In Kenya, rising water levels in lakes along the Great Rift Valley have forced thousands of people from their homes.
It follows severe flooding after months of unusually heavy rain, which campaigners say has been made worse by illegal deforestation.
Lake Baringo and Lake Bogoria, once 20km (12.5 miles) apart, are now so close together that there are fears they could contaminate each other, threatening wildlife and livelihoods still further.
Source: bbc.com
Health officials in Kenya have said they will engage Russia over its COVID-19 vaccine, radio station Capital FM reports.
This is after Russia became the first country in the world to officially register its vaccine. But experts have raised concerns about the speed of Russia’s work, suggesting that researchers might be cutting corners.
“We definitely will plug in and work with Russia to ensure that the vaccine is safe before we use it,†health chief administrative secretary Mercy Mwangangi is quoted as telling a media briefing on Tuesday.
She said the Kenyan government will follow protocols through its foreign ministry.
Kenya has so far confirmed 27,425 coronavirus cases.
Source: bbc.com
School heads across the country are disappointed after the Ministry of Education reversed school funds previously released to schools by the government.
The ministry had on Thursday August 6, 2020, updated the National Education Management Information System (Nemis) indicating that Sh3,725 per student and Sh1 per student had been released into the operations accounts and tuition accounts of schools respectively.
However, shockingly, school heads revealed to the Saturday Nation that details of the capitation had been deleted from the system.
“We are shocked that the allocated funds are no longer showing in the school students’ capitation system,” said one principal who requested anonymity for fear of victimisation.
Another principal said he had confirmed from his school’s Nemis system that the funds had been allocated to each student and was hoping to receive the funds in the school’s bank account.
Student population
“Surprisingly, the figures in Nemis were reversed yesterday (Thursday),” he said.
The released funds usually show in the Nemis system first before reflecting in the schools’ bank accounts. Each school receives funds depending on student population.
“I was to go to the bank to confirm if funds have been credited to our school account, but nothing has been deposited so far,” said another principal.
Speaking virtually before the parliamentary committee on Education on Thursday, CS George Magoha said the government had set aside funds for school operations.
“The government has set aside funds to pay Boards of Management teachers, non-teaching staff including security men and women, and maintenance and safety of schools,” Prof Magoha said.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary, Ukur Yatani told the Nation that they had already given instructions for the school funds to be released.
“The funds that are supposed to be released to schools will be used to pay BOM teachers and other workers, and I have already given instructions for the release of the money,” said CS Yatani.
He said it is the Ministry of Education that is required to draw the budget and capitation per student.
“I will confirm from Prof Magoha if the budget has been drawn and submitted to the Treasury,” said Mr Yatani.
Prof Magoha and the Basic Education Principal Secretary, Dr Belio Kipsang, did not respond to calls made to their mobile phone numbers by the Nation.
Prof Magoha told the parliamentary committee on Education, chaired by Busia woman representative, Florence Mutua, that he had presented a budget to the National Treasury and the Cabinet for approval to enable the expansion and purchase of other necessary infrastructure ahead of schools’ reopening in January 2021.
Pay non-teaching staff
The funds are meant to enable heads to oversee the operations of schools and pay teachers employed by boards of managements and other workers.
The funds are also to be used to pay non-teaching staff, who include security officers, to ensure proper maintenance and safety of schools.
The heads have complained that they have had to send their non-teaching staff on unpaid leave as schools do not have funds.
More than 72,000 BOM teachers across the country have not been paid since March, when schools closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Due to lack of funds, school heads said schools have been left vulnerable as workers were sent on leave while others risk being vandalised.
Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KESSHA) chairman Kahi Indimuli, also confirmed that the details of released funds had been deleted from the students’ system. Mr Indimuli said the ministry is yet to issue schools with a note detailing how the funds should be spent.
Source:Â allafrica.com
Kenya’s salary and remuneration commission has opposed a plan to increase the pension of 375 former lawmakers.
The head of the commission, Lyn Mengich, said an increase in the pension would provoke similar demand by other former public workers and increase the wage bill.
Members of parliament this week passed a bill that will see the former legislators – who served between 1984 to 2001- earn 100,000 Kenyan shillings ($926;£707) monthly as a pension.
This will be an increase from a minimum of 33,000 shillings that they are currently getting.
The former MPs will receive the monthly pension if the president assents the bill into law.
Kenyan MPs are among the highest paid in the world and critics argue that increasing the pension will increase an already ballooned wage bill.
Source: bbc.com
Kenya’s salary and remuneration commission has opposed a plan to increase the pension of 375 former lawmakers.
The head of the commission, Lyn Mengich, said an increase in the pension would provoke similar demand by other former public workers and increase the wage bill.
Members of parliament this week passed a bill that will see the former legislators – who served between 1984 to 2001- earn 100,000 Kenyan shillings ($926;£707) monthly as a pension.
This will be an increase from a minimum of 33,000 shillings that they are currently getting.
The former MPs will receive the monthly pension if the president assents the bill into law.
Kenyan MPs are among the highest paid in the world and critics argue that increasing the pension will increase an already ballooned wage bill.
Source:Â bbc.com
Kenya Airways will be forced to inspect afresh the engines of its 10 Boeing 737 New Generation aircraft after the US aviation regulator warned that they could stall mid-air after being grounded for months.
The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) said the Boeing 737NG aircraft that have been idle since the outbreak of Covid-19 could form corrosion on the air check valves, an anomaly that can lead to stalling of the two engines when the airplane is flying.
Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) Director-General, Gilbert Kibe, said they had received communication from the FAA, adding that the agency will ensure local carriers such as Kenya Airways are in compliance.
Kenya Airways has 10 Boeing 737NG — mainly used for mid-range flights such as the Africa routes — in its fleet of 42.
“We have received communication and Kenya Airways too has the alert. We shall monitor the task,†said Mr Kibe in an interview with the Business daily.
The FAA said the airlines must replace the engine valves ahead of flying if they are corroded.
In a statement last week, Boeing Company, the manufacturer of the planes, said it had advised operators to inspect the aircraft that had been grounded for long or used infrequently in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic.
Boeing reckons that the valves can be more susceptible to corrosion.
Kenya Airways said it was addressing the issue before taking to the skies in a move that will assure passengers of their safety once international flights resume this Saturday.
“KQ has a process and has put measures in place to ensure all its affected aircraft have the recommendation accomplished before they get back to the skies,†said the airline in an e-mail response to the Business Daily.
Kenya Airways normally uses these type of aircraft on Africa routes with higher passenger numbers because of its high capacity compared to the Embraer 190.
The Boeing 737-800 has a flying range of 5,665 kilometres.
KQ grounded its international flights on April 6 after Kenya closed its airspace to passenger planes in order to curb the spread of Covid-19.
The carrier has, however, been operating its fleet of Boeing 787 that it had converted into cargo flight for long-haul services, especially to Europe and Asia.
This is the second time that Boeing has issued an airworthiness directive on this type of aircraft since late last year.
Last September the FAA wrote to Kenya Airways directing it to inspect its fleet of Boeing 737 New Generation aircraft for potential cracks.
The carrier resumed passenger services on international routes last Saturday with 27 destinations having been earmarked. This is half of the routes that the airline was servicing before the Covid-19 pandemic.
KQ reported a Sh12.9 billion loss for the financial year ended December 2019, up from Sh7.7 billion in 2018, with losses attributed to increased cost of operations.
The airline estimates it lost Sh10 billion in the six months to June this year.
The airline, which resumed domestic flights two weeks ago, is now banking on the resumption of the international flights to generate more income and be in a position to meet its financial obligation.
Source:Â allafrica.com
Kenya’s police watchdog has launched investigations into Tuesday’s brutal conduct of four police officers pictured beating a female lawmaker in the capital, Nairobi.
The police were deployed to the Nairobi County Assembly to disperse lawmakers who had tried to impeach the Speaker amid chaotic scenes, according to local media.
A standoff between the police and lawmakers ensued and the four police officers were pictured assaulting local representative Patricia Mutheu.
The country’s police watchdog said it had “contacted some of the people who were present during the chaos” to get testimonies.
“The preliminary enquiry seeks to establish the role played by police officers who were deployed at the premise,” it said in a statement.
The local affiliate of Amnesty International has called on the police officers to be held accountable:
Source:Â bbc.com
Health workers have said they are struggling to respond to the Coronavirus pandemic and are ill-prepared to face the swelling numbers as more medics get infected.
As the national and county health workers tackle the pandemic, they say they are heading for a crisis without the necessary resources.
The medics said they have not been properly trained on handling Covid-19, lack the appropriate protective gear and most are now experiencing burnout.
Various cadres of health professionals are demanding better workplace protections as the country nears in Covid-19 peak yesterday said that the death of a senior public health officer in Wajir County due to lack of oxygen was worrying.
Mr Abdi Yussuf, who died on Friday, is the eight medic to succumb to the virus, with another 531 medics reported to have contracted COVID-19.
Clinical officers’ union chairman Peterson Wachira said medics are at high risk of getting the disease because they don’t have adequate protective gear.
“The death of eight medics from various counties with another 531 infected with Covid-19 has forced use to try and assess the situation and the biggest problem we have is the lack of proper protective gear,” he said.
The union’s Secretary-General, Mr George Gibore, said that medics who perform procedures that are more likely to generate high concentrations of infectious respiratory aerosols than coughing, sneezing or talking are at increased risk of infection because most hospitals do not have the appropriate masks.
“We conducted a joint health workers’ survey, which revealed that 72 percent of health workers performing aerosol-generating procedures do not have proper protective equipment. They do not have N95 masks while s 74 per cent are anxious that they are not using the protective equipment properly,” he said.
Mr Gibore said the survey, which assessed infection prevention and control among health workers, found that only 24 per cent of medics had undergone a two-day training on Covid-19 as recommended by global health bodies. He said 64 percent of the medics have reported experiencing burnout from working long hours.
“We would like to implore the government to look at these challenges and ensure our welfare is secured especially since we are headed to the peak and we have not seen a significant increase in health workers,” he said.
Source:Â allafrica.com
Kenya has made record sales from avocado exports amid the coronavirus pandemic, local newspaper Daily Nation reports.
The country sold more than 58,400 tonnes of avocado to 42 countries in the first half of the year, nearly matching the amount exported last year. It earned more than $75m (£59m) from the exports.
“The high export numbers can also be attributed to an increase in avocado acreage and quality of the fruit being produced by our farmers. We are excited by the prospects of rising demand for the fruit,†the paper quotes the chairman of the Avocado Society of Kenya, an association of avocado growers, as saying.
Kenya is ranked among the world’s top producers of avocado.
Source:Â bbc.com
You still stand a high chance of succumbing to Covid-19 even after getting admission to intensive care unit, data from the Health ministry, which confirmed 497 new cases yesterday, show.
The figures show that 78 of the 225 coronavirus patients who had been admitted to ICU died, with five succumbing yesterday.
The ministry expressed fears that if the numbers of those requiring ICU care shoot up, hospitals will run out of space.
Health Director-General Patrick Amoth said the procedures needed for people in ICU are complex and time consuming and “if the numbers of those in need of critical care go up, we will not be able to have the adequate numbers of healthcare worker to offer this service.”
The new cases announced by Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe – 318 males and 179 females – takes Kenya’s Covid-19 caseload to 10,791.
Mr Kagwe expressed concern over the high number of those testing positive in Nairobi, which accounts for more than half of all the cases at 5,705. Mombasa (1,739), Busia (550) and Kiambu (520) also recorded spikes in infections.
Nairobi’s Westlands, Lang’ata, Dagoretti North and South, Embakassi East and West and Starehe continue to bear the bulk of the cases for Nairobi.
Dr Amoth’s concern over fast-filling ICU came as studies revealed patients who recover after intensive care may have to deal with long term disabilities such as muscle wasting, organ and brain damage.
A 2012 study published in the journal Annals of Intensive Care recorded an average of 53 percent of patients who experience frightening delusions after leaving the ICU.
This is common in patients who went to the ventilators.
Experts also warn Covid-19 patients who spend time in the ICU are prone to physical, cognitive and even mental health problems after discharge.
Dr Jeremiah Chakaya, a pulmonary diseases expert said post-intensive care syndrome is common, regardless of any disease that puts them there.
Mr Amos Kamimo was among the first patients in Kenya to land into ICU due to Covid-19. Already with heart problems, the forty days following his hospitalisation was like the biblical walking in the valley of the shadow of death.
“When I left home, I knew my health was not perfect owing to the shortness of breath and I disguised it as my congenital heart disease. Never did it cross my mind that I could be a Covid-19 patient,” he said.
He was transferred to the Aga Khan University Hospital since his situation needed the HDU, which at the time, had been occupied at Mbagathi Hospital.
“I was transferred because my lungs, heart and kidney were failing. My oxygen saturation level would drop to 60 percent and my doctors had told me that it should not go below 88 percent, I was scared,” he says.
The WHO says about 80 percent of those with Covid-19 recover without needing any specialist treatment, but an estimated one in six persons become very ill “and develop difficulty breathing”.
Source:Â allafrica.com
Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame has complained about neighbouring nations Kenya and Uganda causing delays to imported goods because of the requirement to test truck drivers for Covid-19.
The Rwandan leader’s comments are prompted by long delays for road cargo, as drivers are tested at the border by the Kenyan and Ugandan authorities.
Rwanda is a landlocked country and imports either travel through a northern corridor from Kenyan port city Mombasa, or a route further south from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.
President Kagame said “coronavirus is killing people, business and even relationships” and he called the delays “unfair”.
However, he did not mention how Rwanda was the first country in the region to close its borders, at the onset of the pandemic, which disrupted the transport of cargo to Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Mr Kagame’s comments could raise tensions within the East African Community, at a time when the regional bloc needs political unity to cope with the economic impact of the pandemic.
Source:Â bbc.com
Official contracts have tied consumers to high electricity bills linked to thermal generation for up to another 15 years, records show.
A listing of the active diesel-run power generators shows that the longest power purchase agreement runs till 2035, leaving consumers with a longer wait before the expensive energy sources end. The Energy ministry last year began shedding the diesel-run power generation units by letting their contracts expire to reduce the burden on consumers.
Data from the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) show that there are eight thermal power plants with a combined installed capacity of 660.82 megawatts supplying the national grid.
Energy Cabinet Secretary Charles Keter said the option of waiting for the expiry of the production agreements would be the easiest as terminating them early would be costly.
“We are slowly retiring them by not renewing licences when contracts expire. This is based on our grid analysis, which show that technically, they can be decommissioned without negative impacts to the quality and security of supply of electricity,” Mr Keter said. The Epra list shows that the Triumph Power Generating Company was the latest company to be signed for thermal power supply in July 2015.
The firm’s 83MW plant has a 20-year contract expiring in February 2035. Others like Coast-based Gulf Energy with 80MW and Thika Power with 90MW will expire in 2034.
Switching off thermal plants is part of the government’s gradual phase-out plan of expensive diesel power generators as it moves to provide cheaper and cleaner energy.
Last year, Iberafrica’s 54MW thermal plant was dropped off the grid after 15 years with the expiry of its power purchase agreement.
The use of thermal power has been blamed for keeping Kenya’s electricity relatively expensive compared to countries like Egypt which largely uses hydro sources retailing at Sh3.23 per kilowatt-hour (unit) on average compared to thermal’s Sh18 per unit.
Source: allafrica.com
Kenya Airways (KQ), grounded for the past three months by the Coronavirus pandemic, will resume domestic flights in “the next couple of days,” President Uhuru Kenyatta said on Friday.
The return to in-country service coincides with the lifting of Kenya’s lockdown on travel between counties, Mr Kenyatta noted.
The government will soon set a date for KQ to resume flying internationally, the president added.
“We’re doing everything we can to make sure we are back in the skies,” Mr Kenyatta said during a video conference sponsored by the Washington-based Corporate Council on Africa.
“We’re eager to open up, but we have to make sure we all stay safe.”
The president’s announcement came on the same day that KQ chief executive Allan Kilavuka revealed that the airline has lost an estimated Sh10 billion so far this year due to the pandemic and related lockdowns.
Losses could approach Sh50 billion by the end of 2020, Mr Kilavuka added.
KQ had been struggling financially long before the coronavirus emerged.
It lost about Sh12 billion in 2019, compared to Sh7.1 billion the previous year.
Source: allafrica.com
Kenya Airways expects to lose over $500m (£405m) this year as a result of business disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The airline says it expects to have to make painful decisions, including laying off staff and selling off key assets, besides seeking to secure more than $70m in an emergency bailout to stay afloat.
CEO Allan Kilavuka told the BBC that a restructuring plan is awaiting board approval, with the company working on a strategy to diversify its business away from passengers to cargo.
The airline recorded a $122m net loss in 2019 attributed to higher operating costs.
Source: bbc.com
Kenya’s military has denied putting any of its barracks under partial lockdown amid media reports that dozens of soldiers are being treated at an isolation centre for Covid-19.
Kenya Defence Forces spokesperson Colonel Zipporah Kioko told the BBC that movement in and out of barracks had not been restricted, but measures had been put in place to protect the soldiers.
The measures include mass testing, routine checks of body temperature, wearing of face masks and hand sanitation points in all barracks.
Local television station Citizen TV on Sunday quoted unnamed sources as saying that one soldier had died from Covid-19 and dozens were being treated at an isolation centre.
It reported that Kahawa barracks in the capital, Nairobi, had been placed under the restriction of movement.
Col Kioko promised to give a detailed statement later on any coronavirus infections among soldiers.
Kenya has so far confirmed 4,738 coronavirus cases from 140,012 samples tested. Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe on Sunday warned that the rising numbers could soon stretch the country’s health facilities.
Source:Â bbc.com
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) is looking into two separate theft reports relating to donated Coronavirus equipment in March when the Ministry of Health was plotting how to combat the virus that has now infected 4,374 people in Kenya.
While the police at Mazingira House have confirmed that investigations into the two incidents involving donations from Alibaba founder Jack Ma and the Chinese government continues, officials remain tight-lipped about how much progress has been made.
Director of Investigations John Kariuki confirmed that a team of detectives from the DCI’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) office are looking into the cases.
“Those are being handled by the JKIA office, but I’m not aware of how far investigations have gone,” Mr Kariuki said.
But when the Saturday Nation visited the DCI branch at JKIA, officers denied knowledge of any such investigations and referred our team to the head office on Kiambu Road for any information on the matter.
The reaction of officers at the JKIA branch indicates that details of the investigations remain a reserve of very few senior officials at the DCI.
Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti did not pick up our numerous calls or respond to text messages requesting information on the progress of the investigations by press time.
The first consignment was donated by Mr Ma, who had made a similar philanthropic gesture in other African countries.
Mr Ma’s care package had 100,000 face masks and 20,000 testing kits, which arrived at JKIA on March 24.
As the huge consignment of test kits disappears, the government is keeping over 5,000 samples that are yet to be tested due to the global shortage of testing materials.
On Friday, Health Director-General Patrick Amoth acknowledged that the country has been experiencing a shortage of test kits. But he said the ministry had received a batch that would last the country four weeks.
“It is always dangerous to have a backlog because if a sample tests positive and the person was roaming for weeks without knowing their results, the risk of transmission is high, hence a tedious process in reaching all the contact persons,” Dr Amoth said.
Healthcare workers, on the other hand, have been complaining that they do not have enough personal protective equipment, a situation that is putting their lives at risk.
This matter prompts the question: Did this equipment genuinely disappear at the airport or was it an inside job by well-connected people? The Saturday Nation is yet to get an answer to the questions.
Since April, the alleged theft of Mr Ma’s donations has been discussed in hushed tones, with rumours flying high on social media.
But last week Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe for the first time publicly acknowledged that thieves had found their way to Mr Ma’s consignment.
The second donation, from the Chinese government, arrived on April 20 at the same aerodrome.
A local newspaper earlier this week detailed how Ministry of Health officials allegedly colluded with local and Chinese businessmen to steal the consignment, revealing that some of the suspected cons managed to escape arrest last week.
Meanwhile, two Covid-19 cases have been confirmed in Kericho County while 12 people who had come into contact with them have been placed under quarantine.
The father and daughter who tested positive have been placed under quarantine at Kericho County Referral Hospital.
This brings to three the number of positive cases in Kericho County.
Governor Paul Chepkwony, at a press briefing in his office on Friday evening, said the two had visited a patient in the hospital.
“The two who were confirmed positive had visited a relative at Aga Khan Hospital in Kisumu where a relative who has also tested positive is being treated.”
The 12 people who came into contact with the two cases are being quarantined at the Kenya Medical Training College campus in Kapkatet.
Prof Chepkwony said medical officers who had come into contact with the two had also undergone counselling.
“The county government and multinational tea companies in the region have set aside 2,000 quarantine beds and 300 isolation beds for Covid-19 cases.”
Source: allafrica.com
An American missionary accused of sexually abusing girls at an orphanage he ran in western Kenya has pleaded guilty to the charges in a US court, local media in Philadelphia report.
Gregory Dow is likely to serve up to 16 years in prison, according to the Lancaster Online.
He pleaded guilty to four counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places during a teleconference on Monday with US District Judge Edward Smith and federal prosecutors.
He ran the orphanage in Bomet county, 263km (163 miles) west of the capital Nairobi, with his wife Mary Dow.
He committed the crimes between October 2013 and September 2014.
Mr Dow fled Kenya in September 2017 to avoid prosecution after police were tipped of the abuses.
Gregory Dow, 61, has pleaded guilty to charges that he sexually abused several minor girls in Kenya, where he started an orphanage.https://t.co/IeJbGlYgM7
— CBS 21 News (@CBS21NEWS) June 15, 2020
Disclaimer : “Opinions expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author(s) and do not in any way reflect those of backend.theindependentghana.com. Our outfit will hereby not be liable for any inaccuracies contained in this article.â€
Source:Â bbc.com
Four staff members working in the office of Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta have tested positive for coronavirus, a statement from the presidency says.
All four have been referred to a nearby hospital for treatment, it adds.
The president and his family are “safe and free from Covid-19”, the statement says.
All staff, including the president and his family, are tested on a regular basis.
But to ensure that the spread is contained there will now be “extra access protocols” for those staff members who live outside state house.
Kenya currently has more than 3,000 confirmed cases of the virus and more than 80 people have died after catching Covid-19.
Disclaimer : “Opinions expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author(s) and do not in any way reflect those of backend.theindependentghana.com. Our outfit will hereby not be liable for any inaccuracies contained in this article.â€
Source:Â bbc.com
Kenya’s health ministry is investigating the alleged disappearance of coronavirus medical equipment and testing kits donated by Chinese billionaire Jack Ma.
The shipment comprising of protective gear, testing kits, face masks and equipment arrived in the capital, Nairobi, on 24 March.
Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe confirmed to journalists about the investigation, amid reports of a shortage of protective gear for health workers and testing kits.
“We know there was something like that, there is an ongoing investigation and therefore I can’t talk about it any more than that,” he told a media briefing on Sunday.
Local television station shared a video of the minister’s comments:
Kenya’s has so far confirmed about 3,500 coronavirus cases and has imposed a ban on travel in and out of Nairobi and the coastal town of Mombasa.
Source:Â bbc.com
In our series of letters from African journalists, Joseph Warungu captures the frustrations of Kenyans who have been pleading with the government to ease the measures taken to curb the spread of Covid-19.
“Mr President, we beg you – please, please set us free!”
These are not the words of people held in detention or mandatory quarantine after being roughed up by Kenyan police for not wearing face masks.
Instead, it is the cry of many Kenyans who cannot stand the lockdown measures anymore.
Before President Uhuru Kenyatta addressed the nation on Saturday, social media had been awash with memes, pleas and videos urging him to ease the lockdown measures.
Tomorrow issa day that the Lord has made…we shall rejoice and be glad in it. Happy friyay ðŸ˜#WorldEnvironmentDay2020 #COVID19 #UhuruKenyatta #Uhurustoughchoices #BlackLivesMatter #CurfewKenya #mutaikagwe #FreedomOfExpression pic.twitter.com/A1aszaA1yE
— THE IMPECCABLE (@RealDerro) June 5, 2020
Source:Â bbc.com
Kenyan lawyers say they will petition both houses of parliament to start a petition to impeach President Uhuru Kenyatta for, in their eyes, annulling the constitution.
The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) said it will also remove the Solicitor General and Attorney General from its list of advocates for misadvising the president.
This follows the president’s refusal to swear in 41 judges proposed to him by a commission – with the chief justice blaming him for causing a near paralysis of court operations.
“We cannot have somebody who has taken the oath to govern in tandem with the constitution who fails to perform his duties under the constitution,” said LSK president Nelson Havi.
President Kenyatta said in February that he could not swear in the judges as some of them had integrity issues.
Source: bbc.com
Kenya’s health ministry has said it will soon roll out home-based care for Covid-19 patients because the country’s isolation facilities are almost full.
Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe said they will first publish guidelines for home-based care before patients can be released to their families so as to free hospitals.
He urged Kenyans not to stigmatise patients who will be allowed to recover at home.
Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, has two isolation facilities whose bed capacity is almost full.
The country on Thursday recorded 124 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 2,340 including 592 recoveries and 78 deaths.
The World Health Organization’s guidelines for home-based care for Covid-19 patients say patients are to be isolated in their own rooms and minimise interaction with other people.
Shared items and facilities are to be thoroughly disinfected and caregivers are to wear protective gear.
Source: bbc.com
Kenya on World Environment Day barred all single-use plastics such as water bottles and straws from its national parks, beaches, forests and other protected areas.
The implementation of the ban, first announced a year ago, was ordered in a letter from Tourism Minister Najib Balala last week.
It took effect on Friday, three years after Kenya announced one of the world’s strictest bans on plastic bags.
“This ban is yet another first in addressing the plastic pollution catastrophe facing Kenya and the world, and we hope that it catalyses similar policies and actions from the East African community,” Balala said in a statement on Friday.
Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, Kenya welcomed some two million tourists annually to see the Big Five animals in its national parks or visit its stunning coastline.
The ban was welcomed by environmentalist Dipesh Pabari, who led a project to make the world’s first sailing boat made entirely of plastic waste, which sailed 500 kilometres (300 miles) along the coast from Kenya to Tanzania in 2019 to raise awareness about plastic pollution.
“We have witnessed the catastrophic effect single-use plastics have on our ecosystems and our communities,” Pabari said in a statement.
“And now, during the pandemic, we are witnessing first-hand what happens when we destroy our planet, which is that we destroy the system that supports human life.”
Like much of the world, where plastic bottles, caps, food wrappers, bags, straws and lids are made to be used once and then tossed away, Kenya is battling the curse of plastic pollution, which chokes turtles, cattle, and birds and blights the landscape.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates more than 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic have been produced globally since the early 1950s, about 60 percent of which ended up in landfill or the natural environment.
“By banning single-use plastics in national parks and protected areas, Kenya continues to demonstrate its commitment to addressing the global scourge of plastic pollution,” UNEP said in a statement to AFP.
Source: france24.com
Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta has directed the ministries of education and interior to hasten consultations on the reopening of places of worship and schools.
He said Kenya was a God-fearing nation and there was need for people to have a “more participatory way of worship”.
For students a gradual resumption of classes was called for by the president.
President Kenyatta, who was speaking during celebrations for Madaraka (Freedom) Day, said he would issue more guidelines in the coming days.
The country’s nationwide curfew and travel restrictions in the capital, Nairobi and three coastal towns were extended for 21 days ending this week.
The president said he would address the nation on measures to stop the spread of the virus in the coming days.
Kenya has 1,962 confirmed cases of the virus, including 64 deaths.
President Kenyatta directs Ministry of Education to fast track and finalize ongoing consultations with all stakeholders to provide a calendar for the gradual resumption of education in the country. #MadarakaDay pic.twitter.com/aZ679qh7Ri
— NTV Kenya (@ntvkenya) June 1, 2020
Source: bbc.com
A former Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) senior manager was Wednesday fined Sh2 million for soliciting and receiving a Sh15 million bribe from a businesswoman in order to lower her tax arrears by Sh420 million.
In a ruling, Chief Magistrate Lawrence Mugambi, said the former Domestic Taxes Department (DTD) boss, Robert Maina Ngumi, will serve 18 months in prison if he fails to pay the fine.
Mr Ngumi was found guilty of soliciting and receiving the bribe from the businesswoman six years ago to facilitate the reduction of tax arrears owed to KRA from Sh439.9 million to Sh18.6 million.
“I am satisfied that there is enough evidence by the prosecution to establish corrupt solicitation and receipt of the alleged amount beyond a reasonable doubt. I thus find him guilty and convict him accordingly,†ruled Mr Mugambi.
Mr Ngumi was charged with three counts of corruptly soliciting a benefit on three separate dates in March 2014 and receiving a bribe of $1,100 and another $148,900 in fake currency and treated by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC). He was convicted of the first count of corruptly soliciting a benefit and receiving a bribe while he was acquitted on the other counts.
He received the bribe from Winfrida Wanjiku Ngumi as an inducement to issue a letter reducing her tax arrears by Sh420 million. The prosecution presented 11 witnesses who testified against him during the trial of the case that started in 2014.
The court heard that Mr Ngumi sought a secret meeting with the businesswoman to review her tax arrears ahead of a visit to her firm by KRA auditors. The meeting was scheduled to be held just a few days before the KRA field team was expected at her company for a final audit review.
Ms Wanjiku reported the matter to EACC detectives who accompanied her to the private meeting held at the Southern Sun Hotel in Westlands, Nairobi.
On March 11, 2014, unknown to the accused, the officers visited the hotel earlier, sat at a distance and observed the two as they had their conversation, also recorded on a gadget that Ms Wanjiku had been given by the EACC officers.
Mr Ngumi told Ms Wanjiku to have the money converted into dollars as one of the measures to avoid raising suspicion and for ease of movement.
While two other meetings had been previously held at Boulevard Hotel, it is this specific meeting that saw the accused handed an envelope with genuine $1,100 and fake $148,900.
In his defence, Mr Ngumi claimed that the matter was fabricated and denied the charges. His lawyer cited the fact that the recording that was presented in court as evidence did not show their faces, arguing that there was confusion in the recording given that the accused and the complainant shared the same last name, Ngumi.
But Ms Wanjiku, while arguing that her company had no tax arrears, told the court that the indepth audit was not concluded because her firm was never served with the final report by the taxman after it disputed the initial findings.
Source:Â nation.co.ke
Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta has revealed how his son violated a government dusk-to-dawn curfew order issued to prevent the spread of Coronavirus.
He said one of his two sons, whom he did not identify, recently went out to party at night in the coastal city of Mombasa – an epicentre of infections in the country.
Social gatherings are prohibited in the East African country.
The government has also restricted movement in and out of the capital, Nairobi, and three other coastal counties, including Mombasa, where the first family and the president’s mother are currently living.
The president said in an interview that no-one was immune to coronavirus containment measures, although he has been criticised for not taking his son to a quarantine centre like other Kenyans who violate the curfew.
Mr Kenyatta said that he gave his son a dressing down for risking the life of his grandmother Ngina Kenyatta.
Here is the president’s interview:
COVID-19: President Uhuru Kenyatta reveals he had to give one of his own sons a dressing down for breaking the rules.#NTVTonight @NginaKirori pic.twitter.com/Khh6popnaD
— NTV Kenya (@ntvkenya) May 27, 2020
Source: bbc.com
Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto has disowned food donation said to be contaminated that was distributed in a constituency outside the capital, Nairobi, in bags branded with the name of his foundation.
Scores of people have visited hospitals after consuming the food, with some patients in critical condition – according to Kiambu County Governor James Nyoro.
Mr Ruto on Monday denied involvement in the distribution of the food, blaming it on “political thuggery”.
“Reports from locals indicate that the strange food donations in question were hurriedly thrown from moving vehicles to unsuspecting public with fake branding, that is not from the Foundation,” a statement from his spokesperson said.
Some residents are reported to have returned the foodstuffs to local administrators, according to media reports. Each bag carried a packet of maize flour, cooking oil, tea leaves among other essentials.
Kenyan politicians have been distributing foodstuffs in low-income areas where people’s earnings have been hard-hit by coronavirus containment measures.
The government has restricted movement in and out of Nairobi and the second biggest city of Mombasa, as well as two other counties in the coastal region. It has also imposed a night to dawn curfew.
Source: bbc.com
Kenyan authorities have forcibly evicted more than 7,000 people from land in Nairobi slums over the last month, defying a court order.
Authorities say they demolished homes because they were built on public land, but critics say mass evictions during a pandemic are inhumane and could further spread the Coronavirus. Forty-two-year-old Daniel Ndungu saw the three tractors coming before his home was demolished last week.
“We saw police officers coming into the area,” he said. “They blocked the road and left the only one used by tractors. At around nine they started demolition. They didn’t care whether there were children in the house or anything else. They began demolition.â€
Defying a court order, authorities on Friday forcibly evicted Ndungu’s family and other Nairobi slum dwellers, making them homeless in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. Ndungu says he has nowhere to go and no money to move, so he will stay in the cold and wait.
Others moved into the crowded dwellings of friends and relatives. The evictions, which started in April, left more than 5,000 people homeless earlier this month in Nairobi’s Kariobangi neighbourhood.
Government tractors descend on homes in Ruai area in Nairobi. Families had little time to salvage their belongings.
The state-run Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company (NSWSC) claims ownership of the land and says the families have been occupying it illegally since 2008.
“People are told this in advance: You are sitting on public land, there is a project that is terminating here, we may probably open up and open sewage in this direction,” said Fred Matiangi, Interior minister. “People know this but, then people either … don’t move or just continue staying there.”
Thirty-seven-year-old butcher Hussein Wako says he has government receipts showing he owns the land he was forced to leave. But public land is too often sold illegally in Kenya, leaving those who were cheated out of their money like Wako homeless.
“They demolished our home and poor people’s homes,” Wako said. “I slept in the cold for two days, and there is a coronavirus pandemic. They told us to go back home when we demonstrated against the demolition. They disrupted it and tear-gassed us.â€
A small riot erupted earlier this month as the evicted clashed with police in Kariobangi and set fire to cars and tires. A Kenyan high court ordered a halt to further demolitions until a petition by residents is heard in June. But for the thousands of Kenyans already left homeless, and those still being evicted, there is little hope for justice.
Source: VOA
The number of people in Kenya who have tested positive for the Covid-19 has risen to 781 following the confirmation of 23 more cases.
The 23 are five females and 18 males all aged between 24 and 84 years.
Making the announcement Friday afternoon, Health Chief Administrative Secretary Rashid Aman said 11 of the new cases were reported in Nairobi, five in Mombasa, three in Kajiado while Wajir and Kiambu recorded two each.
The new cases were discovered after the ministry conducted tests on 2,100 samples. Two of those who tested positive in Kajiado were truck drivers.
Dr Aman also announced that three more patients succumbed to the disease bringing the total number of Covid-19 deaths in the country to 45.
Source: theeastafrica.co.ke
Since Kenya confirmed its first coronavirus case on March 13, authorities have adopted various measures to curb the spread of the virus while stopping short of imposing a full lockdown.
AFP spent a day this week exploring how the measures are impacting the capital Nairobi and its 4.3 million inhabitants, as the health crisis exacerbates social inequalities and batters the economy of the regional powerhouse.
– 6:45 am, Ndenderu police checkpoint –
The sun has just risen and morning mist envelops a valley on the outskirts of Nairobi. On this road heading north towards the Rift Valley region armed police monitor vehicles and pedestrians.
“The only people who can go through are the ones with the authorisation: the lorries carrying food, doctors, etc,” explains police inspector Julius Kariuki Mugo.
Edward, a 25-year-old driver, shows a stamped pass from his boss that enables him to continue on his route to deliver flour to a town 75 kilometres (45 miles) northwest.
Since April 6 Kenya has blocked movement in and out of Nairobi, three coastal towns, and the northeastern county of Mandera. Two refugee camps have also been cordoned off, as well as one suburb in Nairobi and one in Mombasa.
After initially creeping up slowly, virus cases this week began to jump, with authorities fearing rampant community transmission in slums and poor areas of the capital and second city Mombasa.
There have been 582 cases and 26 deaths, and Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe has urged citizens not to make a “mockery” of two months of efforts as social distancing fatigue sets in.
– 8:30 am, central Nairobi –
Normally congested during rush hour, central Nairobi is quiet.
In a store that sells bicycle spare parts, brothers N. Shah and S. Shah, both in their fifties, are feeling the impact of the pandemic on the economy.
“We’re doing 10 percent of our usual business,” says N. Shah.
“People don’t have money. If you don’t have money to pay your rent, you don’t have money for shopping,” says S. Shah.
Their neighbour, A.J. Shah, does not know how he will pay his rent and the salaries of his four employees with business at “around 15 percent” of its normal level.
His shop sells food and cleaning products to hotels and restaurants. Even if hotels reopen, it is unclear who would actually stay in them.
“The crisis is hitting everywhere,” he says. “Who is going to come to visit the wildlife?”
– 11:00 am, physiotherapy practice –
Since mid-March, Kenyan authorities have closed schools and encouraged working from home, which many have taken up.
But it does not make sense for everyone.
“For us, working from home is not an option,” says Victoria Choi, who runs a physiotherapy practice in the Westlands neighbourhood with her husband Bernard.
Only one client is allowed in the office at a time, and all must use hand sanitiser and wear masks.
Like many parents, Bernard and Victoria have rearranged their schedules to take care of their two youngest children — girls aged 15 and nine.
Their social lives have also taken a hit.
“I miss going out with the boys,” Bernard says, adding that “having a beer alone in the house in front of the television” is not exactly a substitute.
– 1:00 pm, Java cafe –
An institution in Nairobi, the Java chain of restaurants has continued operating, albeit at a much reduced pace.
“We’ve been affected a lot since we’re only doing takeaways” and home deliveries, explains Pamella Gavala, deputy manager of this franchise.
Java, with 2,500 employees in total and 50 restaurants in Nairobi alone, plans to reopen gradually after the government last week approved a supervised resumption of restaurant activity.
To comply with the new rules, employees must be tested for COVID-19 and customers must undergo temperature screening.
Once inside, no more than two people can sit at tables which have been spaced out to allow for physical distancing.
– 3:00 pm, Foodplus supermarket –
Grocery stores, one of the few sectors still booming during the pandemic, have also had to make changes.
Masks are required, thermal screening takes place at the entrance and shopping carts are regularly wiped down with disinfectant.
At the registers, markers on the ground indicate where customers must stand to keep an appropriate distance.
“They’re more than cooperative,” Daniel Mutuku, the manager of the Foodplus store in the Kilimani neighbourhood said of customers.
– 5:00 pm, La Tasca tapas restaurant –
Normally open from noon “until the last customer leaves”, Maurizio Fregoni’s restaurant in upscale Lavington is almost completely dead.
The 7:00 pm to 5:00 am curfew imposed since March 25 has brought Nairobi’s nightlife to a standstill.
The restaurant is currently relying on a limited takeaway business and hoping for better days for its 14 employees, most of whom are taking unpaid leave.
Fregoni, an eternal optimist, says the quiet period has given him “time to rethink the menu”.
– 7:00 pm, Kibera slum –
This settlement in the heart of Nairobi, home to hundreds of thousands of Kenyans and often billed as the largest slum in Africa, continues to buzz with activity.
Cans of soap and water have been set up in front of stalls and masks are common, though some wear them around their chins.
A handful of cases of the virus have cropped up here and in other slums in the capital, sparking fears of a massive outbreak in the crowded settlements where social distancing is near impossible.
It is residents of such areas who have been hardest hit by the economic slump the virus has caused.
George Juma, a 39-year-old electrician, has not had work in a month.
“Everybody is afraid of the disease so they don’t want to bring you in their home,” he says.
Juma managed to convince his landlord to let him pay rent “when it’s over”. In the meantime, his family of four is scraping by thanks to a food donation from a NGO and the benevolence of vendors who sell to him on credit.
As curfew approaches, a police helicopter shines its spotlight on Kibera.
Joel, 45, rushes to pack up the stall where he sells fried fish — which used to stay open until 9:30 pm.
With the curfew in place, his earnings have been cut “around 25 percent”.
– 9:00 pm, downtown Nairobi –
The city centre is deserted. At the headquarters of the Nation Media Group, a sign broadcasts prevention messages: “Stay home”, “Wash hands”.
Lilian, one of the few people around to actually see the sign, sweeps the streets of the capital.
She will finish at midnight, then sleep for a few hours in a shelter before curfew lifts at 5:00 am so she can take a share-taxi home.
Source:Â france24.com
Kenya has hit another record high in terms of the number of coronavirus cases recorded daily, reporting 47 more positive test results on Wednesday.
The Health ministry said 32 of the new cases were recorded in Mombasa, 11 in Nairobi, two in Busia in western Kenya, central Kiambu County one and coastal Kwale County one.
While announcing a total of 582 confirmed cases since Kenya’s first case on March 13, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said two more people had died, raising the death toll to 26.
He said the two people aged 68 and 76 died at their homes in Mombasa, raising more concerns cases that go unnoticed as people stay at home.
“One patient in Kenyatta National Hospital came to Kenya from Tanzania, through Loitokitok, using matatus. This shows us the danger we are in and further tells why the measures in the transport system have been put in place,” he said.
The CS also reported that eight more people had been discharged, raising the country’s total number of recoveries to 190.
Tougher measures
The government announced tougher measures to contain the spread of the virus, with Eastleigh estate in Nairobi and Old Town in Mombasa emerging as hotspots.
As such, CS Kagwe announced the cessation of movement into and out of the two areas and said markets, restaurants and eateries would be shut effective May 6.
The orders will remain for 15 days in both areas.
Mr Kagwe noted that public transporters would not operate in these areas and but that activities within their borders would not be restricted amid mass testing to establish the extent of infection and identity contacts.
The minister noted that “these measures are not intended to punish but protect the people in those areas”.
Statistics
In Africa, the coronavirus had infected at least 50,502 people and killed over 1,921, according to case tracker Worldometer’s count on May 5.
Since the first case was reported in Wuhan, China, on December 31, 2019, at least 3,746,445 people worldwide had been infected by May 6.
The total number of deaths worldwide was 258,962 and that of recoveries at 1,250,449.
The number of active cases stood at 2,237,034, with two per cent or 49,282 of them being critical and the rest mild.
Worldometer’s count showed that the number of closed cases was 1,509,411, with 83 per cent or 1,250,449 being the number of recoveries or those discharged.
Source: theeastafrican.co.ke
Thousands of people have been made homeless in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, after a government excavator flattened their tin-sheet houses in the Kariobangi area.
The demolition was supervised by armed police officers from Monday dawn.
Residents told journalists that they had not been notified to leave.
The Daily Nation newspaper has shared a video on Twitter of the demolitions:
Police supervise demolitions at Kariobangi Sewage estate disregarding a court order pic.twitter.com/qy6DTmzL5I
— Daily Nation (@dailynation) May 4, 2020
The newspaper reports that there had been a court order to stop the demolition yet it went ahead.
The government has been urging people to stay at home during the coronavirus pandemic. The country has so far confirmed 490 cases and 24 deaths.
Kenyan researchers are awaiting approval for clinical trials of three drugs in the treatment of Covid-19, the Daily Nation newspaper reports.
The researchers plan to conduct trials on Remdesivir, anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine and Lopinavir/ritonavir, the newspaper reports.
Remdesivir is an antiretroviral drug originally developed as an Ebola treatment.
Kenya’s lead investigator in the study Loice Achieng Ombajo is quoted as saying the trials are part of an international trial, though she did not mention who is sponsoring the study.
She said they are waiting for approvals from the Poisons and Pharmacies Board and the National Council of Science, Technology and Innovation.
“We’ll be conducting that [the trials] at different centres in the country to help determine if there is any drug that would work,” Dr Ombajo is quoted as saying.
Kenya has reported 490 coronavirus cases and 24 deaths.
Source: bbc.com
A coronavirus mass testing campaign by Kenya’s health ministry has recorded a low turnout after encountering unwillingness among members of the public.
The government had targeted to test thousands of people in two hotspots in the capital, Nairobi, but only hundreds turned up.
Most of those who spoke to local media said they fear exhibiting symptoms during the procedure, and being taken to quarantine centres where they will incur costs for their upkeep.
Health ministry official Rashid Aman on Sunday said the tests are free of charge. He defended the quarantining of those who test positive yet displayed no symptoms, saying they needed to be isolated so as not to transmit the virus.
A section of Kenyan leaders has been calling for door-to-door mass testing. Other leaders have said mass testing will only succeed if the government takes up the cost of upkeep for those under quarantine and improve conditions in the isolation centres.
Source: bbc.com
Kenya recorded 24 new coronavirus cases bringing the total tally to 435. 17 of the cases were recorded in Nairobi (10 in Eastleigh, 7 in Kawangware). Five in Mombasa. and two in Migori County.
A 51-year-old woman in Mombasa became the 22nd victim whiles two more recoveries bring the total to 152. These figures were given by Health CAS Mercy Mwangangi in April 2 briefing on the virus situation.
A total of 1195 tests conducted in the last 24 hours, one of the highest in a day. It also comes two days after mass testing was rolled out in parts of the capital and Mombasa. The exercise, however, suffered an early setback with low turnout, especially in Mombasa.
According to records, although the target was 24,000 residents, only 131 showed up for the test rolled out on Thursday. The Health CAS cautioned small businesses that seem to have gone back to work, saying “the disease is still with usâ€.
Businesses flouting the rules set in place to curb disease spread will be closed. Dr Mwangangi noted that there has been a decrease in the number of patients visiting hospitals for other illnesses.
While this would ordinarily be good news, the CAS said citizens should not be afraid to seek medical assistance when needed, the Standard Digital portal said in its report.
Kenya reports 24 new Coronavirus cases (of 1195 tests conducted in the last 24 hours) bringing total to 435.
17 in Nairobi (10 in Eastleigh, 7 in Kawangware).
5 in Mombasa.
2 in Migori County.
1 death brings total number of deaths to 22.
2 more recoveries brings total to 152. pic.twitter.com/ZdKULHYbIj— Samira Sawlani (@samirasawlani) May 2, 2020
Source:Â africanews.com
A retired Kenyan Catholic Bishop has died in the Italian city of Turin from Covid-19 while undergoing treatment in hospital.
Silas Njiru, who had served as bishop of Meru in central Kenya from 1976 until 2004, died at Rivoli Hospital on Tuesday. He was 92 years old.
His successor in Meru, Bishop Salesius Mugambi, told the Daily Nation newspaper
that the retired cleric had been living in a house where two other elderly priests had also contracted the virus.
Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto has paid tribute to the bishop
, calling him a “tender-hearted and gracious man with steadfast religious credence, which he instilled to many”.
Italy has been one of countries worst-affected by coronavirus with more than 200,000 cases and over 27,00 deaths.
Source: bbc.com
The Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) has depleted its supplies of coronavirus screening and testing kits, the Star newspaper says, quoting a report tabled on Tuesday by a Senate committee .
The institute needs at least 790m Kenyan shillings ($7.3m; £5.9m) to restock reagents and other materials used for testing for coronavirus, the institute’s director Yeri Kombe as saying.
Kemri is co-ordinating the country’s screening and testing of coronavirus cases, as well as conducting research on a possible vaccine for the pandemic.
The East African nation has to date confirmed 373 cases and 14 deaths.
Source: bbc.com
What must have seemed like a good idea to remind people of Kenya’s flower industry has come in for some criticism from the country’s notorious Twitter community.
On Saturday, the Standard newspaper reported that Kenya would be sending 300 bouquets of flowers
to the UK to be given to British health workers involved in treating coronavirus patients.
The UK is one o the largest markets for Kenyan flowers, but the country’s horticulture sector has come to a standstill because of a worldwide drop in demand.
The Kenya Flower Council called the bouquets “flowers of hope”, The Standard reports.
But many tweeters in Kenya want more focus on the situation at home.
Otieno Omollo wants the authorities to address the dire conditions that some live in, rather than sending flowers abroad.
Chilufya Mateyo tweeted that “mental slavery is real” and another tweeter accused the president of “behaving like a village chief”.
So sad !😪😪
But @StateHouseKenya ,Uhuru sent a banquet of flowers to UK to appeace them while his citizens live like this @BBCNews @BBCAfrica such a shame !!@gathara @OkiyaOmtatah our voices are ready for these families
Good job @bonifacemwangi https://t.co/daNXOjvrcZ— Otieno Omollo (@Otieno_Omollo_) April 27, 2020
Source: bbc.com
There have been long tailbacks on the Kenyan side of the border with Uganda after the government began mandatory testing of long-distance lorry drivers to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
The government announced that all drivers will be tested before crossing the border after Uganda confirmed that eight Kenyan drivers had tested positive for the virus.
Kenya’s NTV channel shared a video of the tailback at the border.
Citizen TV has also shared pictures and said that the tailback was 30km (19 miles) long:
Last week, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni said the authorities in both countries were discussing ways to reduce cross-border coronavirus cases.
As well as mandatory testing, they also proposed relay driving, where drivers hand over vehicles to their Ugandan counterparts at the border.
Source: bbc.com
Kenyans filmed escaping from a coronavirus quarantine centre will be hunted down and sent back there, President Uhuru Kenyatta has said.
“We know you and we will find you,” he said, adding that the escapees were putting the lives of others at risk.
The warning came after a video clip went viral showing several people scaling a wall to flee a quarantine centre in the capital, Nairobi.
Those in forced quarantine have been complaining about poor conditions.
They say some centres are not much better than prisons, with poor hygiene and complaints that social distancing is impossible because of overcrowding.
Others are angered about having to pay for their confinement, which costs between 20 (£16) and $100 a night – depending on the centre.
Hostels at schools and universities as well as hotels have been used to hold those put into quarantine for an initial 14-day period – though this has been extended twice at some centres.
More than 400 people are currently in quarantine. They include people who arrived in the East African country from areas affected by the virus before it closed its borders and those found to have been in contact with a coronavirus patient.
It is not clear how many individuals escaped from quarantine at the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) but some reports put the number at 50.
The breakout took place on Tuesday as a meal was being served. The centre’s residents had a chance to escape when it started to rain and the guards took cover, Kenya’s Citizen TV station reports.
The Daily Nation newspaper tweeted a video, showing some people jumping over a wall:
According to the paper, the KMTC centre has more than 200 people in quarantine – held as a consequence of contact tracing or after being arrested for flouting the curfew and social distancing rules.
The country has not gone into lockdown, but has imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew and a ban on travel to or from Nairobi and several other areas considered hotspots for transmission.
Ramadan plea
During a radio interview in Swahili on Wednesday morning, President Kenyatta urged Kenyans to take the restrictions seriously.
“For the safety of your family, and your loved ones, do what is necessary to protect them. Stay away. Do not put people at risk because you do not think it is serious,” he is quoted as saying.
He said that by the weekend, as many as 2,000 people a day would be tested for coronavirus, the Daily Nations reports.
The president also ruled out relaxing the curfew during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, which begins at the end of the week and when there are usually gatherings after dusk to breakfast.
“We told Christians during Easter that you cannot mark this day… We respect all religions but we have said that let us all celebrate and mark these religious days in our homes, on radio and on television,” the Daily Nations quoted Mr Kenyatta as saying.
“I ask our Muslim brothers and sisters to mark the holy month of Ramadhan like they have not done before because these are extraordinary times.”
Kenya has recorded 296 cases of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by a coronavirus, including 14 deaths.
Source:Â bbc.com
Kenyan journalists at NTV on Tuesday led people in an appreciation clap for health care workers on the front line of coronavirus pandemic.
The journalists were filmed asking Kenyans to join them at 12:00 local time (10:00 GMT) in clapping for all health care workers.
During the noon bulletin, the news presenter started by leading the applause with videos of Kenyans in the streets of the capital Nairobi and the coastal city of Mombasa clapping along.
Kenyan health care workers have received government recognition for the efforts during the coronavirus pandemic.
The minister of health on Monday said discussions on their allowances were ongoing.
The government opened an isolation centre specially made for health workers as mass testing begun.
At 12 noon, wherever you are, stop what you are doing and for a minute, clap or honk your horn as a way of encouragement to frontline workers in the war against Covid -19.
We will be doing this in the studio as well so tupatane #Saa6
Send us your videos on 0745925002 pic.twitter.com/aH4vRRtw5O— NTV Kenya (@ntvkenya) April 21, 2020
Source: bbc.com
Like people around the world, Rachel Gachuna is extremely worried about catching coronavirus. But she is just as fearful about being locked up in a Kenyan quarantine centre.
If the single mother of one-year-old twins is to believe those already held at some of these government-assigned facilities, living conditions are not much better than at a prison.
“The toilets are just messy, dirty… even the cleaners who clean the toilets once a day complain about how messy the toilets,” one woman in quarantine told the BBC.
“It’s because there is no water, so people are touching the same taps when you want to wash your hands, if there is even water… it’s just a mess.”
People who arrived in Kenya from countries affected by the virus before it closed its borders and those found to have been in contact with a coronavirus patient have been sent to these centres for 14 days.
However, the quarantine period has been extended twice for everyone at centres where someone has shown symptoms of the virus – and they have had to keep paying the bills.
There have been also complaints that social distancing is impossible at some centres because of overcrowding.
“You pray to God that it never happens because I honestly do not know what I would do,” Ms Gachuna told the BBC.
She is now on leave after first choosing to work from her home in the capital, Nairobi – even though the city’s residents are able to go out during the day.
Escape attempt
To protect her family from infection, she only goes out to the shops when essential – and would rather not go out at all.
Kenyans may now have to wear face masks in public and buses are carrying fewer passengers, but social distancing can be difficult.
“I try to be careful. When I get into the house, I have to take a shower before I touch my kids. You can’t guarantee what your clothes have picked from outside,” she said.
She has also let go of one her nannies, who came in to help look after the twins during the week, because she was worried that her use of public transport would leave the family vulnerable to infection.
And her fears were heightened last week after dozens of people attempted to storm out of an isolation centre at Kenyatta University in Nairobi, citing unbearable conditions.
“First on our inability to pay and secondly because it does not make any scientific sense for our continued stay at the centre,” Simon Mugambi, one of the would-be escapees, said.
Others spoke of their psychological and mental anguish after the government extended their stay beyond 14 days.
But the group was forced to return. In the words of another quarantine complainant: “It’s like you are condemned… it’s like you are at the mercy of the government.”
Source: bbc.com
Police in Kenya implementing coronavirus restrictions have arrested four people who disguised themselves as mourners taking a body for burial.
They had left the capital, Nairobi, and travelled 370km (about 230 miles) west with an empty coffin in the vehicle before being intercepted, the health minister said on Saturday.
Nearly two weeks ago, travel in and out of Nairobi was restricted, along with another three regions considered to be coronavirus hot spots.
The group of fake mourners had managed to pass through several checkpoints before suspicious officers in Homa Bay County opened the coffin, Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe said.
The driver later tested positive for Covid-19, the respiratory illness caused by the virus. His three passengers have now been put into quarantine.
The minister said officials were investigating various schemes allegedly being used to circumvent the travel ban, including reports that people had been bribing police at roadblocks.
The East African nation has recorded 262 cases of Covid-19, including 12 deaths.
Source: bbc.com
The Kenyan police have killed 12 people in an attempt to enforce a dawn to dusk curfew in the wake of Coronavirus.
This figure is greater than the death toll from the pandemic in the country which stands at 11.
Wilfred Olal, a rights activist, confirmed the deaths to Anadolu Agency.
“The deaths have been there, it is around 15 but we are still verifying that is why we are going with 12 confirmed cases, the aspects of police brutality and beatings… it is in huge numbers that we cannot document.
“The people fear the police more than COVID-19, people are putting on masks not because they fear COVID-19, they fear that they would be arrested and extorted,” Olal said.
He added that the directive to suspend courts in the wake of the outbreak has turned into a moneymaking scheme. Police arrest people and charge them with hefty fines as they cannot be challenged in the court.
George Musamali, a security analyst based in Nairobi, told Anadolu Agency: “This is a new situation in Kenya, we are facing a generation that has never been in a curfew, the challenge we are facing right now is that the police are using brutal force in enforcing a curfew that is not security related but health-related.â€
“We have had several people claiming that their kin have been killed by the police in the process of enforcing the curfew and very many casualties,” he added.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday announced $47 million to be injected into a newly formed emergency fund for coronavirus, bringing the total amount sent to all 47 counties in the country to $94 million.
The Kenya National Nurses Association has demanded that protective equipment for health workers dealing with coronavirus patients is fixed before it is distributed.
Kenyan nurses have been asking for more pay and protective gear for those handling coronavirus patients.
Some county governors promised special allowances for the health workers.
Personal protective equipment for people working within 2m (6ft) of a coronavirus patient has become a concern for health workers all over the world who are demanding eye protection, surgical masks, aprons and gloves.
The Kenya National Nurses Association Chair Alfred Obengo visited a factory where protective gear is being made and tweeted that he saw “some gaps” that he ordered be rectified by Friday:
Today morning, I was part of the delegation from MOH to assess the quality of PPEs from EPZ.
However we observed some gaps which we ordered be rectified before Friday. We’re committed ensure our frontline warriors have the right regalia and artillery. https://t.co/JwvWUa4Udn— Alfred Obengo (@AlfredObengo) April 14, 2020
Source:Â bbc.com
The Kenya National Nurses Association has demanded that protective equipment for health workers dealing with coronavirus patients is fixed before it is distributed.
The Kenya National Nurses Association Chair Alfred Obengo visited a factory where protective gear is being made and tweeted that he saw “some gaps” that he ordered be rectified by Friday.
Kenyan nurses have been asking for more pay and protective gear for those handling coronavirus patients.
Some county governors promised special allowances for the health workers.
Personal protective equipment for people working within 2m (6ft) of a coronavirus patient has become a concern for health workers all over the world who are demanding eye protection, surgical masks, aprons and gloves.
Today morning, I was part of the delegation from MOH to assess the quality of PPEs from EPZ.
However we observed some gaps which we ordered be rectified before Friday. We’re committed ensure our frontline warriors have the right regalia and artillery. https://t.co/JwvWUa4Udn— Alfred Obengo (@AlfredObengo) April 14, 2020
Source: bbc.com
President Uhuru Kenyatta has directed the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Heritage to set aside Ksh.100 million ($944,356) to cushion local artistes from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
Addressing the Nation on the state of the COVID-19 outbreak in the country, Kenyatta said the Ksh.100 million fund will allow artistes, actors and musicians to continue entertaining the public through TV, radio and the internet.
“I direct the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Heritage to avail Ksh.100M from the Sports Fund to our artistes, actors and musicians during the period of the covid-19 pandemic so they may continue to entertain their fellow brothers and sisters through TV, radio and the internet,†said Kenyatta.
At the same time, the Head of State has announced that effective this week, all local artistes will be earning a total of Ksh.200 million per month which translates to an annual payment of over Ksh.2 billion.
“Starting this month, all our local artistes will be earning a total of Ksh.200 million per month that will be paid to musicians through the system and other platforms that we have developed.â€
“This shall translate this year to over Ksh.2 billion going into the pockets of our young artistes and young Kenyans. These payments will begin this week,†Kenyatta said.
He noted that the new payment of Ksh.2 billion is the pledge the government made in January this year to increase monies paid out to artistes after they received an underwhelming annual pay of Ksh.200 million last year.
Source: www.myjoyonline.com
A group of Kenyan pastors have asked the government to include churches in the list of “essential services” to allow them to remain open as the country battles the Covid-19 outbreak.
The preachers representing churches in Makueni country in eastern Kenya, say faith is the “best way to fight the unseen enemyâ€.
They want to be allowed to hold Sunday services in open grounds, while adhering to the proposed one-metre distance between people to prevent infection.
The government has banned public gatherings and police officers have been enforcing the ban.
One of the pastors, Nicholas Kyule, was quoted by Citizen TV as saying that the church was the “best place for hope and resilience†during this time.
Another, Titus Uswii, was quoted in the Star Newspaper as saying that the country “may be involved in a futile exercise†as long as churches remain closed.
The Kenyan government imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew on 27 March, but exempted those in what it termed “essential services”, which included health workers, security officers, the media, food dealers and transporters among others.
Watch their comments below:
Source:Â bbc.com
Coronavirus cases in Kenya stand at 122 after 12 more people tested positive.
Health CAS Mercy Mwangangi said in a briefing Friday that the patients are 11 Kenyans and a Somali citizen.
Dr Mwangangi also announced that a six-year-old has died from the virus.
She said the young patient was at the Kenyatta National Hospital had an underlying health condition.
Source:Â theeastafrican.co.ke
Kenyan media report that a woman who was being quarantined in the western city of Nakuru has taken her own life.
Health workers found her dead at the Kenya Industrial Training Institute facility where she was being held, having apparently hung herself, local media say.
Local government officials also state that initial police investigations are “pointing to suicide”.
The woman was said to be in her 20s. Nakuru county officials confirmed she arrived in Kenya from South Africa on Wednesday. They are not naming her until they have contacted her next of kin.
Local media quote unnamed sources as saying the woman had recently complained she was being held in “deplorable conditions” and had asked to be transferred elsewhere.
Many countries have imposed travel restrictions, plus mandatory quarantine for any new arrivals to curb the spread of coronavirus. Kenya’s quarantine period lasts for 14 days.
Currently Kenya has confirmed 31 coronavirus cases, one of whom died. Meanwhile South Africa has the highest number on the continent – at more than 1,000.
Source:Â bbc.com