Kenya hosts Continental Science Journalists Conference

More than 100 science journalists drawn from different African countries are attending a conference in Nakuru, one of Kenya's cities, about 200 km west of Nairobi.

The conference has a rich menu of themes which deal with among others, food security, technology, climate change, environmental degradation and health.

The conference which kicked off from August 20, 2012 and runs up to 24, was officially opened by the Minister for Higher Education and Technology Prof Margaret Kamar, who emphasized the role of the media in development.

The conference is organized by Media for Environment, Science, Health and Agriculture (MESHA) and in partnership with other organizations, among them, Internews, a US based media organization with an office in Kenya and other countires.

The conference includes field trips around Nakuru to interact with the communities and the local environment.

One of the conference banners

 Some of the participants during a break from the sessions.

Some of the goats bred at KARI Naivasha at a feeding trough

A journalist reaches out to one of the Sahiwal bulls at the KARI Centre in Naivasha. The bulls are modified from a bred initially in Pakistan and India. The two countries are again now importing the bred from Kenya after their own was wiped out during wars

Some of the Journalists during a field trip to Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI)in Naivasha.

 Making hay while the sun shines! These workers at KARI are keen to ensure the livestock have enough to eat.

Seychelles Enduring Allure for Tourists

Located in the expansive Indian Ocean, away from the African Continental land mass and safely away from India, in what must have been a conspiracy by mother nature to isolate it, Seychelles, the archipelago of 115 islands never ceases in its allure to tourists and other visitors.

The expansive sandy beaches in Seychelles

The allure comes out in many forms, from the hard granite rocks protruding from above the greenery of remnants of what evidently was a tropical rain forest, which continues to be conserved jealously, the valleys between the rocky cliffs to the expansive sandy beaches around the islands.

The chipping birds that fly lazily over the sky line, on trees and over the ocean, often sojourning on the roofs of the buildings and the warmth and hospitality of the people add to the picture of an environment that will for along time remain a preferred destination for tourists, most of them the rich and the powerful.

Seychelles, located approximately 1,600 km east of Kenya, has an approximate population of 86,525, the smallest population of any African state and about the population of an average Kenyan constituency represented in parliament by a legislator.

The population is a melting pot of immigrant people and and cultures drawn from the African, Chinese, Indian, and European, mainly of French descent. This diversity is one of the country's strengths but has at certain time and may be in future its Achilles heels if not managed well to sustain the current harmonious co-existence.

An hotel at one of the beaches

The economy is highly dependent on tourism and fishing, two pillars that are very delicate and whose survival and capacity to thrive are dependent on a host of both internal and external factors, sometimes way beyond the ability of the government in Victoria.

But such are the survival streaks of small nations, which has seen Switzerland thrive over the centuries,often within turmoil in Europe.

Talking to various people, one finds a sense of contentment, security and solace in the two economic pillars even when the political and socio-economic environment has been less than assuring. The people believe things will improve and they will "survive". They feel secure and are quick to point out how other countries are unsafe and insecure.

"You come from Kenya?", a trader asked me the other day in the Beau Vallon area. When I replied in the affirmative, the next line was: "You people have too many thieves and every day criminals kill people, Alshabaab planting bombs.... here you can't get such a thing. We are safe!"

Children play on the sand at a beach

Along the beaches, local inhabitants ask you where you are from and you get a stare, not entirely hostile, but as if to make you feel you are in a secure environment, no muggers or other criminals likely to drive a knife into you ribs in street corners in a bid to relieve you of the contents of your wallet or take away your phne and bag.

And I agree with them. For three straight days, I and a workmate from Senegal have walked the streets and the beaches in the evening and at dusk, and I have not seen any suspicious looking characters lurking in the dark behind us. But the people here also retire home early and economic systems shut down early, around 5.30 pm or six. 

Nairobi is a 24 hour economy with many discreet businesses going on throughout the night, and with a population of more than 3 million people, they cannot afford to sleep early or sleep at all.

The other day I was resting in my hotel room in the evening and when I woke up to go to the restaurant for dinner, the hotel staff announced, stiffly, that they had closed. Could I try elsewhere. A walk down the road towards the beach and up towards the hill after the hotel did not yield any different results. I had to be contented with making some coffee in my room. Fortunately, I had had some reasonably grab at the conference lunch.

Dusk approaches at Beau Vallon Beach

Perhaps this "dry evening is a gap, an opportunity" that I am sure our enterprising Kenyan people could utilize to contribute to the tourists in the evening. May be a nyama choma (beaf roasting) joint,  beer den -even up to 11 pm would be great.

But the story of tourism here is a big issue. The other day I saw the Emirates Airline off load hundreds of passengers at the local airport. And shortly after Kenya Airways, bringing in people to enjoy their holiday in the Island.

A couple in Kenya asked me to make inquiries about which hotels offered what packages, apparently they have an appetite for coming on holiday with their children. I am actually gathering brochures and cost fliers to take to my friend and others.

The guests are many and the other day I saw Emirates Airline and Kenya Airways bring in some of the guests who drive the tourist economy.

Seychelles Journalists Trained on Human Rights and Conflict Reporting

Eastern Africa Journalists Association (EAJA) has concluded a three day intensive Human Rights and Conflict Reporting media training workshop for 18 Seychelles Journalists near the northern beach resort of Beau Vallon on Mahe Island, a few kilometers from Victoria, the capital city.

Participants pose for a group photograph during the workshop

The workshop, which brought together senior journalists from different media outlets and other key media personalities from different institutions, was aimed at building the capacity of the county's journalists to effectively handle human rights and conflict reporting.      

The workshop was the last in a series of others organized by EAJA since March this year with support from the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Union (EU). Other countries covered under this project include Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Sudan and Somalia.

Speaking during the opening session of the workshop on Monday August 6, 2012, EAJA Regional Coordinator, Press Freedom Coordinator William Oloo said the training was aimed at building the skills of a cadre of journalists in the Eastern Africa Region with a passion for reporting human rights and conflicts.

"This project was conceived in response to the realization that the Eastern Africa Region continues to experience many serious conflicts which have in turn led to human rights violations, including on media freedom," he said. 

He said it was important for journalists to effectively play their role of information gathering and dissemination by deliberately focusing on exposing human rights violations while at the same reporting on any emerging conflicts sensitively.

Larrey Chetty

The Secretary of the Seychelles Media Commission Larrey Chetty said more local journalists needed to be exposed to new skills adding that the country faced a shortage of well trained journalists at a time when the media environment was growing.

Mamoune Sene of the IFJ Africa Office in Dakar, Senegal, said there was growing recognition on the need to continuously build the capacity of journalists to report accurately about the many challenges facing the different African countries.He said IFJ would continue supporting such training initiatives in the region.

During the three day workshop, the participants were taken through key concepts of human rights conflicts and practical ways of writing credible stories that could spur interventions from government agencies and other organizations in addressing human rights and conflicts.

Participants chat during a break from the training sessions.

The participants noted that the media in the country had not done much in the coverage of human rights due to a repressive past which had made journalists fearful of antagonizing the government and other powerful forces within the country.

The fear of media owners, which included both the government and various political parties, continued to undermine media freedom, creating a culture of self censorship among journalists, leading shallow or little coverage of many forms of violations.

During the workshop, the participants explored various forms of human rights violations and conflicts within the country including the restrictive political environment and the rivalries between political parties, concerns over land ownership and access, social and religious tensions, which though not so open, could explode in future if not managed well.

The key challenges identified included the poor management of the country's economic resources, the weak governance structures, external threats posed by pirates in the Indian Ocean increasing environmental and climate change effects that could threaten the country's lucrative fishing and tourist industries on which the country's economy was dependent.

The restrictive policy and legal media regime was seen as a threat to media freedom and a freedom of expression with some of the participants dismissing as inconsequential and non participatory some of the consultative processes that had been initiated by the government to reform media laws.

EAJA will in September organize another capacity building training workshop, this time round focusing on the safety and security of journalists.

Technological Initiative Scaling up citizens Demands for Service Delivery in Kenya

An initiative that creates a platform for citizens to voice their concerns and demand improved service delivery in Kenya is already creating a lot of impact in getting leaders and government officers. 

The initiative dubbed HUDUMA, is a citizens initiative of Social Development Network

(SODNET) in partnership with USHAHIDI, UN Millennium Campaign and Twaweza.

The goal of the strategy is to contribute to the improvement of service delivery by providing simple technology/media based tools and channels to amplify citizens concerns, displeasure, complaints, or suggestions on their perceptions on service delivery by duty bearers.

Huduma intends to nurture more vibrant a more vibrant citizenry that is able to make demands for improved service delivery, more accountability and robust democratization process through increased grassroots participation.

The channels allow citizens to to report a number of issues or complaints e.g lack of water, medicines, potholes,, lack of teachers, to an huduma channel, mostly an SMS number (3018). The conversation, including feedback, are managed through the huduma channels.

                                                                  Sodnet Executive Director Prof Edward Oyugi speaks at the Capacity Building Workshop on the Huduma initiative in Nairobi.

The initiative initially focused on  six counties, namely Nairobi-Langata, Muranga, Bungoma, Kisumu and Pokot, but it has now expanded to other areas of Kenya and is currently being scaled up in other countries. In each country, the action will work with professional groups as a means of verifying citizens demands. 

The initiative has already began to create demands for improved service delivery and has been attracting participation from different areas of the country from citizens who are keen to voice concerns.This has been witnessed in Langata in Nairobi and in other regions where those in authority have been able to respond to citizens queries.

As part of the efforts to up scale it in Kenya and in the Eastern Africa Region, SODNET has recently organized a capacity building workshop which drew participants from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Ethiopia at Nairobi's Methodist Guest House , on December 2-3, 2011.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Some of the participants at the workshop. The blogger, Oloo Janak checks the information about Huduma.

The issue of service delivery is big and increasingly, citizens are looking for ways to amplify their voices and this technology will prove useful in getting citizens to direct their complaints.

End//

TUJU's encounter at Kondele in Kisumu: A publicity Stunt?

Many people in social sites and in the mainstream media concur on the need to not only condemn the recent violence against presidential aspirant, Raphael Tuju in Kisumu but to stop undue linkage of such acts with Raila or any other person without evidence. I do not know who the stone throwers were who disrupted Tuju's campaign raly.

The point however is that Tuju chose to go to Kondele and not any other part of Kisumu or Nyanza with full knowledge about how the crowds there often behave. The same Kondele crowds often tell off Raila in some instances. Many politicians who go courting them have rich experiences with the youths in Kisumu and elsewhere.

A section of Kisumu City, Kenya

Many young people and most stakeholders in Kisumu Town and Nyanza appreciate the need to keep violence out of politics and more so in Kisumu and many people within the Youth Movement in Nyanza have done much towards managing the youths positively, a process that continues.


There are moments when some of us have also had to ask some of those who fault Raila to restrain themseves from merely falling into the band wagon of those who want to be seen as standing up against  Raila, so to speak. This was the case when some of us felt there was no need to organize the youths to heckle Raila or hold placards on the day the PM was visiting Kisumu with some benefactor who wanted to aid a school in some slum. 

Raila is not infallible and neither is he impermeable to ideas and opinions and there are many people who have successfully reached him and influenced or offered opinion to help change his thinking about things, with positive results.

What I disagree with is the undue pre-occupation with Raila in everything even when this is unwarranted. Indeed as David Makali noted recently in an opinion article in The Star, anybody who wants some publicity or popularity or media coverage must pour vitriol on Raila. I notice this pre-occupation often in these forums and I have always said there are many presidential candidates who we should discuss and seek to mercilessly interrogate as we do Raila.

But to elevate Raila to a demi-god against whom all others must be measured and from whom the very highest standards must be sought or the heaviest demands be made, is to be deceitful. I have even written about the futility of any politician, especially from Nyanza campaigning on the platform of "finishing" or "taming" the Odinga dynasty as missing the point because the problems of Nyanza cannot be laid at the step of Odingaism per se, if we were to be honest.

I have said elsewhere that Tuju or any other person from Nyanza need not be politicians, MPs or be presidents to help change Nyanza for the better. Let's learn to make a contribution to the betterment of Nyanza from the humble positions and modest resources that we have because there is space for all of us.

I have not seen anybody trying to make a honest effort to change Nyanza running into any problems. But grandiose ideas about pulling Raila down or finishing the Odinga dynasty -like it or not, are often treated with the kind of reaction that met Tuju and you have a practical experience in that area.

Let us take the case of Cyprian Awiti formerly of Marie Stopes Clinic. He has done some commendable development work, helping through harambees etc without necessarily attempting to antagonize the Luo community or making it his trade mark to make Raila his punching bag. He has no problems.


The reality is that Kenya is composed of ethnic nationalities that largely still guard their own or show greater loyalty to their own leaders - all the communities. The Luos have acquired undue prominence due to their population and history in national politics from the 1950s through to the present time. The Kalenjin are gravitating around Ruto now yet we don't see this bravado being displayed against him or the lampooning of the Kalenjin community as "following him like sheep", Uhuru the same etc.

On the media, it is true there are biases due to a variety of factors including ownership, ethnicity, and uninformed opinions and stereotypes and generalizations over the years. Why is it that the Luo are portrayed in the media as the most prone to HIV/AIDS as if other communities do not die of the scourge? Why is the media hyping the whole question of the "ter -calling it wife inheritance-instead of the proper term of widow guardianship, or carry campaigning for the circumcision among the Luo and not so much among the Turkana, Teso or others?  Who owns the media that stereotype the Luo as lazy, violent or blind or bewitched followers of Raila?

The politics of media ownership is as a thing many of you from Nyanza who have been leaders, continue to be or aspire to be,have never taken seriously and the manipulation of public opinion by those who own the instruments of mass communication will continue to make the community begin to recoil into self blame as is now emerging, sadly even among the elite.

How come enterprising monied people from Nyanza have never thought about serious investment in the media or joint partnership yet they are the largest consumers? Cut off the Nyanza and Western Province Media consumers and the media in this country will virtually be dead! Is this area of investment also being blocked by Raila's dominance of Nyanza politics? His name sells, why has no Nyanza Enterprise used it effectively to create jobs or create a sustainable media venture?

The media the world over is not non partisan or objective. That is not possible. Indeed there is nothing wrong with the media taking positions, but in many countries, US, UK, etc, it is based on ideology or interests other than ethnicity. What is demanded of the media is fair play so that even as they take a certain stand, they should also give space to the other side to either make their point ore reply to any claims made against them and even then, they are not obliged to give equal coverage or opportunity to all the contesting sides. The media may have a social role but it is basically business with big players including politicians. How come Royal media stole the very soul of the Luo community by naming one of its media outlets, _Ramogi (the Luo Patriarch), kar chuny Jaluo- and often uses the outlet to stereotype the community,  without anybody protesting against such insult.

Look at the opinion polls, which are basically commissioned by interests both within the media and political class. They never do the polls on their own volition, it is at the behest of a client, most of them anonymous and they will, using the partisan media, begin to play up certain positions to build scenarios that will breed violence by raising false hopes here or dashing them at the same time.

Kenya Correspondents Association members, the journalists spread across the country- are operating within certain circumstances, both influenced by their employers and also their communities. There are many cases of violence or political intolerance in many parts of this country but those regions have effective gatekeepers within the media who ensure issues from those regions are not overly blown out of proposition, Kisumu and Nyanza have no such effective gatekeepers and the region must continue making news, mostly negatively.

I will give you one case. A minor incident between some few boda boda operators in Kisumu slightly more than a year ago occurred at Kondele in which they burnt a tyre. Because it was Kisumu, the incident was played on national television for a whole day during prime time news with the slant that Kisumu had predictably erupted into violence again!

That afternoon, more than 200 people, among them tourists who were due to fly to Kisumu cancelled their flights and hotel bookings -afraid of the violence. What was the cost to the economy of Kisumu and Nyanza? How many cases of violence occur in Nairobi or other towns including police shootings of alleged criminals etc and these never feature as much as any incident in Kisumu?

The authorities in Nairobi were frantically calling the police and the provincial administration in Kisumu over this eruption of violence to which the Kisumu authorities  genuinely expressed surprise as the magnitude of the so called violence was so negligible that the police at Kondele patrol, base had dealt with it when it occurred and sorted out the disagreement between the bod aboda operators early mid morning!

Kisumu residents were equally perplexed that TV stations were running "violence" footage of tyre burning in Kondele when the streets were clear and people were going about their business normally.

If as people from Nyanza, using whatever media, build a negative belief and opinions about the people, leaders and the region, it will stick. Remember the old Luo adage about "Ng'ama ketho gire konye ketho!

I am sure I have taken a disappointingly radical but realistic view of things and I dare invite all of us to discuss openly the question of ethnicity and the challenge of national cohesion/nation building. I know of many Luos who are trying to run away from their "Luoness", to appear more nationalistic, partly out of selfishness and deceit or naively thinking that other communities will appreciate them mre and tell them that "look, you are more liberated that the rest of the more undemocratic Luo who follow Raila like sheep".

Oginga Odinga Street, Kisumu.

We have heard such comments before and for some of us, it does not make us recoil into self blame or make us attempt to appear good as defined by other people. There are people who even say Luos are only fit in the opposition and expect Raila to ditch the Grand Coalition for the Opposition benches.

 Youth in Migori during a police recruitment process. 

Dare suggest that Raila and his Luos have played the role of opposition long enough and now is the turn for any other community to fit into that shoes and vigorously perform the watchdog role. You will see them coming up with excuses or some other spurious arguments.

Kajiado seething with anger over fraudulent land deals

It is not clear if the mapping the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) did on the so called "County Hotspots" included Kajiado but there is enough resentment to classify it as a hot spot. The Maasai feel besieged and overrun by other communities, especially the Kikuyu.

They are are alive to the fact that they welcomed them and other communities over the years and even sold land willingly. But they are angry at the levels of fraudulent land purchase processes by cartels, among government officers, ranging from the Provincial administration, lands and survey departments and their agents who take advantage of them.

They are also unhappy with some of their own kinsmen, especially the ones managing the ranches and conservancies who have also perpetrated fraud on them, often refusing to be transparent in their management of the resources or seeking to benefit from the subdivision of the plots.

During a recent forum at Loitoktok attended by about 40 stakeholders drawn from the entire county, it was clear the people are seething with anger over cases of what they say are arm twisting  and  plain fraud being visited on them by land buying cartels.

"If you want to sell 50 acres, the land registrar and a chain of people involved in processing the purchase will add another 50 acres behind your back in his name, friends or "clients" and before you know it, you have lost a huge chunk of your land!," said one of the participants, bitterly.

They claimed some of the government officer look at Kajiado as "a gold mine" and often resist or quash transfers to other region because of the bounties of this county. The level of economic colonization by non Maasai is just beginning to sink in and with it is emerging political control, sometimes, overtly through the sponsorship of weak Maasai candidates or those who are less likely to openly advocate for Maasai interests.

The forum, organized by Freidrich Ebert Foundation in partnership with the Kenya Correspondents Association explored issues of national cohesion, conflict mitigation, resource mapping and investment for the new county with the focus of diffusing the simmering ethnic tensions.

There is a silent revolution among the Maasai over the land question born out of these bitter experiences and they have began to quietly plan how to counter what they believe is injustice from which their numerous attempts to get help have often hit brick wall due to the power and influence of those involved.

Key issues discussed included mapping and developing strategies to utilize or exploit the resources such as land, wildlife and tourism, livestock, sand, Magadi soda and other minerals, improvement of infrastructure, planning the towns, improvement of education and enhancing citizens participation.

Kajiado residents are opposed to the expansion of Nairobi to cover some parts of thecounty and Nairobi  better be prepared to negotiate this within the context of any development plans that the Nairobi Metropolitan Ministry and other agencies may design.

Quite clearly, the communities that have settled among the Maasai must be alive to the undercurrents and begin to engage and not brandish the constitution as their"shield and defender"in their unmitigated thirst for Massai land and other resources, including the increasing political hegemony that has began to so rankle the Maa community.

Indeed NCIC and other players have a job in their hands to manage the delicate relations between communities here and other multi-ethnic counties in the count down to the implementation of devolution. It would be foolhardy to create counties purely for certain communities but immigrant communities have no choice but to also behave with decorum and manage their relations with the host communities.

Migori County: A Kuria shares his experience at the hands of fellow Kuria people

In our continuing updates on how the Kuria Community has scaled up demands for county seats, new interesting angles are emerging. Interviews with various Kuria leaders reveal that the claims about the community issuing demands on the sharing of county seats is not a shared feeling among members of the community. Many Kuria leaders and ordinary people are keen to develop consensus and the spirit of give and take through dialogue which has been going on since October 2010. But there will always emerge those pushing for hard positions. 

A Kuria peace practitioner had a rude shock when he attended a meeting convened by fellow Kuria people. Discrimination, it appears, will go very deep in the county and for the Kuria, the clan factor will be a headache, both for the community and the entire county. George Chacha shares his experience below:   

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"A meeting was called, for purportedly Kuria leaders. It was expected to focus on devolution, chapter 11 of the new constitution. I marshaled all my resources and training; acquired from the numerous workshops that I had attended before, and the experience and understanding that I had cultivated in the dynamic political sphere both at local and national levels.

I sauntered into the conference hall at the Border Point Hotel trying to keep time.
Finding a handful of participants, I selected my seat and sunk into the comfort of the premises.

I was called outside and asked who invited me, to which I responded that a Kuria lady, Jane Moronge, in Nairobi had asked me to represent her as she could not make it home.

"This is a meeting meant for only the leaders from the BAKIRA CLAN! I am sorry there seems to be some mix-up. Kindly just greet the participants and...sorry just leave",said the usher.

I was tongue-tied!I just couldn't find words to respond; me, a Kuria being discriminated by my fellow Kurias just because I belong to another clan, a Mugumbe and not a Mukira? Oh no!

I went inside, took to the floor, and said; "I am sorry, that I seem to have gate-crushed a meeting not meant for all. I am sorry that I am a black sheep in the midst of white sheep. I wish you well and bye", I said; very hurt and concerned. Concerned that the Kurias have been echoing fears that the Luos will discriminate against them, marginalize them and have no time and space for them. Yet they can do exactly that to those they perceive as being not of their group. What a shame! In that meeting there were people with degrees; some with big appointments. How can someone of such a character stoop too low!

Later it emerged that this was a meeting meant to ensure that this particular clan clinches the top county positions! Talk of devolution, and there is very wrong understanding; that devolution also means devolving clan/ethnic identities to as far as possible.

On whose behalf were they negotiating for the positions?

Now I know how Rose Parker (a black American) felt when she was asked in public bus to give the seat to a white man during those dark moments of the American History.

With my resource of perceived ID, my passion for one united county and rich training acquired with support from the EU through KAS, I walked out, though not having taught/shared anything but having learned so much about 'my people', for free and within such a short time- a record 7 minutes!

What an experience!
CRY OH MY BELOVED KENYA; A HOME FOR SO MANY YET ONLY FOR FEW."