Sandalwood smugglers will be apprehended and prosecuted

Unscrupulous sandalwood smugglers in Baringo County will face serious prosecution and apprehension once they are caught by the rule of the law.

Senior Director Kenya Forest Service (KFS) Esau Omolo has warned the sandalwood marketers who try to extract the endangered tree species to get millions that they are cooperating with county commissioners across the country to tighten all the loopholes.

"Baringo is well covered with forest but sandalwood is the most targeted tree species and that is why we shall be on our toes until the time the illegal trade is stopped," the director added.

Omolo said on Friday during a press briefing after a closing ceremony of a two weeks training of 35 KFS inspectors at Kenya School of Government in Kabarnet where they launched a patrol register that will be centralized in their headquarters to document all its activities.

Director General Kenya School of Government Dr Lodeki Chwea who was the chief guest in the ceremony urged the inspectors to fully accomplish their work as per the set standards by KFS.

Chwea noted that being inspector is the lowest rank in KFS hierarchy and thus should perform well as supervisors and practice professionalism without supervision by commanders.

"You should owe to professionalism standards which include applying exact dimensions while digging a hole to plant a tree seedling even if no one is seeing you," Chwea reiterated.

The director general stated that no reason is accepted for incomplete work adding the officers should protect the profession by upholding dignity, honour and decorum in professionalism.

Chwea said those officers who do unsatisfactory work should never be given promotion unless they perfect their qualities to proof they can make good supervisors.

The director called on forest officers to be keen on the tree population and where possible do a sensor of trees saying each tree we have is a treasure.

“Sufficient human capacity to count each tree and give it a certificate of registration is important and enables one to identify a tree once it is cut down without permission,” the director general added.

He urged National Environmental Management Council (NEMA) to take seriously matters of forest service and detest felling of trees by issuing heavy penalties to those who cut the trees illegally while reducing the number of permit issued.

The ceremony ended with the awarding of certificate of training to all the 35 forest inspectors who participated in the exercise from various parts across the country.

Residents want a maternity wing open

Residents in Kapkelelwa in Baringo Central Sub County call on the county government to open a maternity wing for Kapkelewa health center which has been in operation for 50 years.
The hospital’s committee chairperson Simon Komen said the hospital has been in operation since 1965 but has never had an equipped maternity wing to enable women deliver in the hospital despite having beds in the hospital.
Komen noted that the hospital has one clinical doctor and one health officer but need a gynecologist to operate in maternal section saying the hospital should have reached a level three as it has been operational for a long period of time.
“This is not a community facility but a government hospital that should have been equipped with all the necessary facilities to serve the residents in the area as it is difficult to access other nearby facilities due to poor transport system in the area,” Komen reiterated.
The chairman urged the county government to supply them with an ambulance to aid them in ferrying referred patients to the county referral hospital stating that the ambulance in Mogorwo health center is unable to cross the seasonal rivers which are impassable during rainy seasons due to poor road networks in the area.
Komen noted that the health center has neither been given full laboratory equipments nor a lab technician thus reducing the hospital’s potential in attending patients.
Mogorwo health center committee chairperson Enock Kirui said the maternity wing has been operational in the area but have faced challenges of water shortages as they are forced to higher water from a river nearby during dry season since they are dependent on the rainy water.
The two addressed the residents and guests present yesterday during the reception of four adjustable electrical beds each in their respective hospitals.

Rising Cases of Land Conflicts should be solved Communally.

Communities fighting over land has been flooding in daily news headlines since independence with most of the cases being done upto date without a lasting resort being reached.

Environmental degredation has depleted stingless bees

A study carried out by National Museums of Kenya showed that stingless bees are endangered by continuous environmental pollution.

A man charged of having military and police uniforms

A middle aged man from Kambi Samaki town, Baringo County was today arraigned in Kabarnet law courts for being in possession of military and police uniforms.

Ken Achola was arrested on 14th October this year by police officers for having a military trouser, a belt, a jangle bag and a Kenya Police jangle trouser.

Achola who was brought before Principal Magistrate Samson Temu was unable to explain to the court where he got the clothes which were found inside his friends house where he had been hosted a night before the arrest.

The suspect said he slept in the house where he saw the uniforms and decided to report the matter to Marigat police who accompanied him to the house but found his colleague missing.

“Since my host was not available in the house, the police turned against me and went ahead to arrest me,” he added.

The accused who had been in remand for the last 53 days accepted the charges but pleaded innocent saying he was not in possession of the items in question adding that the owner escaped before the police arrived at the house.

Since the accused pleaded not guilty he was taken back to the remand waiting for a mention of the case on 9th December this year.

It calls for perfect satisfaction

As 2017 general elections approaches, citizens need to see sustainable development brought by the devolution government in their counties.

This has prompted formation of groups by civic educators to sensitise citizens on the need for citizen participation in fostering good governance.

Baringo Elites Movement is a unique virtual group on what's up with a thread of 100 participants and focuses on developments, finance management, transparency and accountability in Baringo county.

The group's president, Reuben Argut said the group oversees project implementation in the county and has a virtual parliament where they invite senior county officials.

"We have invited various county officials including the governor for serious interrogation on what is happening in the county," Argut noted.

Argut said the group is four months old and shall never be stopped nor threatened by anyone as it is difficult to locate the members to whom he specified they are widely dispersed as far as Miami.

The president said the group wants the citizens to be given true information on what the county government is doing to better the lives of county residents who continue to languish in abject poverty.

"We are not focusing on individuals in the county but we are concerned with the management of public affairs," the president added.

Argut stated that the group is a unique one as it discusses serious issues unlike other social media groups saying one of the achievements they made was questioning county security officials to answer sandalwood scandal at Nakuru last month.

"We probed for answers towards the ferrying of the endangered species towards Nakuru by a government track a move led to a directive to burn 13.5 tonnes of sandalwood accumulated since 2010 in Kabarnet police station despite court exhibit having been finished," Argut restated.

Argut noted that they were able to save a 10 year old boy from a deadly skin disease which had persisted for five years without treatment through an initiative called 'save Tiaty child now' where they raised sh 56,000 to aid in salvaging the child.

The president said the group is ready to work with the government in a transparent way like the way they have teamed up in Tembea Baringo Caravan programme to explore the county.

Paradigm shift to Kenyan pastoralists

Dr. James Kandagor, a doctorate medic from the University of Iowa almost lost his life to the hands of armed Pokot men who were ready to trigger a riffle on him.

Kandagor having been born in Bartabwa in Baringo North Sub County with fluency in Tugen and Pokot language saved himself by pleading in Pokot Language that he was a Pokot and need not be killed.

In19th century, his close relatives had been killed by cattle rustlers and bandits which was rampant during the time until they were forced to leave their ancestral land thus being rendered homeless.

After the tragedy, Kandagor did not stop calling for peace in Baringo and its neighboring counties like Samburu, Elgeiyo Marakwet, Pokot and Turkana but initiated the anti cattle rustling and Kaporion peace net programme.

Kandagor said Kaporion peace net is a programme formed to compensate people who lost lives and property due to the massive killing at Chepkesin in Baringo North Sub County in 1907 where over two hundred young men died.

The men were said to be killed by Pokot men headed by Loiwalan who managed to lure the 200 warriors into the so called peacemaking between the Pokot and Tugen men in order to allow the Pokot to graze their livestock in the area to which they killed all the men on the spot before running away with hundred heads of cattle, Kandagor stated.

Kandagor said he was appointed by interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery as the CEO of anti cattle rustling programme in 18 counties affected by cattle rustling and banditry when he presented his proposal to the national government.

After conducting a peace race from Lake Turkana to Bogoria, cattle rustling menace reduced in Baringo County an action that probed Nkaissery to appoint me as the CEO of the program when President Uhuru Kenyatta accepted my proposal, Kandagor restated.

The CEO without hesitation initialized a 11 years anti cattle rustling programme that deals with all issues related to injustices caused by cattle rustling in Kenya.

Kandagor said that modern ranches shall be constructed in areas affected by cattle rustling and banditry majorly Baringo East sub county and its surroundings and shall benefit Tugen, Ilchamus, Marakwet and Pokot communities.

"I saw it better to start the programme at home to prove that it works because I believe what is practiced in Texas, America is also possible in Kenya and I want my county to benefit fast," Kandagor added.

Kandagor said once the ranches are complete, cattle rustling will be controlled as the ranches shall have two gates, four fences made of chain, electric, planted and cemented fences with Anti Stock Theft Unit police camp (ASTU)outside ranch.

The animals in the ranch will be sold inform of carcass as they shall be slaughtered before being taken out for sale and only herdsmen to be allowed inside the ranch with the animals bearing unique codes for identification, the CEO added.

Kandagor said the ranches shall be equipped with modern facilities such as exhibition yards, slaughter houses, water dams, vaccination centers, animal hospitals, milking yards, CCTV cameras and guest hospitals. Wildlife section and forest yards will be included.

The ranches shall be tourist’s site as visiting days will be selected to showcase the activities in the ranches and for viewing of wild animals tamed inside, the CEO remarked.

Kandagor explained that recycling activities for bones, horns, hoofs, hides, wool and teeth shall be done. Animal exhibition shall be done annually.

The CEO believes that through introduction of ranches, pastoralists are able to improve their living standards, send their children to school and practice modern ways of paying bridal price instead of the traditional way where raiding cattle was seen as a way of acquiring wealth to pay bride price.

Kandagor believe that the multibillion ventures are achievable as all the projects he started during his practice as a doctor such as Ampath programme which was initiated in 2001 were all successful and are applied to date.

Kandagor initiated Ampath programme in 2001 when he wrote a proposal to US aid after observing the stigma that HIV/AIDS patients went through as soon as they were diagnosed with the virus since they felt secluded from the community due to myths and misconception about the pandemic during the time.

The proposal went through and US aid donated three million US dollars that managed to build 104 rooms and later received 25 billion shillings for equipping the facility after writing the second proposal, Kandagor attested.

Kandagor said para lympics and deaf lympics were among the successful endeavors he started to enable people with disabilities participate in sports as part of exercise and a way of accepting them in society.

Baringo County Commissioner Peter Okwanyo supported the idea to compensate the affected communities and end cattle rustling saying everybody is accountable in the area where the cattle are driven to and that these who take the cattle are ordered to return them as soon as possible.

"Cattle rustling results from insufficient pasture which leads to trespass to the neifhbourhood thus encouraging livestock theft and coflict in such areas," Okwanyo added.

Baringo ancestor will be back soon

After six years of anxiety, Baringo county residents have seen the light shine from a narrow view to overcome darkness after a promise by a member of parliament to return their oldest fossil, Orrorin Tugenesis.

Taking the over six million years dated hominid out of the county was like telling Abraham to sacrifice his own son on a raised altar.

The residents have fear of the fossil being sold to another country to benefit the foreigners instead of profiting them after celebrating its invention for believing God gave them the fossil deposits despite living in an arid area where food crops rarely thrive.

According to East African newspaper dated 12 April 2010, the fossil was taken away from its base in Kipsaraman Community Museum in Baringo North Sub County for further examination and safekeeping leading to the closure of the museum which was purposely designed for its exhibition.

Locals blamed the director of the museum Eustace Kitonga who has maintained that the fossils are stored in a secret and safe bank vault in Nairobi contrary to the earlier plans to keep the fossils within the community with a view of attracting tourists, scientists and researchers, the paper stated.

An official government site reported that Kipsaraman sites contained fossils dated to be within 15.8 and 15.5 ma, and is one of only a few from middle miocene within Africa.

A further report by BBC news showed that the fossil was unearthed by French and Kenyan scientists in 2000 at Kapsomin in the Tugen hills and that the remains included pieces of jaw with isolated upper and lower teeth, arm and finger bones.

Kenya Paleontology Expedition (KPE) recovered male and female body parts belonging to atleast five individuals having fossilised left femur showing the hominid had strong back legs which enabled it to work upright proofing its advanced stage of evolution.

After an experiment undertaken on the arm and finger bones by KPE a conclusion was made that Kapsomin fossil was an agile climber of trees and legs showed it was bipedal meaning it walked like a human being.

The structure and arrangement of teeth showed that the manlike creature depended on hard skinned fruits as the canines were reduced than those of apes but are larger when compared to those of modern man.

As per the statement written by KPE, it is evident that the millenium man was attacked by a carnivore before meeting its death as the leg bones had been chewed.

According to nation newspaper Dr. Mzalendo Kibunja the then director of museums, sites and monument at National Museums of Kenya (NMK) suspected that unscrupulous business men could secretly be pocketing millions of shillings from the fossils by hiring it out to learning institutions.

The paper cited that in 2009, the NMK reported that the fossil had gone missing despite the fact that Kitonga had it in his custody and was the only person who had the safe's deposit box number.

Mzalendo noted that it was unwise for Kitonga to keep custody of national heritage which is a public property.

Baringo County Executive for Trade and Tourism Kipchumba Keitany said that the county government has been working towards the departure of the fossil to its base since the inception of devolution and will do anything possible to ensure the fossil is returned.

"We shall bring back the fossils to Kipsaraman to ensure local and foreign tourists are able to view from its area of origin thereby generating revenue that will directly benefit residents of Baringo as it is a strategy to attract investors,” Keitany reiterated.

Keitany noted that the county has lost a lot of revenue which could have sourced from the charges collected from tourists who visit the museum where the fossils used to be exhibited.

The CEC said it is easier to establish other tourist attraction sites within the area such as cultural villages and centers once the fossils are returned to Kipsaraman museum to enable various communities showcase their traditional cultures and talents for job and wealth creation. 

Baringo North sub county Member of Parliament William Cheptumo said the bank demands 100 million for the release of the fossil back to Kipsaraman community museum as a way of improving tourism sector in the county.

Cheptumo affirmed that, he will never give up till the fossil is brought back and is going to file a petition to the government for the fossil to be returned as soon as possible as investors have already signed contracts with the county government.

“We are not going to sit down and watch another county benefit from our own resource while the residents continue to languish in poverty and our youth rendered jobless”, Cheptumo said.

Stroke a longtime disability with no class

A 31 old mother of four is now forced to sit down in her compound and wait for her seventeen year old daughter to serve her.

Joyce Jerono who resides in Kapkut area of Baringo county sub county said got paralysed due to meningitis since 2013 to which she was in a comma for six months.

Jerono laments that the disease has paralysed her left arm and two legs rendering her unable to do daily duties to a point of  being carried on a homemade stretcher.

Her husband Joseph Komen said he takes her on a daily basis for a therapy at Kabarnet refferal hospital at a cost of sh 100 per day.

Komen said is forced to work as a casual labourer at the same time look after her hailing wife especially when children go to school.

"All family projects are stand still from the time my wife got sick even firm work is a challenge despite selling all that we had," Komen mourned.

Komen stated that he has to look for a taxi to take her to the hospital close to 3km from home which charges sh 800 per day.

The husband said friends and relatives have done all they can to assist the family and has hope that her wife shall be well soon irrespective of what they have gone through.

HIV infection is rampant among couples in Baringo

Adults between the age of 25 to 45 have recorded the highest number estimated over 1500 out of the total number of 11,000 infected with HIV/AIDS in Baringo county.

The County AIDS and STI control coordinator Abraham Sumukwo said the county records about 500 new infections annually from patients in stable relationships since the couples don't see the need to observe sex protection measures.

Sumukwo said couples feel that their partners might suspect them of unfaithfulness if they insist of using condoms to prevent HIV infections.

"Couples should learn to practice safe sex despite confidence they have developed over a long period of time and build trust towards each other," Sumukwo noted.

The coordinator noted that there is low prevalence in children who are born with HIV and have identified 386 children under care and treatment out of 1,100 children infected with the virus.

Sumukwo admitted that there is a challenge in reaching the unidentified children as their parents do not see the need to put them under treatment since they observe no symptoms at early stages.

In some instances mothers don't disclose to their spouses about their status for fear of being disowned thus leaving the baby to live with the infection even after advise from the doctors, Sumukwo added.

The coordinator said 276 mothers tested positive but 230 mothers use antiretriviral drugs since most of them come from nearby counties who inturn deliver in other clinics.

"Mothers who come from nearby counties for testing chose to deliver in other clinics thus widening the gap of unidentified," Sumukwo stated.

Sumukwo said increased rate of HIV infections have been recorded in major towns such as Kabarnet, Marigat, Mogotio and Eldama Ravine with their neighbourhoods.

He said Marigat and Eldama Ravine resulted from Kambi Turkana and Nubian slums respectively while Mogotio situation is encouraged by the sisal plantations.

However, Sumukwo noted that the infectection rate of the HIV scourge is at 3% which he termed as a plateau level in the county and that 3,230 adults are on ARVs while 3,300 are on septrin.

Sumukwo stated that the county healty education department have plans to educate youths in schools on the need to delay sexual activity among the youths and initiate a program to train couples on the importance of applying preventive maesures during sexual activity.

Oral polio vaccination to be done in Baringo County

Baringo County Health Director Dr. Gershom Abakalwa has said the county targets to vaccinate 120, 000 children  against Oral Polio Vaccination (OPV) this weekend.

Abakalwa stated that the vaccine shall be administered to all children under the age of five years on 5th to 9th this month to prevent infection of polio virus.

"Children who will receive the vaccine shall be immunised against the polio virus which affects children under five years by priming it," Abakalwa noted.

The county director said the vaccination targets 120, 000 children in the all county where one health officer with the help of a villager shall carry out the excercise.

"Polio cases in the county have been minimised but there is need to eradicate the chances of contracting the polio virus for the county to be declared safe from the virus," Abakalwa restated.

Abakalwa stated that the county shall introduce injectable polio vaccine to replace the oral drops which has been used severally.

Injectable polio vaccine is scientifically preffered than the oral one as due to its effectiveness and less side effects unlike the OPV associated with low incidence of paralytic polio.

The doctor explained that oral polio vaccine administred on patients who have an immune system that has been impaired by a disease face the risk of poliomyelities which might occur after the first oral drops.

The four day exercise shall be done in all the six sub-counties which are Baringo East, Baringo North,Koibatek, Baringo Central, Mogotio and Baringo South sub-counties, Abakalwa added.