The Youth and Security in Africa

 

YOUTH PERCEPTIONS OF HUMAN SECURITY ISSUES IN AFRICA
 

...the youth are adversely affected when it comes to human security; Preventive and corrective measures can be done to reduce the prevalence of human insecurity among them...

BY KHALWALE LUNALO JAMES

 AUGUST, 2008

© 2008 Khalwale James Lunalo

The scholarly approach of the term 'youth' shows that a youth is a young person with more ambitions in life, versatile and industrious. Because of the current situations in Africa, the youth are the most adversely affected species with the human insecurity situation.

In Africa, human insecurity is observed through the high rates of corruption scandals and unequal distribution of resources, which leads to poverty. This is alongside poor management of the resources in all African states. This has therefore led to unemployment among the youth. They have therefore resolved to engage into inhuman activities such as armed robbery and violence, prostitution, drug abuse and civil wars. The youth therefore perceive human security in Africa in terms of the struggle for existence and survival for the fittest.

With the advent of industrialization in Europe, Africa has been the continent most affected with the effects of global warming causing human insecurity. This is through the declining land masses by the melting sea ice and increase in the sea level; poor tourists' attraction as wildlife migrates to safer continents due to global warming in Africa; and, above all, health problems as disease causing vectors such as Vibrio paraheamolyticus and plasmodium get conducive environment for multiplication.

In the same way the corrupt nature of African regimes leaves the youth disillusioned and hopeless. Despite the youths' distance from the African culture, the society is too unfair to accommodate them.
As a preventive and corrective measure, I, the writer, recommend that proper regional co-operation should be built to control the prevalence of insecurity, poverty and corruption, which the youth consider to be major threats of insecurity. Minimal dependence on foreign aid can also help Africa develop independently.

Introduction

Africa has seen more than one third of the worlds armed conflicts. In fact, those African states that look stable like Tanzania, are simply potentially insecure, Obura A (2004). Africa needs peace through better educational programs in post-conflict countries for healing purposes and prevention of future conflicts. The stable countries should not be complacent about peace but need to consolidate gaining and eliminating the remaining disparities. There is no country in Africa that can consider itself immune due to the nature of the global, regional and internal factors currently fueling conflict. Social disparities are increasing on the continent- a vicious cycle in which conflict results in extreme poverty and gun cry, poverty is often associated with violence.

The use of unjustifiable entry quotas to systematically reduce numbers of groups such as schools is to exclude them from specific courses, for example, Hutu in Burundi and Tutsi in Rwanda. Education mirrors the society and can be used as an instrument to further political agenda, produce goods alongside food, exacerbate disparity and fuel conflict. The type of education programs, government policies, diseases such as Acquired Immune-Deficiency syndrome, and availability of food therefore, drastically affect African security. In discussion of this topic, youth perceptions of human security in Africa, first is a definition of key terms and phrases.

A youth is a young person who has not experienced a lot in life and still has the chance to further explorations in life. A youth is therefore considered as a person between the age 15 and 35 years (Kenya). He is versatile, charming, industrious, energetic person who, through experiments, comes up with new ideas and issues. The oxford dictionary describes a youth as a short-lived person in terms of experiences in life.

Perception is the process whereby sensory stimulation is translated into organized and meaningful experiences. Experimental evidence suggests that percepts follow a measurable, developmental time course and may even change with time or yield more than one perception. This explains why there exist differences between the perception about issues among the youth and the elders or children.
Perception generally involves the scope of view and emotional sensations about our environment. The impressions created in the mind, values, beliefs and ambitions at different stages in life can all describe a human perception. A perception will therefore finally affect the attitude of the bearer.
The term security is inter-disciplinary. In political science, security refers to any of the various means or devices designed to guard persons and property against a broad range of hazards including but not limited to crime, fire, accidents, espionage, sabotage, subversion and attack. Most security systems emphasize certain hazards than others.

Protection therefore includes: personal safety-people in an organization, customers and employees; tangible property-plant, equipment, finished goods cash and securities; intangible security-information such as state privacy or trade secrets. Most governments in Africa exercise passive security instead of the active one.

The word 'Human' has to do with humanism and humanity. The encyclopedia Britannica defines humanism as the attitude of the mind attaching prime importance to man and human values often regarded as the central theme of renaissance of civilization. It refers to the value system that emphasizes the personal worth of each individual.

Human security can therefore be described as the issues related to the well being of people and individuals. It has to do with good working conditions, presence of basic needs, absence of war, theft and diseases, protection of personal property and rights such as the right to education. Human security is also linked to clean environment free from pollution, desertification, drought, tremors or floods. Since Africa first attained independence in 1957 through Ghanaian president Kwame Nkrumah, we have experienced a rough time to deal with issues of security.

HUMAN SECURITY SITUATIONS IN AFRICA

We do say that it is the duty and responsibility of the community and particularly those more fortunately placed to see that our less fortunate fellow citizens are protected from shafts of fate which leave them hopeless and helpless. This the objective for which our eyes are always tuned and to which our efforts are always directed, Chitley B (1949). To begin with, Kenya and Tanzania on August 8, held the 10^th anniversary of the August 1998 bomb blast incidence where many people lost lives. Many other African states have not been spared either. Civil wars and land disputes have been reported in our third world countries as the threats on human security. Political instabilities are also a key component to human insecurity in Africa. The recent Mauritania's military rule, the unending political party rankles and the fear of governments to be opposed exacerbate the whole issue.

Poll violences

Poll violence in Kenya and Zimbabwe was a great threat to Africa's peace in the past few months leaving about 500,000 people internally displaced and 1,162 others dead in Kenya according to the human rights account of Kenya's post election violence published in the daily Nation on Saturday august 9, 2008. Poll violence caused due to the opposition between ZANU-PF's Robert Mugabe and MDC's Morgan Tsivangirai over presidential seat led to destruction of poverty and acute inflation in the country. Alqaeda terrorists are on the mission of disrupting peace in the continent as invasion of states by the military groups come to their peak. Human security is also affected by natural catastrophes in Africa. For instance, about 30 people lost lives in Bukina Faso this August through land slides and floods whereas a good number perished in Somalia over the same.

All African states still suffer from the contagious disease called corruption. Hon. Amos Kimunya in Kenya had to be removed from his finance ministry forcefully through a parliamentary vote of no confidence over a corrupt sale of the Nairobi's Grand Regency hotel to the government of Libya. Other major scandals in Kenya include the Golden berg and the Anglo-leasing scandals discovered by John Githongo. The economic and financial crimes commission, the Nigeria's anti-corruption police, accused Haruna Boni who ran the North East Adamawa state for eight years of looting approximately $790,000 (about 93 million naira) between 1999 and 2007, as governor of the home state of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar who was also recently detained. This was through president Umaru Yar Adua's effort of containing zero tolerance to corruption. Sending home old members of the army closely followed this.

The African continent is also adversely affected by the high taxation rates from the local people. However, the tax income in most states is translated into the stomachs of a few top individuals ignoring the need for development. Similarly high taxation targets the poor middle and lower class people with meager resources. In the democratic republic of Congo, tin traders recently received a big shock when taxation for tin mines, tripled in Kivu province where the tin ores, Cassiterite, are found. The customs agency, Ofida, tripled the reference price used to calculate the export tax on the ore. Kenya offers a 16% value added tax and about 28% pay as you earn tax, which are very high according to the international standards. But the parliamentarians don't pay tax yet they earn the most pay of all the public servants.

Foreign aid in Africa is yet another threat to human security. Most foreign aids target anti-terrorism ignoring genuinely poor African cases of good governance and human rights. There is no focus on poverty alleviation. According to the organization for economic assistance development, the US aid to Africa increased from $1.4 billion in the recent past to $500 billion, in order to increase boarder security and counter terrorism capacity to Mali, Chad, Niger and Mauritania through the trans-Saharan counter-terrorism initiation (TSCTI). African contingency operations training and assistance program (ACOTA) provided shell arms and training for peace keeping operations to Benin, Botswana Cote d'Voire, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique. Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia.

Among the top list of human security issues in Africa is poverty. As population skyrockets, many people below the poverty line now exist. Coombs (1990) argues that the return of scarcity is the effect of an explosively increasing world population confronting finite material resources "which were thought to be inexhaustible". He adds that, the problem of poverty is intensified by the unnecessary complexity of lifestyles available. A collective responsibility is therefore required to curb poverty in Africa since no man is an island entire to himself, said John Donne.

In Africa, AIDS is a major contributing factor to poverty. The highly stigmatized disease has left many patients hopeless and unproductive. The situation in Malawi where patients sell Anti-Retroviral in exchange for food is a pathetic one. This explains how our continent's planning tools are not well focused. A report by princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, a UN messenger of peace and funding board member of Kofi Annan's global humanitarian forum revealed that adult HIV patients require 10% more energy and as the disease progresses, 20-50% more energy is required. They otherwise risk being plagued by the disease.

The poverty stricken Ghana, in the attempt to keep off hunger approved funds to tackle famine. The Botswana Agricultural marketing board was provided with funds by the government to stabilize grain prices against fluctuations in the international markets. The country's strategic reserve was on effect suggested to increase from the current 10,000 tonnes to 70,000 tonnes, according to the Botswana Guardian Newspaper.

Discrimination is another threat to human security. People are discriminated against religion, gender, citizenship, race or tribe. Most people lose job positions as a result, in addition to loss of esteem and interpersonal cohesion. In South Africa, the recent fights and killing of foreigners was one of the most irritating scenarios. This was a result of alleged phobia to social competition against enterprises and employment. This, according to me, is quite colonial and uncivilized kind of reasoning. Is there any otherwise?

 The morality and culture of people directly or indirectly affects the security of Africa. It is quite believable that most people in the world do not like the, move by the Anglican church of approving marriages of the same sex as against the African culture. This therefore causes social insecurity in the entire continent. However what is considered immoral is relative depending on what people have accepted it to be in the society.

 The practice of democracy and human rights enforcement by the authority is the best way to reduce human insecurity. What friends of democracy needs to bear in mind in all of these is that, however democratic an African government may be in formal terms, its scope for making policy is very radically constrained by non democratic international financial institutions like the world bank and IMF which will get to the heart of the real crisis of Africa, Shaw T (1995).

Human Security and  youth perception

 

Most adversely affected with insecurity are the young people who actually need special handling by the society. African governments have subjected the youth to internal stress by denying them affordable educational training, employment opportunities and leadership positions. A negative saying has since time immemorial spread that the youth "are the leaders of tomorrow". What then will children do tomorrow? But when is tomorrow? Is it when inflation is at its peak or when the elders have eaten enough for the owner to notice? When is tomorrow?

Other than the west, popular legitimacy in Africa requires a perception not simply of good government- efficient and technically functioning institutions, but of a good government that is good and morally benevolent and protective to its people, Ferguson J (1995). Participative development has better and long lasting commodity development plans.

The youth therefore have different perceptions towards human security situations in Africa. First, the youth view human security to be in the effort of leaders and authority. They believe that by the authority allowing corruption to spread, a new form of insecurity is born. It is true that most young people have gone through the education system and therefore understand what is right or wrong. It is quite unfair if one wins an action in the corrupt way. Equal treatment and fair competition is what the youths perceive to be the parents of humanity and security in Africa of the 21^st century. The youths also perceive human security in terms of availability and fair distribution of national resources: human and material resources. The main shortcoming in the continent is not on the availability but the management of the resources! The fact that some provinces of the same country are richer than others shows either unfairness in distribution or poor management of resources.



Two young people engage in blacksmith business to earn a living. In Africa, job opportunities are very few and the young people have to look for alternative means to survive. Seemingly, poor governance practices have escalated the situations.

Under humanity grounds national resources are supposed to be distributed according to the level of need and productivity. Less human resources intensifies insecurity. Enough labor force is required in the military, education system, banks and all spheres of the economy and society if people are to enjoy the fruits of their labor. The United Nations Human Rights charter provides for a forty-hour working week with national minimum wage, annual, sick and maternity leaves which most states do not adhere to. Exploitation of human resources is therefore called human insecurity among the youth.
Young people also perceive human security of Africa to be well described by the Darwinian theory of struggle for existence and survival for the fittest. This is well illustrated with the rampant favoritism during recruitment of the youth into the army, police force, promotions and job security. Situations where a person wins on interview in absenture or gets a job without applying are inhuman. These same occasions where many other qualified candidates apply and even attend the interviews! The fall guy is this young educated person just because he has no connections to the officers. Indeed, being a youth is like a rolling stone which gathers no moss, especially when what you have and whom you know is what really matters.

To sustain all this stress, the youth struggles to exist and survive through quite immoral activities. As you go through my essay, ask yourself these questions silently: why are there many armed robbers on African streets? Who are the persons responsible for commercial sex and prostitution in Africa? Why do we have very many drug traffickers and abusers? Have you ever wondered why many school dropouts exist? What about tribal clashes in Africa.

The question reflects an African graduate or one in an education system who has already formed an opinion, of course through their model counterparts who have already tested the rough life in Africa. You don't need to train an armed robber, do you? Any way, any attempt to explain these concerns shall arouse unending debate that space shall not allow me to write. Administrators encourage injustice at job places; they practice tribalism and are neither accountable nor transparent in their duties. The society is silent about all these and therefore the affected youth is forced to look for 'Plan B' in order to exist through, robbery, prostitution, rape and lack of interest in education. Don't worry, I am not being hateful to this continent, but am just narrating the truth. This is why the youth perceive human security in Africa as the art and science of struggle for existence and survival fir the fittest but in the unfair way.

Another perception of the youth towards human security of Africa is that it is under the custody of the rich. I will expand on this in two major perspectives: environmental and political.
We all know that industrial revolution has deep roots in the western states- the rich states. The affluent of the industries are now in Africa. Global warming is therefore no longer a theory but practice in the continent with wide spread effects. To many scholars, Africa is a third world (poor) continent. Based on the estimates by Goddard Institute for space studies the year 2005 was the warmest in Africa since 1800. it is expected that temperatures will be extreme in Africa in the near future. Carbon dioxide CO₂ and methane CH₄ gases have increased in the atmosphere by 31% and 149% respectively since 1750. The ozone layer is getting depleted due to the emission of other green house gases and chlorofluorocarbons.

Why do the youth associate human insecurity with global warming? The coastal people now risk losing habitats and life as the sea levels increase due to the melting of sea ice. Africa's major tourist industries are too being affected, as most wildlife gets extinct with extreme weather. Others have even migrated to safer continents. Glaciers are reliable sources of water in some African states, which is now melting. The world glacier monitoring service says that 90% of glacier has retreated since the year 1995.

Global warming is also associated with extreme weather as is being experienced in Africa. Floods and droughts in Somalia, Burkina Faso, Congo and other African regions have caused starvation and deaths. Health is at risk on condition that climatic changes also favor multiplication of disease causing vectors especially Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Gastro entritis, plasmodium and others. The poor African state is therefore suffering because of the celebrations of the rich western states.
On the political side, African people have two main classes in terms of who controls capital; the rich and the poor. All states levy taxes. Tax is meant for rehabilitation and development. Roads on African states are impassable. Civil servants are oppressed in terms of work done versus salary earned yet their taxation is very high. Medical attention is another quagmire. Schools lack facilities, and the curriculum is one that does not prepare young people to live with current life. There is lot insecurity in residential areas.

A funny thing is that the rich class in Africa-the parliamentarian's and rich merchants-move about through aeroplanes, go for international medical checkups in London and other Western hospitals, earn good money, their salaries are tax free which otherwise will mean tax evasion and all of them employ security guards in their companies in addition to personal bodyguards .In short they use government property. How do you expect such people to know that problems exist or people suffer?
I am anxiously waiting for the period when Africa will be a classless state. This will allow equal opportunities and bearing of one another's problems. If we all became politicians in order to earn heavily, who will dig our graves when we die who will build us our premises? We all need each other. This is the main way in which human security will be created in Africa – says the youth.

The Youth are justified

The beautiful land of Africa. This is a cassava plantaion in Western parts of Kenya. If national resources were distributed equitably, the problem of poverty and governance would not be an issue in African states.

Picture by James Khalwale.

The youth are justified in their perception on human security situations in Africa. The government regimes in Africa should be civilized to appreciate the effort of the youth in their states. Because of the nature of young persons, the youth have the urge to engage in as many activities as possible provided they are given the chance. Unfortunately, a survey in African states indicates that our leaders are very conservative ignoring the dynamic nature of the world. The fact that it took a very long time for multiparty democracy to thrive in Africa is in itself evidence of power greed with our regimes. Democracy supports development and security but most governments hate this through organizing assassinations of potential opposition leaders or competitors – who are by chance young people.

However, the youth have failed to recognize that they are part of the society, which also has its own culture. Most of the youth have been greatly influenced by the western culture dumping away good culture of the African people. As part of the society, the youth should formulate a table of conversation to help maintain states quo between them, the elders and children.
Finally, human security can be found in Africa with a collective effort of the society. Regionalism in Africa through organizations such as Africa union, ECOWAS, SADCC or COMESA should be encouraged to strengthen international bonds instead of relying on aids from the west. Better methods can be devised where African states can aid each other. However, Security is an issue if the government segregates its members. Human security can only be enjoyed well with food security.

Recommendation

.... Up to this instance, it is now clear that the youth are adversely affected when it comes to human security. Preventive and corrective measures can be done to reduce the prevalence of human insecurity among them. I suggest the following to be in Africa by Africans to improve the situations I have tacked in this essay....

      

 Abandon the conviction that bigger is better and to quality seriously the belief that maximum growth is the sine quanon of economic wisdom. Establish sustainability as primary objective for enterprise exploration or using natural resource, Coombs (1990). The problem of poverty is intensified by the unnecessary complexity of lifestyles available. I recommend that proper management of resources and viable investments be practiced to reduce poverty. Poverty eradication can also be realized through reduction of bank rates to allow many people to access loans to assist on agriculture. Over reliance on foreign aids will only increase the laziness that is otherwise potential in Africa.

Environmental security is also important for Africa. Renewal of energy sources and avoiding unnecessary burning of fuel will help reduce global warming. People should adapt to recycling of waste products. Like Kenya, other states should employ a policy on smoking policy. Smoking should be a criminal offence if done in public because it affects lives of innocent helpless people.
Block discipline and mutual interest in cohesiveness of alliances as factors moderating disagreement and conflict between states have ceased to influence relations, besides the fear of reciprocity and such legal and moral accords which are difficult to be enforced, that is, there are no strong international disciplining policies, Mihely (1995).

Regionalism in Africa should therefore aim to help curb security issues especially in Somalia and Sudan and besides, tackle main facts of poverty. As much as AIDS is a deadly disease, ARVs only cannot help. Food is more basic than they- the UNAIDS should be told this.
To end corruption, the main youth security obstacle, African states through a centralized administrative system, should come up with an independent anti-corruption organ to monitor corrupt regimes. African should join hands with their Nigerian counter part Umaru Yar Adua to fight corruption.

Human security in Africa is not a very easy task to achieve. However, with collaboration of all groups in the continent, a tangible effect can be felt. Yes, Africa is not at that extreme of insecurity, as you tend to think I imply, but an upper hand to self-sustenance instead of over reliance to foreign aids. Good long and short term goals can in put in place to achieve this.

Essay Authority

Courtesy of Maseno University, Faculty of Arts and social sciences

Department of Communication and Media Technology: 

TEL: +254 725 992 625, EMAIL: jklunalo@gmail.com

©2008 Khalwale James Lunalo

Staffing challenges, low education standards in Kenyan Schools

By Khalwale James

 "…this district lacks about 11000 secondary school teachers and over 6000 primary school teachers. Understaffing is a serious issue", said Mr Olago.


A Kisumu Legislature has said that a drop in education performance in Kisumu town west district is caused by a deficit of over 17,000 primary and secondary school teachers translating to a heavy work load to available staff.



Students raise their colleague high after excelling in Kenya certificate of Primary examinations in Kisumu county

The Kisumu town west parliamentarian Mr Olago Aluoch joined his Kisumu town East counterpart Mr Shakeel Shabir in claims that the shortage was deteriorating performance in Kisumu region
"According to the latest statistics, this district lacks about 11000 secondary school teachers and over 6000 primary school teachers. Understaffing is a serious issue", said Mr Olago.

Hon. Olago blamed the ministry of education for failure to put in place measures to facilitate teacher hiring. He said the ministry should explain why disparities in staffing exist amongst different schools in Kenya. 

His argument was confirmed by the Kisumu municipality education committee chair Ms Naomi Odao who said that the municipality alone suffered a shortage of 406 primary school teachers but warned that this should not be attributed for poor performance in national results.

She also disclosed that the municipality was privileged to take Manyatta primary school to the South Africa world cup last year and that teachers should not deny such chances to their pupils especially those with poor academic backgrounds.

But Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) chairman Mercilinus Okweya claimed that school head teachers faced difficulties in planning for sports activities due to inadequate funding from the zonal to the provincial levels requesting that the ministry should devolve funds to help sports at lower levels.
However, complains arose over poor management of Constituency Development funds disbursed to schools when the two parliamentarians accused head teachers publicly that a lot of money was disappearing without proper accountability.
"Head teachers have led us down because they hardly account for school finances especially what CDF provides, there is a problem."

Olago Aluoch in cap

Mr Olago admitted that rural schools face more challenges than those in urban areas in terms of infrastructure and teaching facilities adding that some schools learn under trees yet others have excess classrooms in the area.

Mr Shakeel said that basic management skills should be offered to the teachers to reduce on the current demise in administration of finances. They were addressing teachers and pupils at the Kenyatta grounds in Kisumu during an academic day. 

At the occasion, the Nyanza provincial staffing officer Ms Beatrice Lugaro emphasized on poor financial management in schools and acute shortage of teachers in Nyanza province. She warned teachers against sexually molesting their pupils saying that these not only attracted criminal charges in court of law, but also opened way for sacking of such teachers.

 "Through TSC, we sent a circular to all schools in the province addressing the protection of children against sexual abuse and penalties to its effect." She said.

The central Provincial director of education Mr Patrick Nyagosia said that teachers and school heads collaborate to protect criminals of sexual abuse who are their staff mates adding that t6hat is acting against ethical expectations.

Kisumu municipality has recorded a pretty performance in KCPE examinations in Nyanza province and nationally. With over 30 primary schools and over 6000 candidates last year, the municipality secured position 29 nationally and one in Nyanza province and over 64% of the pupils joining national, provincial and district secondary schools. Golden Elites escaped with many awards for outstanding performance in the municipality with a mean score of 372.72 in 2009's KCPE results.

How to find an affordable WordPress Hosting Option

WordPress Hosting

 ...You only need the facility such as internet coverage and a computer. Within like one or two hours you will be having a website...

 

 

 

 Khalwale James

New people come up daily to the internet world and would like to have their own sites or blogs. By entering the online domain, they are finding things rather difficult about how to get the right wordpress hosting that can do well with their business. This is however a fallacy that finding a reliable web hosting service is a daunting experience. This service becomes only difficult if one doesn't have sufficient information about it. Wordpress hosting has been forced to get aligned with other service providers because of the rampant growth in the blogging activities.

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When you also check on the net for wordpress hosting options, you will see well maintained blogging sites. Some of these sites are given free especially for those who are emerging as first time web hosting chaps. WordPress hosting helps you to maintain a standard blog.
There are two variations available for webhosting with wordpress: free hosting and self hosting. What you need to start a website is to know the hosting procedure. In the first instance, free hosting is available for any body who wishes especially to have a blog.

Many people start with blogs before starting websites that are paid for. There are some advantages that come with this free wordpress blogging. The first one is that you are given the chance to test your ability to manage a website starting from just a miniature. If you can effectively maintain a blog, then you can apply for a paid for website hosting from wordpress. The other advantage is that it is free of charge. You only need the facility such as internet coverage and a computer. Within like one or two hours you will be having a website.

In the second instance, self hosting enables you to have more freedom within the site and you can access more features than those available in free hosting. You will however need some good money to meet the costs of hosting the web and clearing off of some legal procedures. These two hosting services can help you judge how efficient your blogs are.
Currently, there are many service providers offering very affordable hosting options. Others in addition offer packages including the administrative panels. It is this panel that ensures that your blogs are continuously managed while on the internet. The webmaster in this case becomes the person doing this process. In this type of hosting, content is segregated from the design and layout.

How to determine a cheap WordPress Hosting
The vast number of people coming online every moment demand for increased number of sites as they would like to host their own websites and blogs. As they join the internet domain, some are finding obstacles along the way that prevents them from achieving their dream. But experts will tell you that this is just a fallacy because the process of attaining an affordable wordpress hosting service is too simple to disturb anyone.

In fact, the complication in this service is only encountered by unknowledgeable people. Because of the high demand, wordpress hosting service providers have partnered with several other organizations to make these people realize their goals. This has born many hosting lists. An example is that when you check the internet, you will be able to see the different wordpress options to help people have websites. It is however not advisable to look for a site that will only help organize your applications the time you look for a website. You should also consider expanding options in the future and the blog should be ready to support such eventualities. The pre-requisite is that your company should be able to support this with the right tools and programs. These tools are responsible for the visibility of the blog or site on the internet.

Wordpress hosting responsibly maintains all blogging suites on its domain. Besides, many of these sites are not paid for especially for people who are still web hosting cabs. It is wordpress hosting service that will ensure that your blog is maintained in a standard way. Wordpress will give you two options in web hosting. The first option is free hosting while the second one is the self hosting choice. You need to understand the webhosting procedure to start a website. In the first option, anyone who feels like starting a website can go for the free webhosting which is common for blogs.

To start with in their blogging career, people normally start by hosting free sites. This free wordpress blogging is justified for some reasons. First, it is a lee way to higher versions of blogging. It is like an experiment that if you can effectively manage, then there is a higher possibility that you can withstand the ups and downs of a paid for website. Then, it is so cheap and simple to start; only a computer an internet connection is required and then spend some two hours to be done.

The main advantage of the second option is that, self hosting will enable you to be freer with your site with a number of additional options that cannot be found on bloggers for example. However, there will be need to find some money to meet hosting and other legal requirements' costs. You can use these two services on webhosting top test the efficiency of your blogs. In the modern society, there are many hosting providers dedicated to offering of free services and even others go as far as providing including administrative panels to their clients for free.

Getting an affordable WordPress Hosting
As many people demand for websites and blogs of their own, there is pressure being caused to online webhosting agents and the number of sites required. There are obstacles in the way of most of these people as it is not easy to get hosted on the net. However, only those with insufficient information about webhosting will claim that way. In reality getting wordpress hosting service is a very simple procedure. In fact, there are two options that you can pick from. You either take free hosting or take the self hosting option to host your site. Since many people want this service, wordpress hosting providers have partnered with many other internet service providers.

As a result, there are many hosting lists on the internet with wordpress offers different options to its users to have sites. It is not however justifiable to seek for sites that will only help meet short goals such as organizing your applications term. When you search for one, look into the future and see the probability of you requiring an improved blog or website. The company should also be willing to support the procedure by availing the necessary tools and programs to enable the website's visibility.

For all the blogging sites, wordpress hosting faithfully manages their actions. Similarly, most of the sites are not paid for especially for people establishing a site for the first time. Wordpress hosting makes sure that your site is maintained in the most standardized way.
Moreover, there is need to understand webhosting procedures to host a website. In the case mentioned about free hosting, many new people get rescued there without necessarily incurring costs. It is common for blogging. This wordpress hosting service is justified for reasons given as; first, it is a ladder that can send you to pay for complicated webhosting.
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On the other hand, self hosting opens up for more freedom while on your site. There are also more additional options that increase flexibility of the administrator of the site. They are better than bloggers because of that reason. However, there is need for additional dollars that you may be able to meet webhosting costs and those of other legal matters. The two services i.e. free hosting and self hosting are important in that they help you analyze the effectiveness of your blogging and web hosting capabilities before the actual hosting that can be applied in larger quantities. There are however many webhosting providers in the contemporary world all of whom target new web entrants by offering free of charge web hosting services. There arte hosting service providers who have gone to the extent of providing administrative panels to their clients.

Victims of police brutality still seeking elusive justice

 "Instead of protecting them, the government brutalized them and left them to die or fend for themselves. Many sought justice in vain..."

By  KHALWALE James

Anti-riot police struggle with civilians to restore order during the 2007 post-poll mayhem in Eldoret town. Civil groups now claim that many injustices by the police during the violence have been ignored by the government and judicial system. They allege that the police had an upper hand in killing innocent people. Below, Onlookers view the bodies of ten people who were roasted when a church they had taken for raven was set ablaze in Kiambaa. Picture by Khalwale James.

For many Kenyans, the 2007 post-election violence was the worst kind of madness that they had ever experienced. Many watched the madness on television and bolted their steel doors. In the end, somehow the country returned to sanity.

 
It was assumed that all had been forgiven. Even the Prime Minister was quoted as saying, "We have been to hell and back." However, there is one group of forgotten Kenyans who are still suffering from the effects of the violence.

Most attention focused on violence perpetuated by the various militias and the IDP crisis while victims of state violence were ignored.
Victims of police brutality are still suffering, many are still in pain, some with bullets lodged in their bodies.

Instead of protecting them, the government brutalised them and left them to die or fend for themselves. Many sought justice in vain. This week, some of the victims of state violence gathered in Kisumu, courtesy of the International Centre for Policy and Conflict and the Citizens Against Violence Initiative.

Police bullets
They recollected the horrors of the post-election violence and how their lives were shattered by police bullets. Mr Gregory Ngoche, a 53-year-old volunteer social worker, remembers that he sitting in his Kisumu home, basking in the early morning sunshine when the tranquillity of the new day was broken by screams of protesters. Bullets were flying everywhere.

"Live bullets were flying everywhere, some hitting trees. One of them hit me in the lower abdomen, " he narrates. He says his family is still fearful of living in their neighbourhood because of the police activity.

Ms Alice Atieno, a security officer, recalls arriving home in Manyatta Estate after the day's work. Her six-year-old son was playing outside when she saw youths breaking into a nearby shop.

Disability
On hearing gun fire, she quickly grabbed her son and headed for a neighbour's house. But as they neared the house, she was shot through the back of the head.

She regained consciousness nearly two weeks later in hospital. She is now unable to eat solid food, cannot work, or afford to pay for an operation that would help ease much of her disability.
Three years after the anarchy, Steve Otieno, 23, still has a bullet lodged in his body. A visit with a friend to the petrol station was not, according to him, supposed to expose him to any danger.

"We heard people shouting as they came in our direction. There was a confrontation between police and the public. The petrol station is located opposite the police station and, apparently, the people wanted some prisoners to be released, " said Steve.

The police opened fire. In the melee, Steve recalls falling down, with no clue about what had hit him.
"My left leg was broken, and my friend carried me to the police station to seek help, but he was forced to flee after a gun was pointed at him."

Jeremiah Magunga from Vihiga said he knew the policeman from Vihiga police station who shot his 15-year-old son at Majengo market. The policeman still enjoys his freedom and job.

Waki hearings
"Other officers told us that the policeman died in an accident, yet we know that he was transferred to Central Province and occasionally comes around here, " said Mr Magunga. During the Justice Philip Waki hearings, Dr Margaret Oduor, a pathologist based at the Kisumu Provincial General Hospital, testified that 56 bodies and eight body parts were taken to the hospital. Fifty of the bodies had indications on the cause of death as gun shot wounds.

According to Dr Oduor, 53 per cent of the casualties had been shot from behind, indicating that police shot people who were running away, and not with the aim of immobilise but with the purpose of killing and maiming.

Three of the dead were under the age of 14 years (one of them a 10-year-old girl) and three were female. One of the children, a 12-year-old boy, was shot twice in the back. Further, a 45-year-old woman was shot and killed in her home just outside the town's central business district.
"The commission could find no legal or operational basis for justifying the shooting of civilians from behind at any time, given the circumstances presented to it, " read part of the Waki report.

In Vihiga, 18-year-old Wycliffe Munyesu was shot on the left side of the back while on his way to visit his elder sister in Majengo. "I was unconscious and found myself in Mbale district hospital. I was later told that the bullet was removed but after two months, my chest started swelling, " he said.

Mr Ndung'u Wainaina, the executive director of the International Centre for Policy and Conflict, said in the light of the magnitude of the atrocities, the International Criminal Court alone could not deal with the problems.

"We must appreciate that taking a few people before the ICC will not solve the problem. There are many people who participated in the mayhem who must face some sort of justice. We still need a local tribunal, " he said.

Mr Wainaina argued that the participation of the police was one of the areas that had not been addressed because some of those who committed the atrocities were expected to be part of the investigation and prosecution.

He said the government must give reparation to the victims, besides the humanitarian assistance that they are also entitled to, " he added.

"Such reparation would go a long way in helping the victims who are now finding it difficult to cope with their daily lives. "Most of them have spent the little money they had on medication, which they have not even been able to complete due to lack of funds."

Published on 15/05/2010, Saturday Nation Page: 16

EA deal to speedup clearing of goods

BY KHALWALE JAMES

EA deal to speedup clearing of goods

Clearing goods at the Port of Mombasa is set to be speeded up following the coming into force of East Africa community common market protocol, managing director Mr Gichiri Ndua has said. Mr Ndua observed that traders in the region may get their goods cleared, transported and delivered in time because major checks will be done in Mombasa allowing goods on transit to cross borders without many hurdles. He said unrestricted trade will accelerate foreign investment in the region although the anticipated effect on growth of cargo at Mombasa national depot may not be felt. This, Mr Ndua he said, is because most countries in East Africa import goods made in Kenya and the consumers are still the same in number. He was speaking at the Kenya ports authority offices during a handover of 10 computers to the principal of Gogo secondary school in Kisumu. He said that his organisation has set aside more than 300 computers to be donated to primary and secondary schools in Kenya which according to the, are meant realize millennium objectives of basic information technology literacy. He said the project which is partnered with Microsoft Company and the government of Kenya will ease the learning process through thorough academic research adding that it is also aimed at speeding up communication in various sectors in education. Mr Ndua pointed out that rural areas need to be elevated to reach similar ground as the urban arguing that schools in these regions struggle too much to catch up with the world. "Each primary school shall be given five computers and secondary schools that will meet required criteria shall be given 10 computers each for the purpose of learning and especially where teachers are Information Technology literate, " said Mr Ndua unrestricted trade will accelerate foreign investment in the region although the anticipated effect on growth of cargo at Mombasa national depot may not be felt.

children “discipline up” their parents

By Khalwale James

“I had to do that(beat up the father) because I couldn’t keep on watching. If I had the chance, I would have done more.”

Who said that only parents discipline their children when they fail to obey orders? This should be the last glimpse of that belief.

In Kenya, children “discipline up” their parents for alleged mismanagement of resources or inability to provide for the family.

A situation witnessed sometime back left me vexed about what poverty can do in families. Domestic violence tends to occur in poor families than in those that are fairly placed.

A very energetic young man in his mid 20’s in Kakamega south district had thoroughly supplied beatings to his father maiming him badly.

He had utilized the support of a panga and long huge logs of to work on his father who unconsciously sustained deep cuts and wounds after severe bleeding.

The father was later taken to hospital by neighbours and the perpetrator the disappeared sought refuge among relatives.

Later I talked to the culprit after his father had regained conscience upon a one month treatment and he was not sorry, he said;

“I had to do that because I couldn’t keep on watching. If I had the chance, I would have done more.”

My follow up revealed that the parent had purchased a heifer after selling some trees in the estate and the son demanded to own the heifer contrary to his father’s wishes.

This was then the inception of the thumping. The father later said he could not report the case to the police after being advised by village elders though the matter had been discussed at the office of the area assistant chief and a warning sounded to the young man.

The rural based family of about 15 with elder bothers and sisters in the city, marriage and others in school lives in abject poverty with the parents depending on their elder sons and daughters for a livelihood.

Earlier in the neighbourhood, an elderly woman had been whipped by her son for reasons that were not established but revolving around poverty.

Allegedly, the poor mother had sold a few strokes of sugarcane which had been harvested from a piece of land which the son claimed ownership.

The scene ended up badly because the woman had stripped herself before the son who didn’t even shy away from whipping her till neighbours interceded.

Many male parents especially, find it difficult to share this part of the story with their peers fearing that they may be looked down upon.

But the silence has continued to work against them as only a handful open up to their friends.

In both rural and urban setups, these parents feel ashamed to report their sons and daughters to law enforcement authorities with apprehension that this could cause more ignitions to the trouble later.

Some of the reasons why they face the trouble are beyond their control, poverty, although some people believe that a person can decide to remain poor or become rich. This assertion is beyond what man can do because it is nature regulated.

Religious books offer a very competitive reward to children who obey their parents that they will have a long life on earth.

This has also been hastened by families and in public forums demanding a lot from children in terms of obedience not only to the family but also to society norms and culture.

However, young people find it difficult to adapt to the cultural norms viewing them as backward.

Maybe, discipline has gone down as the dotcom gap augment between the elderly and young people in the society.

With a major focus on families living close or below the poverty, domestic conflicts ranging from succession and circulation of wealth under their scanty nature of resources are predominantly increasing.

Conditions are even harder when elderly destitute male parents rear scores of sons and daughters who cannot look beyond the box. Mothers may be advantaged as most children act in their favour.

Non enterprising young people, most being school drop outs, are egocentric. They keep watch over property owned by their parents with a hope that they will one day take over the ownership.

Many pray to wake up and find their parents dead so that they can take over. They do not look wide to see other opportunities to earn a livelihood of their own but instead, they are always ready to defend their ego.

Young people need to learn to respect their parents. They would be wise if they ran away if they sensed a particular conversation leading them to a fight with elderly men and women. They are a shame to the new generation.

In cells over land ownership disputes

...it is alleged that they were ready to beat up and injure the cultivators if they dared proceed with the tilling of the land by Khalwale James
Two elderly people alongside their sons who allegedly barred a neighbouring family from cultivating their plot over land ownership disputes yesterday appeared before a Kisumu court to answer the claims.
On the material day while armed with pangas spears and rungus and using a threatening language, it is alleged that they were ready to beat up and injure the cultivators if they dared proceed with the tilling of the land.

The two Mr Julius Moro and Samuel Anduga aged over 60s together with their sons  Vincent Omondi and Benard Odhiambo respectively were accused of jointly stopping Jack Apamo and others from cultivating the land of which they argued that a court order had been granted to stop the complainants from using.

Before principal magistrate Mr Muneeni Kimwele, they repeatedly wondered why these accusations were not taken up by the provincial administrators and lands offices in Nyando district of which the plaintiff said they had no faith in after the recurrence of the disputes year after another and that the lands office had given a letter to have the case tried in courts.

The alleged offence took place on February 6, 2010 in Kochogo village Nyando district. The court was told that the accused persons stopped a tractor that had been working on about nine acre piece of land confronting the driver before turning to the complainants who had been attracted by the noise.

The accused then shouted at them in a threatening language making them to retreat by asking the tractor's driver to proceed later when the dispute is contained.

The complainants claimed that they had invested a lot in the land on which they had grown sugarcane when the defendants sought a court order to bar the usage of the land in dispute registered as 731 and 732 which borders h 798 on which the defendants reside.
The accused asked for time to be able to provide relevant documents in court.

Insurance companies running away from psv covers

July 27^th 2010
"Claims that arise from the psv covers are fictitious in addition to their repeated occurrence which translates to heavy losses to insurance companies" Mr Makori.
By Khalwale James


A PSV vehicle operating in Kisumu town picks up passengers at the Kisumu main  bus terminal. Insurance companies are fearing to invest in this industry because of percieved losses. Picture by Khalwale James

Public service motorists are likely going to suffer rejection from insurance companies over exaggerated claims allegedly made in seeking risk compensation. Amaco insurance Nyanza branch manager Mr Richard Makori yesterday said many claims that arise from the psv covers are fictitious in addition to their repeated occurrence which translates to heavy losses to insurance companies.

Though he admitted that psv owners pay premiums promptly, investment into their cover is likely going to be faced out with time with current coverage maintained at less than 40 percent adding that companies that entirely depend on covering psv have a negligible future.
This may not only spur losses to third parties in case of accidents but also lead to heavy financial load to motor owners if the claims are made realty.

While exclusively speaking to nation, Mr Makori attributed the trend of fictitious motor accident claims this to the low employment rates in the Nyanza region.
"They have a cartel of lawyers who rush to accident scenes to file cases in court to get compensation. That's not a problem, but mostly such pleas indicate injury to all when sometimes only half of them deserved compensation," said Mr Makori.

"That is why we are still strong on the market as others fall because we try as much as possible to keep our psv covers low as possible on our lists," uttered Mr Makori.

But it is a requirement by law that passengers get compensation after an accident making traffic law enforcers to arrest vehicles operated without updated insurance policies.

If motor insurance is absconded by private insurers, the sufferers will be the public members who travel via the vehicles in events of an accident because they will be unable to meet medical bills and other expenses accruing from injuries sustained.

Whereas it is difficult settling claims in Kenya especially on motor insurance, Mr Makori said that delays and rejection of claims is usually blamed on insurers when at times the insured persons should carry the cross.

He said late reporting of claims after an accident or lack of any of the crucial documents required for processing jeopardize the settling procedure sometimes leading to the extension of the required 90 days period

Muadhama ashtakiwa kwa kuendesha hospitali ya wenda wazimu

"...alikanusha mashtaka hayo na kuachiliwa kwa dhamana ya pesa taslimu Sh50,000"

Na KHALWALE JAMES
KIONGOZI wa Kanisa aliyezua utata Muadhama John Juma Pesa I jana alishtakiwa katika mahakama ya Kisumu kwa kuendesha hospitali ya wenda wazimu bila ya kibali.
Kasisi Pesa I wa Kanisa la Holy Ghost Coptic Church of Africa alikabiliwa na mashtaka mawili kwamba mnamo Mei 25 mwaka huu katika kanisa lake mjini Kisumu, alishirikiana na wengine kuendesha hospitali ya wenda wazimu.
Hospitali hiyo inayoitwa St Philip Coptic Medical Centre, ilisemekana kuendeshwa bila ya kuwepo kwa leseni kutoka kwa bodi ya matibabu.
Pia mahakama iliambiwa kuwa siku hiyo, alipatikana katika hospitali hiyo akiwa na pakiti ya dawa aina ya Hartmanns Solution Ringer Lactate, ambayo ni mali ya Serikali.
Kiongozi huyo wa kanisa aliyewakilishwa na mawakili wa kampuni ya Ondezo, alikanusha mashtaka hayo na kuachiliwa kwa dhamana ya pesa taslimu Sh50,000 hadi Juni 29, kesi itakaposikizwa.
Kasisi Pesa I alikaa zaidi ya saa mbili kwenye seli za polisi huku wafuasi wake wakimsubiri nje ya mahakama, kabla ya kuingizwa kwenye gari na kuondolewa haraka na watu wake.
Wilayani Makueni, jaribio la chifu kukamata washukiwa wa uuzaji bangi lilimtumbukia nyongo, alipovunjwa mkono.
Bw Julius Muange na manaibu wake Bw Maurice Kitwii na Bw Thaddeus Makumbi, walivamia nyumba ya washukiwa wa uuzaji bangi mjini Wote kulipozuka vurugu.
Huku akiwa na bendeji kwenye mkono uliovunjwa, Bw Muange alisema jana afisini mwake kwamba alisukumana na washukiwa hao walipokuwa wakijaribu kutoroka, kabla ya kuvunjwa mkono wa kushoto.
Hata hivyo, manaibu wake wawili walimuokoa kutoka kwa hasira za washukiwa hao. Walifanya msako ndani ya nyumba hiyo na kupata misokoto ya bangi na lita 300 za pombe aina ya 'karubu'.
"Walinizidia nguvu na kutaka kuniangusha chini. Lakini niliokolewa na manaibu wangu, ingawa walifanikiwa kunivunja mkono, " akasema Bw Mauange.
Baadaye alipelekwa katika hospitali ya wilaya ya Makueni alikotibiwa. Mshukiwa anazuiliwa katika kituo cha polisi cha Makueni akisubiri kupelekwa mahakamani.

Habari hii iliwahi kuchapishwa katika gazeti la ushirika la Nation, Taifa Leo, 29/05/2010 Saturday Page: 1 

Hygiene related illnesses



The causes of illness are varied but experts say that hygiene contibutes about 50% of all sicknesses in the country. This people are struggling to make ends meet through oil floods after an oil tanker crush. Oil is ofcourse a strong toxicant and pollution agent which exercabates the expression of inhygiene among comunities.

"Hygiene related illnesses account for about 50 percent of all hospital attendances in Kenya with approximately 30,000 people dying annually in as a result of preventable diarrhoeal diseases..."

By Khalwale James
July 2, 2010

Only 40 percent of the population in Kisumu and Nyanza province at large can access safe water and thousands others cannot get good sanitation including garbage disposal a reflection of the government failure in provision of health facilities to the majority poor, Nyanza provincial public health officer Mr Tom Andebe said yesterday.

He also said that the risk is higher risk in rural areas where water and sanitation coverage is low particularly to the poor and vulnerable groups who are estimated to be spending ten times more shillings on water resource than their average and rich counterparts.

"Although access to clean and safe water is a basic human right, policy implementers have not ensured this is done especially to the poor who form the majority of our population," he remarked.

Wash co-ordinator Mr Alfred Adongo said that in effort to campaign for sanitation and hand washing with soap, lack of water has been a major barrier.

He said the country is running short of water resource as the population continues to sky rocket which has seen the reduction of water per capita from 1853 in 1969 to 704 cubic metres per person in the year 2000.

"The current estimate of 647 cubic metres is going below the global bench mark of 1000 and from this trend, Kenya's per capita water availability will be at a danger zone of 235 cubic metres in 2025," said WASH united coordinator Mr Adongo Alfred quoting statistics from various records.

The public health officer Mr Andebe said that lack of clean water and general sensitivity to sanitation was the womb in which preventable killer diseases such as cholera were conceived pointing out that the situation was worse in schools where toilet facilities are scarce as well.

He said that sanitation and hygiene related illnesses account for about 50 percent of all hospital attendances in Kenya with approximately 30,000 people dying annually in as a result of preventable diarrhoeal diseases

The diseases are also responsible for 16 percent of all mortalities in children of less than five years of age with the paediatric death toll exceeding that of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined; yet more than 4000 people including children die every day for lack of clean water and other sanitation facilities, he said.

According to a research conducted in 2006, WASH united coordinator Mr Adongo said that 90 percent of rural schools in the country lack access to safe drinking water and do not have any hand washing facility.

Whereas the recommended pupil to one door latrine ratio is 25 and 35 for girls and boys respectively, he observes that schools in Nyanza province offer an average ratio of above 64 for both girls and boys with a similar ratio in public schools in Nairobi, Machakos, Kiambu and Kajiado; and 333 in Mombasa municipalities according to a similar research in the year 2006.

"These variations continue to occur especially after 2003 when free primary education was introduced increasing enrolment to up to 1.3 million with an equivalent increase in basic resources such as water," Mr Mwaki said.

He said one percent of the children wash hands with soap consistently after using latrines and after eating which translates a negative impact on the health of most pupils especially in rural areas.

Mr Adongo said that although 97 percent of the Kenyan population can afford access to soap, only five percent of them used soap to clean hands consistently.

"And that is why it is not easy to fight water borne diseases because hands contribute a lot in the transmissions," Mr Adongo said.

With at least six percent of total population in Nairobi completely lacking access to toilet facilities thereby using flying toilets and open spaces, the risk is not smaller in poor residential areas where dependent on water is from vendors, wells, boreholes and other sources that are dubious.

The ministry of public health and sanitation has the overall mandate for hygiene education and basic education to contain water and sanitation borne illnesses such as dysentery, cholera, diarrhoea and typhoid through the environmental sanitation and hygiene policy (MoPHS), school water, sanitation and hygiene international (WASH) among others.

A five year research plan which has reached its fourth year in schools by WASH program is being conducted in 105 schools in Nyanza province to identify the relationship between sanitation and school absenteeism, pupil diarrhoea, worm infection, children illnesses and clinic visits among other variables with a mission to bring out necessary interventions to scale. 

In partial findings from research plan, CARE Kenya school team leader Mr Alex Mwaki said a 39 percent reduction of school absenteeism was observed among girls in schools where they introduced proper sanitation facilities but no significant change among boys and that 50 percent of pupils get re-infected with water borne diseases after treatment in their schools.

This explains how sanitation can impact on education in terms of gender roles and sensitivity and also how insensitive families are towards sanitation of children at home.

They were speaking during the launch of Wash united which aims to link sanitation to football celebrities in a Kisumu hotel

Intellectual property rights

"A national IPR policy to protect indigenous knowledge and traditional medicine  is paramount but a bill that was tabled in parliament to that effect is taking too long to be enacted allowing Kenyans with indigenous knowledge continue to suffer losses to foreigners"

 By Khalwale James

Kenya is facing high losses of intellectual knowledge to foreigners out of lack of awareness by inventors. Many inventions have also been put underground as institutions and individual inventors fail to recognize the importance of their intellectual works.

Kenya industrial research and development Institute (KIRDI) intellectual property rights director Ms Rose Mboya yesterday also said that Kenyan researchers do not understand the importance of applying for intellectual property rights (IPR) which has made then lose benefits of research findings and inventions.       

Ms Mboya pointed out that most Kenyans had therefore opened way for foreigners to take advantage and sign patents on local inventions in their names leading to a continued loss of monetary benefits and other rewards. 

She said that KIRDI has received about 70,000 trade mark applications 50% of which are local small and micro enterprises adding that applications for patents had been so negligible and that Universities were doing poorly in application intellectual property rights.

"Many Kenyan researchers apply for copyrights and trademarks not patents. This however doesn't mean that they don't invent but they are just unaware of their inventions," she said during a presentation.
        
By 2004, only Moi university, Kenya medical research institute, KEMRI,  International livestock research institute, ILRI and Kenya agricultural research institute, KARI had an IPR policy according to a research by Ogada et al.         

Although patents can be granted on any invention that is proved not to have been in existence before, some of them cannot be allowed by any government.        

The IPR director said that new methods of treating a patient, doing business or performing mathematical calculations cannot qualify for patenting because they can lead to inconveniences to many people.        

The researchers were however reluctant to welcome the fact that all intellectual rights are owned by the employer in the event that the inventor is an employee of the institution and used its resources significantly including time unless a written agreement prior to employment saying otherwise had been signed. But whichever the case, the inventor gets an equitable share on benefits. 
       
Researchers and lecturers of Maseno University expressed for the need of a national IPR policy to enable economic, scientific and technological growth apart from just protecting inventors against infringement.
       
The lecturers also blamed the government for being less aggressive on intellectual property rights making institutions to come up with their own policies that were inventor unfriendly.      

"That is why our Kyondo was lost to the Japanese. Our country has no policy completely," remarked the university dons professor Job Jondiko.       

According to professor Jondiko, a national IPR policy to protect indigenous knowledge and traditional medicine  is paramount but was worried that a bill that was tabled in parliament to that effect was taking too long to be enacted allowing Kenyans with indigenous knowledge continue to suffer losses to foreigners.     

He said that Japanese visitors had enticed Kenyan women who eventually surrendered all skills about the Kyondo to them. He indicated that Japanese inventors had already patented their kyondo but the Kenyan one was not despite coming on the market earlier.      

Local people with indigenous knowledge and skills had also been left behind with people in fear of undertaking risky investigations. Whereas research finding aid the economy a great deal in making strategic planning, the government may not be in readiness to support it.     

The executive director of the center for research and technology development (RESTECH) Professor Wellington Otieno said that research leads to socioeconomic development and pointed out that Japan and Taiwan among others lead in investments in intellectual property rights in the world and that other countries should emulate.      

He said the Kenyan land is just 20% arable and could not be dependent for economic growth in comparison with the importance of science and technology. He appealed to banking institutions to see patents and copyrights as alternatives to land title deeds and physical property which are mainly used as collaterals.       

With intellectual property rights policy, different stakeholders conflicting interests following an invention which include coverage of IP policy rights, ownership of IPR, cases of disclosure or leakage of the innovation, marketing and monetary benefits, distribution of income can be solved amicably. It will also promote science, technology and progress.