VP’s hour of truth
By Jonathan Mutiso and Bertram Mweu
A Memorandum issued by leaders from Ukambani appears to have sealed the fate of Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka in his quest for national leadership in coming days.
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| A pensive Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka |
This comes as Kenyans wonder loudly why the community’s seven constituencies decided to reject the new constitution, defying its leaders in a clear testimony that they have no faith in their leadership.
The only consolation, little as it may be is the fact that 10 of the 17 constituencies returned an affirmative vote for reform.
What is worrying is that the next phase of the new constitution will have to count only on those believed to be overpoweringly supportive of the reform process. Sadly however is the fact that the VP is not among those seeming to be reformers. He is widely seen as having paid lip service to the reform agenda, earning himself the notorious tag of a watermelon- an extremely juicy fruit that is green on the surface but reddish inside. It was a befitting description on docile leaders who backed the YES green colour but also flirted with the Red colour’s NO side. VP Kalonzo was the epitome of this class of leaders.
To be fair to the VP, he spend a reasonable time in his home turf of Mwingi cajoling his people not to embarrass him with a NO vote. He may not have spend much time in other parts of Ukambani as he was constantly seen with President Mwai Kibaki as he criss-crossed the republic to campaign foe the new laws.
This may explain why the vote was not overwhelming in Ukambani. Besides, Kalonzo’s language during the campaigns was close to that of those wielding Red Cards.
Rather that put up a firm case for Yes, the VP was all too apologetic and used the very same language used by the NO team, positioning himself to appear more appealing to the Church as opposed to those others campaigning for YES.
Kalonzo’s first mistake was his expressed position while with Cabinet Minster William Ruto, when he called for an alteration of the draft after it left parliament, knowing too well that its was practically impossible to do it.
He aggravated the situation further by calling for the amendment of the Question so as to have an uncontested referendum, an eventuality that he knew too well could not happen. It was the VP’s second mistake.
When public pressure mounted on him, with his image of an opponent to the process or worse still as totally undecided, the VP, seeing his bosses would not entertain his irresolute position quickly stood to support the draft laws.
His third mistake-Kalonzo went into the Yes Campaign an apologetic or unwilling player. In one of his campaigns in Mwingi, Kalonzo, knowing that the NO side was grieving about the lumping together of Mwingi within Kitui County seemingly concurred publicly that he was dissatisfied with the new constitution over that situation and vowed to have the creation of Mwingi County as the first amendment.
Kalonzo Musyoka was missing in action in Ukambani when Mrs Charity Ngilu hit the ground and took the mantle of selling the constitution in Ukambani, culminating in his fourth blunder. Now, a national campaign was rolling out and the VP, a prospective Presidential candidate in 2012 General Election, was neither a leader of the YES nor the NO side. Worse still, he was not at the war front at his own turf where his old allies and political party stalwarts were leading a rebellion against him as they advanced the NO case.The net effect of his absence, coming after a deal for unity with archrival- Mrs Ngilu- only slowed the campaign and his critics say it was a deliberate effort to have the Nos advance in Ukambani. Even after he was assimilated in the campaigns, The Anchor has accounts how the YES campaigns stalled over cash that the VP may not have shared to all the players, resulting in an altercation with Mrs Ngilu.
As we went to press Kalonzo was committing his fifth mistake: Demanding that a deal be struck with opponents of the draft to accommodate their reservations now that the Constitution has been passed.
His demand appears to pursue the Machakos Declaration No 7 “That the Vice – President shall be at the forefront of championing for the necessary changes to the Katiba, with other leaders, after the referendum” If he pursues this agenda, the Vice President will drive the final nail on his own coffin.
By pursuing this demand, this prospective candidate is positioning himself against the over 6million Kenyans who voted for the new laws and only time would determine the fate of his presidential bid in the coming days.
Kalonzo, a lawyer not known for winning cases in the corridors of justice knows only too well that there can not be a constitutional amendment anytime soon. He knows that without a Senate in place, established counties, support from a required number of the counties plus a million signatures and other such requirements- that no amendment can take place.
True, Kibaki and Raila campaigned on a platform that the constitution needs to be passed with its defects for the amendments to be made later. But it is not logical that this would be the time to push for the amendments even before the constitution is domesticated. Any Calls now for the same, whether made by William, Ruto, the entire Church, Kalonzo, Kibaki or Raila would be outrageous.
So even for Kalonzo, as he edges close to the precipice, he ought to be extremely careful and calculating if he still hopes to be President of Kenya, the new rules for Presidential candidature notwithstanding.
Kalonzo’s stance and that of Ukambani has rattled the country in amazement as it remains unclear what it is about the new constitution that rubs them the wrong way. For years a marginalized region, Ukambani’s greatest hope is in the new constitution as it seeks to halt historical injustices that have led to years of deprivation and underdevelopment.
Kenya’s marginalized communities voted for the document amass as they had the vision that informed the drafting of the new constitution which seems lost on many voters in Ukambani.
So confused was the voting trend that one could not discern what exactly the Akamba, including their son Kalonzo were up to.
The region which has been known to depend entirely on relief food and money from politicians during the time for campaigns is sending a confused signal on its preparedness play its role on the reform plane that the entire nation, with the exception of Rift Valley Province is placed.
The biggest hallmark of the confusing signal was in Mutito Constituency where MP Kiema Kilonzo who steered NO in Ukambani, saw his people vote YES.
According to people from his constituency, they had a protest over his use of CDF funds besides the fact that the Constitution was drafted by the fingers of one of their most trusted sons- Nzamba Kitonga.
The Yes side garnered 14,207 votes against 9,654 for those who voted against the draft in the region widely expected to heed the call of Kiema and reject the draft.
The 4,553 margin was a surprise to pundits in the area but being the home turf of Committee of Experts (COE) chairman Nzamba Kitonga it was also not entirely unexpected.
Alex Nganga, a youth leader attributed the win to the influence of Nzamba with the electorate pointing out that Nzamba could not offer a flawed document.
In Kitui West constituency, No won with 19,639 votes while the Yes team scooped 14,283 representing a margin of 5,356 votes. The win by the No side in the area was also attributed to the lack of a spirited fight in Mutonguni and Matinyani divisions where former minister Francis Nyenze was fashioned as the leader of campaigns.
“The input of the churches especially the majority Catholics and African Inland Church (AIC) was the cause of the showing by the No side,” said Yahya Khamis, a Kitui resident.
The loss by the Yes side in Kitui South where No managed to get 14,177 against Yes side’s 13,488 was also not totally unexpected with the area MP Isaac Muoki appearing undecided until the last section of the referendum campaigns.
In water minister Charity Ngilu’s Kitui Central constituency, Yes won with 19,416 against 16,201 votes for the No side. Ngilu also spend good time in Mutito Constituency and it appears that she still has an axe to grind with Kiema, a task that can be completed in 2012.
Another confused signal was seen in Mbooni where Constitutional Affairs Minister Mutula Kilonzo represents. Voters cast a NO vote in a seeming stance to embarrass Mutula, who sees himself going into the annals of history as the minister who successfully played midwife to the birth of Kenya’s Third Republic.
Even then Mutula himself absented himself from the YES campaigns in Mbooni and appears interested no more in Mbooni politics as exemplified in the mess his CDF appointees are carrying out in Mbooni. This disinterest in the YES campaigns was also evident in Kaiti, Kitui West and Kitui South the only other constituencies in Ukambani where the MPs were YES but where the voters chose NO. Area MPs Gideon Ndambuki, Charles Nyamai and Isaac Muoki respectively were halfhearted and left their people unattended, leaving them to drift irretrievably into NO.
In Machakos Town, Mwala and Kilome, the MPs Victor Munyaka, Daniel Muoki and John Harun Mwau, even as they remain very unpopular, the leaders leveraged with the mood on the ground to remain afloat.
Mwau has outstanding pledges of roofing all grass thatched houses with galvanized sheets and buying Kilome Youth 5 buses to commence their march out of poverty. These are among the issues Mwau must face to prove his probity as a leader. His people believe these will never be done.
Father Makewa’s shooting
probe file heads to Wako
By Anchor Writers
CRIMINAL Investigations Department is analyzing statements recorded over the shooting of Father Fidelis Nzuki in the residence of Father John Makewa.
As we went to press, officials at the Embu Provincial Police Headquarters were studying statements taken by Makueni CID officers, whom we understood, are recommending the arrest and prosecution of Father Makewa for attempted murder of father Nzuki.
The file will be placed before Attorney General for a decision to prosecute Father Makewa
Makueni Officer Commanding Police Division Senior Superintendent Joshua Ole Leina confirmed that CID officers had concluded the investigations and had forwarded the case to their superiors in Embu for directions. “It is a matter of days before a decision is reached and we will act accordingly”, he said.
It is understood that police have taken this long due to the sensitivity around the matter because Father Makewa (pictured right) has a profile that betrays reckless shooting that defines the incident. Police have been slowed down by their struggle to identify what could have been the motive of the shooting.
Father Nzuki was shot when he and three others had visited Father Makewa.
Father Makewa alleges that gangsters attacked his residence that night during which they shot Father Nzuki. This is the account that reached Police at Wote that morning and they proceeded to investigate the matter on that premise until it emerged later that there were no thugs after all.
This is a theory that local police attempted to buttress, even identifying a vehicle they claimed was used by the alleged thugs as a get away car. However the theory collapsed miserably when the Toyota Rav 4 vehicle was impounded by police, only for them to discover it belonged to another Priest who had driven by Wote Township many hours before the shooting.
Accounts have since emerged that the theory of an attack by thugs was told to the police by the three people who were in the house on the fateful night.
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| How The Anchor broke the story in June |
First accounts of the shooting portrayed Fr Makewa as a priestly hero who used his two guns- a revolver and a Shortgun- to repulse thugs bent of attacking his residence. Locals say Makewa told the congregation that ,morning how he fought off the gangsters in his underware as there was no time to dress when they struck.
Available accounts show that Makewa and the four gentlemen slept late the previous night and long reflections about their lives in the church. But at about 4am, they were awakend by two loud bursts of what sounded by gun shots.
Records that the police are holding say the seminarian heard the two shots. After about 10 minutes Makewa entered stormed into the room where Fr Nzuki and the seminarian were sleeping.
A statement that The Anchor has seen says: “ Fr Makewa entered our room between 4.15 and 4.20 holding a Shortgun. I saw it and I knew it. Then he said to us; ‘Aume nikukiwe’(Men,we are under invasion). He stood beside my bed and I posed to him; How dare they invade us at daybreak?”
Makewa: Kwi Ingei Nza (There are thieves outside), he retorted. “I then dressed up swiftly and used my phone to illuminate our ay out of the room as there was no electricity that evening. Inside his room, he picked three bullets and a pistol which he handed over to me on our way out of the room. We moved to his private sitting room and I saw him fire two shots through the window. We took cover by the walls believing that the attackers would return fire. Makewa then opened the door leading to the corridor and stared outside as we took cover. He then said the attackers must be in the dinning Room”, said the statement
It was at this stage that Makewa handed the pistol to him and directed him to crawl towards the door and open it so that Makewa could have a full view of the alleged gang. Believing blindly the danger he was exposing himself to, Fr Nzuki took the gun and begun to crawl to the door. He had hardly opened when the first shot hit him.
“I was still holding the lock when the first shot tore through my hand. The force was so strong that I felt it in the chest. I felt now it was a ploy to kill me. I stood facing Father (Makewa) who was about 5 meters away. I thought he mistook me for the thugs. I told him; ‘Father you have shot my hand’. He (Makewa) retorted: Tinyie. Ni ingei.( Its not me. It’s the thugs)”
Father Nzuki replied “Father you wake me up so that you can kill me at the corridor? How come that my best friend will kill me?”. It was then that another shot rang out, ripping through the flesh besides his genitals and exiting at his buttocks “ Father, you have decided I will be buried without my manhood?
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.
Those who know Father Makewa say he has been a gun holder for as long as they remember. But he was first seen with a gun during his tenure as Parish Priest for Katangi. There are reports that he once opened fire at a person who was them alleged to have been a bugler. He was shot dead within parish precincts and life went on for Father Makewa.
A priest who worked with Makewa at Katangi recalls one horrific experience when Father Makewa set out to silence a dog, whose constant noise in the evening infuriated the parishioner. “He asked another priest to take a torch and splash the light on the dog. Father Makewa aimed at the canine and shot it in the head, splitting it into smithereens”. Each time the priest recalls the experience of that day sends him mumbling a prayer for Father Makewa, our source said, pleading to remain un-named.
Makewa has had long running drama as a priest. In Katangi, he had decreed that he shall never hold mass for members of the faith who committed suicide.
But as fate would have it, a family that was close to him one day made him eat the humble pie. The mother of the home doused herself with petrol and set herself ablaze and effectively took her life. She was the wife of a man who was believed to be Makewa’s closest friend in Katangi.
When burial was set and mourners gathered amid mummers that Makewa was about to break one of his long standing pledges, he summoned that mourners and warned them: Kii ni Kithaayo Kyakwa – meaning this is my salt lick. No one was courageous enough to seek what he exactly meant and he went ahead and conducted mass for her and buried her.
Since the Makueni incident, there have been rumours about alleged incidents involving gun use of Father Makewa. But those who have seen the police statements have not seen any details about Makewa’s gun history and police may well take a cue from these reports.
Education: An apt
anology of drunken driver
Quality assurance and standards boss Enos Oyaya has challenged ukambani schools over poor performance.He said the evaluation of teachers’ work should not be separated from development since quality is dependent on professional development. There is no development without challenge and quality development depends on the participation of all persons involved in teaching and learning
Oyaya said the region was above national and provincial average saying the performance in KCPE appeared better than KCSE in the region.Individual school performance showed that only 13 schools in ukambani were among the top 200 in KCSE.
“Let me remind you of two cardinal things.First,there is no union without teachers. Secondly, there are no teachers without pupils/students so we should not just sit down and wait relief food on education” he said.
Speaking during the education day for Machakos Oyaya said overall top district in KCPE 2009 was Garissa with mean score of 283.54 while the best district in Ukambani was Makueni which had 266.38 giving a difference of 17.47 points saying it was a great challenge.
Garissa and Ijara were position 1 and 2 respectively in maths while the best in the same subject in ukambani was Makueni at position 13.
Oyaya said that it was redemption day to reveal that in the last decade the Ukambani education bus drivers forgot what they learnt in the driving schools and started driving carelessly as the bus conductors collecteda fares without ethics.
“If a bus has a sober driver all traffic rules will be observed and the driver will take the passengers to the right destinations depending on the fare they have paid. But if the driver is drunk he will drive carelessly and cause an accident then blame the potholes on the road.” he noted.
Oyaya’s anology captures best the education scenario in Machakos where players in the sector- from unionists to teachers, education officials, parents and other stakeholders were behaving like the drunken drivers Mr Oyaya was speaking about, leaving education in absolute want.
In the 2009 KCPE Makueni lead with a mean score of 266.30 followed by Kibwezi with 261.61.Nzaui (259.88) Mwala (256.80),Mbooni (252.75), Yatta (250.95), Mwingi (240.74),Kangundo (235.96),Machakos (235.18),Kyuso (231.50),Mutomo (231.13) and Kitui district with 230.64
In science Ijara and Garissa, North Pokot and Baringo North were position 1 to 4 respectively,while the best in Ukambani was Makueni at position 22. Kibwezi 53.23 (position 39),Mbooni 52.72 (position 42) Nzaui 52.62 (position 44).
He said in Kiswahili,top with 50.00 mean score were Makueni 53.80 (position 25),Nzaui 53.53 (position 29),Kibwezi 53.49 )position 31) Mwala 53.18 (position 35),Yatta 51.56 (position 50).Machakos with mean score of 46.77 was position 72 nationally.
In social studies and religious education, North Pokot, Garissa,Ijara, East Pokot,Baringo North and Samburu were position 1 to 6 nationally, while the best placed district ie. Was Makueni at position 45.
Oyaya said the analysis provided a serious challenge to Ukambani region given that some of the ASAL districts whom some of the Ukambani districts share with similar environment performed well. ”Who do we blame here? Is it the Bus or the driver or passengers or the conductor or the person who gives money for the fare or the preacher who blessed the Bus ?” he asked.
He said the normal mean score was 250 out 500 marks. Only six districts out of the 12 by that time in Ukambani were above the mean score. The national standard mean score for KCPE was 247.65 and only the same six were above this. Machakos district mean score of 235.18 was both below the national mean standard score and normal mean score.
“After all, children learn much more from observing the conduct of their teachers and community leaders,” he said. As people who work closely with children, Oyaya encouraged teachers to always strive to be good role models to their students and the community as a whole, and to especially shun drunkenness.
He said “ The great teacher influences you and for one to influence you, one has to believe in him/her. The great teacher believes in the material he/she has. He has abundant mentality and believes that the ultimate object of teaching a child is to enable him to get along without a teacher. Such a teacher does not blame the child for he believes that it is the sick who require a doctor.”.
Oyaya had a poem to recite
The mediocre teacher who only tells,
The good teacher who explains,
The superior teacher who demonstrates,
The great teacher who inspires, who is a role model.
Town Hall at war
as Town Clerk settles
The Machakos Town Clerk finally assumed office after weeks of waiting.
His entry was dramatic as it took the intervention of councillors whose insistence led to the opening of the clerk’s office.
From the look of things, it appeared that the civic leaders believed that the Mayor Mr Fidellis Kimuyu did not want Mr Ngei to take office. The excitement they exuded thereafter told the story that Mr Ngei has a well cut out job ahead of him at the helm of the council.
His arrival comes at a time when the council is deeply divided with forces of corruption, on one flank, taking firm positions to ensure that officials who do not sing to their tune are removed from the council.
On the other flank, a rival legion of graft infantry is keen to storm into the council and partake of the lucrative contracts that the council gives out to implement projects under the Local Authority Transfer Fund(LATF) kitty.
The Town Treasurer Mr. Kamau Wachiuri, who has been acting Town Clerk was away at the time Mr.Ngei reported. Wachiuri took over from former Town Clerk Mr Stephen Mbondo who was moved to Chuka Municipality in the same capacity under a hail of shrapnel from forces coalescing around Machakos Town MP Dr Victor Munyaka and contractors eyeing jobs at the municipality.
Wachiuri’s one month-plus tenure as Acting Town Clerk has been marked by extreme caution as he was afraid of stepping onto the sore toes of hawkish civic men who are now becoming desperate that their terms are coming to an end without helping themselves fully to the gravy train that the council has become. Those who know the council say the fighting in Town Hall has driven development and objectivity to a stand still.
Munyaka’s indulgence in the municipality has seen a rift develop between the Mayor and his deputy Mr Timothy Kilonzo, with Kilonzo doing the MP’s bidding in the Council and attempting to overshadow Mr Kimuyu.
Munyaka, like his predecessors, has plunged headlog into the muddy waters at Town Hall and will certainly find his waterloo there. Observers wonder where Munyaka is finding guts from even as his Machakos Town CDF Kitty is in the jaws of sharks who shoved him to parliament after stealing the ODM-K nomination for him.
This grandstanding is what informed the angry councillors who summoned Mayor Kimuyu for a crisis meeting to resolve the stalemate over Mr Ngei even as the mayor remained openly reluctant.
Kimuyu later joined the councillors at the clerk’s office after they had ushered the new clerk in the office.
This was after Kilonzo called Mr.Wachiuri who instructed his secretary to collect the office keys from his residence.
Mr.Ngei confirmed to reporters that he reported to his new work station from Kangundo town council but he had not been officially handed over. Ngei was not serving at any station prior to his posting owing to an issue between him and the Ministry of Local Government when he was serving as Town Clerk in Kangundo.
The councillors accused senior ministry of Local Government officials of delaying the handing-over with ulterior motives.
“There have been attempts by powerful forces to block the new clerk from assuming office”, said the deputy mayor.
The councillors also took issue with the Town Engineer Mr.Morris Aluanga of causing the stalling of development projects in the wards due to his claims of continued absenteeism. Investigations by The Anchor however reveal that Eng Aluanga has been working under pressure from the civic men as they seek help to get contracts from him. Quite often, councillors have threatened to block him from entering office by fixing wooden plunks across his door. This situation has prompted Aluanga to lie low to avoid a physical confrontation with councillors.
The situation at the council is such that bad blood exists between some councillors and some staff and yet, at the same time, romance and bliss exists between some civic men and some officials.
So intricate is the infighting that the council has been unable to implement a resolution to punish two employees adversely mentioned in reports and who are blissfully conjoined in a love triangle that threatens to make the civic authority the town’s laughing stock. Even then the love affairs do not offend any regulation in the council but are a big impediment to enforcement of discipline since any proposed action leads to wailing from the concerned councillors and their associates.
This jumble of relationships has made it complex for decisions to be taken at the municipality without throbbing this or the other group. In governance phraseology, vested interest is so deep rooted that it may be difficult for the council to make any resolution without the opposing groups digging in to aggravate the raging ‘civil war’.
One such case is the issuance of tenders for the construction of roads in the municipality. A decision to allocate the tenders has been delayed due to intricate wars to control who eventually is allocated the Sh 25million tender.(see separate story elsewhere).
Meanwhile, the council has unveiled its strategic development plan for the fiscal years 2008-2012. The council has also launched its service charter whose vision is to be a leading local authority in timely and quality service delivery.
Speaking during the launch of the two products, Provincial Local Government Officer(PLGO) Ms.Mary Mburu lamented that most local authorities in the region lacked participatory strategic planning.
She encouraged councils in the province to involve the local communities in identifying and planning development projects.
“Residents must be fully involved in projects identification and planning because their basic needs should be the guiding factor if they are expected to identify with the projects”,said Ms.Mburu.
The PLGO who was accompanied by the local mayor councillor Fidelis Kimuyu and the acting town clerk Mr.Kamau Wachiuri said local authorities were expected to play a leading role in the implementation of Vision 2030.
She cautioned against corruption saying the necessary action will be taken against those caught engaging in the vice.
Mayor Kimuyu said his council will strive to improve on service delivery to ensure area residents got returns for their money.
He said top on the agenda will be improvement of infrastructure, installation of street lights and maintenance of council markets.
The council’s Environmental Officer Mr. Nicolas Nzioka took the participants through the strategic plan with a call to residents to support the council in its endeavours.
Nzioka said the plan seeks to achieve a clean, secure and sustainable environment despite several challenges facing the council running from inadequate staff to resistance to change and reforms among staff and stakeholders.
Alarm over education bosses’
role in aiding graft in schools
MWAI Kibaki’s planned gains on education may be watered down by greedy officers running the education sector in Ukambani and Machakos District in particular.
The great ideasthat address the needs local are being watered down by Government officers who are mandated to over see the smooth running of the Education.
The education leadership in the district is terminally ailing and the government needs to wake up and uproot current crop of officers if it is to realize the desired change.
Though there have been meetings purporting to address the falling standards of education, it is emerging that thse who call the meetings are merely creating chances of building a gravy train and milk local parents and the funds that state avails to fund the Free Primary and Secondary Education. And now it can never be worse. As a result, public schools are being run down to ruins, creating room for an avanlanche of private schools that are mash rooming to provide viable alternatives in education Parents have lost faith with the standards of education offered in public school s.
To cap the run down, primary and secondary schools in towns remain overstaffed, while schools in rural enclaves remain critically understaffed due to a failing posting system usually informed by loyalties, corruption, nepotism, illicit relationships and ideally the wrong considerations as opposed to an objective process.
This situation in Machakos has been exposed for long in articles carried by The Anchor and no action seems to be contemplated .
However as we went to press, a team of officers send by the PS Education was visiting Machakos trying to scavange for information n the state of education in Machakos and not much is expected from the officials as educationists seems to be conjoined at the hip in the desire to loot from Parents and the State.The Anchor has been following events and informs the public on what goes on in the offices and schools. Our readers, havepreviously read articles on Machakos boys,Machakos Girls, Kyambuko,Katoloni primary,Ngelani primary among others.
The above officers investigated the Schools named and found gross mismanagement and misuse of office by the head teachers and action was taken reluctantly.
Even as action was taken, it appeared that the District Education Office has taken issue with the exposure of fot in schools and cover-up has been a big option for the officials and the leadership of the Kenya National Union of Teachers, Machakos Branch.
Much as it can be claimed teachers are punished, all the DEO does is to demote and transfer thieving teachers. There has not been a case where any recovery of stolen funds has been made.
To justify his failure to do so,the D.E.O Mr. Abdi-kadir Hussein Ali told says he has neither the power nor the system to recover the stolen funds. “I can not even hand the thieves to the CID for prosecution. Some other officer has that power. My powers are very limited.” , said Ali to justify his faliure to ensure the money found to have been misused in Katoloni primary and Kyambuko among many others is recovered .
Reports reaching The Anchor indicate that principals of secondary schools in the district are unhappy with the manner in which they are requested to hand over cash to their district Bosses and majority do not want to visit the District Education offices in fear of money requests.
The practice has trickled down to the AEO’ offices in central division and Kalama, where head teachers must pay retainers or handouts to officials so as to sustain their postings and promotions.In fact, it is common to see a particular Education official in Machakos town demanding money from either a teacher or school head.
These payouts are also used to avoid official scrutiny of use of funds send to schools, leading to a serous mismanagement of funds given by the ministry to run TAC counters in the district. The money send under school Empowered programmer (SEP) totaling Sh 120,000 has not been properly used and accounted for . The money which was supposed to be run by Committees in each zone. The committees were not constituted and the money was pocketed in full knowledge of education officials overseeing SEP.
Sources say officials were ordered to use the money senior disappeared in his office. Teachers havecomplainedthat the countries have never operated any better even affair the government donated the 120,000for each zone.Mr Kadir, where did our officers take the money.
The government has categorically refused the idea of District mocks which were identified as cause of unrest in schools.The Anchor can report with authority that there are district mocks taking place in Machakos and principals were requested to pay Sh 375 for each candidate .
The request is normally verbal to avoid commitment by education officials as collecting of such funds is largely illegal. The Principals like this as it is a channel to exploit parents.Proceeds find their way back to education officials on a pro-rata basis.
Ideally, the cash is colossal, is collected illegally and without documents. So it can not be accounted for. No one ever asks for it to be accounted for. The DEO’s office is using a set of resolutions passed at the forums he held over dropping education standards to hold the mocks. Even then, the mocks were held last year even without the resolution, making the stakeholder forums theatres of the absurd where education officials pass ‘resolutions’ that run contra to official government policy on issues like mocks.
There is a circular from former Education PS Karega Mutahi, putting mocks on hold, but Machakos still ignres this and no one asks.
A quick analysis of the cost of a mock reveals a shocking finding that the total cost of the mock exam is only Sh.175. This means that Sh 200 is left for plundering purposes.
Inthe primary schools parents are being requested and at times forced to pay Sh 40 for an exam whose street value is Sh13.00. Do not wonder where the surplus goes to.
The primary heads are openly told to collect Sh40.00 per child, pocket Sh15.00 and the propel the rest to the officers .What do we call this; if not exploitation, misuse office, outright theft and corruption of the highest order?
The government has not put in place good monitoring and evaluation process for FPE funds and other levie that DEO’s generate in the school.
This explains why many primary schools do not have water tanks long after the government gave out money for tanks in all primary schools. No audit was instituted to ensure compliance, giving teachers a big licence to steal without fear of reprisals. There is overwhelming evidence that head teachers collude with the officials to embezzle funds intended for development. Auditors in the district have complained of lack of space to conduct their work freely as they only go to schools where officials have issue with.
Primary school heads give between Sh 3,000 to Sh5,000 for audit costs or even between Sh15,000- Sh30,000/=depending on how one has messed up the accounts school inspection. This is vanely done and when if is down ,TAC tutors and other junior offices who are not conversant with secondary schools are sent .The inspection is done in the office and finally brief meeting held with the teachers. The inspectors inform the principal in good time who in turn reports to the teachers so that they get ready for inspection. Inspection costs the school Sh 3,000(secondary) and between Sh 500-1,000 for primary schools.
School procurement producers are faulty and are never conducted as per directions from the ministry, in many schools the principal procures. In most cases, head teachers receive and pays for the procured goods which in most cases do not reach the schools.
Deliveries are only featured in delivery books .This system has created a big loop hole and school have paid colossal amounts of money to suppliers.
For Parents andTeachers Association to carry out schools’ development, the requirement has been that the District Education Board has to allow schools to charge parents. But there must be proof that the money charged to parents has been put into proper use. But there are many schools which lack basics like toilets, offices, classes and yet they collect PTA funds yearly and share the loots with education officials and no one questions what is done with the funds. what is the government doing to ensure proper utilization of funds collected from parents?
Can the D.E.B come clean and tell what has been happening to the monies they approve?
Married Priests seek return to the
fold, recognize authority of Pope
The Personal Prelature of the Society of Sts. Peter and Paul is part of the hierarchical structure of the Roman Catholic Church with or without the blessings from the Vatican but Blessings from God who called us in our state as Married Roman Catholic Priests.
Founded in Kenya by Fr Kasomo Daniel on 29th August 2008 and promulgated on 24th June 2009 by virtue of consecration of Fr Kasomo Daniel as Bishop to head the Prelature in Kenya. The Society of Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Prelature consists of a prelate, his clergy and lay faithful (men and women), who by virtue of a divine vocation freely join the Prelature. The priests are drawn from the Roman Catholic Church by ordination and by virtue of Priests getting married and incardination and the Prelature’s lay faithful.
PURPOSE
The purpose of the Society of Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Prelature in Kenya is to contribute to the Roman Catholic Church’s evangelising mission, where Bishops priests and laity cooperate organically in spreading a deep awareness of the universal call to holiness and the sanctifying value of institution of marriage.
We respect and accommodate ONLY Married Roman Catholic Priests and Celibate Priests as well. This is to safe guard validity of Catholic sacraments. Our Apostolic Succession is from Pope Paul VI and that makes us Roman Catholic Bishop and Priests. We are not a threat but blessings because our supreme mission is evangelisation and salvation of souls.
JURISDICTION AND OPERATION
Our Jurisdiction and operation is like that of Military Ordinariate, Opus Dei and the Society of St. Pius or any Religious congregation. None of them has visible and touchable Diocese but they do exist and they do pastoral work to their satisfaction. The difference with us is that our priority in pastoral work is to celebrate mass and administration of sacraments in the grass root level like Jesus and that is in families. For us Every Christian family is a small church
For Now the laity remains under the jurisdiction of the diocesan Bishop in all matters that refer to the ordinary care of the faithful. Therefore they continue to belong to the local Roman Catholic Church or Diocese where they live here in Kenya.
STATISTICS
Priests in Kenya: 1 Bishop, 17 secular priests, 3 deacons, 5 seminarians working in various pastoral and civil assignments, in different parts of Kenya.
VOCATIONS
Our Prelature is prepared to incardinate those Married Roman Catholic Priests who wish to return to sacramental ministry; to select and train married men (viri probati) who are called to priesthood; to provide ongoing supervision and spiritual direction. For quality assurance we are slow in ordinations and recruitment.
PROCESS OF ORDINATION OR INCARDINATION IN THE PRELATURE
The normal requirement of good health, sufficient educational background and a vocation to the priesthood is expected. While there can be exceptions, it is normally recommended that a candidate below the age of 50 will have master of theology or its equivalent. Qualified candidates can be accepted without a master’s degree.
Application requirements:
A secular position, college graduation, letter of application, letter of approval from your spouse, three letters of recommendation, an essay statement of ministerial self-understanding, copy of marriage, baptismal, confirmation and birth certificate, statement from police that you have a good record, a recent passport photo of your self, a retreat to prepare for ordination and interview will be arranged for you as a final step in the application. Other requirements may be added from time to time in particular circumstances.
PERSONAL PRELATURE
Personal prelatures are ecclesiastical jurisdictions provided for by the Second Vatican Council and the Code of Canon Law (canons 294-297) that are created to meet specific pastoral needs with greater flexibility. For our case every National prelature in the world has its own statutes catering for particular needs of that country awaiting approval and official recognition by the Holy See.
APPROVAL OR RECOGNITION BY THE HOLY SEE
It is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. The Holy See will not keep us waiting but we shall continue with the very much needed pastoral work because we are recognised and approved by Jesus Christ who called married Apostles. We shall continue listening to the voice of the Lord more and whether the Holy See will recognise and approve our existence or not we shall still continue our very much needed pastoral work. The Second Vatican Council described conscience as the “sanctuary” where the individual “is alone with God” (Gaudium et spes). In the opinion of Thomas Aquinas, we are bound to follow our consciences, even when in error, even if it means excommunication. No one, no bishop, can presume to judge another person’s conscience.
CANONICAL STATUS
It is the prayer of The Society of Sts. Peter and Paul Prelature in Kenya and we ask The Bishops and Christians of Kenya and in the world to join us in prayer that the arms of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI will be opened and he will be gracious and magnanimous as Holy Mother church should be and lift our excommunication and to that end canonically erect our prelature or ordinariate for us to continue to worship God in Spirit and Truth.
The fact that we do not possess a canonical status in the Roman Catholic Church is in the end, based on disciplinary but not on doctrinal reasons.
APOSTOLIC NUNCIO TO KENYA
Through the Apostolic Nuncio to Kenya we have already written to Pope Benedict XVI asking him to lift our excommunication that is reserved to the Holy See, So that we continue our pastoral work in the Society of Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Prelature.
FOR BENEDICT XVI, CHURCH COMMUNION IS THE PRIORITY
Even if that means taking steps that might surprise the public. We want to declare publicly that WE The Society of Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Prelature in Kenya have no intention to drift further from the Church. We articulate our atonement and absolution and aspiration to be in full communion with his Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. To protect the apostolic succession we have received from Pope Paul VI, and to be in communion with other college of Bishops.
We do recognize in principle the Pope and His authority as Pastor, with no reservations in the area of obedience to his doctrinal authority as successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome and The Prince of the Apostles. We accept the doctrines of the Catholic Church with filial spirit. We pray, hope and would like to see our excommunication lifted so that we continue our pastoral work in the Society of Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Prelature. We are ready and willing to take any appointment from His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.
Given under our hand on the 1st Anniversary of our Episcopate and the solemnity of the Birth of John the Baptist on the 24th day of June 2010 in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Most Rev Archbishop Kasomo Daniel is a Roman Catholic Archbishop and The Leader of Married Priests Now! Catholic Prelature in Kenya.
Computer donations
bring hope to the needyUntil 2001, majority of schools in the rural areas of Machakos district had little or no knowledge at all about computers and Information Communication Technology. But fortunes changed for the better and today the district prides itself as one among the very first to have a good number of its primary and secondary schools situated in rural villages whose students have access to computers- thanks to a generous gesture by a US based Kenyan teacher Mr Jude Ndambuki.
For the last eight years Mr Ndambuki has quietly been shipping computers free of charge to Kenyan schools in his solo campaign to make children in rural areas computer literate and keep them at par with their counterparts in established regions.
Recently, Mr Ndambuki shipped in 400 computers which were dished out to several schools in the district. He came personally together with other donors to oversee the distribution of the computers to several schools.
So far he has donated computers to Machakos school for the deaf, Kyanga primary school. Metuma primary, Machakos Primary, Muthini primary and also Mumbuni primary school. Many primary and secondary schools will benefit from the programme, according to Mr Ndambuki.
It is a passion that has refused to die for this soft spoken chemistry teacher who teaches at the Masters School in New York .To date Mr Ndambuki has donated over 2,000 computers and he does not think of stopping there.
Ndambuki’s efforts are reciprocated by the recipients planting at least 100 tree seedlings for every computer received. Roughly calculated, the beneficiaries have planted more than 100,000 tree seedlings that dots different parts of the republic since 2001.
“By tying the computer gift to planting of trees is one way of making the young beneficiaries to start appreciating early in life the beauty of giving back to the community any good tidings”, he said.
Mr Ndambuki’s computer mission started when as new migrant in New York he used to see lots of computers thrown to the dogs as he took strolls to kill his boredom.
“They looked pretty good but there they were literally discarded, then I thought of home and how these gadgets which nobody wanted to use could valuable back home, hundreds of kilometers away”, said Mr Ndambuki.
As he retired to his home the story of the computers he saw in the dustbin just could not run away from his mind.
“It kept coming and as I slept that night an idea came to my mind, to pick the computers and store them at a place and wait for an opportune time to ship them home”.he said.
When he started collecting the computers he used to store them in his compound. Then he would enlist the services of his students- past and present to repair computers which were faulty.
Once this was done and when he had collected enough to fill a container, Mr Ndambuki solicited for funds from friends who assisted him to raise enough money to meet the shipment cost and the port tax.
Ndambuki is well-aware that his country has a lot of catching up to do when it comes to technology. In fact, most of the schools he sends the computers to have never seen computers before. Without his help, it would be another 20 years more before these schools would ever get a hold of a computer.
Every year, Ndambuki sends a 40-foot container filled with refurbished computers to his home country. Each school recipient gets average of five computers. Rather than receive money for the time, expense, and dedication he pours into the the program, Ndambuki asks the recipients of the refurbished computers to plant trees.
July last year,The Help Kenya Project has shipped over 2,000 computers, 15,000 books, and approximately 20 pieces of medical equipment. In return, beneficiaries have planted over 150,000 trees.
“It was my big pride when in 2001, the first consignment of the computer project arrived in Kenya to be given to the intended beneficiaries”, he said.
His mission in the US on behalf of Kenyan students has steadily won him admiration.Mr Ndambuki‘s effort has been featured in a local New York newspaper. This helped in notifying many people of his mission.
“Today, many are not throwing their ‘old’ computers away, they call us and tell us to come collect them, this to me is an encouragement and a good moral booster to the Kenyan school child”, he said.
Mr Ndambuki established the help Kenya-Project which he said is a charity that focuses on helping the children of Kenya .
Ndambuki says the Help Kenya Project relies heavily on the work of volunteers adding that all the work they do, from carrying computers into storage to packing them for shipment is done by volunteers.
“Volunteers might collect donations, repair computers, test them, pack them, load and publicise the effort”, he said.
The Help Kenya Project says Mr Ndambuki sends a yearly shipment to Kenya in the summer.
He said they mostly need volunteers to help repair computers during June and especially to help load the container.
“However, we also do smaller scale computer repairs on weekends throughout the year”, he said.
Reflecting back on his past, Mr Ndambuki says his harsh upbringing at Metuma village in Ngelani location of Machakos was behind what he was doing now.
“I lost my father when I was a young boy and the burden of raising his family was left to my mother who was jobless, it was tough and sometimes I wonder how my mom managed to do that task”, he said.
The determination of mother to ensure that her son and hope got through the Kenyan education system saw Ndambuki successfully completing his primary education at Metuma with excellent grades which saw him win a place at the then prestigious Machakos school which pride itself of producing some of Kenya sharp brains among them senior counsel and now cabinet minister Mutula Kilonzo and Justice Philip Waki to mention but a few.
“The same struggle by mom saw me complete my four year course at Machakos School , I passed my form four final exams well and earned a place at Strathmore College in Nairobi four my Form Five and six course”, he said.
Lukenya Boys School makes
big mark in education sector
LUKENYA Boys School (LBS) is ropping in Old Boys already contributing to Kenya’s development itiatives to form an Alumni. In doing this, LBS held a three tier event bringing in the old students, awarding best performers and crowning it all by celebrating a decade of sterling performance.
The event was held on July 10, 2010. The Old Boys got together at a colourful occasion at the school to form the Alumni with a Keynote speech beings given by Emmanuel Simon, an Old Boy from both the Lukenya Academy and the Lukenya School.
Simon is among the most celebrated Old Boys as he was the first boy to attain straight ‘A’s at Lukenya School.
Director of Lukenya Schools Mrs Martha Mulwa says the Lukenya Boys School is already making its mark in the national labour matrix by equipping young Kenyans with the requisite education that opens doors for them to join Kenya’s universities. “ Now we look back with satisfaction that we are meeting our objectives as an educational institution. When we see boys who have passed through Lukenya School participating competitively in wealth creation for Kenya, we discover that our 10 year existence is indeed meaningful”, Mrs Mulwa, herself a veteran teacher.
The awards targetted long serviing staff of Lukenya Schools, led by Lukenya School Senior Principal Mr. Mathew Ngelu, who joined since 1996 as head of Lukenya Academy.The speacial ocassion was set out to particularly celebrate the boys and avoided the usual tag of Geust of Honour. ABOUT US
The Lukenya Schools are vibrant and forward thinking institutions. We are proud of our reputation as centres of academic excellence combined with outstanding pastoral care. Situated in spacious and serene compounds below the Lukenya Hill, the schools provide a perfect environment for education.
Our key principles are:-
To become centres of academcic excellence
to develop a disciplined enviornment which emphasises self discipline and self responsibility
to have high expectations of pupil behaviour and achivement so as to give confidence to learn
to enlist positive cooperation and mutual understanding between the school and the parents to form an effective response to the needs of all pupils.
This ensures that an open, relaxed and purposeful atmosphere and a sense of community exists within the Lukenya schools and for students this means a stimulating, enjoyable and a satisfying place to study.
Why a boys’ school?
Lukenya Boys School (LBS) started in 2000 with first class sitting at the Lukenya Academy before moving to the present location in 2001
There are very few good quality private boys’ secondary schools in the country. We aimed to put up a school that would compete against any triple streamed provincial government school infrastructurally and we work at competing with these schools in co-curricular activities and academics.
It took time to achieve the first target –infrastructure- but the final phase of the dormitories was completed in May 2010. All boys now sleep in comfortable and uniquely designed dorms.
LBS has also invested in housing all its staff. This ensures that teachers and staff are on call and available for the students at any time and that student services are efficiently delivered without undue interference from external factors.
On the second target of academic excellence, this is an ongoing process, each year boasting of successes in various fields. The extracurricular activities boost discipline and teach students to put in effort in other areas that can impact their later lives.
Lukenya Boys’ School has for the last 6 years scored 97%C- and above pass rates. This has placed the school in the top 100 secondary schools in Kenya for the last 7 years. This is despite the fact that its intake marks are as low as district/harambee schools!
Lukenya Boy’ School has a wide selection of students- in fact its intake almost resembles that of a National School. There are students from every part of Kenya, with some students coming from other East African Countries. This multi-cultural representation in a school compound teaches students tolerance and diversifies one’s world view.
Socially Lukenya Boys School is one of the most dynamic schools in Kenya. Its presence is being felt in its former students who now impact our society in various capacities.
These students are now working in various capacities in engineering, the banking industry, business sector, hotel industry etc. Many more of our students are in universities in Kenya and abroad specialising in various fields, journalism, architecture, computing, insurance & actuaries, agriculture & horticulture, arts, drama and film etc.a
The LBS teaching staff is dedicated, diverse and dynamic. With 14 subject areas, the team of 28 teachers delivers the curriculum with enthusiasm and expertise. This team also co-ordinates all the social and extracurricular activities in the school.
Mwingi Boy
writes will for family
By Winnie Kavata
Hundreds of mourners in Mwingi were on Monday stunned to learn that a 15-year-old school boy had assumed the role of a lawyer and penned a comprehensive Will for the deceased in a bid to pre-empt any family feuds over his estate.
At the burial of the late Peter Maluki Mulatya, 78, mourners, who included Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, were informed that since the deceased initiated the unconventional but cost effective Will to prevent his children from wrangling over his property.
The mourners were told that one and half years before he passed away on February 16 this year, the ailing Mulatya summoned his grandson master Mwangangi Gedion on August 24, 2008 and asked him to write the will and keep it a guarded secret until he died.
ng how his children and grandchildren would share his property Mulatya who had been a longtime campaigner for Mr. Musyoka demanded that the VP attend his burial without fail.
The deceased also sought to curse any of his children who would discriminate against the other or attempt to defraud a sibling of any property that was not allocated to him as directed in the Will that was read out at the graveside at Mutwaathi in Mwingi Central. The mourners where further informed that it was not until a day after the death of his grandfather, that master Mwangangi, who is a Form One student at Katalwa Secondary School, produced the Will and handed it over to his father Gedion Munyoki.
t was Munyoki, the deceased’s eldest son, who read the Will at the burial ceremony that was presided over by Bishop Samuel Kathitta who is also the General Secretary of the Full Gospel Churches of Kenya. Addressing the mourners Mr. Musyoka hailed master Mwangangi for his uncanny and brave move to help stave-off family wrangles by writing the Will.
“This young man used a lot of his ingenuity. He is poised to become a prominent lawyer in future. He has effectively helped pre-empt any possible wrangling and squabble over the deceased estate and property,” he said.
The VP said due to his ingenuity, master Mwangangi saved his late grandfather the enormous challenge of engaging a lawyer to do the Will at a cost of about Sh500,000 besides warding off the acrimonious clash that would have arisen among the children in sharing his estates
The VP exhorted the residents to emulate the late Mulatya and embrace the culture of Will writing to avoid misunderstanding among their dependants once they passed on.
Master Mwangangi told the media that they were very good friends with the departed grandfather and during his heydays they used to herd cattle together during which times the latter narrated very uplifting stories to him.
He said that as his health was failing, the late Mulatya on August 24 summoned him to his house where he instructed him to write the Will for him although he was then a 13- year-old standard seven pupil at Mutwaathi primary school.
The youngster pointed out that “the Will writing session” was witnessed by two of his cousins Mulwa Mwini and Munyoki Mwingi to give it authenticity.
“The grandfather had asked the duo to be present as witnesses to the Will writing,” said Mwangangi.
Macadamia: Ornamental tree
storms into money market
Macadamia nuts are closely associated with Hawaii, and for a good reason. Hawaii is the largest exporter of macadamia nuts, providing 95% of the world’s crop. However, the nut is native to Australia and comes from a tree that was originally grown for ornamental purposes.
Baron Ferdinand Von Mueller, Director of the Royal Botanical Gardens in Australia in the 1880’s is credited with naming the tree after Scotsman John Macadam, a friend, physician, and member of the Philosophical Institute of Victoria.
Macadamia nut is encased in an extremely hard shell, difficult to crack. This is the main reason it took so long for the inner crunchy nut meat to be discovered as a tasty food source.
Even though Mr. Macadam never tasted the nut that bears his name after a shipboard injury caused his premature death en route to New Zealand, the nut gained popularity across the world.
The macadamia genus consists of at least ten species, but only two of those produce edible nuts, the Integrifolia which produces nuts with smooth shells and the Tertraphylla which has rough-shelled nuts.
The first large planting of Macadamias occurred in 1890 on the Frederickson Estate at Rous Mill, New South Wales.
They planted around 250 trees as a source of nuts for the family. Many of those trees still exist and are still producing a good crop of nuts.
Interestingly, the largest single planting of macadamia trees is on 3,700 acres in Komatipoort, South Africa.
Additionally, macadamias are grown commercially in Kenya, Malawi, Hawaii, Australia, Israel, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, Brazil, and many other tropical and subtropical regions, including Florida.
In Kenya initial plantings of the nuts which are an excellent source of iron, calcium, vitamin B, and phosphorus were done between 1964 -1969 on small scale.
Currently macadamia is grown in Embu, Kirinyaga, Meru, Kiambu, Nyeri, Machakos, Taita, Baringo, Bungoma and Trans Nzoia but 98% of the country’s total production is from the Mount Kenya region.
It is estimated that the country produces 15, 000 metric tones of macadamia annually majority of which is exported in shell. A lot of money and jobs have been lost as a result.
This has been a concern not only by stakeholders in the sector but to the government as well.
Last year the Minister for Agriculture Mr. William Ruto slapped a ban on the export of raw nuts.
The ban which was gazetted on June 16th 2009 prohibits the exportation of raw (in shell) macadamia nuts, cashew nuts and bixa.
The ban requires the nuts to be processed and value addition done before they are exported to create job opportunities and earn the country foreign exchange.
In the world of nuts and berries, macadamia nuts are almost as precious as gold. These delicious, exotic nuts with their rich flavor and oil are considered delicacies and are served as dessert nuts. They are popular gifts at holiday times, both alone and when covered with chocolate.
The ban has therefore elicited mixed reactions from farmers, macadamia processors and exporters.
Last week over 100 macadamia farmers held demonstrations in Embu town to protest against the ban.
The farmers who were carrying twigs and placards camped outside Afri China International Macadamia limited in Embu town saying the ban had affected the price of the nuts leading to massive losses by farmers.
The price, they said dropped from Sh. 60 per Kg in February this year to a paltry Sh. 25 per Kg following the enforcement of the ban.
Afri China International Limited which has been buying and exporting raw macadamia nuts from farmers in Embu and Kirinyaga has since stopped buying the commodity.
Tonnes of macadamia remained parked on pick ups and lorries outside the company for the better part of the week as farmers pondered their next move.
Afri China International Limited Managing Director Mr. Jack Guao said the company which exports macadamia to China stopped buying from farmers since the market in China does not accept cracked macadamia.
He said that even though the company had cracking machines, it was not in a position to accept more nuts from farmers since it had bought enough to crack the whole year.
“We have not refused to crack but if we do that then it means we shall not buy any macadamia from the farmers here until next year,” he said.
Mr. Guao added that the ban had not only affected the export of the nuts but over 200 youths employed directly and indirectly risk losing their jobs.
Nathan Gicovi, a representative of the farmers appealed to the government to degazzette the ban to enable macadamia farmers fetch good prices for the commodity.
Gichovi said Embu and Kirinyaga which are the largest macadamia producers in the country have incurred massive losses following the ban.
The farmers who have worked hard to produce the nuts, he said have no idea where to sell the nuts adding that the move was meant to benefit key local processors at the expense of farmers.
However some of the key players in the sector dismissed the protests as kicks of a dying horse.
Equatorial Nut Processors Limited General manager Mr. John Muhara said those opposed to the ban are doing so out of ignorance.
He added that the ban which came into effect after wide consultations between the government and stakeholders in the sector would see farmers fetch good prices for their nuts at the same time create more jobs created in processing industries.
The country, he said had 5 established macadamia processing factories capable of processing over 15, 000 metric tones produced in the country annually.
Speaking at the company’s factory in Murang’a town last week, Mr. Muhara said since the liberalization of the sector, middle men and cartels have invaded macadamia marketing leading to raw export of the produce to China and India.
As a result factories have closed down thus denying Kenyans jobs in macadamia processing industries since China and India employ thousands of people to crack the nuts. He pointed out the Sh. 100 million collapsed Mount Kenya Nuts Limited in Embu town.
The cartels that he said were behind the demonstrations buy macadamia nuts from farmers at less that Sh. 20 which they in turn sell to unscrupulous exporters at Sh. 60.
By exporting processed macadamia nuts, he said farmers would earn Sh. 600 million while the government would get US$ 20 million in foreign exchange compared to the US$ 12 million the country gets out of exporting in shell macadamia nuts.
He added that the traders involved in the export of the nuts which have been given incentives by their governments back home were giving local macadamia processors unfair competition by paying brokers a lot of money which was too high for the local processors.
However, he said Equatorial nuts would buy the nuts from farmers this season at Sh. 40 per Kg.
The traders, he added even buy and export poor quality nuts thus spoiling the market of quality processed nuts from Kenya.
He appealed to farmers to be on the look out for the cartels and demand for receipts from the buyers to ensure that they are not exploited.
Mr. Muhara disclosed that before the traders came, the company used to employ 700 people but the number has been reduced to 80 following a shortage of raw nuts.
Other major processors like Kenya Nut Limited have also been forced to reduce their staff due to the current wars in the sector.
Mr. Muhara appealed to the government to ensure that the ban is implemented fully to weed out malpractices that have dogged the sector for many years.
Equatorial Nut Processors Limited Field Operations Manager Mr. Joseph Mutwiri said since the brokers and cartels invaded the market in 2005, macadamia farmers have been impoverished.
Muturi said majority of the small scale macadamia farmers who depend on the crop continue to loose millions of shilling to the unscrupulous businessmen.
He added that farmers who in the past used their macadamia trees as collateral to access credit but now can no longer do so since the cartels have leased the trees.
Joy in Wote as
Hawkers enter sheds
Hawkers of agricultural produce in Wote town have something to smile about, after local Makueni constituency development fund [CDF] in-conjunction with department of agriculture constructed a modern Agricultural produce market shade for the traders, next to Wote town Bus Park.
Mouse and cat game between the hawkers and council askaries from local Wote Town Council as the council askaris evict the hawkers from the town pavements is now a thing of the past as the traders are comfortably accommodated at the modern shed dubbed as Wote “Malikiti” market.
The modern shade costing Sh 6 million was financed evenly by Makueni CDF and local agricultural department through Decentralized Agricultural Support Structures Programme (DASS).
The hawkers who were relocated to the shed last month are transacting their business in an environment which is conducive to their trade. “Usual Scorching sun at this town and rains will no longer disrupt our business” joyful Ms. Kamene Kamami a fruit and vegetable trader told our reporter.
“Losses of our food stuff from direct sun and rain which led to rotting of our fruit and vegetables will no longer be a bother, we are well sheltered now and we thank whoever thought of us to construct this magnificent shed to boost up our business,” said Mutemi Kisula a vegetable trader.
The market shed which is meant to house only food stuff hawkers accommodates 250 of them. However, more other impermanent hawkers especially those who bring in their goods during market days are accommodated at open field next to the novel market shed.
However, to some hawker, relocation to the shed impacted negatively forcing them to change their business. Monica Mwende, a banana trader says that her daily return had gone down. “My customers are passengers at the bus park and having relocated to this place am not in business,” she lamented.
Cash stripped Wote Town Council boasted of a sure revenue source as the area Member of Parliament Mr. Peter Kiilu in company of Makueni District Agricultural Officer Mr. John Kibe who also is the DASS Makueni regional coordinator, handed over the shed to the town council last week in ceremony at the shed.
A Hawker allocated with a bay at the shade pays a monthly fee of Kshs 300 to the town council translating to monthly collection of Kshs 75,000 revenue to the town council. In addition, on Fridays which happens to be the market day, the hawker pays an extra fee of Ksh. 30 each.
According to town residents who are the main target customers, the site is quite strategic for them to buy groceries “I do not have to strain moving long distances from one trader to another but since now they are all incorporated under one roof, all is well,” said Dennis Kioko a town resident.
With lighting system in place the market operates to even past nine at night. However sanitation and water supply at the market need to be improved. Town councilor Mr. Joseph Musau noted of council plans to improve the market floor.
“The council allocated Sh 1m in its last week budget for the market drainage and floor construction” said councilor Musau.
The DASS programme, which is ending it activities in Makueni region by end of this month, after expiry of its five years programme will be remembered for many achievements. The programme has seen similar market sheds constructed at Kikima trading centre in Mbooni west district and Nunguni market in Kilungu district.
Mr. Kibe says that the Kikima and Nunguni sheds were cost shared with Makueni county council, who now run the markets. “The market sheds were meant to improve access for farmers produce especially in areas with high production of crops” he said.
The five year DASS programme funded by Danish and Kenya government started in the year 2006 and ventured into several sectors to assist farmers. Like the three agricultural crop produce sheds, DASS has also constructed four livestock market yards at Makindu, Kathonzweni, Matiliku and Kasikeu trading centres.
The DASS programme, livestock regional coordinator Mr. David Musyoki underscores high livestock production in the areas that has led to construction of the market yards. He as well observed that the cost of the market construction was evenly funded by Makueni County Council and the DASS with a yard costing about Sh 2.5 million.
The Kathonzweni livestock market is renowned for high production of beef cattle. Hundreds of businessmen from different side of the county flock the busy market especially on Tuesdays, the market day to buy livestock.
“Over 600 beef cattle are offered for sell at Kathonzweni stock yard during Tuesdays where as much as Sh1.2 m exchange hand the same day out of sale of the cattle” Mr. Musyoki said.
As the DASS programme bids bye to Makueni people, it leaves behind number of infrastructure including roads. Mr. Kibe says that opening of roads in rural area for farmers was one of core activities of the DASS. DASS road projects in region is a naked truth from many sign posts of DASS sponsored roads one comes across as you criss- cross the nine districts of the larger Makueni district.
Aflatoxin claims two
lives in Mwala District
Two people have died from aflatoxin infection in Mwala district while a third was treated and discharged at the Machakos general hospital from the same condition.
District public health officer Ms Patricia Muthui confirmed the deaths during a meeting of members of the district aflatoxin committee chaired by District Commissioner Ms Florence Amoit.
She said the dead included an elderly man and woman who had been undergoing treatment at Kangundo district hospital. She said the deaths were confirmed to her by a nurse who had been attending to the victims.
“The two victims hailed from Iiaya Itune, a village on the border of Mwala and Kangundo districts, Ms Muthui said adding the third case was of a young boy from Kitheka village in Vyulya location who was referred to Machakos general hospital from Mwala district hospital three weeks ago. She said analysis tests conducted on samples from the boy confirmed that he was suffering from the food poisoning.
The DPHO expressed fear of mass infections following her concern that most villagers were likely feeding on the contaminated cereals owing to ignorance and adamancy created by some politicians who initially branded government warning on outbreak of the fungi as a ploy of forcing the farmers to sell the produce to it at a through away price and asked the residents to continue eating the same.
She decried lack of the rapid aflatoxin testing kits, saying it had frustrated her department from carrying out planned district-wide testing exercise of the contaminated maize.
Ms Muthui warned that aflatoxin turned dangerous with accumulative effect and that any infection in the range of 10 parts per billion on the cereals was capable of killing. ‘’At that level of contamination, the cereals shouldn’t be eaten because the effect at those who do so is tragic,’’ she said.
The committee formed to oversee implementation of government measures announced to contain the aflatoxin affected maize was yesterday pondering over various hurdles hampering its work.
The committee, comprising the ministries of agriculture, public health & sanitation, special programs, youth affairs & sports, national cereals and produce board and all district officers is supposed to ensure no maize is allowed to be transported within and outside the districts, no maize millers or traders are allowed to purchase maize directly from farmers, all maize millers test all maize for aflatoxin contamination before milling, advise the public not to eat untested maize due to aflatoxin contamination and farmers or traders holding maize to deliver it to the nearest cereals board buying centre for testing and purchase.
But the DC regretted over the various challenges which she said complicated implementation of the directives announced by the head of public service Mr. Francis Muthaura in a confidential circular issued to District Commissioners in all the 28 districts hit by the fungi in upper and lower eastern province and some parts of coast province. Mr. Muthaura recommended formation of the district aflatoxin committees in the circular.
The situation has provided opportunity to unscrupulous maize traders to venture into the district who are purchasing the cereals directly from farmers and transporting the commodity freely out of the district without intervention from security organs contrary to the government ban. The DC said, legally, the committee had no powers to interfere with the traders for transporting or buying the grains directly from the farmers.
She also cited the refusal by the farmers to dispose their contaminated maize at Sh 1,000 per the 90 kg bag offered by the government for the bad maize following interference by politicians’ whom she said had urged the farmers to reject the offer had further complicated the planned mop up of the poisoned grains. The problem, the administrator added, had been compounded by the non operation of the National Cereals and Produce Board [NCPB] which had temporarily suspended further purchases.
“Even though a few farmers are willing to dispose off their spoilt stocks at the government rate of Sh 1,000 through Tala or Kithimani NCPB silos which are the nearest, it cannot work at the moment,’’ Amoit said. Consequently, she said it was not easy to convince the farmers against dealing with the unscrupulous traders, as there was no alternative market.
She also decried the lack of rapid aflatoxin testing kits which she said had hampered massive disposal of the affected grains. Last month the administrator led a series of 16 meetings in all the locations to sensitize the residents on the outbreak of the fungi which she said had impacted positively on the resident as witnessed by the large number of those seeking to have their maize tested which was not possible due to lack of the testing kits.
The DC said the government was investigating whether the millers were subjecting the cereals they were buying from local farmers to testing before taking it for milling with Ms Muthui saying it amounted to threat to national security if that was not being done.
What you ought to know
about Aflatoxin in maize
Aflatoxin contamination damages human health, animal health, the food supply, and world markets.
Researchers are actively looking for methods to control aflatoxin contamination in susceptible crops. Classical plant disease prevention methods and routine technologies for controlling plant pathogens have generally been unsuccessful.
Cooperative efforts to establish control strategies began in 1988 with the start of the annual Aflatoxin Elimination Workshop. The latest published conference report, Aflatoxin/Fumonisin Workshop 2000 can be found on the USDA/ARS website.
Molds growing in petri dishes.
* Fungal ecology and development of biological control agents
* Crop resistance through conventional breeding or genetic engineering techniques
* Crop management and fungal relationship
* Processing and new methods of sampling and toxin detection in crops
* Natural compounds that inhibit fungal growth and influence aflatoxin synthesis
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has established action levels for aflatoxin present in food or feed to protect human and animal health.
* Levels must not exceed:
* 20 ppb - For corn and other grains intended for immature animals (including immature poultry) and for dairy animals, or when its destination is not known;
* 20 ppb - For animal feeds, other than corn or cottonseed meal;
* 100 ppb - For corn and other grains intended for breeding beef cattle, breeding swine, or mature poultry;
* 200 ppb - For corn and other grains intended for finishing swine of 100 pounds or greater;
* 300 ppb - For corn and other grains intended for finishing (i.e., feedlot) beef cattle and for cottonseed meal intended for beef cattle, swine or poultry.
General Facts About Aflatoxins
Aflatoxins are naturally occurring toxins that are metabolic byproducts of fungi, Aspergillus flavus, and Aspergillus parasiticus, which grow on many food crops under favorable conditions.
Aflatoxin is an mycotoxin literally means poison from a fungi and are named on the basis of the fungus that produces them, thus “Aflatoxin” uses the “A” for Aspergillus and “fla” for the species “flavus” along with the word toxin.
Adverse impact on animal and human health with acute toxicological effects such as liver damage and cancer can occur.The major types of aflatoxins are B1, B2, G1, G2, and M1, with aflatoxin B1 being the most toxic, and usually predominant. Aflatoxin B1 is a very potent carcinogen to humans and animals.
Aflatoxins can invade the food supply at anytime during production, processing, transport or storage.Conditions that contribute to fungal growth and the production of aflatoxins are: a hot and humid climate, kernel moisture, favorable substrate characteristics, and factors that decrease the host plant’s immunity (insect damage, poor fertilization, and drought).
Food and food crops most prone to contamination are corn and corn products, cottonseed, peanuts and peanut products, tree nuts (pistachio nuts, pecans, walnuts, Brazil nuts) and milk.
Peanut Products
Aflatoxicosis is a condition that results from ingestion of aflatoxin-contaminated food or feed. It is primarily a hepatic disease affecting animals and humans.In animals the condition occurs worldwide. The condition can be found on animals worldwide. The health impact is usually only seen in third world countries, and there have not been any cases of aflatoxicosis reported in the United States
Effect on Animal Health
Aflatoxins are both teratogenic and carcinogenic, the liver is the principal organ affected in most species. Aflatoxin B1 is considered a carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.Lactating mothers excrete aflatoxins in the milk thereby directly affecting the nursing animal.
All species of animals are susceptible, however susceptibility to aflatoxicosis depends on the species, age, and nutritional status of the animal. Young members of the species are usually more susceptible to the acute effects of the disease.
Adverse effects on animals may be expressed as liver damage, gastrointestinal dysfunction, anemia, reduced feed consumption, reduced reproductivity, immune suppression, decreased milk and egg production and overall retarded growth and development.
Effect on Human Health
Unlike third-world countries, where large outbreaks have occurred from the lack of regulatory measures and high exposure levels, the U.S. has no reported human outbreaks of acute aflatoxicosis.
The clinical syndrome of aflatoxicosis is characterized by abdominal pain, vomiting, pulmonary edema, convulsions, coma, liver damage, and death.Aflatoxin B1 is positively associated with liver cell cancer, supported by epidemiological studies done in Asia and Africa.Susceptibility to aflatoxicosis may be influenced by age, sex, nutritional status, health, and the level and duration of exposure.
Long-term exposure to low levels of aflatoxins in the food supply may have adverse effects over time to humans.Humans can become sick by consuming unsafe levels of aflatoxin contaminated food and food products from grains, nuts and milk.
Impact on Agriculture
According to the FAO, each year millions of tons of foodstuffs are lost as a direct result of mycotoxin infestation of the world’s food grain crops.
Stricter regulatory limits (lowering threshold action levels) have been imposed on commodities of many countries intended for use as food and feed, greatly impacting world export markets.
A significant problem for the U.S. feed industry is that corn contaminated with more than 20 parts per billion of aflatoxins (1 oz in 3,125 tons) is no longer fit for the feed of immature animals or milk producing animals.
Within a few days of eating aflatoxin contaminated feeds, there is a significant reduction in the milk yield of lactating cows.Aflatoxins can cause great economic losses of livestock through impaired animal health.
Ngilu seals water
deal for Mwingi
Water and Irrigation minister Charity Ngilu yesterday reiterated that her new found political unity with Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka would last beyond the forth coming referendum.
Mrs Ngilu said she was keen to see their political unity last this time round for the sake of development in the region and urged the Kamba community not to read any sinister political motives or be skeptical about it.
And to demonstrate her seriousness, the minister announced that her ministry had signed a Sh1.6 billion grant from the Italian government to finance the extension of the Kiambere – Mwingi water pipeline in the VP’s Mwingi north constituency.
According to Mrs Ngilu, the major water project whose works begin in October this year, would see almost the entire Mwingi region access safe drinking water.
“When people share the same political ideals, they must come and work together to move this country forward” she said at a funds drive in aid of Kyaani Girls Secondary school in Kitui west district. Mrs Ngilu also publicly defended the VP accusing some leaders of portraying him in bad light as regards his position on the Draft constitution saying Mr Musyoka was firmly in support of Yes side.
The two senior politicians have had a hate-love political relationship have warmed to each other and have discussed modalities of having joint Yes campaign rallies in the region to push for the adoption of the Draft constitution.
The minister spoke just two days after the VP convened a major leaders’ consultative meeting in Machakos where they resolved to rally the Kamba community to the Yes side.
She said that the successful completion of Agenda Four reforms and particularly the Constitutional Review Process made regional supremacy battles irrelevant but regretted that their respective allies were still cynical on the sudden turn of events.
She added: “We are both campaigning for the Draft Constitution and we all know what the new law means for the region and the country as a whole” Mrs Ngilu’s close aides seem to that the new unity is part of a major political plan to work together in the new constitutional dispensation.
According to the sources, the Kitui central MP is said to be interested in contesting either the Governor or Senate seat under the proposed Kitui County government, once the new Constitution is adopted.
If the plan succeeds, they would no longer be fighting for regional leadership and she would therefore need Mr Musyoka’s support to garner votes in the larger Kitui and Mwingi districts which form the proposed regional assembly.
The two have both acknowledged that their long standing political differences were no longer tenable in the present realities and blamed their supporters of stoking fires for selfish political reasons.
Govt pledge to mop
up toxic maize flops
The government pledge to mop up suspected contaminated maize in Ukambani is yet to kick off.
The situation has sent fear and panic among local residents as reports of aflatoxin outbreak filter accross the region.
The crisis was componded following the death of a child in Kibwezi district last month as a result of aflatoxin.
Investigations by The Standard revealed that the government has not yet released funds to its National Cereals and Produce Board stores in the area.
“The programme is yet to take off because we have not received funds from the government”,said a senior NCPB official who did not want to be named.
He added that all deport managers were busy working on returns for the financia year that has just ended.
He said they were waiting for a word from the government concerning the mop up programme and asked this reporter to call sometime next week.
The Standard learned that farmers were however not willing to surrender their maize,whether good or bad.
The borne of contention is the ksh.1500.00 and 1,000.00 the government is offering to farmers in the area for the good and bad maize respectivelly.
“It is ridiculous for the government to ask us to surrender our maize at such a low price when it bought maize from other areas at higher prices”,said Mutiso kyalo from Kathonzweni.
Local politicians have also joined in and are asking farmers not to deliver their maize to the NCPB at the above prices.
Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka has promised to intervene in the matter and has since asked farmers to hold with their crop.
Attempts to draw President Kibaki into the maize saga during his recent visit to Machakos floped when he steered clear of the issue even after local MPS raised the matter before he rose to speak.
Assistant minister for agriculture Gedion Ndambaki under whose docket the maize issue falls is reported to have told farmers the new prices were applicable countrywide.
But he appeared to change tune on realising the local farmers were unhappy with the new rates.
he quickly jumped to their side and requested them not to rush to sale their produce at the new rates and wait until the matter is deliberated further.
Makueni District drought management officer daniel Mbuvi confirmed local farmers concerns over the low prices announced by the government.
He said the farmers were demanding to be paid ksh.2,300.00 per a 90 kg bag of maize ast was the case with other regions.
Mwala District Agricultural Officer J.M.Kariuki said a recently formed inter ministerail committee was concentrating on testing of the maize from farmers to ascertain the extent of the aflatoxin.
He said testconducted so far had indicated that atleast 60 per cent of the maize held by local farmers was condaminated.
Machakos DC Benard Kinyua said the government has since banned transportation of maize grain to and out of the district to combat the outbreak of aflatoxin.
Kinyua said all the security agents are work in hand in hand to ensure no maize grains enters or leaves the district so that the affected maize does not reach unsuspecting wananchi.
Kinyua said all the relevant government departments have been put on high alert following reports of aflatoxin in parts of Ukambani.
He told The Standard that the ministry of health and agriculture officials have embarked on an awareness campaign to ensure residents are not exposed to aflatoxin.
The ministry of health,he added has acquired kits to test the moisture contents of the maize held by farmers as a measure to contain the situation.
He said testing centres have benn opened at designated points and asked farmers to take maize samples for testing.
The DC reminded farmers that it is in their own interests to avail their maize for testing adding,’’We are going out there to hold barazas and advise farmers on what to do over the aflatoxin threat”.
He said the National Cereals and Produce Board will buy the good and bad maize at ksh.1,500.00 and 1,000.00 respectivelly .
“Once the bad maize is bought,it will be destroyed”,said Mr.Kinyua adding the contaminated maize should not be eaten or fed to animals.
The DC said the more than 280 bags of maize contaminated with aflatoxin is still under police guard 24 hours at the local NCPB stores in Machakos town.
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