Adolescent teenage pregnancy is on the rise with peopleliving with HIV Aids.
Nairobi county Assembly leadership has accepted to implement the ‘Adolescent National County policy”the policy will be helpful to deal with issues facing young people including teenage pregnancy.
Speaking during Adolescent and Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Consultive stakeholders meeting forum, Hon.Mark Nugsmbi ,Minority Chief Whip said, we will ensure issues are solved at thr right time,”
Hon. Mugambi said young people are really having many challenges that needs an argent action.
“As county assembly we will do everything to provide platforms and legislation on issues touching on development for adolescent solutions.
According to the latest, Statistics say 1q0,000new adolescent new pregnancy prevalences in Nairobi with Embakasi south is leading at 28% highest pregnancy followed by kibra,Kamkunji and Mathare.
The rising statistics is as a result of lack of health informations and drug and substance.
PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES PRESIDENT’S LEADERS DEMANDS THE WITHDRAWAL REMARKS MADE BY CS EZEKIEL’S MACHOGU.
Today President of Nairobi University Melvine Thogo led other elected presidents from Public Universities, JKUAT, KU and Daystar in a press conference at Nairobi University demanding the withdrawal remarks made by C’s Ezekiel Machogu on the withdrawal of the public university funding within 48 hours .Failure to adhere to that , all president a cross agreed to call on the strike to all the public universities facilities untill their matters is heard .
The leaders condemned the remarks made by the Cabinet Secretary for Education, Hon Ezekiel Machogu. While addressing the fraternity of Dedan Kimathi University of Science and Technology over the weekend, Mr. Machogu stated that the State is on the verge of withdrawing its financial support to public universities.
The same State that intends to allocate slightly over 1.4 Billion to political parties for the coming financial year based on the 2nd November, 2022 Gazette Notice by the Registrar of Political Parties. The same state whose Cabinet Secretary for Public Service Hon Aisha Jumwa hinted at increasing salaries for public servants. The remarks by the CS are unsettling considering that he has been appointed to serve in the Kenyan Government that promised to bridge the funding gap and even fund non-tuition needs for the students. Are Mr. Machogu’s remarks to be taken as part of the education agenda of the Kenya Kwanza government? Is that really what was included in their “PLAN”? Were they just campaigning in poetry but intend to govern in prose?
We have gone through the trouble of looking at our Constitution and the Universities Act on this issue that we address you on today. Article 43 on Economic and Social Rights provides for the right to education for all persons. The withdrawal of funding for public universities highly threatens this right. If the state claims it does not have the resources to implement the right to education, then it should seek more guidance from Article 20(5)(a) and (b) of the Constitution of Kenya. The Article states;
(5) In applying any right under Article 43, if the State claims that it does not have the resources to implement the right, a court, tribunal or other authority shall be guided by the following principles— (a) It is the responsibility of the State to show that the resources are not available; (b) In allocating resources, the State shall give priority to ensuring the widest possible enjoyment of the right or fundamental freedom having regard to prevailing circumstances, including the vulnerability of particular groups or individuals.
It is a no brainer that the youth are part of the vulnerable group who are specifically protected under the Bill of Rights. As per Article 55(a), the State is to take measures to ensure that the youth access relevant education and training. It is an open secret that the youth form the absolute majority in our institutions of higher learning.
Mr. Machogu should do the needful and retract his statement on withdrawal of university funding. Other than looking at the above constitutional provisions, we also invite him to look at Part VI of the Universities Act which provides in part for university funding by government. It mandates that the government will fund public universities. i We want to believe that Mr. Machogu’s remarks were an inadvertent error and that his office will promptly issue a correction. Mr. Machogu should know that the funding of public universities is governed and protected by the rule of law but in case he is not aware, we will lead university students in reminding him that the best way we know how. Ends ….
ODM youth lobby group led by Stephen Abwao sitting front row, second from the Left with pink shirt address the media where they gave the party three days ultimatum to send Junet Mohamed home. They further asked the party to appoint Westlands Legislator Hon. Tim Wanyonyi in one of the Parliamentary committees or else they will demonstrate in the street to seek justice.
By Fred Maingi A lobby youth group allied to Orange Democratic Movement(, ODM) has demanded for the appointment and recognition of Westlands Legislator Hon. Tim Wanyonyi in one of the Parliamentary committees. The lobby group led by Embakasi East youth leader Stephen Abwao further demanded for the resignation of Suna East MP Junet Mohamed for being a stumbling block in party affairs.
They claimed Junet is a nuisance in the party and the best reward he can offer to the party is to resign. “ODM party, Abwao added, must recognise those who stood, fought and sacrificed for the party like Hon. Tim Wanyonyi.He even surrendered his Gubernatorial seat for somebody else to pave way for peace in the party. ODM is as good as dead” Abwao noted. Charles Ochieng, a youth leader who is the president of the Kenya sufferers reference movement urged party leader Hon. Raila Odinga to consider his decision and reward Hon. Wanyonyi for his great service to the party.
Nairobi leading retailer chain, Naivas Supermarket today opens its doors to its newest outlet at Kahawa Sukari .
The new store will be the retailers 10th store in Nairobi . This new development comes barely a week after the 86th store opening in Meru at Greenwood Mall, Meru Town. This new store that covers 30,000 square feet of trading space now puts Naivas store tally at 87.
This is the 10th outlet in the greater Thika Road Region and a much-welcomed addition to the vast neighbourhood of Kahawa Sukari which cuts across both Nairobi and Kiambu Counties.
This area which serves as a bedroom for thousand of Nairobi workers will finally get to experience world-class shopping as only Naivas can provide served with authentic Kenyan hospitality. The outlet promises a wholesome shopping experience, right from the excellent customer service and the fresh offering which is a key focus that promises to satisfy the most sophisticated of palettes to the fully stocked shelves with a mix of products that will abundantly meet customer needs from everyday household items to crockery and even electronics.
“We are excited with this new development as it has been a long- standing order by our shoppers , they wanted a store that compliments their lifestyle and as a brand that is comitted to the promise of offering a worldclass shopping epreience, we are delighted that we are able to fulfil this.
We have done our research and taken learnings to understand our shoppers and come up with a branch that better fits the residents of Kahawa. We guarantee freshness , quality and affordability as we live up to our mantra “Naivas saves you money”. As we enter the festive season, the we have our annual Christam campaign dubbed Team Naivas, Supermarket Kikombe Kikwetu with the taggline Kila Mkenya ni Mshindi. The campaign ensures that other than the sale promotions, our reward card shoppers stand a chance of winning ksh. 2000 vouchers, our Iconic goat, 65’’ Tvs from coca cola and they are awarded ksh.300 vouchers once they tap to pay over ksh. 3000 using their branded Visa card . Top management Naivas , Chief Commercial Officer Willy Kimani, said
A busy festive season lies ahead for the retailer as it has its eyes set on the next store openings in Ruai. Ends….
A global soft skills certification expert is rooting for the creation of strong partnerships between IT companies, business start-ups, industry and government agencies to expand the country’s ripe technology market. PeopleCert Africa Business Development Manager, Romeo Mabasa is keen on Kenyan tech companies starting to groom the next pool of IT scientists from universities, pointing to a world now ready for local talent. Speaking at a seminar for IT stakeholders in Nairobi yesterday, he gave an example of the Mpesa platform, which he said has already taken the world by storm, pointing out that with slight upgrades, it can monopolise the global mobile money banking business. “However, to achieve this, we need to integrate universities as catalysts into business development programmes,” he said, asserting that he will not stop talking about integrating universities into these programmes. The seminar brought together more than 20 companies and several IT students. Learnovate Technologies, a global training solution company hosted the half day meeting. Mabasa explained that African kids are hungry to learn new ideas and to innovate them. “It’s therefore very important that these programmes must include them,” he said. From his LinkedIn profile, Mabasa is passionate about driving corporate Education development through technology. He has been part of the e-Learning Development project, Quality Assurance and Testing and even sold Education Software. “Africa is in the global space, and important to leverage on what has worked in other countries to upgrade some of these products we are talking about,” he said. Mabasa further said that Africa is educated and highly experienced but most of the continent’s skills are underutilised. “Africa should start documenting her skills so that the outside world can come and buy them from us. “Mpesa platform for instance, is one of the most innovative ideas that Kenya came up with even though there are others. But in terms of how now…it’s groundbreaking how they are able to transact,” he noted. Mpesa, he noted, is now working hard to break into other countries. “The platform is robust, world tested and has gone to other countries and is now ready for world take off,” Mabasa added. He advised the IT business developers to go to the university, and have the students start attending the training while they are at the university. “What was once essentially just online communication now has multiple meanings, incorporating the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Who knows where this revolution will end? Simply this is Digital transformation, and the world is now ready for it,” he said. However, for Kenya, Mabasa is crediting the government for being in the forefront advocating for digital economy and working together especially from the President’s office being key in championing for digital transformation. He said this must challenge the private sector, or service providers to aggressively start working together with various government agencies to help them build capacity. Vijay Kumar, the Managing Director Learnovate Technologies said collaboration is key, and therefore the need to create a linkage between academia and the job industry. “Organizations need to speak to universities to know what to recalibrate because it influences the future which academia wouldn’t know how to teach if they don’t get feedback from the industries,” he said. And subsequently, Kumar revealed that his company is supporting a few government initiatives through the ICT Authority’s digital programme. “This programme has actually been running for the last four years. We are also working with a few NGOs,” he said. Mabasa also observed that when various models are integrated with government, industry, private, public and training providers like Learnovate, and bring on board universities, the outcomes will be tremendous. “In other countries, universities are at the forefront in the digital transformation. Our children are ready to take the world by storm,” he asserted. ENDS/
Nairobi Deputy Governor Hon. Njoroge Muchiri has encouraged women to forn cooperative groups to help them with finance.
Speaking when he presided over the launch of Women Fundis in Construction conference the DP said the county government is ready to patner with all stakeholders that supports women in the construction industry so that we can create more opportunities for women who have talented artisans who wants to join the construction industry because this will help women be productive in our community.
“Women can do better and compete well ,its high time we support them and give them opportunitiesin the construction industry,”Muchiri said
He said that the county government is ready to support all women in the construction industry.
Mr. Muchiri has urged the more women to come forward and be supported.
“If you build a woman you build a society,”He says
The First Lady has encouraged women to start a cooperative group to help them with savings.
She has also urge National government and counties to create opportunities for women who have talented artisans who wants to join the construction industry because this will help women be productive in our community.
” Women were the first people who started building our houses so its high time we support them and give them opportunitiesin the construction industry,”
She has urged the government to lower the taxation to enable womem build themselves and provide for their families.
“If you build a woman you build a society,”She says
By Njeri Irungu report looking into if the status of the Built Environment in Nairobi is favourable for persons with disabilities has this afternoon been launched at a Nairobi hotel. The report titled: Case Study Report on Inclusive Design and Accessibility of the Built Environment was made possible through data collections using various techniques to include: Face to face interviews, workshop and photo diaries with 15 stakeholders and persons with disabilities that are working and living in Nairobi. The research was conducted in 6 countries across the world with 3 being in Asia, two in Africa and the other in South America. Speaking during the launch, Executive Director of Kilimanjaro Blind Trust Africa Ms Suparna Biswas said “”During the data collection process we noticed that there is a disconnect between the policy and the actual Infrastructure within Nairobi and a lot of advocacy is required to change things” The suggestion for what may make Nairobi work were:inclusive infrastructure, security, inclusive housing, a rich urban life, access to opportunitiea especially for persons living with disabilities. The study was conducted for the period between July 2021 and December 2021.
Director, Economic Development and Regional Dr. Paul Otung when addressing distinguished youth delegates from the 12 ICGLR Member States during the international conference of the grate lakes region in the Republic of Kenya .
He emphasized on promoting regional learning in agricultural and industrial for job creation for youths , opportunities through the establishment and promotion of cooperatives .
Through the project promotions of youth employment in GLR is a capacity building project for the youth by IGLR . Prioritized eight ICGLR member states based on unemployment and poverty rate . Targeted countries includes : South Sudan , Republic of Congo, Sudan, CAR , DRC, Burundi, Zambia, Angola, Kenya , Rwanda , Tanzania and Uganda.
To benefit from the regional research and learning the project will cost USD10M , over a period of 5 years in partnership with AFDB , WB , UN special Envoy according to Dr. Paul Otung.
The three components project will includes : project management and institutional capacity building, Regional research and Regional learning. The project will help train in the field of cooperative to eight Ms of ICGLR, support the national empowerment framework and the gender empowerment in GLR MS. The project outcome will enhance knowledge among the youths management cooperative, lessons and shared experience and technical capacity in the areas of establishing and running agricultural and industrial cooperatives . Due to the above the project incur several challenges including social cultural factors, time and budget . Ends.
Deputy Executive Secretary Ambassador Amb .Yasir Ibrahim Ali Mohammed at the youth forum general assembly in the Republic of Kenya , to address distinguished youth delegates from the 12 ICGLR Member States. Today he is seeing a much, much, brighter future for the Great Lakes region.
He thanked the Government of the Republic of Kenya for their warm hospitality. He also recorded his deepest appreciation to all Partners, the United Nations agencies in particular UNFPA for their strong and unfettered support over the years. Furthermore, he welcomed all to the Youth Forum General Assembly. bringing to all warm greetings from H.E Amb Samuel João Caholo, the Executive Secretary of the ICGLR.
Ladies and Gentlemen, The great Lakes Region is home to young people, who make up close to 75% its the population. The region has the largest youth generation in history. However, many of the young people face many socio-economic challenges. The majority of the young people are living in poverty. Youth unemployment is unacceptably high and reaching alarming levels in several Member States. This situation is leading many of our young people to fall victim to exploitation, violence and radicalisation.
These political and socio-economic challenges facing the region and its people are surmountable. They can be resolved. We should never fall to the illusion that we cannot overcome these challenges if we work together. If you, the youth, work together with determination and discipline, these challenges could be resolved in your generation. I have full confidence because young people are full of innovative ideas and energy.
Thus, as a region, we hold a strong view that we have a duty not only to recognise this reality but also to understand that in such demographic realities, the youth hold enormous potential for change and positive action. Thus, as ICGLR, we believe that we will not attain stability, security and peace as well as sustainable development if the young people are not fully and meaningfully involved in all processes of decision-making. However, our young people will not fully and meaningfully influence decisions if the region does not invest in their education, health and security.
The holding of the General Assembly is a testimony that your leadership matters and is needed now more than ever before. As a region, we have prioritised youth issues and matters. This could be attested by the decision of the Heads of State and Government to establish the Youth Forum and to establish a physical Youth Forum Secretariat in the Nairobi, with the signing of the Host Country Agreement early this year. Join me to applaud the Republic of Kenya for offering to host the Youth Forum Secretariat and operationalise it for next two years.
In order to concretise and operationalise the Youth Forum Secretariat, this Assembly has a role to vote in a new Executive Committee, in accordance with the Youth Forum Accord signed by the 12 Member States. You also have a duty to consider and finalise the Youth Forum Secretariat Strategic Plan (2022 to 2026), which will serve as a blueprint to guide the secretariat and young people in driving its agenda in the next 5 years in tandem with the Pact on Security, Stability and Development.
In attendance was Honourable Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Youth Affairs, Sports and the Arts, Republic of Kenya. Representative of the UNFPA, Representative of the Office of Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region.
He thanked the outgoing executive committee for steering the Forum from its infancy to this point where it’s able to walk. As we go into electing new leadership, we need to learn from the of the old executive, to remain united and be on the same page for growth and development. It is through dialogue and consensus in our decisions that we are going to contribute to attaining the overall ICGLR mandate. As your Secretariat, we remain committed to facilitating your activities. However, we call upon you to continue to build and respect ICGLR image.
In conclusion, it is my hope that this Assembly of great minds will provide a platform to enhance discourse while ensuring that we share lessons and experiences. I therefore wish you all fruitful deliberations and look forward to receiving the outcomes and more importantly, the continued engagement on this matter. Ends
