Squabbling Sets Back Constitutional Changes
11 Mar 2010 at 6:31pm
The major political parties dealt a blow to the draft constitution on Thursday, taking antagonistic positions in the review process. MPs rejected for a second time, an attempt to hold a meeting to seek unity in Naivasha, meaning that the squabbling could spill over to the floor of the House on Tuesday afternoon.
Proposed Constitutional Amendment Sets Back Women's Rights
11 Mar 2010 at 6:26pm
Lillian Mutuku, a 34-year-old mother of three, describes her home in Katine area, in Kenya's Eastern province Tala, as a harsh place to live. The soil is poor, she says, the sun beats down mercilessly and vegetation is sparse.
Winnie Draws Anger Over Mandela Comments
12 Mar 2010 at 9:50am
A South African Archbishop on Friday defended the leadership record of former President Nelson Mandela against accusations of betrayal by his former wife Winnie Mandela.
Probe City Killings
11 Mar 2010 at 4:13pm
The police department was quick to exonerate itself from blame over the killing of seven people in Nairobi's Dagoretti area on Wednesday night.
Selfish Politicians Out to Derail the New Law
11 Mar 2010 at 4:13pm
The political class is at it again. Kenya is on the final stretch towards realisation of a new constitution, but rival wings in the government want to take the country back to square one.
Swelling Number of Pregnant HIV Positive Women Baffles Experts
12 Mar 2010 at 9:50am
A sharp rise in pregnancies among women on anti-retroviral treatment in Kenya and several other African countries has medical researchers baffled. The women have been found to be twice as likely to become pregnant compared to those not on medication, says a study published recently in the Journal of Medicine.
Dead Student Aspired to Join Politics
12 Mar 2010 at 4:01am
David Musunga Ivita, the Kenyan student of Kampala International University (KIU) who was stabbed to death on Wednesday, had dreams and studied hard to contest for a top political position, friends and family have revealed.
Spotlight Shifts to Embattled Mayor Majiwa
11 Mar 2010 at 6:31pm
With 13 officials from the Local Government ministry, Treasury and City Hall suspended over the Sh283 million cemetery scandal, pressure is now shifting to Nairobi mayor Geoffrey Majiwa to step aside.
Flights Disrupted after Plane Tyre Burst
11 Mar 2010 at 6:31pm
Operations at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport were temporarily suspended on Thursday after a tyre of a light aircraft burst as it landed.
Cemetery Fraud - ODM Cries Foul over Leaks
11 Mar 2010 at 6:31pm
ODM has protested to the Grand Coalition management team over what it says is "selected targeting" of its key members in corruption scandals. The party also accused the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) of being used by some leaders to fight political battles.
Search for New Burial Land Starts
11 Mar 2010 at 6:31pm
City Hall is now looking for alternative cemetery land. This follows a tussle over the procurement of the 120 acres in Mavoko township, whose tendering is said to have been flawed.
Graft Trials to Go on Day and Night
11 Mar 2010 at 6:31pm
Corruption cases will now be heard daily -- including night -- until a verdict is reached, the government has said. Government spokesman Alfred Mutua said on Thursday that the government was working on the modalities to speed up corruption trials and appeals.
KENYA: Hungry and HIV-positive in Nairobi's slums
NAIROBI Wednesday, March 10, 2010 (IRIN) - Violet Tinah, 40, a resident of Korogocho slum in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, is living with HIV and was recently diagnosed with tuberculosis, but her biggest problem today is not disease - but hunger.
KENYA: Thousands hit by flooding
ISIOLO-NAIROBI Wednesday, March 10, 2010 (IRIN) - At least 10,000 people in Kenya have been displaced by flooding, mainly in the north, which has prompted fears of an outbreak of waterborne diseases. Hundreds of heads of livestock have drowned or gone missing and dozens of houses and business stalls are submerged.
IRIN: Today's most popular IRIN articles
NAIROBI Friday, March 05, 2010 (IRIN) - Here are the most popular new articles on the IRIN website over the last 24 hours. Updated hourly. This feature was launched on 18 July, but will display the latest, most popular items of today.
KENYA: Warnings sounded before long rains
NAIROBI Friday, March 05, 2010 (IRIN) - Health services in Kenya should prepare for above-average precipitation during the March-to-May rainy season, according to a government forecast.
KENYA: Taking the risk out of farming
NAIROBI Friday, March 05, 2010 (IRIN) - Just as purchasers of electronic goods can buy extended warranties in case their TV goes wrong, farmers in parts of Kenya can now mitigate the risk of weather shocks by insuring their inputs at the point of sale. The programme, dubbed ?Kilimo Salama?, Swahili for ?safe farming?, was launched on 5 March in the Rift Valley provincial capital, Eldoret. It takes advantage of the ubiquity and multi-functionality of mobile phones in Kenya.
AFRICA: Tracking the male circumcision rollout
NAIROBI Tuesday, March 02, 2010 (IRIN) - Medical male circumcision is now widely recognized as an important HIV prevention tool, and several African countries have included it in their national HIV strategies.
KENYA: "Flash blood" puts drug users at risk of HIV
MOMBASA Wednesday, February 24, 2010 (IRIN) - Amina* and Rajab*, in their mid-twenties, spend most of their days getting high on heroin; when broke, Amina injects herself with Rajab's blood as soon as he has mainlined his heroin, for a second-hand hit.
AFRICA: Finding the food crops of the future
JOHANNESBURG Wednesday, February 24, 2010 (IRIN) - Temperatures seem set to soar to perilously high levels because of climate change. In another 40 years, would maize still be the staple food in Kenya, already hit by five failed rainy seasons? If not, what could people grow and eat? And if you could grow maize, how much water and fertilizer would it need?
KENYA: "A dream come true" for many slum residents
NAIROBI Tuesday, February 23, 2010 (IRIN) - Four years after an innovative slum-upgrading project was launched in Huruma, to the northeast of the Kenyan capital, at least 200 households are now living in improved homes, complete with infrastructure such as running water, sewage connection, electricity, drainage, paving and renovated toilet blocks.
AFRICA: Early arrival of meningitis "alarming"
DAKAR Monday, February 22, 2010 (IRIN) - A meningitis epidemic has struck earlier than usual and is spreading across sub-Saharan Africa's "meningitis belt" from Senegal to Ethiopia, according to health ministries in the region. The disease occurs during the dry season, with most cases reported in mid-April.
KENYA: Experts voice food security concerns
NAIROBI Monday, February 22, 2010 (IRIN) - Bumper harvests being reported in several east African countries will do little to improve long-term food security in countries like Kenya, where almost six million of its 38 million inhabitants receive some form of food aid. This is a result of infrastructural weaknesses, five failed rainy seasons, low production, high prices, conflict in pastoral areas and the continuing disruption caused by post-election violence in early 2008.
KENYA: Bag a farm
NAIROBI Thursday, February 18, 2010 (IRIN) - Faced with high food prices, low income and barely a patch of arable land, hundreds of residents of Nairobi?s densely populated slums have adopted a novel form of intensive agriculture: a farm in a sack.
KENYA: Condom conundrum puts prisoners at risk
NAIROBI Tuesday, February 16, 2010 (IRIN) - The Kenya Prisons Service has won praise for its HIV programmes, including education, testing and the provision of anti-retroviral drugs to prisoners, but specialists say unless the issue of unprotected sex is addressed, HIV transmission will continue unchecked.
KENYA: Plugging the gaps in disaster preparedness
NAIROBI Thursday, February 11, 2010 (IRIN) - Kenya's failure to put in place a comprehensive disaster preparedness policy means its response to high-risk events such as droughts, floods, epidemics and major accidents tends to be slow, poorly coordinated and unnecessarily expensive, say specialists.
