Category: General

The Turkana County Government, in partnership with Welt Hunger Hilfe (WHH), distributed non-food items (NFIs) to households that were displaced by rising water levels in Lake Turkana.

The exercise was conducted over a five-day’ period, benefiting hundreds of residents at Namukuse and Long’ech in Kangatotha Ward, Turkana Central.

Water storage tanks, water purifying tablets, soap, sanitary towels, and buckets-critical items for enhancing Water, Hygiene and Sanitation (WASH), standards and reducing vulnerability to waterborne diseases-were distributed.

Speaking during the exercise, Principal Public Health Officer Rael Akoru emphasised the importance of proper hygiene and sanitation practices, which are essential in addressing health risks associated with the backflow of the lake.

‘The NFIs will enable the community to recover from the exposure to hygiene risks caused by the backflow of the lake that indicates the impact of climate change,’ she said.

She further acknowledged the local administrators’ effort
s for mobilising the community and encouraged schoolgirls to turn out for sanitary pads to enable them to improve healthy menstrual hygiene.

Deputy Health Promotion Officer Nancy Birech encouraged the communities to shun open defecation along the lake as it contributed to the emergence of cholera cases.

‘As a community, let us practice the use of toilets, as it will reduce instances of WASH-related diseases,’ she said.

The activity funded by Unicef Kenya was part of an emergency flood response project that will subsequently extend to other flood-affected areas in Turkana North, South, and East Sub-counties.

Present during the exercise were County IPC Coordinator Mary Loter, Turkana Central Sub-County Public Health Officer Peter Mitunda, and Namukuse Location Chief Eyanae Stanley.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Uriri Member of Parliament (MP), Mark Nyamita, has urged County governments, to fully digitise their revenue collection systems, to minimise revenue misuse and leakage and optimise revenue collection.

While speaking to his constituents in Uriri, Nyamita said that counties need to improve their own sources of revenue, to ease the money burden that they expect from the Exchequer.

The Legislator noted that a lot of money generated through County and National revenue goes to pay workers; adding to that, the ballooning wage bill cannot be sustained anymore.

He encouraged the counties to come up with creative mechanisms to generate more wealth for the implementation of developmental programmes.

‘Let our counties be creative in policy formulation and implementation to generate wealth to benefit the residents and boost the social-economic development of the country,’ said Nyamita.

In March this year, the Chairperson of the Migori County Revenue Authority Board, Tom Kasera, said that the County’s ordinary Own Sou
rce Revenue (OSR), had increased after sealing some of the revenue leakages.

He, however, attributed the revenue leakages to the usage of the manual system, disclosing that only 20 to 30 per cent is remitted by the County Revenue Fund (CRF).

According to the official, the County is in the process of working towards 100 per cent automation, which will help seal any revenue leakages in the future.

In recent years, the country has seen a notable reduction from 51 per cent to the current 46 per cent of the public wage bill.

It is projected that the public sector wage bill can be reduced even further to 35 per cent by 2027, a year sooner than was agreed at the recently concluded Third Wage Bill Conference.

However, some of the outlined joint efforts between the National and County governments facilitated by the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee, the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), and the Council of Governors, will help to address the wage bill issue through shared responsibility and
vision, cracking down on fake credentials, streamlining the workforce, and leveraging on technology.

Nyamita expounded that it was time for the counties to streamline their activities and prioritise agendas to create room for meaningful development through a well-streamlined and productive workforce.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Principal Secretary, State Department for Devolution, Teresia Mbaika, makes a presentation at the Kenya School Government on April 23, 2024, during the ongoing workshop for the East African Local governments, which included Permanent Secretaries and Representatives of National Governments umbrella bodies and Local Governments Associations.

Among the agenda items highlighted were the deepening of democracy in the region, having free markets for East Africa, and strengthening devolution in all the communities within the Member State.

Source: Kenya News Agency

A family in Katelenyang village in Teso North Subcounty in Busia is appealing to Kenyans to help their three children suffering from sickle cell anaemia get specialised treatment to enable them to continue with their studies.

Emily Chebet, a devoted mother of three children diagnosed with sickle cell anaemia, has issued a heartfelt plea to well-wishers to assist her in buying drugs and getting blood transfusions urgently to save the lives of her kids.

‘When God blessed me with my first-born son 11 years ago, I had a lot of hope in him. As a family, we knew he would be a normal child; this has never been the case since, after six months, he was diagnosed with sickle cell,’ she narrated.

Chebet, a mama mboga at Angurai Market, has seen her business collapse after channelling all capital, family land, and other resources towards her children’s medication, which turned out to be a drop in the ocean.

‘All my three children take two tablets each day, with a single tablet costing Sh200. On a single day, I need S
h1200, which is beyond my means,’ Chebet added.

According to the family, regular blood transfusions and monthly admissions in various hospitals in both Kenya and Uganda have completely drained all resources in the family, pushing the family to live hand-to-mouth and face rejection as a result of begging from neighbours.

With the ongoing doctor strike, the three haven’t had any drugs or medication for a month now, leaving them at the mercy of God.

Her sentiments were echoed by neighbours led by Denis Parapara Karani, who have also given their best to support the family, with the only hope being an appeal to all Kenyans to support the family foot medical bills and drugs.

‘Based on the family’s status, I want to ask all Kenyans to set aside even a shilling and support the medical bills of these three children,’ Parapara said.

The family can be reached through the KNA office in Teso North at Amagoro or through the area chief.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The Government, in partnership with local environmental group champions and Community Forest Associations from Nyandarua West, has launched a campaign to help reclaim the dilapidated Ol-Bolosat Forest, within Gathanji Ward.

This is also to help in reclaiming Lake Ol-Bolosat, which has dried-up due to the adverse effects of climate change and human activities.

Ol-Bolosat Forest and the Aberdare Ranges serve as the main water catchments that feed Lake Ol-Bolosat, but uncontrolled deforestation and increased human activities, such as farming, have led most rivers that feed the lake to dry up.

According to Gathanji Deputy County Commissioner (DCC), Ms. Beatrice Kang’ethe, and Nyandarua County Deputy Conservator of Forest, Ms. Grace Mukundi, the government intends to plant over 70,000 tree seedlings in the First Phase of reclaiming the forest, during this rainy season.

The DCC noted that over the last 20 years, the forest has experienced unwarranted logging, leading to rivers drying up, but underscored the gov
ernment’s commitment to restoring its lost glory.

She spoke during the launch of a tree planting programme in collaboration with community groups, among them the Community Organisation for Positive Impact, Care, and Development (COPICAD), within the expansive Ol-Bolosat Forest.

COPICAD Chief Executive Officer, Rev. Joseph Nderitu, echoed the DCC’s sentiments and called for concerted efforts to raise awareness and sensitise local communities on the need to conserve and protect existing forests in the region.

He noted that the use of community forest conservation groups, schools, and other institutions will help in an effort to bring back the lost canopy of the forest that also serves as a water catchment area for Lake Ol-Bolosat and River Ewaso Nyiro, which drain their waters at Lorien Swamp in Wajir County.

‘This initiative will be extended to other areas and is intended to bring back the lost forest cover. I encourage the planting of fruit trees because this will also help boost food security for not onl
y the local communities but also those in other areas,’ said Nderitu.

The tree-planting initiative is also part of enabling the government to plant 15 billion trees by 2032.

Nderitu commended the local community, schools, and the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) for their dedication to participating in the tree planting programme.

He said the programme will also help in environmental conservation by enhancing rain and improving the entire ecosystem.

Source: Kenya News Agency