- Kivuitu has been holding discussions with various political, diplomatic and other civil groups on the electoral process. The parties interested in competing include the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), Party of National Unity (PNU), Orange Democratic Movement-Kenya (ODM-Kenya), KADU, and AGANO party. There are indications that there may also be independent candidates for the elections. There are 222 constituencies in Kenya, and the population stands at 36 million people with a growth of 2 per cent per annum.Kenyans had their first transitional elections in December 2002, when Mwai Kibaki, the main opposition candidate was elected president by a wide margin beating KANU's Uhuru Kenyatta.Ki…
- The tourism sector has been badly hit by the conflict which has forced major tour operators to cancel their bookings. According to the KATO boss, despite what has happened in the last one week, the tourism sector has remaind operational and Kenya remains a favourable tourist destination. The sector has recorded huge losses in bed occupancy after the country was rocked with post election violence. However, tourists were not directly affected and the hotels continue to register bookings. This is the highest season in Kenya and efforts are underway to attract more tourists and help redeem the image of Kenya as a preferable tourist destination.See more videos on post-election Kenya and on…
- So far, neither government officials nor opposition leaders have reacted. This development occurs as the African Union summit is due to start today in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.In the meantime, the United States has announced that it was considering to freeze more than US$540 million in assistance to Kenya further to the ongoing turmoil in the country. Most of the US assistance aid goes directly to helping improve livelihoods through health care. Speaking in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia The US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer warned that the US was considering alternative measures to deal with the problem in Kenya even if it mean intervention from outside.…
The School of Business and Public Management programme at Mount Kenya University is in the process of setting up a business incubation program with an initial Ksh.4million [US$47, 832] support from the board of trustees of the MKU in an effort to bridge the start-up capital gap that most enterprising graduates face upon graduation. - Professor George Eshiwani, the Pro-chancellor of Mount Kenya University, called on the private sector to collaborate with local universities in developing research capacity and innovation.
Speaking during the first International Conference for the Advancement of Business and Management Practice in Africa (ICABUMPA) 2011 organized by Mount Kenya University, S…
Struggle to access resources and political influence in Southern Sudan could increase violence and threaten the stability of what will soon become Africa's newest nation, warns the Minority Rights Group International. - According to the MRG research, competition between ethnic groups over scarce resources continues to spark violence in Southern Sudan exposing people to a protracted ethnic motivated violence.
Minority groups feel that their interests are not being represented within the political system, and that resources have been diverted to more populous ethnic groups.
“The Government of South Sudan will need to focus on political representation for minorities and an equ…
The total value of mobile money transfers in Africa is estimated to exceed US$200 billion by 2015 representing almost eight percent of Africa's nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP), says Comviva, a global mobile solution firm. - The firm says with more than US$325 billion emitted in 2010 which was up by six percent despite the challenges of economic environment, international money transfers are vital to emerging market economies.
Further, the World Bank estimates that this will increase to US$374 billion by 2012 and will be narrowly second only to foreign direct investments for cash injected into developing markets.
Comviva says its mobiquity product or platform has already deliv…
Humanitarian agencies have warned of a human catastrophe and painted a gloomy picture on the plight of young African immigrants who die while trying to enter parts of the European Union [EU]. Some of the migrants brought to safety on the Italian island of Lampedusa at the weekend say they witnessed a boat carrying between 500-600 people. - The boat was foundering off the Libyan coast late last week and bodies were being washed ashore, according to the migrants. Many more young African men have died on the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean trying to enter Spain enroute to countries in the European Union.
This comes as countries in the EU announced new immigration rules to control …
Nairobi, the capital of East Africa nation of Kenya, is set to host the MMT Africa conference and expo. The conference is expected to attract more than 400 top industry experts, including service providers, banks, central banks and technology vendors. - The event comes as MMT Africa professionals reveal interesting trends in the mobile industry. MMT Africa project director Andrea Monteiro says while mobile money transfer is becoming increasingly important as a revenue generating activity for companies, hick-ups with financial regulators are still a cause for concern.
”More than 75% of those polled said mobile money services had become more important for their companies while mor…
Two high profile meetings are taking place in Africa this week to address the food security that has been threatened by the rise in food prices, drought and the surging fuel prices that have cause unrest in Uganda and threatened the social fabric in Kenya. - In Cape Town, Africa heads of state, agriculture ministers and experts, and leaders from the private sector gather for the presentation of the International Fund for Agricultural Development’s Rural Poverty Report 2011 in Africa, while in Kenya leaders have gathered to address the need for scaling up sustainability through linking school feeding with agriculture development to maximize food security.
In Ghana, the realization …
Kenya is on high alert fearing retaliatory attacks following the killing of al-Qaeda commander and founder Osama bin Laden. The much sought elusive master-mind of global terrorism was killed in a Monday night raid conducted by the elite US Navy Seal brigade inside a resort compound near Pakistan's capital, according to US officials. - Kenya’s Prime Minster Raila Odinga held the attack terming it a ‘victory’ over evil. He told the BBC that the killing of bin Laden is a relief to Kenya’s who lost their loved one. “The killing of Osama bin Laden is a victory to victims and their families and to us as a nation since we have twice faced al-Qaeda related attacks…
It is a rush for food in Southern Sudan as 2.7 million people face food shortage and a looming disease epidemic. The government and humanitarian agencies are crippling with the effects of server hunger and crop failure as the number of returnees from the north continue to flock the dusty farm fields in the South. - The situation in South Sudan’s Central Equatorial paints a stark picture of malnourished children and failed crop. This has prompted the global child rights organization Plan International to launch a food distribution exercise in South Sudan’s Central Equatoria State to avert a looming human catersophy. The three months exercise, will ensure essential food stuff is di…
African universities have been urged to work together with the private sector to better the quality of academic research and innovation in the continent. Mount Kenya University Pro-Chancellor; Prof George Eshiwani has called on the private sector to invest in human capacity through innovation and research by collaborating with local universities. - “Research is so fundamentally important that it requires support from both private and public sectors,” Professor Eshiwani said.
Perhaps the call for collaboration between universities and private sector is seen as a radical policy change from past stand where the government encouraged cost-sharing in education, the government desig…
- 23 April 2007, By Evans Wafula Nairobi, Kenya. Kenya, one of the worlds leading exporter of textile and garment, has become an importing country of cheap and second hand clothing commonly known as Mitumba, The industry is beset by sagging sales and lack of an anti damping policy. The Kenyan fashion market has been dominated by cheap imports of foreign brands, whether produced by local manufacturers or imported. The market is facing a monopoly of cheap textile products from Southeast Asian countries, Middle East, Europe and the United States at a time when local textile industries and garment makers are on the verge of total bankruptcy caused by unmonitored transshipment of cheap prod…
- Helsinki-Thursday- A top Kenyan tourism official has been forced to resign after he was implicated in a 350,000 euros an equivalent to Kshs 35million corruption scandal facing the tourism sector. He is among senior bureaucrats who are under investigation for graft allegations, Kenya’s minister for Tourism Najib Balala said Thursday.
Dr Achieng Ong’ong’a, head of Kenya's Tourism Board, handed over his resignation letter to the Tourism minister paving way for further investigation. He is accused of irregular payments of up to 35 million and flauting the Public Procurement and Disposal Act while awarding contracts.
He is linked to a scheme of irregular pay offs to…
- A top Kenyan tourism official has been forced to resign after he was implicated in a 350,000 euros an equivalent to Kshs 35million corruption scandal facing the tourism sector. He is among senior bureaucrats who are under investigation for graft allegations, Kenya’s minister for Tourism Najib Balala said Thursday.
Dr Achieng Ong’ong’a, head of Kenya's Tourism Board, handed over his resignation letter to the Tourism minister paving way for further investigation. He is accused of irregular payments of up to 35 million and flauting the Public Procurement and Disposal Act while awarding contracts.
He is linked to a scheme of irregular pay offs to comapnies associated…
- Across section of Small Scale Farmers in Kenya have warned aganist the passing of the Biodiversity Bill without consultation.
Led by representatives of crop farmers, pastoralists and fisherfolk, the officials vowed to oppose any attempts to pass the Bill without considerable consultations with the stakeholders.
"We are not opposed to GMOs, but they are a danger to food security and our indigenous gene pool" said Eluid Ngunjiri, Chairman of Participatory Ecological Land Use Management Association.
According to officials, Patented GMO crops are likely to threaten the soil content directly affecting the farmers’ ability to save and share their indigenous seeds.
Pr…
- The United Nation goodwill ambassador for Malaria Yvonne Chaka chaka on Monday helped to unveil an integrated Prevention Demonstration Campaign in Western Kenya.
The campaign “Integrated Prevention Demonstration” offers a new approach to combat malaria, diarrhoeal diseases and HIV/AIDS.
Over 40,000 people will benefit from the campaign which provides basic care package consisting of a PermaNet® long-lasting insecticide-treated bed net, a LifeStraw® water purification tool, condoms and educational materials as encouragement for residents taking part in a voluntary HIV counseling and testing campaign.
"We have conducted a number of other interventions through out Af…
- In a space of three months, AIDS agencies in Africa have issued stern warnings painting a stark picture to the continents health sector. In Kenya, the KNACC has warned that HIV prevalence is still rising in most parts of the country, although prevalence rates remains stable in some regions, recent reports indicate that Kenya which has had the most successful national response to date reducing from over 15% prevalence to less than 6% with consistent national declines since the early 2000s is recording new cases of HIV placing the new prevalence rate at 11%.
However, sporadic stabilized infection level trends often result from rising death rates from AIDS, which conceal a continuing high…
- The United Nations refugee’s agency, UNHCR, has stopped enrolling students in to schools run by the agency in Kakuma refugee camp in northwestern Kenya.
UNHCR spokesman Emmanuel Nyabera said the move is to encourage Sudanese refugees to return home.
“We are encouraging people as much as possible to go back in the areas that are safe and part of that is cutting down school enrollment so that people can go back.
However, sources at the camp accused the agency of secreatly engaging in forced repartriation of genuine students aganist their will and interfering with the learning system.
Despite weeks of conflict that have threatened a three year comprehensive peace accord…
- We cannot have a new constitution with the leadership of president Kibaki. He is such an arrogant person, uncaring, incompetent and a none performer. It is now six years down the line with his promise of 90 days constutution making. Kenyans are willing to wait another leadership after Kibaki to make a new constitution. The current coalition government is a strategy for peace that is welcomed and not a solution to our democratic woes. Kibaki and Moi have failed Kenyans and they should await to be answerable to Kenyans when their true change dawns
- It was quite a surprise to see the prime minister Raila Odinga extend an olive branch to members of the Mungiki sect and call for dialogue with the sect’s leaders.
Maina Njenga, the self-styled leader of an outlawed sect-Mungiki and its political wing the Kenya Youth Alliance Party (KENDA), was said to have met government officials at his prison cell in Naivasha to discuss ways of ending tension in the country. It is obvious that Maina Njenga who is serving a five year prison term at the Naivasha Maximum prison on charges of illegal possession of fire arms is not some kind of idealistic gang leader, according to the various sources on his background.
In short, he is a politi…
- The United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) has accused Zimbabwe of systematically interfering with delivery of humanitarian relief to children and their families in areas affected by political violence.
Zimbabwe’s politically-motivated violence has resulted in the displacement of at least 10,000 children in Zimbabwe, and destruction of hundreds of people’s homes.
According to the UN agency, thousands of children have not returned to school after the 29 April restart of classes, and scores of others were caught in the violence. ZANU-PF has been accused of turning schools into centres of torture.
The situation has been complicated by the recent mass return of thousands…
- On Friday the chief of the army defended the military aganist accussions for using torture during interrogation in the on-going operation in Mt. Elgon to flush out members of the Saboat Land Defense Force.
The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights has accused the army for sanctioning the use of torture and other cruel techniques in the wake of an operation in the Mt Elgon area, saying that the military should be held accountable for buse of suspects.
In his most extensive public comments about how the military conducted its operation in Mt. Elgon, and the subsequent arrests of suspects that followed, General Kianga insisted that the military acted proffesionally and as a result m…
- Universal Corporation Ltd of Kenya has joined the ranks of highly reputable durg companies in Africa after been certified under the European PIC/S scheme, the company hopes to recieve the WHO certification later in the year. Universal Corporation has succeeded in opening doors to several more African countries where drug imports are regulated.
Its founders Pentti Keskitalo, Palu Dhanani and Raju Dhanani have expressed optimism that the company will meet its target of producing more affordable, quality drugs for African countries. The company was established by a Finnish engineer Pentti Keskitalo and two Kenyan citizens Palu and Raju Dhanani.
Its PIC/S certification relates to Good Man…
- The events in South Africa are a direct fail by President Thabo Mbeki to resolve the bigger problem that threatens the region-the crisis in Zimbabwe. His ‘silent diplomacy’ towards the events in Zimbabwe are obviously to blame for the chaos being witnessed in the streets of Johannesburg.
Mbeki has openly supported the dubious and anti-constitutional military power played by Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his goons.
In a whirlwind of most likely politically inspired gang violence, much resembling the aparthied era and reminiscent of the militias in Zimbabwe, immigrants from other African countries now find themselves targeted, hunted down, beaten up and even killed…
- Joining the ranks of Nobel laureat Proffessor Wangair Mathai, is Kenya’s own Dr. Miriam K. Were who has been named along side Britians Brian Greenwood as the prize winners of the prestigious Hideyo Nohuch Africa Prizes for outstanding accomplishement in the field of Medical resaech.
The Government of Japan has confirmed the decision to award the inaugural Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prizes to Brian Greenwood for his innovative work on Malaria in Africa and Miriam K. Were for commitment to bring basic health rights to poor women and children in the villages of East Africa. Her work has been a beacon of hope for millions of people in Africa and the world.
The laureates of each catego…
- Under the patronage of a combination of bad governance, terrible politics and shocking neglect, Kenya became hell on earth following the desputed Decemebr 27 presidential polls.
The country broke records. In a space of thirty days, up to one thousand five hundred men, women and children were murdered. The killing as followed, immediately by another three hundred and fifty thousands people being uprooted from their house, making it yet another biggest humaniterian crisis in Kenya.
In the thick of all this, l witnessed how the media promoted tribal chauvinism and undermined national unity by editing messages of hate that were aired on radio stations and on the print media. Long before th…
- Under the patronage of a combination of bad governance, terrible politics and shocking neglect, Kenya became hell on earth following the desputed Decemebr 27 presidential polls.
The country broke records. In a space of thirty days, up to one thousand five hundred men, women and children were murdered. The killing as followed, immediately by another three hundred and fifty thousands people being uprooted from their house, making it yet another biggest humaniterian crisis in Kenya.
In the thick of all this, l witnessed how the media promoted tribal chauvinism and undermined national unity by editing messages of hate that were aired on radio stations and on the print media. Long before th…
- A court in Kenya has order the freeze of assets amounting to Ksh 50 million belonging to Rwandan genocide fugitive, Mr Felicien Kabuga.
High Court Judge, Justice Muga Apondi, on Tuseday granted orders to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Mr. Keriako Tobiko to procede and serve the Kabuga with notices of the intended procedings pending the mentioning of the case on July 29.
Among the properties listed before the court are the Spanish Villas in Nairobi's upmarket Kilimani area which investigators believe jointly belong to Kabuga and his wife, Ms Mukazitoni Josephine.
A report detailing the ownership of the properties points out that on January 26 Kenya Trust Company Ltd…
- What’s with Kenyans and dialogues? Passing through Amsterdam on my way to Helsinki last week, l used the stop over to talk to fellow Africans who were on transit from Africa about the much anticipated power-sharing deal in Kenya.
I dwelt a great deal on the need for Kenyans to “dialogue”. I spoke of what had been said about Kenayans dialoguing and the feeling of of déjà vu. I pointed out that Kenyans had held public dialogues in 1998 and 2002 but these could not stop the country from plunging further into madness. So, what has changed now?
l knew I had covered both the 1998 and 2002 Presidential elections, so I was aware that Kenyans actually come up with concrete…
- Burundi's opposition leaders has broken his silence and called for the resignation of the countries President Pierr Nkurunziza for abrogating the constitutional order in favor of his own cronies.
After returning from self imposed exile on July 15, 2007, Mr. Leonard Nyangoma, the leader of CNDD, has renewed his warning aganist attacks targeted on opposition leaders.
He appealed to the Forces for National Liberation (FNL) to remain committed to the talks despite attacks targeted to its leadership.
The CNDD leader has animated through a source in Burundi that the government is rapidly loosing out touch with the realities in the country.
After returning back to the country aft…
- Despite political uncertanity that has engulfed Kenya following the disputed Dec 27 Presidential polls, the government has put a brave face and passed what has been viwed as one of its most controversal health policy.
A new circumcision policy for men aimed at reducing HIV infection rates has been published by the Government making it compulsory for all willing men to undergo the cut.
The policy, stipulating how all willing Kenyan men, irrespective of their age, culture or ethnic background will undergo circumcision.
The traditional circumcision methods have also been challenged in the new policy. According to leading doctors and researchers at the Kenya National Aids Control Cou…
- The reports coming out of Zimbabwe are not encouraging by am means. Leaders of the country's ruling ZANU-PF, it is reported, are moaning about plans to have foreign intervention in the current political impasse.
These leaders are saying that the international should do more to ensure that the rerun of the March 29 Presidential election,which is supposed to start in the next few days, is free and fair.
Their argument is that the international community is not qualified to decide on behalf of Zimbabweans future of their own country.
According to the ZANU-PF, President Robert Mugabe is still their flag bearer despite having suffered a humiliating defeat in the closely conteste…
- Even as leaders and experts gathered in Brussels early this week to discuss the implications of global developement, Africa continues to be faced with new development challenges. This failed to take a centre stage during the talks that have just ended in Brussels between Belgian officials and the President of IFAD, Lennart Bage.
In every way, Africa is projected to fare worst, with at least 75 million people in Africa facing increasing water shortages and lack of good quality water, according Bage.
Bage was in Belgian to make a case before Government officials and to convience them on how they can consider innovative ways to tackle hunger and poverty in a rapidly changing world.
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