Tuesday, 31 January 2023
Mutula puts ministers under strict performance contracts
Machakos Town Schools ranked
An analysis of KCSE
in Machakos Sub County
By The Anchor Reporter
The state of education in Machakos Sub County can be cracked from the analysis that has been just concluded on KCSE 2022 performance.
Out of the 4,088 candidates who sat for the examination in the 59 secondary schools in the sub-county, only 776 will proceed to the university, which is far less than a half of the candidates. Out of the 776, only 2 got an A grade. 27, had A-, 78 got B+, 151 b-, 226 had B and 292 had a C+, representing about 32 percent transition to University.
The bulk of the students will now have to sort themselves in Tertiary institutions. The majority in this category got D-(812). The table below tell the grim story with better accuracy.
Kitui : Vetting Chief Officers enters the second day
Monday, 30 January 2023
Global Warming: Lukenya University's 1m trees challenge
By Irene Nyanzi
Global temperature is warming, weather patterns are changing, and sea level is rising.
The Lukenya UniversityClimate has changed throughout earth's long history, but this time it's different.
Human activity is causing worldwide temperatures to rise higher and faster than at any time we previously know of.
The urgency to find a solution has never been greater. Nations, global organizations, scholars individuals have beeb involved in efforts to find and fund a solution to climate change.
It is a race against time for governments, organizations,and Institutions as they work towards finding a solution to Climate change. In Kenya, Lukenya University has stepped forward with a practical and crucial initiative - to plant 1million trees at its maim Campus in Mtito Andei in Kibwezi East.
The main Sponsors of the event will be The Kassanga Mulwa Foundation,The Lukenya Schools and the Lukenya college.
The Lukenya University's focuss is ambitious, specific and verifiable; plant 1million trees to deal with the climate change facing Kenya and the Horn of Africa.
Under the theme ' Running for a Greener Future' the university has organized a Marathon event on the March 26, 2023 at its campus in Mtito Andei,Kibwezi East,Makueni County to achieve its objective.
The event launch will be done at Nyayo Stadium, Nairobi on Wednesday February 1, 2023.
The main Sponsors of the event will be The Kassanga Mulwa Foundation,The Lukenya Schools and the Lukenya college.
With improvement of tree cover, the environment must change.Tree cover will curb frequent and intense drought, whirl winds, heat waves, rising sea levels, melting glaciers and warming oceans that directly harm humanity, animals, destroy the places they live, and wreak havoc on people's livelihoods and communities. It is a 'stich in time'
Sunday, 29 January 2023
Mutula rejects Raila rallies
Mutha residents await the building of police stations
Saturday, 28 January 2023
Expand Children's Spaces- Magistrate
Magistrate wants set up
of a Children's Parliament
A magistrate wants the government to establish special children’s courts across the country in order to prosecute sexual offenders and deliver justice to the victims. Outgoing Kangundo Senior Principal Magistrate Ms. Monica Nyakundi says this way, the government would enforce strict laws for those who violate children's rights.
Ms. Nyakundi |
Art of stealing bursaries
Machakos tops list
of stolen bursaries
Machakos Town Constituency is claiming the biggest chunk of bursary funds that can not be accounted for with a figure of Kes 45million.
Figure by The Daily Nation |
A report from the Auditor General puts the exact figure at Kes 45,106,000, making it the highest figure in Kenya of suspected stolen funds from the bursary scheme.
Two more constituencies- Mwala and Kitui West feature in the list, with Mwala showing Kes 27,214,000 suspected stolen, while Kitui West has Kes18,892,000 missing.
The figures stand out like a sore toe because millions of poor students continue to miss school due to biting poverty levels in the villages in those constituencies. Most likely, those culpable of the theft are well-to-do people who have been appointed by Members of Parliament in the respective constituencies to manage the funds.
Worse still, the revelations come as schools in Lower Eastern Region remain practically missing from the list of top performing schools in the 2022 KCSE examination. For instance, the top National School- Machakos School, had only one 'A' Grade, compared to Mangu High School that had over 80 'A's, more than all the 'A' grades attained in the three counties of Machakos, Kitui and Makueni.
The theft highlights why MPs must be restrained by all means from presiding over public funds such as Constituency Development Funds as decreed by the Supreme Court of Kenya that found CDF to be unconstitutional due to the fact that it vests MPs with a role in its management- while it is a funtion of the executive.
It remains to be seen how MPs will vote on the action to be taken on their hirelings.
Friday, 27 January 2023
Meet the Beekeeper of Kyaume
Thursday, 26 January 2023
Kitui's 21 key sectors in big funding plan
USAID, Kitui County's
Kes. 1bn funding plan
Kitui, Thursday, January 26, 2023
The fourth phase of the quarterly review meetings on the Joint Work Plan (JWP) between the County Government of Kitui and USAID kicked off yesterday at a Kitui hotel.
Wednesday, 25 January 2023
Bombshell charge for activist in tiff with Governor Ndeti
Boy rescued,four held in kidnap ordeal
Elephants kill villager in Masinga
Inaction on elephants
leads to death of villager
Three elephants roaming through villages in Masinga |
Monday, 23 January 2023
Matinyani School turns the tables
When a name and
size does not matter
Staff unrest at Machakos University
Giant Schools Missing in Action
Giant Ukambani schools miss
out in 2022 KCSE top league
By Gastone Valusi in Machakos
Though there is a general feeling that schools in Lower Eastern performed well in the 2022 KCSE exams, an analysis of the listing shows that schools from the region rank poorly compared to schools in other parts of the country.
From a casual scanning of results, it is possible that Mangu High School alone produced more A plain(81) grade than all schools combined in Lower Eastern.
Dr. Kituku |
Mr Katuku |
It is curious that while the region's top performing school- Matinyani Boys scored a mean grade of 9,94 and will send the entire 2022 cohort of students to the universities, it still lagged behind other schools that posted the mean score beyond 10 points.
Questions are being raised as to how the top schools from Lower Eastern- Machakos School, Makueni School, Kitui School, St Charles Lwanga and others in that league, though they will send good numbers to the universities, are missing from the list of top performers.
It is also noted that more Girl schools than boys schools in the region performed well in the 2022 Kenya Certificate of Secondary School Education. Out of 20 schools with a mean score of 7 points and above 10 were girl schools while the boys schools were 6 with 4 being mixed schools. Notable performers include AIC Sombe Girls under leadership of Mrs Anne Mutinda. It shot to the third best school in Kitui County, beating a national School- Muthale Girls.
Schools in Kitui County seemed to top the region followed by schools in Makueni with Machakos County coming third in that order. In the list of 20 top schools in the region,only three are in Machakos County and their mean scores are way below their equivalents in other regions. ( See list herein)
1. Matinyani Boys 9.94, 2.Kitui School 9.31, 3.Kathiani Girls 9.11, 4.Mbooni Girls 8.91,
5.AIC Sombe Girls 8.54, 6.Makueni Boys 8.39, 7. St Charles Lwanga 8.11, 8.Machakos School 8.00,
9.Kisasi Boys 7.96, 10.Precious Blood Kilungu 7.92, 11.Kyangondu Mixed 7.90,
12.Caring Hearts 7.76, 13.St Joseph Kibwezi 7.48,14. Misyani Girls 7.48, 15.Mwaani Girls 7.20,
16.Kavingoni Secondary,7.18, 17.Kisau Girls 7.16, 18. Machakos Girls 7.14, 19. Makueni Girls 7.10,
20. Kaumoni Boys 7.06
Speaking to The Anchor in an interview today, Former Machakos County Health Executive Dr Ancent Kituku said the dismal performance in Machakos County could be attributed to lack of unity between leaders in addressing matters to do with education.
Dr Kituku, said professionals in other regions have joined the Board of Management of various schools and are usually at hand to offer advice whenever the schools in the region do not perform well.
"The leadership in our region both political and religious does not seem to care much about education. They have left it to the Ministry to education and do not hold meetings to review the performance of our schools,"said Dr Kituku. He says the community needs to motivate teachers and pool resources to upgrade school infrastructure such as labs and libraries in order to boost performance in the region.
Some former academic giants in the region like Kitui School,Mbooni Girls and St Charles Lwanga bounced back to the limelight while some small schools also made their mark in the list of top performing schools.
Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Training (Kuppet) Executive Secretary Mr Musembi Katuku attributed the trend to hard work by teachers and students in the schools. "Some small schools are putting a lot of effort and that's why they have good results but we are not condemning the big schools. They have done their part," he said.
Mutula launches Jhpiego project
Bill and Melinda Gates
funds Makueni program
Nairobi: January 23, 2022
Saturday, 21 January 2023
KCSE at a glance
Girl Schools shine in KCSE
Friday, 20 January 2023
Top performer eyes medicine
Kitui starts project listing meetings
Leaders shun burial of 3 infants burnt to death
By Gastone Valusi and Dennis Mwikya
Tears flowed freely on Thursday during the burial of Three infants who were burned to death over family land tussle in Kangundo, Machakos County last week.
Thursday, 19 January 2023
From our archives. The Gun Drama Story
Monday, 5 July 2010
The Anchor June 2010
POLICE is packaging details they have gathered over a bizarre shooting incident in the residence of Makueni Parish head Father John Makewa.
In the incident, It is reported that suspected gangsters raided the residence forcing Father Makewa to open fire in an effort to fight back at about 4.15 am on March 20,2010.
When gunshots rung out that night, a catholic Priest, Father Fidelis Nzuki was left injured and bleeding profusely. He sustained a shot on his arm and another between his legs.
Reports made to the Police in Wote, Makueni District that morning by Father Makewa indicated that the alleged gangsters fired at the house, injuring the visiting Father Nzuki and forcing Father Makewa to return fire. During the night of attack, Father Makewa had hosted four other priests in his house, among them Father Nzuki. The Priests allege that they were woken up by gunfire with Father Makewa shouting that the house was under attack.
They could not hear the attackers other than gunshots that made them believe that they were under attack. It could not have been that the fire was coming from the priest’s gun. While fully alert, it is alleged that Father Makewa called Father Nzuki and handed to him a gun and asked him to head towards the door of the sitting room and open it stealthily so that he(Makewa) could have a full view of the gangsters.
It is claimed that Father Makewa took a position along the corridor holding rifle, ostensibly to give cover to Father Nzuki as he opened the door. The other priests remained holed up in their rooms.
As Nzuki opened the door, a gunshot tore through his arm and he is reported to have yelled that he had been shot. As he wailed, a voice shouted “you can Die!” as another shot hit him, ripping through the flesh close to his genitals.
All this while, the other priests were shaking in fear of the unknown. It is alleged that Father Makewa eventually opened the door, and after a while, workers at the parish and the priests organised to take the injured priest to the hospital.
It was then assumed that Father Nzuki was hit by the alleged gangsters. Makewa narrated to The Anchor the story of the alleged raid and did not lock out the possibility that one of his shots may have ricocheted and hit Father Nzuki.
The matter turned nasty when police arrived at the home of Father Makewa and begun interviewing neighbours and the inhabitants of the house. On examining the scene of crime, they noticed that several windows had their glasses shattered and scattered on the outer side- meaning that shooting could only have taken place from inside the house.
Police sources say they combed the house and neighborhood for evidence that there were intruders and were convinced that the alleged attack may only have been a theory they found difficult to believe.
Police have interviewed close to 20 witnesses and the theory of attack has been narrowing down with each new statement.
Police then took away the two weapons- a rifle and a gun, all owned by Father Makewa- and begun an investigation that seems informed by both the fear of God, the risk of framing up a man of God or even tearing into turf wars that have seen priests position themselves to bid for the Bishop’s seat in the yet to be created Makueni Diocese of the Catholic Church.
Worse still, it may even be that the investigation is crippled by usual official red tape or outright inefficiency. Now a good three months after the attack, police are still lazing around with the shooting dominating conversation in many meetings in the parish.
Father Nzuki was eventually taken to Mater Hospital to begin a new life. He stayed at the ICU for two weeks and is currently recovering at a Catholic home in Mlolongo. Nzuki, now pursuing a Masters Degree in Business and Administration in Nairobi, interestingly was introduced to priesthood by Father Makewa and in fact comes from the same village in Kangundo.
The relationship between the pair has been such that they were seemingly inseparable. He was a constant visitor of Makewa and according to his own account; there has never been a known dis-agreement.
Nzuki’s account of the shooting tells how he reluctantly took hold of a gun thrust to him by his senior and instructed to crawl towards the door and open it. A police source says there is no doubt in Nzuki’s mind who was his assailant.
His statement is replete with exchanges that police are seeking to knit together and develop a motive for the shooting. Makewa was one of his regular visitors in hospital until the visits were abruptly stopped after the ailing priest was reported to have had nightmares and sleepless nights arising from the tragedy of the night of attack.
Shortly after, The Bishop of Machakos Catholic Diocese, the Most Rev Martin Kivuva instructed Father Makewa to step aside as head of the Parish to allow police carry out independent investigations. He was to report back to the bishop on May 22, 2010 for further deployment or instructions and that has not been possible due to the pace of the probe.
Makewa is an experienced priest who has come along way, clashing with the administration over various issues, the latest being a showdown with a former Makueni DC over alleged theft and sale of famine relief food.
Investigators are said to be approaching the matter carefully as they know that past clashes with the priest may be seen to have a hand in their probe.
Makewa was seen, along Father Kyule, and Father Mondiu as possible successors of the late Bishop Urbanus Kioko as Bishop of Machakos but the appointment of Bishop Kivuva, then based at Kwale sprung a surprise that may have send discomfort to some of the priests- key among them father Makewa who has bestrode the catholic scene in Machakos like a colossus. Sources in some sections of the church believe that the investigation may be swayed by a purported fight for who will be the new Bishop of the Makueni Diocese, a belief that may actually be far fetched.
Bishop Kivuva told The Anchor that it became necessary for Father Makewa to step aside given the nature of allegations and direction the investigation was taking. He said the church wanted the matter handled in the best manner possible so that all fears are put to rest “That is all there is to this matter in spite of the many stories that are doing rounds over it”
A new priest, Father Mutunga has since taken over from Father Makewa who remains away- mostly at his home in Kangundo where he is alleged to be under the escort of two armed Administration Police Officers.
They were attached to him after alleged incidents in Kangundo that seemed to have put his life in danger arising from family links with the injured priest.
The Anchor has been unable to reach any of the priests in Makewa’s house on the fateful night. However Police recorded statements from them, the injured priest and Father Makewa himself. Indeed they have taken two statements from Father Makewa.
Police sources say that finger prints and ballistic experts examined the guns recovered from the priest and confirmed that the bullet that hit Father Nzuki were fired from the Rifle Father Makewa held at the time of attack.
Now the biggest headache for the police is to append a motive for the shooting. Those privy to the probe say Police are investigating Father Makewa’s gun history- from the time he was licensed to carry weapons, his use of ammunition, incidents involving his use of the gun and storage in an attempt to decipher a motive for the shooting.
The Anchor also established that Police stopped probing the gangster theory in the attack and has been wondering why anyone would invent such a story in a case where a priest is shot with a gun being held by another who has been a mentor, friend and more of an elder brother.
From our archives: Peter Mulei
https://theanchormedia.blogspot.com/2010/07/anchor-june-2010.html#:~:text=Peter%20Ngumbi%20Mulei,of%20a%20man.
The Anchor (Digital Edition): Equity Scholarship: 32 students picked
Equity Scholarship: 32 students picked
in Machakos.
Thirty two (32) pupils from Machakos County have been selected for the Equity Wings to Fly scholarship in a highly competitive process that attracted hundreds of applicants.
Wednesday, 18 January 2023
Jhpiego President visits Makueni for a review of Joint Projects
School demands refund of fees in a sponsorship fiasco
Monday, 16 January 2023
Machakos wrests Masinga water from Kitui
Makueni targets mainstreaming land use in planning
Public Participation key to devolution, says Malombe
Friday, 13 January 2023
52 percent of Kitui's piped water goes to waste, says PS Rono
Thursday, 12 January 2023
Change of Guard at Mwingi Seminary
Wednesday, 11 January 2023
Bloodbath leaves man,wife dead
Gov Ndeti tells off critics
3 children killed in arson attack
Tuesday, 10 January 2023
Kitui raises bursaries funding
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