAID, Health IT initiative.

This collaborative effort aims to enhance digital health solutions across the county, ensuring streamlined and efficient healthcare delivery aligning with the deployment of a robust digital system in healthcare to ensure efficiency in patient management, and transparency in resource utilization.

The County Director for ICT Leonard Kirui today commended USAID for supporting Nakuru County with developing and deploying EMRs through capacity building and technical support.

He noted that this review aims to empower the County managers implement health automation to embrace the latest cutting-edge technology for improved healthcare outcomes.

Additionally, he said once the EMR is implemented countrywide, no patient would
be required to walk around with x-rays in envelopes or any other medical records since everything would be available at the touch of the button.

In the past, expectant mothers and other patients were required to carry cards which held records of the progress of their pregnancy, and once they gave birth, they were added another card indicating the birth date of the infant and they were required to carry it until all the immunization jabs were completed.

Unfortunately, the mothers who lost the cards were not only scolded by the nurses but some simply stopped taking the babies for the remaining vaccinations, which sometimes led to infant mortality.

Furthermore, Kirui said the EMR would ensure every child born in the country completes their immunisation and the dates of birth would be immortalized and that would enable even those born in remote areas get to know their exact birthdays instead of being told, ‘oh you were born during the rainy season or famine’.

Present during the training were the County Direct
or for Health Administration and Planning Dr Joy Mugambi, technical officers from the County, and Health IT and IT experts from the University of Nairobi.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The construction sector in Kenya is poised for a major take-off as the government inches closer to signing a Sh2.5 billion mining investment deal with a private investor that will see the establishment of a granite processing plant at Emwatsi village in Vihiga County.

Construction of the state-of-the-art granite processing facility is part of the government’s policy that focuses on establishment of Kenya-based value addition and mineral-processing centers.

A five-acre land parcel where the plant will be built has already been acquired and land ownership documents processed.

With negotiations complete, the State and the investor, Equip Agencies Limited, are only awaiting to sign this historic contract to allow the project to kick off.

This is the first granite plant in Kenya where the government will have a minimum of 10 percent stake according to the Mining Act 2016.

State Department for Mining Principal Secretary Elijah Mwangi says the granite plant is expected to contribute significantly to the growth
of the processing of construction minerals in in Kenya.

He adds that the aggressive push and relentless hunt by the mining department for strategic investors is informed by the urgent need to have a robust collaborative framework to help exploit the massive latent potential in the sector.

He notes that the government, keen on promoting local mineral processing, was giving priority to investors who had demonstrated interest and capacity to establish mineral processing facilities in the country.

Such a move would boost the creation of employment opportunities for hundreds of local residents, increase the prices and value of locally-sourced minerals and provide a ready-market for granite excavated by local artisanal miners.

‘The construction of this plant speaks to our singular vision as a department to support the value addition for minerals as we actively create jobs and employment opportunities by putting up mineral processing centers across Kenya,’ explained Mr. Mwangi.

Preliminary data in the study of
geological report indicates that Vihiga County has significant deposits that cover an extensive area of over 250 square kilometers on the southern part. This translates to a granite resource occupying a land size of slightly over 60,000 acres.

The report further shows viable mineral occurrences are located in Hamisi, Emuhaya, Luanda, Sabatia and Vihiga sub-counties. Additional deposits are found in the neighboring counties of Kakamega, Bungoma, Siaya, Nandi, Kisumu and Busia.

Granite is one of the dominant minerals that is heavily utilized in the building and construction sector.

Due to its rigidity, stability and exceptional vibration traits, it is extensively used in engineering. Other common uses of granite include making of kitchen and bathroom countertops, tiles, terrazzo and staircases.

The mineral has been gaining popularity in architectural aesthetics where it is utilized in the making of artistic mantelpieces, statues and monuments. It is also used in designing elaborate pavements, walkways, pede
strian walks and cemetery monuments.

One main sector poised to benefit immensely from the establishment of the granite plant is the housing sector under the government’s Affordable Housing Program.

Being one of the main pillars for Kenya-Kwanza’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), the Affordable Housing Program has set a target of constructing 200,000 housing units annually.

To optimize on the potential of construction material value-chain, the plant is anticipated to support the housing project by supplying processed building materials like rocks, ballast, crusher dust, tiles and related products.

The shift towards locally-processed and manufactured materials for use in government programs is a strategic approach to not only create jobs and market for local products but also support and enhance sustainability of mineral processing through the Buy Kenya-Build Kenya initiative.

Artisanal miners in quarrying and rock-crushing view the plant as a panacea to their perennial challenges of lack o
f market, unemployment and struggling livelihoods.

Mr. Jotham Makokha, the chair of Emwatsi village community, says the impending opening of the granite factory has rekindled optimism amongst the local residents who expect to reap benefits from a resource that is oft looked at as a nuisance.

He adds that most farms are characterized by granite rocky outcrops and massive boulders that hamper effective farming. He points out that local farmers will sell their granite resource to the factory for processing which will clear their land and offer them additional space for agriculture.

‘We are excited because this is a win-win situation for us. They will take the rocks to process and we get extra space for crops. We are also expecting our youths who have been migrating to find jobs in other towns to come home and work here,’ he said.

For the Vihiga County government, the granite plant, once dogged by curse of delays, is now a reality. Governor Dr. Wilbur Ottichilo says the county is not only committed to creatin
g a favorable investment atmosphere for investors but also ready to partner with the national government and partners to promote development in the region.

Stating that the plant was a symbol of the mineral processing capacity in the region, the governor urged investors to exploit other opportunities available in the county for investment.

‘This project will be life-changing for the people of Vihiga and beyond. We are calling for more investors to come and set up shop in this region,’ he said.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Presiding Bishop and President of the Pentecostal Evangelistic Fellowship of Africa (PEFA) Church Kenya, Bishop John Okinda, has urged Kenyans to remain vigilant during the current rainy season that has resulted in several deaths due to flooding.

Speaking from his home village at Ragana, Suna West Sub-County in Migori County, Bishop Okinda expressed concern over the devastating impact of the floods and encouraged both the government and the public to take preventive measures.

Okinda who was recently re-elected as Presiding Bishop and President of PEFA Church Kenya, emphasised the need for caution when crossing flooded areas and urged the government to take steps to manage the floodwaters to prevent further tragedies.

The clergy also called on churches to offer support to those affected by the floods, asking Kenyans to stand together to support victims and their families.

Bishop Dan Rangili echoed the sentiments, emphasising the importance of community solidarity in supporting those who have lost loved on
es or sustained injuries due to the flooding.

He encouraged Kenyans to exercise caution and work together to mitigate the risks posed by the heavy rains.

Migori County has also been affected by the raging floods, especially in Nyatike Sub County where various homes, beaches and schools have been partially submerged in the water.

According to the Migori Red Cross Situational Report of April 26, flooding has affected numerous communities, including Nyora, Aneko, Modi, Angugo, Kabuto, Makongeni and Gingo villages forcing residents to evacuate their homes and seek shelter in safer areas within their communities.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The State Department for Diaspora Affairs yesterday launched an inaugural Diaspora Jobs fair in Meru County that attracted hundreds of youth seeking employment opportunities abroad.

Speaking during the launch, the department’s Principal Secretary (PS) Roseline Njogu said the purpose of the fair was to bring together people with skills and ready for job opportunities abroad and the recruiting agencies who will link them with the available jobs.

She said this was in line with President William Ruto’s manifesto in addressing youth unemployment in the country by collaborating with foreign countries who in turn offer available slots for the country.

‘We have about 520 licensed recruitment agencies and these can be found in the National Employment Authority (NEA) website and 14 crew recruitment agencies who are registered by the Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA).’

‘We urge Kenyans seeking job opportunities abroad to first check whether the agencies they are dealing with are registered by the two institutions befo
re going forward to give them money,’ Ms Njogu cautioned.

She added that in the last 16 months, her department has been very keen to weed out the unregistered agencies as well as punishing those that are registered but are not acting as per regulations.

‘When we started, we had more than 1,200 recruiting agencies but currently we have only 520 after deregistering the ones that were not toeing the line.

This tells you that we are very firm in ensuring that Kenyans are not conned or mistreated by any recruiting agency whatsoever,’ said Ms Njogu.

On the issue of ensuring that the welfare and rights of Kenyans working abroad are protected, the PS said that they have a board that looks into this and that they have already visited about 35 Kenya Consulates, Missions, and Embassies abroad sensitising Kenyans and issuing them with the right documents so that they can travel comfortably whenever they wish to.

‘If you are keen, you will realise distress calls from Kenyans working in the Middle East have reduced in
the last 16 months courtesy of our department’s efforts to ensure that their welfare is taken care of.’

‘We also recently evacuated Kenyans in Israel when war broke out there and it is on record that Kenya was the first country to evacuate her citizens from South Sudan when war broke out. This is what our department is meant to do and we will not relent in protecting our people working abroad,’ said Ms Njogu.

Her Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) counterpart Dr Esther Muoria said their main mandate is to equip young Kenyans with skills that will enable them to get jobs abroad.

She said they have already changed the curricula, ensured there are enough and qualified trainers as well as good space for trainees to acquire the necessary skills.

‘We are actively listening to the diaspora needs in terms of skills so that we can equip our young people with the right ones and ensure that they fit the job market,’ said Dr Muoria.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir has said that electricity production increased from 2,351 MW to 3,312 MW while customer connectivity to electricity incareased from 6.78 million to 9.21 million thus increasing connectivity rate by 75 percent both on-grid and off-grid.

The CS said during the same period, the State Department for Petroleum produced, trucked and delivered 415,032 barrels of crude oil to the Kenya Petroleum Refineries Limited out of which 414,777 barrels were exported.

In a speech read on his behalf by the Principal Secretary, State Department for Energy Mr. Alex Wachira, during the Ministy’s validation workshop Thursday to validate its Draft 2023-2027 Strategic Plan, the Energy Cabinet Secretary said similarly, 319,314 6kg LPG cylinders were procured and distributed to low-income households in Machakos and Kajiado counties on pilot basis as a way of promoting clean cooking.

Chirchir urged the participants to meticulously scrutinize the document to ensure the resultan
t plan resonated with Kenya’s development aspirations.

Wachira revealed that the Ministry was set to collaborate with other government agencies to increase the digital superhighway by aligning the fiber optics to the pipelines.

In a presentation by Chief Economist at the Ministry Lucy Gaithi highlighted that Ministry replanted trees on 1,652 hectares along the hydro catchment areas including establishing 402 woodlots.

Gaithi pointed out that the Ministry promoted the use of alternative renewable energy technologies such as Solar PV systems, Biogas and energy efficient charcoal kilns in support of clean cooking.

The Strategic Plan being validated is aligned to both national, regional and international development instruments such as the Fourth Medium Term Plan, the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), the Kenya Vision 2030, the East Africa Community (EAC) Vision 2050 and Africa Agenda 2063.

Participants at the meeting included representatives from various State Departments and agencies, privat
e sector players and membership organizations in the energy and petroleum sectors.

The Strategic Plan has four Key Result Areas (KRAs) namely: Energy and Petroleum Resource Development, Promotion and Commercialization; Access to Energy and Petroleum products and services: Environmental Sustainability in the sector; and Enabling Environment for the growth of the sector.

Source: Kenya News Agency