Month: March 2023

The ongoing renovation of Embu Stadium is on course in readiness to host this year’s Madaraka Day Celebrations, the project undertakers have assured. The refurbishment work is being carried out by Modern Precast K. Ltd. under the supervision of Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) at a cost of Sh300 million. KDF Deputy Commander Construction Engineer, Colonel Maurice Owende, speaking on during an inspection tour, said the work was on schedule towards delivery of the stadium by mid-May. He said most of the foundation work on the main pavilion and public terraces had been done and the structures are expected to be complete by end of April. ‘We have no choice, the stadium has to be ready because Madaraka Day is a date cast in stone,’ Owende said. He also said work of levelling the pitch including backfilling of red soil to be followed by grass planting had also commenced. He said with production of materials done using the new precast concrete technology where beams and benches were being made and cured elsewhere and only shipped to the site for installation had saved on time that would have been taken if done on-site. The contractor, Chandreshbhai Babariya, said they had already done 90 percent of production and the technology had reduced time that would have been spent using the traditional method by 60-70 percent. Embu CEC in charge of Lands, Mining, Physical Planning, Housing and Urban Development, Raymond Kinyua, said they were satisfied with the progress and confident that the stadium will be complete on time to give to give KDF time and space to practice ahead of the national celebrations. ‘We have given the contractor up to May 15 to give the military adequate time to do their drills,’ he said. He said once complete, the stadium will have a sitting capacity of 8,700 with the main pavilion for dignitaries having a capacity to hold 1,700 people. He however said with proper utilisation of the remaining open spaces, the stadium has a capacity of holding more people.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Non-governmental organizations involved with charitable donations are asking the government to relinquish taxes imposed on charitable aids destined to help the vulnerable communities in the country. The organizations now claim donations worth millions of shillings are stuck abroad after the government started taxing charitable donations bestowed from the UK and Germany. They said the majority of Kenyans who depend on donations, especially wheelchairs, hospital beds and sanitary pads are suffering due to the situation. All firms making donations to charitable organizations should be registered under the Companies Act, the Societies Act or the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) Coordination Act for them to qualify tax exceptions. Speaking in Mombasa during the commemoration of the NGOs week, Mr. Habib Hakim Secretary of Helping Hand (Pwani), a charitable organization in the Coast, requested the government to give tax waivers to charitable donations so that the needy can benefit. ‘As you know, the government has stopped all tax waivers on donations, they don’t give us waiver on duties and taxes on donations, we want to ask the NGOs Coordination Board to intervene because we have a lot of valuable stuff stuck in Germany and UK,’ Hakim said. ‘We brought a container of wheel chairs and hospital beds last month and we paid duty, when it reached here they told us the government has removed waivers,’ he added. They were speaking during the 2023 NGO week held at Serani grounds in Mombasa where different NGOS showcased what they do. The event was graced by the NGOs Coordination Board Executive Director Mutuma Nkanata. ‘The donations we get from abroad, especially wheel chairs from Germany are very durable, there are patients who are bedridden and need beds at home, sanitary pads that can be supplied to more than 50,000 learners in schools per month, they are now stuck because of taxes,’ Hakim said. The organization also requested for tax waiver on the date fruits used by Muslims during the month of Ramadhan as the holy month approaches. Kenya has made significant strides in the regulation of Non-Governmental Organizations. The NGO’s Coordination Board Executive Director Mutuma Nkatana said that the board is committed to assist all the NGOs that need assistance from the Government Agency. ‘We can sit down, reach out to the treasury on behalf of the organizations to look at specific issues, I don’t see why this cannot happen, we will make a follow up especially on tax exemptions, and assist where possible,’ said Nkanata. Nkanata said NGOs bring in more than Sh 170 billion to the Kenyan economy on an annual basis. He said the agency is keen to facilitate work permits where necessary so as to grow the economy. ‘As you know NGOs contribute towards development, they contribute over Sh170 billion annually, so we are ready to facilitate their activities, and we are ready to help them,’ Nkanata said while lauding the Non-Governmental Organizations for complementing government services. Nkanata asked NGOs to solely focus on sustaining livelihoods of the vulnerable communities in the country, as per their mandate as it promised to conduct a countrywide crackdown on defaulters.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Vihiga County Government has opened an eye clinic unit at the county referral hospital in Mbale town. Governor Dr Wilber Ottichilo said the facility has been equipped with modern equipment and over 20 staff have been trained and certified to provide eye care. This is the second optics clinic unit after the other one at the Sabatia Eye Hospital in Sabatia Sub County. Ottichilo said the project has been put in place through a partnership between his administration and the Christian Blind Mission, (CBM, Kenya), Sabatia Eye hospital and the Kenya Society for the Blind (KSFB). The governor lauded the development partners for their commitment to eye care which is an area that had been neglected for a long time. He expressed the commitment of his administration to ensuring the promotion of health care services as outlined in the 2023-2027 County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP). The county head asked residents to enroll with the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) scheme to enable access treatment without extra charges. The CBM Global Director Dr Kuresh Babar commended the county government for using the Community Health Workers (CHWs) to provide eye care services.

Source: Kenya News Agency