Kenya

Bakers in Kenya have embarked on a downward review of the price of bread.
Their decision revolves around the decreasing demand for the commodity.
The review would be the second this year.
At the beginning of the year, a tonne of wheat rose up by 30 percent from Ksh25,300 to Ksh30,000. Also, the prices for both bakery and flour supplies experienced a surge. 
This prompted the price of bread to go up for the first time in the last four years.

The Kenyan Government  is considering reviewing the January 2021 resumption date of schools in the country.

The Education Cabinet Secretary, George Magoha, made this known  after a crisis meeting at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD), attributed the development to decreasing cases of Covid-19 that suggest the curve may be flattening.

“I called this meeting today to engage the taskforce and various education stakeholders on the process of drafting a new proposal to be presented before the larger national education stakeholder’s conference that will be held on September 25.”

 “It is time to relook at earlier proposals regarding reopening of schools. We are looking at all aspects, but have not come to a consensus on when schools can reopen, or set any date,” said Prof Magoha.  “Between now and next week, the taskforce committee will work on finer details that will be interrogated by the larger stakeholders meeting,” Prof Magoha stated.

The Kenyan government has disclosed that about 2.6 millon citizens face starvation in 23 arid and semi-arid locations in the country.

The government made this disclosure through it spokesperson,Mr. Cyrus Oguna.

The government said that of the number  623,000 were children  while 69,000 were  pregnant and lactating mothers, who were at risk of malnutrition as drought ravages the regions.

It noted that Turkana was the worst affected, with 250,000 children aged under five in Turkana North, Turkana South and Laisamis sub-counties experiencing acute malnutrition,while Another 200,000 in Turkana West and Turkana Central, Baringo, Tana River, Samburu and Moyale were  faced critical malnutrition.

“Eight out of the 23 counties are severely affected by drought and require urgent enhanced relief food assistance. They include Garissa, Mandera, Wajir, Marsabit, Tharaka-Nithi, Isiolo, Embu and Kitui,” the government spokes person stated.

The World Intellectual Property Organisation  has ranked Kenya second  in Sub-Sahara Africa, behind South Africa in its Global Innovation Ratings report.

The report also state that Kenya has overtaken  other countries in matching  their level of innovation to general economic development.

Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKuat), Moi University, Kenyatta University, Strathmore University and University of Nairobi  are among other private and public research agencies  in the contributors list.

Both Jkuat and Moi University’s technology assembling plants are two major  innovation milestones achieved by the country. The plants have earned the two institutions multi billion-shilling international and local tenders.

These institutions are saddled with the responsibility of  assembling and configuring  of the digital devices currently being used in the 2019 national population census.

The institutions also pioneered the implementation of the Government’s digital literacy program and are key to the achievement of the Big Four Agenda.

The report ranks  Switzerland as the leading innovation hub in the world., while Sweden ranks above the US at second position.

South Africa, number one in Africa are ranked 63rd in the world while  Kenya is 77th and Mauritius 82nd globally. 

The  Kenyan Government has made available Sh14.5 billion to Primary and Secondary schools  in the countryin  furtherance of its policy on  free education.

This disclosure was made by the Education Principal Secretary, Dr. Bellio Kipsang  who gave  the breakdown  as Sh10.8 billion  to secondary schools  and  primary schools for Sh3.65 billion.

"The funds have started to reflect in schools bank accounts," Dr. Kipsang disclosed.

Dr Kipsang said the funds will enable principals and headteachers to serve learners effectively,  while stressing  that the funds were transmitted through the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS) unlike in the past when the Ministry of Education relied on the information that principals of secondary schools provided.

The government  makes available Sh22, 244 annually for every secondary school student and Sh1, 420 for each pupil in primary school.

In his views, Education Cabinet Secretary Prof George Magoha said NEMIS will facilititate the provision of quality, reliable and timely education statistics to enrich the government's planning processes.

"The unique identification issued to schools, learners and all members of staff in our institutions of learning will improve the management of resources in the education sector and allow all efforts to be directed at achieving quality education for sustainable development . ''

"Through this system, education sector players will get to know the status of education in regard to access, quality, equity, relevance, efficiency as well as institutional development," said Prof. Magoha

Then Kenya Teachers Service Commission is set to recruit about  919 Teachers  for both Primary and Secondary schools.

Of the figure 659  Teachers will be for primary school while 260 will be for secondary schools.

At the present time the teacher shortage stands at 87,737; some 57,380 in secondary schools and 30,357 in primary schools.

The recruitemtn shall commence in May, according to the TSC chief executive Nancy Macharia,candidates for primary schools will not have to apply but will be selected from the last year's application list.

"Applicants for vacancies in primary schools must be holders of P1 certificate and will be selected from the county merit lists compiled during the May 2018 recruitment," Mrs Macharia stated.

Applicants in the secondary school category , are  to submit their applications through county directors and Boards of Management by May 10.

Mrs. Macharia also said that the candidates are required to possess a minimum of Diploma in Education and are  required to apply to Board of Management of the school where the vacancy has been advertised and submit a copy to the TSC county Director.

"Successful candidates will be deployed to serve in stations in any part of the country and not necessarily in the county where they were recruited," she concluded.

A Kenyan Police Officer has been identified as one of the four suspects who killed a Lawyer in Machakos.

Robert Chesang was murdered in his Lukenya home two weeks ago by gunmen.

Consequent upon the killing, police recovered an AK-47 rifle and seven spent cartridges alleged to have been used by gunmen who stormed Chesang’s Moke Gardens home on February 17  and shot hi severally.

 The Law Society of Kenya in a statement condemned the killing of their member, while calling for speedy investigations into the murder.

The Law Society also called in the Inspector General,  Joseph Boinnet to ensure the arrest  and prosecution of those behind the murder.

Nairobi, the capital of Kenya has been ranked as the most dynamic city in Africa.

The ranking  was done by JLL's City Momentum Index, which also ranked it as the only city outside Aisa pacific,  that is among the top 20 most dynamic cities in the world.

The Momentum index also stated that Nairobi has been projected to have one of the fastest-growing populations in the world over the next five years.

 Nairobi  has an heavy presence of Chinese investors, who among other Investors from Asia have invested heavily on infrastructure

Girls have outshone their male counterparts in English Language and Kiswahili in the recently released 2018 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education Examination results.

This disclosure was made by the  Education Cabinet Secretary, Ms Amina Mohamed  at Star of the Sea Primary School in Mombas.

Ms Mohamed stated that  female candidates performed better than their male counterparts in English and Kiswahili.

"The performance, which was low in 2016, has started rising, a clear indicator that teachers are now seriously focused on their work and the candidates are working hard in class knowing that only hard work will count and not the cheating that had become common in some centres," Ms Amina  noted.

1,052,364 candidates sat for the examination, boys totaling 527,294 while girls were 525,070.

In 2017, 993,718 pupils were examined.

A pupil at the Voroni Primary School in Kwale County  in Kenya has given birth to a baby boy while writing the national examinations.

This disclosure  was made by a staff of the Kwale Hospital, who craved anonymity.

He said that the girl was rushed to the hospital when she experienced labour pains, while stating that  the young mother wrote the Mathematics paper from her hospital bed.

"We are happy that the girl delivered without any complications," the staff said.

Students in Secondary Schools in Kenya who peform below expectation are been advsierd to withdraw.

The first casualty are thirty-four girls of Nasokol Secondary School in West Pokot .

The girls, mostly footballers were sent home by their principal due to their poor performance.

The students, who are between Forms one and three,were camped at Kitale Showground and spent the night  under unfavourable climate conditions, were sent out of ther school by the new principal who decided to scrap the policies of her predecessor.

Her predecesor  encouraged those who excelled in sports by introducing waivers in  school fees payment and academic performance.

 A parent of one of the affected students, Mr Saulo Tukoi, condemned the new development saying ,“We tried to reach a deal with the principal over modalities of starting to pay school fees but she was adamant, saying we are free to take our children elsewhere,”