Author: madmin

President Nangolo Mbumba said that it is crucial that Namibia put in relentless effort to create a society that values, safeguards and provides equitable pay, secure working environments and career development for every worker.

Mbumba made these remarks in a media statement on the celebration of the 2024 Workers’ Day, saying it is undeniable that social justice and decent work are not mere ideals but rather essential rights that should be granted to every individual.

‘Through our commitment to social justice and creating opportunities for decent work, we are building a society that is fair and inclusive, allowing all Namibians to flourish. On this occasion, we celebrate the Namibian labour movement’s significant role in shaping our struggle for independence and social justice, and we take a moment to reflect on the progress and challenges that persist in labour rights,’ said the president.

He said Namibia’s commitment to upholding labour rights is a cornerstone of its democratic principles and social just
ice, recognising the inherent dignity and value of all workers.

‘Namibia has enshrined labour rights protections within its Constitution and the government has taken deliberate steps to safeguard these rights and protect workers’ welfare across all sectors by enacting robust laws and policies, he added.

Mbumba however recognised that despite the strides made thus far, the country, particularly the labour fraternity, is still confronted by challenges such as unemployment, disproportionately affecting youth, inflation affecting workers’ livelihoods, informal employment and job insecurity.

‘As the nation continues its journey towards sustainable development and prosperity, I implore all stakeholders to direct their efforts towards ensuring the full realisation of labour rights. We must intensify our efforts to foster an environment that treats every worker with dignity, respect, and fairness, where prosperity is shared by all, together, let us build a brighter, more inclusive future for generations to come,’
he said.

The 2024 Workers’ Day is commemorated under the theme; ‘Social Justice and Decent Work for All’, with the main celebration taking place at Rundu in the Kavango East Region.

Source: Namibia Press Agency

Nyeri residents are 57.5 per cent content with the services being offered by the county government, preliminary findings of an assessment by NEPAD’s African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) has revealed.

The assessment dubbed County Peer Review Mechanism was evaluating the county’s operations, performance, and achievements against each of the 14 devolved functions.

According to APRM Kenya Secretariat Chief Executive Officer, Ambassador Dr. Samori Okwiya, the assessment was geared at helping counties to identify, address challenges and share best practices in their governance systems.

‘The County Peer Review Mechanism is a self-assessment mechanism that focuses on improving good governance in the country. The report we generate will be used by other governors around the country to learn the best practices and be encouraged about issues governance and provision of services to citizens,’ said Dr. Samori Okwiya when he paid a courtesy call on the Nyeri governor.

The evaluation was conducted in 11 other counties
of Mombasa, Siaya, Machakos, Kakamega, Elgeyo – Marakwet, Trans-Nzoia, Bungoma, Vihiga, Makueni, Nandi and Busia.

During the focus group discussions conducted by the secretariat, Nyeri residents highlighted the construction of the Naro Moru Level 4 hospital, the construction and rehabilitation of markets by the county government as one of notable achievements.

This was followed closely by the annual county paid internship programme which provides opportunities for 200 graduates to get work experience from the county departments.

On the education front, the residents commended the executive for committing more than 800 Early Childhood and Development Education teachers to permanent and pensionable terms, a move which has seen increased enrollment of ECDE learners from 18,000 to 22,000. Similarly, the residents said the introduction of the Elimu Bursary had immensely enhanced the retention of learners in learning institutions and reduced school drop-out rates.

Other notable achievements highlighted by the r
espondents include the improved provision of water services where the county increased accessibility to clean water by 21 per cent.

‘Around 271 kilometres of pipeline have been constructed benefitting around 35,000 households in terms of accessibility to clean water. 37 new boreholes were also constructed and 11 were rehabilitated during the period further increasing access to water. On the overall there was increased access to portable water from 57 per cent to 78 per cent,’ says the assessment in part.

On agriculture, the residents appreciated the farmer field extension approach by the county government where local farmers receive free training on improved agricultural practices.

On governance, the APRM Kenya Secretariat noted that the county had developed 17 Physical and Land Use plans which had been adopted by the County Assembly. The secretariat noted that; ‘The adoption of the land use plans by the County Assembly shows the synergy between the Executive and the Assembly.’

On the converse, the secret
ariat noted low levels of youth involvement by the County government in development issues. There was also minimal collaboration between law enforcement agencies and the public with secretariat’s eminent personality Amb Rukia Ahmed Subow calling for more programmes to foster collaboration and enhance information sharing.

‘We want to see the youth being involved in every sector because they are the people who can be easily manipulated. There is a need to engage them in sports and ICT so that they enjoy services just like any other citizen,’ said Amb Subow.

‘We also need to sit together and come up with a programme where the public can work together and share information with the police,’ she added.

Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga attributed the achievements to public engagements where the executive implements projects based on the needs of the residents.

Kahiga also noted that the assessment would create a matrix which would guide his administration and other counties in improving service delivery.

‘Receivin
g the report is not a walk in the park because you anticipate anything to come out of the assessment. We are glad that we have received encouraging news and some reports on where we need to improve but generally it tells us that the citizens of Nyeri are 57 per cent happy about what we are doing. We are in the third cycle, more counties should be brought on board so that we get feedback from the citizens on how things are,’ said Kahiga.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Young entrepreneurs have be urged to consider creating products and services while leveraging on technology to scale up and solve the critical challenges in the ecosystem.

Association of Startup and SMEs enablers of Kenya (ASSEK) Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mercy Kimalat said in the year 2010, a lot of end-tech startups emerged as a result of the previous challenge that made the rural-urban people unable to access quality education.

The CEO, who was speaking during a policy roundtable forum organised by ASSEK to build an enabling environment for entrepreneurship ecosystem actors in Nairobi, noted that ASSEK supports a total of 150 entrepreneur organisations across the country serving entrepreneurs in different sectors.

‘The members are working in the space of agriculture, biosciences and health, manufacturing, clean tech and the green economy,’ she noted.

Kimalat at the same time noted that the innovation hubs currently in the country are referred to as entrepreneur support organisation since they not
only support entrepreneurs on business innovation but also support them in getting access to markets, investments and talents needed in business to grow and thrive as entrepreneurs.

She lauded the emerging of the formation of mecha-spaces which allows any entrepreneur with an idea to build a hardware prototype that can be commercialised.

Kimalat observed that policy and advocacy is a critical pillar in the association as it is a macro factor that has to be collaborated at an ecosystem level to ensure that the right favourable policies like tax incentives, SMEs and startups operating in different economic zones where the benefits of infrastructure and technology are enjoyed by all.

She added that the association is looking on how to collaborate very closely with the government to help shape and design programmes that encourage enabling environment to attract external capital into the ecosystem.

‘We have been able to facilitate more than five ecosystem dialogues and the reason why we do this, is because we
want to be the convener of different stakeholders to discuss the pertinent issues that affect all sectors,’ Kimalat said.

The CEO noted that if entrepreneurs do not have a favourable instrument that can attract investors and even startups, they will miss on the positioning within the global innovation ecosystem.

‘We have managed to bring in different partners over the time and even recognised the partnership we have with the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry where we are looking at how to strengthen not only the innovation ecosystem but also how we can promote industrialisation,’ she added.

In her remarks, the Policy and Government Strategy Board Member, Rachael Ndungu said that the economy is driven by the private sector entrepreneurship which is the core of the private sector.

‘The purpose of this meeting is for us to engage each other and discuss policies and regulations that will support us, ‘she noted.

The Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry has partnered with the ASSEK on the Kenya
Industry and Entrepreneurship project (KIEP) which focuses on identifying constraints and supporting innovation and productivity growth in the country.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Athletics Kenya (AK) has named the final formidable eight-member marathon team that will represent the country in the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Two-time Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge will lead the men’s team, while 2020 Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir will anchor the women’s team.

AK President Jackson Tuwei hopes that Kipchoge who will be defending his title will be able to be the first athlete to win the Olympic marathon title for the third time in a row.

Tokyo Marathon champion Benson Kipruto alongside the London Marathon champion Alexander Munyao completes the three-man team selected by AK and announced in Eldoret on Wednesday morning. Timothy Kiplagat, Tokyo Marathon Silver medalist was named as a reserve in the men’s team.

Eliud Kipchoge won the 2016 Rio Olympics at a time of 2:08:44 and successfully defended the title by winning the 2020 Tokyo Olympics clocking 2:08:38.

His compatriot Benson Kipruto set a personal best clocking 2:02:16 to win the Tokyo marathon on March 3, 2024. While Alexander Mu
nyao last week secured the champion title for the London marathon after clocking 2:04:01.

The Tokyo Silver medalist, Timothy Kiplagat who clocked 2:02:55 to clinch the second position was named as a reserve in the men’s team.

Two-time Boston Marathon winner Hellen Obiri will join Jepchirchir in the women’s team alongside Brigid Kosgei, the London and Chicago marathon champion.

2022 New York Marathon winner Sharon Lokedi was named as a reserve in the women’s team, with the AK President stating that the reserves ‘will go all the way’ while at the same time hoping nothing would happen to the core team.

Jepchirchir, the London Marathon champion, will be hoping to defend her 2020 Tokyo Olympics title that she won at a time of 2:27:20. Kosgei was able to clinch the second position by clocking 2:27:36.

During the London Marathon, she clocked 2:16:16 to break the women-only World Marathon record and was victorious in the 2021 New York City Marathon and 2022 Boston Marathon.

Hellen Obiri secured the Boston marat
hon in 2023 after clocking 2:21:38 and defended it successfully on April 15 winning at a time of 2:22:27.

Speaking during the unveiling of the team Tuwei said they are confident that they have done their best in selecting the best team for the country and they wish the team well and hope they will bring good results.

Tuwei who was flanked by National Olympic Committee Kenya (NOCK) President Paul Tergat, and other officials said a group of experts helped in the selection of the final team to Paris.

He encouraged those athletes who did not make the final cut not to lose hope as there is always another time.

Source: Kenya News Agency

An autism awareness function organised by the Differently Talented Society of Kenya (DTSK) in conjunction with the Department of Gender, Youth, Sports, and Social Services was held at Nyamachaki Primary in Nyeri Town.

Autism is a developmental disorder manifesting before age 3, characterised by social communication delays, interaction difficulties, and repetitive or restricted behaviours.

The event aimed to promote the psychosocial well-being of autistic individuals and their primary caregivers, offering services like psychosocial support clinics, occupational/speech therapy, and physical wellness checks.

Speaking during the function, County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Gender, Youth, Sports, and Social Services Esther Ndung’u, represented by Deputy Director Administration Pauline Ndegwa, affirmed the Nyeri County Government’s commitment to partnering with organisations like DTSK in promoting the rights of persons with disabilities.

She highlighted Stigma reduction and integration as priorities
alongside support for autistic individuals and caregivers as autism awareness month is observed.

Also present was MCA Pauline Nyokabi, representing Persons with Disabilities, who said she recognised the efforts of the department and the National Council of Persons with Disabilities in raising awareness about PWD issues, stressing the importance of considering disabilities in institutional construction.

The event facilitated connections with service providers, informed attendees about government programmes, and enabled access to government initiatives for individuals with autism spectrum disorder.

MCA Nyokabi observed that raising a child with a disability presents challenges, and therefore, the event provided a platform to share information, ideas, and opportunities to support both persons with autism and their parents.

She called on parents raising these children not to hide them in their homes but instead take care of them, adding that the government is ready to promote the rights of persons living with
disabilities.

Source: Kenya News Agency

It is the government policy to register beyond ten percent forest cover score card to help protect the environment well.

However, this dream has never been realised for many years due to the ongoing vicious destruction of existing forests and lack of impetus to plant more trees by the citizens.

Experts always enumerate many factors that impact negatively on forests in the country, one of which is; wanton harvesting of trees to make charcoal and timber. Yet the same experts have also delved deeply in educating Kenyans on how to protect forest and water towers.

Very few people can still remember the unique casket in which the body of Prof Wangari Maathai was stuffed before cremation at Kariokor crematorium in the year 2011. The casket presented a good lesson to Kenyans that they should not solely rely on coffins made out of timber to bury their loved ones.

It also sent rays of hope to the citizenry that there are many ways that can be exploited to help protect forest cover in the country. Kenya has gone on
record in Africa, if not world-wide, that the love for replenishing diminishing forest cover is still minimal and wanting from her population.

The use of the most hated water hyacinth that usually mar Lake Victoria and, bamboo to weave the marvelous reed coffin for sending Prof Maathai to her final resting place then was a score for Kenya towards discovering the numerous ways of saving trees in the country.

Although the nation has one of the best forest policy that any country can boast of, the tragedy is that indiscriminate destruction of trees and vegetation is on the rise day in day out. The detriment therefore has been the destruction of water sources, among them the Mau water towers, leading to poor weather pattern that has occasioned worst food shortages in the country and to extent, flooding.

The quest for saving the environment through planting more trees and protecting existing vegetation has been the dream of many true environmentalist, among them the former Managing Director (MD) of Sony Sugar C
ompany, Mr Paul Odola.

During his stint at the factory based in Awendo sugar belt, Migori County, Odola exploited various ways of protecting the environment, some of which were unknown to the local people.

One of them was the use of bagasse produced in hundreds of tons at the factory to make briquettes that are used as ‘Jiko fuel’ to replace charcoal in most rural kitchens.

Odola committed the Company to pursuing an environmental protection agenda with gusto and had initiated a forestation programme worth over Sh20 million annually to increase forest cover.

Apart from being used as energy for cooking food in homes, briquettes are also able to fire tobacco kilns and can drastically reduce the use of firewood in drying tobacco leafs in Kenya.

Experts believe that activities of producing and drying tobacco crop have greatly led to destruction of forests and water towers in Migori and some other parts of Kenya.

‘We have been battling with a technology to avail cheap and environmentally friendly alternative
energy in the market to replace charcoal and firewood and that is; the introduction of briquette in our kitchens,’ said Prof Otieno Awino.

He says they have been in talks with tobacco buying companies in Migori and other regions in the country to embrace the manufacturing of briquettes to help their farmers move away from the use of firewood to process their tobacco leafs in the barns.

Tobacco farming, which has been going on for more than three decades now in Migori, Kuria, Uriri and Rongo districts, has been identified as the worst in forest cover destruction as farmers use tones of logs to treat their crop.

It has also been blamed for intoxicating rivers with dangerous chemicals used to protect tobacco crops from diseases right from nursery stage to the last stage in the kilns.

The use of briquette, which Prof Awino believes would provide the required energy to dry up tobacco crop, would trigger the forest growth in the region as farmers would automatically abandon indiscriminate felling of trees to cu
re their crop.

Like the hyacinth and bamboo in regard to coffins, the briquettes will replace the use of charcoal which requires tones of wood logs to prepare burn.

Lack of enough forest cover in Migori owing to indiscriminate harvesting of trees and non-replacement of felled logs has been blamed for the fast diminishing food production by local residents, leading to adverse food shortages in the area.

The erratic rains combined with reduced land fertility in the region is as a result of poor environmental protection, and Prof Awino says it is only through concerted efforts in tree planting that the situation would be arrested.

‘The National government, the County government and the private sector must now collaborate to fast-track the generation of more tree seedlings that would be distributed to farmers, schools and individual institutions at a highly subsidised price to encourage people to love planting trees,’ he adds.

Source: Kenya News Agency