East Africa

Details: East Africa; 07 February 2023; 721

Farmers in the North Rift region have started buying fertilizer at Sh3.500 for a 50kg bag.

Agriculture CS Mithika Linturi confirmed that farmers in Kitale in Trans Nzoia County and Eldoret in Uasin Gishu County have started buying subsidized fertilizer.

The CS said the subsidy is selling at Sh3,500 per 50 kg bag through the e-voucher system but the country is looking into importing cheaper fertiliser from Tanzania.

On Friday, the CS was in Dodoma, Tanzania where he visited the newly established Intracom fertiliser production plant factory which he said could help bring down the cost.

The price of fertiliser had by last year reached a record high of Sh6,500 per bag.

“We are looking for ways to cushion farmers and help bring down the cost of fertiliser to less than Sh3,000 per bag,” said Linturi.

The CS spoke during the launch of phase two of the Kenya Integrated Agriculture Management Information System (KIAMIS) platform.

But some farmers in Uasin Gishu County have started complaining that they are being sold in less quantity than what they had requested.

One farmer who did not want to be mentioned said he had requested 200 bags of fertiliser but was only issued with 17 bags.

According to a senior government official, the assortment of the subsidy fertiliser being sold to farmers contains less of the DAP fertiliser.

This is because the Government is discouraging farmers from using DAP fertiliser as it depletes the soil.

While launching the Kenya Integrated Agriculture Management Information System (KIAMIS) platform, the CS said plans are underway to re-introduce extension services.

Linturi said this will be done through the KIAMIS digital platform which will enable the Government to organize and put data together, and then use the data to implement various farmer support services.

He said in order to facilitate the use of data and digitization of various services in the agricultural sector, the Ministry has partnered with FAO to design and implement the Kenya Integrated Agriculture Management Information System (KIAMIS).

This will be done through a grant of nearly Sh650 million from the Swedish Government.

“Once completed, the KIAMIS components will enable us to do other things including Farmers Credit Management scheme, food security data collection and data sharing, e-extension services, and expanded mechanization among others,” said the CS.

Linturi noted that the biggest challenge we face in implementing government subsidies and other farmers’ support programmes is the lack of a complete register of genuine farmers.

He said there have been attempts to register farmers through various government programmes and Counties' efforts.

“But recently, when the government wanted to launch the new national fertilizer subsidy programme, we had a list of only 1.3 million validated farmers available, in a country with 6.4 million farmers,” said Linturi.

The CS said in order to address this challenge, the government recently launched a rapid national farmers’ registration through the National Government Administration (Chiefs, Assistant Chiefs and village elders).

This effort has led to the registration of 4.2 million farmers.

“But, while this rapid registration is helping us to fast-track the implementation of the new national fertilizer subsidy this year, the established list of farmers is not complete since it covers only crop farmers. Furthermore, the rapid nature of this registration and use of village elders to identify the farmers and validate the existing farms is bound to have some gaps,” he said.

Linturi said he is looking forward to seeing this Ministry using the KIAMIS platform to digitize these farmer support services and also to ensure the collection and sharing of data and statistics to support decision and policy making.

“The Swedish Government has given a Sh650 million grant to the UN-Food and Agriculture Organisation to assist the ministry of agriculture with technical support to implement the platform,” said Caroline Vicini, Swedish Ambassador to Kenya.

The KIAMIS work started in 2019 with the design and piloting of a harmonized, national farmers’ registration system.

The registration system has been tested and the Ministry has used it to register farmers in Nyandarua and Uasin Gishu and implement the fertilizer subsidy on a pilot basis. -AGATHA NGOTHO, The Star

Details: East Africa; 06 February 2023; 796

The Kenyatta National Hospital on Sunday successfully separated a set of four-month-old conjoined twin brothers from Bungoma County.

Speaking to the media on Monday, the hospital's consultant pediatric surgeon Dr Joel Lesann said the babies were joined at the chest and abdomen.

This meant that they required assistance to breath.

"They were sharing one liver and in the chest, although each had a heart, they were enclosed in one chamber," he said.

"One of the twins had multiple nodes in the heart and the other had large, abnormal blood vessels emerging from the heart."

Lesann explained that the joining in the abdomen meant that the boys shared both muscles and skin.

"Further analysis by the cardiology team showed that one of the kids have pulmonary hypertension, in other words, a lot of blood was flowing through their lungs," he added.

He said they were however able to manage the blood pressure, adding that the condition meant they expedited surgery.

Lesann added that due to the nature of the joining, the babies were admitted to the High Dependency Unit upon arrival.

He said the procedure for such cases includes examining the patients and carrying out thorough investigations to understand how they were co-joined.

This helps the surgeons and paediatrics set up a separation chart.

"When the kids arrived here first, they were received by our neonatology unit, who had to stabilise and take care of the babies before the investigation commenced," he said.

The surgeon said the investigation showed that they needed help to breathe, leading to their admission to the HDU. By Sharon Mwende, The Star

Details: East Africa; 06 February 2023; 861

By Nangayi Guyson
Kampala-The Ugandan government said on January 4, 2023, the east African nation will start producing crude oil from its oil fields starting 2025.

President Yoweri Museveni said this while launching the commencement of well drilling activities at the Kingfisher oil fields in western Uganda.

The Kingfisher Project, according to the president, shows that "Africa is more in control of its own destiny and does not rely on other countries to advance its economic development."

Drilling of the over 400 wells needed to develop and exploit the oil resource in the Lake Albert Rift Basin began on this day. There will be 31 of these in the Kingfisher oil field, with the deepest well measuring 7.4 kilometers.

There are thought to be 560 million barrels of oil in the field overall, of which 190 million barrels (or 33%) are anticipated to be produced over the course of 20–25 years.

For the following three to four years of development, drilling will take place.
Along with the construction of other infrastructure, this will be carried out.

The oil will be transported from Chongoleani, Tanga in Tanzania to Kabaale, Hoima in Uganda via the EACOP pipeline, which is currently being completed.

The Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU) ED Ernest Rubondo congratulated CNOOC International, one of the country's largest oil and gas companies, as well as joint venture partners Total EnergiesUG (Total) and Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC), for reaching the milestone on the road to the country's first oil production.

Less than a year following the announcement of FID, the business is currently starting the drilling of production wells, according to Rubondo.

"Your Excellency, the drilling rig you just turned on will be used to drill all 31 production wells that this oil field has planned. While 11 of these wells will be used to inject water into the reservoir to aid increase production, 20 of these wells will be used to generate oil, according to Rubondo.

The brand-new, cutting-edge apparatus was created especially for this field.
With over 8000 horsepower and using 6 megawatts of power, it is the strongest device now in use in the nation.

Throughout the next three years, up until just before production begins, and up to US$1.63 billion over the remaining 20 years of the oil field's life, investments in development of the Kingfisher oilfield are anticipated to total over US$ 2 billion.

The Kingfisher project received US$ 346 million in investment in 2022, increasing the project's total cumulative investment to US$ 1.07 billion.
In 2023, KFDA is anticipated to receive investments totaling $580 million.

At the present price of oil, which is around $87.5 per barrel, the Kingfisher project will contribute around 15% of the government's overall upstream oil earnings, or $6.9 billion in total and $360 million annually.

The Kingfisher oil field is located about 2 km below Lake Albert and is roughly 15 km long and 3 km broad.

For the first five years, the oil field is predicted to produce a maximum of 40,000 barrels per day before production starts to fall.

Development wells, water injection wells, and production wells are a few of the wells that are being launched.
Before the start of first oil production in 2025, eight wells are anticipated to be drilled. The remaining wells will be drilled as production moves forward.

Well drilling aids in gathering more information and testing reservoirs for optimal and efficient output.

According to Martin Tiffen, MD of EACOP Ltd., "this is a significant milestone and an essential step forward for EACOP as it symbolizes progress towards the beginning of our construction activities and the ensuing delivery of first oil in Uganda."

Martin Tiffen remarked, "We are grateful to for the speedy delivery of the license in accordance with the Host Government Agreement's (HGA) pledge and for the ongoing support for the seamless implementation of EACOP activities."

There is enthusiasm among some Ugandans following the commissioning of the drilling rig for the Kingfisher Development Project (KDF). Some believe that oil production should start soon. Some have questioned why CNOOC will start drilling when the refinery intended to refine crude oil from the King Fisher and Tilenga projects has not yet started construction.

Similarly, when the East African Petroleum Oil Pipeline, which was supposed to export crude to the global market, has not started operating. Others have questioned what will happen to the crude oil if the pipeline and refinery, the two commercialization projects, are not built.

According to Executive Director of the Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU) Rubondo, drilling of the production wells must be done in advance in order to generate the quantities anticipated from the Kingfisher and Tilenga projects.
To produce those volumes, several wells must be in operation.
Therefore, you must begin drilling these wells right away.

In order to start having production from the various wells when the day of production arrives. So, in accordance with Rubondo, the drilling that has been authorized is for the Kingfisher field's initial oil production well.

The CNOOC investment in Uganda's oil reserves, according to Chinese Ambassador to Uganda Zhang Lizhong, is China's largest investment in Uganda.
Zhang expressed confidence that the investment will improve Ugandans' quality of life.

The firm is dedicated to making sure that skills, knowledge, and technology are transferred to Ugandans, according to Chen Zhuobiao, president of CNOOC Uganda.
According to Chen, the corporation would, among other things, award contracts to local businesses to ensure that the local population gains from the oil.

He reaffirmed that the CNOOC would uphold strict environmental protection requirements going forward.

The Kingfisher Oil Development area in the Kikuube district will have its oil waste managed by the Uganda People's Defence Forces through the National Enterprise Corporation.

END

Details: East Africa; 06 February 2023; 762

TEHRAN (FNA)- Officers with prior convictions and close links with criminals are among hundreds who have joined the police in the last three years who should not have been allowed in, according to the head of the police watchdog.

HM inspector of constabulary Matt Parr also said that there was a real problem with misogyny within the police that had to be tackled, adding that most, if not all, serving female police officers had had to endure sexual assault and inappropriate behaviour from fellow officers, The Guardian reported.

“The culture of misogyny within policing is something that is there, it’s real and it has absolutely got to be dealt with,” he said.

Parr said a review of hiring practices carried out by his team had uncovered dishonesty on applications for serving officers and “red flags” that had not been declared.

Parr said his team had looked at a random sample of officers and found that one in 10 should never had made it through vetting.

That “adds up to hundreds of people who have joined the police in the last three years that we don’t think should have”, he said.

Speaking to Sophie Ridge on Sky News on Sunday, he said it wasn’t fair that anyone with any “blemish” on their record was barred from policing, but there were not sufficient measures in place to monitor individuals who posed some risk.

“This is systemic across policing,” he said, adding, “We’re always challenging the police as to what their priorities are, but I think the whole idea of just how important it is for policing that the wrong people don’t get in and the wrong people don’t stay in has not quite been recognised as being as important as it is.”

Parr said public trust in the police, and particularly the Metropolitan police, was “at a low ebb” after violent crimes committed against women by serving officers such as Wayne Couzens and David Carrick, who last month admitted 49 criminal charges including 24 counts of rape.

“In the past I’ve described [the Met] as complacent, arrogant, defensive, and I think there has been a reluctance to accept the scale of the problems,” he said, adding, “It’s basic standards sometimes and it’s a culture across the Met, and perhaps wider policing as well, that isn’t where it ought to be.”

After Carrick’s prosecution last month, the Home Office ordered a review of police disciplinary processes to ensure officers who “are not fit to serve the public” and “fall short of the high standards expected” can be sacked. Vetting procedures are also to be strengthened and all officers checked against national police databases.

Parr said the new Met commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, and his leadership team had “smelt the coffee” and “understand that they can’t any longer write this off as a few bad apples”.

“They’ve got a long way to go, however,” he said, adding, “This is not something you’re going to turn around overnight, there are 42,000 people in the Met. And what they’ve got to get to is every one of those people behaving at all times in a way that the public has a right to expect.” FNA

Details: East Africa; 05 February 2023; 614

Wiper Party Leader Kalonzo Musyoka addressing Kenyans during a past event. TWITTER KALONZO MUSYOKA

Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka cautioned former President Uhuru Kenyatta of accepting scaled-down security from the government.

Kalonzo made those remarks while attending the Azimio rally at Kamukunji Grounds in Kibera, Nairobi on Sunday, February 5.

Giving out his reasons, Kalonzo revealed the loyalty of the new officers could not be ascertained.

Former President Uhuru Kenyatta alongside his security detail at a past event in 2020. PSCU

“The government is saying that they have scaled down Uhuru’s security, they are even exaggerating the number of police officers assigned to the former president.

“When Raila and I were out of government, I got my own private security and I urge the former president to do the same,” he told a charged ground.

The former Vice President remarked that it is not easy to trust a driver or bodyguard you have not vetted.

“You cannot wake up one day and be given a new driver whom you know nothing about, Uhuru should be careful,” the former Vice President opined.

On February 3, Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome addressed the issue of scaling down the security detail of Uhuru and former cabinet secretaries.

The Inspector General assured Kenyans that there was no cause for alarm as the restructuring process was a routine National Police Service (NPS) exercise.

"Once the president has retired, the commander is a superintendent of police.

"An officer who was of the rank of an assistant Inspector General was with the retired president making him be reporting to another assistant Inspector General," Inspector General Koome explained what necessitated the changes.

Uhuru is entitled to a lifetime of security, having served as the country’s fourth president from 2013 to 2022.

According to the Presidential Retirement Act of 2003, former heads of state are entitled to a maximum of six officers to provide them with round-the-clock security.

Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome FILE