Higher coffee prices boomerang on farmers

ISSUE 003, October 1-15, 2009

ISSUE 003

Unfiltered, uninhibited.... just the gruesome truth

1

October 1-15, 2009

A bi-weekly on-line newspaper by the Media Diversity Centre, a project of AWC Features

Higher coffee prices boomerang on farmers

By Ryan Mathenge

The quest for improved coffee prices on the international market recently came true but not without a downtrend. Well-organised gangs are raiding coffee factories and taking off with bags worth millions of shillings.

This is the cruel fate that is now facing coffee farmers in the larger Murang'a and Kandara districts and what has been every farmer's dream is now turning into a nightmare.

The past decade witnessed desperation among farmers who could no longer eke a living from the cash crop. Many took the risk of breaking the law and defiantly uprooted coffee bushes, opting to grow maize, beans and other food crops that are in demand locally.

However, tables turned with the increased coffee prices and farmers are now reaping better profits from the crop. The 90-kilogramme bag is now fetching Sh17,000. This is a significant increase over the prices recorded in the past three mont1hs.

The curse of the improved prices recently befell Mwitumberi Coffee Estates, Murang'a when armed burglars raided its premises, immobilised night-guards, loaded 165 bags of coffee beans onto a lorry and drove off. The consignment had been earmarked for transfer to a coffee miller the following day.

The two guards whose identity was withheld were admitted at the Thika District Hospital in a coma. It's suspected they were forced to take a liquid laced with

drugs that knocked them out. These raids have not been restricted to one place. Gakima, Nguthuru and Gakui coffee estates in Kandara District have in recent weeks been raided and bags of coffee worth millions of shillings stolen.

Mr John Njenga, a manager at Mwitumberi Coffee Estates says with the current shortage of the crop, farmers are likely to reap better profits.

The increased earnings were spurred by a recent decision by several credit and savings societies to waive interest on a Sh412 million loan to coffee farmers in a bid to ease the financial burden.

The Chairman of Murata Credit and Savings Society, Mr Hiram Mwangi, says the decision to waive the interest was reached at by the board of directors in

May as a strategy to bail out coffee farmers.

Farmers across the larger Murang'a District have benefited from the strategy that has seen a number of them go back to farms they had neglected.

Murang'a South police boss, Mr Antony Onyango attributes the rising incidents of coffee theft to collusion between factory workers and robbers.

However, a director at Kenya Planters Cooperative Union (KPCU), Mr Fred Kirubi blames the crime on laxity by the Coffee Board of Kenya. Kirubi, who represents coffee estate farmers from Murang'a and Machakos region, says the robbers came from among former coffee farmers who had uprooted their crops but their names remained on the KPCU register.

2

Unfiltered, uninhibited.... just the gruesome truth

ISSUE 003, October 1-15, 2009

Millions at risk of starvation as food supplies dwindle

Get rich quick scheme

leaves victims

wallowing in

misery

By Catherine Wahome

Residents of Laikipia North District receiving food aid from World Food Programme. Many are facing starvation as food supplies dwindle. -Photo: ELIUD WAITHAKA

By Eliud Waithaka

The World Food Programme (WFP) needs to raise US$230 million to feed an estimated 3.8 million starving Kenyans in the next six months.

Over a million primary school pupils across the country are likely to drop out if urgent measures to feed them are not put in place, said Ms Rose Ogola, WFP's Kenya Country Office Public Information Officer.

Speaking at Makurian Village in Laikipia North District during a food distribution exercise for over 750 affected residents, Ogola said the WFP had launched a worldwide appeal for donors to come to Kenya's rescue.

A team from WFP's Nairobi office made a tour of Laikipia at a time when two people are reported to have starved to death.

Ms Mary Achichu, 30, and four-yearold Margaret Tuko succumbed to hunger pangs at Aiyam Village, Rumuruti Division in Laikipia West District.

According to the area civic leader, Mr Paul Thairu, the two had gone without food for two weeks. He warned more were likely to die if the Government and other agencies did not rush to their rescue.

Area District Commissioner, Mr Javan Sagelo said he had received the information regarding the two deaths but did not have details.

WFP officials admitted that the food being distributed in the affected district was not adequate since the number of those affected continued to rise daily.

"Those in our feeding programmes currently stand at 2.6 million but that figure has increased by more than 1.2 million in the last few months. It is for this reason that we are seeking more funds from international community and corporate organisations to help us cater for them," Ogola explained.

In Laikipia, those seriously affected are pastoralists who have lost thousands of their animals even after migrating to Mt Kenya forest for pasture and water.

Mr Ntinai ole Monto, a herdsman, said he moved to the forest in May, hoping to rescue his herd of 78 but is now back in Ilpolei Village with nothing.

An elderly widow, Ms Florence Karkuli who was lucky to get a 12 kg bag of cereals and half a litre of cooking oil, said the food ration for her family of seven would not last a month before the next supply.

"I had to walk 11 kilometres to get here and my request to the Government is that they should at least supply the food twice a month, and with a regular supply of clean water for domestic consumption," she said.

Mr Stephen Waweru, the coordinator of Caritas which is the agency appointed by WFP to distribute relief food in the larger Laikipia District, said the number of those affected by hunger had doubled in the last four months.

"We had factored 68,0000 people in our last survey, but now we have over 130,000 affected people. We need more food to raise the number of beneficiaries," said Waweru.

Intercropping project takes off in Murang'a

By Ryan Mathenge

An international organisation is experimenting with the intercropping of indigenous trees with coffee bushes without compromising the quality of the prized cash crop.

Researchers from Coffee Agro-forestry Network (CAFNET) visited Ikundu farm in Murang'a South District where they recommended the project that would enable environment-friendly indigenous trees to provide shade to coffee trees.

Led by Dr Phillip Vaast, the researchers disclosed they had visited coffee institutions in Murang'a, Nyeri and Embu districts

to identify environment-friendly trees that could be intercropped with coffee.

Vaast said some exotic trees could be harmful to both the coffee bushes and environment, hence the need to ensure that only those that were harmless be recommended.

The scientists were drawn from Africa, East Asia, India, South America and Europe in a joint mission to educate farmers on intercropping coffee with environmentfriendly trees.

They adjudged soils in Murang'a District as best suited for quality coffee production.

Vaast faulted the current coffee marketing structures in Kenya, and called for their restructuring to match those of Costa Rica's that ensured better returns for farmers. He said authorities in other coffee producing parts of the world had devised elaborate structures that ensured farmers received over 80 per cent of the crop proceeds.

The Mugama Cooperative Union General Manager Mr Ephantus Wanjohi admitted to the need for a review of marketing structures, pointing out that farmers in Murang'a District were barely breaking even due to poor marketing.

It all started when some people came up with the idea of how money could be doubled, then tripled and quadrupled by being planted in a pyramid scheme.

While the project was supposed to make people rich, what actually took place is that people lost all their savings and became poorer than they had ever imagined. A survey conducted by the media revealed that in Central Province Sh790,598,198 was lost by 25,000 people in over 40 pyramid schemes.

Most people in the region were swindled by companies such as Deci, Chip Investment, Family-in-Need and Pesanet among others. They were asked to deposit money which would triple within three months depending on the amount.

The survey established that most people who lost money had taken loans from banks; others had sold off their properties such as land, cars and cattle among others. There are even some who deposited their pension money all in the name of getting rich quick.

It was established that most people lost their money from the church. Most people were lured into the scheme when their most trusted pastors preached the gospel of get rich quick from the pulpit. Deci swindled people over Sh80 million and it was closely followed by Chip Investment which conned people over Sh72 million.

A breakdown of the districts in Central Province indicated how each lost large amounts of money: In Murang'a North there were 35 schemes and about 2,800 people were conned about Sh96,835,529; Nyandarua North about 300 people were conned about Sh18 million; Murang'a South about 200 people were swindled Sh7 million; Kiambu East 2,000 people were conned Sh43million; Gatundu 500 people were conned Sh7.5 million; Nyandarua South 39 people were conned over Sh220,000; Nyeri South about 6,000 people were conned over Sh160 million; Thika 7,000 people were conned over Sh280 million; Kirinyaga about 3,000 people were conned Sh100 million and in Nyeri North 1,940 people lost Sh51, 249,941.

Many people from the province lost their properties, many marriages broke down while others literally died of shock after realising they had been conned. There were cases where murders were committed, when irate husbands literally killed their wives. A victim who declined to be named said she took a loan of Sh2.5 million and gave the title deed of their fiveacre land as security. She deposited the money with Deci as well as her children's school fees without her husband's knowledge. She says their pastor preached about the money-multiplying bank.

"A pastor is someone we trust with our souls since he is anointed to preach the good news to people and draw them closer to God. When I heard him announce the good news in the church, I had no option but to look for ways and means to get the good fortune," she says with tears rolling down her cheeks. She notes that when she went to collect her of money with an expectation of a handsome interest, Deci was shut down. She tried to follow up for several days and weeks but all was gone. With nothing to service the loan, the bank auctioned the land. The devastated woman's husband divorced her and the children rejected her for making their lives miserable without education.

ISSUE 003, October 1-15, 2009

Unfiltered, uninhibited.... just the gruesome truth

3

Education partnership spurs

development in Trans Nzoia

By John oroni

Never had Beatrice Chahilu, a humble primary school teacher, in her wildest dreams ever imagined visiting the United Kingdom, the land of royalty.

Her school, Mitito Primary, in the relative obscurity of Saboti Constituency, Trans Nzoia West District, was known for all the wrong reasons. It's a school in one of the most deplorable learning environment.

Interestingly, it was precisely for these negative "qualities" that the light shone on Chahilu's candidature for the opportunity to participate in an overseas education exchange programme, courtesy of the British Council and the Global Partnership Programme (GPP).

She was among the five headteachers that included Enos Ezine of Misemwa, Elizabeth of Limuli and John Murumba of Nabunga primary schools all in the new district.

In 2006, a group of educationists went round the new district on an education tour to identify schools that needed to be uplifted in terms of education quality and infrastructural development. These included Misemwa, Mitoto and Lumuli primary schools and Nabunga Salvation Army Secondary School.

The group was struck by the dilapidated buildings, overcrowded classrooms, unhealthy and sickly pupils some infested with jiggers and open air classes with students squatting under trees for lack of furniture.

Led by Mr Eugene Wamalwa, the current Saboti MP, the group mooted a nongovernment organisation Dove Guidance and Counselling.

The organisation had the objective of partnering with international organisations to provide a conducive learning and teaching environment for schools in the district.

Wamalwa, who served as its director with retired teacher Mrs Jutine Sitti as secretary, and local farmer Mr Jimmy Nabwera as treasurer, ran the NGO through 2006 until the December 2007 General Election that won him the Saboti Parliamentary seat.

Sitti subsequently became the treasurer of the Saboti Constituency Development Fund to consolidate its efforts in the education programme.

Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka (middle) accompanied by Saboti mp Eugene Wamalwa (left) with members of the British Council who in conjunction with the Global Partnership Programme built two classrooms at Mitito Primary School in Trans-Nzoia West District. The

two officially opened the school that was among five others that benefitted from project. Photo: John Oroni in Kitale

For the district to compete with others nationally, it should be guided by efficiency, integrity, good management, innovations, honesty and transparency.

According to District Education Board Chairman, Mr Wilfred Kinyua, who is also the area District Commissioner, the population of primary school pupils is half of those in secondary schools, hence the need to expand the latter.

Secondary schools in the district have consequently received financial support to accommodate an increasing number of primary schools graduates.

In broadening its objectives, Dove partnered with Weald School in West Sussex, England with core activities targeting painting, construction of classrooms, quality of teaching, sports and establishment of bonds with Kenyan students. In this project, the NGO was aided by Dr Hellen Nabwara, a Kenyan educationist now resident in the United Kingdom.

Currently, there are 52 teachers and students from the UK community based in Kitale, undertaking activities in various targeted schools in the district. "It is our hope that they become good ambassadors for the Kenyan agen-

da in the UK and beyond," said Sitti during the recent opening of classrooms at Lumuli Primary School. The ceremony was presided over by the Vice-President, Mr Kalonzo Musyoka.

The headteacher, Mr Dickson Okena called for sponsorship in other education disciplines.

According to area District Education Officer, Mr Martin Mwalo, the Weald School Programme is expected to become a model of how well structured partnerships with a common objective can produce desired positive results.

Already, the two-pronged project has seen increased enrolment in primary schools and introduction to computer learning.

The British Council donated computers to local schools to help in training the students. Further development included installation of electricity to the institutions in conjunction with the CDF.

Mr Malcolm Peppiatt from the British Council accompanied by his wife Veronica, told the Vice-President the UK had benefited a lot from the hospitality offered by Kenyans when it was thought worldwide that the country was at war and on fire.

Peppiatt said the UK was prepared to help Kenyan students learn under ideal conditions through provision of modern facilities.

The Vice-President assured potential development partners of the government's full co-operation.

Wamalwa observed the UK partners would not have engaged in the education programmes if peace had not been restored following last year's post-election violence.

Following the cross-culture networking between the two sides, another group of eight teachers had been selected to visit the UK next November, courtesy of the reciprocating British schools.

The programme has linked Weald School in the UK to Nabunga School, Muntham House School to Lumuli School, Plaistoo Kirdford County Primary School to Mitoto and Rudgwick County Primary School to Misemwa School.

Todate, nearly Sh10 million has been pumped in the economy of the district through accommodation, construction, purchases, wages and tourism. This is not withstanding the foreign exchange revenue earned for local coffers.

4

Unfiltered, uninhibited.... just the gruesome truth

ISSUE 003, October 1-15, 2009

Bandits, herders threaten tourism in upper Eastern

By Hussein Salesa

The Kenya Tourist Board (KTB) will close the lucrative Samburu-Isiolo Tourism Circuit unless the Government restores security in the region and evicts herders encroaching on game parks.

The intention was made known to the Government in a 14-day ultimatum issued by KTB about a month ago.

The KTB and other stakeholders in the tourism sector have been alarmed by the spate of robberies targeting tourists along the Isiolo-Marsabit road, and the invasion of parks by cattle herders from Samburu District.

The news was made public at a stakeholders meeting sponsored by Pastoralists Women for Health and Education at Chokaa village in Isiolo District. It was attended by communities neighbouring Shaba, Buffalo Springs and Samburu game parks.

The coordinator of Northern Rangeland Trust Eastern region, Mr Patrick Siparo said the area was wholly dependent on tourism and it would spell doom if KTB carried out the threat.

He said it was shameful for the Samburu, Borana, Turkana, Rendille and the Somali communities resident in the

areas to continue incessant feuding over livestock, thus disrupting tourism and derailing development.

"You are your own worst enemies," Siparo said, adding that virtually all economic activities would grind to a halt since Isiolo and Samburu county councils were wholly dependent on income from tourism-related activities.

Isiolo County Council receives Sh2 million and Samburu earns Sh2.5 million every week on revenue accrued from game reserves.

Isiolo East District Officer, Mr Mike Wangila said hotel bookings at tourist

lodges in Isiolo had recorded the lowest bookings this season compared to other years.

He attributed the problem to insecurity and invasion of game parks by the herders and their animals.

Other county councils which were not affected by the insecurity were reaping richly from tourists visiting the region in droves.

Wangila said that KTB was justified in threatening to remove the Northern Tourism Circuit from the calendar because the communities in the area had refused to end wrangles.

However, he said the government's ef-

fort to develop the area and make Isiolo a tourist resort city would not be "derailed by marauding morans (warriors) and highway bandits".

The DO said police had arrested four men suspected to have attacked tourists recently at the Shaba Game Park.

He further disclosed that three bandits who attacked and robbed employees of China Wu Yi construction firm that is constructing the Isiolo-Moyale Highway about a month ago had been arrested and would soon be charged in court.

The coordinator of Pastoral Women Health and Education, Mr Ibrahim Jatani said the organisation had been compelled to sponsor peace meetings in the region to enable women and children access health and education facilities. He said women and children were worst affected by cattle

rustling incidents that had impoverished families.

Jatani called for an end to wrangles involving communities living in Upper Eastern region to give room for development now that the government was constructing the IsioloMoyale Highway and abattoirs in Isiolo.

Meanwhile, the government has mandated Northern Rangeland Trust to coordinate removal of livestock from game parks surrounding the Isiolo and Samburu districts.

Mr Wangila said that North Rangeland Trust would work with elders from all the communities whose members were grazing in the park.

Macci Secondary School survives harsh odds in Isiolo

By Hussein Salesa

Whoever thought a troubled school in the bandit-prone and baking hot Isiolo District would not survive to see years of success had better think again.

Macci Secondary School, a private school owned by the church has refused to stay down in the face of debilitating odds in the bandit-prone arid regions of Kenya.

Founded in 1995 by Roman Catholic priests for students from the remote areas of arid Isiolo and neighbouring pastoralist districts, the school excelled for the next 12 years.

Situated about 200 kilometres from Isiolo town, the school at the heart of the marginalized northern-eastern Kenya, almost collapsed in 2004, five years after the departure of the Italian co-founders, Fr Piu Pono and Fr Francis Luciano.

The school had managed to post good results in the national examinations in the category of private schools with between 20 and 50 candidates for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary of Education (KCSE).

At district level, the school had consistently captured all trophies for excellence in various disciplines. Alarmed by

the school's declining performance, its former students and the Isiolo Catholic Diocese Bishop Reverend Anthony Mukoba Ireri came together to try and salvage the institution by merging boys and girls sections into one mixed entity. This eased the cost of managing the school.

Former school principal Mr Tache Bonsa, who had seen the school through its hey days, was reinstated to help salvage the new school comprising 132 students, 56 of them girls.

Initially the two wings comprised 350 students drawn from Isiolo, Moyale, Samburu and as far as Nairobi and Kisumu. The students attributed the school's decline to community interference. A number of teachers had been forced out by the local community that rooted for their replacement with locals.

"The local community had forced some teachers from other communities to seek transfers elsewhere and the church had failed to replace them on time," the old students explained.

They accused the administration of poor management, claiming the authority was bedeviled by ethnicity that contributed to infighting among the priests and the local community over control.

Two former students Mohamud Gorjam Abduba and Ali Huka, claimed that three years ago, colleagues from the local area attacked students from other districts, forcing them to transfer.

According to Bonsa, the school community has vowed to reverse the poor showing in national exams by embarking on measures that include renovation of buildings and purchase of books.

Currently, the Merti Integrated Programme (MID) is sponsoring 23 bright girls, while the Isiolo County Council has donated Sh300,000 towards the school's renovation.

Isiolo North Constituency Development Fund is also paying school fees for a number of needy students, while the government through the provincial administration is providing relief food to destitute students.

So dire is the situation that the local community is appealing to Fr Pono and Fr Luciano to return to the school. The two co-founders of the school helped inject over Sh50 million into the institution as they guided it to a success story in its nascent years.

Students and parents interviewed by Reject exuded confidence in Bonsa and

the school's road to recovery. For his part, Bonsa believes that the school's lost glory cannot be recovered without support from leaders, government, the private sector and local people. He vows to ensure the school attains good grades in the forthcoming KCSE examinations.

Mr Salad Malicha, a former student and currently a secondary school teacher, says Macci was a unique learning institution in the region, with former students now occupying senior positions in government and the private sector.

The Minister for Livestock Development, Dr Mohamed Kuti, appealed to the Ministry of Education and the church to extend extra support to the school for the sake of the disadvantage pastoralist communities.

Kuti, who is also the local MP and a former student of the school regretted the mismanagement and wrangles over the school's control.

Kuti called on the church and other actors in the district to mobilise resources to improve infrastructure and encourage students from the region and other parts of the country to enroll. He assured both students and parents of the improved security situation in the district.

ISSUE 003, October 1-15, 2009

Unfiltered, uninhibited.... just the gruesome truth

5

Laikipia's elephant

herds no longer at peace

By Paul Mwaniki

For generations, Laikipia was famed for its high concentration of wild animals that freely roamed the region with little threat to local residents.

This was so until a prolonged drought and famine hit the country, and in particular northern Kenya, home to Laikipia North District.

The region, which is predominantly inhabited by the pastoralist Maasai community boasts of hosting hundreds of free roaming elephants.

The jumbos can be seen grazing freely in the same ecosystem with domestic animals and moving between homesteads, a phenomenon unique to Laikipia.

Sadly, months of drought, famine and the consequential scarcity of water and pasture have brought about negative consequences never experienced in the recent past.

For the first time in decades, elephant deaths have been recorded in the last four months, largely due to hunger and malnutrition.

Similar deaths have also been witnessed in the neighbouring districts of Samburu and Isiolo, and by September, an estimated 80 elephants are feared to have died. Most affected are calves aged between two and eight years.

According to Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) Senior Scientist in charge of the Elephant Programme, Mr Moses Litoroh, a mature elephant requires 300 kilogrammes of foliage a day and this is currently not available.

Due to scarcity of foliage, mature elephants have resorted to destroying trees in the semi-arid region.

The residents' major worry is the manner in which the KWS, who are supposed to care for the wild animals, are handling the tragedy.

Mr Hudson Meshami, chairman of Naibung'a Conservancy which covers Laikipia North District, says that whenever an elephant dies, KWS officers arrive to remove the tusks, leaving the carcasses behind.

"The officers are only concerned with the safety of the precious tusks. They leave behind the decomposing body which poses a health hazard to residents," notes Meshami.

Speaking at Tiamamut Dam in Il Motiok Location which is the only surviving water source for residents and wild animals, 82-year-old Mulmul Parkirowua says over 10 elephants had died next to the dam in the last few weeks.

Residents worry that flooding from the El Nino rains that have been predicted by the Meteorological Department, will sweep the carcasses into the dam. This will poses a serious health hazard to the people un-

Kenya Wildlife Services game wardens attend to elephants that died as a result of drought in Laikipia. The drought has left wild animals competing with livestock for pasture and water. Photo: PAUL MWANIKI

less the carcass are removed. Acting Senior Warden in charge of KWS in Laikipia, Mr Kimani Ndiku, says plans were underway to start removing the carcasses. "We have heard the cry of the people and we are moving in to properly dispose off these carcasses before the rains start," he says.

He confesses the difficulty KWS faces, given the many different elephant herds roam the region in search of pasture and foliage, adding that many were dying in different places.

"Our officers are on the ground doing whatever is necessary to remove and

bury the dead elephants," explains Ndiku. He could not give the exact number of elephants that had died in Laikipia so far.

An earlier survey conducted by KWS doctors led by Mr Litoroh indicated that young elephants in Laikipia and Isiolo districts were dying of hunger as they could not keep up the feeding pace with their mothers. They are unable to feed from tall trees.

With the high number of elephants grazing day and night to meet their daily ration, school going pupils have also found it rough to make it to class on time.

The elephants are preventing children from getting to school. Peter Kiyaa, a Standard Four pupil at Kimanju Primary School could not make it to school after elephants blocked his route. His mother, Ms Agnes Mishami says this had become a daily trend.

"We have to escort our children to school most of the time as we don't know when they will meet with the elephants. Today my son was left behind by others who were escorted, and on leaving he found the animals on the way," says Mishami.

The parents have resolved to escort their children to school in turns to avoid disruption of normalcy in their homesteads.

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download