The elevation of Kitengela town in Kajiado County into a municipality has been received positively by locals.

They say the move to transform the town that has a population of 230,000 people is a milestone for a town believed to be the fastest-growing town in East Africa.

During the launching ceremony and unveiling of its board, Kajiado Governor Joseph Ole Lenku outlined some of the benefits that will come hand in hand with the municipality status of the town. 

"By successfully pursuing a charter for the municipality and unveiling its board, the first journey is over. The second one which entails how to use the municipality status to transform the lives of our people leaving here has kicked off," said the county boss who is seeking his second term in office.

Joseph Munyua, a resident of Kitengela, says the elevation was long overdue, expressing hope that the move will help the area grow in matters of development.

"Land is available here, many workers in Nairobi seek accommodation here, construction materials for building houses are not far. The Nairobi National Park is just next to us, Kajiado supplies Nairobi with 30 per cent of meat needs as it’s a livestock county. Therefore, the elevation of our town to a municipality will uplift the lives of the residents in a big way," said Munyua

Further, the governor said feeder roads leading to the new SGR station shall be upgraded to ease movement to the station and encourage the use of the transport hub as an alternative means of transport.

"Our county has seen the fruits of robust collaborations and partnerships with national and international donor agencies. The municipality will be enlisted immediately with relevant state departments, agencies such as the Kenya Urban Roads Authority, and initiatives such as the world bank -funded Kenya Urban Support Programme," said Lenku. 

Lenku promised to partner with the county's neighbours, such as Machakos, to design and implement a train-city road network between Athi River and Kitengela to encourage and facilitate more residents to commute to the capital city by rail.

"To enhance good governance, transparency and quick services delivery, all operations within Kitengela municipality such as financial transactions shall be fully automated. Our partners in service provisions including transport will be encouraged to adopt a similar strategy to compliment county efforts," stated the county boss.

He said the partnership will also be extended to cities around the world that share the same philosophy for exchange programmes. 

"I, therefore, welcome all investors, and national and international agencies to tap into the potential of this fast-growing town. I promise them I will offer the most competitive incentives to set shop here," said Lenku.  By Peterson Githaiga, The Standard 

As part of the national plan to eliminate Viral Hepatitis C (HCV), Rwanda has so far screened 7 million people, including children and adults, and treated close to 60,000 people, according to Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC).

Dr. Janvier Serumondo, the Director of Sexually Transmitted Infections and Viral Hepatitis Unit at RBC, says that although they have reached their target in screening and treatment, there are still some other indicators that need to be addressed.

The country targeted to eliminate hepatitis C by 2024, but an estimated 4 per cent of the population in Rwanda still lives with the virus while the prevalence of hepatitis B virus is at 2 per cent, data from RBC shows. 

As the world observes World Hepatitis Day today, July 28, Rwanda recognises achieved targets, but also looks forward to strengthening efforts in order to eliminate the virus.

The global theme for this year is 'Bringing hepatitis care closer to communities,' while the national theme is; "Rwanda Cares: The Last Mile Towards Hepatitis Elimination."

There are so many indicators for hepatitis C elimination, screening, and treatment-related indicators are part of them, Serumondo says, adding that, "We reached screening and treatment targets but there are other indicators such as incidence and mortality which we are still working on."

Way forward

Rwanda was recently named by Abbott, a global healthcare leader, as one of the countries in Africa which are progressing well in eliminating the hepatitis virus in the population. It is the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to have reached its last mile in eliminating the virus. 

The forward plan is to screen the remaining numbers and treatment of confirmed cases, preparation for WHO HCV elimination validation, strengthening of preventive interventions for Viral Hepatitis B (HBV), and increasing efforts toward HBV elimination, according to RBC.

Emmanuel Niyonsenga, a public health officer at the Rwanda Pharmaceutical Students Association (RPSA), says that although there has been significant progress, more effort is still needed in completely eliminating the virus.

"There are still some challenges, especially with awareness where few people have no idea why they should be screened and prevent hepatitis. We still need to put efforts in reaching people in lower communities to educate them on why they need screenings and vaccines, and why prevention is key," he says.  

Throughout the years, Rwanda has made significant progress in implementing HCV control measures; including early screening of blood supply, training and enforcement of safe injection practices, the establishment of a Hepatitis program in 2011, and the publication of the first Viral Hepatitis National Guidelines in 2013.

It was in 2018 that Rwanda committed to a challenge of eliminating hepatitis C by 2024.

Initiatives such as raising community awareness, ensuring affordability of screening and treatment, and solidarity with international partners, has facilitated a lot in terms of being on track to achieving set targets.

The estimated prevalence of chronic HCV and HBV has since dropped from 4 per cent and more than 3 per cent in 2015 to less than 0.39 per cent and 0.35 per cent respectively in 2022.  By Inès Rutayisire Umurerwa, New Times

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir is in Kampala to meet Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni and attend a regional Inter-Ministerial Conference on Migration and Climate change.

A three-day conference of Heads of State and Ministers from the East and Horn of Africa concludes in Kampala on Friday. The conference seeks to raise awareness about the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation on human mobility.

“On the sideline of the meetings, there would be a meeting with H.E President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of Uganda to discuss the roadmap on the revitalized peace agreement,” President Kiir’s press secretary, Ateny Wek Ateny, told reporters in Juba on Thursday.

“It is worth mentioning that the revitalized peace agreement is about seven months to run out without any ability by the parties to go for elections,” Ateny added.

South Sudan President Salva Kiir recently formed a four-member committee that was tasked to draw a roadmap that will guide the country towards the end of the transitional period and pave way for the conduct of general elections.

According to Article 1.20.5 of the peace agreement, there shall be general elections in South Sudan 60 days prior to the end of the transitional period.

The peace agreement encourages the parties to hold general elections before February 2023. But the provisions of the deal remain largely unimplemented.

Sudan's foreign affairs minister Ali al-Sadiq announced Wednesday that the parties to the peace agreement agreed to extend the transitional coalition government period.

Uganda and Sudan are the guarantors of the September 2018 peace agreement. - Radio Tamazuj

Rigathi Gachagua Loses K Sh 202m to State, Court Says Its Proceeds of Corruption Source: UGC

The Kenya Kwanza Alliance presidential running mate Rigathi Gachagua has been ordered to forfeit KSh 202 million to the government.

In a ruling on Thursday, July 28, High Court judge Esther Maina said the Mathira MP failed to explain how he acquired the wealth from government agencies.

She ruled that the outspoken lawmaker acquired the money from government agencies without supplying any goods or services thus was proceeds of corruption