Dispatch from Mombasa

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...

A drug addict injects himself with drugs Source: www.kenyancollective.com Recently, the coast of Kenya and particularly Mombasa witnessed heightened activity on what police claimedwas a major crackdown on drug traffickers. The crackdown ended up in total embarrassment as police did not make any major arrest and even those they arrested were released by the courts for the lack of evidence. At one time, the Mombasa County Police Commander Johnstone Ipara was seen briefing the media bragging how they had seized three thousand shillings in coins from one of the suspect's houses as if there is any law that prohibits anyone from holding coins. This must have been the most kneejerk reaction to combating drugs that I have ever come across and from the outset it was doomed to fail. Let me state why. I have lived in the coast of Kenya for the last two decades and I can attest that since getting here, there is nothing that grips the people of Pwani than talk about drugs popularly r...

Music fans in Eldoret went berserk when a Tanzanian artist failed to show up for a much routes musical concert. Harmonize is the artist behind the local radio anthem Kwangwaru. Disappointed fans started throwing litter the moment they realised Harmonize was no show. Reports indicate that the artist who was in Eldoret may have failed to perform over disagreements on pay. Hawa mapromoter watatuonyesha maneno.. See what the fans did. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10217582251217905&id=1526613181

Farmers drying maize in Eldoret Town Credit: www.businessdailyafrica.com By Judy Matu The revelation by Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri that 60% of maize with a value of over Kshs 9 Billion which was imported last year is unfit for human consumption is both confusing and shocking. That the CS told the Parliamentary Select Committee on Agriculture that the country ordered for only six million bags yet maize cartels imported ten million bags in total contravention of the government's gazette notice is maddening. The revelation brings to the fore issues of national agricultural policy and how efforts of corrupt individuals in government undermine President Uhuru Kenyatta's food security agenda. The food security agenda is one of the four key pillars of Government's development agenda, the others being food security, affordable housing, manufacturing, and affordable healthcare for all. It is unacceptable that the Government is staring at such waste...