Tourism CS Najib Balalan during the reception of contributions towards the Magical Kenya Tembo Naming Festival
Kenya is among hundreds of destinations promoting its tourism products and experiences in this year’s World Travel Market (WTM) being held in London, UK. The is event happening after a two-year long break as a result of covid-19 pandemic that has minimized physical meetings and travels across the globe. The three-day tourism and travel expo which commenced on Monday, November 1, is the premier global event for the travel industry, attracting senior travel industry professionals, government ministers and international press. The event is being held in the halls of Excel, London.
SAFE FOR TRAVEL
Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala who is leading the Kenyan delegation says Kenya is seizing the opportunity to position the destination as ready and safe for travel. “This is an opportunity for us to activate our markets, show our readiness for business in compliance with protocols towards mitigation of Covid-19 pandemic. UK is our key market and Kenya is excited to be part of the countries showcasing in this tourism fair,” said Balala.
WTM, said the CS, has for a long time acted as an avenue to showcase Kenya’s tourism product and share insights of issues concerning tourism in Kenya, Africa and the world at large. “We are glad to be back after a two-year break to leverage this opportunity to not only showcase our tourism offerings and experiences to the world, but also to interact with other tourism players from across the globe and in the process gain great insights on how to better our industry,” said Balala.
The event comes on the back of Kenya’s delisting from the UK Red list which is expected to boost the country’s tourism sector. The UK continues to be one of Kenya’s main tourism source markets. The country received 27,036 from the UK in the period January to September making it the largest contributor of arrivals from Europe. The Kenyan delegation will therefore be looking to leverage the event as the country seeks to lure more visitors from the UK and Europe at large.
KTB CEO, Betty Radier said that they are working towards recovering their tourism numbers from the international market after the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Events like WTM give us an opportunity to understand what travellers are looking out for. The fact that this is one of the international events being held this year physically is an indication that we are heading for the recovery path of global tourism and travel.
“We are also glad that travellers from the UK and the larger Europe can now come to Kenya without much restriction as we continue to scale up covid-19 mitigation measures,” Radier said.
Between January to September this year, Kenya received 27,036 visitors from the UK market marking the largest number of tourists arriving from Europe.
There has been a significant shift in consumer online shopping behavior, with everyday product categories such as fast-moving consumer goods and beauty products noticeably picking up across the continent.
In a new report, e-commerce platform Jumia indicates that the products accounted for 57% of gross merchandise volume in 2020, up from 44% in 2019. Under the same category, phones and electronics, however, dropped marginally, by 43% in 2020, down from 44% posted in 2019.
The ‘Africa E-commerce Index 2021’ reveals that this shift is part of a broader economic transformation led by the continent’s young, urban and tech-savvy population. In terms of best-selling products, the 2-kilogramme sugar pack was the best selling product on Jumia in both 2019 and 2020 in Kenya.
When products were split by the number of products sold, fashion-led at 21%, followed by beauty products at 15%; home and living, digital services and food delivery tied at 12%. The report also notes that fast-moving consumer goods accounted for 10%, while phones, electronics and others accounted for 8%, 7% and 3%, respectively.
According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), internet businesses in Africa, including e-commerce which sits at the heart of the digital economy, could add US$180 billion to the continent’s GDP by 2025. Torbjorn Fredriksson, Head of E-commerce and Digital economy at the organisation, noted that COVID-19 led to a surge in the use of digital solutions, including e-commerce. “This was particularly demonstrated with domestic sales rather than cross-border e-commerce. Food delivery, essentials and pharmaceutical goods were among the top-performing online shopping categories,” he said.
Through the Digital Commerce Program, the partners said they would register and train thousands of businesses to sell online with access to over four million Kenyans that visit the e-commerce platform Jumia every month.
Thursday, 28th October 2021 Nairobi, Kenya: Dr. Kevit Desai, Principal Secretary, Ministry of East African Community and Regional Development of the Republic of Kenya, Mrs. Maureen Mba, Head Mansa Business, Afreximbank, Ms. Emily Waita, EABC Board Director joined by Mrs. Mary Ngechu, EABC Board Director, Mr. John Bosco Kalisa, EABC CEO, Dr. Habil Olaka, Chief Executive Officer, Kenya Bankers Association (KBA), Mr. Victor Ogalo, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), Mr. Samuel Matonda, Chief Executive Officer, Kenya National Chamber of Commerce & Industries (KNCCI), Mr. Job Wanjohi, Head of Policy Research & Advocacy, Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) and Mr. Anders Lindgren Chief Executive Officer, Safal Group officially launched the African Due Diligence Platform in Nairobi, Kenya.
Speaking at the launch, the Chief Guest, Dr. Kevit Desai said “There can be no AfCFTA without the full participation of African economic operators – private-sector players who have to operationalize the agreement.He said the Government of Kenya is keen on supporting businesses to access markets on the African continent and beyond through easing the regulatory framework and promoting exports for industrial, agricultural and services products. On her part, Ms. Emily Waita representing EABC Chairman Mr. Nick Nesbitt said “The Mansa Digital platform is one of the digital tools EABC is rolling out to enable SMEs and Corporates to find new partners to scale up their industries across the continent and support business recovery”. “We salute EAC Heads of State for ratifying the AfCFTA as implementing the agreed commitments is vital to realize the benefits of the 1.2 billion continental market,” said Ms. Waita. She urged the Republic of South Sudan to also ratify the AfCFTA. She said “In 2020 Kenya’s intra-Africa exports stood at US$2.28 billion – a 4.5% increase compared to 2019” On her part, Mrs. Maureen Mba, “Afreximbank is committed to working with public and private sector to transform Africa’s trade and industrialization.”
She elaborated that AfCFTA breaks the barriers to trading across Africa corridors and called upon Africa to transform its trade and industrialization in order to boost intra-Africa trade from the current 16%. She said, “ the Mansa platform will facilitate SMEs to get an African Entity Identifier (AEI) supporting financial transactions and Know Your Customer service in Africa.” She stated that said 70%-80% of raw materials used across the globe are from Africa hence the need for more value addition to converting African resources into finished goods ready for export to the continent and beyond.
On his part Mr. Kalisa said, “trade information is important for b2b engagement – the Mansa digital platform builds confidence and trust among businesses in East Africa and Africa.” He elaborated trade information, improving productive infrastructure & capacity, access to finance, market factor integration, vaccination and fiscal incentives to businesses form the backbone for the economic recovery of the EAC bloc and will reposition the region to tap into the AfCFTA market.
On his part, Mr. Wanjohi said “Infrastructure development and connectivity, custom documentation & procedures, Rules of Origin under the AfCFTA is important to facilitate movement of goods across Africa borders” He said women are set to benefit from the AfCFTA market and the EAC bloc should reduce the cost of doing business and enhance competitiveness.
Mr. Victor Ogalo said “EAC bloc should boost the productive capacity of exports to the continent and ride on the huge infrastructure development” He stated AfCFTA is set to boost manufacturing output to USD930billion by 2025 from 500bilion in 2015 and called for deliberate policy commitments to integrate East African SMEs in the manufacturing value chains.
Dr. Habil Olaka, said “COVID-19 disruption has reemphasized on importance of data management and data-driven insights and solutions for resilience of financial services sector” He said the Mansa platform supplement and optimize the established frameworks on credit access& appraisal and bridge information asymmetry between banks and MSMEs. He elaborated the Mansa platform supports Kenyan banks to undertake due diligence on customers and as they spread their wings into the EAC and Continent.
Mr. Samuel Matonda, Mansa platform is an African solution promoting the trust needed to seamlessly trade under the AfCFTA. The launch was attended by over 100 business captains, leading women in business, industry champions based in Kenya.The MANSA digital platform provides a single primary source of Know-Your-Customer (KYC) data required to conduct customer diligence checks on counter-parties in Africa with a special focus on African Corporate, SMEs and financial institutions. The MANSA digital platform reduces risks to intra-African trade such as increased financial crime and reduces the high-cost acquisition of Customer Due Diligence.
Nairobi, Kenya – Wednesday, 27th October 2021. The fight against corruption in the country got a shot in the arm with the official launch of The Blue Company Project. A first of its kind in the country, the initiative seeks to bring together conscientious private sector players to collaborate by creating awareness on the adverse effects of the social vice to the Kenyan society.
Mooted in 2018, the ambitious project is the brainchild of entrepreneur Mr. Nizar Juma and currently comprises of hundreds of certified members drawn from a wide spectrum of private sector players including Manufacturing, Education, Agriculture, Hospitality, Insurance, Sports, Entertainment, Banking and Financial Services. The initiative is premised on the fact that in Kenya today, corruption is the single biggest threat to national development that shakes the backbone of any society. Left untreated for so long, it has grown like a tumor spreading, tearing, and eating away the fiber of society in our country.
Speaking during the official unveiling ceremony of the initiative, Mr. Juma noted that more than a matter of need, corruption has become a subculture, a common practice, an accepted evil. Faced with this quandary people have grown used to it, making it part of their everyday life. “Our children are growing up, accepting corruption to be a normal and acceptable phenomenon. The fight needs to start at the family level, where parents become role models for their children and by helping to make the term “Corruption Free” fashionable through their action and behavior,” Mr. Juma noted.
Mr. Jacque De Navacelle, a member of the Advisory Board gave an example of Singapore and its anti-corruption efforts noted that the society becomes corruption free where people with high quality of mind and thoughts become the majority. If those people come forward to build a strong nation, the dream of a corruption free society is never far away.
Senior Counsel George Oraro, an Advisory Board Member noted that left unattended, corruption has spread to the far echelons of our country, directly and indirectly affecting many facets of life, regardless of age, religion, social status or gender. “Whether one is directly participating in it and involved in its machinations or one is merely victimized by its effects, it has become a blight on us all,” Mr. Oraro noted.
Speaking during the function Dr. Julius insisted that the a conversation must be made to tame away corrupt. “We are starting a conversation that sits at the heart of our existence as a nation. It needs no magic to realize that corruption takes away equal opportunity and hurts growth by consuming funds which could otherwise have gone into impactful projects within the society. Let us therefore stand to be counted as pioneers in laying the ground for the fight against corruption,” Dr. Julius noted.
27th October 2021, Kenya Meaningful Business, a global platform for leaders combining profit and purpose, has announced the 3rd edition of the Meaningful Business 100 (MB100) recognising outstanding contributions of individuals in support of the UN Global Goals, sponsored by EY.
The award received over 500 nominations from 70 countries, following a global nomination process. Curated by an expert panel of 21 judges, including Nikhil Seth, Assistant Secretary-General, UN; Stasia Mitchell, Global Entrepreneurship Leader, EY; Paul Lindley, Founder, Ella’s Kitchen; Moky Makura, Executive Director, Africa No Filter and Sancia Dalley, SVP, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, each nominee was scored across five key areas: Durability, Impact, Innovation, Leadership and Scope.
The 100 business leaders include corporate CEOs, entrepreneurs, micro- entrepreneurs, sustainability leaders, functional heads and impact investors from 33 countries. 26 of these leaders are based in Africa, from Congo, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia. Commenting on the MB100, Tom Lytton-Dickie, Founder & CEO, Meaningful Business said, “Congratulations to the African cohort within this year’s MB100, who represent the best of what business, entrepreneurship and social innovation can be. These individuals are dedicating their work to tackling a range of pressing social and environmental issues across Africa, focusing on topics to include; access to healthcare, clean energy, financial inclusion, quality education and urban mobility, providing hope and inspiration to us all.”
“These business leaders have demonstrated that running a truly sustainable and innovative institution requires one to pursue financial returns and at the same time respond to socioeconomic and environmental concerns. They are seizing the ‘COVID Kairos’ and giving us a blueprint of what successful businesses will look like for the next decade and years to come,” said Nuru Mugambi, sustainable finance policy expert and 2021 MB100 Judge.
Meaningful Business is devoted to creating a unified platform for these leaders to collaborate and share knowledge in order to amplify their positive impact in support of the UN 2030 agenda.
The 2021 MB100 winners from Africa are: ● Abdulrhman Elhalafawy, Chief Business Officer, Cupmena (Egypt) ● Adebowale Onafowora, MD & CEO, Bic Farms Concepts (Nigeria) ● Adeshina Adewumi, CEO, One Kiosk (Nigeria) ● Adesuwa Okunbo Rhodes, Founder & Managing Partner, Aruwa Capital Management (Nigeria) ● Arnolda Shiundu, Head of Sustainability and Community engagement, Kenya Breweries (Kenya) ● Ashok Shah, Group CEO, APA Apollo Group (Kenya) and many more as attached below link of Meaningful Business
About Meaningful Business:
Meaningful Business is a curated network of progressive leaders across the world, combining purpose and profit to help achieve the UN Global Goals. The platform is focused on content creation, knowledge sharing and meaningful connections, bringing leaders together across geography, industry, role and company-size, to share and collaborate, resulting in increased positive impact. The community consists of Founders, CEOs, Impact Investors, Sustainability Heads, Humanitarian leaders and academics across 90+ countries.
About EY
EY exists to build a better working world, helping to create long-term value for clients, people and society and build trust in the capital markets. EY Ripples, the EY global corporate responsibility program, sets forth a vision to positively impact one billion lives by 2030. Through EY Ripples, individuals and organizations in the EY network can create a positive impact by supporting the next generation workforce, working with impact entrepreneurs, and accelerating environmental sustainability. EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy. EY member firms do not practice law where prohibited by local laws.
Close to TheCrossFireNews, it has come to access to documents At KEBS as per editors pick and editorial check is An advertisement dated Thursday, August 26, Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) indicated that the bureau was looking to hire 109 individuals to occupy various posts.
They included an inspection manager and a principal office administrator at the managerial level. Civil engineers, electrical engineers, pharmacists and mechanical engineers.
The process haunts the management with Managing Director (MD) Bernard Njiraini and Principal Secretary Amb. Kirimi Kaberia taking the big chunk of blame for playing dirty in the whole recruitment process.
According to an anonymous letter sent to some media houses and copied to other bodies by aggrieved staff, the recruitment process was largely flawed by the management. The staff are petitioning for an open recruitment process. Below attached is the letter.
With the re-establishment of the East African Community (EAC) and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), KEBS activities now include participation in the development and implementation of SMCA activities at the regional level where it participates in the harmonization of standards, measurement of conformity assessment regimes for regional integration. KEBS operates the National Enquiry Point in support of the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT).
We are here to report recruitment malpractices at the Kenya Bureau of Standards.
KEBS advertised 109 positions in the month of September 2021. The deadline for submitting applications was 10.09.2021.
What happened is that the MD (Lt. Col (Rtd) Njiraini) took upon himself to invite the Ministry of Trade and Enterprise Development to be part of the shortlisting and interviewing process. This has never happened before because KEBS recruitments have always been transparent and very objective.
We are made to understand this was done because of the directives from the Principal Secretary Amb. Kirimi Kaberia who is set to run for a political seat therefore he wants to use the employments to reward his political supporters in his village in Meru). Not only have that, the MD himself Mr. Njiraini wants to employ his county political associates for himself and for his friends.
he MD flouted all the recruitment processes in KEBS overlooking the committee which is charged with the responsibility of all recruitment and instead appointed his spanner boys who do all his dirty jobs.
Below are the names for the so-called shortlisting committee
Murira- this is a Director who was appointed irregularly as a reward to Meru community. This is the man who has set up the whole process. First, he is not a member of the committee and he was appointed to chair the panel. He is been tasked to ensure the interest of the PS. Ambassador Kaberia, Board chair and the larger Meru interests are taken care of at the expense of other applicants.
Kirimi is the mastermind of all the rumours and gossip in KEBS. He is the one in charge of the recruitment system and has ensured he tampered with the system. He gets information from the system and calls people demanding for money in return of recruitment. He is boasting all over that people should know that there are Meru’s at KEBS.
Abdow- this is one of the most corrupt officers in KEBS. The MD uses him to carry out his dirty jobs at KEBS. He got in irregularly and has caused a lot of chaos in HR department since he joined the organization.
Njeru- this is the officer from the Ministry ensure that all Mt. Kenya applicants specifically Gatundu, Meru and Embu are given the jobs.
Miriam- this a very new Director and does not understand the malpractices in KEBS especially recruitments- she is a coverup to cheat the rest of us that the process is fair.
The question is what is going to happen to the rest of Kenyans who have applied if this is what is happening?
We understand there are internal employees who could have benefited from the recruitment but the advert was advertised externally so that it is used for political gains.
According to Public Service Commission and KEBS HR policies, there is a committee charged with advising the MD in all recruitment process and the same has been completely ignored in this particular recruitment.
The MD (Mr. Njiraini has completely run down KEBS since he joined KEBS in 2019. In fact he has been arrested in the past due to corruption. He is still in office courtesy of his godfathers. This MD became MD although he was number six during the interviews)
We have written to your good office so that you can intervene by having the recruitment process stopped or cancelled until the MD appoints credible people to drive the process.
This process is highly compromised, the end result is to benefit Mr. Kaberia (PS), Mr. Njiraini (MD), KEBS Board chair, HOD-HR and his woria friends in KEBS and outside KEBS.
We are, once again, appealing to your good office to intervene by having this process stopped or cancelled altogether. As we are writing the same corrupt team is carrying out short listing.
Njiraini has been exposed on corruption in many news sites and many times.
In October, 2020 last year – KEBS was stopped from expanding a vehicle inspections tender following queries around the process.
Parliament adopted a committee report that seeked to have Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) Managing Director Bernard Njiraini held responsible for litigation that could arise from a controversial tender.
The Principal Secretary State Department of for Industrialization Amb. Kirimi Kaberia.
Njiraini was arrested for refusing to give EACC detectives original documents related to multimillion-shilling tenders the commission is investigating.
Njiraini was arrested as a penal consequence for failing to comply with a notice issued to him to surrender the documents.
EACC had been investigating allegations of procurement irregularities and payment of bribes in respect of awards for tenders for provision of pre-export conformity of goods, used motor vehicles, mobile equipment and spare parts by Kebs.
The Public Investments Committee (PIC) recommended punishment for Mr Njiraini and the procurement team at Kebs for alleged impropriety in awarding a pre-export verification tender. The National Assembly adopted the report that recommended that the top officer at the state agency be surcharged in the event bidders challenged the award.
The watchdog committee chaired by Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir also recommended that the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission probe the circumstances under which Kebs engaged blacklisted firms, EAA Company Ltd and Auto Terminal Japan.
The Auditor-General had in a special audit recommended that the two firms be barred from engaging in such tenders. But the agency went ahead to engage them in its bid to have more firms inspect vehicles being imported into the country.
In reference to the recruitment process, KEBS has issued a rebuttal to the claims raised by the staffers in the anonymous mail. While replying to the consumer body Cofek, Kebs management and by reflex, are denying any wrong doing in the recruitment.
They said in part “the shortlisting committee for this recruitment was duly appointed in line with its internal processes and the KEBS Human Resources Policy. The ministry of industrialization, trade and enterprise development is the parent ministry (the ministry) to KEBS and is therefore engaged and consulted by KEBS as and when necessary, In this case, the ministry is providing technical and professional human resources support during the recruitment process.”
Section 5 of the Standards Council Act which establishes KEBS only requires KEBS Council to consult with the ministry on the appointment of the director (CEO/MD) of KEBS, not the rest of the staff.
KEBS Managing Director Bernard Njiraini.
1) The Minister shall, on the advice of the Council, by notice in the Gazette, appoint a Director of the Bureau who shall be the chief executive officer of the Bureau.
(2) The Council shall, after consultation with the Director, appoint such members and staff of the Bureau as the Council may deem necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Bureau under this Act.
While replying to Keb’s rebuttal, the consumer body has further poked holes in the denying statement.
”It is not clear why the ministry and or principal secretary, who sits on the Standards Council, will still have himself and or a nominee on shortlisting committees for internal and or externally advertised jobs. Cofek equally remains a stranger to the KEBS Human Resources Policy – where no specific section was quoted in the KEBS generic response – that was more of a veiled threat than the salient information sought.“
We’ve also learnt that KEBS threatened Cofek to pull down article they had posted earlier on the recruitment petition claiming it had dealt them an unstated disrepute. Suspiciously, they want article taken down without convincing evidence that it was malicious, this is a common threat from corrupt leaders who want to hide information from the public and continue operating in secrecy.
Cofek has refused to give into their demands, “
KEBS is a key consumer protection agency. Its a primary partner to Cofek. Recruitment of its’ human resources is, therefore, a critical component of consumer protection. It cannot be gainsaid. Again, in light of Article 10 and especially 35 of the Constitution, information held by government and required in the public interest ought to be released to the public. It is the legitimate expectation that KEBS will provide the required full information.” The body stated.
DP William Ruto chats with Uganda’s president Yoweri Museveni at Mubende state lodge in Uganda when he paid him a courtesy call in December 2019
Deputy President William Ruto has asked Uganda President Yoweri Museveni to release trucks belonging to Kenyan fish exporters.
The trucks were impounded three weeks ago together with fish valued at Sh50 million (Sh1.5 billion Uganda shillings) in Kasese district.
According to the traders, who transport fresh fish from Lake Turkana to the Democratic Republic of Congo, the consignment was confiscated by the Uganda Fisheries Protection Unit on October 3 at Mpondwe border.
Speaking from Busia, Ruto urged President Museveni to release the trucks unconditionally.
“About the fish impounded in Uganda, I want to tell Museveni to release the lorries in the spirit of the East African Community and allow our traders to take the fish to its destination before they get bad. That is not bhang or illicit alcohol but genuine products that Kenyan traders were transporting,” said Ruto.
He said fresh fish was highly perishable and if the standoff persists, the traders will incur huge losses.
“We cannot claim we are good neighbours when we (Kenya) play our role and allow Uganda traders to do business in the country freely but our traders are arrested and slapped with punitive fines and their products confiscated across the border,” said Ruto.
President Museveni and DP Ruto are friends. The Deputy President said it was wrong for the Ugandan authorities to continue holding onto the consignment and yet an agreement had been reached to have the trucks released after traders blocked Busia border point last week.
Angry traders blocked the Busia One stop border point in protest after the Uganda Fisheries Protection Unit (FPU) declined to release the impounded trucks on grounds that the fish that was being transported to DRC had been stolen from Lake Kyoga.
Protesters had threatened to paralyse operation at the border point unless the trucks and consignment are released by Uganda authorities.
“The Uganda military is a thorn in our flesh. They arrest us frequently without any valid reasons and arraign us in their courts where we are slapped with punitive fines. On this one, we are not going to relent until we have our fish released unconditionally,” said Yusuf Sefu, chairman Kenya Fish Traders Association.
“We have closed this border to demand for the unconditional release of our trucks that were intercepted by the Ugandan military at the Mpondwe border post in Kasese,” explained Mr Sefu.
He said the impounded fish had met all requisite certification from the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA).
“The fish was from Lake Turkana and not Lake Kyoga as it is being alleged,” argued the official. Sefu wondered why Uganda authorities were laying claim on the fish yet they could easily establish the origin of the fish.
Calm was restored at the border point after Ugandan officials led by Busia Deputy Resident District Commissioner Mathew Tusubira met with their Kenyan counterparts led by Busia Kenya County Commissioner, John Korir recently.
It was resolved that representatives from the two groups would meet and secure the release of the trucks but that has not happened.
So far, affected traders have moved to court and sued the head of the Fisheries Protection Unit-FPU on Lake George and Edward Capt Musa Mugogo and Joyce Ikwaput Nyeko respectively,
They also sued the acting Director of Fisheries Resources Management – Uganda and the country’s Attorney General who they want charged with malicious damage of property and theft.
At a hybrid press conference from Nairobi, International Land Coalition (ILC) Africa displays its plan for protecting community land rights environmental defenders which is among the premier and pioneer.
On October 18, 2021 in Nairobi International Land Coalition (ILC) Africa has recapitulates that Africa Land Forum 2021 taking place October 26-28 under the theme “Achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Africa through partnerships for inclusive land governance” will mobilize different stakeholders to protect the land rights of communities and users.
The platform that counts 76 members in 26 countries said it would bring together the region’s actors on land governance, including rural communities and women, to explore opportunities, and design new ways of addressing land-based communal violence, famine and climate change.
Protecting women’s land rights is a top priority for Africa and the world.
“We work for half of the world’s population, which are women; where land rights are respected, women’s income goes up 3.8 times higher, and everybody benefits including households,” Mike Taylor, ILC Director said from Rome during a virtual attendance adding that he has never met any government official that denying women land rights.
The forum will provide an opportunity to assess the strength of partnerships in the face of emerging needs in people-centered land governance. “The 2021 Forum will strengthen existing partnerships on land rights. We will introduce our national platforms, drivers of the SDGs at the country level, through a multi-stakeholder approach,” Audace Kubwimana, ILC Africa Regional Coordinator said.
The African Union declared the Year 2021 as The AU Year of the Arts, Culture and Heritage as Land is part of Africa’s cultural heritage where Africa’s art and cultural heritage will help forge regional cooperation and foster innovative and bold solutions to regain the drawbacks from COVID-19.
Dr. Janet Edeme, Head of the African Union Commission’s Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Development talked of demographic changes and conflict on the current situations makes us think forward and straight “Demographic changes and conflict on the continent are making us re-think how land can be better used, leveraging our cultural identity, to advance the progress of Member States,” said Dr. Janet Edeme.
He however added that, land is more than an economic resource in some part of history as the African Union Commission hopes that collaboration with International Land Coalition in Africa will help realize the Africa wanted.
Regional Economic Communities assists in advancing the AU’s mandate on land governance. The Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD) has been walking the road with ILC to guarantee people-centered land governance, but more remains to be done.
Esther Obaikol, Land Governance Expert at IGAD speaking on the position of the IGAD in the region as the most conflict-prone with high levels of land degradation and climate change the region of Africa terming land as the most important resource ”We want to use the two most important resources we have which is land, on the one hand, and people, on the other, to improve the standard of living of the people in the IGAD region,” Esther Obaikol said.
Indigenous Peoples have been experiencing intensive land grabbing over the past few years as activist Amina Amharech indicated that Policies based on colonial laws do not respect the rights of indigenous peoples giving statistics that Today just 1% of land is occupied by Indigenous Peoples in the world and on farming activities for Indigenous Peoples do not go beyond 2 hectares as they cannot realize the SDGs with this with hopes the coming forum on land will also address the issue.
With the murder of Joannah Stutchbury, the plight of environmental and land defenders became a burning issue. Through the Natural Justice, ILC Africa has set up the African Environmental Defenders Fund, a platform that enables defenders to highlight their plight and receive support. The same applies to communities as they strive to defend themselves which is the only such resource on the continent today according to Samuel Nguiffo, representing ILC Africa members.
ILC Africa’s broader work extends to participatory rangelands management, youth access to land, family farming, data development in the land sector, ecosystems, food systems, to name but a few.
ILC Africa also said that this year’s Forum will be a pre-event of the 2021 Conference on Land Policy in Africa.
Ministry of Health Health Chief Administrative Secretary Dr.Rashid Aman addressing the media
By Lenah Bosibori
Nairobi, 16 Sep…Kenya has called for a joint effort from all government departments and independent organizations to help tackle Anti microbial resistance (AMR).
Speaking recently during a virtual launch of the Report on Using Citizen-Generated Data by Global Partnership and Africa’s Voices to Address Drug Resistant Infections in Kenya, Rashid Aman Chief Administrative Secretary ministry of health said that the complexity posed by AMR in essence.
“We are fully aware that no single government, department or independent organization can tackle AMR alone and that containing, controlling and preventing emergence of AMR demands well-coordinated actions across multiple levels, sectors, disciplines and with a broad range of stakeholders including the citizens,” adds Aman
From the reports of the situation analysis, Kenya is no exception to this threat with increasing rates of antimicrobial resistance being reported in hospitals and communities.
From operational research conducted on public awareness in 2019, levels of awareness on the dangers of AMR are low with 73cent of members of the public interviewed indicating they have never heard of the AMR awareness week and 71 per cent of those interviewed indicated that they trusted doctors who prescribed antibiotics and would move to an alternative if one does not prescribe an antibiotic.
“This is a clear pointer to the enormous task ahead of us in advancing the AMR agenda. In response to this, the Ministry Of Health in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries & Cooperatives joined the concerted regional and international efforts to reduce antimicrobial resistance and ensure the availability of effective antibiotics now and in the future.
In response to the AMR threat, the two Ministries consolidated national efforts to implement sustainable measures to mitigate any further emergence and spread of AMR according to Dr Aman.
“The Government has taken several measures across various sectors to intensify action against AMR, the implementation of the National Policy and Action Plan on antimicrobial resistance and accompanying strategies on Surveillance,” said Aman.
“Our National AMR surveillance system is now established with 16 laboratories (10 human health and 6 animal health laboratories) in the network up from 2 in 2017 when the policy was launched,” said Dr Aman.
In view of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, several studies globally have indicated a high rate of antimicrobial prescribing and self-medication for those with symptoms of Covid-19, much of which is unnecessarily promoting antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as most of the initial illnesses being treated have been from covid-19 viral infection.
“We cannot fight resistance if people are not aware, empowered and if they do not take action in making the right decisions. Everyone can and should be Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Awareness champion and by people we don’t just mean the technical experts, we mean ordinary citizens who make daily decisions that affect their health,” he added.
H.E President Uhuru Kenyatta in New York Charing United Nations Security Council Session
President Uhuru Kenyatta arrived in New York on Sunday for a two-day working visit of the US during which he is scheduled to chair a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) high-level open debate on diversity, state-building and peace.
Having assumed her position as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council on the 1st of January this year for two years, Kenya currently holds the monthly rotational presidency of the Council for October 2021.
Kenya’s Permanent Representative to the UN Amb Martin Kimani, Kenya’s overriding agenda at the UN Security Council is to offer ideas and solutions to global peace and security in areas such as the Horn of Africa and the troubled Sahel region.
“The Security Council is a body that has the mandate to solve major challenges, but for many reasons has been unable to do so. We have ideas on how to do that, we have experience in building peace in our region and we bring those ideas and perspectives to the Council.
“Kenya is suggesting innovations on how to approach particular conflict situations,” Amb Kimani said, adding that the country is encouraging the UN Security Council to work closely with Africa.
Alongside his meeting at the UNSC, the Head of State is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and witness the signing of a trade agreement between Kenya’s private sector and a consortium of American companies during his two-day vacation.
In the assemblage with Mr Guteress, the President and the UN boss are expected to discuss several subjects of mutual interest to Kenya and the UN among them the global response to Covid-19.
“Kenya has been very specific on the steps it expects the United Nations to take particularly concerning the Covid-19 pandemic vaccination, peace and security and how the world should get to COP26 in a month. How the world responds to climate change is key to Kenya’s future prosperity,” Amb Kimani said.
On the business agreement, Amb Kimani said President Kenyatta while in New York witnessed the signing of a new initiative between the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) and the Corporate Council on Africa, the largest umbrella body of US companies operating in Africa.
The business agreement seeks to enhance collaboration between Kenyan companies, especially the small and medium enterprises (SME’s) with their American counterparts in a deliberate Government effort to create more jobs and employment opportunities for Kenya’s youth.
Further, President Kenyatta is scheduled to participate in the Global Leaders’ high-level discussion organized by the International Peace Institute (IPI) as a platform for world leaders to discuss contemporary subjects.
The President will be joined in the discussion by former Permanent Representative of Jordan to the United Nations Prince Zeid Raad Al Hussein to talk about the UN Secretary General’s Common Agenda report.
