Category: General

Masalani town in Ijara Sub-County has been experiencing power outage since 4.00pm Wednesday following heavy downpour compounded by thunder storm and lightning.

Muslims praying in various mosques during this holy month of Ramadhan had a hectic time as some of the mosques had no generators or solar energy.

The imams lead by Supkem Supreme Council of Kenya Muslim Ijara branch Sheikh Abass Ahmed called on KPLC Hola sub station to ensure intermittent power outage is avoided at all cost.

Masalani watch dog chairman Abdullahi Abdi said even after the rain subsided, the power outage continued in the town.

He appealed to KPLC Hola substation officer in charge Mr. Joseph Silas and his team to come up with a lasting solution to the outage.

He called on leadership in Ijara constituency not to stay in Nairobi and forget the residents who elected them to suffer.

He appealed to Garissa Governor Nathif Jama, Garissa Senator Abdul Mohamed Haji, Deputy Governor Abdi Dagane and Ijara MP Abdi Ali Sheikhow to forward the po
wer problem to MD KPLC and CS Energy to open a substation in Masalani instead of relying on the Hola one which is 48km away.

The Hola substation officer in charge however assured residents that KPLC engineers have been engaged to ensure power resume soon.

Source: Kenya News Agency

A somber mood engulfed Olokirikrai village in Narok North Sub County during the burial ceremony of renowned tele-journalist Rita Tinina.

Politicians, top media personnel, government officials and villagers congregated to mourn the death of the departed soul whom they described as a valued member in the media fraternity.

Nation Media Group Editor in Chief Joe Ageyo, from where Tinina worked until her demise, said she was dearly loved in the media house for her humility and ability to complete her assignments on time.

‘I have worked with her for 15 years in the media industry. I want to confirm that she was a professional and a humble person. She was dependable because the work that you could do for three hours, she did it in one hour,’ said Ageyo.

Tinina was a strategic person, he said, who planned her work well in case she wanted to take a day off from her normal duties.

‘I thank the villagers for coming in large numbers to celebrate Tinina. Her life is worth celebrating as she lived a quiet and humble l
ife. Despite being famous, she did not show that she was more important than others, instead, she easily related with everyone,’ continued Ageyo.

‘Her life reminds me that it is possible to do good, become famous and yet remain humble. Ask yourself this question, when you will be leaving the earth, what will people remember you for?’ he reiterated.

Citizen Television Director of Strategy and Innovation Linus Kaikai eulogized Tinina as a woman who has left a great impact in the media industry.

Kaikai, who doubles as the Chairperson of Kenya Editors Guild described Tinina as a good person who was not easily angered.

‘Am still waiting to see a person who had an opportunity to see Rita angry. She was well organized such that she had no time to be angry,’ he noted.

Dann Mwangi, a journalist at NTV, who led the funeral programme said he had lost a close friend, who was content in herself and her job.

Unlike many journalists, Mwangi said Tinina did not shy off from consulting where she was in doubt, which made
her become very impactful in the media house.

Also present was Statehouse Press Secretary Emmanuel Taalam, who read President William Ruto condolence message before making his own remarks.

Taalam told the mourners that he schooled with Tinina at Kenya Institute of Mass Communication (KIMC) and later joined the media industry together.

‘She was a composed, diligent and beautiful girl. When we joined KIMC together, I thought I could marry her, but she asked me to keep a distance first,’ he joked.

Politicians present included: Senators Ledama Ole Kina (Narok), Enoch Wambua (Kitui) and Edwin Sifuna (Nairobi). Members of Parliament were: Agnes Pareyio (Narok North), Babu Owino (Embakasi East) and Antony Kibagendi (Kitutu Chache South)

Tinina started her career back in 1999 at Royal Media Group before she joined the Standard Media group where she worked for ten years and left in 2023 to join the Nation Media Group as an editor.

She was buried in her parents’ farm at Olokirikrai area in Narok North Sub County.
She is survived by her eight-year-old daughter Mayer Malaika.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The Government is working with pyrethrum growing counties to reverse fortunes of the once multi billion industry.

Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithuka Linturi announced that the government is distributing 1.8 billion pyrethrum seedlings to farmers across the country towards revival of the sector which used to offer livelihood to 200,000 small scale growers before the industry started sinking due to poor management.

Speaking in the Elburgon area of Molo Sub-County in Nakuru Linturi outlined the government’s ambitious goal to reclaim 70 per cent of the global pyrethrum market.

The Cabinet Secretary further announced that the government was exploring alternative uses of macadamia nuts to boost the earnings of farmers at a time prices of the nut have plummeted due to oversupply.

He said the addition of macadamia as an edible oil-producing crop under the National Edible Oil Crops Project would provide a much-needed cushion for farmers hard hit by the global glut that has seen prices of the commodity drop.

Th
e other oil-producing crops in the project are sunflower, canola and soybeans.

Overproduction of macadamia globally has adversely affected farmers in the country with some in Central Kenya uprooting the trees to replace them with more economically viable crops.

Mr Linturi said increased domestic consumption of macadamia nuts in various value-added forms will help provide relief to the global glut challenge and boost incomes for farmers.

While indicating that the State was deliberate in promoting the growth of the pyrethrum sub sector, the cabinet secretary indicated that when Kenya used to dominate 75 percent of the cash crop’s global market share, Forex earnings were very high.

‘There is no other best pesticide than that which is produced from pyrethrum,’ stated the CS.

Linturi who was accompanied by Ministry of Agriculture PS, Paul Rono, Nakuru Deputy Governor Mr David Kones, MPs Kuria Kimani (Molo), Charity Kathambi (Njoro) and Joseph Tonui (Kuresoi South) addressed the issue of counterfeit seeds affe
cting the industry.

‘The government is committed to combating the sale of substandard seeds by unscrupulous businessmen,’ he said.

The Cabinet Secretary indicated that the State through the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (Kephis) has started a countrywide crackdown to weed out agrovet dealers who sell fake seeds and fertilizer to unsuspecting farmers in a new move by the government to get rid of unscrupulous traders in the market.

He regretted that the vice is on the rise, warning that perpetrators caught up in this crackdown will be subjected to a Sh1 million fine or a jail term of up to two years.

The CS said those dealing with the illegal practice of selling fake fertilizer and fake seeds are enemies of the economy and should be rotting in jail.

He revealed that Kephis has so far arrested 65 suspects, some of whom have been convicted and slapped with fines.

The CS said over eighteen tonnes of counterfeit seeds have also been intercepted during the ongoing crackdown in parts of the country.

‘We have the backing of the highest office in the land to ensure the materials farmers are getting are certified by the requisite agencies, we are warning the perpetrators of this vice that they will face the full force of the law,’ Linturi warned.

He confirmed that Kephis jointly with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) laid a trap on March 18 and arrested a suspected key fake seeds dealer, one Stephen Kiragu in Njoro, Nakuru County.

He assured farmers that the government was supplying quality subsidized fertilizer.

The Cabinet Secretary dismissed claims by a section of opposition leaders that the imported fertilizer for subsidy was mixed with impurities and accused them of frustrating the government’s development agenda.

Linturi said the subsidized fertilizer was scientifically tested and approved before importation to ensure that farmers got quality farm input for enhanced crop production.

‘The team from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock joined me on a fact-finding mission in all
the National Cereals and Produce Board stores in Olenguruone, Sirikwa and Elburgon to check whether there was sufficient subsidized fertilizer and its quality,’ he said.

Linturi said the government had listed 6.4 million farmers to benefit from subsidized fertilizer which is being sold at Sh2,500 per 50kg bag instead of Sh6500 from agrovet stores.

‘The farmers were listed, complete with what they grow to inform the government on what types of fertilizers to import and for what crops,’ the CS said.

He said last year’s harvest of more than 60 million bags of maize in the country was proof that the subsidized fertilizer was up to the required standards.

‘This is planting season, farmers should come and collect the inputs which include seeds, this will help the government in ensuring food and nutrition security,’ he said.

Linturi told farmers that the government was buying maize at Sh4,000 per 90kg bag.

‘Do not sell your maize through brokers, the government is buying at good prices and paying for the produ
ce within 72 hours after delivery,’ he said.

Linturi added that the government was also supporting coffee, avocado and tea value chains with the aim of increasing forex.

He affirmed that pyrethrum farming is slowly making a comeback in Kenya as county governments take initiatives to promote the crop that was once a major foreign exchange earner.

According to the Cabinet Secretary, over the past six years, production of the cash crop has grown five times its value and its price up by two-thirds, re-fueling hope of farmers who had forsaken the crop about two decades ago that they could yet again earn from it.

Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) data shows that between 2018 and 2022, while land under pyrethrum farming dropped from more than 6,000 acres to 4,000 acres, the price of the flowers delivered by farmers at factories increased from Sh151.9 per kilogramme to Sh250 for the same quantity following a steady increase.

‘In the period under review (2022), the total acreage under the crop was 4,000 acres,
an increase of 223 acres from 3,777 acres recorded in 2021. The increase in acreage was as a result of government support in the purchase and distribution of seedling programme in the pyrethrum growing counties as well as favourable climatic conditions,’ AFA notes in its 2023 yearbook of statistics.

Linturi pointed out that the national government, counties and development partners have been on a drive to revive farming of the cash crop that is mainly used for the production of pesticides, which has served to bring back to farms thousands of growers who had given up on the crop.

Nakuru, Nyandarua and West Pokot counties lead in the farming of pyrethrum, with more than two-thirds of the land under the cash crop in the country being in the three counties. ‘Nakuru County had the largest percentage of area under pyrethrum at 29.9 percent followed by Nyandarua and West Pokot at 19.6 and 17.7 percent respectively,’ AFA noted.

In total, pyrethrum farming is practiced across 18 counties.

Between 2018 and 2022, fa
rmers delivered 2.2 million kilograms of pyrethrum dry flowers, valued at Sh496 million. Two-thirds of the flowers valued at 69 percent of the Sh496 million were, however, delivered in 2021 and 2022 alone. This shows the growing value of the crop, which has seen dry flower prices increase by two-thirds over the period.

‘Pyrethrum dry flowers delivered increased by 88.2 percent from 500,564 Kgs in 2021 to 941,872 Kgs in 2022 attributed to planting material distribution efforts by the county governments, processors, individual propagators, interfarm and other industry stakeholders,’ the AFA report says.

‘The value of dry flowers increased from Sh106.7 million in 2021 to Sh235.4 million in 2022 attributed to an increase in average farmgate prices from Sh213/kg to Sh250/kg.’

Source: Kenya News Agency

Members of Nanga-Kihoto-Naivasha Company limited have resolved to subdivide their 1, 277 acres of land located in Naivasha, Nakuru County.

The 1, 768 members, majority of them elderly coffee farmers from Gatanga in Murang’a during their Annual General Meeting (AGM) agreed to share their land among themselves.

The members vowed they will not sell any part of their land despite a flower growing company expressing interest to buy 440 acres from the parcel.

In the AGM that was chaired by Francis Muheria the shareholders expressed a ray of hope designed to end their tribulations coupled by leadership wrangles that ran for 13 years.

The members acquired the land back in 1981 at a cost of Sh4.3 million and for many years they have been leasing parts of the land to horticultural firms.

‘The past 13 years have been full of frustrations as some people used dubious means to sublet the land without seeking the mandate of the shareholders as the law demands,’ said Muheria.

He added that part of the land had been inh
abited by squatters who were flushed out following a court order.

‘With subdivision of the land, every member is entitled to get 0.6-acre piece. This will ensure fairness and end the wrangles,’ stated Muheria.

The chairman further stated that the management of Live Wire Flowers Company had applied for an extension of the lease agreement after the one they signed back in 1995, expired.

‘The flower company had also expressed interest to buy the 440 acres of land but as we have resolved, the lease will not extend or sell part of our land,’ he added.

The management committee outlined that each member will contribute Sh50, 400 to facilitate the process of surveying the land and production of title deeds by the end of May.

The AGM that was held at Gatanga Catholic Church was also attended by some local leaders including Sabina Chege (nominated MP), Edward Muriu (MP Gatanga), Senator Joe Nyutu, and Murang’a County Assembly Deputy Speaker Moses Gachui.

At the same time, the shareholders expressed concerns over
the land rate of Sh19 million arrears demanded by the Nakuru County Government.

They pleaded to the leaders to help them approach the concerned authorities in the national and county government to accord them a waiver as non-compliance on the land rates was occasioned by the 13-year-old dispute between the farmers and their former management committee.

Chege congratulated the aged shareholders for the bold move for following up their investment of years, calling on the youth to help their parents in protecting their property.

‘This is a matter that I personally followed after the elders approached my office in 2016 and took it to the Lands Committee in Parliament whose input helped to resolve the wrangles,’ noted Chege.

The Gatanga MP on his part said he will spearhead talks with the Nakuru county government and try to have the pending land rate arrears waived.

‘As leaders of Murang’a we will try to help our elderly people to be spared in paying the pending land rates. This is possible considering the ra
tes accrued due to leadership wrangles pitting the members and their management committee,’ said Muriu.

Gachui, on his part noted that the matter pertaining to the waiver can be handled as county governments have room to waive fees.

‘Many of the shareholders died long ago and their children are pursuing their inheritance,’ said Gachui.

Source: Kenya News Agency

In a bid towards combating the adverse effects of climate change, Moi Girls’ Isinya Secondary School has embraced clean cooking energy technology.

The institution which previously relied on firewood for cooking has now fully adopted the use of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).

The 2000-kilogram capacity LPG installation at the school is a joint project by the State Department for Energy, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Embassy of Japan and Community Road Empowerment (CORE).

Energy Principal Secretary, Alex Wachira, noted that the government is championing the adoption of clean cooking solutions in schools by the year 2025 to conserve the environment by minimizing cutting down of trees for wood fuel.

In a speech read on his behalf by Dr. Harun Komen during the official launch of the LPG cooking facility, Wachira said that the school is one of the beneficiaries of the Accelerating Clean Cooking Access(ACCA) project.

He added that similar facilities had been installed in four other schools
in Nairobi, Nyeri, Tana River and Machakos counties.

The PS reiterated that adoption of clean cooking energy solutions in schools will reduce overreliance on wood-based fuels and put Kenya on track in achieving her target of ensuring that all schools use clean energy by 2025.

‘All public institutions that currently use biomass as their primary cooking fuel will be required to transition to LPG. As Kenya pursues clean and green growth, it is imperative to match the effort to the mitigation of climate change by embracing environment-friendly alternatives,’ he said.

According to Emy Doyle CORE Kenya Project Officer, the adoption of LPG in schools will aid in combating several harmful effects on the environment, health, and climate caused by over reliance on wood fuel.

She urged other schools and learning institutions to adopt clean energy cooking solutions to save on costs and time.

Beatrice Mukasia, CORE technical adviser, revealed that the use of LPG will help schools cut down on costs incurred in buying
firewood by half.

‘It used to take six hours to cook beans using firewood for a population of 1500 students but since the LPG cooking system was installed it only takes two hours for the food to be ready thus it saves time,’ she said.

Mukasia added that the use of clean energy will also help protect the environment and the health of the kitchen staff as they are no longer exposed to smoke.

Moi Girls Isinya Chief Principal Alice Sayo revealed that embracing LPG for cooking will enable the school to save Sh150,000 each term previously spent on purchasing firewood.

She noted that the project was time saving and will ensure that students get their meals on time thus are able to concentrate in class translating into good performance.

‘The project has ensured that students meals are prepared on time, and we have also been able to save on money spent on buying firewood,’ Sayo said.

Paul Musila, the head cook at the school welcomed the use of LPG adding that it has made their work easier and ensured cleanliness
in the kitchen.

Musila said the use of firewood emitted a lot of smoke in the whole school compound, making the kitchen and its environs very dirty.

He added that it took a long time to cook food, especially during the rainy seasons, because the firewood was always wet.

‘The cooks were exposed to smoke and most of them had started developing respiratory and eye problems but since the LPG was installed, no smoke is emitted at all and we are also able to serve pupils on time,’ he said.

In Kenya, nine in every ten schools use firewood for cooking. The use of firewood produces harmful gases and tiny particles which pollute the air, and are detrimental both to human health and the environment.

President William Ruto in February 2023 directed all schools and public institutions to ditch the use of firewood and adopt Liquefied Petroleum Gas for all their cooking needs by the year 2025, a move aimed at reducing cooking gas prices and reducing the use of wood fuel that harms the environment.

Source: Kenya News
Agency