Kenya: Year in Review: When Kibaki Threw His Allies A Lifeline

The East African Standard (Nairobi)

December 27, 2006
Posted to the web December 28, 2006

Alex Ndegwa
Nairobi

As President Kibaki marked his 75th birthday last November 15, two of his trusted allies - Prof George Saitoti and Mr Kiraitu Murungi - had cause to toast other than the Head of State's birthday celebration.

The President coincidentally chose the day in which ideally one receives goodwill messages and presents from well-wishers to extend the spirit of the day to the two, by re-appointing them back to the Cabinet.

Kiraitu and Saitoti were reinstated exactly nine months after "stepping aside" on February 14, following the controversy sparked by revelations of the Anglo Leasing scandal and the release of the Goldenberg report.

It is believed that the two were brought back into the fold amid fears that President Kibaki was running short of experienced, credible and vocal allies to counter the Opposition offensive.

Facing a credibility problem

Insiders pointed out that the reliable Internal Security minister, Mr John Michuki, was facing a credibility problem after numerous gaffes including the raid on The Standard.

Another member of the old guard, Livestock minister, Mr Joseph Munyao, appeared too embroiled in keeping the Democratic Party, a party founded by Kibaki, afloat.

Apparently, the Kibaki handlers appeared not too keen to place much in the hands of Defence minister, Mr Njenga Karume, who had been head hunted from Kanu, while the other old guard - Co-operative minister, Mr Njeru Ndwiga, seemed to have lately abandoned his combative nature.

Needless to say, the nascent Narc-Kenya's "young turks" were deemed too naÔve and over-enthusiastic to the comfort of the President's handlers.

In fact, the poaching of members of the Opposition to craft the so-called Government of National Unity was aimed at cushioning the regime from the hostile opposition, especially from Parliament.

'The scandal that never was'

The appointment of Kanu MPs to Government positions is a thorny issue, with the Official Opposition party having gone to court to challenge it.

The Opposition has also called for the law to be amended to compel the President to consult party leaders before appointing their MPs to the Government.

Of the three key Cabinet ministers shunted aside over the graft allegations, only Mr David Mwiraria, who held the Finance portfolio, remained on the backbenches.

Before the scandal claimed his scalp, Kiraitu had memorably dismissed the Anglo Leasing as "the scandal that never was."

But he met his waterloo when former anti-corruption Czar Mr John Githongo's alleged recordings of the former Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister urging him to go slow on Anglo Leasing investigation were aired on BBC television and replayed on local TV stations.

Series of political blunders

It did not help his cause either that he was given to a series of political blunders, particularly due to his unguarded talk, which won him a couple of enemies.

When the heat became too much to bear, for him and, by extension, the Kibaki administration, a besieged Kiraitu threw in the towel and tendered his resignation though still protesting his innocence.

"For a man does not know his time: like a fish in a cruel net, like birds in a snare; so the sons of men are snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly upon them," he said, quoting the Bible while stepping aside.

But he warned that his resignation was by no means an end to his political career. Kiraitu walked back to his office barely a month after the Njuri Ncheke - the revered Ameru council of elders - paid a courtesy call on President Kibaki.

As for Saitoti, he probably lived up to his billing because the former Vice President has a knack for rising from the ashes like the proverbial phoenix.

Saitoti's ship has sailed in rough waters

Just when his career seemed to have hit the brickwall again when he was forced to resign for being implicated in the Goldenberg Affair by the Justice Samuel Bosire Commission, he bounced back to the Cabinet thanks to the clearance by the constitutional court.

Describing the moment that he was unshackled from the scam's chain by the courts, the professor paraded his wife and gave a passionate speech, saying "this is my happiest day in the last 16 years."

In fact, since joining politics in 1983, Saitoti's ship has sailed in rough waters, but he has somehow managed to stay afloat.

Perhaps his lowest moment was during the infamous Kanu elections at Kasarani in 2002 when former President Moi anointed Mr Uhuru Kenyatta as his preferred heir, skipping Saitoti who was then the vice-president.

Then he gave his most memorable speech to date, saying: "There come (sic) a time when the nation is more important than the individual."

With Narc in power, Saitoti was named the Minister for Education and won the hearts of many parents with the introduction of the free primary education programme.

Despite this credit, the Goldenberg ghost saw his removal from the Cabinet and many had began writing his political obituary before Kibaki threw him another lifeline.

Kenya: War Greatly Alarming

The Nation (Nairobi)

December 27, 2006
Posted to the web December 27, 2006

Nairobi

All-out war is is about to erupt in the Horn of Africa following Ethiopia's invasion of Somalia early this week.

Thousands of people are reported to have fled their homes to escape the fighting,

The IUC, who emerged in June to capture huge swathes of southern Somalia, are an assemblage of former warlords led by Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys -a radical on both UN and US terrorism lists.

But support for the IUC is not in short supply, which is why a majority of Somali youths have joined it.

While it would be silly to reduce the conflict to a mere contest between the "Islamist" Somalia and "Christian" Ethiopia, this religious appendage is appealing to both sides.

What the world is witnessing is a resurrection of old tensions between Ethiopia and Somalia, now fanned by proxies.

On the face of it, Eritrea, which has some unfinished business with Ethiopia over a disputed border that climaxed with bruising battles between 1998 and 2000, have allied themselves with the IUC.

Then there are the Arab states that have expressed a wish to spread Islam in the Horn and beyond, and who have supported the IUC cause.

But the lifting of the arms embargo on Somalia places the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the African Union and the United Nations in a precarious position as the Somali crisis threatens to escalate into a regional conflict

The East African Standard (Nairobi)

OPINION
December 24, 2006
Posted to the web December 26, 2006

Catxon Muune
Nairobi

Transport minister, Mr Chirau Ali Mwakwere, recently launched the Christmas Season Road Safety Campaign.

It marked a significant milestone in public transport reforms and road safety campaigns. There was a notable presence at the well-attended launch. Unlike previous ones, this year's campaign is more action-oriented in distributing posters and educating drivers at traffic lights.

Accidents and deaths dramatically increase during the Christmas holidays. Excessive consumption of alcohol and high traffic of buses on longer trips create conditions that turn Christmas into an accident season.

The culture of over-indulgence and the permissive mood pervading the merry-making singles out drinking and driving as the lethal killers on highways during the festivities. This problem affects private car owners more than public ones, but accidents involving public service attract greater media attention because they kill more people.

The campaign should target specific problems that make Christmas holidays a high-accident season. Tackling the problems would stabilise fares, make passengers relaxed, have fewer accidents and drunk drivers and less disorder at matatu stages.

Thousands of holiday makers travel to the countryside at this time of the year. Crowds of people and vehicles turn Machakos "airport", a beehive of congestion, confusion and despair. Travellers get exhausted from long hours of waiting in the scorching sun or are drenched wet in the rain. Consequently, the happy Christmas spirit and mood are dampened.

Chaos erupt when an approaching bus is spotted. Travellers push and shove in a violent scramble for seats. The old and the disabled stand no chance, and are the last at the bus stop, having spent nights out. Travellers start streaming into Machakos "airport" and other stages from as early as 5am, endangering their security.

In the confusion, travellers are separated from their children, they lose money and luggage to conmen, fraudsters, pickpockets and petty thieves who prey on the mayhem. Some are hurt as they get into the bus through the windows. Fares increase by more than 100 per cent, depriving travellers of dignity and honour, and impoverishing many.

Travellers dread the thought of having to look for transport during the Christmas season. But they have little choice and brace themselves for the ordeal, an annual ritual that casts gloom and sorrow over an otherwise merry season.

But there are more problems in store for the travellers. They have to contend with crackdowns police and the Transport Licensing Board (TLB) mount on the roads. Passengers are inconvenienced and many times they are stranded when the vehicles are found wanting. This annual ordeal need not be so.

The safety campaign should have specific responses to the problems. The popular comedians of television programme, Vitimbi, should be hired to provide entertainment for travellers and to sensitise matatu operators, especially drivers and conductors, on the dangers of drink driving. Using their communication skills, the comedians can deliver messages for specific problems. This should be done three days preceding Christmas - December 22, 23 and 24.

Another solution is to divert all western Kenya-bound buses to Nairobi's Globe Cinema roundabout to decongest Machakos "airport".

Vehicle controllers should be hired for the season to help control crowds, queuing, security and coordinate movement, parking and loading of luggage and goods.

TLB should issue temporary licences to buses and other vehicles to ease transport problems. This would increase competition, improve services and stabilise fares. Vetting of public transport vehicles seeking temporary licenses should also be done to ensure that they are roadworthy. There is need to change behaviour, mannerisms and attitude of public transport operators to alcohol and driving.

The writer is the principal officer Muune Associates and lead consultant, Public Transport Reforms Programme

Kenya: 'Greener Pastures' Nurses Still Face Firing Squad

The Nation (Nairobi)

OPINION
December 23, 2006
Posted to the web December 23, 2006

Peter Mwaura
Nairobi

Imagine, if you will, five Kenyan nurses and one doctor in search of greener pastures. In March 1998 they went to Libya to work at the Al Fateh hospital in Benghazi, Libya's second city.

Libya is a country that imports a great deal of foreign labour, both unskilled and professional. Libya is also a country that its leader, Muammar Gaddafi, once proclaimed to be HIV-free.

At the end of the year 426 children at the hospital were found to be infected with HIV, a tragedy that caused a great deal of public anger. The foreign medical workers were charged of deliberately infecting the children.

After a protracted trial, they were found guilty in May 2004 and sentenced to die by firing squad. But Libya's Supreme Court scrapped the death sentences due to "procedural flaws" and ordered a retrial. On Tuesday this week they were again found guilty.

The Kenyan scenario must stop at this point. If the health workers had been Kenyans, the world would have heard very little about them and the international furore they are causing would be well-nigh impossible. Kenya counts little in international diplomacy.

The nurses are actually Bulgarians, the doctor a Palestininan who, because he is stateless, has been piggybacking on the Bulgarian case. In world terms, Bulgaria is not a diplomatic heavyweight but she is waiting in the wings to join the European Union and has the weight of the European Union behind it. Bulgaria has also received the support of the United States.

In addition, scientists and human rights groups have rallied on the side of the medical workers, accusing Libya of trumping up the charges to cover up for poor hygiene conditions at its hospitals.

President Gaddafi, on his part, has let the Libyan justice system run its course, figuratively telling the West that the Libyan Government does hot interfere with the independence of its courts any more than the Western governments interfere with their own courts.

The convicted health workers have maintained their innocence, claiming they were tortured to confess the crime. Luc Montagnier, the French virologist credited with discovering the HIV virus in 1983 and Italian professor Vitorio Colizzi, an Aids researcher, carried out a genetic analysis of viruses from the infected children and concluded that many of them were infected long before the nurses' arrival in Libya.

But the Libyan court threw out the report, arguing that investigation by Libyan doctors had reached the opposite conclusion.

The case has stoked xenophobia and thirst for revenge. Families of the infected children have demonstrated at every court session. President Gaddafi has found himself under siege, both by his own people and the West. It was easier for him, however, to allow the courts to run their course than admit the infection was an accidental tragedy, as the Western scientists have maintained. It was decidely easier for Libya to pursue the "conspiracy theory" than admit the "scientific evidence" provided by Western scientists.

President Gaddafi is also probably not averse to exploiting the case to score international propaganda points, particularly with regard to the way the West ruthlessly pursued Libya over the bombing of the Pan Am plane over the Scottish village of Lockerbie in 1988 in which 270 victims died and Libya was forced to pay whopping compensation for the families of the victims.

This, in fact, is a case where money can buy justice, just like in the Lockerbie case. President Gaddafi did offer to free the medical workers in return for compensation to the families of the infected children.

Lawyers of the families of the infected children asked for about $10 million for each child. With more than 400 children involved, the total compensation demanded amounts to over $4 billion, a figure that mirrors the amount paid by Libya to the families of the victims of the Pan-Am plane bombing.

This, apparently, is the sticking point. Bulgaria, supported by the European Union and America, is opposed to paying "blood money" because that will imply guilt.

But is willing to provide "humanitarian assistance" to the Aids victims. If sufficient, the humanitarian assistance might free President Gaddafi from domestic politics so he can pardon the nurses.

I found this perspective interesting, but sad. It's probably true about Kenya mattering little in international political affairs. Sad.

Kenya: Texas Keen to Do Business With Nation

The Nation (Nairobi)

December 22, 2006
Posted to the web December 22, 2006

Nation Reporter
Nairobi

The American State of Texas has expressed interest in doing business with Kenya.

The Mayor of Dallas, Ms Laura Miller and Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill told Kenyan ambassador to the US Mr Peter Ogego that Texas had "deep interest to develop bilateral trade and investment cooperation with Kenya."

Mr Ogego, who gave a keynote address at a Luncheon organised by the African Chamber of Commerce, interested the business community in Dallas to invest in various sectors of the Kenya economy and take advantage of the opportunities presented by the expansion of the East Africa Community.

The event was attended by among others, Mr Ross Perot Jr. a multi billionaire investor in Dallas, who earlier held discussions with the ambassador in his office.

The ambassador also made a follow up meeting with Ross Perot Sr. a one time presidential candidate in the United States and explored possibilities of his family investing in Information Technology and hotel industry in Kenya.

During the event, Mr Ogego was presented with a special key for the city of Dallas by Mr Don Hill.

In October 2006, Mr Hill led a delegation of businesspeople from Dallas and members of the African chamber of Commerce D/FW on a business exploration mission to Kenya.

The delegation held meetings with the Minister for Trade, Dr Mukhisa Kituyi and Nairobi Mayor Dick Wathika and signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU).

During his visit to Texas, the ambassador also met with the Secretary of the State Mr. Roger Williams.

The secretary welcomed efforts by the ambassador to promote business between Kenya and the State of Texas and assured him of his support.

The two agreed that there was need for an exchange of trade missions to the two countries. They discussed the possibility of Mr. Rogers bringing some Texans to Kenya to explore business opportunities especially in the area of windmill energy.

Mr Ogego was accompanied by the Deputy Chief of Mission, Mrs. Lily Sambu, First Counsellor, Mr James Wakiaga, Commercial Attaché, Mrs. Lina Ochieng and the Immigration Attaché, Ms Felicina Ndwiga.

The mission staff organised a successful two-day session to renew passports for Kenyan citizens in Dallas and outlying areas.

My opinion? Windmill energy my ASS, they want to see if Kenya's got oil. The End.

Kenya: 11 Killed By Unidentified Disease

The Nation (Nairobi)

December 21, 2006
Posted to the web December 21, 2006

Nairobi

Eleven people have died of a highly contagious disease in parts of North Eastern Province.

Seven people have died in Garissa and four others in Ijara District in the past two days.

Symptoms of the disease include high fever, jaundice (yellowness in the eyes), vomiting blood, diarrhoea, headache and swelling on both legs and hands.

"Most victims bleed through all body openings, leading to death in about 48 hours after infection," said Special Programmes ministry spokesman Tom Namasaka.

40 deaths

More cases of the disease continued to be received from Korakora, Amuma, Liboi, Shanta-Abaq, Baraki, Fafi and Shimbirey where about 40 deaths of livestock have also been reported.

Garissa district medical officer of health Abdullahi Abagira warned that the disease was probably spreading to human beings through consumption of animal products.

Garissa district veterinary officer William Kabak confirmed an outbreak of lumpy skin disease (LSD) and black quarter diseases in the region and warned residents against eating uninspected meat.

In Nairobi, a senior deputy director of medical services, Dr Francis Kimani, said the results of the investigations were likely to be released today.

The Kenya Red Cross Society said it has prepared isolation centres to tackle all reported cases.

Like Leah in The Poisonwood Bible says "Africa has a million ways of getting under your skin"

Kenya: Oldest National Park Confronts Industry And Urban Sprawl

Inter Press Service (Johannesburg)

December 20, 2006
Posted to the web December 20, 2006

Joyce Mulama
Nairobi

For people who arrive at the international airport in Nairobi, Kenya's fabled wildlife can be glimpsed almost immediately, in the Nairobi National Park which borders the airport. Driving out of this facility en route to the city, there's a chance of sighting black rhino, zebras and giraffe: just some of the many species that inhabit the park.

The reserve is Kenya's oldest, and located within the boundaries of the capital. However, its location is also the source of what some see as a grave threat to it: the proposed construction of a dam.

Earlier this month, a proposal to build a dam in Nairobi National Park was rejected by the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), managers of the reserve. This came after the agency studied the findings of an environmental impact assessment of the project, and decided that the dam -- under discussion for several years -- would have negative and irreversible effects on the park.

But this doesn't mean the issue has been permanently resolved, as further investigations into whether a dam could be viable are underway.

Proponents of the dam argue that it is central to addressing water needs in the suburbs of Mavoko, Kitengela and Athi River, where the number of residents and industries is growing at a rate of knots.

Athi River is one of Kenya's Export Processing Zones (EPZs): areas that have been in operation since 1990 in a bid to increase foreign currency earnings for the country, where some 56 percent of people live below the poverty line. The zones house companies that manufacture a wide variety of goods for export, principally textiles.

The parastatal Export Processing Zone Authority (EPZA), which proposed the dam alongside the Mavoko Municipal Council, says the Athi River zone requires 10,000 cubic metres of water a day, way above the current supply of around 3,000 cubic metres. And, "The situation will worsen if we do not find a permanent, alternative source," said EPZA Operations Manager John Akara. (The EPZA and Mavoko Municipal Council also hired consultants from the United Kingdom to produce the environmental impact assessment that was considered by the KWS.)

The dam would yield 36,500 cubic metres of water daily, enough to meet the demands of the 100 EPZ industries in Athi River, as well as some 300,000 residents in this region, and in Mavoko and Kitengela.

Currently, the three suburbs rely on surplus water from the Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company, the same firm that supplies the rest of the capital. The City Council of Nairobi maintains that the suburbs are not in its jurisdiction, and therefore not its responsibility concerning water provision.

"I have lived here for five years now and have no running water," Munyao Joyce, a resident of Kitengela, told IPS. "All this time I have been buying water from people in the area who have dug boreholes. Water has become an expensive affair; the dam will give me rest."

It's a view the KWS does not exactly share.

"We do appreciate the need to provide water to the industries and residents, but that should not be done at the expense of our unique and priceless wildlife. This will set a dangerous precedent for other fragile conservation areas across the country," Paul Udoto, KWS corporate communications manager, said in an interview with IPS.

While the dam will cover just 3.5 square kilometers of the park's surface area of 117 square kilometers, it risks introducing significant change to the reserve.

Njogu Kahare of the Greenbelt Movement, an environmental protection group, says the dam is "too huge a project" for the park's ecosystems to tolerate, and that efforts to provide water to areas that would be serviced by the dam have already left a trail of ruin behind them.

"For example, in the Athi river catchment, environmental destruction is what has made major rivers like Athi seasonal and inadequate. What reasons does anyone have to jeopardise the environment further?" he asks.

Akara has a counter-argument at the ready. "Obviously a new development of any type and nature affects the environment in one way or another. Any construction will always affect flora and fauna," he told IPS. "We are at the stage where we are doing a detailed analysis of the environment and proposing mitigations."

But environmentalists maintain that proponents of the dam should be investigating other ways of addressing their water needs, such as sinking more boreholes and harvesting rainwater.

And, while the 60-year-old park may be critical to the economic wellbeing of Athi River, it has financial significance of its own. The reserve currently attracts more than 100,000 tourists annually, collecting over 700,000 dollars in the process. Tourism is Kenya's second largest source of foreign income after agriculture.

All in all, concludes Udoto, "it seems sacrilegious for anybody to think of desecrating the jewel in the crown of wildlife conservation efforts".

(* This story is part of a series of features on sustainable development by IPS -- Inter Press Service -- and IFEJ, the International Federation of Environmental Journalists.)

This is precisely the reason I am studying conservation biology. People here either clap their hands or throw them up in defense when I tell them what I'm studying - the ones cheering are those who know that we have a desperate need to preserve what's left of the American wilderness. Those who defend themselves are the ones who like to call us "tree-huggers" or just plain crazy, the contracters and developers whose argument is "don't people matter more than trees and animals."
Actually, they do matter more. I think so anyways. Do people honestly think I don't care that Munyao Joyce has lived in Kitengela for five years and he has to buy his water off somebody because he doesn't have any? I do indeed. I've been to Kitengela. I don't know how anyone scrapes together a living there - add to that the necessity to buy water and it's even more unbelievable that people in Kitengela survive. Here's the thing: there's got to be a better way than building a dam and destroying Nairobi National Park, which is already an extremely fragile ecosystem. Would I want Munyao to die of thirst or dysentary to save a lion. No. Do I think there must be a better way than building a dam? Absolutely. That's just the type of thing I'm trying to figure out. You know, so I can save the world.

Kenya: Kengen Signs Contract for Olkaria IV Drilling

The East African Standard (Nairobi)

December 19, 2006
Posted to the web December 19, 2006

John Oyuke
Nairobi

Great Wall Drilling Company, a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation, has clinched a deal to drill geothermal wells for KenGen.

The firm's work early next year will begin the construction of a new 70 megawatt power plant, Olkaria IV, in Naivasha. Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) has already signed the Sh1.6 billion contract with Great Wall, paving the way for the project to begin.

KenGen Managing Director, Mr Eddy Njoroge said the drilling would take approximately ten months. Mr Zhang Zhaofeng, Senior Engineer with Great Wall signed the contract on behalf of the Chinese company.

Njoroge said the project would entail drilling six directional wells to complement three exploration wells that were drilled eight years ago.

He said the drilling would accelerate geothermal development, which is expected to reduce dependence on hydropower generation.

The Government has identified geothermal power generation as the cheapest option for the next 20 years. Research shows there is potential of more than 2,000 MW of geothermal energy in the Rift Valley.

Kenya has an effective capacity of 130 MW making it the leading geothermal power producing country in Africa.

China quietly takes over the world.....

Kenya: State to Popularise Male Circumcision

The East African Standard (Nairobi)

December 18, 2006
Posted to the web December 18, 2006

James Ratemo
Nairobi

The Ministry of Health (MOH) is seeking ways of promoting male circumcision as a way of reducing HIV infections.

Director of Medical Services Dr James Nyikal, however,,cautioned circumcised men against embracing a false sense of safety, saying circumcision does not offer complete protection.

Speaking during a press conference on Monday, Nyikal said a multi-sectoral committee would be instituted to formulate a policy based on scientific research.

Circumcised males should continue practicing the well known HIV prevention strategies, he said.

"Although results demonstrate that male circumcision reduces the risk of men getting infected with HIV, the MOH wishes to affirm that circumcised men can still get infected with the HIV virus and can infect their sexual partners," Nyikal said.

Research findings

He cited reduction in the number of sexual partners, delaying the onset of sexual relations, correct and consistent use of male and female condoms, and HIV testing and counseling as a comprehensive preventive package.

The announcement follows research findings by the United States National Institute of Health that male circumcision can significantly reduce risk of contracting HIV through heterosexual (male-female) intercourse.

In the study, involving 2,784 HIV-negative men from Kisumu, it showed a 53 per cent risk reduction in circumcised men compared to uncircumcised men. And a trial involving 4,996 HIV-negative men in Rakai, Uganda, showed risk reduction of 47 per cent.

The study was conducted in Kenya and Uganda by local researchers in conjunction with other experts from US and Canada.

Increased negative effects

Presenting the findings, a researcher from University of Nairobi, Prof Ndinya Achola, said the Kisumu Study involved circumcised and uncircumcised men between 18-24 years.

"The research, that commenced in 2002, was scheduled to end in 2007 but was stopped by a data safety monitoring board due to increased negative effects noticed on participants," Achola said.

Achola's team will, however, monitor the participants to decipher more findings.

Further, Nyikal said female circumcision was not included in the study, hence no evidence of the cut reducing risk of HIV infection.

The two were speaking at the Ministry of Health Headquarters in Nairobi.

Kenya: Mother Wins Shoe4africa Iten Race

The Nation (Nairobi)

December 17, 2006

David Macharia
Nairobi

A mother of three successfully battled both newcomers and established athletes to win the Shoe4Africa women's road race in Iten yesterday.

Pauline Atodonyang, 27, a housewife from West Pokot, ran a tactical race to win in 17 minutes 2.8 seconds, beating hundreds of runners who turned up for the five-kilometre road race.

Pauline Atodonyang crosses the finish line to win the race as marathon greats Paul Tergat and Moses Tanui look on.

Atodonyang, who is trying to fit into her elder sister's athletics shoes, appears set for big things in road running.

Last week, she finished second in 15km race for women at the Baringo Half marathon race meeting.

Yesterday's race started on a blistering speed set by Africa 5,000m bronze medallist Silvia Kibet, Turkermatt Wareng Cross-country junior women's champion Gladys Otero and world steeplechase silver medallist and Africa champion Jeruto Kiptum.

Zimbabwean runner

Others in the leading pack were Irene Kwambai and a Zimbabwean runner, Sharon Tavengwa.

The early burst of speed, however, proved to be the main undoing for the early pace setters as only Kibet (fourth) finished among top 10.

Kwambai was 11th and Kiptum 20th.

The first hill climb of the race, that was flagged off at Salaba on the Eldoret-Iten road by a renowned film actor Anthony Edwards from Hollywood, had its toll on the early leaders.

It was not until the third kilometre that Atodonyang, Consolata Chemutai, eighth at the world cross-country championships in Fukuoka, Japan, this year and Hellen Kirop, a silver medallist at this year's Amsterdam Marathon made a serious attack on the leading pack and immediately took control of the race.

It was only Kibet, among the early leaders, who was able to hang on with Atodonyang, Chemutai and Kirop. With a kilometre to go, it was evident that the eventual winner was gaining on the leader.

At this point, Beatrice Chepchumba, who returned home early this month after several races in France, moved to fourth as the race entered Iten town.

The race painted Iten town yellow as the organisers gave out hundreds of yellow T-shirts to all the runners and officials. The race was attended by Kenya's former and current world beaters among them Paul Tergat, Moses Tanui, Moses Kiptanui, Ezekiel Kemboi and Robert Cheruiyot.

Athletics Kenya chairman Isaiah Kiplagat and the 2007 Mombasa world cross-country championships local organising committee chief executive, Isaac Kalua, were also present. Multiple world record holder Lornah Kiplagat of the Netherlands was one of the race's organisers alongside Shoe4Africa Foundation directors Toby Tanser and Pieter Langerhorst. Over 3,000 athletes registered for the race making it Africa's biggest women's only race.

Selected results: 1. Pauline Atodonyang, 17:02.8, 2. Consolata Chemutai, 17:04.5, 3. Beatrice Chepchumba, 17:06.3, 4. Silvia Kibet, 17:07.03, 5. Hellen Kirop, 17:13.10, 6. Beatrice Rutto, 17:16.20, 7. Gladys Kemboi 17:17.10, 8. Pamela Lisoreng, 17:18.30, 9. Viola Bor, 17:22.40, 10. lenah Cheruiyot, 17:28.70, 11. Irene Kwambai, 17:31.80.

Kenya: Ngugi Case Was an Acid Test for Judicial System

The Nation (Nairobi)

OPINION
December 16, 2006
Posted to the web December 16, 2006

Peter Mwaura
Nairobi

It was a cause celebre. The world watched the trial of Prof Ngugi wa Thiong'o's nephew John Kiragu Chege and three younger-looking, athletic and darker men the police claimed he had hired to attack the writer and his wife.

Prof Ngugi, returning home after 22 years in exile, was robbed, severely beaten and burned with cigarettes and his wife raped on the night of August 11, 2004.

The trial was an acid test of our judicial system. The case moved through the court system with the pace of a tortoise. It took more than two years to hear and determine. And it did not put to rest the conspiracy theories it had raised.

Yes, we do now know from the judgment delivered this week, that Prof Ngugi's nephew was not guilty as charged. But we don't know why the three convicted men attacked Kenya's beloved son, unless we accept the robbery motive. The three will take their dark secrets to the gallows.

Appear for the hearing

The case had a rocky passage from start to finish. Defence lawyers almost succeeded in getting the case dismissed under section 202 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which requires the court to acquit the accused if the complainant does not appear for the hearing.

The Ngugis did not appear in court on October 25, 2004, when the case was first scheduled for hearing.

What saved the court from a washout was the discretion given to the magistrate not to acquit if" for some reason" she thinks it proper to adjourn the hearing until some other date. Mercifully, the code does not define "for some reason," so any reason will do.

The police took the view that the crime was not politically motivated but many people, including Prof Ngugi himself, thought otherwise. "It wasn't a simple robbery. It was political - whether by remnants of the old regime or part of the new state outside the main current," he told the Press.

"They hung around as though waiting for something, and the whole thing was meant to humiliate, if not eliminate, us."

There were also claims by a defence lawyer the Ngugis were trailed by undercover intelligence officers throughout their visit to Kenya, reinforcing the conspiracy theory of a vampire state or gangster state out to settle old scores (even without the knowledge of those currently in power).

We were also told by the police that the four accused were in the company of others who are still at large.

The case spawned many other conspiracy theories including a family vendetta, a staged (but botched) circumcision ceremony, and a weird publicity stunt intended to boost Ngugi's new and voluminous Gikuyu-language novel, Murogi wa Kagogo.

There was also drama, mostly played outside the courtroom. And Prof Ngugi's wife, a woman who speaks straight from the heart, taught the women of Kenya how to hit back.

She showed tremendous courage in not hiding her pain. When her doctors tried to use a euphemism for rape, a tearful Njeeri decried the attempt.

"It was not 'attempted rape', he penetrated me and any time that happens to a woman, it is rape. There is no other word," she said at a news conference.

Njeeri explained to relatives and friends why she went public with the rape. She could not feed the silence that accompanies rape.

Testify in camera

In court, she chose to testify in camera not only because it is her right to do so but also to illustrate to Kenyan women that they can demand that the law protect them from "a second and public rape at the hands of the defence."

Defence lawyers, in an effort to show that no rape took place, typically make rape victims relieve their experiences through cross-examination.

Njeeri further demonstrated her courage at the police identification parade.

Weeping, she reportedly slapped one of the more heavily built suspect after identifying him as the one who raped her, grabbed him by his collar and snapped: "You dared rape me in front of my husband? I am gonna see where you will end your life with what you did to me."

That, senior principal magistrate Julie Oseko decided, will be in death row at Kamiti prison.

Talk about drama. For more about Ngugi wa'Thiong'o click here.

Kenya: Woman Dies After Cut

The East African Standard (Nairobi)

December 14, 2006
Posted to the web December 14, 2006

Steve Mkawale
Nairobi

A woman died after undergoing female genital mutilation in Nakuru District.

Police on Thursday collected the body from the young woman's home in Neissuit village.

"We are looking for her parents and the person who carried out the mutilation," said the OCPD, Mr Titus Yoma.

The woman, 18, is said to have bled to death after undergoing the traditional rite with 32 others.

Villagers told The Standard that the victim sat her Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examination this year, and was looking forward to joining Form One next year.

"She did not want to undergo the rite, but her parents warned that they would send her away if she refused," her former schoolmate said.

It was the woman's neighbours who called the police after learning of the death, Yoma said.

Four other girls who underwent the banned rite have been taken to a local health centre for check-up. Many parents whose daughters were cut have gone underground to avoid arrest.

Although the female genital mutilation has been outlawed, many communities continue to practise the rite.

The tradition is common among the Kipsigis, Abagusii, Pokot, Turkana, Kuria, Maasai and Meru.

Meanwhile, two girls who claimed policemen defiled them are yet to record statements.

Yoma said two boys arrested in connection with the hotel incident are in police custody.

"They are assisting us with investigation. They were found in the hotel room where the girls claim they were sexually assaulted," he said.

The girls, aged 13 and 14, were taken to Nairobi Women's Hospital. He said the implicated officers have been questioned and released.

I add this for clarification regarding the thought that perhaps FGM is mandated by the Islamic religion:
According to Dr. Sami A. Aldeeb Abu-Salieh at the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law:

Islamic juridical logic cannot acknowledge the distinction between female and male circumcision, both being the mutilation of healthy organs which is damaging to the physical integrity of the child, whatever the underlying religious motivations. Furthermore, both practices violate the Koran: 'Our Lord, You did not create all this in vain' (3:191), and '[He] perfected everything He created' (32:7). In our opinion, a god who demands that his believers be mutilated and branded on their genitals the same as cattle, is a god of questionable ethics.^[4]

Kenya: Urgent Action Needed to Avert Resistant TB - Activists

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks

December 13, 2006
Posted to the web December 13, 2006

Nairobi

Kenya risks falling victim to new, drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis (TB), found elsewhere on the continent, if the government fails to take the TB epidemic more seriously, activists have warned.

"Multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extremely drug-resistant (XDR) TB are a direct consequence of non-adherence to treatment regimens," Dr Ignatius Kibe, a contagious disease expert and member of the Kenya AIDS NGO Coalition (KANCO), told PlusNews. "More resources must be pumped into prevention of non-adherence."

XDR-TB has been detected in South Africa, where it has led to the death of more than 70 people in the east-coast province of KwaZulu-Natal. So far, no cases of XDR have been detected in Kenya.

MDR-TB develops when a TB strain becomes resistant to two or more first-line antibiotic drugs, and becomes XDR-TB when it is resistant to two or more second-line antibiotics. According to Kibe, an estimated 60 percent of Kenyans with TB are also co-infected with HIV. Although TB is preventable and curable, it is the leading cause of death in HIV-infected people, he added.

At a recent KANCO press conference, Mutinda Kithuku, a secondary school teacher living with both TB and HIV, urged the government to provide drug regimens that were easier to adhere to. "TB and ARV [antiretroviral] drugs are not a pleasant experience - I have to take two [tablets] per day for TB, two ARVs [antiretrovirals] per day, two antibiotics per day and a vitamin tablet," he said. "This is a total of seven - when you are sick, it is difficult to remember them all."

More effort needed to roll back TB

KANCO noted in a memorandum, handed to the government earlier this month, that while there had been some success in reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS, the time had come for the authorities to pay more attention to TB.

Dr Despaul Muthama, of the National TB Control Programme at the Ministry of Health, said 108,000 Kenyans were diagnosed with TB in 2005, and the health ministry had treated about 85 percent of those, but he believed this was just 50 percent of the actual number of infections.

Kibe said TB was a particular threat to residents of Nairobi's Kibera and Mathare slums - two of the largest and most densely populated informal settlements in Africa - which had a combined population of over two million people.

According to recent research by the International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, about 70 percent of Kenya's urban population lived in 70 slums across the country. "With the poor living and housing conditions, like overcrowding, poor sanitation, lack of water and high illiteracy, a very high proportion of this population is either infected or affected by HIV and TB."

The government intended increasing the number of people diagnosed to 70 percent in 2007. "When we test people for TB, in order to ensure that they receive the maximum benefit from the services, we also test for HIV," Muthama said.

Kenya is ranked 10th on the United Nations World Health Organisation's list of 22 countries that bear 80 percent of the world's TB burden.

Kenya: Weak Laws Blamed for Low Sea Pollution Fines

The Nation (Nairobi)

December 12, 2006
Posted to the web December 12, 2006

Nairobi

Current laws on marine pollution cannot adequately address the problem, a Cabinet minister said yesterday.

The laws impose very low fines because Kenya has not domesticated the Compensation Act," said Mr Chirau Ali Mwakwere of Transport.

"A Marine Pollution Bill has been incorporated in the Merchant Shipping Bill to facilitate the development of regulations for marine pollution control," he said.

Mr Mwakwere was speaking at the Mombasa Serena Beach Hotel when he opened a workshop to discuss the Merchant Shipping Bill.

The Bill is among the 11 that were prepared by a task force established by the attorney-general in April 2002 to review and harmonise all maritime laws.

The minister said the Bill that was developed from old Merchant Shipping Act, which was enacted in 1894 by the British Government, needed to be re-enacted "so that Kenya can domesticate international maritime conventions, to which it is a signatory".

"The current Merchant Shipping Act refers to provision of Safety of Life at Sea (Solas), while the Solas Convention was adopted in 1974 and amended by a Protocol in 1978. There are therefore numerous amendments, which cannot be implemented from the current Merchant Shipping Act," said Mr Mwakwere.

He gave an example of an oil spill incident of April 2004 involving MT Ratna Shahili at the Kipevu oil terminal in Mombasa, where the ship owner paid only US$1 million (about Sh70 million).

The vessel punctured her hull at the terminal, spilling about 200 tons of murban light crude oil, which affected about 230 hectares of the mangrove habitat at the Port Reitz Creek.

The compensation was minimal because currently, compensation on any oil spill can only be launched under Civil Liability Convention of 1996.

The Merchant Shipping Bill is being discussed by among others, the Parliamentary Select Committee on Energy, Communications and Public Works, Kenya Maritime Authority officials and representatives from the Kenya Ports Authority.

Kenya: Villagers Go Without Food And Drugs As Rains Destroy Roads

The Nation (Nairobi)

December 11, 2006
Posted to the web December 11, 2006

Nation Correspondents
Nairobi

Famine-stricken villagers in 17 manyattas have been cut off from the rest of Wajir District following heavy rains.

The Provincial Administration said yesterday that roads to the remote villages had become impassable.

Consequently, the villagers, who depend on government assistance, were yet to receive the September rations.

The authorities also said that relief trucks sent to deliver October food supplies got stuck at several points between Wajir Town and the affected areas.

By yesterday, the Government and relief agencies were still trying to reach the villages, some of which are 200 kilometres from Wajir Town.

The worst affected are Burde, Diif, Korondile, Leissanyu, Mansa, Batalow and Dadajahola.

On Friday, councillors and civil society groups in Wajir warned of a possible tragedy if medicine and food did not reach the villages urgently.

More than 20 councillors told a press conference that the situation was worsening.

Disease menace

Councillor Ahmed said that diseases like diarrhoea and malaria were now a menace.

He appealed to the Government to airlift the families to safety.

The Nation, however, learnt that 15,000 mosquito nets donated by Unicef reached Wajir District but had yet to be distributed to the needy villagers.

Elsewhere in Wajir Town, the cost of living has steadily risen due to shortages of food such as sugar.

Elsewhere, a human skeleton was on Friday retrieved by Administration Police officers from Golimba Chief's Camp in Thika District, as it floated in the upper Athi River.

Central deputy police officer Sammy Maritim said police had received information that a man had drowned while trying to cross the river using a home-made boat.

The skeleton was later taken to Thika Hospital Mortuary.

At the same time, a group of women washing cloths in River Ndarugu in Thika, also spotted the body of a man floating.

Police who arrived at the scene on being alerted by the area chief, retrieved it with the help of the public. The body was also taken to the same mortuary.

Kenya: Influx of Used Computers Drawing Students to Colleges

The East African Standard (Nairobi)

December 10, 2006
Posted to the web December 11, 2006

Michael Ouma
Nairobi

Nairobi last week hosted a meeting held to discuss the problem of and find solutions to the problem of electronic waste, otherwise referred to as e-waste, in developing countries and Africa in particular.

The conference, World Forum on e-Wastes held on 30 November, was convened with the aim to confront the growing reality that, in addition to its many benefits, the global consumer goods revolution is generating massive quantities of end-of-life computers and other obsolete electronic equipment.

The meeting came after the realisation of the fact that between 20 and 50 million metric tones of electronic waste are being generated every year because of the growing demand for computers, televisions, radios, mobile phones and other consumer electronics.

The conference heard how a rising global tide of electronic waste, especially in developing countries, is posing serious environmental risks because of the wide range of dangerous pollutants they can contain, from heavy metals to chlorine compounds.

The meeting acknowledged that the advent of the mobile phone and personal computer has been a boon to communication, but they have also created a new tide of hazardous waste. Many of these products are soon discarded because they are deemed to be obsolete or defunct.

According to Mr Kimani Kinyanjui, training manager at Forrnax College, a computer training firm in Nairobi, the problem of proliferation of old and used computers into the country was increased with the opening up of the market following the zero-rating of computers and its accessories last year.

This has led to an influx of cheap and used computers, mainly from Dubai, with some outdated models retailing at modest amounts of as low as Sh10,000.

Says Kinyanjui: "Many owners of these machines do not know what to do with them when they develop technical problems as they can not even access the machines' related spare parts."

He says that the problem of used and abandoned computers has led many students to join computer colleges to acquire technical skills in the repair of the machines. A spot-check at most computer colleges in town revealed that a significant proportion of the student population was enrolled in technician courses in computer repair. This is in spite of the fact that most of the machines, when they break down, cannot be repaired.

The member governments to a United Nations-sponsored global pact on the transport and disposal of hazardous waste agreed last week to accelerate their efforts to reduce the impact and damage caused by the rapid growth in electronic waste.

The representatives of various governments pledged to introduce pilot projects to take back used electronic products and to strengthen collaborative efforts to fight illegal traffickers.

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP), under whose auspices the Basel Convention was adopted, said it expected a formal declaration to be issued committing governments to work towards improving their policies and prodding industry to pursue "green design."

The Basel Convention is an international treaty brokered in 1989 by the UN which regulates the cross-boundary transfer of toxic waste. In practical terms, it attempts to prevent the developing world from becoming the toxic dumping ground of wealthy states which might otherwise be reluctant to deal with their own waste.

UNEP executive director Achim Steiner said it was important that governments develop more effective regulatory regimes so that the market has incentives to respond more positively to the issue of electronic waste.

"By partnering with the private sector and with civil society, they can promote collection chains that channel obsolete goods back to their original manufacturers for recovery and recycling," he said.

Some 120 governments participated in the Nairobi conference, which was the eighth of its kind to deal with the Basel Convention. Some 20 to 50 million metric tonnes of e-waste are generated worldwide every year, comprising more than five per cent of all municipal solid waste. When the millions of computers purchased around the world every year (183 million in 2004) become obsolete they leave behind lead, cadmium, mercury and other hazardous wastes.

Because it's too long to post but too good to miss, and much less serious than most of the stories here: "Poisoned Chalice"

EPIDEMIC IN AFRICA

Ebola Virus Kills Thousands of Gorillas

Outbreaks of the deadly Ebola virus has killed up to 5,500 gorillas in West Africa. A study released on Friday says that together with commercial hunting, the virus could threaten the species with extinction.

AP

A western gorilla in Congo: The Ebola virus is threatening the species.

An outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa hasn't just killed people. It has also caused the deaths of up to 5,500 gorillas in the region, according to a study published on Friday. Over 90 percent of the regional gorilla population perished between 2001 and 2005, and the outbreak -- combined with commercial hunting -- threatens to send the species into extinction, the researchers said.

The report, published in Friday's edition of the journal Science, says "ape species that were abundant and widely distributed a decade ago are rapidly being reduced to a tiny remnant population." The survey is the first comprehensive assessment of the deadly Ebola outbreak in Congo and Gabon in 2002 and 2003 that killed anywhere from 3,500 to 5,500 gorillas and an uncounted number of chimpanzees. Ebola has killed 1,287 people in Africa since 1976 according to the World Health Organization Web site.

"The Zaire strain of Ebola virus killed about 5,000 gorillas in our study area alone," said research team leader Magdalena Bermejo of the University of Barcelona in Spain, according to the report. "Add commercial hunting to the mix, and we have a recipe for rapid ecological extinction."

Bermejo's team began studying a group of western gorillas in 1995 in the Lossi Sanctuary in north-western Democratic Republic of Congo. "By 2002 we had identified 10 social groups with 143 individuals," the researchers wrote. But that year, an outbreak of Ebola killed dozens of people in the region, as well as 130 of the gorillas. The researchers turned their attention to another group of 95 gorillas, but a 2003 outbreak killed all but 4 of those animals.

That prompted the team to analyze the regional pattern of gorilla deaths. Friday's report concludes that the virus spread primarily from gorilla to gorilla in a southward direction. They arrived at the 5,500 figure based on the number of observed deaths and the known mortality rate of the Ebola virus, which kills between 50 and 90 percent of its victims.

Ebola hemorrhagic fever causes severe fever, headaches, joint and muscle aches, sore throat and weakness, followed by diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain and internal and external bleeding. The virus is transmitted by direct contact with bodily fluids such as blood, urine or saliva. There is no cure or effective treatment, and vaccines are still in development.

The virus seems to be spreading faster among gorillas than among humans, Friday's report finds. Peter Walsh, an ecologist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, has an explanation. He says gorilla groups share territories, often eating fruit from the same tree. Feces from a sick gorilla could easily infect others. Moreover, gorillas and chimpanzees are known to handle the bodies of sick or deceased apes when they find them, which will often transmit the virus.

Bermejo's research supports a different study released in July which concluded that the virus was spreading among gorilla groups, rather than from humans to apes. "Our work is complementary to that -- we have shown it is spreading between groups," Walsh said.

"The issue here is that there is a certain amount of work that needs to be done to take these vaccines that already exist and put them into gorillas," Walsh said. "The price tag on that is a couple of million bucks." He is hoping for contributions from wealthy donors.

amb/Reuters/AP