Most road accidents caused by reckless driving.

Written by Rosemary Wachiye 2011-06-28 18:06:00 Read 141 Times

Busy highway.
There have been a lot of road accidents along the Webuye-Bungoma highway in the past 2 months, most of them caused by careless driving and ignorance by the drivers, the bad condition of the road and the narrowness of the road. 

Heavy commercial trucks transporting different goods from Kenya to Uganda via Malaba border have also contributed to many of the road accidents.

However, small vehicles and personal cars are not an exception as they have equally contributed and involved in many accidents costing precious lives.

A truck driver being rescued after he rammed into a building along Bungoma - Kanduyi road.

In a recent case of careless driving, a driver of a public van commonly referred to as Nissan Matatu, through negligence and deliberately after dropping of passengers at a stage, entered the road without checking on the road for any oncoming or overtaking vehicle hence ramming head on with an oncoming personal car.

The culprits in such incidences, who are drivers on the wrong, have been known to speed off from the scene of accident to escape arrest or the wrath of residents.

The most recent case of careless driving happened when I was in a matatu headed to work, to my surprise the driver of the vehicle had a water bottle but unfortunately the bottle fell out the window, the driver suddenly stepped on the brakes stopping the vehicle in the middle of the road to pick up his water bottle without considering the lives of the passengers on board.

 

And as the driver struggled to stop the vehicle, an over speeding truck almost hit the Matatu sending it to the bushes were it not for the steady truck driver who managed to evade the Matatu.

The shaken Matatu driver even after cheating death by a whisker and endangering the lives of the passengers kept on complaining and mourning of losing his bottle he was to buy paraffin with.

In another incident, students from Bishop Sulmeti Girl’s high school-Elelemuk, sustained serious injuries after allegedly, their driver lost control. Such young upcoming Kenyans at such a tender age and yet that accident almost cost their lives.

In my concern to know what could really be the matter, I talked to a long time driver plying the Eldoret- Malaba route Mr. Ken Barasa who said, “the number of accidents on the Bungoma Webuye road are on the rise because of the high speed that the truck drivers along the road drive with as well as carelessness by matatu drivers.”

He also disclosed that some of the matatu drivers may not be qualified to be on the roads.

“Some of the matatu drivers just came from being touts in to driving, some don’t have driving licenses, since they didn’t undergo driving lessons and if they have they might be fake and not from a recognized driving school,” said Mr.Barasa

What is shocking enough is the conspicuous availability of traffic policemen on the Kenyan roads and yet they fail to detect such faulty drivers yet they are costing lives of people in a very massive way.

 

The drivers on the road, with good driving training must be able to know how best to drive on such narrow roads that have potholes, but most of the drivers never seem to have learnt that.

The government is doing quite a lot to expand on the road but at a very snail speed, since the road has been dug but there is no construction that is underway.

The traffic police should also do their work in ensuring that such drivers are not ignorantly costing any more lives

Read more: http://www.westfm.co.ke/index-page-news-bid-2660.htm#ixzz1QeRxkcDw

Nzoia Sugar promises improved services to sugar farmers

Written by Rosemary Wachiye

The Nzoia sugarcane farmers are set to benefit from the new management at the Nzoia Out growers company (NOCO) the company’s Managing Director, Mr. Kingsley Mutali has said.

Mr.Mutali urged cane farmers to support the new management in its service so that it can benefit both farmers and the company.

Speaking at one of the polling centers in Bukembe primary during the elections for the District 1 and 5 Directors over the weekend, Mr. Mutali expressed his bitterness towards the former management that was trying to stop the elections of the new directors.

“The former management has been in court recently to stop the election of directors and this is because they have something to hide and want to continue being in power past the required time,” said Mr. Mutali.

He also revealed that there had never been Annual General Meetings in five years in a row and that the former management was in fear that with the new management the meetings will take place leading to farmers asking for accountability of the past five years’ service.

“With the new elected directors there will definitely be Annual General Meetings (AGM) contrary to the previous management to give a chance to the farmer’s representatives to view the working of the company,” said Mr. Mutali.

He also expressed his concern over the ownership of the Nzoia Sugar Company to be passed on to the stakeholders who are the cane farmers.

“I understand that two years ago the Kenya Sugar Board (KSB) wrote to the former management of NOCO to work towards privatization of the Nzoia Sugar Company to the farmers and yet up to now they have not done it,” said Mr. Mutali.

Mr.Mutali promised that in his reign he will ensure that the farmers are given the priority in buying off Nzoia Sugar Company during the expected privatization of the company.

 One of the farmers at the polling center, Mr. Edwin Kituyi called upon other farmers to elect competent leaders that will safeguard the farmers’ interests; a leader who will ensure that the cane are cut and collected on time from the farm, ensure that the fertilizers are given to farmers on time and that the farmers are paid well and on time.

“I urge my fellow farmers that we vote in leaders that will promote cane farming and ensure that farmer’s interests are prioritized,” said Mr. Kituyi

A lady farmer, Ms Alice Wafula complained that some of the farmer’s names were not on the voters’ list and raised concern that it may lead to some farmers not voting and so the elected leaders may not be the choice of all the farmers.

“The election process kicked off well but am just concerned about some of our names not being on the voter’s list and yet the leaders are supposed to be the choice of all farmers,” said Ms. Wafula

She also called on farmers to be keen and elect leaders that will focus on the farmer’s needs and interests and complained of the poor management by the former management.

“The cane from the field’s was not being collected on time and yet when the cane stays in the field after harvesting the weight goes down and we are paid less, we used to receive fertilizers of small quantities and sometimes later than the require time,” said Ms. Wafula.

The General Manager promised improved management and introduction of identity cards for Nzoia Cane farmers that will ease on the identity and it will be used in withdrawing cash from a farmer’s Bank that is to be set up at the company’s premises.

“In cooperation with the Kenya Sugar Board, we are going to set up a farmer’s Bank at our offices that will serve to pay the farmers their dues on time and save on the time and cost wasted to travel to town to withdraw the money,” said Mr. Mutali.

Financial crisis looms as Webuye Municipal fails to qualify for LATF fund

Written by Rosemary Wachiye 2011-06-24 18:25:00 Read 108 Times

(L)Deputy Mayor Timothy Karandini and the Webuye Municipal council, Mayor Mr. John Ngome.

Webuye Municipal Council is facing a financial crisis after it failed to qualify for Local Authority Transfer Fund (LATF) in last year’s and this financial year’s budget owing to the fact that it owes the government over Sh 70 million in debt.

The Webuye Municipal council, Mayor Mr. John Ngome, told the press that the Municipal council could not meet the set deadline of May 31^ST of paying off the debts it owed the government.

“The council did not manage to meet the set deadline to pay off the debts hence could not qualify for the LATF funding,” said Mr. Ngome.

Last year, the council expected to receive Sh 29 Million while this year it expected to receive Sh.41 Million, a fund that would pay the municipal workers and enable the council to carry out diverse developments in Webuye town.

“Right now we have arrears of over Sh70 million that the government is supposed to give this council,” said Mr. Ngome.

Webuye Municipal is among other nine councils country wide that have not received the LATF funding this financial year though it is the only council in Western Province.

 “The pay for our workers comes from LATF, we don’t know what will happen soon, since the council is facing a hard financial time, the projects we had started are stalled because we lack funds,” said Mr.Ngome.

The efforts by the Municipal Council to get a loan of Sh 50Million, to be able to offset its withstanding debts, were however not successful as they did not produce a letter from the treasury extending the  deadline for paying off the debt.

He blamed this financial crisis to the closure of Pan Paper Mills which was the backbone of the town in providing employment opportunities to the residents and taxes for the council. He also added that the council currently was depending on collections from the market and bus park whish are not enough to sustain the projects and pay the workers.

Mr.Ngome called upon the government to look into the matter and ensure that the council together with the other affected councils gets the funding to enable them to be sustained.

“We urge the government to give grants to assist the council as pan paper mills is down, so that the grants can enable the council to run smoothly,” said Mr.Ngom

Read more: http://westfm.co.ke/index-page-news-bid-2628.htm#ixzz1QGmkRrb0
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Discrimination: Uproar in Bungoma over upgrade of provincial schools to national schools

Written by Rosemary Wachiye 2011-05-18 19:49:00 Read 478 Times

Friends School Kamusinga students celebrate for topping Western province in the 2010 KCSE exams. [Photo/Wanyonyi wa Wasike] BUNGOMA COUNTY:  A number of citizens from Bungoma County oppose the upgrading of Lugulu Girls and Friends School Kamusinga, the best performing provincial schools in Western province to National schools. This is a move by the Secondary Schools Heads Association in full support with the Ministry of Education in selecting top performing schools from the eight provinces to a face lift. Bungoma residents Wednesday in an interview with West FM opposed this proposal basing on the fact that the two schools have been the back bone of education stands in the region owing to the fact that other schools emulate them. Being the top in the province they were admitting about 60 per cent of the students from the area and this adjustment would be a set back towards that. They argue that making them National schools will mean opening them up for students from all over the country that will face out students in the region due to stiff competition. The Public Affairs and Communications Specialist Mr. Wabwoba Mukhamule Walinywa opposed the move stating that upgrading the schools will mean losing a lot in education. Once they are nationalized they will have high pressure from across the country and this will lead to decline in performance. “Upgrading the two schools to national schools will mean denying a chance to our students as the schools may only take a small number from this area.” Said Mr. Wabwoba He proposed that the government should get an upcoming local school and fund and develop it into a national school instead of taking already established schools  “The two schools have taken a lot of support to get them to where they are therefore; it is not fair for the government to set aside and wait for well developed schools to turn into national schools but instead it should develop its own national schools from scratch,” said Mr. Wabwoba Public Affairs and Communications Specialist Mr. Wabwoba Mukhamule Walinywa. The residents questioned the move by the government, wondering whether it had put in place other provincial schools to replace the two schools. If not then, most students from the region are bound to miss secondary school opportunities an issue that may lead to underdevelopment in the region. “Is the government going to bring other schools to replace the schools it intends to upgrade as there will be a big gap left in the education sector of the region?” said Mr.Barasa, a taxi driver in Bungoma. To other residents it was a good move and they applauded the government for saving them the miles they have to travel to take their children to national schools that are mostly in the city. “We really appreciate what the Government has done to upgrade our two best performing schools to national schools. We always have to travel from here to the city to take our children to national schools in Nairobi which is very expensive,” said Mr. Mukhwana a boda boda rider in Bungoma. Earlier, Speaking at Kibuk Girls High School in Mt Elgon District, Bungoma County, during the district Education Day, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry of education Pro. James Ole Kiyapi had disclosed that the government had planned to have 30 new National schools next year that will go along way making it possible for 7,800 students joining National schools next year up from 4,200 this year.   “This will ensure that every child who gets almost 400 marks and above gets a place in National school and bring to an end a row between public and private schools as it was experienced this year,’’ he said. Further, the PS said all this was aimed at ensuring cohesion among different communites. "The current national schools were established in pre-independent Kenya for the colonialist’s children. What we want is to change this mindset. We want all Kenyans to also travel to other parts of the country to interact with others," he said. Schools were selected from different counties and will each receive Sh25 million for infrastructure upgrading, and be ready to take in more students next year. Kakamega Boys, Lugulu Girls, Bunyore Girls, Friends Kamusinga are among 30 provincial schools nationwide elevated to a national status in all the 47 counties in the country.

School management boards told to create proper mechanisms to carter for students with special needs

Written by Rosemary Wachiye 2011-06-16 17:36:00 Read 117 Times

Primary School Heads and school management board members listen to an Education officer Mr. Elija Owiti during a training workshop in Bungoma. [Photo/Rosemary Wachiye/WestFm] Head teachers, chairmen and treasurers of primary school management committees in the Larger Bungoma District are have been enlightened on the importance of good management and administration in schools towards improving school and student performance. Officers from the Ministry of Education who are the facilitators of the event and are keen on ensuring that the school management boards  are well versed with good management skills to improve performance in schools. An officer from the District Education Office in Bungoma District, Mr. Elija Owiti urged the members to ensure that the physically challenged pupils are accorded necessary attention and create a way to make them feel as equally as important as any other normal children.  “Ensure your teachers are all round to be able to handle both the normal children and the physically challenged pupils and offer their services,” said Mr. Owiti Primary schools are divided into Early Child Development (ECD), Lower primary from 1, 2, 3, middle primary class 4, 5, 6 and upper primary class 7 and 8. Mr. Owiti told the ECD teachers to nurture the children by teaching them in mother tongue language before teaching them English and Swahili. He added that computer teaching should begin at an early age for easy grasping. He said that intelligent quotient depends on the development of a child since childhood. “If you delay a child to learn he becomes an idiot and if you teach him fast he becomes a genius, parents should take their children to school early for better growth,” said Mr. Owiti Continuous assessment tests, he said, were very important and that pupils should regularly take the examination to monitor their performance and judge how the child has learnt. The schools were urged to always have a benchmark of comparing themselves with the other good performing schools so as to be able to judge their performance in regard to the other schools. Mr.Owiti also cautioned the routine that any lazy or poor performing teacher be placed in the lower primary classes 4,5 and 6. He voiced the need for remedial teaching that will help train the slow learners to catch up with the fast learners in the classes. Adding that studying in schools should be for 8hours, recreation activities for 8hours and pupils be given time to rest or sleep for 8 hours. “Lack of play leads to social mal-adjustment wher5e by at an adult age you find some one wanting to do activities meant for the children, we should therefore note that there is time for every thing and everything should be done at the required stage in life,” said Mr.Owiti The other officer from Ministry of Education of Bungoma South, Mr. Omitsa called upon the teachers to dress properly and set a good example for the pupils. “the way you dress as a teacher dictates how good you are in what you do, set aside some cash for clothes and look presentable so that the children will emulate you,” said Mr. Omitsa Mr.Owiti also called for English language to be taught seriously in the schools since the English language is used in the teaching of the other subjects and therefore urged the head teachers to make sure that the English language is spoken fluently and all the time in the school. “English should be spoken always all the days of the week but you can set aside a day for Swahili language” said mr.owiti Boarding schools were pointed out as the best form of education as compared to day schools since in boarding the pupils have an opportunity to enough study time while day school ex[poses the pupils to other external factors that does not promote good learning. “boarders have an upper hand over the day scholars to perform better since they are in school throughout and therefore learn more than day scholars who have so many chores imposed making them lack the time to study,” said Mr.Owiti Concluding that by the end of second term all the school syllabus must be completed so that third term is set for revision only.

Students talents reveal corruption chocking society’s harmony

Written by Rosemary Wachiye 2011-06-17 17:45:00 Read 76 Times

Glitz, colour and glamour accompanied this year’s District inter-primary schools music festivals held at Kibabii Girls’ Boarding Primary Schools. This Fete covered schools in Bumula, Kimilili and Bungoma West District and allows entries into an array of categories ranging from songs, dances, poems and public speaking-a major opportunity for the young ones to showcase their talents.  Exhilarating performance from the children did not disappoint in not only entertaining but it was also an important platform for informing and educating. “This festival helps the children to discover their talents in playing instruments, singing, reciting, public speaking and dancing at an early age,” said the festival committee secretary, Mr.Endusa. He added that through early talent discovery the teachers together with the parents can help nurture them to better people tomorrow. Corruption themes dominated most of the pieces, an unfortunate pointer on how this rot is chocking the fundamentals of a good society. However, the good show was marred by complains of non-compliance from the committee secretariat. The cash strapped secretariats warned of imminent failure of successive festivals if members do don’t remit their funds on time. A secondary school festival of similar type ran co-current at Reliance High School in Webuye with reports of massive turnouts.

Butali cane farmers happy with mode of payment

Written by Rosemary Wachiye 2011-06-20 15:45:00 Read 198 Times
Butali sugar farmers queue at the Webuye KCB branch for payment. Sugar cane farmers contracted to the new Butali Sugar factory have applauded factory’s management for prompt payment for their produce after delivery to the factory. The farmers, who are among the first ones to take their cane to the factory, said the factory had broken away from the old tradition held by other factories in the region of delaying payment for their produce. Consequently, they applauded the company for remitting their money through banks saying it was more secure and that it had opened their eyes on how to save part of their money. Farmers who turned up for payment through the KCB bank in Webuye town praised the move to bring the factory next to the people of Malava Constituency and to a larger extent, Webuye, Constituency and parts of Bungoma County. “Due to the closeness of the factory to us, we are happy because we are now not charged a lot for the transportation of the cane to the factory and therefore enables us to get enough of our dues with less reductions,” said Grace Sambula, a cane farmer “We are now able to pay our children’s fees easily and still remain with some cash for our day to day use,” said Mr. Phillip Lumbasi, a cane farmer. Despite the appraises one of the farmers, Mr.Lumbasi, revealed to west FM that the first farmers to be attended to at the weighbridge in the factory, their cane was weighed well compared to the following lot whose cane was weighed after the weighbridges had been tempered with. “The first farmers will get more pay than us whose cane was weighed last, because the weighbridge at first was okay but right now it’s faulty,” said Mr.Lumbasi The move by Butali Sugar factory to cater fro the needs of the farmers and give them first priority, is a call to other sugar factories to follow suit in promoting cane farming in the area.

Bungoma NCPB refutes farmers claims of discrimination in selling fertilizer

Written by Rosemary Wachiye

Farmers at the Bungoma NCPB entrace all trying to purchase fertilizer for top dressing their maize crops. Photos/ Rosemary Wachie. Farmers in Bungoma County have criticized the National Cereal and Produce Board (NCPB) depot officer for discriminating them by not selling them fertilizer and instead selling to business men. One of the farmer’s, Mr. Sifuna Msuya raised his concern on behalf of other farmers in the region. He stated that on 31st May he visited the NCPB in Bungoma and instead of being issued with 12 bags as he intended to purchase, the officials sent him away to go and deposit the money in the bank. Mr. Msuya complains that a renowned trader in the region was allowed to purchase fertilizer worth Sh.300, 000 using cash. “What is surprising is that after sending me away, the officials at the Cereals and Produce Board accepted money from a trader which is so unfair since this fertilizer was meant for us farmers and not business men,” said Mr. Msuya. He urged the government to follow-up the proceedings at the Board and control the corruption in that sector. “The government should come in and assist us the farmers so that we can be able to purchase what is rightfully ours,” said Mr. Msuya However, Mr. Peterson Obuba the Manager at the NCPB Bungoma dismissed the claims by the farmers, stating that the Board took strictly cash from the farmers and did not at any point send farmers to the bank to pay. “We have always taken cash in exchange for fertilizer and so when one comes up with such a complaint as an official of this board I am surprised,” said Mr. Obuba. He stated openly that he is only entitled to approve authenticated invoices from the District Agriculture officers in the fields and therefore he is not to blame if he sells to the wrong people who are not farmers because he doesn’t know them. “It’s hard to differentiate who is a farmer and who is not because a business man through his own means can get the valid invoice from the District Agriculture Office in his region and therefore, I cant deny him the right to buy fertilizer because according to the documents he is an authorized buyer. All the same we are here to serve the farmers and strictly farmers not businessmen,” said Mr. Obuba. He also added that the work of the field officers was to identify each farmer’s farm size and issue a warranty towards purchasing fertilizers equivalent to the farm size. “When those documents come to our office we just endorse because we believe they are legal since they contain official signatures and rubberstamps from the field,” said Mr. Obuba. The fertilizer disbursed from the Ministry of Agriculture to the National Cereals and Produce Board is at a subsidized price as opposed to the ones sold in the shops. Farmers buy the fertiliser from the NCPB where prices are lower than in the market. The fertilizer at NCPB is selling at Ksh 2,500 per bag and Sh3, 500 at the market. “The Board officials are colliding with the traders and selling to them the fertilizers meant for farmers forcing us to end up buying it from the shops a very high price, “complained Mr. Msuya. On consulting from him about the 1,000 bags fertilizers that had been brought in from the ministry two weeks ago as claimed by Mr. Msuya, he gave no official comment and instead stated that it was not in his capacity to disclose such information to the press. “About that, may be you should ask the Board’s Public Relation Officer because I am not entitled to disclose such information to journalists,” said Mr. Obuba. Although he dismissed the complaints of the farmer stating that he might be having, malicious interests, it was evident to West FM that while specific farmers came out of the board with bags of fertilizers, others were still left in despair at the boards offices with no hope of being served.

Polio immunization in Bungoma hailed as successful

Written by Rosemary Wachiye

The door to door Polio immunization exercise for children under five years and the administering of Vitamin A has been termed successful in Bungoma South District.

The Director of Medical Health (DMOH) at the Bungoma District Hospital, Dr. Amos Oyoko stated that the process that set off on June 4 is expected to have reached its target of approximately 110,123 children for polio immunization and approximately 102,414 children for vitamin A administering.

“The Heath officers started moving from door to door on Saturday and the process will ends today Wednesday. We hope to have achieved our target of 110,123 children for polio immunization and 102,414 children for vitamin A administering,” said Dr.Oyoko.

He also added that since the exercise started, the Health officers have immunized 56,000 children against Polio and 55,700 for Vitamin A.

“we have so far covered 51 per cent in polio immunization and 49 pc in Vitamin A administering in the district, we hope that by the end of the exercise, we will have reached as many children as possible,” said Dr.Oyoko.

Dr. Oyoko.

He commended the public for the cooperation towards the same and urged parents who were still adamant to cooperate with the health officers to ensure that all children under five are immunized since they are prone to the infection.

“We heard there are parents who claim that since their children were immunized in January, so they should not be immunized again. But I want to inform such parents that this is a different exercise and I urge them to cooperate and allow the health officers to immunize their children,” urged Oyoko.

The challenges the officers are facing are transportation due to the high fuel prices and also the difficulty of accessing some areas that are deep in the remote zone.

“Transportation to the different areas is hard owing to the fuel price increase, but all the same we are trying our level best to reach them all,” said Dr.Oyoko.

 He also reminded the parents of taking the children under five years to hospital or nearest health centres to their homes for routine immunization against other illness.

“It is important for parents to continue taking their children to hospital or nearest health centres to their homes for routine immunization,” said Dr.Oyoko.

He advised parents to be monitoring the growth of their children and to be keen on the symptoms of any illness that may arise and take their children immediately to a health officer, as it’s the only the ministry can assist to curb early mortality in children.

Nzoia Sugar and Red Cross (Bungoma) give back to the Turkana community

Written by Rosemary Wachiye Red Cross regional representative Richard Walukano handing over the donations to Nzoia Company’s Corporate Social Responsibility officer, Mr.Daglas Wekesa.  A community is the backbone to any company it makes up the workers, the neighborhood and therefore, there should be a mutual co-existence between any company and the community around it. Nzoia Sugar Company this week donated foodstuffs to the people facing hunger and drought in Turkana through Red Cross branch in Bungoma. Ms Valentine Mutaki the Bungoma Red Cross branch coordinator revealed that as an organization that is out to help the needy people in different parts of the country, they had sent requests to different business companies in the country in regard to feeding the people of Turkana. “We sent requests for donations from companies all over the country, but so far only Nzoia Sugar Company responded and we appreciate what the company is doing to the community,” said Ms Mutaki Nzoia Company’s Corporate Social Responsibility officer, Mr.Daglas Wekesa stated that the organization’s response to the request from Red Cross was to buy different kinds of foodstuffs and send them over to Turkana to rescue them from the hunger escapade. “We have donated 21 bales of maize flour, 5 cartons of cooking fat, 150 Kg of beans and 250 Kg of sugar towards helping the hunger stricken people in Turkana,” said Wekesa He added that as part of Nzoia Company’s corporate social responsibility it was going outside the sugar belt and sugar zone to give assistance to the needy and not just the communities around it who contribute sugarcane to the company. The Public Relations Officer of Nzoia Sugar Company, Mr. Joseph Kawa revealed to West FM that it was not the first time the company was donating to the needy as in 2009 the company donated food to the people in West Pokot. ” Its not the first time for us to do this as in the year 2009, the President declared hunger to be a public concern and so the company contributed food and took to the people of west Pokot towards saving the needy. It’s always our duty to give back to community and we yield pleasure in doing that,” said Kawa. The Regional Representative of Kenya Red Cross in Bungoma, Mr. Richard Walukano welcomed the gesture and called upon other organization to follow in the sugar company’s footsteps towards serving the community. “we appreciate the efforts of Nzoia company in contributing towards helping the needy in the country and we just want to ask other organizations in the same capacity to contribute and help people in need because in doing so people feel happy associating with them,” said Walukano.