RAILA ENDORSES CS AMINA FOR WTO JOBThe Geneva-based body is seeking a re-placement for Brazil’s Roberto Azevedo who is stepping down a year early at the end of August at a critical juncture for the trade watchdog.

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KENYA RECORDS HIGHEST EVER TEA PRODUCTION

YOU SHALL BE UNVEILED!

MISTAKES MEN MAKE IN RELATIONSHIP

P. 12. Men need to understand that a relationship needs to be treated like a living thing.

P. 14. In the last three auctions for the year ended June 2020, the av-erage price for a kilo of tea at the auction dropped below Sh215, a scenario last seen in 2007.

P. 10. JESUS ANSWERED, “GO BACK AND TELL JOHN WHAT YOU ARE HEARING AND SEEING

Labour Cabinet Secretary Si-mon Chelugui on Thursday released Violence Against Children (VAC) Survey report that measured the prevalence, nature, and consequences of

physical, emotional, and sexual violence against children and youth.More men between the ages of

18 and 24 experienced child-hood violence as opposed to

women within the same age bracket, a new report has re-vealed.According to the survey, 56.1

per cent of males and 45.9 of fe-STORY ON PAGE 13

STORY ON PAGE 6Deputy President Dr. William Ruto

A boy being canned

MT. KENYA TIMESThe

Friday, July 17, 2020 No. 00133 www.mtkenyatimes.co.ke

Where Investors Get Returns

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MORE MEN THAN WOMEN EXPERIENCE CORPORAL

VIOLENCE IN THEIR CHILDHOOD- REPORT

DP Ruto calls for unity

The Kenya Plantations and Agricultural Workers Union (KPAWU) says eighty-five percent of the workforce in flower and vegetable farms are back on duty.

This is after three months off duty due to the Covid-19 pandemic which was first confirmed in the country in March.

According to the union, the remaining workforce is on unpaid leave with hopes they will be called in coming weeks when things stabilize.

It denied claims that some workers in the sector had permanently lost jobs due to the pandemic.

KPAWU secretary general in Naivasha Ferdinand Juma said that they had entered into agreements with flower farmers where no worker would be sent home.

“Currently 85 percent of our workforce are back in the farms as majority had been sent home on normal leave or unpaid leave at the

height of the pandemic,” he said.Juma said that the farmers had

incurred huge losses due to the lockdown in Europe forcing them to send home over 70 percent of their workers.

“COTU Secretary-General Francis Atwoli, who is also the Secretary General of KPAWU entered into an MOU with the farmers that no one would be sent home,” said Juma who was accompanied by the branch organising secretary Samuel Otieno

Addressing the press in Naivasha, the union defended Atwoli over allegations that he has abandoned workers and joined politics.

“In the history of the Country, trade unions have not shied away from engaging in politics to protect their interests, and Atwoli is on the right track,” he said.

Juma added that the high cost of cargo flight charges remained a major threat to the farmers.

“COTU, which is the umbrella body of all unions, has engaged the Government on the challenge of

cargo flights, and we hope that this will be addressed,” he said.

On his part, Otieno noted that the pandemic had adversely affected all sectors.

“The union led by Atwoli is fully

behind the workers woes during these hard times, and we should keep away from petty politics in union issues,” he said.

Last week, a group of workers lashed out at the union

representatives for joining politics amid an increase in job losses in the sector.

2 | NATIONAL Friday, July 17, 2020| The Mt. Kenya Times

Corruption >> They were arrested on Wednesday by Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) officers

Former Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) Managing Director Charles Tanui alongside two other ex-managers have been freed on a Sh700, 000 cash bail each after denying abuse of office charges related to the irregular award of a Ksh30 million tender for the installation of autotransformers.

Tanui alongside Elias Maina Karumi (Former Chief Manager-Technical) and Josphat Kipkoech Sirma (Former Chief Electrical Engineer) appeared before Chief Magistrate Douglas Ogoti on Thursday facing abuse of office charges as well as failing to comply with procurement rules in awarding the contract to Redline Limited.

They were arrested on Wednesday by Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) officers while was ordered Tanui to present himself to the Integrity Centre immediately.

The ex-KPC boss was charged with failing to comply with the law relating to procurement by

authorizing payment of Euros 261,070 (Ksh.31,987,584) to Redline Limited for three autotransformers on February 18, 2014.

The court heard that Karumi used his office to improperly confer a benefit to Redline Limited by authorising payment of Euros 8,695 (Ksh.1,065,354) on the same date.

Sirma was accused of signing a Material Arrival Advice Note/Inspection Report without lawful authority purporting it to be genuine certifying that works in respect of the tender issued to Redline Limited had been completed successfully.

“On 18′” february 2014 at the kenya pipeline company offices in industrial area within nairobi city county, being the managing director of the Kenya Pipeline Company willfully failed to comply with the law relating to procurement… by authorizing payment of euros 261,070.42 To redline limited for the supply, installation and commissioning of line 2 station autotransformer (3 no) without a written and signed contract”, reads the charge.

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) said these payments to Redline Limited were made using false documents and that the autotransformers were never installed, tested or commissioned as per the contract agreement.

Magistrate Ogoti, while releasing the three on cash bail, set the pre-trial hearing for August 3, 2020 and directed the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) to disclose evidence in the case by Friday.

The suspects were also ordered to deposit their passports and warned not to approach witnesses in the case otherwise their bail would be cancelled.

FORMER KPC BOSS TANUI FREED ON CASH BAIL

By: Wanjiku Shirley @mountkenyatimes

By: Justus Obando @mountkenyatimes

HOPE AS FLOWER FARMS RECALL WORKERS

Kenyan flowers

Former Kenya Pipeline MD Charles Tanui was charged alongside Elias Maina Karori who was chief manager in charge of the Technical department and Josphat Sirima who was the chief Engineer. Photo| Courtesy

3 | NATIONALFriday, July 17, 2020| The Mt. Kenya Times

Appointment >> * The Geneva-based body is seeking a replacement for Brazil’s Roberto Azevedo who is stepping down a year early

14 seater amatatus

ODM leader Raila Odinga on Thursday endorsed Sports CS Am-ina Mohamed bid for the position of Director General at the World Trade Organisation.

The ODM leader praised the CS as he wished her the best of luck ahead of the Geneva vote.

Ambassador Amina was set to present her case on Thursday in Ge-neva ahead of the crucial vote.

“Amina is a skilled diplomat and Pan-Africanist with compassion and proven commitment to multilater-alism and development. I have no doubt whatsoever that she will do a fine job at the WTO,” Raila tweed.

The Geneva-based body is seek-ing a replacement for Brazil’s Ro-

berto Azevedo who is stepping down a year early at the end of August at a critical juncture for the trade watchdog.

In a surprise move in mid-May, the Brazilian career diplomat an-nounced he was ending his second four-year term 12 months early at the end of August for personal rea-sons.

After a series of eliminations based on consensus, starting in September, the winner will take the WTO wheel in the midst of a glob-al economic crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.

The new leader will also have to sort out simmering trade tensions between the United States and Chi-na and revive stalled trade talks.

Amina, a former Kenyan am-bassador to the WTO and the first woman to chair the WTO’s General Council in 2005, is the sixth can-didate to be officially nominated, alongside others from Egypt, Nige-ria, South Korea, Mexico and Mol-dova.

There are three African candi-dates, two from Europe, two from Asia and one from the Americas.

Africa’s trio are former Nigerian foreign and finance minister Ngo-zi Okonjo-Iweala; Egyptian for-mer diplomat Hamid Mamdouh; and Kenya’s former WTO General Council chair Amina Mohamed.

Britain’s first post-Brexit interna-tional trade secretary Liam Fox and former Moldovan foreign minister

Tudor Ulianovschi are the two from Europe.

South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee and former Saudi econ-omy minister Mohammed al-Tu-waijri are running from Asia, while Mexico’s former WTO deputy di-rector-general Jesus Seade Kuri was the first to declare his candidacy.

Seade, Okonjo-Iweala and Mam-douh took up their turn on Wednes-day.

Amina, Ulianovschi and Yoo took their turn on Thursday, while Tuwa-jiri and Fox go on Friday.

Since the WTO was created in 1995, three of its directors-general were from Europe, while one each came from Oceania, Asia and South America.

Africa, therefore, fancies its chances, even though there is no re-gional rotation principle at the glob-al trade body.

Last week, the CS also received the nod from President Uhuru Kenyatta who termed Amina as a “uniquely qualified person” to lead the WTO at this critical time.

“The length and breadth of her experience with the WTO and the multilateral trading system com-bined with her extensive track re-cord in international relations and her political experience, I believe is unparalleled,” The President said.

Uhuru said Amina had devoted a significant part of her professional career championing the benefits of trade.

If selected, Amina would be the first African and the first woman to serve at the helm of the World Trade Organisation.

The campaign phase runs until September 7, after which the elim-inations round will last up to two months.

RAILA ENDORSES CS AMINA FOR WTO JOB

Summary• Ambassador Amina was set to present her case on Thursday in Geneva ahead of the crucial vote.“Amina is a skilled diplomat and Pan-Africanist with compassion and proven commitment to multilater-alism and development. I have no doubt whatsoever that she will do a fine job at the WTO,” Raila tweed.• After a series of elim-inations based on consen-sus, starting in September, the winner will take the WTO wheel in the midst of a global economic crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.• Amina, a former Kenyan ambassador to the WTO and the first woman to chair the WTO’s General Council in 2005, is the sixth candidate to be officially nominated, alongside others from Egypt, Nigeria, South Korea, Mexico and Moldova.

Amina Mohamed, Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Heritage and Culture

By: H. M. Okumu @mountkenyatimes

14-SEATER TO STAY, COURT RULED

The National Transportation and Security Administration’s (NTSA) decision to phase out 14-seater matatus was declared illegal and unconstitutional.

High Court Judge Weldon Korir said in a ruling on Thursday that there was no public participation.

NTSA, in accordance with regulation 4 of Legal Notice No. 179 of 2014, stated that it would not license any new Public Service Vehicle (PSV) whose seating capacity is less than twenty five.

The judge further ruled that Legal Notice No. 179 of 2014 ought to have been submitted to Parliament

for approval, hence failure to do so rendered it null and void within seven days of publication.

“It was incumbent upon the makers of the regulations to demonstrate that the public was involved in the enactment of the regulations. The respondents have failed to prove that there was public participation in the enactment of the impugned regulation,” ruled the court.

“The Court therefore finds that Regulation 4 of Legal Notice No. 179 of 2014 did not comply with this particular constitutional requirement for enactment of legislation.”

By: Yvonne Atieno @mountkenyatimes

The Mt. Kenya Times | Friday, July 17, 2020 4COUNTIES

As the county administration of Nyeri under governor Muta-hi Kahiga engage an over drive gear in preparedness measures to fight against the dreaded Covid-19 pandemic, residents in the de-volved unit have unequivocally expressed a very high degree of hope and confidence on how the measures are being executed.

Led by clerics who included Rev. Shadrack Githinji Guanda-ru of AIPCA, Rev Fr. Dominic Gaita of Catholic Church, PCEA Kiawara (Kieni West) Patmore church elder Mwati Kariuki and a coordinator of Mothers Union of Anglican Church ACK Ms Phoe-be Marekia, a host of residents welcomed the ongoing spirited second round of fumigation exer-cise being carried out by the Nyeri county government’s department of gender, youth and social ser-vices. The exercise is targeting busy spots like market in urban ar-eas in the eight sub-counties. The exercise kicked off at Mudavadi market in Nyeri town having been formally launched by the CEC for gender, youth and social services Esther Ndung’u.

“For any God’s driven miracle to happen there must be a human dimension and in this case the county administration is playing a complimentary role with our Creator to contain the pandemic,” noted PCEA church elder Mwati Kariuki. He also made a passion-ate appeal to all residents in the county to actively support Kahiga administration in the campaign to observe ministry of health guide-

lines and protocols in the war against upward infection trajecto-ry of the killer disease.

In the exercise five fire fighting engines owned by the county gov-ernment are involved and a team of young people who are using hand pumps. This group is target-ing informal settlement areas for instance Kiawara and Majengo slums near town of Nyeri, places in which accessibility of vehicles is almost impossible. These groups of young people have already un-dergone a thorough training in the use of hand pumps and mixing ratio for chemicals and detergents used in fumigation exercise.

A couple of weeks back, a sim-ilar exercise was carried out in all

busy spots in the devolved unit. Present at the launch of the second round of fumigation exercise were gender chief officer Susan Kinyua and Nyeri municipal manager Perister Kigwa among others.

At the same time,the county’s gubernatorial boss Mutahi Kahi-ga visited Mt Kenya hospital in the Ring road estate , 2.7 km from Nyeri town to assess the county’s preparedness in the war against dread coronavirus. The health fa-cility is now well equipped to han-dle Covid-19 pandemic cases as an isolation centre.

During colonial times, Mt Ken-ya Hospital was essentially and exclusively a health facility re-served to cater for medical care of colonial settlers in Mt Kenya region. The construction of the hospital was sturted by colonial administration in 1934 with funds drawn from Standard Bank of South Africa. The construction of the facility got interrupted by the Second World War and was delayed for some while but even-tually the facility was completed in 1944. Initially, the facility oc-cupied 12.5 acres of land but for some reasons 3.9 acres of land were alienated from its piece of lands and went to the hands of pri-vate developers .

It is networthy, that when free-dom hero Dedan Kimathi was captured in February 1956 at Kahiga-ini in Tetu sub county by agents of colonial forces he was first admitted at Nyeri provincial general hospital but for security reasons, he was incognitally trans-

ferred to Mt Kenya hospital under a heavy security surveillance. He was admitted in the Doctors’ ward but with no admission number for security purposes. Today, the room is known as ward 1 and not reserved for any class of patients.

During colonial era, the ward was exclusively reserved for the admission of qualified white med-ical doctors only. In this case, the freedom hero became the first Af-rican to be admitted in the facility and the first one to receive treat-ment from Doctors’ ward as a non medical doctor. He was later taken to Kamiti maximum prison hospi-tal for treatment and trial.

Since its inception in 1944, the hospital was being run by teams of board of trustees up and until 1977 when the then Central Provisional Commissioner Simeon Nyachae engineered the taking over of the hospital fully by the national government and subsequently, it turned out to be an outlet of Nyeri provisional general hospital and the rest belongs to the history.

Several prominent personalities served in the hospital’s boards of trustees. They included Meghi Rupshi, representative from the board of directors of the Outspan hotel, local business gurus Amos Moses Wamunyu(deceased), Mugwimi Wachira(deceased) and the departed professional business trailblazer who was also pioneer African managing director of Kenya Shell petroleum products distribution concern Nick Muriuki among many others.

Summary“For any God’s driven miracle to happen there must be a hu-man dimension and in this case the county administration is playing a complimentary role with our Creator to contain the pandemic,” noted PCEA church elder Mwati Kariuki. He also made a passionate appeal to all residents in the county to actively support Kahiga ad-ministration in the campaign to observe ministry of health guidelines and protocols in the war against upward infection trajectory of the killer disease.

• At the same time,the county’s gubernatorial boss Mutahi Kahiga visited Mt Ken-ya hospital in the Ring road es-tate , 2.7 km from Nyeri town to assess the county’s prepared-ness in the war against dread coronavirus. The health facility is now well equipped to handle Covid-19 pandemic cases as an isolation centre.

Hope and confidence as Nyeri county govt step up preparedness measures in the fight against dreaded covid-19 pandemic

Governor Kahiga in his busy working tour of assessing facilities at Mt Kenya Hospital covid-19 isolation centre on July 15, 2020.

By: James Gatamaj.gatama@yahoo.com

5 | ADFriday, July 17, 2020| The Mt. Kenya Times

6 | NATIONAL Friday, July 17, 2020| The Mt. Kenya Times

Politics >> * I urge all MPs not to be divided but work together in serving the people. Col.3:23

Deputy President Dr. William Ruto has opened up on the onslaught on members allied to him that have been dethroned from plum positions in house committees. The chang-es were occasioned by the intend-ed implementation of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) report.Dr. Ruto took to his official twit-

ter handle to call for a harmonious working relationship between all members of parliament. There has been a great rift between his allies and those of Kieleweke; the Jubilee faction that supports the handshake and the BBI.“With the changes in Parliamenta-

ry leadership including committee membership and leadership now concluded, I urge all MPs not to be divided but work together in serving

the people. Col.3:23, Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for God, not human mas-ters,” the DP tweeted.The report was supposed to be

complete and handed over to Pres-ident Uhuru Kenyatta and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga the two partners who sanctioned it af-ter the famous handshake in March 2018, by the end of last month.The joint Secretaries of the Task-

force, Martin Kimani and Paul Mwangi, said at the end of June, 2020 they had already communicat-ed with State House and were only waiting for an appointment to hand over the report to President Uhuru Kenyatta and his handshake princi-pal Raila Odinga.“The Steering Committee on the

Implementation of the Building Bridges to a United Kenya Task-force has the honour to inform Ken-yans that it has met its term of refer-ence as per the Kenya Gazette,” the BBI team said.The former Premier was howev-

er out of the country for medical reasons and just jetted in recently perhaps this might have delayed the handing over of the report which the team said they had finalized validat-ing.Before Coronavirus hit Kenya BBI

regional validation meetings were happening and by March this year

they were on their final regional BBI rallies but the invasion of the Covi-19 pandemic which resulted into social distancing, brought to a halt the rallies that were then headed to the Ruto home turf in Rift valley. The final BBI public meeting hap-pened at Meru.The team led by Garissa Senator

Yusuf Haji was mandated to validate proposed administrative, policy, statutory or constitutional changes that may be necessary for the imple-mentation of the recommendations contained in the Task Force Report, by taking into account any relevant contributions made during the vali-dation period.In preparation for the implementa-

tion of BBI report President Uhu-ru Kenyatta initiated a purge on Members of Parliaments who are demmed to be Ruto loyalists and were heading critical committees that shall be at the centre of the re-port’s implementation.

The purge started at the Senate and ended in the National Assembly. Key allies of DP Ruto starting with the Senate majority leader, Kip-chumba Murkomen, Senate Deputy Speaker Professor Kithure Kindiki, Senate Majority Chief Whip Susan Kihika were the first casualties of the purge.In National Assembly Key Ruto

allies like the former National As-sembly Majority leader Aden Duale, Budget Committee Chairman; Kimani Ichung’wa, Transport Com-mittee Deputy Chair Moses Kuria among others were replaced with BBI loyalists.After the purge members of par-

liament who supports the BBI from both Raila Odinga led ODM party and Kieleweke faction of Jubilee that supports the President and the handshake reaped big. Members inclined to the Depu-

ty President Ruto led Tangatanga faction of Jubilee Party were re-placed in Justice and Legal Affairs Committee (JLAC), Committee on Appointments, Budget and Appro-priations, Finance and Delegated Legislation.These committees will play crucial

roles in the envisaged reforms that both President Uhuru and ODM leader Mr. Odinga are seeking un-der the BBI.Those who landed in these import-

ant committees are Kangema MP Muturi Kigano who is expected to chair the most crucial committee in BBI implementation the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee.Mathioya MP Clement Kigano

is the new chair the most crucial committee in BBI implementation the Justice and Legal Affairs Com-mittee, deputised by Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo.Kieni MP Kanini Kega will take

over the chairmanship of the power-ful Budget and Appropriations com-mittee that was previously headed by Kikuyu MP, Kimani Ichung’ wa who is one of the most vocal Ruto loyalist in the region, with Eldama Ravine lawmaker Moses Lessonet serving as his assistant.ODM loyalist and BBI enthusi-

ast Gladys Wanga has been elected the new chairperson of the Finance and National Planning committee. She is deputised by Roysambu MP Waihenya Ndirangu, who retains

the seat.KANU stalwart, who represents Ti-

aty Constituency in the national As-sembly William Kamket will chair the Delegated Legislation commit-tee, deputised by Mbeere North MP Charles Muriuki Njagagua.Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma

becomes the new vice-chairperson of the Constitutional Implementa-tion Oversight committee, which is chaired by Ndaragwa MP Jeremiah Kioni.Six National Assembly commit-

tees did not overhaul their top lead-ership. These include: the Select Committee on Implementation, Special Funds Account Committee, Defence and Foreign Relations, En-vironment and Natural Resources, Public Accounts Committee and Public Investments Committee.Elections of chairpersons of various

House departmental committees has been concluded, all the 22 chairmen and vice-chairmen of the committee that fell vacant have been filled as

ordered by the Speaker last week.National Assembly Majority leader

Amos Kimunya, while moving the motion last week urged members to familiarise themselves with party position by consulting their respec-tive whips. His counterpart Minority Party

John Mbadi supported him as he emphasized that the changes were meant to ensure a soft landing of the BBI report among other matters that President Uhuru and Raila Odinga deems important. Kimunya had advised those op-

posed to the BBI not to waste their time as parties had already taken position on who should join which committee.“We urge members to show more

enthusiasm to their roles in the Committees, as we have now as-signed each MP to a Committee fa-vorable for their professional back-grounds. And we believe they will deliver,’ said Mbadi.Other loyalist of Kanu, Wiper, Cha-

ma Cha Mashinani and ODM are expected to benefit from the antic-ipated Cabinet and Principal Secre-tary appointments.

.........................

DP Ruto calls for unity after House Committees leadership changes

Summary• “With the changes in Parliamentary leader-ship including committee membership and leader-ship now concluded, I urge all MPs not to be divided but work together in serv-ing the people. Col.3:23, Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for God, not human masters,” the DP tweeted.• In preparation for the implementation of BBI report President Uhuru Kenyatta initiated a purge on Members of Parlia-ments who are demmed to be Ruto loyalists and were heading critical committees that shall be at the centre of the report’s implementation.

Deputy President Dr. William Ruto reading a bible

By: Dansondan@mtkenyatimes.co.ke

7 | ADFriday, July 17, 2020| The Mt. Kenya Times

8 | HEALTH Friday, July 17, 2020| The Mt. Kenya Times

Health >> I wish you all mental health, peace and calmness in any storm you face

But let’s talk, let’s talk about mental health. May be you are feeling depressed, empty, suicidal, anxious, constant panic attacks, you are not alone, I got you honey. Because love, love lives here.

Mental health, I never thought, not even once that the world would reach this point, were everyone you meet is battling some secret battle but on the outside, they are brighter than the morning daisies.And now, I understand why a friend might be having the loudest laugh, or smiling the brightest smile, yet tomorrow they are gone, or so suicidal.

It’s so sad. In a world where it is so easy to hide behind plastic smiles, edited photos, masks, whiskey, promiscuity and drugs, even our parents may never know we are depressed, suicidal or suffering from anxiety attacks. It is easier to hide behind whisky, beer and wine on Friday night in some posh pub, ogling at women, feeding your lustful eyes, while deep down, in your heart you know the truth,

you’d not hesitate to shoot yourself if given a gun.

But why? Because, society will judge. Commonly known as nitaambia nini watu? I hope you realise sooner that you only owe your creator life, everyone else, just like you will be answerable to their creator after this life, so don’t live for them.

I, in my teenage years and pre-college life, never understood why some extremely beautiful lady would choose to go against the norms, and I mean in all negative ways, until I realised may be some ladies are battling traumatic experiences they never let out.

May be someone selfish, old or elder man, who was supposed to take care of her or be her confidant, decided to take advantage of her innocence, her naivety, and with no shame, no guilt, decides to let their cheap, filthy cum out on or inside this young lady. Perhaps at the age of ten, fifteen, seventeen, our friend is suffering from piled trust issues, unknowingly, before long, as they

grow up, the reality strikes them and the last thing they want is life for themselves.

To cover up the suicidal feeling or depression or emptiness, the resolve to be who they are, until they can’t put up anymore. Before we know a post is up on suicide, depression, panic attack. Yet with all pride and arrogance you hide behind your keyboard and abuse them for saying they are suicidal. May you receive some humanism?

Sadly, the physically attractive guy in your class, the one with the charming smile, or the guy who is nice to everyone with no strings attached, the guy who smiles brightest, loves hardest may be the one battling endless mental battles. But because we live in a superficial generation.

Were we’d rather take coffee in a WiFi cafes than sit in a park and let our friends, acquaintances vent out. In a society where we’ll recognize trends and algorithms, where the deepest point a conversation can get is the wifi strong “we lose those we

never thought we would lose.Check on your strong, smiley

friend, they might be in war, yet maintaining the it’s okay look. Also learn to protect your inner space and peace. Because darling, your heart should not be crowded by anger, mess, resentment and self-pity. You deserve peace and happiness and bliss. Live freely, forget the love that burst your arteries open.

Let your mind be free, also appreciate and acknowledge your achievements, no matter how small they are, for you deserve the best, not the feeling of nothingness and unidentifiable emotions. You’ll be fine, no matter what is in your mind, the storms you are sailing through, the tornadoes in your life. God has never forsaken you, and He won’t start now. He loves you in all immeasurable ways.

I wish you all mental health, peace and calmness in any storm you face.

MENTALLY ENTANGLED

Summary• It’s so sad. In a world where it is so easy to hide behind plastic smiles, edit-ed photos, masks, whiskey, promiscuity and drugs, even our parents may nev-er know we are depressed, suicidal or suffering from anxiety attacks. It is easier to hide behind whisky, beer and wine on Friday night in some posh pub, ogling at women, feeding your lust-ful eyes, while deep down, in your heart you know the truth, you’d not hesitate to shoot yourself if given a gun.• To cover up the sui-cidal feeling or depression or emptiness, the resolve to be who they are, until they can’t put up anymore. Before we know a post is up on suicide, depression, panic attack. Yet with all pride and arrogance you hide behind your keyboard and abuse them for saying they are suicidal. May you receive some humanism?

By: Caroline Omwoyocarolomwoyo@gmail.com

I received a What’s App message a few days ago. Apparently, my friend had heard me complaining how things would be hard on us the unemployed having in mind that as a teacher, I won’t be in a class till January next year, that is if things normalise.

He went ahead to mock my career path and since he knew I had poor knowledge with technology, I couldn’t concoct some zoom or webinar lessons and if I try, my village has poor electricity supply and network connection. I was taken a back, better still into realisation that January won’t be coming too soon. I was no longer that teenager boy anxious about joining campus. Maybe things could be different each time I see the Education CS getting ready to address the nation.

In his message, he suggested that the government was rolling some Kazi mtaani project. This, as I would later learn about it in my handset was a programme aimed at making youth more productive to the country for the next six months.

The project will see that the youths would be more active and engaged in positive nation building and things like drunkenness, sexual immorality won’t be witnessed whatsoever. This will in then curb the sky rocketing teenage

pregnancy. And at the end of it all, the youth will walk back home after working for eleven days, with a whooping six thousand, six hundred Kenyan shillings. My friend then gave me his motivation, ‘don’t be afraid to get dirty!’

He was right all along; I had already grown dirty with his suggestion. A long day digging trenches for eleven days, slashing grasses along the highway and building bridges was surely not a perfect idea in hard times. Then get paid 600/= at the end of the day! What happened at the end of the day? Will the 65% percent of our population be gathered for at the end of the six months? To me, the government was not supposed to fish and feed us, better still, it could

have taken us directly to the lake to fish.

The government wanted the youth to be engaged maybe to make them thing nothing else apart from getting the job but I couldn’t complain, maybe part of their manifestos was to create thousands of temporary with a hopeful generation turned hopeless.

My friend though forgot to add that with time if I don’t grab that opportunity some 1970 youths will grab the opportunity and we will be seen working all day with a useless hope of making it all right. That I would be seen working the all-day at least for my positive growth but not economic empowered, but will I not be empowered with a few six thousand shillings.

Did we all forget that the modern day youth needs a continuous flow of money, less s/he turn into a depressed broke man, with a useless ambition to wait for 2022 for more handouts to be chipped in. after all, we are dealing with a depressed generation and the more the government act to be more of caring to pull some PR stunts is what makes it more sic.

Still, I am privy to this all idea. Happier at least I will be happy to support the government during its hard times, with better measures, dealing with it with understanding. At least, I would have paid some tax!

Hard times, better measures, hard understanding

Summary• In his message, he suggested that the govern-ment was rolling some Kazi mtaani project. This, as I would later learn about it in my handset was a pro-gramme aimed at making youth more productive to the country for the next six months.

FOUR ROBBERY WITH VIOLENCE SUSPECTS TERRORIZING CENTRAL REGION ARRESTED

Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on Wednesday arrested four notorious robbery with violence suspects who have been terrorizing residents of Central Region by kidnapping and robbing them their valuables.

The arrest was following a manhunt launched by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Special Service Unit and CR and IB detectives.

According to DCI tweets, reports by victims in different police stations held that the parlous gang comprising of three men and a lady has been ushering unsuspecting victims in their cars after calling them by names or identifying them by their places of work, only to beat up, blindfold and tie their legs and arms once on board.

Acting on intelligence, the team of detectives intercepted a motor

vehicle registration number KCA 376M Toyota Premio whereby the two occupants; 35-year-old David Kinyua Kairu and 26-year-old Jane Wanjiru Macharia obeyed orders to surrender and were arrested.

On searching their car, seven mobile phones, several ATM cards and KCJ 294B number plates were found.

It was further established that the first suspect (Kinyua) had a pending Robbery case at Thika law Courts, and the second suspect a pending Murder case at Nanyuki High Court.

Persistent pursuit of other members of the gang led the team to Githurai 44 where the third suspect; 42-yr-old Isaac Mwangi Wachira was arrested, and several ATM and ID cards bearing different names recovered from him. He also has a pending case of Stealing at a Thika court.

The fourth suspect; 28-yr-old Moses Maina Ndegwa (with

Obtaining & Stealing cases in Nanyuki law courts) who resides in Nanyuki’s Majengo estate was pursued & arrested along Sagana-Kenol road, and a Toyota NZE Reg. No KBR 196A which he was using detained.

The second suspect Jane Macharia fitted the description by various victims including one where on

10th June, 2020 a male victim was robbed by the gang at gunpoint (AK 47), his KCB ATM card taken, forced to reveal his pin after which they drove to KCB ATM booth at Kenol where Jane withdrew a sum of Ksh. 100,000 – an act that was captured by the ATM’s cctv camera and the retrieved images matched her true identity.

Police Stations in areas which

have recorded reports of robbery by this gang including Kandara, Murang’a East, Mathioya, Sagana and Mathira have been contacted and will collect the suspects for further legal procedures once they have been arraigned at Kigumo Law Courts.

9 | NEWSFriday, July 17, 2020| The Mt. Kenya Times

Four notorious robbery with violence suspects after they were arrested on July 15, 2020. PHOTO | COURTESY

By: Kipchumba Lagat keter9707.kl@gmail.com

By: Jane Njoki @mountkenyatimes

10 | RELIGION - SCHOOL OF WISDOM Friday, July 17, 2020| The Mt. Kenya Times

........... >> * .......Religion >> * JESUS ANSWERED, “GO BACK AND TELL JOHN WHAT YOU ARE HEARING AND SEEING

YOU SHALL BE UNVEILED!

Matthew 11:1-6 “When Jesus finished giving these instruc-tions to his twelve disciples, he left that place and went off to teach and preach in the towns near there.

2 When John the Baptist heard in prison about the things that Christ was doing, he sent some of his disciples to him.

3 “Tell us,” they asked Jesus, “are you the one John said was going to come, or should we ex-pect someone else?”

4 JESUS ANSWERED, “GO BACK AND TELL JOHN WHAT YOU ARE HEARING AND SEEING:

5 the blind can see, the lame can walk, those who suffer from dreaded skin diseases are made clean, the deaf hear, the dead are brought back to life, and the Good News is preached to the poor.

6 How happy are those who have no doubts about me!”

With the ears of the spirit i can hear, and with the eyes of the spirit I can see that God will cause a supernatural commotion

that will unveil your presence and position in the map of this world.

There will be a good rumour about your potentials, your gifts, you abilities.

There will be a good rumour about your family, about your business, and for those who are in carrier Ministry [ and by this i am talking about the Clergies, the Ministers of the Gospel ], there will be a good rumour about the impact you are caus-ing in the Kingdom in partner-ship with God.

Something notable about Je-sus is that his Ministry was that of preaching and teaching, and because of the urgency of the gospel, we read in the Bible of Jesus Christ moving from one town to another.

The ministry of Jesus was full of results. There was a good ru-mour of what Jesus was doing in Ministry.

What God was doing through his Son Jesus Christ was caus-ing great ripples and could not be ignored neither could it be hidden. In Matthew 11:2 John the Baptist while in prison heard about the things that Christ was doing. He sent some of his dis-ciples to him so as to enquire. Can you believe that even those who were behind the prison bars, John the Baptist being one of them could hear of the great impact that the Ministry of Jesus was causing among the people?

The impact that the Ministry of Jesus was causing was very serious that even his predeces-

sor, John the Baptist had to send people physically go on the ground to gather evidence.. In Matthew 11:2 When John the Baptist heard in prison about the things that Christ was doing, he sent some of his disciples to him.

3 “Tell us,” they asked Jesus, “are you the one John said was going to come, or should we ex-pect someone else?”

I declare and decree that this shall be your testimony in this season and dispensation of time. People will come to you in great wonder and amazement. You shall be a miracle, sign and a wonder in your generation in Christ most anointed name.

When Jesus was confronted with serious questions by the disciples of John the Baptist, Jesus gave them a simple an-swer in Matthew 11:4-6 “and he JESUS ANSWERED THEM,

“GO BACK AND TELL JOHN WHAT YOU ARE HEARING AND SEEING:

5 the blind can see, the lame can walk, those who suffer from dreaded skin diseases are made clean, the deaf hear, the dead are brought back to life, and the Good News is preached to the poor.

6 How happy are those who have no doubts about me!”

Everything that is born of God must be seen and heard. Any-thing that is born of God cannot be hidden for long, it must be seen and heard, for what is born of God cannot be enclosed in a container.

There are some Ministries,

businesses, families, and people that are hidden and have never been heard about, but they exist. I declare and decree that you shall not be among their number for you shall be seen and heard in Jesus precious name.

WE ARE IN A GENER-ATION OF SEEING AND HEARING.

Your Ministry, your business, your qualifications, your gifts, your hard work will be seen and heard. Your days of being con-tained by your background, your ancestral home, by forces of darkness and human influences and craftiness are over in Jesus mighty name.

IT IS YOUR SEASON TO BE UNVEILED. YOU SHALL NO LONGER REMAIN IN DARKNESS AND IN THE SHADOWS. THE WORLD IS WAITING TO SEE AND HEAR YOU.

Romans 8:19 says, “The world is eagerly waiting for the manifestation of the son’s of God.”

Days of barrenness are over. You shall be more fruitful than the world has ever imagined. Wherever Jesus went he stirred up a supernatural commotion, the blind had to see, the deaf heard, cripples walked, the dead came back to life.

God will unveil us so that we may do exploits in our genera-tion. Amen! Amen!

Apostle, Dr. Henry Kimani, N cremrevivals@gmail.com

By: Apostle Dr. Henry Kimani, N Email: cremrevivals@gmail.com+254 722 888 641

11 | HEALTHFriday, July 17, 2020| The Mt. Kenya Times

Covid-19 >> * So far, a total of 230,096 samples have been tested since the first case was confirmed on March 13

570 Covid1-19 patients’ discharged, total recoveries 3,638

A record 570 COVID-19 pa-tients have been cleared after recovery from COVID-19, the highest on a single day.

Speaking at a press briefing Thursday in Nakuru County on the state of county’s COVID -19 preparedness, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said 512 were receiving home-based care while 58 were admitted to various hospitals.

Another 421 people tested positive for COVID-19 out of a sample size of 3895 bringing to-tal number of confirmed cases in the country to 11,673.

So far, a total of 230,096 samples have been tested since the first case was confirmed on March 13.

Out of the new positive cases, 409 are Kenyans and 12 foreign-

ers with the youngest being a 1 year old infant and oldest is 93 years.

Nairobi County is leading with 6,491 cases followed by Mom-basa with 1783; Kiambu has 640 cases while Nakuru is number 9 with 155 cases.

Eight patients have suc-cumbed to the disease bringing total number of fatalities to 217.

The CS noted that the gov-ernment is training 32,780 com-munity health volunteers to aid in caring for home based care patients under Universal Health Care program.

“I cannot thank the health care workers enough for what they are continuing to do in the movement towards the home-based care programme,” he said.

Asymptomatic cases in Kenya are now referred back home for self-isolation and treatment.

The programme which is done

under strict protocols by care givers accommodates asymp-tomatic patients and those that exhibit mild symptoms of the disease.

Kagwe stressed that the gov-ernment was committed to giv-ing the best health care services to patients who have contracted the disease.

“Freedom comes with respon-sibility and therefore what hap-pens next is not the question of what the question does but the role played by individual citi-zens,” he said.

The CS further urged Kenyans to be more cautious following a surge in positive cases.

He said the government had projected for an increase in posi-tive cases in the country once the travel restrictions were listed on July 6.

“It should not shock Kenyans because we expected these num-

bers,” Kagwe said, “The release of people to go wherever they want in the country was not because we did not expect the number of infections to go up. For me and the ministry, we will continue to beg you that you stay alive, that is our job.”

There are fears that the gov-ernment may re-introduce lock-downs in major cities like Nai-robi, Mombasa and other major towns to manage the crisis even as a section of Governors threat-ened to impose restrictions in their counties.

Kenya had been on a partial lockdown for three months un-til July 6 when President Uhuru Kenyatta lifted travel restric-tions for Nairobi, Mombasa and Mandera but left the night cur-few and a ban on large gather-ings and bars.

He is again expected to issue new directions on August 6.

“The escalation or de-escala-tion of measures is purely de-pendent on the behavior of Ken-yans. It is not the government that will want to lockdown but it is purely on how the citizens behave,” Kagwe said.

Kagwe also launched the Primary Healthcare Strategic Framework and Community Health Policy.

He said that the government strongly believes that this mod-el will help reduce the risk of spreading the disease and is working towards achieving 100 per cent community healthcare coverage.

This method, he says, will also enable them to focus on the health and well-being of individ-uals.

“We have a Ministry of Health, not a Ministry of Covid-19. The primary healthcare approach requires multi-sectoral policies and integrated services for the well-being of individuals. We must emerge from this pandem-ic stronger by strengthening the healthcare pillar of UHC,” the CS said.

By: Rashid Abubakar @MountKenyatimes

Friday, July 17, 2020| The Mt. Kenya Times12 RELATIONSHIP

MISTAKES MEN MAKE IN RELATIONSHIP

Relationships are tricky, especially when they pass beyond the initial dating period where both the partners are at their best

behaviors, and everything is going in a fl ow. The part which comes later is where people,

mostly men, start tripping over.Men, your relationship is the best it can

possibly be, right? Well, maybe. But if you’re like lots of couples, you fi nd it all too easy

to put everything and everyone else fi rst and take each other for granted.

Unless you become aware of your own hurtful attitudes or actions so that you can correct them — your chances of staying in love ’til death do you part are close to zero. Not to worry, though — you can easily get

back on track by watching out the following common mistakes.

THESE ARE THE MOST COMMON MISTAKES MEN MAKE IN A RELATIONSHIP:

You spend money without consulting your partner

Making big purchases such as buying a car without fi rst consulting your wife is a huge no-no. Why? Consciously or unconsciously,

men frequently assign themselves the lead-ership role in the relationship. That, too, is a mistake. A couple’s relationship is a shared

leadership position.

YOU’RE HEARING BUT YOU’RE NOT LISTENING TO THEM

This is the most common complaint coming from women that he isn’t attentive to what

I say.Men need to understand that women by na-ture are verbally more expressive and they want to be heard, instead of just nodding to whatever she says while you’re spaced out.

Some women are more talkative as com-pared to others if you don’t like talking

much, then don’t go for a chatty woman hoping to change her eventually. Be atten-

tive.

SHOWERING HER WITH TOO MANY PRESENTSThis one’s more common at the beginning of the relationship, a man would shower

her with all kinds of expensive gifts, fancy dinners, etc.

This is a mistake because it starts looking like you have nothing of your personali-ty that could impress her, so to keep her around, you have to compensate with all

these gifts.Moreover, you’re setting high expectations, so when the relationship proceeds and the

process of spending every last penny on her slows down, you’ll hear things like ‘you have

changed’ or ‘you don’t love me anymore.’Everybody loves presents, but there has to be a balance between them, they should be

cherished rather than expected.

LETTING THE RELATIONSHIP DRIVE ITSELFMen need to understand that a relationship needs to be treated like a living thing, which

needs constant efforts to be kept alive. It needs to be fed with love to keep it growing.

If you let it drive itself, you’ll fi nd yourself drifting apart from your partner; the rela-tionship starts diminishing till it vanishes

completely. Efforts need to be made to keep it healthy and maintained, keep bringing

something to the relationship.Romance should never take the back seat.

CHANGING YOUR PRIORITIESMen give all their attention, time, and love to

their woman at the beginning of the rela-tionship, making her your number one, but as

time passes and the relationship becomes older, priorities change.

Men start spending more time at work or with friends or in their hobbies etc. They stop doing things they used to do at the

beginning of the relationship to win over the same woman.

You’re not giving her due importance and

take her presence for granted; this negligence can slowly develop problems in the relation-ship. Giving priority to your relationship is the

key to have a satisfi ed woman.

Keeping feelings on lockdownListening to your girl talk about her feelings is essential. So is talking about your own. Many

men, however, think they need to hide their feelings or risk being seen as weak.

That’s a mistake. Not sharing your emotions can be a real downer for your wife. The woman feels like she’s missing a close connection that

she wants with her husband.When he’s withdrawn, she feels like he is leav-ing her. Growing up, a man learns that he can’t let others know when he’s scared. But opening

up is taking a risk, and that takes courage.Going on a power trip

Being a man does not mean being in charge – many men don’t get that. For instance, you may

try to get what you want by being dominant. But it’s not about making demands or trying to

overpower her.Women will pull away from that. The “power

position” that men often put themselves in es-sentially negates the relationship, which must

be reciprocal, supportive, and caring.The power in a relationship needs to be 50-50,

don’t be her yes-man.

BEING WAY TOO MUSHYIt’s good when both the partners act as each other’s support system, but women do not

like it when their man is way too emotionally dependent on them.

Emotions are natural, emotions are human, but women get annoyed when their man is always

looking for comfort when they need some comforting of their own.

It’s God’s way that he made women softer by nature, so they need their man to have some

solid ground, shelter her, and be her rock.Every woman wants a man who is courageous, practical, and brave enough to take care of her as well as himself. Don’t be all over the place.

BEING COMPLACENTHaving ambitions and a positive driving force is

the most attractive quality a man can have.Women believe more in the future; they like a man who has something going on for himself individually, and for them as a couple, being

stagnant while life passes you by just won’t cut it. Women want their man to be goal-ori-ented, goals which lead to a better, pleasant

future involving both of you. Keep moving; stay motivated.

By: Ciru Kamau @mountkenyatimes

males underwent corporal violence in their childhood.Out of this, it added, 37.9% of the

males experienced the violence at the hands of parents, caregivers, and adult relatives in comparison to 28.9% of females.Slightly above 15% of females

however experienced childhood sexual violence, from which about 62% experienced multiple incidents before age 18.“For females, intimate partners are

the most common perpetrators of childhood sexual violence, com-

prising 44.4% of first incidents,” it stated.“Only two out of five females who

experienced childhood sexual vio-lence (41.3%) told someone about an incident of sexual violence.”The report alleged that 53.6% of fe-

males did not report cases of child-hood sexual violence because they “did not think it was a problem.”It added that 12.5% of females who

experienced sexual violence sought services but only 10.7% were actu-ally successful.Eight out of ten incidences of sexu-

al violence against children occur in the afternoon or evening.However, 3.2% of the 34.2% who

experienced sexual violence sought services and all of them successfully received the services.Two out of five males – 40.6% –

who experienced physical violence knew where to go for services, 8.5% actually did but only 6.4% success-fully received help.“Females are more likely than

males to have had multiple sex

partners in the past year (females, 94.9%; males, 69.3%). Males were more likely to infrequently or never use condoms in the past year (males, 39.9%; females, 30.4%),” added the survey.“Females who experienced child-

hood violence are more likely to experience mental distress (77.4%) and suicidal ideation (40.7%) com-pared to females who did not expe-rience childhood violence.”The report cited various form of

what it described as sexual vio-lence including; unwanted sexual touching, unwanted attempted sex, pressured or coerced sex, physically forced sex as well as alcohol-facili-tated forced sex.Among the perpetrators of physi-

cal violence, as stated by the report, include current or previous intimate partners, peers, parents, adult care-givers, or other adult relatives.It also reveals that children who

have been exposed to violence are likely to become perpetrators in their adulthood.

The main suspect in the murder of Keroche heiress Tecra Muigai has been freed by the court after the Director of Public Prosecutions dropped charges and applied for an open inquest.Through state counsels Eddie

Kadebe alongside Zakaria Kiongo, the DPP applied for nolle prose-cution (dismissal of charges) on grounds that there was no enough evidence to prefer murder charges against Lali.High Court judge Roselyn Korir

allowed the application and ordered the state to open a murder inquest at the Lamu Law Courts.“Following the application from

the prosecution, I hereby allow the application to have the murder charges dropped and an inquest unto the death of the deceased to begin at, a date set by both parties in the matter,” she said.Omar, who was Tecra’s boyfriend,

was charged with murder at Lamu Law Courts on Monday.Tecra was the daughter of Keroche

Breweries Chairman Joseph Karan-ja and the CEO, Tabitha Karanja and she laid to rest on May 16, 2020, in a private ceremony at the family’s home in Naivasha.Among those who attended her

burial are; ODM leader Raila Odin-ga and his wife Ida Odinga, Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui, Ford Ken-ya leader Moses Wetang’ula, Vihiga Senator George Khaniri.Omar and Tecra allegedly lived to-

gether as man and wife in the Shel-la area of Lamu Island and had al-legedly converted to Islam.Police said they had picked incon-

sistencies in his account on how Te-cra met her death.Lali had said that the late tum-

bled down the stairs before later changing his account to say she had tripped in the bathroom.Lali was initially arrested in con-

nection with the incident before being released by a Lamu court on May 28, 2020, on a Ksh.300,000 bond following the the expiry of a 21-day detention period.The autopsy by chief government

pathologist Johansen Oduor found that Tecra died due to trauma to the left side of her face after a fall.Until her death, Tecra was the

Strategy and Innovation Director at Keroche Breweries.

By: Rose Karanjarose@mtkenyatimes.co.ke

MORE MEN THAN WOMEN EXPERIENCE CORPORAL VIOLENCE IN THEIR CHILDHOOD- REPORT

OMAR LALI, LATE TECRA MUIGAI’S BOYFRIEND FREED BY COURT

Contd from Page 1

The Mt. Kenya Times | Friday, July 17, 2020 13HEALTH

Labour CS Simon Chelugui.

Mr. Omar Lali when he appeared at the Garsen High Court on July 16, 2020. PHOTO COURTESY

......

A dripping pen, a clear paperCrying for the dying talents

Too much pressure on the booksTalents being left for pleasure

What if the talents are nurtured..like a seed when it starts growing

Instead of stamping on them at the ground

Listening to the humming of a small child And realising there is music in him

Seeing the walls dirtifiedAnd learn there is art in her

Watching the crazy moves by your teenager

And realizing he can be the best dancerAppreciating the God given gifts

Acknowledging the amazing deeds of nature

It would at least spice up the biographies and autos

Instead of them all reading the levels of education attained

Some would read on the number of concerts performed

It would at least hide the shame of lies in the eulogies

Being told a burnt thief died due to a short illness

He would have died making money from the jokes you ignored

Saying they didn’t make sense, or it was noise making

It would reduce the idleness in the streets

By may be watching how talented our street children would be

Thus reducing the claims of theft and their nagging nature

The ‘mbao’ given to them being transformed to a 50 as entrance fee to

the talent hallIt would eliminate the number of beggars,Some would be kneading and selling their

pieces instead

It would discourage the pretenders folding legs early in the morning and unfolding

them late in the nightSome using iodine as blood

Their minds would be channeled and tapped in their talents

Because everyone has a talentIt would brighten up the futureFor them kids who ain’t got the

understanding of booksIt would encourage a soul

By the reading of a piece or listening to music

It would feed a familyBy dancing in an occasion, selling an art

It would create jobsBy designing, making sculptures,

photographyIt would benefit a country

By creating a brand name in sportsLet’s embrace talents

~GathoniWamwondwe~

Crying for the dying talentsGathoni WamwondwePro� le:Teresia WamwondwePage: Drippings of the Pen

A set of a new worldsFull of new words

With new pandemics

Broken relationsPeace relates to different pieces

Love is part of the sayings

A different class in societiesHuman life lost all dignities

Forgotten brotherhood of nations

A new technological worldWorld where pornography is no longer a

viceInternet is no longer a choice

Where rich nationsAre now the superpowers

And control the rest like butterflies

Where the poor have to kneel to be

servedWhereas the rich service is a phone call

away Where freedom is measured in bits like

food for dogs

A world where the economy is patheticOnly suits for those who walk into banks

with sacks of stolen moneyMoney meant for orphans,widows and

the sick

Where courts judge the petty thievesThe big thieves now judge the courtsMen in blue so rogue and malicious

Where leadership is an earning pointDocket taken with greed

People led by words of a fee cartels

A world full of mistrustMistrust to children

Mistrust to parentsMistrust to leaders

A world where churches are markets for business

Where the Bible is used to earn moneyA world full of diseases because of our

own ignorance.

Today ,tomorrowMaybe maybe not

Someday maybe it will be another new world!

@KukhuartsYou tube~Kukhuarts buyaki

Ig-ThehumblecayFb-thecaycony

conradongwesi20@gmail.com

Current world

Friday, July 17, 2020| The Mt. Kenya Times14 POEMS

The Mt. Kenya Times | Friday, July 17, 2020 15AD

BUSINESSHERVENTURE TRAINING MOBILE APP FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN KENYA

KENYA RECORDS HIGHEST EVER TEA PRODUCTION

The Cherie Blair Foundation for Women and DHL Express have launched a business skill training mobile app for women entrepre-neurs in Kenya.The mobile app dubbed HerVen-ture, will be used as an avenue to help women entrepreneurs in Ken-ya, to digitise their businesses and position them to thrive in the new digital world during the pandemic.The two entities unveiled HerVen-ture at a virtual launch in Nairobi yesterday attended by Cabinet Sec-retary for the Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs Professor Mar-gret Kobia.Kenya will be the second African Country after Nigeria to benefit from the availability of HerVenture following a needs assessment con-ducted in 2019.The app will come with a new e-commerce learning track to support women entrepreneurs with business digitisation through COVID-19 and will aim to reach 10,000 women entrepreneurs in Kenya.HerVenture will be available to Kenyan women entrepreneurs on Android through the Google Play Store.The app’s content is provided in

bite-sized, easy to understand for-mats such as swipe-able cards, quizzes and videos.Static content can also be accessed offline. The app will allow users to find and connect with each other, as well as learn about local business events.COVID-19 is drastically chang-ing the way we live and work and pushing us further into a digital world.To survive, many businesses across the world find that they too must move online.In emerging economies, mobile technology is proving to be a life-line for small businesses, but not everyone is ready to embrace the new digital reality.GSMA’s Mobile Gender Gap Re-port 2020 shows that women are still less likely to have the access or skills to use it to adapt their business, but if they don’t access support now, they face losing their businesses altogether, which stands to have severe knock-on impacts on families, communities and economies.“Where there is disruption, there is also opportunity. Issues facing women entrepreneurs at this time are complex and interconnected but through collaboration and new partnerships across sectors and ge-ographies, solutions can be found

to help them thrive,” said Cherie Blair CBE QC, Founder, the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women.“Investing in women entrepreneurs plays a crucial role in supporting Kenya’s 2030 vision of becoming a middle-income nation by 2030. 49% of micro and small businesses are women-owned which is more than in any other East African country and yet women own only 9% of medium-sized enterprises,” said CS Kobia.She added that lack of adequate training programmes and infor-mation, problems accessing fi-nance and restrictive socio-cultural norms are limiting the success of women’s businesses in Kenya.Sub-Saharan African economies lose nearly $100 billion a year be-cause of the gender gap in the la-bour market.However, if businesses come to-gether to support women entrepre-neurs in response to this pandemic, we can take this as an opportunity to rebuild economies.So far, since its launch in 2018, HerVenture has been downloaded by and provided training to over 23,000 women, with huge benefits to local communities and econ-omies, which is set to be scaled within Kenya.

The Green leaf production by facto-ries affiliated to Kenya Tea Devel-opment Agency (KTDA) Holdings’ company increased by 28.5 per cent for the year ended June 30, 2020 reaching 1.448 billion kilograms (kgs) compared to 1.127 billion kgs in same period last year.In a statement sent on Thursday, KTDA attributed the increase to continued favourable weather across tea-growing regions and im-proved crop husbandry practices among tea farmers.This is also attributed the growth to farmers who have resumed deliv-ering crop to their factories due to better payments and services.“This growth came amid a tumultu-ous second half of the year that saw global tea prices plummet on the back of product oversupply in the market as well as disruptions occa-sioned by the Covid-19 pandemic,” KTDA said.There has been a reduced demand for tea across markets as well as the

restrictions on movement of goods and services across the world at the start of the pandemic, KTDA notes.During the financial year 2019/2020, KTDA sold teas fetched an average Sh260 per kilo, a 6.8 per cent drop from the average Sh278 per kilo it sold the previous year.This is the lowest KTDA average price since 2008 when the average price per kilo of tea at the auction was Sh233.“In the last three auctions for the year ended June 2020, the average price for a kilo of tea at the auction dropped below Sh215, a scenario last seen in 2007,” said KTDA.India and Sri Lanka have also re-ported a drop in prices due to over-supply and the disruption in the in-dustry.The 54 tea factory companies, which own the 69 factories that are managed by KTDA, will proceed to close their financial books for the year and also declare the final payment to each of their tea factory farmers.

Youth and Gender Affairs Professor Margret Kobia

A farmer picking tea

Friday, July 17, 2020| The Mt. Kenya Times16

By: Kaila Njeri @MountKenyatimes

By: Clara Chepkoeck @MountKenyatimes

P-SEGMENT: What’s Hot in Counties

Education CS George Mag-oha has expressed concern on delay of operationalization of Murang’a Training Institute which is located within Mar-agua area.

The construction of the institute began in 2012 but stalled twice due to lack of funds with the CS accusing former local leaders of de-laying completion of the in-stitute.

Magoha, who spoke on Wednesday when he toured Murang’a Technical Training Institute which is under con-struction, directed officers from his ministry to ensure speedy operationalization of the institute.

“This college is one of the biggest in the country and I direct officers in the minis-try of education to work out on how to bring in needed equipment so that the insti-

tution can start admitting students,” he said.

Maragua MP, Mary Waithera said she had been pushing for the institute to start operation, but it lacked water and power connection.

“Kenya Power Company has promised to instal a trans-former so the institution can be connected. Local CDF will allocate some funds to sink a borehole here for learners to get water,” she said.

“The institute has been equipped with part of training facilities, but equipment for some departments is yet to be installed,” she added.

So far the construction of the institution has cost Sh.264 million, which is much higher than other insti-tutions being constructed in sub counties.

The MP said that after the college starts training, plans are on to upgrade it to a Na-tional Polytechnic.

“I appreciate the CS for visiting this institute. We hope the college will start admitting students probably from January next year if Covid-19 is contained,” she added.

Meanwhile, only universi-ties tertiary institutions which will have met required health protocols will be allowed to re-open in September.

The CS pointed out that officials from his ministry are currently inspecting all universities and colleges to ensure that they are comply-ing with the health guidelines established to prevent the spread of covid-19.

Magoha said the learning institutions which will meet World Health Organization (WHO) protocols to contain spread of covid-19 will be given green light to re-open.

“We are going to inspect all colleges and universi-ties to ensure they meet the

laid down guidelines before we allow them to re-open. Those which do not meet the requirement will remain closed,” said Magoha.

The CS also said that once the learners are allowed to re-turn to the institutions, social distance of about 1.5 metres

in lecture halls and hostels must be observed.

“In universities it’s easy to observe social distance and other needed requirements. The management of the insti-tutes of higher learning may decide which faculties to re-open first and also which

courses to be done online,” he added.

He further noted that in-spection has been done at University of Nairobi and Strathmore University and their report will be released soon.

MAGOHA CALLS FOR OPERATIONALIZATION OF MURANG’A TRAINING INSTITUTEBy: David Kinyanjui

@mountkenyatimes

It is a relief for job seekers as they will no longer need to pay Sh1,000 for the issuance of a compliance certificate.

This is after the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) waived the fee for non-beneficiaries, following a public outcry.

Through a statement from CEO Charles Ringera, the board said it will stop charging Sh1,000 for the youths seeking jobs, saying that the fee has been perceived as punitive for those who did not benefit from the student loans.

”Given the foregoing issues raised by Kenyans, HELB has stopped charging Kshs. 1,000 for issuance of the Compliance Certificate with ef-fect from 15th July 2020,” he added.

The board added that complaints had been raised in various platforms regarding the same with some say-ing that unemployment and un-der-employment challenges could

not allow them to raise the money.“However, during various stake-

holder engagements where HELB seeks feedback on Citizen Service Delivery, it has repeatedly come to our attention that the charges for non-loanee compliance certificate are perceived to be punitive, es-pecially to the many unemployed youth who did not benefit from the student loans,” said Ringera.

said that slow economic growth and escalated cost of living as well as retrenchment and downsizing af-fecting all sectors which have been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pan-demic has hardened their situation.

Those seeking to HELB Compli-ance Certificates have been asked to access from the HELB Web-site www.helb.co.ke as well as the E-Citizen Portal.

Mr. Ringera said waiving the fee is expected to motivate Kenyan youth to seek their HELB compli-ance certificates as they seek jobs or opportunities to contribute towards building the nation.

He noted the step taken will create goodwill and promotion of HELB products among Kenyans as they seek compliance certificate.

Chapter VI on Leadership and Integrity of the Constitution of Kenya,2010 requires all persons applying for public jobs to present specific compliance certificates as part of the interview process.

HELB is one of the listed institu-tions from which interviewees seek compliance certificates.

Apart from HELB, job seekers are also required to get compliance certificates from the Kenya Reve-nue Authority (KRA) and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).

Others are a certificate of good conduct from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and a let-ter from Credit Reference Bureau (CRB) indicating the applicant doesn’t owe any financial institution money.

A group of youth had petition the Senate, seeking explanation as to why one would pay for the certifi-cate even when they did not benefit from any loan from the fund.

The youth also wants charges for clearance certificates from Kenya Revenue Authority, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Com-mission be drastically reduced or scrapped for fresh graduates.

By: Samuel Kimani @MountKenyatimes

HELB WAIVES COMPLIANCE CERTIFICATE FEE FOR NON-BENEFICIARIES

The Mt. Kenya Times | Friday, July 17, 2020 17PUNCHY SEGMENT

Education Cabinet Secretary Prof George Magoha in Murang’a County on Wednesday assessing institu-tions preparedness for resumption of studies in September.

HELB applicants being served at the agency’s office

By: Harrison Mwirigi Ikunda

Friday, July 17, 2020 | The Mt. Kenya Times18 NATIONAL

DISHONESTY, LAZINESS AND CORRUPTION ARE SOME OF THE KEY CAUSES OF UNEMPLOYMENT AND BUSINESS FAILURES IN KENYA

It is human nature to blame oth-ers or some other factors on some of the misfortunes that bedevil hu-man life. Unemployment and the many business failures we see on a global scale are at times not prop-erly examined for the causative agents. We do know of some se-rious infamous corporate failures such as Enron Corporation (at one time a Wall Street darling), Lehman Brothers Holdings inc, WorldCom telecommunications company, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, Thom-as Cook ,Parmalat, Compaq and close home like Nakumatt, Impe-rial Bank and Chase bank among others attributed to scandals or management failures as what led to their downfall.

But there are many businesses in Kenya and in the world that fail each year ranging from very small to large ones for a variety of reasons. In Kenya the rate of at-trition of small business is quite high due to a combination of fac-tors some of which relate to the economic challenges the country has over time gone through and still struggling with and including now especially now due Covid -19 pandemic crisis. But closely examining the factors, they go be-yond the economy as many have failed due to individuals whether they are owners or employees.

The problems include dishon-est employees, dishonest owners, laziness, poor management or managers mistakes and even the high levels of corruption that drive honest entrepreneurs to fail to sus-tain their enterprises. Corruption changes the norms of doing busi-ness as this is money which do not operate normally. Free or stolen money messes up the dynamics of the business environment to

abnormality. Its eff ect is a very dangerously skewed operating en-vironment.

Many who have invested in some types of businesses in Ken-ya like matatus (vans or buses for passenger public transport), have lived to rue their venture more so where they are not involved in dai-ly operations.

The same for many retail busi-nesses and/cash based businesses or those that need a lot or close supervisions such as bars, pubs, meat outlets, supermarkets etc. Even the famous telephone farm-ing in Kenya, where the owner works somewhere and delegate workers in some remote part of the country or far away in rural areas have seen many of these enterprises fail due to employees dishonesty or bad management .

The same happens with numer-ous partnerships or companies formed by friends or relatives. So many of these in Kenya end in failure if not in fi ghts, break ups or serious disagreements particu-larly due to fraud by some of the directors or partners dishonesty. We do have a culture that glorifi es riches for the sake of it such that in partnerships or some of these companies one or some want to be seen to dominate the enterprise or to make excess gains over the other (s). Some want all of it for themselves alone forgetting what brought them together in the fi rst place or even see the benefi ts of building the enterprises together for a reasonable period of time.

I have been privileged to meet some of the successful family or friends partnerships of Asian (particularly Indians) and Soma-li businesses in Kenya. Listening to them you can really value their business work ethic, their close

ties in management and times a relatively better way of sharing their fortunes.

For many of our African com-munities (though there are excep-tions as well as we see good busi-ness partners among them) break ups especially when business seems to pick up or succeed is the order of the day. The said Asians or Indians and Somali businesses are also not immune to similar break ups as several successful businesses belonging to them have also gone the same unfortunate route of break ups, fi ghts or fail-ure if not disproportionate shar-ing of fortunes leading to friction. Human weaknesses abound in all communities and races.

Like aforesaid employees be-havior and conduct is also a key factor in contributing to business mess or failures. Last year I saw a famous electronics outlet Ibra-hims Electronics close down and the message captured on the me-dia from the owner is that of se-rious disappointment. Part of it alluded to employees misconduct/malfeasance.

If so this is not unusual. Many who have tried doing retail busi-ness of all kind may it be selling clothes, food, electronics or ven-tures of shops and such can attest it is not easy to make money with-out heavy or close supervision especially of employees and their supervisors as well. Some of the employees may not do their daily work properly, others want to do bare minimum, others are not hon-est with money and stock, some want to be absent for no good rea-son, others work for few hours, others steal cash, mishandled cli-ents or a combination of these but yet still would not want to miss pay nor lose their jobs.

It is quite a strange behavior of not want to work or being dishon-est but want to be paid at the end of the day or monthly. Yet when the business suff ers them employees will be severely hurt by job losses. Clearly some of these make many shy away from investing in busi-nesses particularly where they are not involved in direct operations or supervision.

This of course helps compound the dilemma we have of unem-ployment. Yet still we have not developed suffi ciently the invest-ment vehicles for silent business partners or owners in this part of the world. You can imagine how much silent capital can be mobi-lized if requisite structures existed and management and employees played their roles properly. Even so the dilemma of embezzlement by managers is also another or an ever growing problem.

When you add the destructive eff ects of corruption in the econo-my it makes our problem of unem-ployment get worse each day. You see corruption procures goods and services at infl ated prices, it also messes the taxation and the yields of that, it makes genuine entrepre-neurs suff er all manner of infl ation and distortions in the market, and it does kills the spirit of genuine entrepreneurship and it obviously magnifi es problems everywhere in the value chains and webs of en-trepreneurship.

In other words it is very diffi cult to develop suffi cient real entre-preneurship in such an environ-ment. Yet still we need plenty of innovative genuine entrepreneurs to grow our economy and global economies. Unfortunately this is it is the sad reality in Kenya and many parts of the world that cor-ruption and all manner of ills hin-der genuine entrepreneurship and also economic growth.

Harrison Mwirigi IkundaThe Writer is a Political, Eco-nomic and Social Analyst and Commentator, the Leader of a Leading Renewable Energy Organisation in Africa, Research-er, Consultant, and Chairman Consumer Downtown Association and also represents Several Other Organisations in various capac-ities including being the Senior Executive of one of the Auto Industry Associations in Kenya.

Summary Summary Summary• But there are many • But there are many • But there are many businesses in Kenya and in the businesses in Kenya and in the businesses in Kenya and in the world that fail each year rang-world that fail each year rang-world that fail each year rang-ing from very small to large ing from very small to large ing from very small to large ones for a variety of reasons. ones for a variety of reasons. ones for a variety of reasons. In Kenya the rate of attrition In Kenya the rate of attrition In Kenya the rate of attrition of small business is quite high of small business is quite high of small business is quite high due to a combination of factors due to a combination of factors due to a combination of factors some of which relate to the eco-some of which relate to the eco-some of which relate to the eco-nomic challenges the country nomic challenges the country nomic challenges the country has over time gone through has over time gone through has over time gone through and still struggling with and and still struggling with and and still struggling with and including now especially now including now especially now including now especially now due Covid -19 pandemic crisis. due Covid -19 pandemic crisis. due Covid -19 pandemic crisis. But closely examining the fac-But closely examining the fac-But closely examining the fac-tors, they go beyond the econ-tors, they go beyond the econ-tors, they go beyond the econ-omy as many have failed due omy as many have failed due omy as many have failed due to individuals whether they are to individuals whether they are to individuals whether they are owners or employees. owners or employees. owners or employees. • Th e same for many re-• Th e same for many re-• Th e same for many re-tail businesses and/cash based tail businesses and/cash based tail businesses and/cash based businesses or those that need a businesses or those that need a businesses or those that need a lot or close supervisions such lot or close supervisions such lot or close supervisions such as bars, pubs, meat outlets, as bars, pubs, meat outlets, as bars, pubs, meat outlets, supermarkets etc. Even the supermarkets etc. Even the supermarkets etc. Even the famous telephone farming in famous telephone farming in famous telephone farming in Kenya, where the owner works Kenya, where the owner works Kenya, where the owner works somewhere and delegate work-somewhere and delegate work-somewhere and delegate work-ers in some remote part of the ers in some remote part of the ers in some remote part of the country or far away in rural country or far away in rural country or far away in rural areas have seen many of these areas have seen many of these areas have seen many of these enterprises fail due to employ-enterprises fail due to employ-enterprises fail due to employ-ees dishonesty or bad manage-ees dishonesty or bad manage-ees dishonesty or bad manage-ment . ment . ment .

The Mt. Kenya Times | Friday, July 17, 2020 19AD

The Mt. Kenya Times | Friday, July 17, 2020 20WORLD

CNN - Shamima Begum, the British teenager who left London with two schoolfriends in 2015 to join ISIS in Syria, should be allowed to return to the UK to challenge the deprivation of her British citizenship, judges ruled Thursday.

Begum, now 20, had her British citizenship stripped by then-Home Secretary Sajid Javid on February 19, 2019, after she was found in a northern Syrian refugee camp.

She challenged that decision but on June 13, 2019, the government refused her application for leave to enter the UK to pursue her appeal.

The Court of Appeal and a Di-visional Court of the High Court on Thursday ruled Begum should be allowed to return to the Unit-ed Kingdom to pursue her appeal before the Special Immigrations Appeals Commission (SIAC) “al-beit subject to such controls as the Secretary of State deems appropri-ate.”

She is currently in a detention camp run by the Syrian Democrat-ic Forces.

While in Syria, Begum married an ISIS fighter and had three chil-dren, all of whom have died.

SIAC found in its decision that Begum also holds Bangladeshi citizenship by descent. The court has not answered the question about whether she can be stripped of her British citizenship.

Begum’s lawyer, Daniel Furner, of Birnberg Peirce Solicitors, said the right to justice should not be affected because a case is serious or difficult, or national security is involved.

“Ms. Begum has never had a

fair opportunity to give her side of the story,” he said.

“Ms Begum is not afraid of fac-ing British justice, she welcomes it. But the stripping of her citizen-ship without a chance to clear her name is not justice, it is the oppo-site.”

Human rights organization Lib-erty, which intervened in Begum’s appeal to say she could not have a fair trial while fighting the case from a refugee camp, welcomed the ruling.

Liberty lawyer Katie Lines said:

“The right to a fair trial is not something the government can take away on a whim. It is a funda-mental part of our justice system and equal access to justice must apply to everyone.

“Banishing someone is the act of a government shirking its re-sponsibilities and it is critical that cruel and irresponsible govern-ment decisions can be properly challenged and overturned.”

A UK Home Office spokesper-son said the decision was “very disappointing” and it would apply

for permission to appeal against the judgment.

“The government’s top priority remains maintaining our national security and keeping the public safe,” the spokesperson added.

Mohammed Shafiq, CEO of the Ramadhan Foundation, a UK-based Muslim organization that works to build cohesion between communities, said in a statement: “The decision of the Court of Ap-peal to allow Shamima Begum to return to the UK is the right de-cision and British citizens should welcome it.

“This is not about any alleged crimes she may have committed but about the principle you cannot have a two tier citizenship where those of a certain ethnic back-ground born in this country are treated differently to their white counterparts,” he added.

Shafiq said ISIS was an “evil entity” opposed by British Mus-lims and that Begum should be held to account for any alleged crimes, but lawmakers should not make decisions “to appear as if they were tough.”

He called the decision a “great victory” for those who believe in equal society and oppose discrim-ination in applying citizenship rules.

Summary• Begum, now 20, had her British citizenship stripped by then-Home Secretary Sajid Javid on February 19, 2019, af-ter she was found in a northern Syrian refugee camp.• The Court of Appeal and a Divisional Court of the High Court on Thursday ruled Begum should be allowed to return to the United Kingdom to pursue her appeal before the Special Immigrations Appeals Commission (SIAC) “albeit subject to such controls as the Secretary of State deems appro-priate.”• Mohammed Shafiq, CEO of the Ramadhan Foun-dation, a UK-based Muslim or-ganization that works to build cohesion between communi-ties, said in a statement: “The decision of the Court of Appeal to allow Shamima Begum to re-turn to the UK is the right deci-sion and British citizens should welcome it.

Schoolgirl who traveled to Syria to join ISIS should be allowed to return to UK, judges rule

Shamima Begum is currently in a detention camp run by the Syrian Democratic Forces.

Begum married an ISIS fighter while in Syria, and had three children, all of whom have died.

The Mt. Kenya Times | Friday, July 17, 2020 21AD

SPORTSNEWSPHOTOS

SCORESOPINIONS

STATISTICSSCHEDULES

BREAKING NEWS

Sports >> * The administrator believes he is the right person to sanitize the Kenyan game

Former AFC Leopards chairman Mule on joining the race for top seat

if given a chance

The administrator believes he is the right person to sanitize the Kenyan game if given a chance

Dan Mule is the latest to an-nounce his interest in the Foot-ball Kenya Federation (FKF) top seat.The successful businessman joins the growing list of presi-dential aspirants in the forth-coming elections. The imme-diate former AFC Leopards chairman has exuded confidence in changing the reputation of the game in the country in a bid to develop it.“I will vie for the FKF presi-dential seat in the forthcoming election,” Mule told Goal on Thursday.

“Football is not doing well in the country owing to regular fights, and it is something I want to change. I want to sanitize the game and make peace with ev-eryone for players and the coun-try at large to benefit.”The administrator has also stat-ed he wants to streamline the top-tier whose quality has been deteriorating with players opt-ing to join other well-paying leagues in the continent. “Look at the Zambian top-tier, Tanzania and Uganda as well, they are improving day in, day out,” Mule added.“Our players are not enjoying playing in the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) because of finan-cial problems. In the 2019/20

season, we saw several walk-overs given out by several teams, it is something we want to amend.“The Ugandan Premier League has grown in that it is now also producing players regularly to Europe, it is something I also want to ensure happens in the KPL, I want to streamline it.”Sponsors have been shying from giving football a helping hand, but the aspirant believes he can convince them to invest in the game.“You have to create a favourable environment to have corporates coming in to sponsor the game,” Mule continued.“We have to work together with the government and all stake-

holders, and this will convince many sponsors to come on board. The incumbent Nick Mwend-wa, former president Sam Nyamweya, Nicholas Musonye, Omondi Aduda, Twaha Mbarak, Herbert Mwachiro and Sammy Sholei are other individuals in the race.“I have no problem with them, everyone has his plans, so we will present the same to dele-gates and whoever brings the best should be considered, and I believe my vision will convince them to vote for me,” he con-cluded.

Goal.com

Friday, July 17, 2020| The Mt. Kenya Times22 SPORTS

SPORTSNEWS

PHOTOSSCORESOPINIONSSTATISTICSSCHEDULESBREAKING NEWS

Mwendwa confirms KPL will change name as BetKing revealed as new sponsor

Sports >> * Goal can exclusively reveal the gaming firm is the new financial partner of Ken-

Goal can exclusively reveal the gaming firm is the new finan-cial partner of Kenya’s top-tier for the next five seasons

Football Keya Federation (FKF) President Nick Mwend-wa has confirmed BetKing is the new Kenyan Premier League (KPL) sponsor.

BetKing will sponsor the Pre-mier League for five years and is expected to fork out up to KSh1.2 billion for the participat-ing teams.

“It is BetKing. They have come in to support our football and the deal will run for the next five years,” Mwendwa told Goal exclusively on Thursday.

The arrival of the betting firm marks the biggest sponsorship deal ever inked by the Premier League in its history. BetKing

will take the place that was left by the previous sponsor Sport-Pesa whose exit left a huge hole in all teams’ pockets as well as league managers; the KPL Lim-ited Company.

Part of the deal agreed be-tween Kenya’s FA and the new sponsor is the renaming of the competition.

“The league will change the name to BetKing Kenya Premier League and will be managed by FKF Premier League and not KPL,” Mwendwa added.

FKF will take the management mantle from KPL whose contract ends in July 2020. Mwendwa has been categorical that they were not keen to renew KPL’s con-tract.

The 2020/21 season will mark the first time FKF is managing the top-flight after an era that

spurned over a decade when the league was under KPL.

KPL and FKF have always been at loggerheads and a recent battle surrounded the cancella-tion of the 2019/20 season by the federation.

FKF ended all the leagues in the country in May, declared champions, and relegated teams but KPL took issues with the decision and went ahead to chal-lenge it in the Sports Disputes Tribunal (SDT).

KPL also raised the matter with the Confederation of Afri-can Football (Caf) stating that the duty of determining the fate of the league, that was suspend-ed in March due to the coronavi-rus pandemic, lies in their hands.

The exit of SportPesa before the 2019/20 season started saw teams struggle due to lack of ad-

equate financial resources.The challenges saw former

league champions Sony Sugar relegated due to their inability to honour three matches.

Chemelil Sugar, who remain relegated by virtue of the FKF decision to cancel the league, also gave two walkovers as they struggled to honour away match-es.

SportPesa’s exit also hit hard KPL heavyweights Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards who had signed individual shirt sponsor-ship deals with the gaming firm.

The BetKing deal will see teams earn between KSh8 mil-lion to KSh15 million each sea-son.

Goal.com

ya’s top-tier for the next five seasons

The Mt. Kenya Times | Friday, July 17, 2020 23 SPORTS

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PSCU - President Uhuru Kenyatta has called for the crafting of a joint European Union and Africa Covid-19 response strategy.The President said the EU-Africa Covid-19 strategy should among other interventions pursue the cancelation of debts owed by African countries.The Head of State spoke today at State House, Nairobi, during a virtual conference of European and African leaders on the proposed establishment of the Africa-Mediterranean-Europe (AME) Foundation.The setting up of AME Foundation as a platform to enhance development discourse and interactions between Africa, the Mediterranean and Europe is being championed by the Former President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker.President Kenyatta supported the proposal to establish the Foundation saying the initiative will help inject new ideas needed to scale up collaboration between

the three regions.“I, therefore, welcome with enthusiasm the proposal to establish the Africa-Med-Europe (AME) Foundation. The Foundation will complement the existing Africa-European continental cooperation in addressing the emerging global challenges,” President Kenyatta said.He said the foundation should be structured to be a robust platform for the promotion multilateralism and inclusivity.“It will also be imperative for the Africa-Med-Europe Foundation to be a voice against unilateralism and be a champion in the promotion of inclusive and consultative decision making by our continents…“In this context of inclusivity, the Foundation should also recognize the critical role of the private sector, the academia and civil society,” the President said.President Kenyatta endorsed the proposal to include the setting up of the EMA Foundation as an agenda during the next AU-EU

summit scheduled for October this year.“I also agree and concur with the idea that the next Africa Union-European Union Summit can present an excellent opportunity and platform to call for the establishment and support for the Africa-Med-Europe Foundation,” he said.The virtual meeting was addressed by Presidents Macky Sall (Senegal), Issoufou Mahamadou (Niger), Mohamed Ould Ghazouni (Mauritania) and Roch Mach Kabore (Burkina Faso).President Macky Sall supported the establishment of the EMA Foundation saying the institution will help address the changes happening on the African continent.President Kabore reiterated President Kenyatta’s sentiments that EMA will assist in advancing multilateralism and global solidarity especially in post-Covid-19 recovery.

President Kenyatta Advocates For The Setting Up Of A Joint EU-Africa Covid-19 Response Mechanism

President Uhuru Kenyatta