News from Malawi
State Department for Gender and Affirmative Action Principal Secretary, Anne Wang’ombe, keenly listens to proceedings at Langalanga High School. The PS called on the students to protect one another and desist from gender-based violence.
Source: Kenya News Agency
Interior and National Administration Cabinet Secretary (CS) Prof. Kithure Kindiki has urged Kenyans to support President William Ruto, even as the government seeks to rebuild public trust in its service delivery to the citizenry.
Speaking during the launch of the Fourth Medium Term Plan (MTP-IV) 2023-2027 framework, held at Chuka University, in Tharaka Nithi County, Kindiki explained that the government may seem to have done little in the first two years of Kenya Kwanza administration, mainly due to economic challenges facing the country.
‘In the first two years, we have not been able to do much in way of development projects. The government was mainly involved in paying debts and stabilizing the economy, but now going forward you are going to see the president and other top government officials come here, not just to visit, but also to launch and commission the various projects the government will be rolling out in the next financial year,’ he said.
In his remarks, the CS drummed up support for the Kenya
Finance Bill 2024, while giving a commitment that the government was working to ensure they revive and complete stalled projects as well as commission new ones.
He also noted that the government was on course to lower the dollar value even further, a move that will have a big effect in the economy and livelihoods of Kenyans, who depend much on imported products, since the manufacturing capacity of the country is still low.
‘I want to thank Kenyans for their patience and I bring a message of hope that the worst days are now behind us. Going forward, elected leaders will have something to tell the people. They will have a project to witness to completion, before the end of their terms, now that things are better. The country was in debt and was almost bankrupt, but now we are not in a bad place,’ reiterated Kindiki.
The CS called for unity, saying anyone who undermines the stability and unity of Kenya, was an enemy of the country.
He asked political leaders to prioritize peace and respect, and avoid incitin
g Kenyans along tribal lines.
Kindiki, who has mainly been meeting security officers in his first two years as CS, said his ministry would prioritize more Town Hall meetings as part of public participation now that the government was stable.
He further asked security and national government officers to be diligent in their service delivery.
‘I know many of you are doing a good job, but the few of us who are not aligned with public interest, we will have to ask you to look for something else to do. We will not transfer you because transferring you is transferring one problem from one county to another and that is not right’, the CS said.
He disclosed that the President would be visiting Tharaka Nithi County in three weeks’ time for a development tour of the region.
Tharaka Member of Parliament George Gitonga Murugara in his remarks criticized the ‘One Man, One Vote, One Shilling’ campaign saying every region has the right to progress and develop, not at the expense of others, but as integral part of the l
arger country.
Murugara, who also chairs the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee, said 18 counties were at the risk of getting a reduced allocation if the formula was adopted.
‘Tharaka Nithi is a small county with a small population and a small county revenue allocation. If we implement the one man, one shilling, one vote formula, we will lose 1.4 billion as a county. The same will affect more than 18 other counties, which will lose what they have been receiving. We should be talking about county allocations going up. Let us continue giving counties the money they are receiving and even increase the allocations in the future,’ he said.
His Chuka/Igambang’ombe counterpart Patrick Munene said the President had given a directive that each constituency receive Sh50 million for rural electrification projects, where he asked Kenyans to support the Finance Bill to facilitate the implementation of these and even more projects.
Munene called on elected leaders to be accountable for public funds, which are sourced
from the taxpayer, and asked county governments to align their projects to the government’s ministerial budget allocations.
The MP also drummed up support for less developed counties to be considered in the revenue sharing formula and called for unity in the country.
‘Let us stop tribalism. The bottom-up model should improve counties which are less developed. We have come from bad times as a country and tribalism shouldn’t be a topic in Kenya anymore,’ he said.
Among the priority projects for Tharaka Nithi County in the Fourth Medium Term Plan (MTP-IV) 2023-2027 framework are the completion of the county headquarters, digitalization of all payments into government to increase revenue collection, Financing Locally led Climate Action Programme, the Credit Guarantee Scheme, and Aquaculture Business Development Programme.
Also present were Principal Secretaries Patrick Kilemi (Cooperatives and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development) and Betsy Njagi (Blue Economy), who presented the County Specific pr
ogrammes in the MTP-IV that covers the period 2023-2027.
Source: Kenya News Agency
The government has put in place measures to increase milk production from the current 5 billion to 11 billion litres per year by 2027.
Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi has said there is a two-pronged approach that will see farmers being provided with sexed semen for herd growth and credit so as to produce enough nutritious feeds for dairy animals.
The CS said funds that farmers can borrow to grow fodder have been availed to the Agricultural Finance Corporation.
He said through the semen subsidy program farmers will be able to acquire semen that will only yield heifers at Sh2900 per insemination, compared to the current market rate of Sh7, 000 to Sh9, 000.
Linturi was speaking to tea farmers at Rukuriri Tea Factory in Embu, where he said it was the government’s intention to help the farmers to diversify so as improve their incomes and shield themselves from tea market shocks.
The CS assured farmers that the government will not interfere with their forthcoming electio
ns, saying that they will work with those the farmers will elect.
He said the sector reforms started by the government five years ago had yielded better governance in the sector. Among the reforms is the removal of weighted voting where people with more tea wielded more votes than those with a few bushes.
Linturi said the shift to the in-demand orthodox teas would increase farmers’ incomes and eventually boost the crop’s contribution to the GDP of the country which currently stands at 4 per cent.
Linturi revisited the fake fertilizer issue and distanced himself from the scandal.
He said the issue was clouded in lies and propaganda and that he had nothing to do with the fake product.
‘I do not manufacture fertilizer,’ he quipped.
The Kenya Tea Development Agency national Chairman Enos Njeru urged the government to remove all taxes on tea packaging materials, saying the taxes had hampered value addition in the tea sector and slowed down domestic tea sales.
Njeru said it was his board’s intention to raise
tea total farmer payouts from the current Sh60 to Sh85 in the near future and eventually to more than Sh100.
Source: Kenya News Agency
The rift valley regional commissioner Dr. Abdi Hassan has warned that the government will not hesitate to take stern action against criminals who were attacking and killing security officers on duty.
The RC said while insecurity cases had drastically reduced as a result of efforts by both government and wananchi, there were disturbing cases of criminals killing police officers especially in the Marakwet region.
Speaking in Iten, Dr. Hassan said the government had deployed police officers in the area to maintain peace so that residents can go about their daily activities and said it was sad that the criminals were turning against the officers.
He therefore called on police officers to apply what they were trained to do saying they should not take chances when attacked by armed criminals.
‘If an officer is armed and is confronted by an armed criminal, then according to their training, they know what they should do,’ he said.
In the recent past two police officers, one in Mogil and another in Arror were kil
led by criminals while in another incident a police vehicle was burnt.
Hassan called on the area residents to discard practices that do not add any value to their lives saying in the current era, people fight intellectually and not physically.
The RC appealed to wananchi to support the officers in their work of ending banditry in the region so that they can engage in development activities saying the area was well endowed agriculturally not only to feed themselves but the rest of the country.
He warned the criminals that the government would nab them saying while it may seem to be slow it was sure that it will get them whatever it takes.
He said the government will hunt them even if they hide in caves and flush them out and deal with them accordingly.
Source: Kenya News Agency
After a six-month rehabilitation program under the Office of the Deputy President’s spouse, Pastor Dorcas Rigathi, 65 reformed addicts have a new lease life.
The 65 include seven women, who were part of the program at Eden house and Reach out rehabilitation centres in Mombasa County.
The reformed addicts were identified when Pastor Dorcas toured drug dens in Shimamzi in Mombasa.
She later organized a medical camp at the Railways dispensary and Miritini December last year for the identification of addicts, who needed rehabilitation.
Most of the addicts had lost hope of recovering from the shackles of drug abuse. Some were separated from their loved ones, while one of them had been fired from work.
The Deputy President’s spouse could not hide her joy, on seeing the transformation in the men and women, who had previously abused drugs for years.
She noted that some of the reformed addicts were admitted to the facilities with their families.
‘The lives of our children are very precious and we must save them
regardless of our differences. When I look at you (Religious leaders) I see the solution to the challenges facing our children. We must save our generation,’ she said.
Pastor Dorcas further called for a multi-sectoral approach to tackle drug and substance abuse in the Coast region, while religious leaders were urged to shun stigma to persons living with HIV/AIDs.
‘Use pulpits to deliver messages of hope,’ said Pastor Dorcas, urging the clerics to open their doors to boys and men to get guidance.
In retrospect, the Deputy President’s spouse recalled her humble upbringing in Kiandutu slums saying it’s her responsibility to help drug addicts recover.
‘I have a vision for a better Kenya for the boy child. I have a vision for them,’ she emphasized.
Medical Services PS Harry Kimtai lauded Pastor Dorcas efforts in saving the boy child.
The PS promised that some of the reformed men will be trained as trainers by the National Syndemic Diseases Control Council (NSDCC).
‘I appreciate your efforts in bridging the
gender gaps that stand in the way to realize our ambitious goal. Your leadership to galvanize religious leaders across faith as represented here today is commendable,’ said Kimtai.
Kisauni Sub-County Deputy county commissioner Jamleck Mbuba promised that chiefs will work closely with the religious leaders to combat drugs and substance abuse menace.
‘The battle is not over, but we have made strides. Let’s join hands and end the drug menace,’ said Mbuba.
On his part, Ushindi Baptist Church Bishop Joseph Maisha said the addicts were in bad state before they were rehabilitated.
‘They had lost hope, but now I see the work that has been done and as a region we are proud,’ said Bishop Maisha.
Sheikh Rashid Swaleh echoed Maisha’s sentiments calling for cooperation in the fight against alcohol, drugs and substance abuse.
Evelyn Watere and her husband have been heroin addicts for more than two decades. They were both rescued and joined the rehabilitation program during the visit by Pastor Dorcas at the Shimanzi d
rug den.
‘I have been trying to get out of the addiction for years in vain, but when Mama Dorcas rescued us I have now been transformed,’ said Watere.
Another reformed addict and a counsellor by profession Boniface Ndirangu said he will now go back to his job.
At least 2000 religious leaders from Mombasa, Kilifi, Kwale, Lamu, Taita Taveta and Tana River counties were sensitized on prevention and treatment for HIV, drugs, alcohol, and substance abuse among boys and men.
Source: Kenya News Agency
The Government is working to root out all rogue diaspora jobs agents to ensure prospective job applicants are not swindled of their money.
The Director General of the International conferences, Media Events, and Public Communications in the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Amb Isaiah Kabira said the Ministry of labour will streamline the sector to ensure only genuine agencies are operating in the country.
He however advised prospective job seekers and their families to only pay to agencies they are sure about to avoid being conned.
Amb Kabira was speaking at the Embu Moi Stadium during the first day of a three-day Mt East Jobs Fair that opened its doors on Wednesday.
More than 3000 youths turned up during the first day of the fair organized by the State Departments for Labour, Diaspora Affairs and Technical and Vocational Training (TVET) together with the County Government of Embu.
The fair brought together Diaspora job agents and TVET institutions officials from government institutions who sen
sitized the youths on what they need to do to secure jobs abroad.
Embu Woman Representative Njoki Njeru challenges the youth to get in-demand skills to be able to get the jobs abroad.
She said it would be foolhardy for anyone to go out there without marketable skills, adding that such people were the ones that ended up suffering abroad.
She pointed out that besides training Kenyans to acquire desired skills, the country’s TVET institutions had a program to certify skilled workers who lacked papers.
Source: Kenya News Agency