An accident in the morning

By Monica Soila

A road accident involving a canter and a probox occurred today at around 7:00 am, a kilometer away from Isinya town.

As one approached the scene of the accident, imagination of a fatality would be inevitable; luckily everyone in the two vehicles escaped safe and sound. The canter had hit the probox on the side then it rolled and overturned. Both vehicles were carrying charcoal, and were slightly overloaded.

“I am actually surprised at the speed of the lorry because i had left it at the weighbridge which is quite a distance from here”, said the driver of the probox who was still shaken.

The highway police were signaling for the probox to stop, the canter was overtaking from the left side since there was an on coming car.

“That driver was really over speeding and i did not expect that he’d overtake from the left, which is very wrong”, added the probox driver.

As lives are lost each day because of impunity on our road, it’s everyone’s hope that something is done quickly to bring sanity on the roads.

Farming, the way to go for Kajiado County

By Monica Soila

A livestock agribusiness tradefair was held on Thursday 27^th, which was organized by the County government in conjunction with Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock Development and Fisheries, for awareness creation on agriculture as a rather worthwhile business venture.

The event brought together many stakeholders like NGO’S, service providers, financial institutions, education institutions and many others. The public either did not disappoint as the attendance was relatively big.

Wisdom Innovations' products

There was a lot to learn, all in the same venue as different exhibitors showcased their merchandise. This made it an interesting learning experience. From online information on agricultural products; with Airtel Kilimo, similar to Sokopepe; to alerts on maize lethal necrosis disease (MLND).

People also learned about Smep Agri Loan products like msingi wa ukulima which helps an indigenous farmer to transform into a commercial farmer by facilitating purchase of farming inputs. Another one is mizizi loans which are meant for expansion of a commercial farmer’s farming.Musoni Microfinance was also there with related products.

The chief guest was H.E Dr.David Nkedianye, Governor of Kajiado County. On arriving at the venue, accompanied by other County Executives, he made rounds to see what was put forward by the stakeholders.

H.E Dr.David Nkedianye

“There is need to establish a demonstration farm to teach people how to grow some of these crops” said Dr.Nkedianye, who was very impressed by most of the displays. 

Agriculture being the backbone of the country, he urged the community to embrace it; more so as a business.

“With agriculture, one will not lack food on the table.Kshs 4 million has been set aside to refurbish shallow wells, construct dams and boreholes, to aid farming activities”, said the governor.

Dr. Nkedianye addressing the people

As the county government focuses to advance farming, other factors that directly affect these activities should also be addressed. Kajiado being a semi-arid area, climate change adaptation mechanisms should be in place for farming to gain momentum.

Celebrating young talents at the primary school music festival competitions

By Stephen Mokoro

The long-awaited D-Day for the Isinya Sub-County Primary Schools Music Festival Competitions finally arrived on Monday and was held at Moi Girls Secondary School.

The competition, which is the 88^th Edition of the Kenya Music Festival, seeks to achieve a holistic human resource development in terms of socio-cultural, physical, moral and spiritual growth with a view of developing all round students.

Stiff competition was experienced in music, dance and elocution as the youngsters came out with zeal to showcase their ability, talent and creativity outside class. In elocution (English Verse and Public Speaking), Sunny Side Academy carried the day in the highly competed for English choral verse speaking with 87%  while Acacia Crest Academy celebrated their prowess in the senior class English solo set verse speaking with 93%. 

Acacia Crest Academy

Other areas that experienced tough competition included African folk songs, choral music, singing games and dances, Swahili elocution and set verses; most of which were won by private schools.

Little competition was however experienced in own compositions and Instrumental music attributed to the low number of turnouts in these categories.

Isinya Primary school

In his closing speech, the Isinya District Music Festivals Director noted with concern that Isinya Primary School was the only public primary school that came out to challenge the rival private schools in the competitions within the sub-coun. He encouraged public primary schools to take interest in the competition as it is part of the school curriculum. He also encouraged teachers and pupils to come up with more own composition verses and music to foster creativity in pupils.

Rising to the challenge

By Monica Soila

Women and leadership has since taken a whole new dimension, especially in politics, in the wake of the new constitution; which hold up for a greater female electoral representation.

It has not been easy for some of these women who are bold enough to want to take up leadership positions. One of the biggest hindrances has been culture, overcoming attitudes of prejudice against female political engagements.

In Kajiado County, people are gradually adopting to the change as it was evident during the general elections of 2013 where Hon. Peris Pesi Tobiko beat the male dominated lineup to clinch the Parliamentary seat for Kajiado East Constituency. This was amid fierce opposition especially from elders who would not picture a woman standing in front of them and addressing them; culturally, it was unheard of.

The story is similar to that of Mrs. Rose Shaasha, the assistant chief for Oloosidan sub-location, Oloosidan Location, Isinya sub-county.

Mr.Stephen Tipanko-Chief,Oloosidan Location, Mrs.Agnes Saiyai,Sub-Chief,Korrompoi Sub-Location, Mrs.Rose Shaasha-Sub-Chief,Oloosidan Sub-location

“My husband discovered leadership qualities in me for a long time, and he encouraged me to apply for an assistant chief position which was vacant in Kisaju Location, back in 2010”,said Mrs.Shaasha.

After thinking deeply about the idea, Mrs.Shaasha decided to give it a try whereby she sought support primarily from the elders. After some consultations with the community, she had the green light from them and then she approached women and youth in the community for the same.

She successfully applied for the post and was invited for an interview, of which she had confidence of emerging the best. This was never to be after an alleged ‘cooking’ of the results.

Mrs.Shaasha

“I felt so bad because i was openly denied the win just because i am a woman, and that’s why i had to push for justice”, asserts Mrs.Shaasha.

The issue got the attention of former area MP the Late Prof.George Saitoti, who decided to propose a formation of a new Location, Oloosidan.

Mrs.Saiyai

“I didn’t want to be appointed to a new location, infact i almost gave up, but the community approached and talked to me, i just couldn’t say no to them”, she adds.

She applied for assistant chief, Oloosidan sub-location of Oloosidan Location early this year and this time round she had no competition or opposition whatsoever.

“It has been such a long journey for me since 2011, but i have strongly learned to trust God and His plans”, says the mother of three who is also a born-again Christian.

With the wave of insecurity and killings being reported in some parts of the country, she hopes that leaders will take up their rightful responsibilities and peace will prevail soon.

“The cause of some of these deeds is because injustice must have been committed at some point, triggering hatred and bloodshed, and so as leaders we need to protect our people by doing what’s right always”, she says.

On the issue of FGM, she terms it as torture and against human rights, and she would never support it.

“It surprises me that some women take to the streets in support of FGM, i am hoping that change catches up with them really soon, so as to see things from a realistic perspective. I wish to work with the relevant stakeholders on this matter to advocate and educate the community on dangers of this practice”, said Mrs.Shaasha.

One of the challenges she faces in her line of duty is that mostly men don’t want to report any issues to her, as they rather talk directly to the chief (they prefer a man). Others would not follow any rules just because they think that she sets them.

Agnes and Rose during a past national event

“Change is a process so i am not surprised, everything will workout with time. For now nothing will distract me from my duties, not even the negative attitude i encounter from a section of men”, she says.

With the interest of the community in her heart, the sky is not the limit for Mrs.Shaasha; she could even be having bigger plans come 2017!

                                                                                                         

Leveraging on Africa’s youth potential for development and prosperity

By Stephen Mokoro

The potential of the youth as the most important cog in the wheel that will drive Africa to prosperity cannot be gainsaid. With recognition of this fact, former Secretary General of the UN, Koffi Annan, once said that a society that cuts off from its youth severs its lifeline.

According to The African Development Bank (2010), Africa boasts of the fastest growing and most youthful population in the world. According to the United Nations World Youth Report (2010), the youth between 15 and 24 years constitute 20.2% of the continent’s total population. This is projected to increase significantly by 2015.

The youth bulge in Africa represents both a challenge and an opportunity for tremendous development. This high population of the youth in Africa is a potential asset that if tapped can lead to rapid social, political and economic development. 

The responsibility of harnessing this potential lies in governments, businesses, non-profits and most importantly on the individual youths. In this article, focus is on what these different players need to do to transform the youth from a threat to an opportunity, from job seekers to job creators and from despair to hope. 

There are a number of economic blue-prints that have been set with a view to advancing social-political and economic development in Africa. One of them is the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This blueprint has eight pillars. According to the UN (2013) the first goal is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. One of the causes of poverty is rampant unemployment among the youth and the major cause of hunger is overreliance on rain-fed agriculture.

To start with, thousands of hectares of arable land in Africa that lie in arid and semi-arid regions. These regions have low populations due to prevailing dry climatic conditions. The dry conditions limit the number of agricultural practices hence vast land remains unused. This vast land has the potential to provide employment to millions of youth and become a source food security. This can be achieved through a government led initiative to invest in agribusiness in the regions through irrigation.

Governments in each African country need to rehabilitate and set aside at least 100, 000 hectares of land in the arid and semi-arid regions for agribusiness. A number of boreholes, wells and water reservoirs should be constructed.

About 300,000 youth should be recruited and taken to form a company or a cooperative where they will practice farming using the modern best practices under the guidance of trained extension officers.

The government in conjunction with the other parties will organize training forums for the youth on subsistence farming while at the farms. Individuals trained in agribusiness should also volunteer and dedicate at least one day a week to share their skills with these youth. This will equip them with the necessary knowledge and information to initiate and manage properly their own agribusiness projects. It will also provide them with experience that will see them being employed in related fields. 

The recruited youth should remain in the company as shareholders for at least 3 or 5 years after which they will leave the camp to replicate the skills acquired in to other parts of the country. They should also share the proceeds from the sale of harvested produce.  By so doing, they will have been equipped with capital and skills to initiate their own agribusiness projects and the continent will become a breadbasket of the whole world.

 A new group with an equivalent number of youth should be recruited and taken to different parts of the countries every year. Within five years of doing this, each country will have created direct and indirect employment for millions of youth. The recruited youth should be drawn from all ethnic communities and gender balance should be observed. By doing this, we will have promoted ethnic and gender balance and promoted national cohesion.

Secondly, a policy that requires every player in business and non-profit sector should have an equivalent of at least 10% of its workforce as youth on either apprenticeship or on industrial attachment each year. If this policy is introduced, millions of youth will also be equipped with skills that can help them either secure employment or create employment for themselves and others. The dragon of extreme poverty and hunger will be slayed as envisaged in the first MDG. 

In addition to that, we, the youth, should know that we are the architects of our own lives. It is our responsibility to remain industrious and focused on improving our socio-economic wellbeing. We need to be innovative enough to come up with practical initiatives that will generate income and create employment opportunities. We should be willing to share our entrepreneurship skills with our fellow youth as a youth-to-youth initiative to empower ourselves.

 Being the majority in Africa, the youth need to use their influence on socio-political matters to provide the necessary environment for development. We should discourage situations that could lead to civil unrests since peace is necessary in the continent’s development. We should also take advantage of our numbers to elect the right leaders into governments to spearhead the development agenda towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

In conclusion, the youth bulge in Africa is an unutilized development asset that can be transformed into an economic powerhouse by maximizing their potential through effective collaboration between governments, non-profits, businesses, individuals and the youth themselves. Through the joint effort of these parties to promote agribusiness, the continent will say good bye to food insecurity and youth unemployment even as its population continues to rise. The agribusiness project initiative will also increase the total acreage of arable land in Africa and reduce pressure on land due to population bulge.

Happy birthday Kenya

By Monica Soila

Kenya turned 51 on June 1^st, 2014 better known as Madaraka day and revels were held across the country to commemorate this big day of country’s history.

wananchi at Isinya pri.grounds

In Kajiado, celebrations took place both at County and sub-county levels. The Deputy County commissioner led the residents of Isinya in Madaraka day celebrations at the Isinya primary school grounds. In attendance was the County Minister for Education, Hon.Ali Letura, security chiefs of the area, just to point out a few.

Hon.Ali Letura and Mr.Hassan Bule

It was however apparent that fewer wananchi attended the celebrations. This could be attributed to the fact that it was on a Sunday and most people opted to go to church instead.

church full of people

The subject about security and peace was emphasized by the leaders present during their speeches; urging the people to be vigilant and to work closely with the police.

The highlight of the event was the presidential speech which was read to the crowd by the Deputy County commissioner, Mr.Hassan Bule.In part of his speech, the president plans to see to it that the living standards of the disciplined forces are improved so that the security concern is addressed consequently.

“New housing and insurance will soon be in place, as we have already set aside 1.6 billion shillings for the police medical insurance scheme. In return, we expect that their standards of discipline and service will rise to meet the expectations of Kenyans”, read the president’s speech.

On his part, Mr.Bule called on the community to shun tribalism as this was a sure way of a serene coexistence

Before the end of the event, all the players in the security docket in the sub-county cut and shared a cake with the public as a symbol of peace; to illustrate that they would work together to ensure that peace and harmony prevails at the end of the day.

cutting of the cake

Recently there have been events that seem to be interrupting peace and security of Kajiado County's inhabitants especially in Kitengela, one being the alleged Mungiki comeback. This explains why during the Madaraka day celebrations, the leaders would mostly emphasize on the subject; and everyone now understands that nyumba kumi is the way to go!

Congratulations Performers!

By Monica Soila and Rose Nyangena

The Ministry of Education held a district education awards day on 30^th may 2014 at the Multipurporse, Isinya to honor top performers in the last year’s KCPE/KCSE; in the Isinya sub-county.

The occasion was graced by the whole county leadership, KNUT and KUPPET representatives, school heads, local banks among others. Dr. David Nkedianye was the guest of honour but was unable to attend the event and was represented by his deputy H.E.Paul Ntiati.

A display of the trophies

Isinya sub-county emerged top in the County and third countrywide in the last year’s examination. The leaders commented the efforts of the teachers for putting the sub-county’s name on the map, like many would put it.

Secondary school heads present

In her speech, the area MP Hon. Peris Tobiko pledged to support the education sector as her office has already set aside funds to support schools in the area.

Hon.Peris Tobiko

“I would not be able to stand before you today if i did not go to school”, she said.

Hon. Tobiko introduced a ‘million shillings’ shield which is supposed to make rounds annually in the public primary schools depending with the performances; whereby the school upon receiving the shield will be given a ksh 1000,000.The shield made its debut in Ole Nkotila primary school.

Ole Nkotila Pri.Sch.receiving the shield from Hon.Tobiko

“Lets change our attitudes because back in the day our schools did not have all these modern facilities but we preformed really well”, said Hon.Tobiko, urging the students to work hard.

Hon. Mary Seneta, County Women Representative was concerned about the rampant dropout of the Maasai boys due to sand harvesting.

Hon.Mary Seneta

“To curb this alarming subject, the county government should introduce new laws so that anyone below 25yrs without an o level certificate is not employed in this sand business”, said Hon.Seneta.

The deputy governor was keen to note that no Maasai name was being mentioned throughout the award ceremony, and urged the students to put more effort because they also had as much a chance.

H.E.Paul Ntiati

“I think we should sit to deliberate on what the problem could be; if its culture then we do something about it”, he said.

Equity bank was seen to be the most excellent stakeholder in the education sector since it has sponsored 80 needy students to secondary school in the sub-county this year. Other banks were urged to do the same because it was a way of giving back to the community.

Awards for best schools went to Dawamu boys’ Academy and Moi girls Isinya (secondary schools), Acacia Crest and Ole Nkotila (primary school).Kitengela Division emerged the best while Ms.Zipporah Mokaya of Moi girls Isinya was the teacher of the year.

With private schools-Dawamu Academy and Acacia Crest receiving top honours for best schools overall, the ball now is left on the public schools’ court for next year’s event; will they play the part? Time will tell.