Mombasa Now

Malaria No More is a nonprofit organization located in New York, NY that aims to end deaths caused by malaria in Africa. It was founded in 2006 at the first ever White House Summit on Malaria by leading non-governmental organizations such as American Red Cross, Unicef, Global Business Coalition, United Way, Millennium Promise, The Global Fund, and the United Nations Foundation.

With prevention and treatment methods, the United States was able to eradicate malaria by 1951 with the establishment of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. In the 21st century, however, the disease is still endemic to 106 nations, threatening 50% of Earth’s population. It claims almost one million lives per year in Africa, and 3,000 lives of children per day. The hardest hit population are children under 5 living in poverty. The lack of money to buy bed nets and treatment combined with the humid, tropical environment preferred by mosquitoes and the malaria parasite put people in Africa at an enormous risk for contracting and dying from this treatable disease. It isa chief reason that of 20% of Zambian children die before age five.

In Kenya, approximately 90 people die daily from malaria. Said a Uganda doctor to Dr. Mark Grabowsky of the CDC and the Global Fund, “If you get rid of measles, we can close the measles ward. If you get rid of malaria, we can close the hospital,” illustrating the enormity of the problem of malaria. It is the one of the most deadly and prevalent diseases in Africa, yet also the most preventable and treatable.

Sources:

http://www.malarianomore.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaria_No_More

Malaria No More In Madagascar (Video)

By reading this post you will get a good insight of Kenya - “the truth behind the scene” and you should (read this article) as it may affect you if you’re gonna be in Kenya. The source (found at the bottom) includes much more information in each topic - it was just too much to publish in this “small” article.

The topics included is: Police corruption, Denial of Fair Public Trial, Freedom of Speech and Press, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly, Discrimination (of children and women).

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices in Kenya 2003 (Released feb. 2004)

The spread of HIV/AIDS, estimated to have infected approximately 14 percent (aprox. 4,312,000) of the population between the ages of 14 and 49 (and in some areas up to estimated 30% is infected), had increasingly adverse effects on the country’s wage-earners, including teachers and other professionals. A weakened infrastructure–unreliable power and telecommunication systems and roads in disrepair–exacerbated economic problems and disinvestment.

Police corruption

Police corruption was systematic and widespread. A July survey conducted by The Public Service Integrity Program found that the police force was viewed as the most corrupt entity within the society of the country. (more…)

A new report conducted by UNICEF and the Government of Kenya finds that thousands of girls in coastal tourist areas are being exploited in the sex-for-cash industry. Here is one girl’s story.

By Pamella Sittoni

MOMBASA, Kenya, 20 December 2006 – “If my father knew that I do this, he would kill me,” says Annie (not her real name). “But he does not provide enough for me and my daughter, so I have to do this to make some extra cash.”

Annie is from a lower middle-class family in Mtwapa, a coastal township near Mombasa. Kenya. She lives with her parents, who put food on the table and pay rent and other bills. As far as the family is concerned, Annie is an obedient child who is never out of the home beyond the 8 p.m. curfew set by her father.

But what they do not know is that Annie goes out almost daily in search of men. “Most of the men are Kenyans,” she says, adding that they pay her from $3 to $8 for sex.

Occasionally she has had sex with tourists, who pay up to three times more. “But it is not easy to get tourists. I can’t go to the beaches to hunt for tourists because police are always on patrol and they would arrest me,” she notes.

Influenced by peers

Annie is barely fifteen. Her daughter is 11 months old.

Her troubles began when she got pregnant while in Standard Eight. “My parents started treating me like an outcast,” Annie recalls. “If I asked for anything, they would ask me to find the man who gave me the baby to buy whatever I needed. They always reminded me that I had let them down in school.”

Like many other teenagers in Mtwapa, Annie was introduced to sex-for-cash by her peers. “They told me I could earn money easily by simply having sex with men,” she says.

‘I will forget about this life’

But Annie is aware that what she is doing is dangerous. “This is not a good life,” she admits. “Sometimes the men treat me badly. Sometimes they refuse to pay me and chase me away. Sometimes they do terrible things to me which I can’t even describe.

“The most horrible ones are the bouncers, who demand that I have sex with them before they allow me into the club where I could meet the tourists,” she adds.

“My father has said I should go back to school next year and repeat Standard Eight. Once I go back to school, I will forget about this life,” Annie says hopefully.

Source:

http://www.unicef.org/

The UN children’s fund Unicef, which looked at resorts along Kenya’s coast, found that 15,000 girls aged 12 to 18 were engaged in casual sex for money.

Another 2,000-3,000 girls and boys were involved in full-time prostitution, said the study - carried out jointly with the Kenyan government.

European men represented half of all their clients, the report said.

The 15,000 girls are said to live in the resort areas districts of Mombasa, Kilifi, Malindi, Diani and Kwale.

Poverty is the reason, Unicef says: many families see the sex industry as the only way of putting food on the table.

Local clients

Clearly, what is going on here is unacceptable. Unicef feels that it’s time for zero tolerance… especially of sexual violence against children,” a spokesman said.

“Kenya should be seen as a no-go zone for sexual exploitation of children,” he added.

Italian, German and Swiss nationals are the most common clients of child sex workers among tourists - at 18%, 14% and 12% respectively.

Kenyan men are the largest single group of clients, comprising 38% of the total.

A “staggering” 75% of people involved in tourism thought it was acceptable for girls to exchange sex for cash, and 60% said the same for boys, the study showed.

Many were also implicated directly in the exploitation of children, it added.

“Child sex workers are often compelled to deliver sexual services to Kenyans - beach boys, bar staff, waiters, and others - in order to access tourists. During the low tourist season, the local market for child sex workers keeps the system going,” the report said.

Sources:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/

http://www.unicef.org/

Sydsvenskan

http://sydsvenskan.se/

Barack Obama, with roots in Kenya and now running for presidency 2008 in America, made a great speech on father’s day which we wish to share with you as this does not only apply to USA only but to everyone in every country who want´s to grow (up). If someone is having the speech on text, please post it here.

Sincerely,

Peter Frank

Kenya’s Grand Coalition Cabinet has been sworn into office, seeing Raila Odinga take office as the second Prime Minister in the country’s history.

The Cabinet, with a total of 41 ministers in addition to the President and the PM, is also the largest ever in Kenya’s history.

The ceremony at State House, Nairobi, was witnessed by the chief mediator in the peace making process, Mr Kofi Annan and several diplomats.

Mr Odinga, who was first to take the oath of office, first swore allegiance to the presidency as a member of the Cabinet then took another oath as PM, undertaking to “counsel and advice” the President.

Next on line for the swearing in were Mr Odinga’s two deputies, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta and Mr Musalia Mudavadi. In addition to being Deputy PMs, the two also have ministerial portfolios, with Mr Kenyatta being responsible for Trade while Mr Mudavadi is responsible for Local Government.

Churchill Otieno
Nairobi

Source:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200804170174.html

Since the beginning of time humans and animals has lived close to the water. And tourists draws to water too to relax and take a good swim. But some tourists do things they wouldn’t dare to do in their own country. At home they would suffer prosecution, their neighbours and relatives would know and in jail they would get hell as hurting a child is a no-no even for a murderer. But when “this” European, American, Australian, Japanese (not exclusivle only) comes to a country like Kenya, Thailand or Lithuania with high rates of people with low or no income these tourists thinks it’s ok to abuse children. Well.. it’s not! No matter where it is!

/Peter

The recent incident in which 18 children were rescued from the hands of suspected child traffickers from an unregistered children’s home in Likoni, Mombasa, is an ominous sign that the Coast is becoming a human trafficking gateway.

The children were later returned to their homes in Mwatate constituency, Taita District.

Children, especially those from poor families and those from the streets are increasingly being lured into these homes, with promises of better lives, but instead, they end up being abused by the owners of these homes.

In the Likoni incident, the 18 children were reportedly being exposed to harsh and inhuman conditions, while being offered one meal a day.

Unregistered homes

“The main problem has been caused by the proliferation of unregistered children’s homes where child traffickers masquerade as philanthropists, only to turn into beasts and abuse their charges,” says Taita-Taveta children’s officer George Migosi.

Poverty and child neglect also contribute to the problem, according to Mr Migosi, as some parents fail to fend for their children and see it fit to give them away to the homes.

Mr Migosi pointed out that out of the 18 children rescued from Mombasa, four were from the same family. They are being held at Mwatate Children’s home.

“The father, who has since parted with his wife, has a case to answer for neglecting the children, and saw it fit to give them away to the woman who has since been exposed as a child trafficker,” said Mr Migosi.

The woman from Mwachabo Location in Mwatate has since been arrested together with a male accomplice.

Joyce Bahati Wali and Mr Paul Nzuku Katha have been charged in a Voi court for conspiring to engage in child trafficking and are out on bond, awaiting fresh charges to be preferred against them by the Children’s Department.

Human rights groups have, on many occasions, rang alarm bells over the issue of child slavery especially in Malindi and Mombasa, where tourists engage in sexual abuse of underage girls, as well as sexually assaulting boys.

There have also been fears that some corrupt children’s officers connive with the traffickers to cover up the evil.

“Some of the senior children’s officers could be involved in the child trafficking scandals, as it beats logic why such a vice could take root in society and yet they are supposed to investigate these things,” says a volunteer officer in Mwatate, Mr Eric Mbaruk.

Kenya has been cited as one of the origins of children trafficked into the UK and other countries in Africa.

In September last year, police in Western Province smashed a racket involving child traffickers, which had been going on for years.

During the incident, officers, posing as potential customers, arrested a key “supplier” and four others in Kericho Town. One of the key suspects, a woman, brought children from a village in Emuhaya.

Many children trafficked in the country end up in major towns working as house helps and baby-sitters.

A Congolese woman was also charged recently in a Nairobi court with trafficking children.

The woman was accused of taking the children to DRC to work in the commercial sex industry.

In the UK, an estimated 500 African children a year, many of them babies, are being trafficked and end up working as virtual slaves.

The revelations were made late last year when it is said children were sold by their poor parents for up to $10,000 (Sh630,000 million).

Teenage girls

An undercover reporter, working for the Daily Telegraph newspaper, was offered several children for sale by their parents in Nigeria: Two boys aged three and five for $10,000, or $5,000 for one, and a 10-month-old baby for $4,000.

Teenage girls - including some still pregnant - were willing to sell their babies for less than $2,000.

The Telegraph report said that “impoverished African parents are being lured by the traffickers’ promises of ‘a better life’ for their children, thousands of kilometres away.

But, once brought to Britain, the children are used as a fraudulent means to obtain illicit housing and other welfare benefits, totalling tens of thousands of dollars each a year.

Pascal Mwandambo And Sam Kiplagat
Nairobi

Source:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200804151281.html

Sydsvenskan

The council has turned Kibarani, which was supposed to be a garbage dropping point, into a dump site. It lacks the means to transport the huge volume of garbage generated daily from Kibarani to Mwakirunge 20 km away.

Council workers often burn the rotting garbage at Kibarani, setting off clouds of thick smoke along the Makupa Causeway, that inconveniences motorists, commuters and tourists en route to their hotels from Moi International Airport.

At night, the dump site is used as a hideout by highway robbers who attack people along the Makupa Causeway.

Deputy Mayor Mcharo said the council will spend Sh50 million from the Local Authority Transfer Fund to upgrade the drainage system.

He said a second sewage treatment plant will be built in the North Coast.

"The drainage system was meant for a small population and it is now overstretched. We are also replacing the stolen metal covers with cement ones to secure the system from blockage," he said.

Patrick Mayoyo, Gitonga Marete And Mathias Ringa

Source:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200804141072.html

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President Mwai Kibaki
Nairobi

The following is the edited version of President Mwai Kibaki’s speech when he announced the new grand coalition Government Sunday.

Fellow Kenyans,

I know that you have all been anxious to see the conclusion of the consultations on the formation of the new coalition Government.

I am, therefore, pleased to announce that following extensive consultations within the coalition, and taking into consideration the current challenges facing the country as well as the need to ensure regional balance in the leadership of this country, I am today announcing the Cabinet of the grand coalition Government.

The outcome of the General Election brought to the fore unprecedented political challenges. The situation has required statesmanship and sacrifices for the sake of national peace and unity.

The enactment of the National Accord and Reconciliation Act, 2008, and the agreement on the Cabinet underscores the commitment of our nation’s leadership to put the collective interest of the country and our people above everything else.

I want to take this opportunity to thank Honourable Raila Odinga, the Prime Minister-designate, and all the political leaders in the country for upholding the spirit of dialogue, which enabled us to unlock the political deadlock.

I also commend the religious leadership, trade unions, human and professional bodies in our country that have supported dialogue and reconciliation to ensure that a peaceful settlement is concluded within the shortest time possible.

Thank mediators

Furthermore, I thank the mediators led by His Excellency Kofi Annan as well as friendly countries, which have supported and encouraged us to overcome the political challenges we have been experiencing.

Above all, I want to thank you, my fellow Kenyans, for your tolerance and patience throughout this period. I want to assure you all that I will do everything possible to ensure that our country, Kenya, is steered along the path of peace, unity and stability.

The multiparty politics that this country has embraced over the last 17 years has posed serious challenges to our national cohesion.

But the experience we have gained over the years, and this period in particular, has enabled us to overcome the difficulties, while we undertake necessary reforms to ensure that our country and people will be assured of living in a secure, cohesive and prosperous nation.

The enactment of the National Accord and Reconciliation Act and the announcement of the new Cabinet today, demonstrate the commitment of the political leadership to move ahead and pay more attention to addressing the challenges facing our country and people.

Foremost is the plight of our people - men, women and children - evicted from their homes and farms by the recent mindless violence and hooliganism. In that regard, my Government has increased security presence in the affected areas in order to prevent a recurrence of the violence and mayhem.

We are also facilitating the displaced people to resettle back on their farms as we support them and the surrounding communities with farm inputs such as seeds and fertilizers. The new Cabinet will prioritise resettlement of the displaced people so that they can resume normal lives and play their part in nation-building. I urge Cabinet members to spearhead the message of peace in all the affected areas.

Another area, is the need to ensure equal opportunities for all our people. In this respect, when I took over the leadership of this country, I pledged to commit more resources for the development of the arid and semi-arid areas of our country, which have in the past suffered neglect due to inadequate resource provision and poor infrastructure.

In the Cabinet I am announcing today, I have, therefore, created a new ministry for the development of northern Kenya and other arid lands in order to focus on and address the unique challenges facing these areas.

The expanded Cabinet also introduces new ministries to give priority attention to areas that are critical to the transformation of our country into a newly industrialised nation status. These include the ministries of Industrialisation, Planning and Vision 20-30 and Nairobi Metropolitan Development.

Enjoy equal rights

Finally, I wish to reiterate and emphasise that all Kenyans enjoy equal rights under the law. In this respect, we cannot allow or tolerate discrimination of a Kenyan in whatever form. Every citizen must enjoy the right to work and to reap the benefits of his or her labour anywhere in the country without hindrance.

And therefore, the attitude, especially among some leaders, that communities should be restricted to particular areas or that some Kenyans can be perceived to be foreigners in some parts of the country is backward and unacceptable.

As we welcome foreign nationals to partner with us in developing our country, so must we welcome and embrace one another as brothers and sisters. Indeed, it is through such interaction that our country and communities can tap skills that will spur development.

The key to addressing the challenge of poverty is hard work to generate wealth and expand employment opportunities. So, my challenge to the new Cabinet members and the entire national leadership at all levels is - let us put politics aside and get to work. Let us build a new Kenya where justice is our shield and defender, and where peace, liberty and plenty will be found throughout our country.

Lets see if this will be a "just another law on paper not being used". It’s good with laws that helps the people but that has not stopped some from breaking them. If they do, what punishment will they suffer? The good side is that the government is trying going forward to help the people. It’s not an easy job they have.

/Peter

"New laws to protect children from exploitation by employers are ready for implementation according to a senior official in the Ministry of Labour and Human Resources Development.

Permanent Secretary Mark Bor said that the new laws have been reviewed to conform to the International Labour Standards and will protect children from child labour while also focusing on new maternity and paternity leave regulations among other working conditions."

Nation Correspondent
Nairobi

Source:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200804140419.html