Okoa Maisha Initiative group Showing a playbill number for assistance.
The Arid and Semi-Arid counties of Kenya (ASALs) are experiencing a fifth consecutive season of severely depressed rainfall which has led to acute water shortages, livestock deaths, crop failures and serious mental health challenges.
According to the Humanitarian Network and national disaster reports, over 4.5 million Kenyans in ASAL counties are experiencing acute food insecurity which is equivalent to 2.5M animal deaths have been reported.
The reports indicates that an estimated 54,500 children are at the risk of dropping out of school at a sensitive time of national examinations.
The reports further indicates that Over 942,000 children under the age of five years are severely affected as malnutrition levels in some of these counties such as Marsabit, Turkana and Kajiado hit three times the global average.
The Initiative is reporting that the Weather experts are now already predicting a gloomy outlook of a sixth failed season for March to May 2023.
Okoa Maisha Initiative States that through this forum it’s easier to actualize mobilising humanitarian support from Kenyans of goodwill the private sector, individuals, Kenyans in the Diaspora and humanitarian actors to cushion the severely affected brothers and sisters who are at a dire risk of starvation.
The launch of a playbill number through M-Pesa 188668 Account Number: Okoa Maisha, targets to reach over 1,000,000 severely affected Kenyans from ASAL counties in the short term and millions more in the long-term.
Okoa Maisha has therefore requested with dry food stuff, nutritional supplements to malnourished children, money, water, logistics support such as transport among other emergency needs.
The forum has however indicated that they’ve been able to receive support so far from the Pastoralist Parliamentary Group (PPG), non-profit actors such as Drylands Learning and Capacity Building Group, Juhudi Mashinani and Christ is the Answer (CITAM), ministries.
Okoa Maisha has noted the selflessness of Singer Reuben Kigame who has agreed to be Ambassador of Hope in the initiative.
As an initiative, however has applauded the ongoing humanitarian efforts by the Government of Kenya, county governments, non-state actors, faith-based organisations, private sector players and other Kenyans of goodwill.
Finally Okoa Maisha has called on the Government of Kenya to accelerate emergency interventions to the level of a National Disaster that this crisis is.
About 2% of the population worldwide is homeless. That’s a small percentage, right? But surprisingly that’s around 154 million people, a closer estimate of the whole Russian population living in the cold, getting rained on, being murdered, lacking basic and psychological needs with no little hope of living.
It had never crossed my mind that a lot of people are homeless minus the normal street kids that we keep on knocking at in town until I watched LEAD ME HOME a documentary that was shot in the US explaining how 500,000 Americans experience homelessness every night having to survive on drugs to just feel okay.
Have you ever asked yourself what homelessness is? From a recent survey that I carried out I found out that almost 50% of Kenyans do not know what homelessness is. Every reply was homelessness is lacking where to sleep but shock on you the definition is way too far from this.
Being homeless is staying in a place that is not suitable for human inhabitation, living in an emergency shelter, in transitional housing, somewhere unsafe for even one’s health but they have no choice.
All in all, it’s now time we start being each other’s keepers and think of how we’ll eradicate all citizens sleeping in the cold to somewhere safe. Leaders from all over can come together and raise funds that will enable build one big block that we know will not accommodate them all but will at least have reduced the numbers.
Sunday, 8th May 2022:The Government has identified adventure, hiking, and mountaineering experiences as key catalysts in the recovery of tourism businesses in Kenya.
Kenya is well placed to tap into these niche segments thanks to the diverse opportunities and attractions found across the destination. The foundation of Kenya is known as a leader in Safari also enhances the potential of the destination being regarded as top in adventure tourism.
Speaking during a hiking expedition at Mt. Longonot, CS for Tourism and Wildlife Najib Balala encouraged Kenyans to embrace and take up hiking, mountaineering, travelers, and other adventure experiences for fitness and wellness. He also noted that adventure tourism is one of the fastest-growing experiences in the world today with travelers looking for life-changing experiences that suit them.
“Mountaineering and hiking have the potential to improve our tourism numbers because today’s traveler is looking for immersive and engaging opportunities. We must be ready to demonstrate to both domestic and international visitors that we have more than Beach and Safari experiences. People are today also conscious about their health and hiking is a good fitness and outdoor activity. I encourage Kenyans to visit some of the mountaineering and hiking destinations in the country. They can be a pocket-friendly option for many people because they include day trips which are easily accessible,” said CS Balala.
He added the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife would be working towards improving the visitor experience and putting a spotlight on attractions like Mt.Longonot ensuring that visitors earmark them on their bucket lists “ We have earmarked the development and showcase of these experiences to propel the recovery of the sector. We are working with the partners and experience owners in the industry to fully enhance and market these attractions in Kenya ” added the CS.
Dubbed “Sheer Adventure” destination, Mt. Longonot, rises from the floor of the Great Rift Valley. The Mountain is located within the mount Longonot National Park which is one of the many fascinating, yet least visited, attractions of Kenya.
With its cool climate, lush greenery, and stunning views of the Rift Valley, Mt Longonot offers a variety of trails for hikers of all fitness levels. It is also home to wildlife like zebra giraffe grant gazelles and over 110 bird species making it a birding paradise.
Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) Director General John Waweru noted that Mt Longonot National Park is part of the rich ecosystem in Naivasha which includes Hells Gate, L. Naivasha, and many facilities that are ready to host visitors in the area.
He assured visitors of a safe and enjoyable experience at the park which is also home to several campsites. The hike at Mt Longonot was also part of the CS Balala’s preparation for an expedition at MT Kenya in mid-May 2022.
The expedition will aim at re-positioning Mt. Kenya as one of the key iconic adventure experience facilities in Africa as well as raise funds towards improving the visitor experience. Those who will be accompanying the CS are Magical Kenya Destination Ambassador Eliud Kipchoge and sponsors who include Safaricom M-Pesa, Visa, Huawei, KCB, and EABL among others.
Hiking and adventure destinations that travelers can explore in Kenya include the trails at Karura Forest, Menengai crater, Mt Elgon, Mt Ololokwe, travelers, and Ngong hills among others. These destinations offer different experiences and therefore should be on the list of all visitors
Wildlife And Domestic Animals At A Field In The Mara
Daniel Sayialel swept his probing eyes over the rolling grasslands of Maasai Mara in search of a missing piece. He found none-at least for now.
Satisfied that nothing seemed out of place, Sayialel turned to a gathering of his kin and called the meeting to order. They were here for the occasional community briefing on conservation.
“These meetings help us keep track of threats facing our resources. If there are any, we discuss and plan how to solve them,” said Sayialel, who is the community liaison officer at the Enoonkishu Conservancy in southern Kenya.
It is for a good reason. Land sub-division and privatization have been threatening the wildlife-rich Maasai Mara for years, according to the Maasai Mara Wildlife Conservancies Association (MMWCA).
For instance, there were about eight group ranches buffering the Maasai Mara national reserve but nearly all of them have been subdivided, a trend that is not only threatening indigenous communities but also wildlife, MMWCA officials said.
“Community land is being transformed into private land by developers who are swarming the Mara. If this continues, families living here will have no homes and nowhere to graze their livestock in a very short period of time,” said Daniel Sopia, the chief executive officer at MMWCA.
Investigations within the Mara region indicate that most of the privatized land has already been fenced off to pave way for its development into agriculture plantations and real estate, blocking wildlife migration corridors and community grazing routes.
According to Nicholas Oguge, the environmental policy and director at the Centre for Advanced Studies in Environmental Law and Policy (CASELAP), University of Nairobi, there are five wildlife migration corridors in the Mara landscape.
These include the Mara-Serengeti, Mara-Loita, the greater Amboseli, the Manya-Tarangire, and Nairobi National Park-Kaputiei migration corridors. But four of them are almost extinct, due to land encroachment.
In some regions like the Loita plains in southern Kenya, the entire wildlife migration corridor has disappeared.
“The iconic wildebeest migration is a competitive advantage we have. Nowhere else in the world is there that number of large mammals moving together. They have completely formed this ecosystem. If you remove them, the Mara ecosystem is gone,” said Oguge.
Oguge estimates the value of services the Kenya Mara ecosystem gives to communities to be about US$ 6.5 billion (about Kshs. 762 billion) annually. This could all be lost by 2050 if the current encroachment continues, according to a study investigating the economic value of East Africa’s natural assets.
It recommends speedy action to restore the region’s conservation areas. A growing number of communities in Kenya are responding to this call by working as groups instead of individual landowners, according to Sophia.
MMCA has identified about 15,000 landowners who have pooled their individual land units into conservancies for livestock and wildlife conservation. They have then registered and leased the conservancies for tourism threats.
For these efforts, the landowners are earning over US$ 7.5 million (about Ksh. 879 million) annually from leases of up to 25 years.
“Tourism investors pay for leases to the landowners and also to cover the costs of managing the conservancies. With such a steady stream of income, locals do not see the need to sell or subdivide their land anymore,” said Sophia.
Limiting land sales is reducing stress levels among endangered wildlife because they can move freely within the rangelands. As a result, numbers in previously endangered ecosystems are rising, according to senior sergeant Francis Dapash.
Dapash, a ranger at Enoonkishu Conservancy said the increased numbers of wildlife making a comeback include elephants, buffaloes, and other grazers.
Due to the growing competition for grazing spaces, some have been straying into crop farms within the Mara ecosystem and causing massive food losses, he said.
Responding to the growing conflict with wildlife and worsening climate change, crop farmers are switching from food growing and converting their land into conservation glades, a trend that MMCA officials confirmed is picking up pace.
According to Sayialel, crop growing is an important economic activity within the Mara region because it boosts communities’ food resilience. But in the past few years, crop farming has been proving difficult because of prolonged dry spells and worsening floods.
Besides, crop growing within the Mara region restricts the free movement of livestock and wildlife because the animals are drawn to anything that can satisfy their appetite for green fodder.
“Crop farming and animal keeping cannot work together because they are always in conflict. But a uniform system like conservation ensures peaceful coexistence while also opening up money-making opportunities,” said Sayialel.
At his Enoonkishu conservancy, income opportunities like regular monthly payments from tourism collections and land leasing have opened up since both crop farmers and herders embraced a uniform land tenure system.
While the system has employed over 2,000 locals within the conservancies, landowners are also able to secure loans from financial institutions and obtain school bursaries for their children.
Sayialel estimates that within Enoonkishu, there are over 10,000 acres of land that are under crop farming. But his community, working with MMWCA, has been able to convert over 8,000 acres of land into conservation glades.
According to him, this system is also helping in restoring disappearing wildlife migration corridors because there is no longer a need to fence the land. He said that rare wildlife species like the big five and the African wild dog are now common in places where they had disappeared.
But is converting cropland into conservation glades a threat to food security?
“I do not think so. The Mara community is the biggest food market in the country. When we pay for food grown elsewhere in Kenya, farmers are able to use this money to buy farm inputs and invest in smart innovations,” said Sayialel.
Meanwhile, county government officials from the Mara region said they have a memorandum of understanding with MMWCA that recognizes the institution’s efforts in conserving the Mara, and working with communities.
But Bernard Leshinga, a local herder said the government is not doing enough in providing communities with extension services. For instance, herders here face repeated outbreaks of diseases like trypanosomiasis, where getting treatment for their livestock remains a big challenge.
“We need more than money because money alone cannot treat our animals when they get diseases from wildlife. Let the government bring vaccination services to us and we shall be a happy community,” said Leshinga.
Meru County government is finalizing a plan to establish a Rhino and Bongo sanctuary in the region.
The sanctuary is expected to be established in Mt. Kenya at Mucheene and Marania forests.
Last week, Meru Rhino and Bongo Sanctuary Trust held a meeting chaired by the Trust Chairman Mr. John Kinoti, and CEC member for Tourism Maingi Mugambi, where they received a briefing on the preliminary research findings by the Kenya Wildlife Service and Kenya Forest Service scientists before the issuance of a user license for the project to begin.
KFS scientists led by Head of Forests Health and Biodiversity Mr. James Mwang’ombe, and those from KWS led by Anastasia Mwaura briefed the board on their research findings and requirements that have to be met in the upcoming final phase before the Rhino could be put into the sanctuary and the Bongo repatriated from the State of Florida in the United States, and the eventual operationalization of the sanctuary.
Speaking at the function, CEC member Mugambi said the massive project was expected to boost the tourism sector in Meru by introducing new products which would in turn increase tourists flow, introduce new opportunities and contribute to the growth of the County’s economy.
He said the establishment of the sanctuary would not only address conservation challenges but also promote local and international tourism.
Lewa Wildlife Conservancy CEO Mike Watson said the public-private initiative would promote the conservation of the two animals. He said partnering with other wildlife protection agencies was key to the conservation of endangered species.
In May this year, a multi-agency team was set up to help in the conservation of the critically endangered Mountain Bongo and Black Rhino.
Experts say although the Mountain Bongo, a large forest antelope, was native around Mt Kenya, human activity has wiped them out.
Meru County Government, Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), Kenya Forest Service (KFS), and Lewa Wildlife Conservancy have partnered to restore and protect the two animals in the new sanctuary.
The Mountain Bongo is expected to be flown into Kenya from the United States in December this year, according to John Kinoti, Lewa Conservancy’s Community Development Manager.
Kinoti said the project would see the Bongos flown in to be protected at the sanctuary and a breeding programme established to increase their numbers.
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.
Politicians will soon sign a political decency charter in latest efforts by National Cohesion and Integration Commission to tackle hate speech ahead of next year’s polls.
The commission has vowed it will not tolerate hate speech and war mongering moving forward even as it scaled up action against offenders by ensuring they are barred from elective positions, public office and eventual black listing internationally.
Speaking to KBC Monday on good morning show, NCIC Chairman Rev Dr Samuel Kobia said they will hold a series of symposia before June 2022 that will hold politicians and leaders accountable as part of its roadmap towards election attaining peaceful 2022 general elections.
Presidential candidates will be expected to lead the process dubbed ‘Election Bila Noma’ by signing the charter committing themselves to the path of peace and decency in speech and action.
“We want a political leadership that acts in a decent and civil manner” he said.
Although the commission is seeking more powers and tough penalties for perpetrators of incitement and hate speech through parliament, Kobia avers that progress had been made in the fight against the vice.
“There is a bill in parliament that is still being debated and seeks to empower the commission to create a tribunal to deal with hate speech. We have also decide to work very closely with the DCI and DPP” said Kobia adding that close to 60 hate speech cases are under probe.
So far, the commission has enhanced surveillance by creating the walls of fame and shame which according to the chair has led to a decline in the vice.
“ No politician wants to be barred from running for an elective post. We are in the process of coming up with a criteria for determining candidates for elections. We have began consultations with IEBC, party leaders and the diplomatic community for imposition of severe penalties ”
Tourism industry players have warned that the continued political tension in the country has the potential of dismantling gains made in reviving the multi billion-shilling sector.
They noted that after months of enduring negative effects of the pandemic, the current political tension risks sliding them out of business for a second time.
Lake Nakuru Lodge Marketing Director Joseph Muya said the sector being a long-term investment, tourists normally make their bookings months or years ahead of their visit.
He however revealed that there has been a decline in bookings after a number of countries in the international market started issuing travel advisories.
He added; “Online bookings are still unpredictable, we have become a hand to mouth business of late whatever we get we move on since you cannot be sure.”
According to Muya, Kenyans had also become wary on whether post elections the country would be safe saying most people prefer not to spend blindly, which in turn will negatively affect the industry.
With Nakuru being a political hotbed, Muya stated that the county was also among the fastest growing tourism destinations saying any form of violence will roll back the gains.
Muya has rallied for the formulation of a law that will compel politicians who incite violence and encourage vandalism of properties to pay damages to affected investors.
He said once a leader has been indicted in such an offense, they should be required in law to also pay for any potential loss of investment and job opportunities any business would have.
He further said the government needs to engage foreign missions of the United States and the United Kingdom who have given an advisory to visiting citizens.
During the pandemic, he said the industry laid off a number of workers in the sector due to poor revenues adding that the current temperatures will see more being laid off.
According to him, loss of employment is a contributing factor especially to the youths who have of late recorded high numbers of suicide due to lack of jobs.
