Bothered by occasional eviction of indigenous Sengwer community from Embobut Forest in Elgeyo Marakwet County, Ms Mary Komen took a bold step to remedy an unending crisis.
Ms Komen, 45, said evictions by the government had subjugated families, causing the minority group untold suffering.
“In all this crisis, women and girls suffered the most because when houses were burnt down, a majority of them became victims of sexual violence. They had no one to stand up against the injustices meted out to them because men had wandered off,” she reminisces.
“The girls were married off at a tender age after being subjected to the retrogressive female genital mutilation, which was still very rampant in the area. And with no education, they could not be independent and within no time they had babies that would soon be married off even before celebrating their 15th birthday and the vicious circle continued.”
Ms Komen decided to join Defenders’ Coalition to fight for the rights of the people. This was a decade ago. She says the situation has since been changing, with more girls now joining learning institutions.
“We have successfully sued several pedophiles and some have been jailed for over 10 years. Also, there has been a clamour for land rights and the government cannot just evict people without an alternative land for settling the Sengwer community.”
She says society is beginning to appreciate women's leadership, unlike before when they were treated like children, adding that this is a result of heightened human rights activism.
“Women are now being included in various community committees and their voices are heard. No decree is passed without the input of women, especially on land rights. This is a step in the right direction and we shall soldier on to advocate women rights.”
Ms Komen said that through human rights activism, she, together with others, has successfully blocked billions of shillings, which the government had sourced to rehabilitate Embobut Forest.
“The money, partly, was to be used to evict the Sengwer community from their homes, besides subjecting them to more torture like before. We, as a community, have never been against environmental conservation, but when the funds are used to cause human suffering, then we feel aggrieved,” she says.
The mother of seven states that to keep abreast of her activism work, she had to undergo training, more specifically in women's and children's rights, including land ownership.
“I have been to Cameroon to learn more about indigenous and marginalised communities still living in forests. I have attended several court cases in Tanzania on indigenous people and land rights and this gave me vast experience in my advocacy. I also attended training in Kenya and we now argue from an informed point of view.”
She has also secured a social protection programme under which 40 people aged 60 and above are given a monthly stipend of Sh5,000. But her work, despite winning the 2020 human rights defender of the year, has been curtailed by inadequate funds, which are sourced through the organisation.
“A lot of advocacy is still needed on gender issues, as well as land rights, but you cannot do much because you access little money. Rural communities need emancipation on various issues; on several occasions, I have been holding radio talk shows to educate the public on issues that affect them.”
Her work has also been curtailed by society, which maligns her because of the advocacy work, sometimes abusing her.
“We have been branded derogatory names, which, sometimes, is spiteful and we have been nicknamed. There have also been threats, especially from suspects, and even when we seek police protection, we are never accorded any,” she says.
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. By Fred Kibor, Daily Nation
Nairobi has been named among the world's 50 greatest places of 2022 in a new ranking by TIME Magazine.
In the ranking, TIME noted that the Expressway was among the major reasons why Nairobi made it to the list due to the advantage it has brought in solving the traffic jam crisis in the east African city.
The publication noted that Nairobi offers a variety of outstanding sites and treats that visitors may enjoy. Moving away from the usual Safari that Kenya is popularly known for, TIME noted that the capital offered art and cultural experiences that newbies would enjoy.
"The brand-new Nairobi Expressway, the $650 million (Ksh76 billion) project, provides a long-overdue reprieve from congestion in the centre of the city, so residents and visitors can access it more easily and quickly than ever before," the magazine noted.
"And although tourists may have previously opted to make a beeline into the bush, today Nairobi is offering visitors plenty of reasons to keep inside the capital. The Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute (NCAI) just celebrated its opening with an exhibit showcasing Nairobian artist Sane Wadu."
The growing food scene in Nairobi was also a key point in the recommendations by TIME. According to the publication, the city holds a variety of cultures and the food scene had grown to accommodate travellers looking to enjoy international cuisine.
"In the food scene, a synthesis of global inspiration is heating up. Cultiva Farm Kenya is an exceptional example, where Ecuadorian restaurateur Ariel Moscardi renders East African ingredients and flavours with South American techniques."
Kenya is among Africa's fastest-growing economies and a number of international start-ups and businesses have planted their roots in Nairobi, this has also expedited the growth of education with companies giving back to the local communities through CSRs.
"In the district of Mukuru, Micato Safaris opened the Harambee Community Centre, providing resources and education to help ensure that the recent economic boom will be felt more equitably," TIME noted.
Nairobi was among the only four other cities in Africa that made it to the TIME magazine ranking. Kigali, South Africa's Franschhoek, known for its wineries, and Zambia's Lower Zambezi National Park were also recommended.
The list was compiled by TIME's international network of correspondents and contributors.
The 50 cities to make the list include classic big-hitters and less-explored spots, but what unites them is that they are "thriving, growing and changing." By
UK government has clarified its stance on funding Kenya's upcoming general election and its interests in the outcome.
Through transcription of the British High Commissioner to Kenya, Jane Marriott's speech posted on Tuesday, July 12, the UK government maintained that it is not participating in any way in the organising and funding of Kenyan polls.
"I want to be very clear, therefore, that the funding and organising of elections is a Kenyan responsibility. Who Kenyans elect is a matter for the people of Kenya. The UK respects Kenya’s sovereignty. We remain neutral and impartial," Marriott explained.
In a meeting with other diplomatic heads and representatives from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Marriott made it clear that the UK is not interested in who wins the polls but in the shared interests between the two nations.
This is in line with a deal that was sealed by President Uhuru Kenyatta and the outgoing UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
"We have a Strategic Partnership, agreed by His Excellency President Kenyatta, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson. It is a five year partnership deliberately designed to span Kenya’s elections this year and the UK’s Parliamentary elections, due before 2025. Because the mutual interests of our two countries is greater than whoever is in power, in either place," a statement from UK government read in part.
"Our fundamental interest is that Kenya becomes ever more stable and prosperous, and continues to be a leading democracy, setting standards across the region. We have enjoyed standing shoulder to shoulder on the world stage with Kenya – on climate change, on education, at the United Nations Security Council. And we want that modern friendship and partnership, based on mutual respect, to continue," Marriott added.
In a message to all candidates, IEBC led by its chairperson Wafula Chebukati and other election stakeholders, UK reiterated the need for Kenya to hold free, fair, credible and peaceful elections.
"As a friend of Kenya, the UK government calls on all present across all six types of election – and those whom they represent – to do their part in contributing to free, fair, credible and peaceful elections, before, during, and after the 9th August elections. We call on all candidates and political contestants to promote peace and unity, and not division or conflict."
Other than the UK, European Union also announced its willingness to ensure a smooth transition. EU deployed election observers as part of their efforts in ensuring credibility in the polls.
Responding to UK's sentiments, Chebukati assured the international community that the commission is ready to deliver credible polls.
Kenyan-born scientist Catherine Kibirige joined the class of global geniuses after she made a breakthrough with her new invention to revolutionise the testing of HIV virus.
Her interest to pursue the field was shaped by her childhood experience following the late 20th-century break out of HIV infections in her native Uganda and parts of the Republic of Kenya.
After her father moved them to the UK, Kibirige developed an interest in pursuing science-based subjects and returned to Uganda as a volunteer where her interest in developing a better HIV testing kit was pricked.
She noticed that the widely used kit, majorly in African countries, was unable to detect some strains of the disease that devastated the East African nations in the 1990s and in the aughts.
Two years after her volunteer period, she earned a scholarship to the United States where she concentrated on developing a new testing kit, known as an assay in medical circles.
The then assay, which is a lab test used to find and measure the amount of a specific substance, could not easily detect emergent variants of the virus.
“I was working in a technology assessment laboratory and my supervisor had been involved in developing viral load tests and other kinds of tests for HIV…and was involved in helping the different companies test out new versions of the assays and making sure that they covered all the different strains.
"The military, having troops deployed all around the world, had a very diverse repository [of HIV strains], so they were able to provide all sorts of different strains for companies to kind of test and upgrade their assays," Kibirige stated in an interview with HIV Plus Magazine.
She hit the lab and emerged with a better assay capable of detecting a wide array of HIV strains but she is concerned with making the kit financially affordable - especially in African nations.
Throughout her childhood, Kibirige lived through the devastating effects of the epidemic, coupled with a civil war in her native Uganda that forced her parents to flee to Kenya - where she was later born.
She noted that her family, which was based in Kenya, lost a number of relatives.
“The first cases of HIV were actually recorded or reported in Uganda, in a town called Rakhi — tents near the border with Tanzania and it really devastated our country because we’d just come through a series of civil wars. And actually, I think they trace the way the virus spread to some troops that had come in to help depose one of the dictators, so the route it followed into the country was associated with that.
“It was very, very devastating…. We ended up losing a lot of people, even within the Uganda community in Kenya, so it really did affect me…(we) lost close cousins, relatives and science being my strongest subject…it just piqued my interest," she remarked.
Police fired used teargas and live bullets to disperse motorcyclists who had staged protests in Jinja over the skyrocketing fuel prices.
The motorcyclists staged protests within different trading centres along the Jinja-Kamuli highway, where they placed and lit logs and old car tyres in the middle of the roads. The protests were largely held in the trading centers of Mafubira, Namulesa, Wakitaka, Nakabango, Nsuube, Muguluka and Buwenge.
The protestors also attacked their colleagues who had failed to join the protest forcing a number of them to abandon the main road for feeder roads. They also pelted stones at police officers who had been called in to quell the protests.
Fuel prices have skyrocketed in recent months hitting a record high Shs 6,300 for a litre of petrol and Shs 6,200 for a litre of diesel at pump stations in major towns across the country. This is almost double, the cost of the same fuel product over the last one year.
Alimansi Mugerwa, a motorcyclist operating in the area faults legislators for failing to address the issue affecting their electorate. Another motorcyclist Joseph Mukose says that many of them cannot earn enough to support their families with the current cost of fuel.
“The cost of fuel in Uganda is the highest within the East African Community, but with this price discrepancy still, our area MPs have neither come out to educate us on this abnormally, neither do they use the parliamentary platform to agitate for us on the same,” he says.
While addressing journalists on the same, the Kiira regional police spokesperson, James Mubi said that intelligence reports implicate a section of individuals employing motorcyclists to fuel the protest over unknown gains.
Mubi stresses that footage retrieved from their highway CCTV cameras showcases a numberless saloon car, which was making stopovers at different points along the Jinja-Kamuli highway and issuing whistles, vuvuzelas, and old tyres, among other unidentified items to random motorcyclists with the aim of aiding the protest.
"We completely disagree with our brothers who are in the boda boda industry who blocked the road using stones and bricks and some of them were even demanding money from people who are travelling. So as police we had to step in restore sanity. However we're not stopping at that because intelligence indicates that there is a section of people who are fueling all this," said Mubi. - URN/The Observer
Informer East Africa is a UK based diaspora Newspaper. It is a unique platform connecting East Africans at home and abroad through news dissemination. It is a forum to learn together, grow together and get entertained at the same time.
To advertise events or products, get in touch by info [at] informereastafrica [dot] com or call +447957636854.
If you have an issue or a story, get in touch with the editor through editor[at] informereastafrica [dot] com or call +447886544135.
We also accept donations from our supporters. Please click on "donate". Your donations will go along way in supporting the newspaper.
By JULIUS MBALUTO A Kenyan woman named Marianne Kilonzi has been murdered in London. Marianne worked...
The Strategy will apply in 2025–2029 and is worth a total of SEK 1.5 billion. The objective of Swed...
Image by: Nelson Chen A continent so rich in resources and culture can’t be shackled by the chains...
The High Court sitting on January 21 ordered the release of the phones seized from the 23 individual...
