Category: General

Opuwo – In a gesture of appreciation, Opuwo Mayor Rosa Mbinge-Tjeundo has lauded some senior citizens of Opuwo for their consistent payment of monthly water bills, rates, and taxes. The commendation was made during the council’s end-of-year pensioners’ ceremony on Wednesday, which recognized the elderly for their valuable contributions to the community.

According to Namibia Press Agency (NAMPA), the pensioners’ commitment to fulfilling their financial obligations sets a commendable example for the community, fostering a sense of civic responsibility essential for the town’s growth. She highlighted that their diligence in paying bills sustains community operations and facilitates improved services and amenities.

The mayor underscored the impact of these responsible actions, stating they lay the foundation for Opuwo’s development and enhance the quality of life for all residents. She encouraged the senior citizens to continue their exemplary conduct in bill payments, emphasizing that such collective efforts enable the council to ensure the town’s ongoing development and provision of essential services.

Lucius Kaare Mupya, chairperson of the council’s management committee, also addressed the gathering. He cautioned residents, especially the elderly, about the process of land purchases, warning against fraudulent deals that could lead to financial losses. Mupya advised following proper procedures to avoid being victimized by dishonest land sellers.

He reiterated the council’s focus on all inhabitants, including the elderly, and called for collective efforts to improve Opuwo. Mupya stressed the importance of being responsible citizens, advocating for collaboration in building the town rather than engaging in destructive actions.

In a gesture of gratitude, the council distributed food parcels to 170 elderly individuals. The parcels, worth a total of N.dollars 28,000, included essential items like maize, sugar, soup, cooking oil, beans, coffee, and tea, symbolizing the council’s appreciation for the seniors’ contributions to the community.

Hustler fund loan borrowing scheme has awarded the best-performing utilizer. This was the first prize-giving function which came 12 months after it was launched back in November 2022.

Harrison Kenga, the awarded citizen, received an impromptu congratulatory call a few weeks back from the President, with words of encouragement as he was awarded a brand new Tuk Tuk and also a state house invitation in Nairobi.

Kenga, the Hustler Fund Initiative award winner was jubilant for emerging the best among the utilizers of the loan scheme, having been a regular borrower from a limit of as low as Sh800 without defaulting and reaching a maximum loan limit of Sh50,000.

‘The hustler fund loan initiative is true, very economical, and easy to pay,’ said Kenga.

The Hustler Fund initiative was a positive economic gesture by the President to help medium and small-scale entrepreneurs get fast and reliable loans at low interest rates to finance their hustles.

The award ceremony was graced by the Cabinet Secretary for Co-oper
atives and Micro-Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Simon Chelugui in Mombasa who encouraged entrepreneurs to fully utilize the hustler fund pointing out that there is an increment in loan limit as well as a saving scheme with a lower interest rate of 8 percent.

‘The government took this initiative to cut the cost of borrowing which was estimated at 365 percent annually’, said CS Chelugui.

In addition to the President’s tuk-tuk award, CS Chelugui donated Sh50,000 for Kenga’s tuk-tuk fuel for showing resilience in the Hustler fund loan initiative.

‘I want to take this opportunity to thank the President for blessing me with this award, the hustler fund has been very helpful to me’, added Kenga.

Entrepreneurs or anyone can borrow hustler fund loans from a low limit of 500 shillings and a maximum of 50,000 shillings upon timely loan reimbursement or without defaulting.

About 3,658 women from three Arid and Semi-Arid counties of Kitui, West Pokot, and Laikipia are thriving through the use of modern farming technologies for sustainable livelihood.

The UN Women Kenya representative Ms. Annah Mutabati speaking in Nanyuki during a workshop on economic empowerment of women through climate smart agriculture technology, said that women from ASAL areas lived in abject poverty that was coupled with cultural values and illiteracy that denied them opportunities for land ownership, access of loans facilities and education.

‘Women live in abject poverty and our role is to work with partners to uplift them. Some of those challenges are patriarchal values that view women as second-class citizens therefore denying them opportunities,’ said Ms Mutabati.

She noted that stakeholders including the Korean government, and the Food Agricultural Organization (FAO) had partnered in a bid to support women in ASAL counties and alleviate poverty through agriculture.

‘We want to lift the participat
ing counties of Laikipia,West Pokot, and Kitui out of poverty since this project was started after research was conducted on the challenges women face,’ revealed Ms Mutabati.

The Korean International and Cooperation Agency (KOICA) through the UN Women and Food Agricultural Organization had invested about $4.4 million to promote women in the three ASALs counties to practice Climate Smart farming.

The KOICA, Kenya Director Janghee Im said that women were economically empowered as compared to previous years.

‘There are many success stories of poultry farming after they lose their livestock due to drought. They are now able to survive through the use of climate-smart agriculture. In the future, we are looking for a sustainable impact,’ said IM.

He noted women had grappled with poverty but with climate farming, they were practicing poultry farming, kitchen gardening, beekeeping, and goat rearing to support their families.

West Pokot County Executive Committee Member (CECM) in charge of Agriculture Wilfred Lon
gronyang said that women were involved in table banking to supplement their income.

The CEC revealed that, following capacity building by the UN Women and other partners, the women in West Pokot took center stage in leadership positions and decision-making for their enviable benefit.

His Kitui counterpart Dr. Stephen Kimwele said that women groups using Climate farming technologies had increased yields and at the same noted there was a need to empower women for economic growth.

Windhoek – The City of Windhoek Council has introduced a significant debt relief programme to aid eligible residents and businesses, amounting to a total of N.dollars 524 million. This initiative was announced in a press release on Tuesday by the city’s spokesperson Lydia Amutenya.

According to Namibia Press Agency (NAMPA), the debt relief programme, set to commence in 2024, will offer complete interest cancellation of 100 percent for pensioners and 50 percent for businesses, residential debtors, and other debtors. This decision aims to assist residents in managing their financial obligations and promote regular bill payments. The necessity for this programme arose as the City’s Debt Book escalated from N.dollars 677 million in 2018 to N.dollars 1.2 billion in 2023. In 2018, the council had implemented a similar debt write-off of N.dollars 191 million for pensioners and vulnerable residents. However, the financial hardships faced by many due to the COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in unpaid bills.

In addition to the debt relief announcement, Amutenya noted that the City of Windhoek will officially commence the holiday season by switching on the annual Christmas lights at 19h00 on Friday, marking a festive start for Windhoek residents.

The Directorate of Children Services kicked off a 3-day foster parent training program in line with the Foster Focus week to raise awareness and give appreciation to foster parents and the foster system in the county.

The training aims to provide skills to strengthen the relationships between the foster parents and children and infuse positive parenting techniques to protect children from all forms of harm.

The training will improve the children’s confidence in their skills through exposure to other parents’ experiences as well as sharing their own during the course of their fostering journey.

Hoyd Isadia Director of Alternative Family Care from the Directorate of Children’s Services while opening the training highlighted the importance of alternative care when compared to the institutionalised care services provided by the government.

‘As a ministry through collective international research done over 80 years we have found that children who have been brought up from childhood to adulthood in these gover
nmental and private institutions have issues among them being the lack of personal familial care required to bring up a child,’ he said.

With 12 percent of children aged 3-21 having disabilities in the country according to the Kenya Institute of Special Education (KISE), Isadia emphasised the importance of parents fostering children with disabilities and special needs, as they are the most vulnerable in society and need special care.

‘We continue urging prospective parents to consider these children, we know how in some communities they are shunned and neglected and even killed because of traditional beliefs that are harmful to children who have disabilities, that’s why we must step in and show them the love and care they deserve,’ he added.

Simon Kuria a prospective foster parent said, ‘I have raised 5 children and most have left the house so I wanted to find out if I can make room to foster a child but didn’t know how to go about it, these 3 days will be good for me and my wife to learn and hear the expe
riences of other parents who have been through this journey.’

The foster focus week kicked off with the training of community health promoters (CHPs) on how to address Foster families and how to approach Foster care sensitization in their communities.

The event ends on Friday with a family fun day that will celebrate the foster parents and foster children in the county.

Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI) is set to be established in Kakamega County to serve the larger Western Region.

County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Agriculture, Livestock, fisheries, and cooperatives Benjamin Andama said the project will be supported by the County Government.

Andama said they are in talks with KMFRI to facilitate the project and the county government will provide land for the project.

‘The Centre will undertake the construction and operationalization roles while the county government will offer land for construction,’ he said.

The CECM said the project has already received substantial support from the World Bank which intends to extend the services to other regions under the Blue Economy program.

‘We recently visited KMFRI offices in Mombasa for benchmarking purposes and held talks with the Institution’s Officials led by the CEO James Njiru,’ he said.

He said the project will involve the construction of a Fish feed processing plant, Fingerlings production
and Aqua Laboratory.

The CECM also revealed that they will offer capacity building to farmers as well as linking them to available markets.

Kakamega County has made tremendous strides in the promotion of the blue economy through the enhancement of fish farming.