Category Archives: Water

Out of Control : Mining, Regulatory Failure, and Human Rights in India

From: Yona Maro

This 70-page report finds that deep-rooted shortcomings in the design and implementation of key policies have effectively left mine operators to supervise themselves. This has fueled pervasive lawlessness in India’s scandal-ridden mining industry and threatens serious harm to mining-affected communities. Human Rights Watch documented allegations that irresponsible mining operations have damaged the health, water, environment, and livelihoods of these communities.
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ISBN: 1-56432-898-8
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Out of Control
Summary

Key Recommendations

Methodology

I. Background: “Illegal Mining” in India
II. Goa Case Study: Regulatory Collapse and its Consequences
III. Regulatory Collapse in India’s Mining Sector
IV. Karnataka Case Study: Criminality and Mining
V. Mining and Human Rights: Government’s Duty to Regulate
VI. A Nationwide Problem
VII. Reining in the Abuse: Practical Steps Forward for India’s Government
Acknowledgments

Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world. We stand with victims and activists to prevent discrimination, to uphold political freedom, to protect people from inhumane conduct in wartime, and to bring offenders to justice. We investigate and expose human rights violations and hold abusers accountable.

We challenge governments and those who hold power to end abusive practices and respect international human rights law. We enlist the public and the international community to support the cause of human rights for all.

. . .

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Karibu Jukwaa la www.mwanabidii.com
Pata nafasi mpya za Kazi www.kazibongo.blogspot.com
Blogu ya Habari na Picha www.patahabari.blogspot.com

EAC is seeking the better way of funding its institutions independently

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Writes Leo Odera Omolo.

INFORMATION EMERGING FROM THE East African Community’s secretariat in Arusha says that the Secretary General Richard Sezibera is pushing forward for merger of the budget for all institutions attached to the EAC to help improve their funding.

Somme semi autonomous institutions like the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization {LNVFO} and The Inter-University Council of East Africa{IUCEA] have been operating below budget due to a funding gap after partner states failed to meet their quotas for the financial year that ends this June.

Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda, which make up LVFO, have paid 27.6 per cent of the expected USD 837,258.33 while partner states have paid less than 40 per cent of the USD 800,000 they are supposed to pay to IUCEA.

The budgets of the two institutions will be merged with that of the EAC for the first time in the 2012 / 2013 financial year, but partner states will still pay their quotas to thee institutions independently.

Dr Sezibera who was on a visit to Uganda last week to inspect the projects of the Lake Victoria Basin Commission {LVBC} and LVFO however, said in future, the secretariat will have the powers to compel partner states to pay their quotas to all institutions of the EAC on time.”If the money is coming directly from the ministries of education and agriculture into the EAC, we have more leverage,”said Dr Sezibera during a brief address to newsmen at the end of his Ugandan tour.

The secretariat via instruction from the Council to the Summit, will force defaulting member countries to pay up, with help from their presidents.

The EAC secretariat is also seeking to strengthen IUCEA, which received the mandate of the in February to accredit universities in the region through the Inter University Council of East Africa Amendment Bill 2010.

The Secretary-General is also looking at increasing the mandate of the LVFO to cover all the waters of East Africa and for the region to have full control of the fish resources.

Expected Rwanda, Burundi membership.This process will start with the admission of Rwanda and Burundi into LVFO in July this year.

The coming financial year will also see EAC turn LVFO into an East African Fisheries Organization EALFO using a protocol or an East African Legislative Assembly Bill. The EALVFO will help seal loopholes in over-fishing which are exacerbated by having different administration units controlling different waters. EALVFO is also expected to improve the region’s capacity to effectively police its waters.

He went on,”As we address the issue of Somalia, the governments of East Africa have to ensure control of their waters,” Dr Sezibera said, adding that Somalia’s problems like piracy are a result of that country’s failure to control its territorial waters.

The EAC Chief Pointed out that illegal fishing of the Somali coast had denied local residents a key source of livelihood.

The Lake Fisheries Organization promotes the sustainable use of the water bodies resources.

Ends

LAND & WATER RESOURCES, MAIN CAUSE FOR FUTURE CONFLICTS.

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From: Abdalah Hamis

The African continent is absorbing the global pressure caused by population surge. The enormous land grab, and food piracy trending in the continent, in which Africa’s farmlands, and water sources, necessary for food production, are rapidly falling in the hands of – land grabbers is quite worrisome and likely re-ignite another ugly chapter of confrontation in human history. Tanzania being a potential victim, it must do all it can to avert this brewing catastrophe from its boarders

Major global conflicts and wars were fought on the pretext of land; Quest for territorial expansionism and influence, need for natural resources, and food sufficiency. From the agrarian period, to the never ending Israeli-Palestinian conflict, land has been at the center stage. Similarly, the challenging internal and cross boarder future conflicts will be land related. The conflicts will be characterized by deadly internal uprising characterized by hungry rural population looking for water and land for farming, turning against investors-land grabbers- or modern day settles if you will, while urban dwellers dying to have food revolting against their regimes

Rich nations with population explosion are buying huge tracts of the continents arable farmland, to meet their domestic food needs and security. Many wealthy nations, with no arable land, are exploiting the cracks of greed and corruption within the African regimes, to address the pressing food needs within their countries, leaving Africa in a potentially explosive situation.

World largest commodity producers have sensed the dangers ahead, and since then have been imposing restrictions on their domestic staple food exports in order to maintain economic, and food related security, leaving the global market with huge supply deficit. This new trend is posing a greater threat, particularly for Africa, whose farmland is becoming an alternative for wealthy countries with huge populations to bank on in terms of their future food sustainability and security

South Korea, China, Japan, India, Britain, UAE, and Saudi Arabia are leading the pack in land grabbing spree. The Saudis have signed a deal for 500,000 hectares of land in Tanzania. South Korea has grabbed 960,000 hectares in Sudan, and 1.3 million hectares in Madagascar. These neo-colonialists are in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Congo, Mozambique, and Zambia just to name a few

The most troubling reality behind these neo-colonialists, is that, all of the food produced in these farms, are not for host country domestic consumption; they are however, being shipped back to their home countries to feed their populations. According to London’s Financial Times, Madagascar’s former regime leased their land to the South Korea’s DAEWOO company for 99 years, and all the harvests during the period, was to be shipped back to feed South Koreans.

The company paid nothing for the land, and the only promise to the government was the improvement of the country’s infrastructure. This is the pattern across the continent in which African leaders have repeatedly inhumanely evicted, razed and burnt their citizens’ dwellings at the expense of these neo- colonialists, food pirates, and land grabbing settlers. Madagascar public was not informed of the land deal, and when the news leaked, the regime’s life came to an abrupt ending; the country’s leadership was toppled by the outraged population.

The following leadership led by Andry Rajoelina, world famous disc Jockey, nullified the contract, declaring Madagascar’s land as neither for sale nor for lease to foreigners. African natives many a times have had no significant gains in these deals, apart from providing slave labor. In a series of African leaders selling their countries, president Museveni In early 2000’s, violently displaced his own people, and gave the land to a German coffee investor leaving his population in extreme poverty and despair.

Millions of people around the continent have been violently driven out of their ancestral lands at the expense of foreign land grabbers, and food pirates. This leaves us to wonder on what’s wrong with us Africans. We can’t think the basics. It is next to impossible for a Tanzania national for instance go to Saudi Arabia, South Korea, India or even China and purchase 300 hectares of land. Land is an extremely sensitive issue in the Middle East and Asia and simply untouchable, yet an African is selling his own land to foreigners to grow bio-fuel, yet he has no food. He is a slave in his own state of mind.

Land is rapidly becoming scarce within the Eastern Africa Bloc of nations. With projection of nearly 70million people by 2025, need for farmland, and water sources in Tanzania will be significant. Strain on these resources will be enormous and challenging, especially at the time they will in the hands of foreigners. We have to realize that, there is no sanity, restraint, or tranquility where there is no food. Hungry people have no morals and can never be rational. This is survival law of nature.

We are likely to face internal lawlessness when people will have to deal with live or die situations due to lack of food. This tragedy will only be averted, if our future food security and sustainability planning takes into account the fact that our LAND and water sources remains off limits for UNREASONABLE foreign lease, acquisition or purchase.

In recent years, Brazil moved to tighten her land ownership laws, in which no foreigner is allowed to purchase land. The same approach should be applied in Tanzania. We cannot allow foreign governments to ease their population pressure by taking advantage of our country to re-settle their land less. Tanzania is nobody’s colony and is not going to be. We are a growing nation, leasing our land for 99 years to foreigners is a political suicide and betrayal to the people of Tanzania. Nationalists in the parliament of Tanzania must rise and confront this issue head on, be it in the East African Federation or Far Eastern friends, Tanzania’s land must be off limits.

Newly nominated members of the East African Legislative Assembly, Honorable Banji, Kizigha, Mwinyi, Taslim, Kesi, Ndelakindo, Kimbisa, Murunya, Nyerere and Yahya, must carry the same mantra to the EAL Assembly. Our land and natural resources, have no expiration date, and MUST remain out of bounds and completely out of the DISCUSSION by foreign entities.

Nyerere’s administration regarded our land its resources so sacred, to an extent of leaving them intact for generations to come. Likewise, our present leadership must do the same as the current generation is in position to develop our land and its resources in very few years to come. We must adopt the Brazilians approach to maintain our future economic independence, and food security, averting land grabbing that is likely to ignite deadly survival conflicts of our times Mungu Ibariki Tanzania

John Mashaka
Mashaka.john@yahoo.com

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Karibu Jukwaa la www.mwanabidii.com
Pata nafasi mpya za Kazi www.kazibongo.blogspot.com

Kenya: Herds of hippos have imposed dawn to dusk curfew on Kisumu villagers after destroying acres of crops

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Writes Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City

HERDS of about 13 full grown up hippo and their two calves have imposed dawn to dusk curfew on in the villages within the outskirt of Kisumu City forcing the residents to stay indoor for day and night.,

The hippos all female under the territorial command of one huge bull estimated to weigh more than five tons have raided a villages in Nyamasaria in Central Kolwa Location forcing the residents to spent most of their day time indoor not to dare outside on fear of possible attack by the huge animals after they killed one bull owned by a local farmer.

The animals have destroyed crops in an area of six miles radius and stay out of the water most of the time.

Kenya Wildlife Services {KWS} officials have said there was a mass movement of the animals from the lake due to floods.

The animals are said to have been wondering around the villages day and night in an area of covering a radius of eight kilometers from the lake after escaping the surging water level.

When this writer visited the area, residents were counting their losses with one farmer by the name Reuben Obunga claiming that the hippos have killed one of his bulls. “This is the bull which is providing my family with the livelihood and I am using the animal to plough my farmers and also for my neighbors on fees.”

Mzee Obunga aged about 54 threatened to mobilize the villagers to attack and kill some of the animals so tat he could sell the meat and replenish his losses unless the KWS drives them back to their designated natural habitat along the lake shore. The animals he added have destroyed his four acres of maize and food crops.

Women and children have now stopped from coming home late from the nearby market places as the animals comes out of the water as early as in the late afternoon around 4 P.M. and chases everyone on their sight.

There are no longer free movement of people in the villages neighboring the lake shores, This I was told have also been curtailed. And even the herdsmen are no longer grazing their animals close to the shore of the lake on ear of being attack by these huge animals.

Civic leader representing Kolwa Central Ward in the Kisumu Municipal Council has appealed to the KWS to come to the escue to the villagers who she said were living in fdear. Coiun.Agnes Nyagol said thee were so many hippos on the loose, and yet no action has been taken to contain them. The amphibian animals which are nocturnal normally coming out of the lake water only after darkness have changed their behaviors to the amazement of the residents,who fear for their lives

“We are prone to attacks because many animals are on the run. An urgent solution to this problem must be found or else next time your will hear of a human casualties,” said the Councilor.

Residents have urged members of parliament to enact the law that would ensu5re that those incurred losses were compensated.

An official from the Kisumu town base of the KWS who visited the area promised that they would try and capture h animals and relocate them somewhere else far from Nyamasaria due to big concentration of human population in the area. He said he roaming bulls probably were edged out of their habitat during battles over territorial turf.

There are usually forced out by the dominant bulls during the mating season and this a bit cumbersome to contain them. The cases are higher during flash floods,” explained Corporal Laban Kiptui of the KWS.

East Africa: Experts predicts that the polluting industrial waste and water hyacinth weeds are killing Lake Victoria

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Reports Leo Odera Omolo

THE discharge of raw waste by manufacturing industries into Lake Victoria will soon kill it, experts have warned.

The Kenya Marine Fisheries Research Institute’s {Kemri} scientists said the quality of the Lake’s water has deteriorated because of pollution, which has caused the extinction of many species of indigenous of aqua inhabitants.

At the same time Marine transport in Lake Victoria has been hampered and paralyzed yet again due to re-emergence of the dreadful water hyacinth weeds,

The concerns comes barely a year after the Lake Victoria riparian states receive over USD 3.2 million {Kshs 266 million} for the cleaning up of the Lake under the second phase of the lake Victoria Environmental Management Program.

The project aims to reducing waste disposal from the lake by over 40 per cent. Kemri scientists have reported that there is little intervention on the control to the Lake, adding that it is a matter of time before it loses resilience to pollution.

A survey carried out in many hitherto popular fish landing beaches along the entire shorelines on the Kenya side of the Lake Victoria established that large vessels were now not able to dock safely at the various piers due to a thick carpet formed by the weed on the surface of the water.

Similarly, the boats were also unable to dock at the shoreline with most fishermen now shying from waterways for transport of goods.

Fishing is of course the mainstay of the economy of the communities living around the lake, employing a large number of youths and school leavers as well as those involve in fish trade.

The dreaded weeds has blocked the navigation not only of ships and steamers, but also the small home made fishing canoes and boats with outboard engines, which are in common use by the fishermen and fish traders.

Kemri’s Director William Ojwang’ was recent quoted as saying that the Lake is currently in a pathetic state and cannot support both Human ad aqua life with most of fish species under the threat of extinction as a result of pollution.

The popular fishing landing places like Dunga in the outskirt of Kisumu City, Karabondi and Kendu-Bay in Rachuoyo South,Kochia, Homa-Bay, Usawo, Malela, Luanda, Mbita, Utajo, Wanyama, Luanda ka-Olunga,Sihenga, Sindo, Nyamanga, Nyandiwa and other paces are blocked by water hyacinth.

The dreadful water hyacinth appeared to have covered the entire length of the shorelines on the Kenyan side of the Lake Victoria covering several administrative districts of Nyatike, Suba South, Suba North, Homa-Bay, Rachuonyo North, Nyakach, Nyando, Kisumu, Seme, Rarieda, Bondo Siaya and Busia.

Ferry operators led by Edward Odero have been wondering as to why the state had failed to contain the weed despite sufficient funds being set aside to manage it.

“We have repeated appealed to the government to find a quick way to eradicate the dangerous weed or else it will, scare away potential investors in the marine industry,” he added.

In the last one year, investment in Lake Victoria has witnessed tremendous growth with several local and foreign investors introduce big ships to accelerate shipment of large consignment.

Most traders prefer water transport, which is relatively much cheaper for delivery of goods with Tanzania and Uganda being the largest users of ships to transfer goods from Kisumu Port to Port Bell {Luzira} in Uganda and the Port of Mwanza and in the northwestern Tanzania.

Traders interviewed claimed it was taking more than three hours for the ships to dock. While ordinarily they are not supposed to take more than 30 minutes, now time has to be spared to clear the surface for the vessels to navigate their way to the shoreline. Kisumu Pier is virtually covered by hyacinth weeds.

On the other hand, fisheries experts say the numbers of fish stock have drastically reduced and very soon, the lake will just be a field of excursion without any benefit to those in the riparian as pollution forces its benefit out.” What we are calling tilapia is not the original tilapia species we know.

The original tilapia species is no longer found in the lake but in private ponds as a result of pollution fro the industries.

“We have suffered a great deal. We have had no camp here for more than day to allow the ship to dock and load our consignments. It is really frustrating, said one local trade Juma Ali in Kisumu.

The Kemri director urged authorities in the region to improve sanitation to contain diseases that afflict the more than 3.5 million people round Lake Victoria.”The lake is being choked by raw waste from the industry and unfortunately the local authorities around the lake have done little to reverse this trend. The lake is soon giving up and studies suggest that very few fish species are left under the water as some have been forced to extinction due to lack of fresh water,”said Ojwang’.

Ends

Why I Support Serengeti Highway Project Implementation

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From: Yona F Maro

We all know that there are so many economic benefits that accrue from a tarmac road, many to enumerate but will just mention a few here, all year round accessibility of the areas it passes through, establishment of new human settlement along the road to take advantage of the economic opportunities that present themselves on the highway, shorter travelling times, safety of the travelling public due to fewer accidents, cost of vehicles maintenance goes down considerably and many other economic multiplier effects. Such investments also reduce the cost of production and promote output and productivity growth, this road will also increase the Lake Victoria’s region industry’s ability to compete nationally. A deeper understanding of the importance of the road network to the economic viability of the Lakes Region is expected of the conservationists and other noise makers.

I personally believe that the road will not have disastrous effects on the entire ecosystem. It is true northern parts of the Serengeti and the neighbouring, Masai Mara in Kenya are critical for the wildebeest and zebra migration during the dry season, as it is the only permanent year-round water source for these herds. But environmental impact assessment report of the research carried out by government indicates that the impact will be minimum.

Campaigners against the project have only tried to dwell on the negative effects which are very minimal, as they always say there are two sides of the coin and therefore the benefits too have to be mentioned. The whole argument about Serengeti highway is shrouded in hypocrisy and the campaigners who are against the project are collecting signatures around the world to oppose the project but they hardly tell the whole story about the highway. Majority of the campaigners against Serengeti highway project have joined the band wagon without an iota of an Idea whether the project will have negative environmental impact on the Serengeti ecosystem or not. The opposition mainly comes from pressure groups and green activists who are concerned about the possible negative environmental impact that the road might cause, but the latest feasibility studies have taken into consideration such matters, even Tanzania National Parks authority that was initially opposed to the project have so far conceded, the impact will be minimal.

For those who are interested in knowing some facts about the road,it is only 40 kms that will pass through the park once the project is complete but currently vehicles going to/from the lake region are passing through Ngorongoro Conservation area and Serengeti National Park. This is a longer route inside conservation areas, at least 200 kms to be precise, so which one is more detrimental to the parks just the 40 kms or 200 kms ? On a positive note to those who are against the project, it means once the tarmac road is complete, large goods trucks and big passengers buses will no longer pass through the middle of Ngorongoro Conservation Area. An alternative route has been recommended, but alternative route is longer and the terrain not good for road construction which means it will be more expensive to implement the project using this route. With scarce resources, the government will be definitely be tempted to go with the less expensive option as anyone else would.

I would like to pose this question to the campaigners who are against this highway. Are they willing to entice the government of Tanzania to opt for the alternative route by contributing a percentage of funds required to construct the highway. If the answer to the above is No, then they should just SHUT UP and let the government take development to its people. To conserve our heritage for the benefit of future generations is our collective responsibility but not at the expense of communities living in far flung areas of the country, they too have a right to enjoy good infrastructure like the rest of the country. Let it be known that some of the opposing forces of this project have personal interests. We really appreciate the concern of the genuine wildlife conservationists and environmental activists but we expect them to be partners in planning; not some fanatical impediments to a balanced development of Tanzania infrastructure. Even with this road SERENGETI SHALL NEVER DIE !

Alpha Mantai is a travel writer and a leading tours & travel consultan based in Arusha.

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Karibu Jukwaa la www.mwanabidii.com
Pata nafasi mpya za Kazi www.kazibongo.blogspot.com

Kenya: heavy rains wreak havoc in many parts of Kenya and left 10,000 people homeless

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Writes Leo Odera Omolo

MORE than 10,000 people have been displaced and 40 killed as heavy rains wreak havoc across the full length and with of the country leaving the trails of deaths.

Property and crops worth millions of shilling have been destroyed, and the government has confirmed that some people were still missing while close to 50 people have been injured in various parts of the country.

In the Nandi Hills region hundred of acres of tea farms have been destroyed by hailstorm. Before the arrival of the long rains, the tea plantations in this particular region had suffered heavy damages inflicted by frost.

By yesterday both small and large scale tea farmers in the Nandi Hills area were still counting their losses, which experts says would runs into million o shillings.

Nandi Hills is one of the regions in Western Kenya where tea is grown in abundance. With close to ten large scale tea plantations and eight green tea leaves processing factories, the region is only second to Kericho and Bomet Counties in tea production.

The chairman of the small scale growers and empowerment project Wilson Tuwei told this writer hat the rain come at a time when farmers are starting to recover from the devastating effect of the frost bite destroyed that destroyed thousands of acres a month ago.

He added that the weather has dealt a major blow to the crop, one of the leading Kenya’s exports. Tea plantations in area like Nandi Hills, Kericho, Bomet and Sotik are threatened.

Heavy rains that re pounding moist parts of the country have caused the river’s water to rise between 2.8 and 3.2 meter raising fear among the residents of the flood prone regions that further swells in the water levels might overwhelm the dikes built by the government as the protective measures.

Four Kenyans have died as the result of lightning striking their homes during the late afternoon heavy downpour, while several rivers have burst their banks and flooded large areas and villages forcing the residents to flee their homes, most of which are submerged in the waters.

The rains have sent many people fleeing their submerged homes in the floods prone areas of Budalangi in Busia,Nyatike, Gwassi in Suba South district, Rangwe, Nyakach, Nyando and Kisumu.

The Western Provincial Commissioner Samuel Kilele on Wednesday held an emergency meeting with humanitarian agencies and other stakeholders in the region to discuss how to mitigate the effect of the possible flooding.

The P.C. disclosed that the Kenyan government through the Ministry of Special Programs has already bought and stocked it at the local stores of the National Cereal an Produce Board {NCPB} for emergency supplies to those who are at risk of being affected the floods.

The Permanent Secretary n the Ministry Andrew Mondo has appealed to Kenyans in floods prone regions and villages to move to the higher ground. He directed has appeal specifically to the residents of Budalangi, Kano Plains, Turkana, the capital city of Nairobi and its environs, Pokot,Baringo, Nyatike, Suba,Wareng,and the coastal Strip.

The flash floods, this time around has affected some areas which hitherto were previously considered to be safe. The areas include Teso North where 20 houses were destroyed and 15 cows swept away.

The flash flood waters have destroyed food crops in Marakwet district in the north Rift and for the second time in less than a week Narok town in the South Rift experienced the worse flood.

The incessant heavy rains have had adverse effect on tourist spots within Narok County. It has washed away many bridges on rural access roads and cut many places by way of damaging roads.

Motorists

A bridge linking Sondu and Ahero towns on the main Kisii –Kisumu road has been washed away forcing motorist heading to Kisumu from Kisii to divert to Kapsoit junction and then drove toward Awasi- Kisumu, which is consuming a lot of time.

Ends

The heavy rains have left trail of deaths as more than 20 Kenyans have so far died due to devastating flood waters

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Writes Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City

Deaths caused by flash flood have because the death of close to twenty Kenyans in the last one week and the heavy rains continued pounding many parts of the country.

The rains has left trail of deaths and inflicted serious damages to the residents of the affected regions where fast flowing waters left thousands of people homeless, swept away food granaries, domestic animals and destroyed homesteads.

The Meteorology Department has issued a stern warning to residents of the flood prune areas saying the worse is still to come as the long rains continued pounding various part of the country.

Reports emerging from the various parts of the country, says several area which are usually prone to floods have already been affected and several village submerged under water. Several major rivers in Nyanza have burst their banks causing floods in several villages downstream.

The worse affected areas include Migori district where River Kuja burst its banks spilling its water into several villages in Central Kadem Location in Nyatike district rendering many people homeless.

Suba South district {Gwassi} experienced the worse flood when several homestead were swept away in Central Gwassi location. Nine people have lost their lives. One of the women who was among those rescued unconscious has since succumbed to her death at Magunga Health Center.

The latest and the worse of all the flood related death is an incident in which 53 member of PCEA Church in Mukara near Nairobi who on Sunday morning set for leisure tour to the Hell Gate National game Park near Naivasha town ended tragically lost seven of their colleagues who were swept away by fast flowing flash flood waters.

Most of the victims were members of a church comprising mainly school pupils and children under age of 15. The rains stated at about 2 P.M in the afternoon and members of the leisure tour group took shelters in the caves around the gorge.

The park is located 100 kilometer southwest of the capital City of Nairobi. Six bodies of the flood victims were retrieved by experts, while the body of the seventh was still missing, feared swept far away from the scene of the accident by fast flowing flash flood waters.

The waters came from deep gullies on Mt Longonot and Kedong Hills areas. The group toured the game park, but when the rain started and despite of written warning printed everywhere at the entrance of the “Hell Gate Game Park” advising visitors to be aware of rising floods the church group took shelters in the caves and were caught unaware by the fast flowing waters from he gullies upstream which swept their colleagues downstream and killed seven of them.

In the greater Southern Nyanza, a family of one man Kennedy Onyango of Nyaburu village in Central Gwassi Location near Magunga lost seven of its members when their dwelling home was swept away. The villages are located an area which is surrounded by hills surrounded by deep gullies, but previously considered safe from floods

Rescuers managed to rescue Mr. Onyango’s two wives and his step mother several kilometers downstream, but they were found to be unconscious and rushed to Magunga health Center for treatment.

One body belonging to one of the children who were swept away an presumed dead was retried about six meters deep below in the mud.

The rescue operation mounted by the Red Cross and experts sent by the government’s Ministry of Special Programme from Nairobi were hampered by the heavy rains which have incessantly continued pounding the areas.

The only available earth moving machine deployed in the search for the bodies of the victims in the muddy water got stuck in the mud.

About 3,000 families lost their homes and were taking shelters in schools and churches located upstream. The rising flood waters also swept away chicken, food, stuff and domesticated animals as well as livestock.

He retrieved bodies of the flood victims were taken to St Camillus Mission Hospital at Sori in the nearby Nyatike district for preservation. Most affected and devastated villages were Wiga,Olando and Nyaburu in Gwassi Central Location.,Suba South within Homa-Bay district.

At the same time close to 5,000 people and close to 1500 have south help and shelter from churches an school when Oluch River that separates Rangwe and Karahuonyo constituencies burst its banks and flooded several villages downstream rendering thousands of residents homeless.

Two members of Parliament whose constituents have suffered a great deal and have become the victims of the flood have raised 38 bag o maize, ten bags of rice and six bags of beans for the flood victim, but this is inadequate considering the high numbers of the flood victims who have been left without food, and even their utensils and kitchen aware swept away.

The MPs are John Mbadi {Gwassi} and Martin Otieno Ogindo {Rangwe}. The victim needs more foodstuff, medicines, anti-mosquito nets to prevent them fro malaria attacks, blankets and tents.

In lower Nyakach close to 100 homes have submerged in the water.400 residents of Gem Rae area were last night camping at the nearby schools and churches. Fears and panicking persist that Budalangi constituency in Busia County which is usually prone to flooding is just days away from being flooded.

Ends

natural calamities strikes many parts of Kenya following the arrival of the long rains

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Reports Leo Odera Omolo

NATURAL calamities and disaster have hit Kenyans so hard in the past one week with reported death by a man trampled by elephant, while two people drown after their fishing boat was hit by a rogue hippo in Lake Victoria.

In the last two weeks, the lightning strikes left three Kenyans dead, and at the same time there were two incidents of big cats devouring domestic animals in Murang’a County and, and in Nyahururu.

The incident in which two fishermen drawn while on fishing expedition in Lake Victoria when heir boats was hit by a rogue hippo took place near Uhanya Beach in Usenge Division, Bondo district within Siaya County occurred on Monday.

Four fishermen had set on a fishing expedition in Lake Victoria when a five tone rogue bull of hippo attacked their boat and sunk it violently. Two of the fishermen managed to swam to safety, but two of their colleagues were unlucky. Up to the time of writing this report the bodies of Fred Ochieng 42 and Dancan Ochjonjo 20 were yet to be retrieved from the water.

The Assistant Chief of the area Manaseh Osur identified the survivors as Bill Omondi and Musa Okaka.

A 75 year old woman was strike dead by thunderbolt in Adanya village in Teso district within Busia County in Western Province.Rose Idanya 75 had gone out in the rain to pick up some of her utensils when the lightning struck.

The Area Assitant Chief Zachary Olekete has cautioned the residents against engaging in risky activities, especially during the down pour as the rainy season started. He further asked head teachers of all the primary schools in his area to ensure that they install lightning arrestors in all classrooms and important buildings within their schools compound.

His particular incident came only a week after two young men who had taken a shelter under a tree were struck dead by lightning near Mwakitau in Taita-Taveta district at the Coast Province.

Another incident in Keiyo district in the North Rift a woman and her daughter dead after lightning hit their home during the late afternoon heavy down pour.

In the same Taita-Taveta district a man was trampled to death by a rogue elephant. The incident took place last Sunday forcing the officials of the Kenya Wildlife Services {KWS} to mount the ground and air operation aimed at driving back to the close to 200 herds of elephants which had invaded the area and were causing havoc with human lives and food crops.. back to the nearby Tsavo West National Game Park where the jumbos are suspected to have come from before invading the villages causing havoc with human live and destroying a lot of food crops in the field.

The elephants had imposed dawn to dusk curfew forcing the children to abandon their studies In the nearby schools.

In Nyahururu a suspected ,female leopard which had strayed in the farming villages is blamed for having killed close to 35 goats and sheep. A farmer at Gichaka village in Olkalou constituency is now counting his loses after the beast had attacked her leopard her curbs attacked and killed her nine sheep on Tuesday morning.

Mrs Gechia Karichu the nine sheep were part of a flock of 23 she had taken to grazing shed near her house. But soon after returning to the house, three of the sheep came back bleating with one of them having been mauled in the leg. But when he went out to check what had happened to the sheep she found the carcasses of the nine sheep strewn allover.

The residents told the newsmen that the same leopard had killed many goats , sheep and dogs in the village in the last two weeks.

The area MP Erustus Mureithi who visited the scene appealed to the government to compensate the farmers who had lost their animals in such attacks by big cat.

The next incident involving the attack by a leopard was in Gikuyu Sub-Location in Murang’a district where a marauding male leopard killed seven sheep on Monday night. The big cat is reported to have strayed in the village from the nearby Mount Kenya Forest which was recently devastated by the wildfire.

The beast is also reported to have already devoured close to 5o goats and sheep during the last three weeks and it is so elusive that the villagers in collaboration with the armed game rangers have hunted it without success.

On Monday night at about 4.A.M a resident Mr Justus Mwan in bed woke up to a rude shock after he found the carcasses of seven sheep killed.

In unrelated story, an official of the KWS in Tsavo East National Game Park has made a startling revelation of people who have been faking snake bites so tat they could compensated. This discovery was made after it was detected that nearly all the companion forms were signed b only one doctor.

The Senior Kenya Wildlife Service Samuel Bukura said some people re known to have cut their legs using razor blades to fake snake bite or the purpose of getting compensated b the government.

The scam was discovered after many people had presented the forms bearing their claims for compensation after faking snake bite incidences.

“Most claims lodged in our offices, are bearing the signature o only one doctor paving he way for suspicion that the forms were fake. This , he aid is a clear indication that the compensation exercise is grossly being abused.

Bukura revealed that the government has set aside and released the colossal amount of Kshs 2.6 million which is to be paid out as compensation to the families of those people who were either killed and injured by wildlife in the coastal district of Taita-Taveta The issuing of payment of cheques and cash has been delayed because the people involved did not provide the officials with the correct information.

The payment has been categorized for those killed will be compensated with Khs 200,000 while those who sustained bodily injuries a result of attack by wildlife would be paid Kshs 50,000.mT in this category include the genuine cases of snake bites, and it is what has made so many people fake the injuries. Some have inflicted injuries n their bodies using razor blade top look like snake bites.

Ends

Africa: Egypt is lobbying a fresh for agreement over the use of Nile Waters

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Writes Leo Odera Omolo

EGYPTIANS who visited the Kenyan capital, Nairobi at the weekend were expected to begin lobbying countries afresh to reconsider their ratification of an agreement that gives upper Nile states leeway in using the Nile’s waters.

The Nile Basin Convention Frameworks Agreement {CFA} that six countries signed in Entebbe in May 2010 was expected to dominate the agenda of the Inter-Ministerial meeting scheduled for last weekending on January 28.

Ethiopia, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda signed the CFA effectively making it operative even though Sudan, DRC Congo and Egypt are yet to ratify it.

The CFA is currently at the ratification level, but has been delayed because of Egypt’s request for more talks. If ratified, it will repeal the 1929 colonial agreement, ripping Egypt of any legal protection over the resource.

A representative of Ugandan government Dr.Callist Tindimagaya was quoted by the media last week as saying,” We shall go to the meeting with an open mind and give them the opportunity to present their point of view. But once you have signed, international laws prohibit you from withdrawing your signature or work against it.”

However, Egypt is optimistic that the Nairobi meeting will reach a consensus because of its new positive spirit and zeal after the revolution as opposed to feuding over the resource. “Egypt believes that the Nile Ban countries share the same water, same destiny and this is the spirit that we should embrace. Egypt is carrying out discussions with the other Nile Basin countries to move forward,” said Egyptian ambassador to Uganda Sabry M Sabry.

If consensus is reached, the World Bank Trust that manages resources along the Nile will stop mocking any development project on claim of legal basis.

Projects in the pipeline that are of mutual benefits to the region are Regional Interconnection Project that is expected to generate cross border electricity for the benefit of all the countries. The USD385 million projected to complete in 2014is already in progress.

Others are Bujagali {250MW} Ruzizi {145mw}, Lake Kivu Methane Gas {300mw}, Rusumo {80mw}, Isimba {140mw} and Karuma {700mw}.

ends

World: G. Palast, Hunting vultures – – not the feathered kind

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From: octimotor

Sun.18Dec.2011, afternoon USA EST, I saw a bit of a presentation on linktv, distributed via satellite, DishTV. (linktv.org) .

The person speaking during that part of mid-afternoon was Greg Palast. That part of his presentation was surely gripping.

His perspective, apparently as an international investigative journalist, is that of one whose book chapter reads like a stereotypical, cynically speaking, “hard-boiled private detective”, tracking down solutions to crime mysteries. One journalistic story he told involves how a cholera quarantine camp in Congo (DRC), and Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina are connected strongly.

Between these 2 war ravaged regions, there had been some cooperative ventures. In a previous one, financed and constructed in DRC, built by business entities in republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, were hi voltage long distance electrical distribution lines. A planned, almost implemented second one, would have been a project for a large number of soon to be bored well holes to bring sanitary drinking water to a wide area of DRC, constructed by entities based in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

However, as his visit to the capitol city Sarajevo in the Balkans for the purposes to investigate the matter showed, the deal was viciously sabotaged by a group of financial interests. G.P. terms them The Vultures (cruel business persons not feathered birds). The payment by DRC for the Water Wells project was seized by the group of international financial community operatives. As apparent authority to cover their actions, they employed Debt Paper. It was a promissory note, a promise of one nation to pay a debt. It was from a date long before the current DRC national project. The document had been illegally purchased, for pennies on the dollar, from a corrupt head of state in the Balkans. (That former leader is facing criminal indictment on associated corruption charges filed by a later administration.) Meanwhile, the rural folk in DRC have had this chance to provide them clean water stolen.

“This”, said G.P., “is Why We, those representing the majority against the top 1%, now OCCUPY!”

He has a book out now being sold. Because he was by his publishers told not to do so, he is making its first chapter available for free on-line to read or download. Visit the url-s,

http://www.gregpalast.com/vulturespicnic/documents/Vultures_Picnic_Chapter1_Goldfinger.pdf

VulturesPicnic.org .

read or d/l Vultures Picnic by Greg Palast; Ch.1; pdf document, 759KB;

It contains significant info regarding the BP oil spill off USA gulf coast. To any informed observer such as himself it was immediately obvious from the very first CNN news coverage onward, that just a symbolic small effort, not a serious oil spill containment effort, was applied.

So, mass oil spill containment methods could have been made available, but by someones choice, were left not un-applied in that instance? Also, recall some accounts of that spill which reported extensive usage of disputants (soap), although gov. regulators declared this should not be used. Some other reports further indicated scientists seeking independently to make their own measurements found they were denied access to public areas by security personnel.

Whats UP?

There hapens to be a science fiction author, perhaps M.Z. Bradley, who wrote a novel titled _The World Wreckers_ . The above situation is a reminder of that title.

Africa: What water privatisation means for Africa and the population of Middle Class and the Poor

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From: Judy Miriga

Folks,

Water privatizations means local poor will not access water. It will be too expensive for an individual middle class or poor to get water easily like it is now. This is how elimination of excess population will be a success to the corrupt, and it is the reason all water-ways have been targeted and privatized and people living in and around the Lake or River will be given forced evacuation or death. This is why people have not been engaged in the commissioning of these projects and why life has suddenly become extremely expensive and inaccessible. We are going to pay the debt of loan with our blood and life.

Wake up people, wake up……and demand your legal and constitutional rights now and not tomorrow.

All deals that were made without following the publid mandate of the new constitution is null and void…….protect your survivals……..it is time each and everyone commit themselves to doing and speaking for Human Rights. It is not easy, but we must fight for our rights…..

It is only God who will save us from this bondage of oppressiona and slavery……

Judy Miriga
Diaspora Spokesperson
Executive Director
Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
USA
http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com

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Sh10b plans for Tana delta dams underway

By Peter Orengo

The Government plans to construct several multi-purpose dams along the Tana delta in the next two years.

The investments, which will cost Sh10 billion, is expected to have a wide range of implications on both the agricultural sector and the overall economy.

Agriculture PS Romano Kiome on Monday said resources are being mobilised for the projects following allocation of funds for irrigation development during the 2011/2012 financial year.

“To ensure maximum benefits, the use of multi-purpose dams for irrigation, energy generation and water supply have been proposed,” said the PS.

He said the Multi-Purpose Dams concept is part of the Agricultural Sector Development Strategy 2010–2020 (ASDS), which will enable the sector build consensus on the dams for the benefit of the whole nation.

The draft National Irrigation Policy has also been produced in recognition of the emphasis placed on irrigation by Vision 2030.

The policy proposes new institutional arrangements in the sub-sector and a comprehensive legal framework for irrigation development and management.

A planned retreat this week by sector ministers, assistant ministers and Permanent Secretaries is expected to deliberate on key policies and Bills needed to deliver the goals of the ASDS and Vision 2030.

The main topics of the retreat will be Land, Water, Irrigation and the Agricultural Consolidation Bills.

“Consolidation of agricultural legislation is a flagship of Kenya Vision 2030. After years of stakeholder consultations, three Bills have now been generated and are ready for submission to the Cabinet,” Kiome said.

A National Irrigation Bill has been developed that proposes to repeal Irrigation Act Cap 347 and enactment of a new legislation.

Kiome said the proposals will have implications on various sector ministries and hence the need to build consensus on them before they are submitted to the Cabinet.

2,000 families to pave way for Gatara dam project

2,000 families to pave way for Gatara dam project
Published on 13/02/2011

By Boniface Gikandi

About 2,000 households in Gatara, Murang’a County, will be re-located to pave way for a multi-billion shillings dam project.

MPs from the county led by Planning Assistant Minister Peter Kenneth have convened several meetings and urged the affected residents to form an association that will enable them engage in talks on compensation, among other issues.

Other MPs, Muturi Mwangi (Kiharu) and Elias Mbau (Maragua), warned the residents to be wary of middle-men expected to flood the region under the pretext of helping them seek legal assistance.

Mr Kenneth asked the residents to enter into agreements with the water company to get meaningful compensation for their land.

“It is high time the residents united, since in my Gatanga constituency, construction of Ndakaini Dam left a lot of misery and I don’t want a repeat of the same,” said the Gatanga MP.

Plough back

The dam is the second to be built in Murang’a County to supply water to the 4.5 million residents of Nairobi and its environs after Ndakaini Dam in Gatanga.

The new dam is expected to boost water supply to the city and its environs by 235,000 cubic metres.

Mr Mwangi said an agreement must be entered between all stakeholders to ensure the water company will plough back some funds to support community projects.

“Water is a natural resource and we must be rewarded for having taken part in conserving Aberdare Forest, which is one of the five water towers in Kenya ,” said the Kiharu MP.

The project will affect Kangema, Kigumo and Kiharu constituencies.

Ethiopia’s Gibe III Dam

Sowing Hu nger and Conflict

The Omo River is a lifeline for 500,000 indigenous people living in eastern Africa. If completed, Ethiopia’s Gibe III Dam will regulate and reduce the Omo River’s flow, increasing hunger and fueling conflict throughout the basin. The dam could push Kenya’s Lake Turkana – the world’s largest desert lake – toward ecological collapse.

Opposition to the project in Ethiopia has been muted by the government, but in Kenya, Lake Turkana communities have been steadfast in their opposition to the project, sparking legal action and an international debate. Given the project’s massive social and environmental impacts, Gibe III Dam should be stopped immediately.

Unraveling Ethiopia’s Lower Omo Valley

In 2006, Ethiopia began construction on its largest infrastructure project to date, the Gibe III Dam. Unless stopped, the dam is on track to be one of Africa’s worst development disasters. The dam will bring major hydrological changes to a very fragile ecosystem,

to which local people have adapted over millennia. By eliminating the Omo River’s natural flood cycle, the dam will put the Dassanech, Mursi, Nyangatom, and other indigenous

Watch Out: The World Bank Is Quietly Funding a Massive Corporate Water Grab

Even though water privatization has been a massive failure around the world, the World Bank just quietly gave $139 million to its latest corporate buddy.

Posted by N4CM Climate change, Features 11 Nov 2010

Source: AlterNet, 2 November 2010.
BY Scott Thill.

Billions have been spent allowing corporations to profit from public water sources even though water privatization has been an epic failure in Latin America, Southeast Asia, North America, Africa and everywhere else it’s been tried. But don’t tell that to controversial loan-sharks at the World Bank. Last month, its private-sector funding arm International Finance Corporation (IFC) quietly dropped a cool 100 million euros ($139 million US) onVeolia Voda, the Eastern European subsidiary of Veolia, the world’s largest private water corporation. Its latest target? Privatization of Eastern Europe’s water resources.

“Veolia has made it clear that their business model is based on maximizing profits, not long-term investment,” Joby Gelbspan, senior program coordinator for private-sector watchdog Corporate Accountability International, told AlterNet. “Both the World Bank and the transnational water companies like Veolia have clearly acknowledged they don’t want to invest in the infrastructure necessary to improve water access in Eastern Europe. That’s why this 100 million euro investment in Veolia Voda by the World Bank’s private investment arm over the summer is so alarming. It’s further evidence that the World Bank remains committed to water privatization, despite all evidence that this approach will not solve the world’s water crisis.”

All the evidence Veolia needs that water grabs are doomed exercises can be found in its birthplace of France, more popularly known as the heartland of water privatization. In June, the municipal administration of Paris reclaimed the City of Light’s water services from both of its homegrown multinationals Veolia and Suez, after a torrent of controversy. That’s just one of 40 re-municipilazations in France alone, which can be added to those in Africa, Asia, Latin America, North America and more in hopes of painting a not-so-pretty picture: Water privatization is ultimately both a horrific concept and a failed project.

“It’s outrageous that the World Bank’s IFC would continue to invest in corporate water privatizations when they are failing all over the world,” Maude Barlow, chairwoman of Food and Water Watch and the author of Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Fight for the Right to Water, told AlterNet. “A similar IFC investment in the Philippines is an unmitigated disaster. Local communities and their governments around the world are canceling their contracts with companies like Veolia because of cost overruns, worker layoffs and substandard service.”

The Philippines is an excellent example of water privatization’s broken model. After passing the Water Crisis Act in 1995, the Philippines landed a $283 million privatization plan managed partially by multinational giants like Suez and Bechtel. After some success, everything fell apart after 2000, and it wasn’t long before tariff prices repeatedly increased, water service and quality worsened, and public opposition skyrocketed. Today, some Filipinos still don’t have water connections, tariffs have increased from 300 to 700 percent in some regions, and outbreaks of cholera and gastroenteritis have cost lives and sickened hundreds.

“The World Bank has learned nothing from these disasters and continues to be blinded by an outdated ideology that only the unregulated market will solve the world’s problems,” added Barlow.

But asking the World Bank to learn from disaster would be akin to annihilating its overall mission, which is to capitalize on disaster in the developing world in pursuit of profit. Its nasty history of economic and environmental shock therapy sessions have severely wounded more than one country, and has been sharply criticized by brainiacs like Joseph Stiglitz, who was once the Bank’s chief economist, and Naomi Klein, whose indispensable history The Shock Doctrine is a horrorshow of privatization nightmares. From its cultural imperialism and insensitivity to regional differences to its domination by a handful of economic elites drunk on deregulation, whose utter failure needs no further example than our continuing global economic crisis, the World Bank’s good intentions have been compromised by an unending string of terrible press and crappier deals.

“In the past, the World Bank pushed privatization as the way to increase investment in basic infrastructure for water systems,” said Gelbspan. “But since then bank officials have admitted that the transnational corporations don’t want to invest in infrastructure, and instead want only to pare down operations and skim profits. The World Bank has lowered the bar, satisfied with so-called ‘operational efficiency,’ that cuts utility workforce, tightens up bill collections and shuts off people who can’t pay.”

Naomi Klein: The Shock Doctrine

That’s been a recipe for failure and protest, especially in the very region that IFC and Veolia hope to pump for all its water worth. In 1998, World Bank loans were secured to upgrade the crumbling post-Soviet water system in Yerevan, a city in the Eastern European nation of Armenia. With a caveat: It had to be managed by a private contractor. The Italian transnational ACEA landed the job, but quickly failed to extend water access, partially thanks to company corruption. It also failed to properly maintain water pressure, allowing sewage to seep into the city’s drinking water and sicken hundreds. Despite the travesty, the World Bank issued another contract in 2006 to Veolia, which hired ACEA’s top executive. Two years later, only one in three Yerevan residents were lucky enough to score 24-hour water service, while contamination problems continued. Veolia’s contract with the city is up for renewal in 2015.

The same goes for the Turkish city of Alacati, which landed a $13 million loan in the late ’90s, as well as Veolia’s incompetence. The city’s water bills skyrocketed to 12 times the price of service in other parts of the country. Multiply that times most every nation or city that has privatized its water service, and you’ve got a good idea of why the World Bank’s IFC is under fire for rapacious resource-snatching. And why the developing world is right to be wary of its good graces, although the World Bank can do good when it so chooses.

“The World Bank does not at all speak with one voice on their pro-privatization stance,” Darcey O’Callaghan, Food and Water Watch’s international policy director, explained to AlterNet. “One staff member referred to it as a bad experiment that has been proven wrong, while higher staffers try to take a more nuanced position, claiming that the Bank is neither for or against privatization but simply promotes the most appropriate model for specific communities. Unfortunately, our own statistics have shown that regardless of their statements, 52 percent of their projects between 2004 and 2008 promoted some form of privatization.”

But rather than repair privatization’s failed project at its source, the World Bank is simply spinning off its compromised philosophy to the IFC. So while the World Bank may be torn in its endorsement of water privatization, the IFC has no such reservations, in hopes of dodging the slings and arrows of public outcry, and perhaps legal liability.

By 2030, world population is expected to hit 8.3 billion, causing a 50 percent increase in the global demand for food and energy and a 30 percent increase in the demand for fresh drinking water—a resource that is already in short supply for about a third of the world’s people. Climate change will complicate things even further, and in unpredictable ways.

“What’s really scary,” O’Callaghan added, “is that we are increasingly seeing the International Finance Corporation pick up where the Bank has left off in water privatization. The IFC is a Bank-sponsored institution whose goal is to promote the private sector, and because their financing also comes from the private sector, they can be more difficult to hold accountable. Worse yet, according to our 2000-2008 stats, 80 percent of IFC loans had gone to the four largest multinational water companies, further concentrating the global water industry.”

It’s not just water that’s at the center of Earth’s mounting resource wars. In late October, Britain’s government announced it was looking to sell off its state-owned forests to counteract a yawning deficit. Today, natural gas companies are preparing to drill in America’s national parks. Indeed, America and Britain’s bungled occupation of Iraq is a protracted resource war for control of the embattled nation’s oil reserves. Water is just one more natural resource, albeit the most important one, worth a killing to those seeking to callously leverage limited funds for innocent lives.

“Droughts and deserts are spreading in over 100 countries,” Barlow said. “It is now clear that our world is running out of clean water, as the demand gallops ahead of supply. These water corporations, backed still by the World Bank, seek to take advantage of this crisis by taking more control over dwindling water supplies.”

Which is another way of saying that, regardless of the refreshing trend toward re-municipalization, no one should expect the World Bank or its IFC untouchables to give up the privatization and deregulation ghost anytime soon. That means that every city, and citizen, is due for a day of reckoning of some sort, and should fight back against the bankrupt privatization paradigm with everything in its arsenal.

“Get involved at the local level,” O’Callaghan said. “Know where your water comes from. Fight against privatization schemes. Promote conservation. Don’t drink bottled water.”

And Barlow adds, “The only path to a water-secure future is water conservation, source water protection, watershed restoration and the just and equitable sharing of the water resources of the planet. Water is a commons, a public trust and a human right and no one has the right to appropriate for profit when others are dying from lack of access.”

World: Groundwater for emergency situations: A methodological guide

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from Yona Maro

The aim of this document is to identify emergency groundwater resources bodies resistant to natural and man-made disasters that could replace damaged public and domestic drinking water supplies. This methodological guide provides a layout on groundwater risk assessment and management in areas affected by flood, drought, earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, tsunamis and storms. It also outlines the importance of disaster risk reduction in water governance policy as well as the governance policy framework in which groundwater as an emergency resource may be integrated into overall emergency management and service provision.
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0019/001921/192182e.pdf

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Africa: Investing in drought preparedness

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from Yona Maro

This fact sheet presents the disaster risk reduction programmes, with a specific focus on drought, established by the European Commission in the Horn of Africa. These projects seek to build resilience in communities that are particularly vulnerable to drought, so they can cope better when rains fail. The fact sheet includes a case study on Moyale, Northern Kenya.
http://ec.europa.eu/echo/files/aid/dipecho/factsheet_DRR.pdf
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UN: Adapting to Climate Change: Why We Need Broader and ‘Out-of-the-Box’ Approaches

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From: Yona Maro

Briefing Note: The challenge of securing safe and plentiful water for all is one of the most daunting challenges faced by the world today. … Shortages of water contribute to poverty. They cause social hardship and impede development. They create tensions in conflict prone regions. Too often, where we need water we find guns …

Ban Ki-moon, 2008

Key messages

• There is evidence that the global climate is changing and that some of the change is human-induced.

• As stated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2001, ‘climate change impacts will be differently distributed among different regions, generations, age, classes, income groups, occupations and genders’ (McCarthy et al., 2001).

• Climate change will be a fundamental driver of changes in water resources. Furthermore, the hydrological cycle will be the main medium through which the impacts of climate change will be felt. The sustainable management of water must be a priority.

• While climate change will create further serious pressures on water supply, it is currently not the only, or the main, source of stress. The most important drivers are forces and processes generated by human activities, such as rising populations and the increasing demands for water and water-dependent products that come with rising per capita incomes.

• The consequences of these demographic and income-related effects are being felt in critical, water-dependent, economic sectors. The world is facing global crises in energy and food. These cannot adequately be addressed without considering the key role of water resources and their effective management.

• Public policy has so far been dominated by mitigation of climate change, but there needs to be a better balance between mitigation and adaptation. The World Bank (2010) has estimated the annual cost of adaptation to a 2 degree warmer world up to 2050 to be US$75–100 billion, of which 70 per cent is water-related.

• At a 2007 United Nations (UN) Security Council discussion on climate change impacts, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted that climate change has implications for peace and security as well as serious environmental, social and economic implications, especially in ‘vulnerable regions that face multiple stresses at the same time’.

• Adapting to climate change is a critical challenge, particularly for developing countries, whose capacity to adapt is low. For some, the incremental costs of climate change adaptation will soon approach the current value of aid inflows.

• Governments must give priority to water resources management in their adaptation policies. The impacts of climate change on water resources and services should be factored into development planning at regional, national and local scales and in all water-dependent sectors.

• Adaptation programmes for water should prioritize no-regret or low-regret measures, namely those which create benefits both with and without a climate change scenario. Particularly important are measures to protect and secure the resilience of ecosystems, and their sustainable use by humans.

• Groundwater is the major source of water across much of the world and it is likely to play an even greater role in human development under changing climatic conditions.

• Lateral ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking is essential for both decision-makers with a direct responsibility for the management of water and for all others whose decisions have a major impact on water resources and their management.

• While the world is taking steps to respond to the impacts of future climate change, little is being done to act on the water crises we are already experiencing.

United Nations World Water Assessment Programme, UNESCO, 2011

http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/SC/pdf/WWAPCOP16_BN_PICA_WEB_090811.pdf

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Water in a changing world

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from Yona Maro

This report, prepared by the World Water Assessment Programme under UNESCO (UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), assesses global freshwater resources including what drives the pressures facing them, how water is used, climate change’s future effects on water supplies and options for improving water management for sustainable development.

The authors highlight the increasing demand for water, outlining the demographic, economic and social factors – such as population growth, international trade and changing lifestyles. They argue that climate change will undoubtedly affect water resources, impacting water quality and the frequency of extreme events such as droughts or flooding.

Investment in the water sector is important, say the authors — to improve access to clean water as well as decrease pollution from untreated sewage discharge. International donors must play a part in improving water infrastructure in the developing world, they add.

But how individual countries respond will depend on their own development objectives, capacity and political framework. The authors outline options for policymakers to increase supply, manage demand, reduce losses and reallocate resources.
http://www.unesco.org/water/wwap/wwdr/wwdr3/pdf/04_WWDR3_Table_of_Contents.pdf

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KENYA: DC , MP ASSES FLOOD DAMAGE CAUSED IN KISUMU AND NYANDO AREAS

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dateWed, Aug 24, 2011 at 5:01 AM
By Dickens Wasonga

The heavy rains that has been pounding most parts of Kisumu and Nyando of Nyanza for the last one week continue to wreck havoc in the area.

Several families within the flood prone Nyando plains are now considering moving to higher grounds as the raging floods sweeps across the area known for rice growing.

There is now fresh fears amongst affected residents of a possible cholera out brake and reemergence of malaria attacks.

However the government said it has put its health personnel in the region on high alert giving an assurance at the same time to the locals that there was enough drugs to handle any disease out-brake should the rains continue like has been predicted by the meteorological department.

On Monday last week Kisumu East district Commissioner Mabeya Mogaka and the MP for Kisumu town East Shakill Shabir toured the affected areas to assess the extent of the destruction which resulted from the floods.

Speaking to the Truth in his office last week , the DC confirmed that the worst hit areas included Kolwa East and Nanga where 8 houses were destroyed and over a 100 homesteads remained submerged in the waters.

Mogaka said the government lost money running into millions of shillings after 60 fish ponds were swept away by the raging floods.

The fish ponds were for the fish farming projects being implemented by various groups and individual fish farmers under the economic stimulus package within the Kisumu east constituency.

” All that money has now gone to waste.This area had the highest concentration of the ponds with each of them having 1000 fingerlings which has gone with the water in to the lake.”said the DC.

He spoke as red cross teams from Kisumu regional office gave out non food items such as canvas and blankets to 50 families in the affected areas.

Mogaka said the district disaster committee in its rapid assessment established that the area requires 10,000 gunny bags to protect the rivers that flooded.

” We have asked Kisumu town east emergency fund to give us Sh.2M to help drain river Awuji and Nyamsaria which are silted so that water can begin to flow easily again to the lake.” he said.

The DC said the situation was still manageable but it could reach crisis levels if the rains persists.

He however assured the residents that members of the district disaster committee were ready for any eventuality adding that the food situation was not yet out of hand.

In areas such as Korowe, Ayweyo RC, and Dunga, families were desperately making efforts to move to safer grounds.

In the past, flood victims usually turn to higher grounds in places such as schools and churches in a bid to escape the raging floods which has become a yearly calamity event during any rainy season.

Most of the affected families in the County of Kisumu and Nyando also had their properties worth millions of shillings destroyed in the wake of the heavy downpour which is pounding also most parts of the country.

In these areas, crops and animals were not spared either as Rivers Nyando, Nyamasaria and Awuji burst their banks.

In Kisumu’s Nyamasaria area ,heavy rains accompanied by thunderstorm led to flooding at Orongo and the famous Nyamasaria shopping center making the areas a no go zone for several hours on Saturday last week..

It was apathetic site at the ultra modern Nakumatt Mega City shopping complex which was flooded after the rains thereby disrupting business for several hours the same week.

It was a hectic time for motorists plying the Kisumu – Nairobi highway as their negotiated their way through the flooded section of the road in and out of the lake side city.

Several passengers remained stranded in Kisumu town while others could be spotted wading through the flood waters.

There was a traffic snarl-up,the first of its kind witnessed in the area where traffic jam is not common from Ahero to Kisumu and from Kisumu to Ahero delaying operations in the busy highway.

Most vehicles could not pass the Nyamasaria bridge that was overflowing with water and other debris picked upstream.

The havoc saw the Nyanza Golf club’s wall collapsing among other numerous structures in slum areas of Kisumu.

Two cyclists were also reportedly swept away by the raging floods near Awuji- Nyamasaria area.

According to eye witnesses, the cyclists did not have passengers at the time of the accident.

Search for the bodies was reportedly still underway according to our sources.

A farmer in Nyando said he lost several goats, Sheep and chicken as a result.

His entire horticulture garden was washed away by the raging floods that caught the resident’s unaware thus creating panic in the area.

ENDS.

KENYA BISHOPS ACT ON FOOD CRISIS AFTER THE POPE’S CALL ON MOBILIZATION

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Colleagues Home & Abroad Regional News

BY FR JOACHIM OMOLO OUKO, AJ
NAIROBI-KENYA
THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2011

Agenzia Fides reports that the Bishops of Kenya launch an emergency fund to help people affected by drought-“We are all deeply concerned about the crisis caused by drought and suffering of so many Kenyans.

Our concern is for the millions of vulnerable people who risk dying of hunger and for the many communities that have lost their livelihoods “, the Bishops of Kenya say in a statement and launch a national fund-raising for the people affected by drought that has raged in several East-African Countries.

If the most dramatic situation is in Somalia, Kenya also heavily suffers the food crisis, not only because it hosts on its territory hundreds of thousands of Somalis escaping from their Country, but also because the drought has affected several areas of its territory.

The message of the Episcopal Conference of Kenya states that the most vulnerable people are: the shepherds of the north, north-east, north-west and south, and the poorest families living on subsistence farming in the coastal plains and south-eastern regions.

The drought, caused by very little rain in 2010 and, this year has caused, the Bishops recall, “food shortages, sharp rise in food prices, lack of water, migration and conflict, malnutrition, school dropout on behalf of children and loss of livestock”.

The Episcopal Conference of Kenya has decided to launch an emergency fund (Catholic Charity Emergency Fund) and has launched a fund-raising in favor of this initiative. Food collections in parishes, diocesan offices and other structures of the Church have been organized. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 04/08/2011)

The Episcopal Conference of Kenya ‘s move comes three days after Pope Benedict XVI called for an “international mobilization” to help the victims of a severe drought in Eastern Africa, which has been hit by drought and is now threatened by a famine that could endanger the life of more than 11.8 million people.

Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are the countries the most hit by the drought. Speaking from his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome, Italy, the pope invited the faithful “to think of the many brothers and sisters who in these days, in the Horn of Africa, are suffering the dramatic consequences of famine, aggravated by war and the absence of solid institutions.”

In Kenya the famine is biting harder when the Kenyan shilling fell to a record low of 92.10 against the dollar on Thursday, weighed down by demand for the US currency from oil importers according to traders.

At 0624 GMT, commercial bank quoted the shilling at 92.00/20 against the dollar, weaker than Wednesday’s close of 91.65/75. “We have seen heavy demand this week. Telecoms were in and we also saw oil guys buying dollars,” Duncan Kinuthia, head of trading at Commercial Bank of Africa was quoted to have said. “Still the shilling is on the back foot. We don’t see any factors supporting it.”

In northern Kenya according to Fatuma Ahmed, some people go as far selling their daughters at a tender age so they can get food. Prolonged drought in northern Kenya has pushed many families, like widow Ahmed and her seven children, towards the outskirts of towns where they are more likely to get food and water, thanks to the generosity of Kenyans who have so far donated over 100 million Kenya shillings.

Dubbed Kenyans for Kenya, it is intended to raise over Sh500 million, in four weeks. The initiative has brought together a number of organizations among them Safaricom Foundation, Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Foundation and the country’s leading media houses operating under the umbrella of the Media Owners Association (MOA). The effort will be administered by relief agency Kenya Red Cross Society.

The KCB Group CEO Dr. Martin Oduor – Otieno was quoted to have said that KCB is ready to support initiatives that would help to alleviate famine in the country. “KCB through the KCB Foundation is delighted to be part of this noble initiative bringing together the Kenya Red Cross Society, corporate organizations and the media in support of Kenyans hard hit by famine. In addition, we are also mobilizing our 5,000 staff to make individual contributions,” said Dr Oduor-Otieno.

Also key to the campaign is the use of M-PESA, Safaricom’s money transfer service to receive donations. This will ensure that even the smallest donation (as low as Sh10) is harnessed, as this will go a long way in improving the situation of millions of Kenyans currently staring starvation and death in the eye.

Donations can be sent to the M-PESA PayBill number 111111 at no charge as this has been waived. Donations can also be sent to account number 11 33 33 33 38 at KCB. Kenya Red Cross Society cash tins will also be available in 169 KCB branches countrywide for receiving donations.

The famine crisis in Kenya has already received unprecedented media coverage especially from the international media due to the influx of refugees in Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps. The corporate appeal comes at a time when the United Nations (UN) has also called an emergency meeting in Rome to mobilise aid so save starving Kenyans from hunger.

According to Ahmed young girls are being sold for as little as 15,000 Kenyan shillings ($168) “If he’s wealthy, it can go up to 50,000 ($559),” “A mother will take a 14-year-old girl out of school and sell her to a man – even an old man – to get money to give the other children food,” according to a local chief. “Some households have 10 children and feeding those children is really hard.”

Enrolment in his local primary school has dropped to 210 children from 350 since the drought started to bite last year. “Over a hundred have been removed because of hunger,” the chief told Reuters.

According to the United Nations, only one in five girls in North Eastern Province attend school. Aid agency World Vision is unable to trace 400 of the 3,060 children it sponsors in the district. Some have been sent to stay with better-off relatives who can feed them. Some are working as maids in people’s houses or in food kiosks. But others are married off “just to make sure that the rest of the family does not die from lack of food”, said Jacob Alemu, World Vision’s local programme manager.

It is not the first time the Pope expressed its fears regarding the situation in East Africa as on July 17, he spoke about the humanitarian catastrophe. “Countless people are fleeing terrible famine in search of food and assistance,” the pope told the crowd gathered in the courtyard of his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo.
“May those who suffer not lack our solidarity,” the pope said.

In Somalia, the areas most affected by the drought are under the control of an Islamist militant group, al-Shabaab, which has banned western aid agencies, forcing people to flee to the capital Mogadishu, where the U.N.-backed government is struggling to fight off armed groups. In Somalia, 3.7 million people are in crisis, out of a population of 7.5 million. The UN said 3.2 million need immediate lifesaving assistance.

This is taking place at the same time Kenyan Foreign Affairs Assistant minister Richard Onyonka was today (Thursday) grilled by the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) detectives over the purchase of sugar worth Sh137 million using CDF cash.

Mr Onyonka, who is also the Kitutu Chache MP, is alleged to have used CDF funds to purchase sugar worth Sh137,058,429 from Chemilil Sugar Company and did not remit VAT worth Sh18.5 million to the Kenya Revenue Authority.

KENYA: CHALLENGES OF HEALING WOUNDS OF VIOLENCE IN KENYA

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Colleagues Home & Abroad Regional News

BY FR JOACHIM OMOLO OUKO, AJ
WUNDANYI-TAITA TAVETA
TUESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2011

WUNDANYI WORKSHOP TAKE-4

The saying that man finds himself in trouble when all types of insects gang up against him, when the insects have vowed to punish him for killing one of their own makes reconciliation and healing in Kenya difficult. Especially when the butterfly distances himself from them and offers to help man to fight in the war waged against him.

At the end of our workshop on land and water security in Taita Taveta County, Catholic Archdiocese of Mombasa, we looked at challenges of reconciliation and healing the wounds of ethnic violences in Kenya. In order to reconcile and heal you must reconcile the wounds first.

It goess back to 1992 when Eldoret North Member of Parliament, Mr William Ruto was the deputy leader of Youth for KANU 92 assistant to Cyrus Jirongo. At the time the organization was formed, Ruto abandoned his Masters studies in zoology at the University of Nairobi to take advantage of the free money Moi was offering for his presidential bid.

Central Bank governor Eric Kotut, a fellow Kalenjin was forced to print paper money, in which the Kenyan taxpayer lost over Shs. 80 billion. Since then money has been heavily looted. Finance Minister who is also Kanu Chairman, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta was forced to earmark Sh1.11 billion towards the repayment of the debt the Central Bank printed for Moi’s 1992 campaign ‘comeback’ presidential bid.

Apart from Moi the government of Kibaki continues to make payments related to the Anglo-Leasing scandals. According to the latest audit report taxpayers’ money is being spent on servicing contentious debts, including Sh20 billion related to the Anglo-Leasing series of security contracts and Sh3 billion relating to the ‘ghost’ KenRen fertiliser factory.

Apart from Sh1.11 billion chaneled towards the repayment of the debt the Central Bank printed for Moi’s 1992 campaign, according to Controller and Auditor-General Anthony Gatumbu the payments of Anglo-Leasing alone have pushed the overall public debt to Sh1.17 trillion. So far, Sh3.1 billion has been spent on the KenRen project that was conceived in 1975 during the Kenyatta era when President Kibaki was Finance Minister.

As if that was not enough, some of the ministries including Internal Security of Prof George Saitoti who worked closely with Moi is not able to account for Sh953 million, State House (Sh10 million), Foreign Affairs of which Saititoti is the acting minister (Sh80 million), Home Affairs headed by former staunch Kanu follower during Moi, Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka-(Sh349 million) and Planning- National Development and Vision 2030 (Sh10 million).

Others are Finance headed by Uhuru myself-(Sh121 million), Defence by Yusuf Haji who was Moi right hand in 1990’s-(Sh197 million), Agriculture by Sally Kosgei who shed tears when Moi was forced out of office in 2002-(Sh768 million), Local Government by Muslia Mudavadi who was Moi Finance minister when Kotut printed money for campaign-(Sh2 billion), Roads by Franlin Bett who benefited a lot from Moi, especially in Mau forest land scandals-(Sh9 billion), Education by Prof Sam Ongeri who was Moi right wing in Kanu-(Sh319 million) and he Interim Independent Electoral Commission (Sh280 million).

The report says 15 ministries could not prove how they spent Sh6.9 billion, with the Public Health ministry headed by Uhuru Kenyatta relative Beth Mugo having the highest figure not supported by documentation and Roads ministry, which could not prove how it spent Sh889.6 million.

Others are Foreign Affairs (Sh743 million), Internal Security (Sh662 million), Special Programmes (Sh408 million) and Lands (Sh196 million). The report also lists Information and Communication (Sh59 million), Industrialisation (Sh90 million), Office of the Prime Minister headed by Raila Odinga (Sh59 million), Agriculture (Sh92 million), Finance (Sh10.5 million), Public Works (Sh28.7 million), Home Affairs (Sh3.7 million) and East African Community (Sh2 million).

The amount unaccounted for by Public Health officials is nearly seven times that unaccounted for by the closest culprit — Ministry of Education according to the Audit General’s report-it shows that by June 30, 2010, Education officials had outstanding imprests of Sh76.7 million. The Ministry of Internal Security and Provincial Administration completes the list of the top three ministries that had not accounted for their advances with a bill of Sh63.97 million.

Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta cannot fire his Permanent Secretary for failing audit tests and preparing falsified documents for Parliament because it is a deal, so to other corruption scandals. That is why only one out of 14 accounts has passed the audit test of the total amount of Kshs 714 billion for the two financial years.

Leave alone the year between1990 to 1993 when $600 million to $850 million “went missing. Olusegun Obsanjo, Nigeria’s former president estimates that just a few African strongmen now sit atop cash deposits of more than $20 billion in Swiss banks. This was about the same time more than $12 billion of Nigeria’s public funds went missing in recent years and is still unaccounted for.

This is not to mention a Sh251 billion mathematical error in the 2011-2012 Budget which Parliament’s Budget Committee has been alerted about. They were also notified notified of a repayment plan for a non-existent fertiliser factory, in which Sh1.2 billion would be paid out to an Austrian firm over the next three financial years.

It is against the background that the overall inflation rate has risen by 10.11 percentage points in seven months hitting 15.53 per cent in July 2011 up from 5.42 pc in January 2011. The rate stood at 14.49 per cent in June 2011 accordiding to the statistics released by Kenya National Bureau of Statistics for July 2011- Consumer Price Index increased by 1.27 per cent from 120.91 percent in June to 122.44 per cent in July.

It explains why the average price of a 2kg packet of sifted maize flour rose from Sh130 in June to Sh136 in July. Sugar price rose by 19.43 per cent from an average of Sh102.95 per kilogram in June to Sh122.38 in July.

Currently most Kenyans have experienced the pain of electricity rationing due to insufficient infrastructure, a relentless drought, and unusually high prices for petrol. According to Kenya Power, the country is facing a shortfall of between 70MW and 90MW at peak hours (6.30pm to 9.30pm), when most domestic consumers switch on electricity.

Arap Moi for example has been accused of using part of this money to fuel ethnic cleansing in October 1991 where a gang of youths -said to be from the Kalenjin ethnic group, armed with spears and machetes -attacked members of the Luo ethnic group living at Meitei farm in the south Nandi district of the Rift Valley Province.

In these attacks, thirty houses were burnt and some 4 000 people were left homeless. In November and December, fighting between the Luo and Kalenjin extended to Western and Nyanza Provinces, and in the process drew in members of the Luyhia and Kikuyu ethnic groups.

During the course of the December 1992 elections, there was a lull in fighting after which conflict restarted and escalated, now encompassing the Molo, Narok, Pokot, Londiani, Elburgon and Burnt Forest areas of the Rift Valley. The perpetrators of this latest violence expanded to include the Maasai and Pokot ethnic groups.

These attacks were aimed primarily at the Kikuyu. After another lull in fighting, there was renewed violence in March 1994. The Kalenjin again fought with the Kikuyu in the Rift Valley and Burnt Forest areas. This was followed by the forced eviction of Kikuyu by the Maasai in the Enoospukia region. In 1995, in the Mai Mahiu area of Naivasha, fighting broke out that left 300 000 people displaced. The violence that characterised the first elections was to be repeated on a greater scale in 1997, the year of the second multiparty elections.

Eyewitness accounts say that these were actually not gangs, but trained militia. Some of the gangs were calling themselves the Kaya Bombo after the forest where local people say they have witnessed groups of young men undergoing weapons training. Similar activities around the Similaini caves were also reported.

There were two major reasons why Moi had to drive away non Kalenjins from Rift Valley-one was to do away with Kibaki Democratic Party (DP) followers, majority of whom being Kikuyus-secondly it was to do with land dispute, where after non Kalenjins had been driven away it would remain for Kalenjins.

Luos, Luhyia and Kisii were to be driven away because they either supported Ford Kenya, DP or Ford People. That is why the Luhya, Kikuyu, and Kisii were greatly affected, their houses burnt, property looted, many displaced until today whereas some were killed. It explains why ethnic clashes raged in the Nzoia, Kericho and Kisumu Districts.

This was in March 1992 when the reports of ethnic violence become commonplace in the press. The Kalenjin Assistant Minister Kipkalia Kones had just declared Kericho District a KANU zone and stated that the Kalenjin youth in the area had declared war on the Luo community in retaliation for several Kalenjins killed in earlier violence. In the Chemichimi (the Bungoma District), the Kalenjin attacked the Luhya community.

Although the government accused the opposition parties of fueling the violence through Libyan-trained recruits, according to a parliamentary committee report of September 1992, senior government officials had been involved in training and arming Kalenjin warriors to attack villages and drive away non-Kalenjin ethnic groups from the Rift Valley, Western, and Nyanza Provinces.

The same year new clashes broke out between the Kisii and the Maasai while fighting continued to rage in the Bungoma District between the Kalenjin and the Luhya. In the Bungoma District alone, 2,000 people were displaced and 60 killed. Victims in the Molo Division report seeing 4 government helicopters bringing arrows to Kalenjin attackers and that out of uniform soldiers are fighting along side the Kalenjin.

The Kanu Secretary-General Joseph Kamotho publicly admitted in April 1993 that the Maasai were part of a 3,000 strong youth squad recruited by the Kanu to repress opposition supporters. Kamotho later recanted and denied the reports when Moi challenged him.

But as Moi denied any any trained worriors, in August 1993 it was reported that about 300 Kalenjin warriors attacked the Molo area of the Nakuru District, displacing hundred of Kikuyus. The Kalenjin burnt more than 200 houses belong to Kikuyus, but the local police took no action because they were instructed to do so.

This was about the same time fighting also occurred between the Kalenjin and the Kikuyu in the Burnt Forest area near Eldoret and Uasin Gishu Districts. 15,000 Kikuyus and Luhya fled the area as hundreds of Kalenjin warriors killed, looted and burnt their homes.

Two months later it was reported that an estimated 500 Maasai warriors attacked an area, Enosupukia (Narok District), south of the security operation zones, burning houses of Kikuyu farmers and uprooting 30,000 Kikuyus.

On April 9, 1996 Kanu parliamentarian Kipruto arap Kirwa, had disappeared after he launched a verbal attack against President Moi for fuelingand sponsoring the ethnic violence in Rift Valley. Those days when you opposed Moi either you were detained, tortured or assassinated.

Other things Kirwa accused Moi of was stifling alternative views in Kanu and of being undemocratic. The following month-May 3, 1996 Kenya’s Daily Nation reported that Moi asked the Kalenjin community to remain united as their solidarity in Kenya’s ruling party will be the basis of their future political survival. This was meant to silence the Kalenjins who were opposed to him.

Given that for the ethnic Kalenjins of Kenya’s Rift Valley, the red, iron-rich soil is something worth fighting for, and many still resent the ‘invasion’ of other ethnic groups who bought coffee and tea plantations left after British colonial rule, reconciliation and healing in Kenya will remain one of the major challenges, unless this was resolved.

Just like 1990’s ethnic clashes were more on land and water, so did the 2007 presidential disputed election. The violence is yet to continue because many Kalenjins believe that Kikuyu whom they refer to as “foreigners” were given unfair advantage to buy tracts of land by the ethnic Kikuyu under Kenya’s first black president.

Mr. William Ruto, who is plagued by a corruption scandal and by investigations into his role in the orchestrated violence that killed 1,200 people and displaced 300,000 after the disputed Dec. 27, 2007, elections, is now at the center of an investigation by the Internationa Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague.

During the attack, perpetrators forced Kibaki’s PNU supporters inside the Kiambaa Church. The perpetrators poured fuel on the Church and mattresses, which were used to block the doors. They then set the Church on fire, killing between 17 and 35 men, women, children, elderly, and the disabled trapped inside or attempting to flee. As those inside the church attempted to flee, attackers chased them, hacking to death those that they could catch.

According to ICC Proscutor Mr Moreno-Ocampo Mr Ruto and Mr Kosgey led the network in preparing meetings, raising money to buy weapons (guns, grenades and ammunition), paying the perpetrators and rewarding them for every single PNU supporter killed. It is part of the evidence that Mr Moreno-Ocampo on Monday handed over to the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber to support his accusation against the three over the violence that followed the disputed December 2007 presidential election results.

The ICC prosecutor argues that Mr Ruto headed the political and military sections, while Mr Kosgey deputised and acted as the boss in his absence. “The network had a military component consisting of former members of the Kenyan military and police. In 2007, the Military Component advised Ruto on logistics, obtained weapons, identified financial resources, and mobilised direct perpetrators”, Ocampo charged.

“In 2006 and 2007, the Network also had a Military Structure that included three “Commanders” or “Generals” (Commanders), all of whom reported to Ruto or Kosgey,” he says in the report. He says that under Mr Ruto were three commanders in Nandi Hills, Central Rift and South Rift. “Ruto was the head of the Military Component.

The attackers targeted Turbo Town, which they said was inhabited mostly by Kikuyus and the greater Eldoret area (Kiambaa, Yamumbi, Huruma, Kimumu and Langas), Kapsabet Town, and Nandi Hills Town.

“The organisational policy of the network was to punish and expel from the Rift Valley those perceived to support PNU, namely, Kikuyu, Kamba and Kisii civilians; and to gain power and create a uniform ODM voting block,” the prosecutor says.

Mr Moreno-Ocampo also describes how the attackers planned and executed the attack on the Kenya Assemblies of God church in Kiambaa in which more than 30 people, including children, were killed according to media report.

People for Peace in Africa (PPA)
P O Box 14877
Nairobi
00800, Westlands
Kenya
Tel 254-20-4441372
Website: www.peopleforpeaceafrica.org

Kenya: Bumper crop harvesting in some parts of Luo-Nyanza but “The Ocampo Six Famine” still bites

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News Analysis By Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City.

THERE is bumper harvesting of new food grains in some parts of Luo-Nyanza, and the arrival of new maize from the field I expected to reduce the prices f the same to an affordable proportion.

The relief of pressure of acute food shortage in the region is expected to be last only a few weeks, because the crop failure is widespread, most in low-lying locations along the shoreline of Lake Victoria.

The most biting famine which has since been christened “The Ocampo Six” is likely to continue until December. This will depend on how the short rains, which begin in late August and early September, will behave.

“The Ocampo Six” had sent the price of food grain sky rocketing from the previous Kshs 20/ per 2 kg of maize up to Kshs 160/- two kilograms in some regions. The situation is aggravated by the refusal of the neighboring Tanzania to allow its maize to be exported into Kenya.

Apart from banning the import of maize through the normal borders posts, some unscrupulous traders have since resorted to using parts of unguarded Lake Victoria and other “Panya Routes” in the villages, but the quantities which comes via such illicit routes are quite insignificant and cannot help the situation.

Crop failure is wide spread in places like Kano Plains, Nyakach, Karachuonyo, Lambwe Valley, Homa-Bay, Mbita, Gwassi and Nyatike constituencies. On the northern parts the crops failure covered areas like Raried, Alego-Usonga,Ugenya and part of Kisumu Rural constituencies.

In the upper parts of South Nyanza in areas like Kasipul-Kabodo, Rangwe, Rongo, Awendo Uriri ,Migori and Kuria there is bumper harvest. But fear persists that the grain would not last longer due to the scourge of “Ocampo Six” famine, which the locals says is the worst in the 21st century and only compare with two other previous famine “Nyaldiema and Nyngweso” of the 1920s and 1936.

Some older and still surviving Luos still remember other famine like” Ladhiri {1943} and Chung’ni Kimiyi{1961} and Ke Mau Mau of 1953. However, all acknowledged that the “Ocampo Six” will go down as the most biting famine in modern history of the region.

Other region which is reported to have received bumper harvest is Trans-Nzoia and parts of Kuria.

The poor harvest in some parts of Western Kenya is attributed to the supplies of irrelevant maize seedling by prepared by some unscrupulous and unprofessional seed companies, which have sprung up like mushroom in recent years. Also in the business re conmen, know to be using logos and container of the much efficient Kenya Seed Company based in Kitale town in Trans-Nzoia County.

The harvest is nearly 100 per cent better in Ndhiwa district, which of late has become the bastion o food in the greater Southern Nyanza.

Gwassi district which usually known as the bastion of grains in Suba region has witnessed a total crop failure, a making the situation in the two islands of Rusinga and Mfangano even worse.

Another bastion of food production is Uyoma in Rarieda.In some places it rained a lot flogging the crop field, or it rained less and insufficient to support the crop.The situation varied due to the climate change in the region.

Politicians and community leaders in the region have appealed to the peasant farmers to plant roots yielding crops such as cassava and sweet potatoes to avert further deterioration of the famine.

Among them is Nyatike MP Edick Omondi Anyanga and Karachuonyo MP Eng. James Rege. The two legislators have appealed to their constituents to make good use of the short rains by planting cassava and sweet potatoes in places where the two crop could grow and flourish.

Ends

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Kenya: Bumper crop harvesting in some parts of Luo-Nyanza but “The Ocampo Six Famine” still bites