Kitui governor Julius Malombe was on Thursday sworn into office at the Ithookwe showground during a ceremony that was witnessed by a mammoth crowd.
After taking the oath of office as Kitui governor for the second time, Malombe alleged that the county had been on a downward trajectory since he left office.
He was sworn to office by Machakos High Court Judge, Justice George Odunga.
Malombe pledged a consultative, participatory and inclusive approach to handling the affairs of the county.
In 2017, he failed to clinch his seat and was ousted by the now outgoing governor Charity Ngilu.
In this year’s polls, Malombe won back the seat even as the outgoing governor withdrew from the race.
Malombe said he was alive to the fact the expectations of the citizens of Kitui in his leadership were exceedingly high considering the extent to which service delivery had deteriorated over the last five years.
“Nonetheless we have no choice but to join hands and tackle the issues head-on. There is no room for retreat surrender or quitting. In this regard I request you indulge and join me in prioritization and focus on key developmental aspects in the next 100 days,” said Malombe.
He thanked the Kitui people for showing confidence in his leadership when he was the pioneer governor and giving him a second chance this time round.
Malombe also thanked Wiper leaders Kalonzo Musyoka and Azimio One Kenya presidential candidates for publicly endorsing his candidature ahead of the August 9 polls.
He said the overwhelming public display of admiration the people of Kitui had shown for him was a clear indication that they appreciated the hard work he would put in "reclaiming, restoring" and transforming Kitui County. - MUSEMBI NZENGU, The Star
A collage image of Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga touring the ONQ offices on August 4, 2022. FACEBOOK COUNTY GOVERNMENT OF NYERI
US medical billing firm, ONQ has hired 200 youth to operate its calling center based in Nyeri County that will offer services to Americans.
During the unveiling of the centre in Nyeri town on Thursday, August 4, ONQ Kenyan Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Sean Hammerle, stated that the youth had been trained in the US medical sector and would provide support to patients using the platform.
He revealed that the 200 youth would be tasked with responding to billing and insurance queries raised by the callers.
ONQ Kenya CEO Sean Hammerle together Nyeri Governor Mutahi at their call center on August 4, 2022.
DAILY NATION
"Our agents are knowledgeable in the processes of US medical billing and automation. Furthermore, ONQ employees gain exposure to working in a global company.
“With a source of livelihood and stable income, the Nyeri ONQ agents can reach their professional and personal goals. ONQ has become a safety net for educated youth to secure long-term career opportunities for personal growth," he stated.
Hammerle explained that the company decided to set shop in Nyeri because a majority of the youth in the area were educated hence easy to understand what the work entailed.
The CEO added the call center would help expose solve employment in the country. He estimated that 300 more youth would be employed before the year ends as they expand the call center.
“In establishing the ONQ office in any place in the world, one of the company’s greatest considerations is the impact it will make on the youth in that particular area. This explains why the company avoids setting shop in major cities but instead chooses rural towns where the impact of youth employment and skills transfer will be felt most.”
“We did not have the idea of expanding our base beyond the US and India until the global pandemic hit. We got the idea of diversifying our workforce so as to protect our clients globally. I realised that working in Nyeri was easier because there are a majority of highly educated youths,” Hammerle stated.
On his part, Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga stated that the investment of the US firm would help in opening the county to other investment opportunities.
The company also has other offices in the US, India and Panama with similar services offered in the three countries.
"By partnering with ONQ, physicians, billing companies, hospitals and payors can capitalize on billing expertise, take control of their revenue cycle, maximize reimbursements, and enjoy complete transparency of their business operations," ONG states on their website.
An image of a call operator at the ONQ offices in Nyeri. FACEBOOK COUNTY GOVERNMENT OF NYERI
Commonwealth leaders have officially adopted the Living Lands Charter, which commits all 54 member countries to safeguarding global land resources while taking coordinated action on climate change, biodiversity loss and sustainable land management.
The non-binding agreement was announced today at the conclusion of the 2022 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, along with the final communiqué. It is the culmination of nearly two years of intense consultation, engagement and negotiation with member countries, United Nations Rio Conventions, and other relevant stakeholders.
Applauding the initiative, the Commonwealth Secretary-General, the Rt Hon Patricia Scotland QC, said:
“The Living Lands Charter: A Commonwealth Call to Action on Living Lands (CALL) is a testament to our commitment to the people of the Commonwealth, and to the Commonwealth principles of transparency, consensus, and common action.
“It helps to encapsulate our combined effort to hold the global average temperature increase to 1.5°C. It seeks to catalyse the global political momentum for enhancing climate action, building resilience, reducing biodiversity loss, and arresting land degradation.
“Our Call to Action on Living Lands seeks to propel sustainable land management by supporting the 54 Commonwealth member countries to prevent biodiversity loss and desertification while reducing emissions, enhancing resilience and promoting sustainable development.”
The Living Lands Charter recognises that the vulnerabilities of our ecosystems to land degradation, biodiversity loss and climate change are closely interrelated and need to be considered collectively.
It seeks to strengthen synergies and coordinated action at national, regional and global levels, of relevant actions under the three Rio Conventions — namely, the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD); the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The Secretariats for the three Rio Conventions have expressed their full support for the Charter.
Heads recognised the need of taking a principled approach to the Living Lands Charter and active cooperation with a range of partners to share knowledge, expertise, success stories, and good practices in sustainable land management, while incentivising investment flows and technological innovation.
They also underlined the critical guardianship provided by Indigenous peoples and local communities in protecting land and vital ecosystem services, and recognised the land and resource rights of these communities, in accordance with national law and international instruments.
All countries agreed to voluntarily dedicate a ‘Living Land’ in their respective country to the future generations, in line with the Strategy set for the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
An implementation plan for the Charter will be developed and presented to members.
Climate change decisions
The Living Lands Charter was released alongside a final wide-ranging communiqué by leaders, including on specific items on climate change.
In the communiqué, heads underscored that the “urgent threat of climate change” exacerbates existing vulnerabilities and presents a significant threat to COVID-19 recovery efforts. Developing countries, least developed countries and small island developing states were particularly at risk of their development gains being reversed.
Heads renewed their commitment under the Paris Agreement to keep the rise in global average temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius, also reflecting the Glasgow Climate Pact.
Leaders recognised that this requires “rapid, deep and sustained reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions”, including reducing global carbon dioxide emissions by 45 per cent by 2030 relative to the 2010 level and to net-zero around mid-century, as well as deep reductions in other greenhouse gasses.
They further recognised that enhanced support for developing country parties will allow for higher ambition in their actions.
Climate finance
Leaders deeply regretted that the goal of developed country parties to jointly mobilise US$100 billion per year by 2020 had not yet been met. They called on developed countries to fully deliver on the US$100 billion goal urgently and through to 2025 and emphasised the importance of transparency in the implementation of their pledges.
They welcomed the increased pledges made to date, including through the ‘Climate Finance Delivery Plan: Meeting the US$100 Billion Goal’.
Heads recognised the role of the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub in assisting developing country members with human and institutional capacity to mobilise climate finance for enhanced climate action, including through the development of bankable projects and robust climate policies, amongst other support.
Countries looked forward to working together with the global community to ensure true progress is made on climate action on the road to the UN Climate Change Conference COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh.By Tricia Ishimwe, Tower Post
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