Dispatch from Mombasa

A number of African heads of state and governments among them Kenya’s President Uhuru will be attending the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties famously referred to as COP-26 which begins on Monday 1st -12th November 2021 in Glasgow Scotland.   The conference brings parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change which was adopted by 196 Parties at COP-21 in Paris, on 12 December 2015. The overall goal of the agreement was to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.  To achieve this long-term temperature goal, countries aimed to reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible to achieve a climate neutral world by mid-century. The Paris Agreement is a landmark in the multilateral climate change process because of the overreaching effects that climate change has caused rise in temper...

#Reflections  Eliud Kipchoge’s Olympic marathon win had me reflecting about the race of life. First things first. A marathon is not a sprint. Equally the race of life is not a sprint, it is an accumulation of days and years with failures, flows, experiences and successes achieved. A marathon requires adequate preparation, but above all a winning state of mind that keeps saying I can do it. Like Kipchoge, the determination of a winner is written on his face, he has no time for distraction and even if the next athlete were to stumble, the race would not stop. Equally, the race of life for the individual should not be distracted by the numerous challenges. The race of life like that of Kipchoge has many competitors who come in different shapes, sizes, colours and ethnicities. There are external "Ethiopian" competitors who more than everything wants to take the race away from you. There are "Kenyan" family competitors who are also determined to finish the race in c...

Optiven Go Green Awards is calling on all people taking care of he environment to join the newly launched nominations that will be conducted online on www.gogreen.com. Nominations which are expected to take a time of 60 days will cut across 6 essential Sustainable Development Goals (SGD's) which will encompass Farmers, engineers, green building architects, policy markets, Government, City planners, Entrepreneurs, Students amongst others.  George Wachiuri CEO, Optiven George Wachiuri, the chair and Trustee for Optiven Foundation say that as Optiven they have been championing for climate action for a long time they now want to encourage all people across Africa to join hands in helping achieve the SDG's on Clean Water and Sanitation; Affordable and Clean Energy; Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, Sustainable Cities and Communities, Climate Action, Life Below Water, Life on Land, amongst others.  According to Mr Wachiuri the foundation is targeting 2 to 10 million people ...

(DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, June 16th, 2021)   Canon Central and North Africa (CCNA) is inviting film and photography communities across Africa to connect and collaborate. They are excited to announce the first three: SYNC School in Cairo, Egypt; Peexoo, a Nigerian photography hub, and the Photographers’ Association of Kenya (PAK). More are welcome as the global imaging leaders would like to develop creative collaborations in every country in the region. Canon has been a long-standing supporter of film and photography education groups. These relationships can now go deeper by sharing Canon expertise, knowledge and technology, with regular masterclasses, training opportunities, photo booths and competitions. Amine Djouahra, Sales and Marketing Director for Canon   Central & North Africa Canon is committed to build closer ties with its customers and the collaborations are a way to inspire and enrich the next generation of image-makers. “Our mission is to empowe...

Fostering inclusivity through the media 25th November 2020 President Kenyatta shakes hands with ODM leader Raila Odinga in March 2018  Source: Standard Media The Building Bridges Initiative referendum signature collection that was launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta and his handshake brother former Prime Minister Raila Odinga Wednesday seeks to entrench the doctrine of inclusivity as key to addressing Kenya’s perennial election related problems. The BBI taskforce among others identified the challenge of inclusivity as a major challenge facing the country leading to incessant wrangles every election cycle. Despite the existence of constitutional interventions such as devolution, constitutional commissions such as the National Gender and Equality Commission, the National Cohesion and Integration Commission among others, the challenge of attaining desirable levels of inclusivity still abounds. From the outset, the principle of inclusivity is as diverse as the ridges that it s...

When the government announced that Patient Zero and Patient One in the Kenyan Covid-19 Coronavirus pandemic had recovered, a section of Kenyans took to the social media to discredit the reports. Some insisted that the recovered duo had been coached to lie to Kenyans based on what they claimed were glaring inconsistencies in how they got sick, treated and recovered. What later followed was trolling of the patients in total disregard to their mental wellbeing. The apparent lack of trust in government communication at a time when the country is handling the covid-19 pandemic adds to the number of battlefronts that the government has to fight in order to beat the pandemic whose number of patients is increasing exponentially. The government has to on one hand handle a health crisis while on the other is a trust crisis. The Cabinet Secretary for Health Mutahi Kagwe has been praised as just the right man to handle the crisis. He is authoritative, has communicative presence and does not...