Day: March 29, 2024

The Namibian Police Force (NamPol) in the Oshikoto Region are looking for a man who allegedly sodomised a 10-year-old boy.

According to the region’s Head of Crime Prevention Deputy Commissioner Wynand Neels on Thursday, the incident happened on Monday around 14h00 at Ondombe yOmuthiya.

The victim is a Grade 5 learner.

‘It is alleged that the suspect who is a cattle herder and neighbour of the victim, went to herd cattle with the victim in the field,’ reported Neels.

It is alleged that while in the shade of a tree, the suspect asked the victim to remove his trousers so that he could have anal sex with him and offered the boy N.dollars 20.

‘The victim refused, but the suspect removed his trouser and forcefully raped the victim and the suspect repeated it again the same day, and warned the victim not to tell anyone,’ Neels said.

The victim the next morning informed his grandmother that he was experiencing pain.

‘The grandmother then checked and found bruises around the victim’s private parts and insisted
to hear the truth from her grandson,’ Neels added.

The grandmother took the victim to the police on Wednesday morning and opened a case the same day.

The victim was taken to Omuthiya District Hospital for medical attention.

The suspect’s age is unknown and he has not yet been arrested as he could not be found but the investigation continues.

Separately, two suicide cases were reported on Thursday in the region. A 24-year-old man allegedly committed suicide by hanging on Thursday at about 00:00 at Ondonga village, while a 46-year-old man was found hanging in a mopane tree on Thursday at 10h00 at Amukulungundju village.

Investigations into the incidents have been launched.

Source: Namibia Press Agency

Member of Parliament for Jomvu constituency Badi Twalib has welcomed the introduction of commuter rail services in Jomvu and Changamwe by the Kenya Railway.

The project, the Legislator said, will revolutionize transport and enable traders and passengers arriving or departing with the Madaraka Express train at the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) Mombasa terminus to save time.

‘I want to inform you that our commuter train will be completed by the end of May. As residents of Jomvu especially Miritini this is your year of transformation,’ stated the Jomvu MP.

The MP revealed that the Managing Director of Kenya Railways has assured him that residents whose houses were affected by the project have been compensated.

Last year November, The Principal Secretary of the State Department of Transport, Mohamed Daghar, announced in Mombasa that the government had allocated Sh1.1 billion for land compensation to facilitate the rehabilitation of the Mombasa Metre Gauge Railway (MGR) to Miritini.

The Sh4.2 billion project
commenced in September 2022 but was derailed by land acquisition challenges.

‘It will have 16 passenger coaches, each with a capacity of 85 passengers. It will enable our businesses to thrive by facilitating the transportation of goods. We are lucky, the train will unlock Jomvu’s business potential. Our learners will commute safely,’ said Twalib.

He thanked the government for rerouting the railway line saving Maganda Primary School from demolition.

PS Daghar said the government would give concession rates to passengers for a seamless commuter experience.

The second part of the project involves the rehabilitation of the Mombasa Central Railway Station and the setting up of four mini-stations in Changamwe East, Changamwe West, Miritini, and Shimanzi.

It also entails the construction of a pedestrian bridge linking the SGR and MGR platforms, a locomotive turntable and a railway bridge with a length of 480 metres across the Makupa Causeway.

The commuter train will enable Mombasa residents to have an alternat
ive mode of transport easing pressure on road transport.

‘Commuter rail is part of the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRT) that the Ministry of Roads and Transport is determined to establish alongside other MRT, including the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRT) so that people are moved safely and efficiently and they can save time and other commuter-related costs,’ said PS Daghar.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Kakuma Municipality management has held its first consultative meeting with key partners and stakeholders in Kakuma.

The meeting aimed at understanding the mandate of the various development partners serving the refugees and how their activities can be aligned with the core functions of the municipality.

Turkana County Chief Officer for Urban Areas and Municipalities, Marian Lotieng, reassured partners of the commitment of the Kakuma Municipality to work with them to deliver services in solid waste management, town planning and development control, management of emergencies, and provision of social services such as markets, parks and cemeteries.

Lotieng noted, ‘To effectively provide these services, the residents will be required to pay rates and charges to increase the municipality revenue base.’

The Chief said a team of technical officers will soon be deployed to join the municipality management to boost the provision of services in Kakuma.

She said the municipality management will closely work with t
he Turkana West Sub-county administration to fully operationalize the municipality.

The Kakuma Municipal Manager, Peter Emuria, took note of the huge task ahead of him to mostly deliver services to the residents and refugee community.

He requested for a paradigm shift in the planning and implementation of development projects in Kakuma

The Deputy Director for Urban Areas Management, Ngala Ekuleu, challenged both the UNCHR, its partners, and the people of Kakuma, to critically think and plan for Kakuma Municipality after the UNHCR presence.

Ekuleu reiterated the need to institute investments that can attract resources from outside Turkana County.

The Officer-In-Charge of UNHCR Kakuma, Janet Pima lauded the County Government of Turkana for establishing the Kakuma Municipality, an institution she promised to support in service for both the host community and refugees.

In the meeting, Pima raised the need for more additional land to accommodate the increasing population of the refugees. In addition to this,
she identified areas of joint partnership as; promoting trade and business between Kenyans and refugees, land use planning, support to water infrastructure, capacity and skills training for youth among others.

The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Area Manager, Carolyne Wainaina expressed her readiness to partner with the Kakuma Municipality in areas of child protection and Early Childhood Development (ECD) services.

While meeting Peace Winds Japan, its management team pledged to support and strengthen the infrastructure of Solid Waste management as they explore ways of generating revenue from waste.

The PWJ team said through JICA, it will soon support in training and formulation of policy on solid waste management.

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) Area Manager, Hasan Abdi, expressed confidence in the joint planning, fundraising, and implementation of development interventions in partnership with the municipality in child protection, peace, and economic empowerment.

Kakuma municipality is the latest munici
pality after Lodwar was fully operationalized in 2019. The Municipality Board is now in place.

Those presents were Halima Duba (Deputy Manager, Kakuma Municipality) and Jacob Ekuwom (Principal Administrative Officer) among others.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The catholic faithful worldwide marked the Good Friday through rich visual imagery and symbolism, as is the norm in the Roman Catholic Church.

The Church throughout the past centuries, seeks to bring Christians to the foot of the cross of Christ, erected on Golgotha.

At St Joseph the Worker, Mumbi Catholic Church in Murang’a, the faithful in their hundreds revisited the events of the day that Jesus was crucified, by walking solemnly, the ‘Way of the Cross’ from Mukuyu town to the Church’s grounds, by publicly reading selected psalms and singing hymns about Christ’s death.

The Christians led by Rev Fr Robert Ngaruro, the Parish Priest, further participated in the liturgy that consisted of the reading of the Gospel Passion narrative, the adoration of the cross and communion, as Mass is not celebrated on this day

‘Through the death of Christ on the cross, we got life eternal, so His death was necessary ‘ noted Fr Ngaruro

‘We observe a solemn mood as we meditate on the love of Christ for us because after th
e cross there is glory and there is no glory without the cross,’ he added

Good Friday is a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and His death at Calvary.

Source: Kenya News Agency

the government wants players in food systems to ensure that the citizens were nourished with healthy food to spur economic growth and development.

Agriculture and livestock production Cabinet secretary Mithika Linturi expressed fears that the country continues to face the triple burden of malnutrition characterized by under-nutrition, hidden hunger and over nutrition which was counterproductive to efforts to accelerate desired progress..

‘Child under-nutrition alone is costing the country in excess of Sh 373.9 billion Which is equivalent to 6.9 percent of the Gross Domestic Product’, he said.

In a speech read on his behalf by Director Administration Rashid Khator during the launch of Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) Kenya’s business plan and food systems dashboard, the CS noted that access to good nutrition plays a fundamental role in stimulating economic growth and development and is not just a matter of personal health.

‘This calls for concerted efforts by all stakeholders to address malnu
trition. Sustainable food production systems should be recognized as an essential solution to existing social, environmental and health challenges’, Linturi said.

He noted that the launch of the GAIN Kenya Business Plan and the Kenya Food Systems Dashboard represents a significant milestone in the government’s collective journey towards achieving healthier diets for all Kenyans.

‘By aligning with key nutrition policies and fostering collaboration between the Government and key stakeholders, we can create a future where every Kenyan has access to safe, nutritious and affordable food’, Linturi said .

Ruth Okowa, GAIN Kenya Country Director said that they are collaborating with the Kenyan Government to reach over seven million Kenyans with healthier diets and address Kenya’s triple burden of malnutrition.

‘We will be looking at Sh 5.3 billion (USD 40million) target to reduce malnutrition among seven million Kenyans in the next four years and invest USD 8 million per year to improve access to healthier diets
through five key Strategic pillars that will strengthen the enabling environment for actions that improve the consumption of healthier diets’, she explained.

Additionally, Okowa said that innovative Food Systems Dashboard (FSD) will be a one stop shop to provide food systems data in Kenya and bring together much-needed data to inform decision making for food systems transformation

‘This Dash board will enable Kenyan users to consult the data on the global Food Systems Dashboard to understand how Kenya’s food system compares to others’, she said

Okowa explained that the GAIN Kenya Business Plan 2023- 2027 which seeks to increase access to healthier diets for all was informed by challenges such as weak policy and institutional frameworks to support consumption of safe, affordable, and healthy diets, high cost of healthy and nutritious foods and also limited funding to scale up operations at national and county levels.

The business plan has outlined five strategic areas that can help achieve healthier diets
for all namely; strengthening the policy environment for increased consumption of safe, affordable, nutritious and healthy foods; creating demand for safe, nutritious food for all especially for those at risk of poor nutrition.

Others are; advancing food fortification agenda through scaling up large scale fortification and bio fortification across national and county levels, strengthening supply chains for nutritious food and strengthening social inclusion, gender equity and empowerment for advancing nutrition among the vulnerable groups.

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, Deputy Country representative in Kenya Hamisi Williams said that matters of fortification, bio-fortification need to be followed by action.

He added that a lot needs to be done in sensitizing everyone so that at the consumer point, they exactly know what they are consuming and they can also start demanding on what they are consuming and this will be able to stimulate the producers on the other side of the chai
n to even grow what the market demands.

‘We are we are supposed to talk not just about food, but what we eat. We must eat healthy and it must be something that is of nutritious value to us. That way we are going to improve our lives, strengthening the vegetables value chain since they are easily available and one can have them at the bottom of the chain, affordable and easily accessible’.

Hamisi emphasized that FAO had a joint program for sustainable investments in food consumption and production that was looking at enhancing vegetable production currently at a piloting stage in Kiambu and Nyamira Counties

Director Administration at the State Department of Agriculture Rashid Khator representing CS agriculture Mithika Linturi during the launch of GAIN business plan

He observed that a team was working on the polices formulation and regulations apart from investment on ensuring availability of nutrition foods in collaboration with partners such as MasterCard who entrusted with the rolling out of programs and
projects in the counties that seek to sensitize the farmers, develop their capacity and support them with startups and inputs like the seeds to improve production.

The Deputy country representatives at the same time confirmed that the World Vegetable Centre that has been housed in Arusha and has been enhancing its capacity in Africa is now moving and will now be headquartered in Nairobi and this shows the importance that is already being put in the area of vegetables in the continent.

Nyandarua County Governor Moses Badilisha Kiarie said ‘Counties are producing a lot of food; we do not see the reason why people should go hungry or even have to take food which is not nutritious’.

The governor called on the government to increase budgetary allocation to counties towards post-harvest losses. . ‘It would not be fair that again even after gaining the food we again lose it. This is an issue of budgeting. We should be able to have enough budget to mitigate these kinds of things.’ Kiarie said.

The recent Kenya De
mographic and Health Survey (KDHS, 2022) shows 18 percent of children between 6-59 months are still stunted, 5 percent are wasted, 10 percent are underweight and 3 percent are overweight. The evolving face of malnutrition demands a multi-faceted response that supports nutritious and healthy diets across all the stages of the food system.

Source: Kenya News Agency