Day: March 12, 2022

Persons living with disabilities in Bureti sub-county in Kericho have a reason to smile after the government through the National Fund for the Disabled of Kenya (NFDK) presented them with Equipment worth over Sh200, 000.
The assortment of Equipment presented to 11 beneficiaries included barber tool kits, sewing machines, welding tool kits, wheelchairs, tricycles, white canes and salon kits.
Speaking to KNA during the presentation of the tools at the Bureti sub-county headquarters’ grounds, an officer from NFDK in charge of the distribution of the vocational skill trade tools Mr. Isaac Aliya said the organization had disbursed Sh225, 115 worth of Equipment to PLWDs in the sub-county in the current financial year.
He urged those living with disabilities in the area to apply for assistance from the organization in order to access government empowerment funding and improve their livelihoods.
Alia appealed to parents and caregivers of children with disabilities not to hide them for fear of stigma but to expose them to learning environments where they can be equipped with skills for them to be self-reliant and productive in society.
Present also at the event was the area Deputy County Commissioner Lawrence Omondi who urged the beneficiaries to ensure they use their tools of trade for their intended purpose so that the purpose of improving their lives is achieved.
“The tools of trade are intended to empower persons living with disabilities with a vision that they are able to earn a source of income and improve their livelihoods and contribute positively to nation building,” said Omondi.
An elated caregiver Mama Lucy Langat from Roret area within Bureti sub-county lauded the group for the timely donation which she said will assist her visually impaired son Timothy Korir establish his welding business and become independent.
“I thank the organization for their timely assistance, my son who is blind was able to learn a vocational skill at Oyugis Vocational Training School and I am happy that he will now be able to start his own business and earn a living,” said Mama Langat.

Source: Kenya News Agency

More than 400 families from Matinyani Sub County in Kitui County are set to benefit from a total of 400 water storage tanks being distributed by Matinyani Development Women Group to its members, lifting the burden of daily long trekking in search of water.
The water tanks with a capacity of 5,000 liters each are anticipated to reduce the problem of water shortage being experienced in homesteads especially during the drought seasons.
The water tanks are expected to be distributed to all its 400 group members by the end of the year. The water containers are estimated to cost the group over Sh 10 million.
The Groups’ chairlady, Esther Musili, while speaking to KNA today during a launching of phase one of the water tanks distribution ceremony held at the group’s offices in Matinyani sub county said, “Today is the kickoff the giving out the water tanks. Each tank costs Sh. 26,000 and we hope that by the end of the year, all members will have received a tank. We are also counting on a loan from the women empowerment fund to assist us in empowering ourselves,”
The chairperson lauded the group members for their commitment and support of its activities. She noted that due to commitment and support by members, the group has completed construction of a building complex projects.
“We are currently housing government institutions including the Independent Electoral and Boundary Commission (IEBC), Kitui West Constituency Offices, Kitui West Member of Parliament’s office, and the Member of County Assembly Matinyani Ward office,” she said.
Janesther Muimi, the groups’ secretary disclosed that the rental business has been an important source of finance for the community-based organization since they collect rent of over Sh. 50,000 monthly.
“From the income we get from renting out our facilities, we managed to buy these tanks that will be given to each member on a 50/50 cost sharing. A member will contribute 50% of the cost of the tank while the other 50% will be paid from the groups account,” Muimi explained.
Belita Mutinda, who is one of the founder members of the group, while speaking during the ceremony said that the tanks will be of great help because she will no longer go to fetch water from the river.
“I am elderly and have no energy to carry water on my back from the river. I will harvest rainwater into the tank and I will always access water from it for domestic use,” said the elderly group founder member.
Matinyani Development Women Group is known for spearheading life-changing projects such as basket weaving, candle making among others to local communities.
The group was founded 20 years ago by the late Susan Mwendwa, wife of the first director of education in Kenya, Kyale Mwendwa and it has positively impacted the lives of many women in the county.

Source: Kenya News Agency

A Murang’a Sacco whose majority of members are drawn from tea and coffee farmers have hailed the government’s reforms in the tea sector.
Chief Executive Officer of Amica Sacco Mr. James Mbui has said the reforms have enabled their members to service their loans without many strains thus enabling the Sacco to make profit during the year when the country was battling Covid-19 pandemic.
Mbui who was addressing the Sacco’s Annual Delegates Meeting (ADM) in a Murang’a hotel said the tea reforms increased monthly pay to farmers which helped those with loans to service them.
Initially farmers used to wait for bonuses so as to service their loans but the tea reforms led to an increase of monthly payment thus easing farmers’ financial burden.
Mbui noted that as Covid-19 affected the livelihoods of many of their customers, the Sacco was forced to reschedule repayment of loans amounting to more than Sh. 500 million.
He also lauded the good performance in the coffee and dairy sectors saying farmers received better payment thus serving their loans with ease.
“We expect this year to do better in terms of growth of profit. Our customers especially those in the tea and coffee sector are currently getting better payments owing to reforms the government is doing in the agricultural sectors,” said Mbui.
The CEO said despite 2021 being a difficult year, the SACCO’s performance was impressive where the Sacco managed to attain between 24 and 27 per cent in most of their parameters.
He explained that total assets grew by 24.4 per cent to Sh. 5.6 billion up from Sh. 4.5 billion in 2020. “Our loan book expanded by 22.4 per cent up from Sh. 3.8 billion to Sh. 4.6 billion driven by aggressive lending as well as monitoring and collection efforts,” he added.
The CEO underscored the use of digital platforms saying they also greatly contributed to the growth of the Sacco last year.
“The pandemic disruption presented us with opportunities to accelerate our digital transformation journey. With the reduction of cash transactions and limits on volume of cash transactions, the majority of Kenyans have embraced mobile and internet-driven transactions and settlements.
“We continue to implement technology-driven products and services that respond to the evolving member habits, needs and wants,” he further explained.
The Sacco, Mbui said, will be releasing dividends on shares at five per cent; interests on members’ deposits at between six and 10 per cent depending on how much a member has invested.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The Kenya Seed Company (KSC) has assured maize farmers across the country of adequate supply of seeds as they continue preparing their farms for the planting season.
Speaking during a seed distribution stakeholders meeting that brought together agents and stockists from Trans-Nzoia and Bungoma counties, KSC Managing Director Fred Oloibe said the company has produced enough seeds for both local consumption as well as foreign markets including those in the neighbouring countries of Uganda and Tanzania.
“We are soon going to start planting our seeds in this region starting March through April and as we can see this year’s rains are almost certain unlike the previous years. I am calling on our farmers to prepare their farms in readiness for this planting season,” said Oloibe.
The MD said as an organization they celebrate all seed distributors, agents and the stockists in the country, hence the need to reward them by coming together to share ideas, train them to be better distributors and handlers of the seeds and also handle farmers better whenever they visit their shops for the seeds.
“We have sufficient quantities of seeds for all the grow zones in the highlands. We have sufficient stocks of Hybrid 6213,614,629 for our farmers this year and also DH 04 for the dry areas like West Pokot,” Oloibe said.
The MD said that part of training for their seed distributors include highlighting and making them aware of the issue of fake seeds in the country.
The company is working closely with the seed regulator (KEPHIS) through its packaging, especially for the two kilo package, where there is a card that one needs to scratch and send a number to confirm the authenticity of the seed.
“We are also urging farmers to practically use our security feature by ensuring that they send the details or check on the labels for assurance that you are planting the right and quality seeds,” said Oloibe.
The MD added that the company is doing more research and very soon they will be releasing a new variety of seeds that will be tolerant to low rainfall and also give farmers high yields despite the constant climatic changes.
“I urge farmers countrywide to prepare their farms for early planting because research has shown that such crops especially maize will grow faster because of the nitrogen nutrients in the soil and will not be vulnerable to diseases and attacks from pests like the fall army worms,” added Oloibei.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Transparency International Kenya (TI) has launched a project that seeks to create awareness and strengthen citizen groups in order to effectively engage in public planning, procurement and complaint management in the agricultural sector in Kakamega County.
The project dubbed, Uwazi Mashinani, will address the challenge of access to information by the public from the duty bearers in the agricultural sector.
“For proper planning and procurement process the public needs free flow of information from the duty bearers in order to engage effectively,” said Elizabeth Duya, Western region TI Senior Regional officer.
Duya said the two-year project is supported by the German agency for International cooperation (GIZ), adding that they will empower the citizens and build their capacity to prepare them for public participation in order to be able to interact with documents and information generated by the county.
“According to article 1 of the Kenyan constitution, sovereignty is placed on the people of Kenya. Therefore, people need to come out and exercise their rights in terms of complaints addressing and also holding the duty bearers responsible for their actions,” she explained.
The TI official said apart from Kakamega, the project will be implemented in three other counties namely Machakos and Elgeyo Marakwet in health sector and Turkana in the agricultural sector.
Violet Shibutse, the Director of Shibuye Community Health Workers said that TI will work with the organization to ensure transparency and that citizens take part in devolution processes.
“The Uwazi mashinani project will enable the agricultural sector to be given first priority by ensuring farmers, civil societies and the citizens are involved in budget making and accountability,” she said.
Shibuye said that agricultural sector will grow as the farmers will benefit a lot from the project as transparency will be considered in the budgetary allocation.
She said their partnership with TI will provide training to all sub counties through community, youth and farmers groups and make them understand that it’s their duty to ensure there was transparency in government plans.
“We will teach them how to write complaints to the county governments when anything goes astray,” she added.
“We want to ensure there is accountability and that the public’s complaints are addressed,” said shibuye.
According to the TI official, the project will open doors for citizens to raise their complaints and ensure food security and use agriculture to grow the economy of the county.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Livestock Marketing Systems (LMS) has partnered with Garissa County government in donating laptops and printers to eight co-operative societies to help them improve their digital and business skills.
The Sh35 million USAID is in-grant to the county for co-operative development that will also see staff from the department of co-operative receive laptops.
It will also entail the strengthening of key institutions like livestock marketing associations and the chamber of commerce.
Speaking during the handover of the equipment, the County Director of Livestock Dr. Haret Hambe said the devolved unit was determined to empower co-operative societies across the region.
Dr. Hambe called on the groups to enroll more members in order to become influential in decision making and policy formulation processes which affect their members.
The LMS County Program Manager John Kutwa called on the co-operative societies to scale up their saving culture to allow them to diversify into other income generating projects like off-take and table banking.
Already, six of the eight co-operatives are registered as savings and credit co-operatives and have managed to save Sh1.7 million among members.
The beneficiaries include Gumarey Honey Co-operative Society from Ijara, Safi Women Milk Co-op Society from Dadaab, Bura East Fodder Co-operative Society and Fafi Farmers Marketing Co-operative Society.
Others are Modogashe Women Milk Co-operative Society, Balambala Livestock Traders Co-operative Society, Garissa Camel Milk Co-operative Society and Garissa Butchers Association both from Garissa Sub County.

Source: Kenya News Agency