JUDGES TRAINED ON HOW TO PROSECUTE CASES INVOLVING JOURNALISTS

By Clive Ayuko

3 Minutes Read

Nairobi, Kenya 30th November 2021

Judges, Magistrates and prosecutors from various countries in Africa yesterday morning at a Nairobi Hotel started a 5-day training on how to prosecute cases involving journalists right to freedom of speech.

Speaking as the chief guest during the event dubbed Training of Trainers in Freedom of Expression and Safety of journalists Director of Public Prosecutions Mr Nordin Haji started his speech by quoting Nelson Mandela saying: ” A critical, Independent and Investigative press is the lifeblood of any democracy”

Director of Public Prosecution Nordin Haji making his address during the Training of Trainers in Freedom of Expession and safety of Journalist.

Mr Haji Continued to add; ” Journalists across the continent many times working under very
difficult circumstances have continued to champion the ideal that
every African has a right to get information, has a right to be heard
and that our leaders are also held to account. And as players in the
Criminal Justice System l know that we recognize journalists as
essential partners in the administration and achievement of justice.
Many are the times; the efforts of journalists have presented the
starting point in the pursuit of justice for the societies they serve”

The training was organized by UNESCO.

KIRAITU MURUNGI LAUNCHES MERU GUBERNATORIAL BID WITH DEVOLUTION EMPOWERMENT PARTY MBUS

Clive Ayuko

Nairobi Kenya 27th November 2021

Delegates at the Bomas of Kenya during the launch of the Devolution Empowerment Party.

I AM OIL OTHER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES WATER WE CANNOT MIX YAHYA

By Clive Ayuko

1 Minute Read

Kenya Presidential Elections hopeful John Yahya Nene early this morning at a Nairobi Hotel declared his interest to run for the 2022 Kenya presidential elections. Mr Yahya Nene who is not new to politics has worked as a strategist for various Political outfits and individuals in Kenya to include former UNACTAD United Nations Agency For Trade and Development boss Ekuru Aukot and the Orange Democratic Movement ODM.

2022 Presidential hopeful John Yahya Nene addressing members of the press at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Upper Hill. Images courtesy @Cedo

The hard taking John Yahya Nene dismissed the Deputy Presidents William Ruto’s “bottom up” economic tagline terming it a fallacy. He continued to add that; ” there is only Micro and Macro economics, the bottom up model is only used to confuse the youth and take advantage of their poverty situation.

Mr Yahya Nene who did not declare the party He would seek election bid also ruled out the possibility of working with other presidential hopefuls arguing that He is Oil and the other hopefuls are water and as such cannot mix.

BILLIONAIRES WANT TO MAKE MONEY AND WILL NOT INVEST IN SOMETHING BECAUSE ITS GOOD SENATOR SAKAJA

Clive Ayuko

3 Minutes Read

Speaking as the chief guest during the 3rd Edition of the Association of Startup and Small and Medium Enterprises conference held at the crown plaza early today Senator of Nairobi County Hon. Johnstone Sakaja weighed in on why Kenyan Billionaires are not interested in Investing in Scalable Start ups;

” Billionaires are not interested in nice things. They are interested in making money. As such they put their money where they see money can be made and where their interests are protected. They are not necessarily the good people who like hugging as saying this is a beautiful thing to do. They are sharks and if they do not see how they will benefit from a start up they will not have any interest in it.

Nairobi Senator Johnstone Sakaja addressing Media at the sidelines of the conference. Images courtesy Chris Julius

Speaking on how such Private sector players can be influenced to take an active role in enabling growth of scalable startups Hon Sakaja continued to add; “

For such billionaires to invest in scalable start ups incentives by the cabinet secretary to include tax incentives and laws safeguarding such investor interest by the National Assembly should be put in place.

So for the first 5 years such investors may be excepted from corporate tax or be entitled to some tax breaks…”

ACTIONAID TO EMPOWER WOMEN WITH DISABLED CHILDREN

Clive Ayuko

Nairobi, Kenya 26th November 2021

The Executive Director of ActionAid International Kenya Susan Otieno has reiterated that Action Aid Kenya will empower women with children living with various disabilities. Speaking to the whistling African during the launch of the Women Economic Empowerment Advocacy coalition at a Nairobi Hotel yesterday evening Susan Otieno said, ” What we are targeting is that there is inclusivity that brings in people with disability and of families that have children with disability so that we can be able to improve their economic status to be able to take care of their children”

The Executive director continued to add, “Children with disability require a little bit of extra care. We are equally looking at government policies which ensure that there is inclusivity. How has the government provided this in their programme to take care of children with disability in addition to getting empowered economically to be able to fend for their children. A child who is visually impaired must be supported to be in school in addition to ensuring that the environment at home is able to support such a child”

CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE PROSECUTION OF JUSTICES MCHELULE AND CHEPKWONY

Clive Ayuko

Nairobi, Kenya 18th November 2021

A group of Civil Society Organizations called Wazalendo Huru early today morning called for the immediate prosecution of Justices Aggrey Muchelule and Dora Chepkwony. The group condemned the Judicial officers for being linient with the drugs barons and more specifically for doing business with the brothers Baktash and Ibrahim Akasha who have since been convicted by a foreign US Court

Secretary General of Wazalendo Huru Ms Marion Njoroge (Pink) confers with Chief Executive Officer Mungai Micheal during the press conference.

Additionally the group decried the sorry state of the Judiciary ridiculing the ten plus  years the two brothers took to set up businesses in Kenya with no conviction in comparison to the few months it took to have the two brothers prosecuted by the US court system. As a consequence of the prosecution the two judges were named for extradition to stand trail in light of their dealings with the Akasha brothers.

A situation which has been made impossible as the two are under the patronage of the Kenya court system.

The group also condemned the Judiciary for frustrating the development agenda of the executive citing various court injunctions which have since halted development projects initiated by the executive.

ANTI TERROR POLICE UNIT ARRIVE AT MAGEREZA HOUSE

Nairobi, Kenya 17 November 2021

Anti Terror police arrive at Prison Headquarters whisk away head of Prisons Wycliffe Ogalo

COMMISSIONER GENERAL OF PRISON OGALO REPLACED BY ARMY MAN WARIOBA

Nairobi, Kenya 17 November 2021

EAST AFRICA RENEWS DRIVE TO ERADICATE ELEPHANTIASIS

Nairobi, November 15th 2021: Nearly 4.5m Tanzanians in Dar es Salaam have received doses of two drugs donated by pharmaceutical companies in a first step back towards eliminating Elephantiasis caused by Lymphatic Filariasis (LF) in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, following huge setbacks in eliminating the disease caused by Covid-19 restrictions and spending cuts.

Ending LF Elephantiasis as a public health problem in the three nations would make them the first cluster of countries in Africa to achieve the breakthrough, following the announcement by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in January 2020 that Malawi had eliminated the disease as the second country in Africa, after Togo in 2017.
LF, or Elephantiasis, which is classified as a Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD), causes swelling and disfigurement and has left thousands of East Africans permanently disabled.
However, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania had been moving rapidly towards eliminating the disease, until, from early 2020, Covid-19 restrictions halted the preventative and curative drug treatments and surveys to assess the progress towards elimination. After the WHO issued guidelines for the resumption of mass treatments of NTDs, Kenya treated 3.3m people for LF along its Coast, in December 2020. But then UK government aid cuts, triggered by the costs of the pandemic, saw most of the budget for elimination programmes removed.
However, rapid mapping of the new gaps in funding has now brought emergency funds, with the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation stepping in to finance Crown Agents to deliver the Dar es Salaam treatments, as well as mass drug administrations in Zanzibar and, for other Neglected Tropical Diseases, in Kenya and Uganda.
“The new CIFF funding for Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda has been essential in moving the dial on LF, from millions of people at risk to now very few. In this, the Dar es Salaam MDA is critical as a key measure in eliminating the disease in three of the last eight districts with LF in Tanzania. Thanks to CIFF, I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel, bringing to fruition many years of LF elimination efforts,” said Deo Damas, Crown Agents’ Country Lead in Tanzania.
The emergency programme has not yet filled all the financing gaps, with planned surveys to detect the remaining prevalence now suspended as well as training and initiatives to treat NTDs under the countries’ universal healthcare programmes.
The UK government’s NTD programme, which accounted for a large part of the world’s spending on NTDs, was also due to fund the last 2,100 LF surgeries in Kenya, 2,500 in Uganda and 5,000 in Tanzania, to remove painful fluid sacs that are a feature of the disease. Finishing these surgeries and putting in place case management for the thousands of citizens with incurable swelling are preconditions to achieving elimination under WHO criteria.
However, the new funding does now open the door to completing the process of cutting LF prevalence from its peak in some areas of East Africa of over 30 per cent of people infected, to under 2 per cent.
In Tanzania, where LF was endemic in 120 districts, repeated rounds of drug administrations have seen it eliminate the disease as a public health problem in 112 districts. The Mass Drug Administration in Dar es Salaam in recent days is the first of two rounds now due in three of the city’s districts. The Mass Drug Administration in Dar es Salaam in recent days is the first of two rounds now due in three of the city’s districts, as the country works to eliminate LF in its last eight districts.
Intense negotiations are now underway across East Africa to source funds for the final surgeries and assessment surveys to get the region to final elimination status.
“The progress in reducing the number of infections has been colossal, but now we need to pursue the countdown to elimination by raising awareness, clearing the last round of mass drug administrations, rolling out assessment surveys, and delivering surgeries and case management for those still suffering from the disease,” said Elodie Yard, the regional manager for Nairobi-based Oriole Global Health, which is managing the newly funded drug rounds in Tanzania and Kenya.

Standard Chartered to support restoration and conservation of the Nairobi Arboretum Park

 10 November 2021 Nairobi, Kenya – Standard Chartered Bank Kenya Limited has undertaken a 3 years partnership with Kenya Forest Services and Nairobi Arboretum Conservancy Community Forest Association (NACCFA) to support the restoration and conservation of one of the oldest parks in the city; the Nairobi Arboretum Park.

 Through this partnership the Bank has committed to the following:

·                     Promote urban green awareness and urban greenification by supporting a 1 million seedlings in the Arboretum Nursery. The seedlings will be available to staff, clients, and the community at large.

·                     Restoration of not less than 9km of paths for running or walking and overall experience of enjoying the park

·                     Develop a digital app in partnership with Strathmore University which will be used as an education tool to create awareness on conservancy, climate change and for promoting the park and to support park initiatives.

·                     Upgrade a minimum of 50 signages and KM markers. We will label 100 trees as part of the education journey for the park visitors.

·                     Encourage more visitors to the park, and lead by example by hosting community, staff and client events in the park.

 

The partnership is part of the Bank’s overall Sustainability agenda integrated across the business, operations and communities focusing on three priorities i.e Sustainable Finance, Responsible Company and Inclusive Communities.

 

Speaking during the announcement, Standard Chartered CEO, Kariuki Ngari Said: “To sufficiently address the issues of climate change, it is critical for us to take urgent steps and promote good sustainable behaviours with our clients, community, and staff, to help reduce carbon emissions. Standard Chartered is committed to accelerating to net zero through partnerships, creating awareness for staff, communities and engaging like-minded stakeholders in the fight to mitigate the impact of climate change, thereby putting the world on a sustainable path to net zero by 2050”.

 

“Through this partnership, we target to upgrade 50 signages, label 100 trees and support a 1 million seedlings nursery by 2023. We are also developing a digital app in partnership with Strathmore University which will be used as an education tool to create awareness on conservation, climate change and at the same time promote the park. We believe the park will be transformed and plan to host our community, staff and client events in the park,” added Mr. Ngari.

 Speaking at the same event, Standard Chartered Bank Kenya Limited Board Chair, Kellen Kariuki Said: “As Standard Chartered Bank, we have taken steps towards the fight against climate change by committing to accelerate to net zero by 2030 in our operations and in our financing by 2050. Working together with like-minded organisations like Kenya Forest Services and the Nairobi Arboretum Conservancy Community Forest Association (NACCFA) we will lead efforts to conserve and restore the environment by mobilising financing towards climate change initiatives. As a bank, we are committed to help our communities adapt to the climate change and support conservation of our environment.”

“The starting point is raising awareness and engaging especially with our most vulnerable especially women, youth and people living with disabilities. Our commitment to support a 1 million seedlings nursery means that 1 million trees will be planted in three years and that is carbon emission reduced; that also has livelihood impact. And that is the Bank affirming our brand promise – to be Here for good”, added Ms Kariuki.

 

Commenting on the partnership, Chairperson Nairobi Arboretum Conservancy Community Forest Association Ms. Carlotta Dal Lago said: “Our goal is to ensure that we restore and preserve Urban green spaces for the future generation and in the process help reverse the effects of climate change.  We are cognizant that we cannot achieve these commitments on our own. We need partners who are united in purpose.  Both the private and public sector especially Financial institutions like Standard Chartered can play a big part in unleashing the funds needed to secure global net zero”.

 During the 18th edition of Standard Chartered Nairobi Marathon, the Bank hosted virtual races in the green spaces such as Karura Forest, The Nairobi Arboretum and The Ngong Road Sanctuary. All the participants who completed both formats of the marathon received a tree seedling to plant at their place of choice. 

 In the month of October alone, the bank planted over 6,000 trees through the staff and marathon finishers. The target is to is to plant a tree for every staff member and every client of the bank.