Day: May 16, 2024

The plaque that was unveiled by President William Ruto on February 16, 2024 during the ground breaking ceremony for the Nyeri Blue Valley Affordable Housing project in Nyeri town constituency.

Source: Kenya News Agency

A sombre mood engulfed Suba South Sub County as four landslide victims were laid to rest in Kaksingri West location.

Suba South Member of Parliament Caroli Omondi led the residents in a requiem mass in Sindo town.

The deceased were identified as Moses Otieno, 5, Evidon Otieno,7, Calvince Otieno, 12, and Alice Orutha, 42. Among those who perished were three children belonging to one family.

The prayer service was also attended by Members of Parliament Gideon Ochanda (Bondo), Daniel Manduku (Nyaribari Masaba) and Homa Bay County Executive Member for education Martin Opere as well as local area Deputy County Commissioner Sebastian Okiring.

Residents mourned the deceased persons as people whose lives were cut prematurely due to climate change affects.

The family of Silvance Otieno Okang’a and his wife Benta Otieno who lost the three children in the incident were overwhelmed by emotions.

Daniel Okang’a, an uncle the deceased children, said the family also lost five houses and crops in the farmland during the
landslide.

He called on leaders and the government to help his brother’s family.

‘Apart from the three children, my brother who was also injured lost five houses and crops in the farm. This family needs a lot of financial and material support,’ Okang’a said.

The leaders who attended the prayer service attributed the landslide to environmental degradation on Gwassi Hills and called for urgent measures to conserve Gwassi Forest.

Omondi told the residents to plant trees in large numbers. ‘The landslide moved stones the size of a probox vehicle a distance of more than 200 metres and demolished homesteads. It was of unprecedented magnitude in this area,’ the legislator said.

He said they were going to collaborate with the Kenya Forest Service to start a massive programme of planting avocado trees on Gwassi Hills to help in environmental conservation as well as generate income.

‘I am in talks with the National Government to conserve Gwassi Hills. We are going to focus more on fruit trees to accord residents a
source of livelihood,’ Omondi said noting that the trees would combat the adverse effects of climate change.

Climate change is real and we must put measures in place to prevent it. We require concerted efforts for conserving Gwassi Hills,’ Omondi said.

He promised to lobby for 3000 pieces of iron sheet from the government to help families whose houses were destroyed by the landslide.

‘I am also launching distribution relief food today for the families which were affected by the floods,’ Omondi said.

Opere, who represented Governor Gladys Wanga in the function, said the county government would construct the roads which were destroyed by the floods in the area.

‘I call on the clergy to pray for our people to prevent recurrence of this type of a calamity,’ Opere said.

Manduku promised to donate 5000 trees when tree planting begins in Gwassi Hills.

Meanwhile, Ochanda urged residents to avoid human activities in landslide prone areas. ‘Anybody who lives in an area prone to landslides and flooding should mov
e,’ Ochanda said.

Source: Kenya News Agency

A sombre mood engulfed Suba South Sub County as four landslide victims were laid to rest in Kaksingri West location.

Suba South Member of Parliament Caroli Omondi led the residents in a requiem mass in Sindo town.

The deceased were identified as Moses Otieno, 5, Evidon Otieno,7, Calvince Otieno, 12, and Alice Orutha, 42. Among those who perished were three children belonging to one family.

The prayer service was also attended by Members of Parliament Gideon Ochanda (Bondo), Daniel Manduku (Nyaribari Masaba) and Homa Bay County Executive Member for education Martin Opere as well as local area Deputy County Commissioner Sebastian Okiring.

Residents mourned the deceased persons as people whose lives were cut prematurely due to climate change affects.

The family of Silvance Otieno Okang’a and his wife Benta Otieno who lost the three children in the incident were overwhelmed by emotions.

Daniel Okang’a, an uncle the deceased children, said the family also lost five houses and crops in the farmland during the
landslide.

He called on leaders and the government to help his brother’s family.

‘Apart from the three children, my brother who was also injured lost five houses and crops in the farm. This family needs a lot of financial and material support,’ Okang’a said.

The leaders who attended the prayer service attributed the landslide to environmental degradation on Gwassi Hills and called for urgent measures to conserve Gwassi Forest.

Omondi told the residents to plant trees in large numbers. ‘The landslide moved stones the size of a probox vehicle a distance of more than 200 metres and demolished homesteads. It was of unprecedented magnitude in this area,’ the legislator said.

He said they were going to collaborate with the Kenya Forest Service to start a massive programme of planting avocado trees on Gwassi Hills to help in environmental conservation as well as generate income.

‘I am in talks with the National Government to conserve Gwassi Hills. We are going to focus more on fruit trees to accord residents a
source of livelihood,’ Omondi said noting that the trees would combat the adverse effects of climate change.

Climate change is real and we must put measures in place to prevent it. We require concerted efforts for conserving Gwassi Hills,’ Omondi said.

He promised to lobby for 3000 pieces of iron sheet from the government to help families whose houses were destroyed by the landslide.

‘I am also launching distribution relief food today for the families which were affected by the floods,’ Omondi said.

Opere, who represented Governor Gladys Wanga in the function, said the county government would construct the roads which were destroyed by the floods in the area.

‘I call on the clergy to pray for our people to prevent recurrence of this type of a calamity,’ Opere said.

Manduku promised to donate 5000 trees when tree planting begins in Gwassi Hills.

Meanwhile, Ochanda urged residents to avoid human activities in landslide prone areas. ‘Anybody who lives in an area prone to landslides and flooding should mov
e,’ Ochanda said.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Residents of Vihiga County have been urged to embrace and join cooperative societies in a bid to improve their living standards and be empowered economically.

In an interview with KNA in his office on Thursday, Vihiga County Cooperative commissioner, Francis Kisia called on residents to join and embrace cooperative societies which will empower them economically and improve their living standards.

Kisia said there are 197 registered cooperative societies out of which 102 are active calling on those that are inactive to become active so that they can tap and make use of the rich resources in the county.

‘I encourage all the inactive cooperative societies to wake up and serve residents because this will help improve their living standards and they can also borrow loans and venture in development activities,’ said Kisia.

He said the total membership is 30,333 with a share capital of Sh. 81Million and deposits of Sh. 230Million and total loans of Sh. 205Million.

The commissioner added that the cooperative soc
ieties are in various categories including SACCOs, coffee, soya, banana, dairy, Housing, handicraft, mining, piggery, transport, vegetables, poultry, consumer, multipurpose, horticulture, mushroom, hibiscus, worker cooperative and farmer market.

Kisia said those in agricultural based societies can access farm inputs through their cooperatives, which will shield them against the hard economic times.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Residents of Vihiga County have been urged to embrace and join cooperative societies in a bid to improve their living standards and be empowered economically.

In an interview with KNA in his office on Thursday, Vihiga County Cooperative commissioner, Francis Kisia called on residents to join and embrace cooperative societies which will empower them economically and improve their living standards.

Kisia said there are 197 registered cooperative societies out of which 102 are active calling on those that are inactive to become active so that they can tap and make use of the rich resources in the county.

‘I encourage all the inactive cooperative societies to wake up and serve residents because this will help improve their living standards and they can also borrow loans and venture in development activities,’ said Kisia.

He said the total membership is 30,333 with a share capital of Sh. 81Million and deposits of Sh. 230Million and total loans of Sh. 205Million.

The commissioner added that the cooperative soc
ieties are in various categories including SACCOs, coffee, soya, banana, dairy, Housing, handicraft, mining, piggery, transport, vegetables, poultry, consumer, multipurpose, horticulture, mushroom, hibiscus, worker cooperative and farmer market.

Kisia said those in agricultural based societies can access farm inputs through their cooperatives, which will shield them against the hard economic times.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) is putting up mechanisms to curb corruption menace in the country.

The agency wants to recover public properties especially land taken away unlawfully by corrupt individuals.

Speaking in an interview with the media in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County during a joint workshop that brought together representatives from Kisumu, Vihiga and Elgeyo Marakwet County Assemblies and County Public Service Boards, EACC spokesperson, Mr. Eric Ngumbi indicated that the initiative is part of a programme to be implemented in all counties to tame the increasing challenge of theft of public funds and grabbing of public assets.

The commission met with stakeholders to discuss proper strategies to be adopted in line with managing the monster of corruption that is ruining the integrity of the public institutions.

He underscored that corruption remains a serious threat in the country hence affecting service delivery to the citizens.

In regard to the status of corruption in the North r
ift region, the EACC spokesperson revealed that the commission has recovered public property worth Sh3.2 billion in Eldoret, which had been in the hands of grabbers.

‘In Eldoret the EACC has been able to re-acquire land that was grabbed, the total sum of land re-acquired from grabbers sums to a total of Sh.3.2 billion. The grabbed land originally belonged to the Judiciary, Uasin Gishu County Referral hospital, County Fire Station and Administration Police of which is now reinstated to respective institutions,’ he noted.

Ngumbi further alluded that the commission is currently undertaking investigations on 97 other properties worth Sh 7.4 billion currently in private hands in Eldoret Town for recovery and return to the public.

He noted that after concluding the investigation on the 97 pieces of land, they will serve the holders with notice to surrender the land voluntarily to the original institutions, failure to which will result to court action.

‘There will be criminal proceedings in respect to the Depart
ment of Lands officials, who facilitated the acquisition of these parcels of land. Because even after land is re-acquired back to the government, they conspire to re-grab it,’ he said.

Ngumbi issued a stern warning to such public officials conspiring with grabbers that strict action will be taken against them as he insisted that involvement in wrongdoing will not go unaccounted for.

He explained that, in addition to recommending suspects of land grabbing to the Director of Public Prosecution [DPP] for prosecution, EACC will recover public property acquired through corrupt means, unexplained wealth, and others.

In its efforts to tame corruption in North rift, the commission is monitoring the ongoing development of county budgets for the next financial year 2024/2025 due to increased cases where County Assemblies collude with officers on the County Executive for corruption, largely through allocation of budget for already existing projects or projects that are not intended for execution, as a mechanism for s
tealing public funds.

Additionally, on the ongoing floods, the authority is monitoring all public officials tasked with management of funds designated for containment of the current floods’ disaster in the country in order to ensure accountable and prudent use of the resources and at the same time Accounting Officers to be held personally liable for any mismanagement of the resources.

EACC has also undertaken Corruption Risk Assessment and examination of systems, policies, procedures and methods of work in Moi University and identified the systemic weaknesses and loopholes conducive to corruption and unethical conduct in the University.

The Commission has since handed over the Report to the University with reform recommendations for implementation. Notably, public universities are now hotbeds for corruption and unethical practices.

‘We have been focusing on counties alone and forgetting that our institutions of higher learning, the public Universities, are now becoming hotbeds for corruption. We have cond
ucted what is called corruption risk assessment in order to help our universities to fight corruption and to be able to identify loopholes that bring corruption and to see ways of closing the loopholes,’ noted the EACC spokesperson.

‘The report that we have given the university already has revealed a lot of loopholes and weaknesses that are systemic in nature that allow corruption and unethical conduct including the risk of the integrity in the examinations taking place but we are working with the university to assist them in sealing those loopholes,’ he added.

EACC’s North rift Regional Manager, Charles Rasugu in his remarks decried the increasing trends of corruption and unethical practices adding that, the high level of land grabbing in Eldoret town threatens the proposed city status which requires adequate space for various facilities.

He decried the increasing trends of corruption and unethical practices that had permeated the higher education sector with the risk of destroying the foundation of the c
ountry’s present and future development as he called upon the participants to lead the way in combating and preventing issues of fake academic credentials, bribery, conflict of interest and examination malpractices.

Source: Kenya News Agency