Day: February 9, 2024

Police in Eldoret have arrested a group of 10 youth suspected of harassing members of the business community and the entire public in the Town and its outskirts, demanding money by force.

The County Police Commander (CPC), Benjamin Mwanthi, pointed out that the suspects were arrested following reports from members of the public that there was a group of suspected people armed with pangas and other crude weapons, threatening the lives of the business operators.

He noted that the security officers continue to be vigilant in promoting safety and curbing individuals involved in insecurity cases across the county.

‘Yesterday we got a report from the business community, who complained of harassment from a group of youth. We conducted an operation, and we were able to arrest over 10 people who were involved, and they are currently being held for questioning pending arraignment in court,’ he said.

He further called on the business people to report any individual who is tormenting or has an intention of extorting
money from them to go ahead and report the matter to the nearest police station, county government enforcement, or NGAO.

The CPC additionally warned the public against an emerging trend where scammers posing as agents of overseas employment opportunities lure unsuspecting people, especially graduates seeking employment, but in return end up robbed of their valuables like computers, phones, and others.

He recalled for an incident where a nurse trainee in Eldoret was lured by scammers who obtained her contact information from social media. They convinced her to apply for a job outside the country but withheld her application overnight due to system failure. Later, they stole seven laptops from the trainee and friends.

‘We’ve encountered a particular case from a trainee nurse who was contacted by the scammers through Facebook and lured into believing that he could help her apply for nursing jobs abroad. He went ahead and convinced the student to bring the laptop for the application to take place. The suspects
continued with their tricks, where they complained the laptop was not meeting the specifications for the application,’ he explained.

‘They ordered the trainee to bring other laptops, and the trainee ended up bringing 7 laptops of different models. The suspects finally led their client to an unknown place, where they stayed overnight until the next day, when the trainee was freed. We are still investigating the matter to bring the suspects to book,’ added Mwanthi.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The Coast Regional Commissioner (RC), Rhoda Onyancha, has called for cooperation between the government, political leaders, and the citizenry to combat security threats in the area.

Consequently, Onyancha held a meeting with security teams from the region’s six counties and 33 sub-counties at the Kenya School of Government (KSG), Mombasa, on Thursday to take stock of the emerging local security concerns during the past one year, appraising on achievements and challenges faced while setting an agenda for the region in 2024.

The RC said the region was stable towards the end of 2023, despite the challenges encountered at the beginning of the year.

Onyancha said the regional security teams under her jurisdiction will build on the 2023 achievements, address the gaps therein, and come up with a comprehensive security roadmap for 2024.

The RC cited the Shakahola cult massacre in Kilifi County as the major insecurity incident that happened in the region last year, where more than 400 lives were lost, causing ast
onishment among Kenyans. Seemingly, the massacre caught the security apparatus flat-footed.

Additionally, she termed terrorism as one of the major security threats facing the region, among other felonies like organised crime, highway robbery, drugs and substance abuse, land conflicts, herder-herder conflicts, and herder-farmer conflicts.

The meeting also delved into cross-border and inter-region security issues, with the RC upbeat that they had come up with an elaborate strategy to address possible security threats to ensure stability in their respective counties.

‘As a region, we have a myriad of security threats. We have gone through all of them and come up with ways of addressing them per county because every devolved unit has its own unique challenges,’ said Onyancha.

Going forward, she added, they had agreed to adopt the multi-agency approach right from the regional down to the sub-county levels to ensure the entire area remained secure and stable.

The RC noted that the region can’t achieve much wit
hout peace and harmony because, in essence, security is the key enabler of every other sector of the economy.

‘If there is a gap, or if we have security challenges in the region, then it becomes very hard for other sectors to thrive,’ reiterated Onyancha.

Meanwhile, local elected leaders were urged to collaborate with their respective security teams in the fight against drugs and substance abuse, a scourge that had destroyed the lives of many youths in the region.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Some 54 young farmers from across Murang’a County have benefited from a three-day training session to equip them with entrepreneurship skills for their agribusinesses.

The training, dubbed the Youth Entrepreneurship in Agribusiness Project (YEAP), took place in Murang’a Town and was aimed at training the youth on leveraging the current innovations and technology trends so that they can integrate them into their farming practices to increase yields.

Speaking to the youths, Kamau Njoroge, the Chief Executive Officer and founder of Wing Farm, a youth-led non-governmental organisation, underscored the importance of YEAP in equipping young people with entrepreneurship skills in agribusiness as a way of empowering youths to fight poverty.

‘We focus on rural development, capacity building, and empowering youths through agriculture and agricultural-based value chains,’ he said.

Njoroge said that in Murang’a, they are training young people on entrepreneurship in agribusiness, good agricultural practices, climate-
smart agriculture, and financial literacy.

‘We are training the youth on agricultural technologies and innovations, developing an agribusiness plan, and managing agribusiness enterprises so that they can profit from their agribusinesses,’ he said.

‘We intend to train over 300 youths in Kiambu, Murang’a, Nyandarua, and Kirinyaga counties,’ he added.

Through this training, he said, the young farmers will gain skills in the development of entrepreneurial skills, the creation of new businesses, and improving agriculture value chains, adding that this will increase job opportunities in the agriculture sector.

The CEO divulged that out of 237 youths who had applied to be part of YEAP, 75 were selected.

‘The requirements for this project were a KCSE certificate and for the youth to be actively practicing agriculture,’ he said.

Njoroge further said that after entrepreneurship training, the youths who took part in this programme will take part in a one-month mentorship programme so as to gain hands-on experience
in managing agribusiness enterprises.

He urged youths to take up similar opportunities whenever they are available, as they are very beneficial.

‘We are also teaching the youth soft skills such as communication skills and interpersonal skills to help them generate more income through sales or serve as employability skills for those seeking employment,’ said Silas Kenyatta, an officer from the Ministry of Agriculture who works with the youth.

He explained that the training is also sensitising youths on how and where to mobilise funds for their startups.

‘This training informed the youth on available financing options such as the Uwezo Fund and the Youth Fund, among others, where they can access loans to grow their businesses,’ he said.

Kenyatta called upon the youth to take advantage of the digital platforms to grow and market their agricultural produce to their target markets.

He urged primary schools and junior secondary schools to register 4K clubs for the learners so as to give the children a head st
art with impactful agricultural knowledge.

Murang’a County Director for Youth Ruth Njoroge said that the youths that have been trained will share the knowledge with their peers to encourage them to venture into agribusiness.

‘Youths who have attended this training are drawn from all the subcounties in Murang’a, and therefore the knowledge gained will be cascaded to others who will be in a position to practice sustainable agribusinesses,’ she said.

She called upon youths in entrepreneurship in the county to apply for available funds offered by the government, like the Uwezo Fund and the Youth Fund.

‘Such funds have very low interest rates, and the youths will benefit by taking up loans to boost their businesses,’ she said, adding that they have a grace period of six months before one can start the repayment process.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) has called upon the government to carry out thorough investigations on the Miradi Estate fire incident facility that occurred at Embakasi, Nairobi, and all illegal petroleum-related facilities in the country.

The Alliance, which sent a message of condolence to the families of the victims of the incident and wished quick recovery to those recuperating in hospitals from burn wounds and other related injuries, also urged the government to investigate unlicensed professionals involved in illegal activities.

In a press statement sent to newsrooms, KEPSA said it will fully support the initiative by extending professional support to the investigation team and told the government to hold their agencies accountable for any underperformance in their mandate.

KEPSA also urged the government to consider forming a petroleum taskforce to review the level of non-compliance and causes of non-compliance and develop recommendations for a way forward.

‘The recommendations should in
clude measures to enhance compliance levels, awareness of the hazards of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), and the development of acceptable and effective whistle-blowing mechanisms,’ said the statement.

It was noted that the measures will allow members of the public to report cases of non-compliance with the capability to track action taken.

KEPSA said it takes cognizance of the existing legal and regulatory framework governing the petroleum sector, which outlines the need for safe handling and storage of all petroleum products, among them LPG.

The alliance emphasised the need to ensure that this effort does not bring harm to users and citizens or damage to properties and facilities.

‘KEPSA is supporting businesses that comply with the Petroleum Act, 2019 and the Energy Liquefied Petroleum Gas EPRA Regulations, 2019,’ said the statement, while calling on businesses and potential investors to obtain the necessary licensing for safe and sustainable operations.

Condoling the bereaved families, KEPSA said it i
s deeply saddened by the unfortunate fire incident that occurred in Miradi, on the night of Thursday, February 1, 2024, describing it as an unwarranted loss of life caused by the negligence of safety protocols undertaken by the business in question.

It further stated that the alliance takes note that the application for licensing of the subject facility had been turned down by the regulator, the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA).

‘We take note that there have been reported illegal activities in the petroleum sector that include illegal filling of cylinders and illegal operations that bear unacceptable risk to users and other stakeholders, such as neighbours,’ warned KEPSA.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Embu County has inched closer to having institutionalised children reunited with their families.

This follows the launch of the county and sub-county committees to steer the programme, which is expected to take ten years.

The county hopes to transition all children in children’s homes to family and community care as Embu County joins the national and global efforts to have all children raised in a family setup.

The push to have children grow up in communities is based on research findings that revealed that children released from children’s homes on reaching the age of 18 had difficulties reintegrating with society.

A senior technical advisor with children’s charity Lumos, Grace Mwangi, said children raised in institutions lack family love while growing up and do not receive guidance on the values they need to navigate through life in society.

Speaking when her organisation donated IT equipment to the new committees, Mwangi said the transition process will need close monitoring with a lot of data tracki
ng and management.

Reginah Mohono from the National Council for Children Services said a lot of work is necessary to make families and communities ready to receive the children.

Mohono said those running children’s homes shouldn’t feel like they will lose their occupations since they will be helped to continue giving the same support they have been giving to the children while they are in their communities.

‘There will be a lot of social work to ensure the children are settled in society, while the institution buildings will be repurposed to serve other uses in communities,’ Mohono said.

Vimal Chadha from the Embu County Steering Committee said they adequately trained all those who will participate in the transition to ensure the conversion is orderly.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Some 40 youths have qualified for the NYS volunteer servicemen and women recruitment exercise in Rachuonyo South Sub County, despite low turnout Thursday.

The recruitment kicked off at 9 a.m. at Kosele Stadium, where about 60 youths turned up for the exercise.

The 5-day recruitment exercise ongoing in all 1,450 wards in Kenya began on the 5th of this month and will end today.

‘We will be choosing some of you. Some will miss out, but it is not the end of the road for you,’ Sergeant Felix Otieno, the NYS officer in charge of the exercise, said.

The exercise saw 24 males and 16 females qualify to join NYS from the 5 wards in Kasipul Constituency.

The wards are Central Kasipul Ward, West Kasipul, South Kasipul, East Kamagak, and West Kamagak Ward.

Sergeant Otieno said the programme was voluntary enrollment, saying their aim was to ensure the recruitment process remains transparent and free.

‘The process is completely free. Do not bribe an official for a spot here. We do not need your money,’ he said.

He
said successful volunteers will receive calling letters to attend mandatory paramilitary training for a period of six months, after which they pursue a course of their choice at an NYS vocational training institute.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The government has ordered a crackdown on all agrovets selling uncertified seeds to unsuspecting farmers, thus contributing to food insecurity in the country.

Consequently, Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi has directed the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) to work closely with the relevant authorities with a view to ensuring all unscrupulous business people found perpetrating the vice are promptly apprehended and prosecuted in accordance with the law.

He further warned such agrovets selling uncertified seeds that they risk cancellation of their licenses, so as to curb rampant cases of farmers being conned, especially during this period when farmers are heading closer to the planting season.

‘As a government, we will certainly impose stringent measures to ensure our farmers only plant certified seeds,’ said Linturi, while speaking at Utangwa Market in Mbooni West Sub County, where he commissioned the Utangwa Small Irrigation Scheme Project on Thursday.

‘
While promising to open a Kenya Seed Company (KSC) branch in Mbooni, the CS urged farmers to buy certified seed from government stockists in order to improve their yields and ensure food security in the country.

‘Buy your seeds only from KSC and other licensed outlets so that your production can improve, even as the government works on plans to put up a branch here,’ he noted.

‘I have heard the cry of farmers from all over the country and even here in Mbooni, where I am reliably informed that some farmers were sold some fake ‘nduma’ maize seeds that never germinated or got stunted, leaving the farmers in distress.

At the same time, the CS challenged farmers in Makueni County to position themselves to benefit from the upcoming Thwake dam, which will irrigate 40,000 acres of land in the larger Ukambani region once completed.

‘The Kenya Kwanza government is undertaking construction of the mega Thwake dam, with a capacity of 688 cubic million litres of water for both domestic and irrigation purposes, which wi
ll be a game changer for the people of Makueni and Kitui counties,’ he said.

Additionally, the CS promised to construct a cold room for horticultural products in Mbooni West to save farmers from exploitation by middlemen who offer them low prices for their perishable goods, only for the brokers to sell the same at higher prices later on.

During the function, Linturi also launched three dryers to help farmers in the Lower Eastern region to dry their maize to avoid post-harvest losses, where Machakos, Kitui, and Makueni counties will each get one dryer.

However, the CS promised to add one drier for Makindu sub-county following a request made by his host, Makueni Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jnr.

The launch was done at the Wote National Cereals and Produce Board offices, where Linturi also flagged off 1,700 bags of subsidised fertiliser that will be distributed to farmers in Makueni County.

On his part, Mutula asked the national government to open an Agricultural Training Centre to help train youths and women on
new innovative methods to boost crop production in the region.

‘With such an agricultural college, farmers planting French beans, for instance, can get skills in that field to improve on food production,’ he emphasised.

The governor also said that a cold room will be constructed in the area to save mango farmers from exploitation by middlemen, who buy the commodity at throwaway prices.

‘It is wrong for our farmers to sell their mangoes at Sh10 per kilogramme to brokers, who later sell the same at Sh200,’ lamented Mutula.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Residents of Nyeri are calling for comprehensive reforms in the health sector ahead of the country’s transition to the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF).

While airing their views during a public participation forum on the draft Social Health Insurance Regulations 2024 Bill today, the majority of the speakers want the Government to ensure there is availability of essential drugs and quality health services under the new scheme.

They also want the new scheme to focus more on funding medical needs for all people, devoid of discrimination, to enable those at the bottom of the economic ladder to access quality health care.

‘While we welcome the rollout of the new Social Health Insurance Fund, let the scheme cater for the revival of our health care system, which is in a deplorable state. We want to get treated when we visit our health facilities, even as we pay into the new health insurance scheme. There is no need to replace the current National Health Insurance Fund if the problems we have been experiencing
are to be replicated in the new one,’ submitted Kabatha Wanjohi, who is chair of the Nyeri Disability Network.

Wanjohi has also urged the State to review a proposal meant to cater for funeral expenses, arguing that such money should be directed towards catering for critical medical needs such as drugs and screening for noncommunicable diseases.

‘We need a scheme where both the rich and the poor will not be demarcated but where there is equality in providing health services at a health facility of one’s choice. We also wish to request that the Government ensure that those living with physical challenges are treated as equals when rolling out the new scheme. Finally, let the money that is being proposed to cater for the deceased be relocated to improve the provision of services in our health facilities,’ he added.

A hearing-impaired person who identified herself as Susan requested the drafters of the new regulations to insert a clause that will cater for travel expenses for those seeking treatment abroad.

S
he argued that under the new insurance scheme, contributors who cannot access advanced treatment in the country should be catered for while flying out of the country since the majority of their families may not be in a position to foot such expenses.

Margaret Mwangi, a social worker for persons living with HIV/AIDS, called for the new scheme to cater for the cost of obtaining P3 forms for Gender Based Violence (GBV) victims, as the majority of them cannot afford the documents when seeking treatment.

She said that owing to the current hard economic times, the majority of GBV victims infected with HIV fear being ostracised any time they visit a health facility due to lack of P3 forms.

‘I work with the key population, or those living with HIV. One of the challenges these people encounter, especially those who have been subjected to Gender Based Violence is lack of access to treatment due to lack of a P3 form. Most of these people cannot afford the documents that are sold at Sh400 and would rather buy food and
take care of their children. My proposal is for the new insurance health fund to cater for such expenses in order for the victims of such vices to get assistance,’ she said.

Reverend Bildad Wangondu, a prelate at the Mweiga Anglican Church, proposed the establishment of counselling services in all public health facilities to cater for the rising cases of mental health challenges.

The cleric argued that the majority of people struggling with mental health challenges cannot get help since most public health facilities lack such services.

‘Mental health challenges are no longer new in this country, and it is time our health facilities get equipped adequately to deal with the new health scare. I am therefore proposing the new regulations to incorporate that our public hospitals be staffed with counselling psychologists and medics who can assist patients battling depression and other mental illnesses,’ he stated.

Dr. Ruth Laibon-Masha, the CEO of the National Syndemic Diseases Control Council, assured the part
icipants that their proposals will be considered when coming up with the final regulations expected to be operational late in March this year.

She also promised to escalate the challenges of accessing P3 forms for victims of GBV to the Ministry of Interior, under whose docket the matter falls.

Dr. Masha assured the public that the proposed SHIF scheme will be a game changer in the provision of quality services in the country as it will address all the challenges that have dogged the National Health Insurance Fund for years.

‘Our sole responsibility is to ensure every proposal that has been given in this forum with regard to the Social Health Insurance Fund regulations is taken into consideration. A point of note is that the new health insurance fund will take care of each and every person who will be registered, regardless of his social or economic status,’ she stated.

‘The President (Dr. William Ruto) has helped put up a robust health scheme, which he hopes will bring to an end to the many fundraising me
etings by the public in a bid to offset medical expenses for families stretched to the limit by the high cost of footing health bills for their loved ones,’ she added.

Following the lifting of a court order suspending the implementation of the Social Health Insurance Act 2023 early this year, the Ministry of Health immediately kicked off countrywide public participation workshops to help come up with the regulations that will guide the implementation of the Act.

The Ministry is seeking views on the Social Health Insurance General Regulations 2024, which will provide for the implementation of the Primary healthcare fund, the Social health insurance fund, the Emergency chronic and critical illness fund, and the Social Health Insurance Dispute Resolution Tribulation Regulations 2024.

The new regulations have put deductions for salaried employees at 2.75 per cent per month, while unsalaried households will also pay 2.75 per cent of their income per year.

The capping will, however, take into account housing ch
aracteristics, access to basic services, household composition, and other socio-economic aspects of the households under review.

The minimum amount payable to the fund will be Sh300.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Cochlear implant surgeries will for the first time be conducted at the Nakuru Teaching and Referral Hospital (NTRH) by Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) surgeons in the county, collaborating with doctors from the Baker Institute for Children with Hearing Loss, Stanford University.

The inaugural surgery (cochlear) that helps a patient with severe hearing loss or profoundly deaf get some sense of sound will be held in September this year.

According to Governor Susan Kihika, the surgeries will be performed on children under three years of age who have not developed hearing or speech (pre-lingual) and on older children who have developed hearing or speech but have lost hearing (post-lingual).

Though the initiative will particularly target needy children with hearing impairments who require surgery, the governor assured that adults are also expected to benefit.

Ms. Kihika further announced that the medical procedure, which is performed under general anaesthesia with a small incision made behind the ear to access the
cochlea, will also benefit residents from the neighbouring counties of Kericho, Bomet, Narok, and Baringo.

Speaking in her boardroom when she held discussions with the President of the Baker Institute for Children with Hearing Loss at Stanford University, Ms. Jennifer Jordan McCall, the Governor noted that each year at least 3,000 children in Kenya are born deaf.

Ms. Kihika advised parents to have their babies undergo screening at birth so that they do not end up missing out on currently available interventions for them courtesy of technology.

She pointed out that children’s development of spoken language was directly related to their hearing ability, adding that most studies on hearing loss had confirmed that delayed speech and language development in children was likely to continue into adulthood.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), early intervention is critical to successful rehabilitation outcomes in people with hearing loss, as delays harm language development, communication, social we
ll-being, and cognition.

Since hearing loss is invisible, it commonly remains undetected in children and adults. For this reason, extraordinary measures must be put in place to screen for hearing loss at different stages across the life course, according to the organisation.

The governor noted that the costs of cochlea implant surgeries were inhibitive in private facilities, with some amounting up to Sh3 million, adding that her administration’s initiative was geared towards benefiting families from low-income settlements.

‘The surgery is quite expensive. Our intervention is geared towards ensuring that a deaf child grows and attends school normally, thereby becoming a productive member of society,’ she said.

Kenya has about 153,381 people who are deaf, according to the Kenya Population and Housing Census. The report shows that there are more hearing-impaired people in rural areas (129,518), as compared to urban areas (23,843).

Ms. Kihika expressed confidence that surgeries will significantly improve the
hearing and quality of life for people with severe hearing loss and enable them to continue with their normal lives after a successful operation.

Ms. McCall indicated that those most likely at risk of hearing loss include newborns and infants; children, especially in preschool and school settings; older people; and those exposed to noise, toxic chemicals, and other medicines.

Ms. McCall, also the founder of the Hear Kenya Project, explained that a lack of hearing could be congenital or acquired.

‘Congenital means one is born deaf. When this happens, it could be hereditary (the result of defective genes) or acquired through intrauterine infections like syphilis and rubella during pregnancy,’ she said.

She added that lack of hearing could also be acquired during life through infections like measles, chicken pox, malaria, meningitis, or even ear infections. In many cases, acquired hearing loss is preventable, she said. Congenital deafness, Ms. McCall noted, could be corrected through surgery.

‘We want to im
prove the lives of Kenyans by giving those who can’t hear the ability to hear,’ she stated.

The World Health Organisation estimates that there are 360 million people globally with disabling hearing loss. Close to 91 per cent, or 328 million, are adults, while the rest are children.

Ms. McCall warned that some subtle and unsuspecting lifestyle habits may cause deafness.

‘The use of ear buds and other objects that can cause infections and trauma to the ear is dangerous,’ she said. ‘But we also have exposure to loud noise through gadgets like earphones as well as industrial noise, especially jua kali workshop exposure without the use of ear muffs.’

Among children, immunisation against childhood diseases is touted as one of the major prevention methods against infections that lead to hearing loss.

Children born near noisy places are also likely to develop hearing problems because of the high compression inside the ear, which bursts their drums.

Ms. McCall noted that, other than noise pollution, hearing impa
irment can also be caused by diseases like HIV/AIDS and diabetes from the mother to an unborn child.

‘There are also diseases like meningitis, malaria, mumps, whooping cough, and other infections in the ear such as otitis media (where pus comes out of the ear), which could lead to hearing loss,’ she explained.

A person is said to have hearing loss if their hearing capacity is reduced and they are not able to hear as well as someone with normal hearing.

Normal hearing, according to the World Health Organisation, refers to a hearing threshold of 20dB or better in both ears. Decibel (dB) is a unit for expressing the ratio between two physical quantities, usually amounts of acoustic or electric power, or for measuring the relative loudness of sounds.

Those with a hearing threshold above 20dB may be considered ‘hard of hearing’ or ‘deaf,’ depending on the severity of their hearing loss.

The term ‘hard of hearing’ is used to describe people with mild to severe hearing loss, as they cannot hear as well as those
with normal hearing. The term deaf describes the condition of people with severe or profound hearing loss in both ears who can hear only very loud sounds or hear nothing at all.

WHO says more than 1.5 billion people suffer hearing loss globally. The health body categorises hearing loss as mild, moderate, moderately severe, severe, profound, or complete.

According to Ms. McCall, hearing aids consist of a microphone, amplifier, and receiver. The microphone picks up the sounds around the wearer and converts them into electrical signals, which are then processed and amplified. The electrical signals are converted back to sound, and the receiver sends the amplified sounds into the ear through the earmold.

‘An audiologist will programme the hearing aids to match a child’s deafness before testing them in the child’s ear to make sure that the signal (or frequency response) coming from the hearing aid matches as closely as possible.’

Ms. McCall further explains that a cochlear implant differs from a hearing aid.

‘Hearing aids amplify sounds, so damaged ears may detect them. However, cochlear implants bypass damaged portions of the ear and directly stimulate the auditory nerve.’

Signals generated by the implant are sent by way of the auditory nerve to the brain, which recognizes the signals as sound. Hearing through a cochlear implant differs from normal hearing and takes time to learn or relearn.

But it allows many people to recognise warning signals, understand other sounds in the environment, and understand speech in person or over the telephone.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Kakamega County government has received aflatoxin-testing equipment that will be used to test aflatoxin levels in cereals like maize and beans to enhance food safety.

The equipment was donated to the county by the Kenya Cereal Enhancement Program-Climate Resilient Agricultural Livelihood Window (KCEP-CRAL).

County Coordinator of KCEP-CRAL Josephine Wanyama handed over the equipment to Kakamega County Executive Committee Member for Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, and Cooperative Development, Benjamin Andama.

Wanyama assured the CECM of the KCEP-CRAL’s partnership with the county government Department of Agriculture to contribute to Governor Fernandes Barasa’s food security pillar.

While receiving the equipment, the CECM said it will be used to test aflatoxin levels for farmers across the county to ensure residents consume safe food.

The equipment will help in reducing post-harvest losses in cereals as Kakamega seeks to increase the production of maize.

This comes as the county government is set to sp
end over Sh700 million to purchase fertiliser and maize seed to be distributed to farmers at a subsidised cost to increase food production.

According to the CECM, in the subsidy programme, planting fertiliser will be sold at Sh1920 for 25 kilogrammes, with the top-dressing one going at Sh1350.

‘The county government will also distribute seeds procured from Western Seed Company Limited and Kenya Seed Company Limited at Sh440 per 2-kilogramme packet,’ he disclosed.

‘Our technical advisers did research and found out that seeds from Kenya Seed perform well in the Northern part of Kakamega, while seeds from Western Seed company do well in the lower part,’ he confirmed.

The aflatoxin testing equipment is a boost to the county following the establishment of a food testing laboratory in 2023 to test aflatoxin, fumonisins, and moisture content in maize, sorghum, and other cereals.

It was revealed during public participation that in the lab, the county will charge a flat fee of Sh1000 to test for aflatoxin, fumoni
sin, and the grading of food samples, as captured in the 2023 Finance Bill.

Initially, the county government would transport food samples for testing in Nairobi.

In 2020, the National Cereals and Produce Board installed an additional five aflatoxin laboratories in the Meru, Eldoret, Machakos, Kitale, and Nakuru depots.

Other NCPB aflatoxin testing laboratories are found in Nairobi Silos, Narok Silos, Moi’s Bridge Silos, Bungoma Silos, and Migori depots.

Source: Kenya News Agency