1U n f i l t e r e d , u n i n h i b i t e d … . j u s t t h e g r u e s o m e t r u t hISSUE 014, March 16-31, 2010

A bimonthly on-line newspaper by the Media Diversity Centre, a project of African Woman and Child Feature Service

March 16-31, 2010ISSUE 014

By Muasya Charles

As the Government grapples with the dif-ficult operation of disarmament, the de-bate on the wisdom and viability of the exercise rages on.

The spectrum of opinion, from Pokot and Turkana elders where previous disar-maments have taken place, to the interna-tional experts, conclude that disarmament is the solution to the ever increasing inse-curity in the under developed pastoralists districts.

But is it?Mzee Maiyo Longanyapuo from

Murkujit Village near Kapenguria Trading Centre, admits that guns have been around in the Pokot community for a long time and will remain there for security against cattle raiders. ‘’Menelik from Somalia supplied the Turkana with carbines which helped them keep colonial rule at a distance until 1923,” says Longanyapuo through an interpreter.

Turkana cattle raiders continued to be the scourge of security forces through the colonial period up to the early 1980s, prompting the establishment of special Ngoroko paramilitary unit in 1976.

To keep off the hostile Turkana raid-ers, the Pokot armed themselves for retaliation. Today, the Turkana and the Pokot are sworn enemies who constant-ly confront each other in deadly cattle raids.

The Pokot have earned themselves a reputation as Kenya’s most hard-headed

and intractable men, armed with the AK-47 that plays a major role in their daily life.

The transformation of the down-trodden community into Kenya’s most militaralised people, makes the Pokot the stiffest test case for regional disar-mament.

Since independence, the Pokots have seen 18 military disarmament operations conducted to dispossess them of illegal firearms.

Disarmament: A tough callGovernment efforts of mopping up guns may be futile

Continued on page 2

Police from the General Service Unit examine firearms recovered from the operation.

2 U n f i l t e r e d , u n i n h i b i t e d … . j u s t t h e g r u e s o m e t r u t h ISSUE 014, March 16-31, 2010

One of the notorious operations took place during the 1984 drought, when the dreaded paramilitary General Service Unit (GSU) stationed themselves at stra-tegic water points and demanded anyone bringing livestock for water to surrender their gun first.

The worst operation the Pokots call lo-tiriri, took place in 1988 when they were confined to camps and the GSU used defoliants to flush out warriors hiding in the bush. Other methods of torturing suspects believed to have weapons from aircrafts, proved too dangerous, and were abandoned.

A retired GSU officer who did not want to be named and who worked in some of the operations, termed the campaigns as brutal, adding that they left victims maimed and stigmatised. He doubts the success of disarming the Pokots, given their close cultural affin-ity to guns.

A male child born in Pokot inherits a schizoid form of a dual citizenship. He becomes the ward of a state that has alternated between neglecting and per-secuting his people since it came into existence.

He equates earthly existence with live-stock, rain and guns. Lining up for relief food reminds him that the maize may have been cultivated on his forefathers’ alienated land, and he has all the right to get it. The boy child is also a citizen

of an internal Pokot government, where an unwritten constitution guarantees his rights and defines his responsibilities. Michael Bolligs’ analysis of the econom-ics of the AK-47 in Northern Baringo, in-dicates that most of the individual Pokot who bought guns during the 1980s, were not able to recover the cost of their in-vestment through raiding.

Bolligs, however, says the guns’ value made them public good and the growing arsenals were enough to tilt the balance of power and sustain the acquisition from a variety of sources during the 1990s. According to the analysis, the first weapon in Pokot came via Somalia through con-nections allegedly set up as their Member of Parliament, the late Francis Polis Lo-todo was in jail after he was convicted on charges of engaging in warlike activities.

Warfare history Since then, the Pokot have attained

the capacity to mobilise thousands of armed combatants. The ‘lotiriri’ disar-mament operation and subsequent at-tempts at disarming them have never succeeded. It’s doubtful they will suc-ceed this time round.

According to Bolligs, there is no word for conflict or warfare in Pokot. The term for natural resource competi-tion is the closest equivalent. And yet Pokot militarisation has reached a lev-el of organisation that poses a serious challenge to state.

Orgy of violence in disarmament exerciseBy David Kiarie

The Kenya National Commission on Hu-man Rights has called on the country’s Internal Security Minister Prof George Sai-toti to prosecute more than 15 police offic-ers for the alleged rape of eight women in Samburu East District.

A commissioner with the Kenya Nation-al Human Rights Commission, Mr Samuel Torolei, says security officers raided Lerata and Kildaman villages and terrorised resi-dents as they searched for illegal firearms.

Torolei, who was flanked by local Mus-lim leaders from the Isiolo District Peace Building Conflict Management Committee, says the officers who entered the villages in four trucks and two Land Rovers on January 10, beat up and terrorised the residents.

Investigations by the Commission re-veal that the residents, including women and children, were beaten up, adding that five women were raped by officers at Ler-ata Village.

“According to the residents, women, children and men were separated in groups

and later beaten up while the women were gang raped by security officers,” explains Torolei.

The rape victims went missing from the village due to the shame and trauma of the heinous actions committed against them.

The commissioner accuses the culprits of maliciously damaging the residents’ proper-ty, burning houses and indecently assaulting women while frisking them for money.

Destruction of property “The officers tore or burnt school books

and important documents like academic certificates belonging to the students and pupils in the villages, poured food and tore clothes. We wonder what this has to do with a disarmament operation,” charges Torolei.

At Kildaman Village, the police offic-ers raped three women who, like their colleagues from Lerata Village, fled after the ordeal.

Two officers are also alleged to have torched a house in order to punish an 18-

year-old girl after their attempts to rape her failed.

He says the officers were keen on loot-ing cash from the residents at Kildaman Village, with two women losing KSh50,000 each which they had been lent as part of a women’s group loan for development.

“We approximate the amount of sto-len cash at about KSh0.5 million, and we wonder whether the mission of the offic-ers was to recover illegal firearms or to make illegal money”.

The Commission is now calling on George Saitoti and the Administration

Police Commandant Kinuthia Mbugua, to dismiss the officers involved from the police service, saying that they should be in jail.

“The officers involved should not be on payroll serving in the police service. Their rightful place is jail,” Torolei says.

“We are not opposed to the disarma-ment operation, but the officers must re-spect human rights while undertaking the operation,” he adds.

The government is in the process of re-covering illegal firearms in the possession of members of the public. However, the amnesty period for voluntary surrender of the weapons is now over.

Those who will be found with arms are now at risk of prosecution. “If what we have witnessed in Samburu East is anything to go by, then we have a reason to be very worried once the forceful disarmament operations begins,” cautions the commissioner.

He is now calling on human rights activ-ists to keep an eye on the officers involved in the operation, and to raise alarm in case of human rights abuse against the residents.

“For a society like the Pokot which fell through the cracks of Kenya sys-tem, reliance on AK-47 to advance their historical land claims is a rational response to endless state violence and constant raids by their neighbours,” says Bolligs.

He adds that in line with Pokot tradi-tion and custom deferring response to provocation until after the fourth attack, the Pokot soaked up attacks for decades before emerging from isolation with guns blazing.

Political opportunism also triggered the highly destructive raids late in the 1990s and early 2000, with warriors vio-lating internal taboos of protecting wom-en and children who also fell victims of the raids. Cultural practices also played a part in the bloody raids.

Dowry Bride price inflation has driven the cost

of marriage to as high as 30 cows, 10 cam-els and 150 goats. Going by the current ex-change based on the price of a cow, a bride-groom needs a whooping KSh600,000 to marry, a scenario that compels the youth to engage in cattle rustling from neighbours to raise the dowry.

The increasing incidences of violence in most pastoralists communities that had calmed down by 1998, have again resurfaced to justify current disarmament operations. Whether they will succeed is debatable.

Nurturing peace in an environment that is fraught with insecurity coupled with abject economic depravity, is a long term project that demands committed involve-ment by all stakeholders. Disarmament operations on their own are but a gamble.

Communities not ready to disarmContinued from page 1

“We wonder whether the mission of the officers was to recover illegal firearms or to make illegal money.” — Samuel Torolei, Kenya National

Human Rights Commission

One of the police officers displays some of the firearms recovered from the disarmament exercise as his colleagues look on.

Since independence, the Pokots have seen 18 military disarmament operations conducted to dispossess them of

illegal firearms.

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By Asha Muktar

When he first came to Ken-ya in April last year to sample the magnificent beauty the country has to

offer, Jiri Pergl had his expectations met as he enjoyed the beautiful flora and fauna after visiting various tourist destinations.

But what he saw on the day he was fly-ing back to his country was a scene that kept haunting him, and the desire to re-turn to Kenya grew by the day.

“I could not forget the scene of chil-dren housed in a centre, away from their parents or family. This was something I had not witnessed in my country and an inner voice kept telling me that I had to be part of the solution,” says Pergl, 37, and a native of Czechoslovakia.

Second visit It was for this reason that the million-

aire businessman made another trip to Kenya last August, loaded with goodies for the children of Laikipia who, forever, find themselves in life’s difficulties.

Hunger stricken children in Laikipia are anxiously waiting for the arrival of a philanthropist tourist whose last visit showered them with food and a wide va-riety of goodies.

Recent reports by United Nations Chil-dren Fund (UNICEF) indicate that chil-dren in Laikipia are among the most mal-nourished in the country.

The region was hard hit by the just-ended drought, and the pastoralist com-munity lost thousands of livestock, their only source of livelihood.

During Pergl’s visit, he came with a friend. The Czech donated foodstuffs and other goods worth KSh500,000 to children of Likii Estate in Nanyuki town and Kiwanja Ndege Village in Laikipia North District.

After dishing out the donations, Pergl vowed he would be back in a big way since the August visit was just the beginning.

Explaining events leading to the for-mation of a children welfare group — One More Day for Children, the tourist says he was leaving a hotel he had been booked the previous night when he spotted the Nanyuki Children’s Home signboard.

“I was eager to find out what a children’s home looked like and when I went inside, I saw many children, some as young as two months in baby cots. It was not until I en-quired from the manager of the home that I came to understand what it was all this about,” explains Pergl.

At the home, the then home manager, Ms Helen Gathogo, who took him around explaining the various difficult circum-stances that had sent the children to the centre, welcomed him.

Pergl was so moved by what he saw that he produced a 25-minutes documen-tary, which he exhibited to audiences back in his country.

“The first trip was an eye opener and I spent three months in my country showing video clips I had produced. Anyone who watched the production donated what he or she could afford,” says Pergl who also owns a film production studio in his country.

Due to the overwhelming response in his country, Pergl has formed a trust that will work towards supporting underprivileged children in Kenya, adding that an office to coordinate the activities has been opened in the Czech Republic, Germany and Kenya.

Pergl went back to his country to raise funds for the project with a view of open-ing more offices across the country.

His return in February was a blessing to 11 young girls from Laikipia North who were rescued from early marriage. Pergl promised to pay for the minors’ education at a boarding school in Meru and put up a

To demonstrate the seriousness of his new project, Pergl endured a four-kilome-tre walk through the scorching Laikipia sun to reach the children of Kiwanja Ndege Village to donate food and clothing.

Hope for the families At the village, he found mothers and

children who had been left without food following migration of pastoralists to the Mt Kenya Forest in search for pasture dur-ing the prolonged drought.

“I had to carry the foodstuff with me and walk through areas inaccessible by car. At one time, I was so exhausted and felt like giving up but I endured to the end,” says the tourist.

During the visit, he was accompanied by his friend, Mr. Varoslav Tarczac, 37, who was visiting the country for the first time.

Tarczac, a prominent hotelier back in the Czech Republic, had been moved by the documentary and decided to come and see for himself the situation on the ground. He now plans to put up a children’s home for HIV/Aids orphans in Nanyuki town.

“I want to buy land and build decent houses for children, especially those living in the slums,” says the tourist.

Gathogo who accompanied the two tourists during the visit, says children in Laikipia are faced with myriad of problems which the government can-not solve alone. “Many children from this area are unable to access education due to poverty, retrogressive cultural practices like forced marriage as well as HIV/Aids pandemic which leads to many being orphaned.”

Gathogo says by the time she left Nan-yuki Children’s Home in March, last year, there were a total of nine girls whom she had rescued from forced marriage, the youngest one being 10 years old.

“There are many others out there who we have not been able to rescue, and these are the ones we want to sup-port through One More Day for Children Trust,” she says.

During his many tours across the world, Pergl’s main concern has been the social life of people and natural attractions like wildlife come second.

“Wherever I visit any country, my major interest has been to learn the people’s way of life, their food, manner of dressing and generally how they live,” he explains.

Wherever he has visited, Pergl has en-sured that he samples various delicacies of that particular nation.

“In China, I came across people ped-dling roasted spiders and when I tasted, it was wonderful. Today I consider it a delicacy but before then, I would not have entertained such a thought,” muses the Czech.

In Kenya, he confesses to have liked mukimo (a Kikuyu traditional food made from mashed Irish potatoes, vegetables, raw bananas, maize and beans).

Philanthropic tourist to the rescueCzech comes with hope for Laikipia’s destitute children

rescue centre at a cost of Sh11million for rescued girls at Dol Dol town in Laikipia North district.

One More Day for Children is currently supporting over 40 girls from the area who had been rescued from early mar-riages where some of them have secured scholarships.

“I visit Kenya as a tourist and it is upon the locals to run the various centres that we plan to open across the country,” he said in an earlier interview.

Pergl who is widely travelled has so far toured over 20 countries in the world. Though he admits that he does not have the financial capacity to solve the prob-lems facing Kenyan children overnight, he is optimistic that more people from his country will support this initiative, and at least a good number of children will lead a life of comfort.

“So far I have talked to several promi-nent business people who have expressed their willingness to support this cause. A good number of them who have not visited Africa were shocked to learn that there are millions of children living in desperation”.

Due to the overwhelming response in his country, Pergl has formed a trust that will work towards supporting

underprivileged children in Kenya, adding that an office to coordinate the activities

has been opened in the Czech Republic, Germany and

Kenya.

From left: Helen Gathogo, Varoslav Tarczac and Jiri Pergl (in shades) with one of the families affected by hunger in Laikipia North district.

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Money needed to fight drought, hunger

By Nicholas Odhiambo

Like many farmers in Kenya, Caroline Achieng’ is blaming inadequate rainfall for her poor harvest.

The bumper harvests she had the pre-vious season, are a harsh reminder of the good fortune that would have come her way were it not for the unpredictable ele-ments.

Rachuonyo District where Achieng’ comes from, and the neighbouring Homa Bay District all suffered from vagaries of weather that affected most of Kenya.

Many farmers of the present day farm-ers who have forgotten what our forefa-thers did, by making sure that a new har-vest always found the preceding one and food was always there in plenty.

However, those who have realised that food security is important for survival are now working at it. There are those who are working individually, while others are join-ing hands in groups to come up with projects that can help keep granaries full all the time.

Food insecurity for many others like Achieng’ may become a thing of the past, thanks to the Kimira-Oluch Smallholders Improved Project that is set to introduce irrigated agriculture in both Rachuonyo and Homa Bay districts.

Founded two years ago, the project seeks to address the problems of drought and famine in the region, and increase household income and food security through irrigated agriculture.

According to project manager, Mr Nel-son Korir, the waters from River Kibuon

in Rachuonyo and River Tende in Homa Bay will be used to irrigate areas in the two districts.

The two rivers have perennially burst their banks, destroying crops and badly eroding the land, leading to silting. “The schemes will also take care of the floods and hence improve the soil fertility,” says Korir.

The project that will cost KSh3.147 bil-lion, will cover 1,474 hectares, 808 hectares of which will be sliced from Rachuonyoís Kimira site, while 666 hectares will be made available from Oluch in Homa Bay District.

River Kibuon will serve the Kimira scheme while Oluch Scheme will be wa-tered by Tende River. The schemes are expected to directly benefit 3,000 house-holds, but another 3,000 households are also expected to benefit from the project

Making food security a realitythrough marketing and extension activi-ties and entrepreneurship.

The tender for the construction of the schemes has been awarded to Sino Hydro Company, which will jointly work with Mashiri Limited Company. “We have 30 days to finish mobilising farmers and construction of the schemes will take 36 months from now,” Korir explained.

The project is funded by grants and loans from the African Development Bank, with the Kenya Government chipping in KSh357million.

The implementation will be conduct-ed by government line ministry staff and farmers, facilitated by the project management and co-ordination team.

Achieng’ keeps her head up knowing that if this project works her family will never go hungry. “As a mother I have the responsibility of seeing to it that my family is well fed. When my children miss a meal, the pain that I feel cannot be described,” Achieng’ says.

She is happy about the variety of crops that the project will bring within Rachuonyo. Improved technology will be used in the production of maize and sorghum in one season, and higher val-ue crops such as fresh Asian vegetables, onions, tomatoes, water melon, pineap-ple and rice in the second season.

Maize and sorghum will be produced for subsistence use to reduce famine while the higher value crops will be for local markets to enhance the living standards of farmers.

Since 2007, farmers have been mobi-lised into two farmers’ associations — Oluch and Kimira — for training in land irrigation technology.

“This will empower farmers to manage the schemes once the project is completed,” Korir says.

Farmers’ contributed to the project by donating the land. They will also be involved in construction of sub-unit feeders and the two schemes will assist farmers produce both high yield crops and improved livestock breeds.

By Muasya Charles

Key strategic initiatives have been put in place to help develop the semi-arid Kitui district which requires KSh3.9 billion to fight persistent drought and socio-effects common in the region.

A situation analysis report from the District Drought Management Office identifies water, livestock, forests, wild-life, minerals, solar-wind energy and food crops as some of the key natural re-sources in the area which pose strategic challenges.

The report was compiled by Pricewa-terhouse Coopers in consultation with Arid Lands Resource Management Project (ALRMP) to identify impediment factors that make the region food insecure.

The analysis dubbed Kitui District Vi-sion and Strategy outlines strategic initia-tives to overcome the challenges and how

to empower the district in terms of health and food security.

It is estimated that KSh2.08 billion is needed to overcome poor management of water resources and environmental degradation around water points and catchments.

Key strategic initiatives earmarked in-clude establishment of 39 additional bore-holes, 67 earth dams, 65 sand dams, 380 shallow wells, 225 sub-surface dams and 34 reservoirs.

Other activities include rehabilitation of existing water facilities and degraded water catchment areas, gazettement of hills, plant sanctuaries, forests and water sheds.

Declining pasture, low productiv-ity, increasing pressure on land, poor marketing of livestock and high disease prevalence were cited as key challenges facing rearing of livestock in the re-gion.

The sector needs KSh247 million to improve disease surveillance, develop satellite abattoirs, promote animal health management and introduction of appro-priate breeds.

Services of a private investor and local authority will be sought to support estab-lishment of primary processing of livestock products.

The report says KSh134 million was required to restore vegetation cover in the district lost through uncontrolled felling of trees for charcoal burning and resultant loss of biodiversity.

It calls for the need to promote com-mercialisation of tree planting, sensitisa-tion and awareness creation on the effects of using environment cover for livelihood.

Presenting the report to members of Mutomo District Environment Commit-tee during a training workshop in Ikutha, Drought Management Officer, Mr Ben-

edict Musyoka, said a further funding of KSh1.03 billion was required to improve undeveloped tourist resorts and to reha-bilitate infrastructures from Kitui town to Tsavo East National Game Park.

He called for establishment of small-scale irrigation by use of surface and sub-surface water for high value crops to reduce dependency on maize and beans, the common food crops of the region.

Other activities to be undertaken in the food crops resource management matrix include promotion of citrus fruits like mangoes, paw paws and high value vegetables.

Musyoka stressed the need for exten-sion of Arid Lands Resource Management Project phase 11 (ALRMP II), which ends in June 2010. The extension would involve the introduction of camel rearing and non-conventional livestock like butterflies, snakes, ostriches and snails.

This is the demonstration site in Oluch river where vegetables, maize and tomatoes will be grown under the irrigation scheme.

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World Bank commits to uplifting farmers

By Joseph Mukubwa

It was business as usual at Tekangu Coffee Farmers Cooperative Socie-ty in Mathira West District recently when World Bank Vice President,

Mr Janamitra Devani paid a visit. The society is among the several coffee

projects in the country which was funded by the World Bank to the tune of KSh1.5 billion. Devani said the funds will help to improve the welfare of coffee farmers and fight poverty.

Speaking during a tour of the society, he noted that coffee is an important crop whose quality and quantity demanded improvement through increased funding.

He said the bank has so far funded the society to a tune of over KSh3.8 million to further improve its performance, add-ing that the benefits of the funding will be seen in the improved coffee quality in the near future.

Devani was accompanied by Industri-alisation Secretary, Mr John Musonick, and the Micro, Small and Medium En-

terprises (MSME) Project Secretary, Mr Joseph Njeru.

The World Bank has been looking for opportunities to scale up the earnings of farmers who have not been paid well after marketing their crop.

Devani said: “We are also viewing in totality the entire value change so that the farmers can benefit as we are working with private and public relationships to support the impact of climate change in the sector.”

The society was registered on March 25, 2005. It has three wet processing mills at Tegu, Karogoto and Ngunguru with a total of 3,161 registered members, out of which 2,960 are active.

It is managed by a team of nine elected committee members and three supervi-sory committee members, and a total of 30 employees headed by the secretary manager.

The society took path to certification in 2005 through Coffee Support Network and received assistance to rehabilitate their factories, educate members and staff as well as employing a field officer.

Residents lose out at a time of abundance

By Paul Kimanzi

When the rains fail, residents cry for aid or mwolyo as it is commonly known in Kamba dialect as food prices get inflated to impos-sible levels. When the rains come in abun-dance, all and sundry are overjoyed by the bumper harvest, quickly drowning the pain of hunger and misery of yester month as they rush to sell their farm produce at throw-away prices.

Such is the excitement, warped as it may be, that little concern is given to the improb-able future harvests, given the over-reli-ance on the unpredictable rainfall patterns. Droves of loaded traders from Nairobi and

other urban centres aggravate the problem as they roam the regions in lorries, snap-ping up all the maize, beans, sorghum and other cereals for a song.

The vast Ukambani region in Eastern Province, notoriously suffers long spells of rain failure, condemning it to years de-pendence on mwolyo. The abject failure by the Government to establish irrigation

schemes in an otherwise fertile region with the potential to feed the rest of the country, has not helped matters.

This is the story that explains the paradox that is Ukambani. The region was severely ravaged by three years of drought, with the last year being rated the worst in decades, leading to a massive death of animals as starving residents lived on famine relief.

Warning farmers That stiff lessons from decades of an

improbable weather pattern in Ukambani have not been learnt, is an understatement, as residents revel and wallow in abundance. And it is all thanks to the El Nino rains that drenched most of the country.

Observers cannot help but marvel at the happy and excited farmers and ven-dors as they crowd open-air markets to sell their produce at a pittance, totally oblivi-ous of the hunger and famine of the recent past, and near future.

A businessman in Mwingi Town who declines to be named over security con-cerns, confesses to making huge prof-its from the sale of agricultural produce which he buys in bulk directly from the farmers at throw away prices, which he then sells at market prices.

He attributes his actions to the coun-try’s liberalised trade policies, adding that

every other businessman is in the act. He, however, admits the lot of farmers in Ukambani would be economically bet-ter off if they were well-informed on the right market prices, and the dangers of rushing to dispose of their farm produce at throw-away prices. “Matavye maeke kuta liu muthemba usu (tell them (farmers) to stop selling their produce irresponsibly)”, advises the businessman.

The Mwingi Central District Agricul-tural Officer Mr Aaron Goro says his of-fice keeps on warning the farmers against selling their products cheaply, but all the advice goes unheeded. “We do not need any relief food in Ukambani because we have enough. All we need to do is to ag-gressively sensitise the farmers on better farming techniques,” Goro says.

The farmers on their part appear to be in the dark over exactly when, where and at what rates they should sell their produce.

The few who talked to Reject explain their action to demands of school fees for their children who are currently report-ing to school, among other financial obliga-tions. Asked what they had relied on during the many years of drought, the farmers cite selling of the few cattle that had survived the weather vagaries.

The farmers bought the cereals for planting at inflated rates but are selling at much lower prices. For instance, a kilo-gramme of green grams is now going for a paltry KSh55, down from KSh100 late last year. A kilogramme of millet has dropped from to KSh25, from last year’s KSh50. Other cereals are currently selling at al-most half of last year’s rates.

A woman selling grains. Many farmers in Ukambani region Eastern province often sell their grains after harvesting only for them to suffer when the dry season sets in.

World Bank Vice President (middle) Janamitra Devani observes coffee processing at Tekangu Coffee Farmers Cooperative Society in Mathira West district.

“We do not need any relief food in Ukambani because we have enough. All we need to do is to aggressively sensitise the

farmers on better farming techniques,” — Aaron Goro

6 U n f i l t e r e d , u n i n h i b i t e d … . j u s t t h e g r u e s o m e t r u t h ISSUE 014, March 16-31, 2010

Turkana women walking the talk

By Hussein Dido

Many of the children in her care are orphans. However she never makes them feel lonely as they are loved and well taken care of.

Rosemary Epurkel sits as the beacon of hope to hundreds of orphaned destitute children in the impoverished community in the dry and desolate Isiolo District.

Over the years, she has taken into her care, groomed and helped propel to high school many orphans. This she has done unreserv-edly with assistance from well wishers.

Epurkel is not rich but the 56-year old woman has opened the doors to her home which she has converted into an orphan-age to help address the growing number of children orphaned by HIV/Aids in Isiolo.

Such has been her affinity to the charg-es in her care — both current and past — that most of them have opted to take up her name.

OrphansTake the case of 20-year old Alex Epur-

kel for example. Alex, not only shares his surname with his benefactor but also calls her his sole guardian.

“I hardly remember my biological par-ents who died of HIV/Aids nine years ago. At the time of my parents’ death, I was in Standard Five at Uhuru Primary School in Isiolo town, a stone-throw away from the Epurkel’s orphanage,” explains Alex.

He is now in Form Three at Isiolo Boys’ Secondary School, an achievement he at-tained with Danish sponsorship, thanks to Epurkel’s connections in the Nordic country. Alex’s case is not unique as all the current and past residents of the orphan-age have chosen to take up Epurkel’s name in appreciation of her concern and care.

Her commitment and hard work has seen many of the orphans win sponsorship to Fourth Form level and beyond, depend-ing on their performance in national ex-aminations.

The heart-rending story of misery and triumph experienced by the orphans began in the early 1990s, when the HIV/Aids pan-demic took root in the arid Isiolo District.

Epurkel’s village, popularly known as Manyatta Turkana and occupied mostly by the Turkana community, bore the full brunt of the scourge, leading to the deci-mation of whole families.

She remembers: “Within a few years of the outbreak, hundreds of parents had died as many more were condemned to a life of disease, misery and abject destitution.”

Isiolo District Public Health Officer, Mr Wario Salah concurs with her: “Of the estimated 2,500 villagers at the time of the pandemic outbreak, only a few were spared as the full impact of the scourge was felt.”

He adds: “It was not only married couples who were affected, many young men and women barely into teenage lost their lives.” Epurkel rejoins: “The consequence was that hundreds of children were left orphaned.”

The district health board was over-whelmed as the scourge took effect. Anti-retroviral drugs were unheard of in the

Akopiro groupAkopiro is made up of 28 initial survi-

vors of Manyatta Turkana who vowed to help themselves and their families to es-cape the drudgery of poverty and disease.

The group has fully sponsored 13 or-phaned and vulnerable children with assist-ance from a Dane, Mr Jorgen Nyborg Jor-gensen, a regular visitor to Kenya since 1972. Other forms of the assistance include shelter, medical care, uniforms and foodstuff.

Jorgensen has also lobbied other Danish citizens and together with local assistance they have helped construct a water bore-hole and tank at a cost of KSh3.5 million. The facility also serves neighbouring com-munities.

The Akopiro Group has plans of estab-lishing an information, counselling, train-ing, nursing, referral, caring and feeding programme outreach centre for the vulner-able Turkana community.

Epurkel’s main concern is to sensitise the community to fully address social, eco-nomic and cultural concerns.

She wants the community to be empow-ered socially and economically through seminars, workshops and theatre in the fight against HIV/Aids.

Surprisingly, through drama, visits and counselling, members of the group have been able to penetrate the community that did not speak openly about HIV/Aids.

The information they have come up with has helped the government and other well wishers to analyse the problem and initiate some help for the affected people. Other than taking care of aids orphans, Epurkel has also devoted time to battle ret-rogressive culture such as wife inheritance, early marriages, teeth removal, polygamy, feasting at funerals and use of one blade in shaving several heads among others.

...by getting innovative with life’s skills

remote village.Poverty and the absence of a decent

source of livelihood in the semi-arid con-ditions were not the only problem the board had to deal with. It also had to con-tend with the added issue of illiteracy as schools were out of reach for children in the remote village.

Not even the non-government and com-munity based organisations could bail out the impoverished community.

The pandemic has brought many boys and girls to a town that previously did not have street children.

Most people living in the poverty strick-en villages are school drop outs for lack of fees and largely due to the fact that pasto-ralism is no longer a viable source of live-lihood due to years of prolonged drought and the unending cattle rustling.

By the time the government realised the magnitude of the HIV/Aids and trauma in Turkana Village, Epurkel had already made a lasting impact on both the local and world community through her relent-less awareness campaign.

She is the chairperson of Akopiro Women’s Group who have single-handedly sourced for sponsors to support the or-phans in accessing education.

“Turkana girls and women are particu-larly vulnerable to male predators from communities residing in Isiolo town and the military operating in the area,” says Epurkel.

Many of the girls are employed as casual workers and maids in the town, roles that expose them to amorous men and the fast spread of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/Aids.

TourismThe group has ventured into commu-

nal farming on their 11 acre farm, about three kilometres from Isiolo town. Among other things they carry out bee keeping, tree nurseries and flower orchards. They have also put up a cottage industry where they manufacture beads-craft that is sold to tourists.

“Previously we had relied on relief food from the government and other agencies but today we are able to grow our own food which we are even sell-ing to our neighbours,” says Mr Shadrack Chuma Ekai, a consultant to the group. Ekai says the group is fast becoming self re-liant without having to wait for government and related agencies for relief food.

The group has also mooted a project they call Turkana and Samburu Lodges that have become an instant tourist attraction.

The lodges got their first clients last De-cember when four tourists were accom-modated for two weeks. In appreciation, the tourists bought a dairy cow at a cost of KSh70,000 for the group.

The gesture was taken further by the group committee members. They with-drew KSh240,000 from their bank account and bought five more dairy cows two weeks after. The group now has sufficient milk for domestic consumption with the surplus being sold to the local community.

Poverty and the absence of a decent source of livelihood in the semi-arid areas were not the only problem the board had to deal with. It also had to contend with the issue of illiteracy as schools were out

of reach for children.

Turkana girls and women are particularly vulnerable to male predators from communities residing in Isiolo town.

7U n f i l t e r e d , u n i n h i b i t e d … . j u s t t h e g r u e s o m e t r u t hISSUE 014, March 16-31, 2010

Beading the profits of a visionFrom lowly civil servantto master businesswoman

By Catherine Wahome

As a young girl in school, Florence Mumbi wanted to be a doctor but chal-lenges in life did not allow her realise the dream.

After completing Form Four in 1977, Mumbi’s parents were not able to take her to college. Unable to wait for them to get money, she decided to look for a job.

It did not take her long before she got a job as a househelp in Nairobi where she was earning KSh100 per month.

However, she only worked for one year before the employer kicked her out. What could have been shutting of the door episode saw another window open for her.

On the way to the bus stop to catch transport to her home in Nyeri, Mumbi met someone who asked if she would want a job as a subordinate staff in Social Serv-ices Ministry.

In her desperation, she could not refuse the offer, she agreed immediately. That is how she landed to her current job which she has been at since 1978.

“It was not hard to secure a job then as it is now,” says Mumbi stating that in most in-stitutions students were being paid as they continued with their education and one would be sent to where he or she would be employed thereafter.

Even though she still wanted to be rich, Mumbi’s job as a civil servant was not bringing in much. She always wanted to do business but never gathered the courage until 2008 when her long time fear became a reality. The business opportunity came to Mumbi in the form of a vision where she saw her house being surrounded by neck-laces for three consecutive nights.

The mother of two phoned her daughter, Loise Wanja, who was by then in Nairobi and explained about the vision she had for three consecutive nights.

Wanja told her mother that may be God was giving her a necklaces’ job and prom-

ised to introduce her to a friend who was dealing in necklace business.

Wanja’s friend agreed to show Mumbi how to make necklaces free of charge. She then invited her mother to Nairobi and Mumbi was taught how to start making and finish a necklace.

With capital of KSh1, 800, Mumbi, 51, started a part time business of making and selling necklaces.

“It only took me a day to learn how to make the necklaces and with capital of KSh1,800, I bought materials in Nai-robi which I would use to make my own necklaces which I sell,” explains Mumbi.

Being an employee of the government, Mumbi had very little time to make the necklaces and had to plan her time well after work. In one week’s time, she had managed to make 100 necklaces which she sold to her colleagues and her friends making a profit of KSh5,000.

The profit was a motivation and made her become more creative. The business has now grown giving her a monthly profit of over KSh30,000.

She then came up with an idea of us-ing bamboo in making her necklaces. She would get bamboo stems from Mukurwe-ini, which she would cut into small pieces and smoothen with sand paper before ap-plying clear wood polish to make them look attractive. She would also use glass material to decorate her home made necklaces as well as beads and other wooden materials.

Booming business Although she sells her necklaces within

Nyeri to friends and workmates, Mumbi says the demand is very high. There are also people who buy from her wholesale for international markets. Locally she sells a single necklace for KSh200 but those who want many buy at KSh150.

Mumbi is proud of where this business has taken her. While previously she had nothing to show in terms of property, she has acquired several things to which she claims ownership. She has been able to buy

a dairy cow at KSh25,000. The cow pro-duces 15 litres of milk daily and gives her a monthly income of over KSh10,000 from the sale of milk.

The necklace business has also ena-bled her to rear chicken. She sells a cock at KSh850 since they are big and range from three kilogrammes to 3.5 kg each. She also keeps layers and sells eggs with each going for KSh10.

From the business Mumbi has also managed to buy a chaff cutter for her cow at a cost of KSh25,000.

Though she operates on limited time — she has to be in office by 8.00 am and leaves at 5.00 pm — she is not ready to stop working in the government office and neither is she ready to stop her necklace business.

Despite her handiwork, Mumbi cannot see clearly following an accident when her eye was hit by a chair in 2000.

Taking care of the injured eye has been expensive since she has to attend clinic on a monthly basis. She has been struggling to raise the KSh10,000 needed every month and this might be the rea-son why God gave her the necklace job through a vision.

Mumbi is encouraging anyone who can to try their hand in business to do so since through it she has been able to do many things including buying a five acre piece of land in Kieni East District.

Although she is proud of the market she has been able to reach, Mumbi would like to sell her necklaces to other parts of the country. She would also like to per-sonally take her necklaces to international markets.

Many people who have known her necklaces have given orders for her to make for them to sell in Uganda, Ger-many, Korea, South Africa and Sudan.

Florence Mumbi displays her home made necklaces, ready for sale.

Mumbi’s chicken pen. She got into poultry farming with profits from her beading business.

Mumbi is encouraging anyone who can to try their hand in business to do so since through it she has been able to do

many things including buying a five acre piece of land in Kieni East District.

8 U n f i l t e r e d , u n i n h i b i t e d … . j u s t t h e g r u e s o m e t r u t h ISSUE 014, March 16-31, 2010

Executive Director: Rosemary Okello-Orlale Programme Coordinator: Wilson Ugangu Programme Officer: Florence Sipalla Programme Assistant: Mercy Mumo Project Editor: Jane Godia Project Designer: Noel Lumbama Copy Editor: Frank Ojiambo Contributors: Muasya Charles, David Kiarie, Asha Muktar, Ben Oroko, Paul Kimanzi,

Charles Njeru, Joseph Mukubwa, Hussein Dido, Paul Kanyange, Catherine Wahome, and Frank Ouma

www.mediadiversityafrica.org

Write to: info@mediadiversityafrica.org

The paper is produced with funds from Ford Foundation

By Frank Ouma

When a childhood dream be-comes a reality, it is some-thing that begs of a greater vision. For that is the vision

that a woman scientist had when she sold her idea to others. The dream that turned into reality is in the name of Nambale Mag-net School, which is by many standards a very unique learning institution.

Bright future The school hosts orphans and other

vulnerable children, and epitomises the true spirit of harambee, pulling together. The self-sponsored students in its keep help subsidise fees for their less fortunate colleagues.

Located in Nambale along the Mumias-Busia Road, the school has against many odds performed well in national examina-tions, giving hope to many disadvantaged students in the region.

The school is modelled on Nairobi’s Starehe Boys’ Centre design and offers good academic opportunities to orphans and other vulnerable children, alongside their self-sponsored colleagues.

Nambale Magnet School is a project of the Women‘s Initiative in Knowledge and Survival (WIKS) which was founded in 2002 by Reverend Evalyne Wakhusama. WIKS is made up of a group of Kenyan women who share in the vision of a world where all har-ness their potential to live in dignity.

It was registered in 2003 with the objec-tive to transforming lives and bringing about meaningful change on Christian principles.

The school is committed to providing stu-dents with opportunities for education and to empower them to a better future.

“It is for this reason that the organisa-tion thought of building a premier primary school that would offer a solid basic educa-tion and create great initiatives for child sur-vival,” explains Wakhusama.

Through the support of friends, the board of management has invested in seven acres of land within Nambale town in Busia District.

“As a board, we have been fundraising to put up the facility through well wishers in United States and I see my dream of seeing orphans and vulnerable children accessing education in Nambale coming to fruition,” explains Wakhusama.

She reiterates that even self-sponsored learners who seek quality and affordable education are accepted at the institution as a way of providing wholesome integration.

Wakhusama, who is the founder of the school, notes that self-sponsored learners subsidise the cost of sponsored learners.

The school opened its doors to pioneer students on January 12, last year, and Wa-khusama says “it’s a symbol of development

and a beacon of hope for the area commu-nity that has lagged behind in education of orphans and vulnerable children”.

“We want to make the school which has 34 pre-unit pupils to be self–sustaining once fully operational. We are going to grow with those pioneer pupils,” says Wakhusama, who is also the school’s director.

In August 2007, the ground breaking ceremony was presided over by then Busia District Commissioner, Mr John ole Kepas, and construction commenced thereafter.

To sustain the project, the board of gov-ernors plans to use available land to produce food for consumption within the school with the surplus being sold to outsiders.

Expansion The institution also plans to build a con-

ference centre — a facility that is in great de-mand in the region, as well as an apprentice school that will be accessible to the paying public.

“The first phase of the project comprises five classes and a dormitory,” Wakusama ex-plains, adding that the demand for space is overwhelming.

Narrating to The Reject the plans that she has for the institution, Wakhusama who is a research technologist at the Kenya Research Institute in Muguga (KARI) says the idea of setting up the school was a childhood dream.

“While I was growing up in the tiny vil-lage of Mabunge, Nambale Division, Busia District, I was always concerned about my age-mates who were not blessed to go to school due to lack of school fees,” recalls the Reverend.

After completing her secondary and university education, she was employed by KARI but did not abandon the dream of playing her part in uplifting the living standards of disadvantaged children in her village.

The opportunity was to present itself during her postgraduate studies in the Unit-ed States of America. “What was constantly on my mind while in America was a desire to do something for the poor orphans and vulnerable children back home, and par-ticularly in my home village of Mabunge,” she says.

Wakhusama had secured a scholarship from Philanthropic Educational Organiza-tion (PEO), an institution that raises grants, loans and scholarships for women. “It is from here that the formative plans for WIKS took shape,” she says.

Ever since it was started, WIKS has been involved in various projects such as creating awareness through training of various groups in the area on HIV/Aids prevention and management to enable the local residents make informed deci-sions.

Aside from her role at KARI, Wakhusa-ma is a pastor at the Anglican Church of Kenya in Muguga.

“We must share the little that we have to make our societies a better place to live in by supporting orphans and vulnerable chil-dren,” she says.

She praises her family and in particular her husband, Dr Sam Wakhusama, a scien-tist with AU-IBAR for the invaluable sup-port he has provided to the project, right from its inception.

Fountain of hope in Nambale

(Right) Some of the pupils of Nambale Magnet school at the assembly grounds (Left) Reverend Evalyne Wakhusama, the founder and director of the school.

“We must share the little that we have to make our

societies a better place to live in by supporting orphans and vulnerable

children.”