MOMBASA COUNTY GOVERNMENT TO IMPROVE HYGIENE AND SANITATION

The hygiene and sanitation standards for 80,000 school children in Mombasa is set to raise, the Mombasa county’s executive member  for water, Environment and Natural resources, Ms Fatma Awale, has said.
 

Speaking to the press on Thursday Ms Awale said that the county government has set aside Ksh.110 million to ensure all public Early Childhood Development centres and primary schools in the county receive both water and proper ablution blocks relative to the student’s population.

“This will greatly reduce the prevalence of communicable diseases that have been ailing our children and affecting their studies”, said Awale

The announcement follows the receiving of a 2billion grant to improve water and distribution networks in the county. 

The grant came from two donors ;the World Bank group through the Water Security and Climate Resilience Program and the Royal Dutch Government through Vitens Evides. According to Awale the two donors gave Ksh. 1.3 billion and 704 million respectively.

Targeting to complete 100,000 new water connections within two years the grant will significantly impact the lives of over half a million people.

Part of the funding will be utilized in facilitating water connections in low income areas such as Likoni, Changamwe, Jomvu and Kisauni.  Another portion of the funding will be set aside for capacity building and the turnaround of Mombasa Water and Sewerage Company.

“These efforts will not only ensure availability of water to all corners of the county but also is in preparation to absorb the 100,000 cubic meter of water that will be supplied daily upon completion of Mwache Dam”, Said Fatma.

According to Awale the project is in line with Governor Hassan Joho’s vision in providing Mombasa residents with drinking water by the end of 2016.

THE PLIGHT OF STATELESS KENYA MOZAMBIQUE CITIZEN

The sun is setting fast. Soon darkness will be here. Zuileta  Sumenya is worried about what is in store for her tonight. As she quickly gets home she is praying that the night will swiftly end without any crackdown for aliens by the police. 

60 years old Zulieta is one of the more than 40,000 migrants whose parents were brought in by white settlers from Mozambique in the early 1950s to work in sisal plantations and do not have Identity Cards.

“I was born and brought up in Kenya got married here and have children and grand children and know any other place to call home”, laments Zulieta  an elderly woman of the Makonde community at the South Coast of Kenya.

This community has continued to be discriminated by consequents government since independence as aliens because they lack any form of identification documents that can allow them be employed and live freely in the country.

They cannot own property or even operate bank accounts and have to do with informal manuals jobs to earn their living. They dig swallow holes to hide the little money they have. A risk practice as rats chew their  hard earned notes from time to time.

Although their children have gone to school and completed Form 4, they cannot pursue higher education nor get employment.

“I have completed Form 4 but whenever we go looking for jobs we are turned away because we did not have National ID cards”, said Lukas sauti at Makongeni in Msambweni Kwale County.

Zulieta says apart from lack of jobs they are frequently harassed by Police when they conducted raids to flush out aliens.

She continues to say most of the times they are arrested and taken to court and jailed. Thereafter they are taken to the migration post at Lungalunga to be deported.

Those like her who are luckily not deported remain at the Migration post and when they are finally released returned to their homes.

“Since we did not have any money we were forced to do odd jobs to get our fare back”, she says tears evident in her eyes.

Zulieta is now asking  the government to consider their plight and treat them as citizens and issue them with ID cards so that they could live normal lives.

A statement that was echoed by 76 years old Generali Daniel  who was among those brought in from Mozambique, now in his prime age pleads passionately with the government to issue their children with National Identity Cards.

“One is required to present an ID card of his parents in order to be registered as a Kenyan citizen”, said Daniel adding that it is impossible for their children to get identification cards now that they themselves were not issued with identity cards.

His plea to the government to be recognized as Kenyan citizens as they were promised by the founding father of the Nation Mzee Jomo Kenyatta at independence in 1963.

Daniel says he fears for his community at this time of worsening security environment in the country that they could be victimized during crackdown on aliens like it happened to Somali community at Eastleigh in Nairobi.

MAKONDE MAZITO YAMUA MWANA NDONDI, ALIYEMCHARAZA AACHA NDONDI

Mwana  dondi wa kike kutoka afrika kusini amega dunia kutokana na uzito wa makonde yaliyomwangukia katika mechi aliyoshiriki wiki mbili zilizopita.
 

Phindle Mwelesa, mwenye umri wa miaka 31, alitangazwa kuwa hali mahututi baada ya mechi dhidi ya Liz Butler, aliyemshinda kwa njia ya knock out.

Mwalase ni mwanaspoti wa tatu kuaga dunia chini ya wiki tatu nchini Afrika kusini. 

Miongonimwa waliofariki ni kipa wa  timu ya taifa hilo ambaye pia alikuwa ni nahodha, hii ni baada ya kupigwa risasi na majambazi alipokuwa katika nyumba ya mpenziwe usiku wa jumapili iliyopita. Naye bingwa wa dunia wa mbio za mita 800, Mbulaeni Mulauzi alifariki katika ajali mbaya ya barabarani siku ya ijumaa.

Kulingana na mitandao ya Afrika kusini Liz Butler amehuzunishwa sana na kifo cha Mwalesa na ameapa kutoshiriki pigano lengine lolote maishani.

12 WALIOKWAMA LIBERIA KURUDI NCHINI

Wakenya 12 waliokwama katika nchi ya Liberia watarejea nchini usiku tarehe 28 Oktoba. Hii ni kulingana na waziri wa afya nchini.

Hata hivyo Kumi na mbili hao ambao ni watoto wane na watu wazima wanane, hawataruhusiwa kukutana na familia zao kwa zaidi ya masaa sita ili kuchunguzwa na kubainika ikiwa wana virusi vya Ebola.

PRESIDENT UHURU IN PENCIL

Kenya is indeed a country endowed with creative people and talent. Being a creative writer myself i have fallen in love with kenyan writers and more so the artist that come up with amazing ideas everyday. It is this quest to satisfy my ever increasing thirst for art that i came across this master piece.

Kwa kutumia PENCIL kijana mdogo mjini Kisumu amchora rais @UKenyatta. Nambari yake 0711765824. Kazi kwako @OleItumbi