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Defence CS when he appeared before a parliamentary committee on May 18, 2023 in Nairobi. He revealed the construction of the military FOBs

Bases to help troops detect and deter any planned intrusion from Somalia

In Summary
  • The border region has borne the brunt of repeated attacks from the militants who are at times aided by locals.
  • Somalia has not had a stable government after the fall of Siad Barre in 1991.

Kenya has constructed 14 fully equipped Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) along the Kenya-Somalia border as part of efforts to bolster security in the area.

This is ahead of the planned drawdown of Kenya Defence Forces from Somalia, Defence Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale said.

“We are fully committed that when the drawdown from the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) comes, we are secure as a country by ensuring that when al-Shabaab feels the heat of the Somalia Security Forces they don’t come to find refuge in Kenya.” 

“Our military has a conspicuous presence along the borderline to ensure that Kenyans are secure,” said the CS.

Kenyan troops are in Somalia to pursue and suppress the activities of the terror group. 

President William Ruto said in a past interview the drawdown will start in 2024 to allow Somalia to stabilize.

Duale made the remarks when he appeared before the Departmental Committee on Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations Committee to defend the ministry budget for the Financial Year 2023/24.

He said KDF has continued to undertake its core mandate within its budget and at the same time collaborated with other agencies whenever called upon.

He said the ministry has a tradition of being cost-effective and doing projects within the shortest time possible, saying the ministry remains committed to undertaking government projects in support of civil authorities.

Duale sought the support of Parliament to provide adequate budgetary allocation to the Ministry of Defence to facilitate its ongoing expansion and modernization efforts to enhance the force posture of the Kenya Defence Forces.

 

He further implored the lawmakers to provide the necessary funding to enable recruitment before the end of 2023, an exercise that has not been done for the last two years owing to budgetary constraints.

“We constructed Ulinzi Complex in a record 18 months. Uhuru Gardens, which we supervised its construction shall be handed over by December this year.”

“We are supervising the construction of Embu Stadium, which shall host this year’s Madaraka Day celebrations. We shall be ready to supervise any project which we shall do with military precision within the shortest time possible and without wastage of resources,” he said.

Duale told the committee that MoD leadership is doing an analysis to see whether it’s viable to make the Semi-Autonomous Government Agencies (SAGAS) domiciled in the Ministry independent government parastatals.

“The Ministry has three SAGAS and are chaired by the sitting Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Service Commanders. In the next 60 days, we shall have a mechanism to see whether they shall be independent SAGAS with their own budget to ensure that none of our Generals face litigation,” Duale said.

The border region has borne the brunt of repeated attacks from the militants who are at times aided by locals.

Somalia has not had a stable government after the fall of Siad Barre in 1991.

The area is near the Somalia border and the militants usually cross at will and stage attacks before escaping back.

Al-Shabaab terrorists have been attacking places in the region, especially in Mandera and Garissa counties after breaching security zones, which left dozens of civilians and security officials dead and wounded.

The terrorists have been planting explosives on the routes used by the security agencies. By Cyrus Ombati, The Star

Image: HAND OUT

Haemophilia is not curable since it is a genetic disorder

In Summary
  • Since women have two x chromosomes, one steps into place in the case that one is abnormal, helping in stopping unnecessary bleeding by buffering the abnormal x.
  • This does not however mean that women who have the abnormal x gene that they pass on from their daughters, do not suffer from bleeding.
 

One in every 10,000 Kenyans suffers from haemophilia, Kenya Haemophilia Association chairman Dr Kibet Shikuku says.

 
This means there are at least 5,300 Kenyans with haemophilia. 

The disease arises from a lack of clotting factors, which is a function of the x chromosome. 

Both men and women have an x chromosome, with women having two and men having one, xy.

Speaking to the Star, Shikuku noted that all human beings can form blood clots owing to the x chromosome which enables us to produce coagulation or clotting factor concentrate.

Those are proteins that form a clot. 

"Because of the x chromosome, it means that when someone has an abnormal x, it will manifest as a bleeding disorder," he said.

This means that almost 99 per cent of haemophiliacs or bleeders are boys or men.

Since women have two x chromosomes, one steps into place in the case that one is abnormal, helping in stopping unnecessary bleeding by buffering the abnormal x.

This does not, however, mean that women who have the abnormal x gene that they pass on from their daughters, do not suffer from bleeding.

Women who carry the abnormal x, also suffer sometimes as much as the men.

Shikuku regretted that in most cases associated with women bleeders, they choose to suffer in silence.

He said the Association was working towards a way of helping them the same way the men are being attended to.

Haemophiliacs begin experiencing symptoms as early as during birth. 

"During birth, because of the pressure going through the birth canal, a child with the gene would end up with a bleed on the scalp. The bleed causes a cephalohematoma, commonly known as a tower head," Shikuku said.

A cephalohematoma is an accumulation of blood under the scalp, specifically in the sub-periosteal space. 

Further, in the process of detaching the umbilical cord, these children tend to bleed longer than other children.

During their crawling days, the parts of their bodies coming into contact with hard surfaces including the knees, elbows and wrists bleed.

 

The bleeds, according to Shikuku, can be internal and not necessarily external.

To put it simply, bleeds are common with children suffering from haemophilia.

"They would hardly clot once a bleed occurs. They take longer and sometimes hardly stop bleeding. Sometimes they can have dangerous bleeds. These occur within the gastrointestinal tract," Shikuku said.

He warned that any bleeding along the tract can sometimes be fatal as the bleeders will have lost a lot of blood because of the space occupied within the particular areas.

They can also bleed in the brain or neck area.

"When this happens, we encourage people to seek care," Shikuku said. 

Haemophilia is not curable since it is a genetic disorder.

 Shikuku however said the Association can alleviate the problems associated with the bleeding.  

"Because when you bleed into the joints you end up with deformities. We treat the bleeds. We always do prophylactic care," he said.

"We can do demand treatment or on demand, which means you have a bleed and we treat you and the treatment takes at least three days."  

He said this does not usually mean that there is no other bleed that will occur after the medication because it is a gene that is affected.  

"So we are supposed to be doing prophylactic treatment. We give you drugs regardless of whether you are bleeding or not," he said.

"At the end of the day, you can have a normal life. There are medications but you can't hardly say that you are treated and cured of the disease."  

The Kenya Haemophilia Association has encouraged Kenyans to seek help in case they have a bleeder in their family.

"Just in case you come from a family where bleeding is a common thing, we encourage that you can go for screening and if we think you have an underlying disorder, we investigate you and can be able to help," the doctor said. 

Currently, there are 14 clinics in Kenya, an addition of 12 to the original two which were Kenyatta National Hospital and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital.

He added that the screening is free until June in treatment centres including the KNH, MTRH, Mombasa, Kakamega, Kisumu, Kisii, Meru, Laikipia and Murang'a.  By Sharon Mwende

The ex-medical services PS observed that the number of staff jumped from 378 to 910 in 2021.

In Summary
  • This was after the government seconded employees from other agencies following an administrative action by then-President Uhuru Kenyatta.
  • The PS also raised issues as to why some Kemsa employees were working from home and instructed the CEO to recall all of them.

Former Medical Services Principal Secretary Peter Tum wrote to the Kenya Medical Supplies Agency raising the red flag on the bloated workforce, it has emerged. 

In his April 14 letter to Kemsa Chief Executive Officer Terry Ramadhani (suspended), Tum questioned the agency's staffing, saying the number exceeded the approved staff establishment.

"Kemsa's staff establishment as per the approved instruments stands at 378 against an in-post of 910 employees," Tum said in his letter. 

He said initially before the review of the human resource instruments, the authority had an approved staff establishment of 348.

Tum, who was on Tuesday moved to the Sports, Arts and Culture department, observed that the number of staff jumped from 378 to 910 in 2021.

This was after the government seconded employees from other agencies following an administrative action by then-President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The PS also raised issues as to why some Kemsa employees were working from home and instructed the CEO to recall all of them.

Tum in April instructed the Kemsa CEO to recall all employees and those on contract that were working from home.

"Recall all the officers who are working from home. Fast-track the exit of employees of the authority serving on contract per the existing legal framework. This will address the problem of a bloated workforce," the PS directed.

They had been locked out of their offices in a 2021 executive order and have been working from home for 19 months. 

"Several Kemsa officers are working from home for over a year. There is a caretaker team drawn from wider public service performing the duties of the officers who are working from home. Kemsa also recruited officers on short-term contracts to perform duties of the officers working from home," Tum wrote in April 14 letter.

He also raised issues regarding the re-engagement of staff who he said continued to draw salaries even after the project had expired.

In Tum's letter, it also emerged that the employees working from home had taken Kemsa to court with the PS calling for an out-of-court settlement.

"Kemsa should negotiate with the officers who are in court for a possible out-of-court settlement. Undertake comprehensive business re-engineering to address some of the systemic challenges facing the authority," Tum said.

Documents seen by the Star show that some 350 employees were working from home.

Tum was responding to a letter by the CEO seeking concurrence of the ministry to implement a voluntary early retirement for the staff working from home as a way of addressing the issue of a bloated workforce.

Tum advised Ramadhani to release the caretaker team and those on secondment to their respective employees.

On Monday, Ramadhani was suspended alongside eight other officers. This followed a botched Global Fund tender. By James Mbaka, The Star

Cholera patients

The World Health Organization (WHO) and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) say 43 countries, including Nigeria, now face outbreaks as increasing numbers of cholera cases are reported. 

They said the outcome for patients was worse than 10 years ago. In a statement on Friday, the UN agencies said that after years of steady decline, cholera was making a devastating comeback and targeting the world’s most vulnerable communities.

“The pandemic is killing the poor right in front of us,” said Jérôme Pfaffmann Zambruni, Head of UNICEF’s Public Health Emergency unit.

Echoing the bleak outlook, WHO data indicates that by May 2022, 15 countries had reported cases, but by mid-May this year, “we already have 24 countries reporting.

“And we anticipate more with the seasonal shift in cholera cases,” said Henry Gray, WHO’s incident manager for the global cholera response.

“Despite advances in the control of the disease made in the previous decades, we risk going backwards.” 

The UN health agency estimates that one billion people in 43 countries are at risk of cholera, with children under-five particularly vulnerable.

Cholera’s extraordinarily high mortality ratio is also alarming.

Malawi and Nigeria registered case fatality rates as high as three per cent this year, well above the acceptable one per cent.

Southeastern Africa is particularly badly affected, with infections spreading in Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The development follows the destructive passage of Cyclone Freddy in February and March this year, leaving 800,000 people in Malawi and Mozambique internally displaced and disrupting healthcare.

These vulnerable communities are at high risk of cholera, a preventable disease in areas affected by heavy rains and floods.

A deadly combination of climate change, underinvestment in water, sanitation and hygiene services – and some cases, armed conflict – has led to the spread of the disease, agreed the two UN agencies.

Although vaccines exist to protect against cholera, supply is insufficient to face the increasing demand. According to the WHO, 18 million doses of vaccines have been requested globally, but only eight million have been made available.

“Increasing production is not an overnight solution,” Mr Grays said.

“The plan is to double the production of doses by 2025, but we won’t have enough if the current trend continues.”

WHO’s wake-up call was echoed by UNICEF.

“Not only (do) we need long-term investments, but immediate investments in the water system to ensure access to clean water, sanitation, and dignity,” Mr Zambruni said.

To respond to the growing cholera threat, WHO is launching a 12-month Strategic Preparedness, Response and Readiness Plan, requiring $160 million, alongside UNICEF’s Call to Action for $480 million.

The combined cholera response plan will cover 40 countries in acute crisis. It will include coordination, infection surveillance and prevention, vaccination, treatment, and water, sanitation and hygiene. People's Gazzette

Incoming East African Community Regional Force Commander Maj-Gen Alphaxard Muthuri Kiugu. PHOTO | COURTESY

Kenya’s new commander of the East African Community Regional Force (EACRF) Maj-Gen Alphaxard Muthuri Kiugu has taken up his role in Goma, providing some certainty to the mission whose initial head was redeployed.

His entry had to follow Kinshasa’s blessings and is set to kick off the second phase of the force’s mandate that was verbally renewed till June after delays by Kinshasa which had accused EACRF of having not achieved much to end the fighting in the region.

Last month, Maj-Gen Jeff Nyagah left his role as commander of EACRF in the wake of tensions with Kinshasa. This week, Nairobi directly assured Kinshasa of commitment to end long-term conflict in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

But Maj-Gen Kiugu will have a full plate, foremost of which includes the uncertainty on how long the troops will stay in the DR Congo.

The regional force’s mandate expired in March and has not been renewed formally owing to Kinshasa’s criticism over EACRF's mandate and alleged‘cohabitation’ with the M23 rebel group. By MARY WAMBUI, The East African

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