Today's headlines - Tues 9/23/2008

Kenya ranked most corrupt in E. AfricaKenya Broadcasting Corporation, Kenya - 4 hours ago
Corruption is still rampant in Kenya despite efforts by the coalition government to curb it. This is according to this year’s global Corruption Perception ...
Kenya ranks poorly on corruption Daily Nation
Kenya 16th most corrupt country in sub-Saharan Africa, TI report ... African Press AgencyGlobal graft watchdog says Somalia most corrupt nation Xinhua
AFP - Dose.ca
all 354 news articles »

Kenya PM Odinga set for official visit to Tanzania
The Citizen Daily, United Republic of Tanzania - 13 hours ago
By Bernard Missoke
Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga is expected to arrive in the country for a three-day official visit, a government official has said. ...
Odinga arrives in Dar today DailyNewsOnline
all 3 news articles »

Kenyan police accused of brutality against gang
International Herald Tribune, France - 3 hours ago
AP NAIROBI, Kenya: Police may have committed crimes against humanity in pursuing Kenya's most notorious gang, a government-appointed human rights body said ...
Human rights commission says police extorted, beat, killed gang ... CNN
Police must come clean on killings Daily Nation
all 6 news articles »

Today's Headlines - Thurs 8/7/2008

Kenya's security hinges on Somali peace: PM
AFP - 2 hours ago
NAIROBI (AFP) — Peace in Somalia is essential to guarantee security in Kenya, Prime Minister Raila Odinga said Thursday in a speech marking the deadly 1998 ...
'Video: Nairobi's US embassy attack victims ten years on
ideo: Nairobi's US embassy attack victims ten years on - 07 Aug 08
Video: Nairobi's US embassy attack victims ten years on - 07 Aug 08 AlJazeeraEnglish
FACTBOX-Impact of extremist attacks in Kenya Reuters
Kenya, Tanzania mark anniversary of embassy bombings CBC.ca
BBC News - Xinhua
all 166 news articles » BOM:500278
BBC News

Kenya alerts Tanzania over Al-Qaeda terrorist
IPPmedia, United Republic of Tanzania - 11 hours ago
By Kasembeli Albert, in Nairobi Kenya security agents have alerted Tanzanian authorities over Al-Qaeda East Africa linkman and suspected master mind of the ...
Terror: Shocking CIA report on blast Standard
'Al-Qaeda bomber at large in Kenya' PRESS TV
Kenya commemorates 10th anniversary of terror attacks afrol News
Xinhua - Kenya Broadcasting Corporation
all 294 news articles »
Times Online

Lopez Lomong's Olympic role tells important tale to world audience
Times Online, UK - 1 hour ago
Having fled across the border into Kenya, his home for ten years was the Kakuma refugee camp. In Tully (population: 927), New York State, Roger and Barbara ...
From African refugee camp to Olympic start line CNN
Refugee from Sudan, a Darfur activist, to carry US flag AFP
Kenyan VP for Olympic opening ceremony Afrique en ligne
BBC Sport - Hartford Courant
all 461 news articles »

Kenya opens first e-waste management plant
NetworkWorld.com, MA - 3 hours ago
By Rebecca Wanjiku , IDG News Service , 08/07/2008 Computers For Schools Kenya (CFSK) has opened East Africa's first e-waste management plant in Embakasi, ...

Research and Markets: Analyse the Kenyan Mobile Industry as the ...
MarketWatch - 3 hours ago
Kenya's economy has been in sustained growth pattern over the past three years and is set to rebound from the hiccup of post-election violence of early 2008 ...
JNB:MOB

Kenya Commercial Bank Says Sale of New Shares Exceeds Target
Bloomberg - 11 hours ago7 (Bloomberg) -- Kenya Commercial Bank Ltd., the east African nation's biggest lender by number of branches, raised 8.1 billion shillings ($122 million) ...
Kenyan State Pension Fund Says Not Consulted on Bank Stake Sale Bloomberg
all 2 news articles » NBO:KCBK

The Associated Press
Kenya, Tanzania mark decade since US embassy bombs
The Associated Press - 28 minutes ago
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Douglas Sidialo woke up in a Nairobi hospital 10 years ago, devastated to find he had been blinded by flying glass after al-Qaida ...
CBC.ca

Kenya to Reach 10% Growth Before 2010, Standard Chartered Says
Bloomberg - 50 minutes ago
7 (Bloomberg) -- Kenya may meet its target of boosting growth to 10 percent ahead of the government's forecast as trade and investment increases, ...
LON:STAN - HKG:2888 - NBO:SCBK

Christian Science Monitor
In Kenya, two protagonists and the conciliators
Christian Science Monitor, MA - Aug 6, 2008
Nairobi, Kenya - William Ruto might seem an odd choice as a peace negotiator. He has the burly frame of a boxer, and a political reputation to match. ...
For Kenya, a month of attacks, then quick progress Christian Science Monitor
all 2 news articles »

New! Get the latest news on Kenya with Google Alerts.

Kenya marks 10 years since US Embassy bombing - Thurs 8/7/2008

East Africa marks terror attacks

Kenya and Tanzania are marking the 10th anniversary of the US embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam.
More than 220 people were killed and 5,000 injured in the first major attack by al-Qaeda on US targets.

Relatives and survivors have gathered at the site of the attack in Nairobi, which is now a memorial garden.

The ceremonies come days after Kenyan police narrowly failed to arrest the suspected mastermind of the bombings, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed.

Blinded
The BBC's Peter Greste in Nairobi says many of those survivors and the families of the victims there will gather at the memorial garden on the site where the US embassy used to stand.

My eyes were destroyed on the spot by the glass
Catherine Bwire

At about 1030 local time on 7 August 1998, a suicide bomber threw a grenade at the guardhouse outside the US embassy in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, and tried to ram his way through the barricades.

He then detonated the explosives packed inside the vehicle, severely damaging the embassy and bringing down a seven-story building near by, killing 218 people and wounding 500.

A simultaneous attack on the embassy in Dar-es-Salaam killed 11 people, and wounded 72.

The bombings were al-Qaeda's first major strike in its conflict with the United States, and they fundamentally changed both the US and Kenya.

Among those who remember the day in Nairobi is Catherine Bwire, who was a 24-year-old accounts clerk at the time.

Like so many, she heard a small explosion - a grenade - go off outside the embassy just by her office.

She went to the window to see what the trouble was and as she watched, the attackers detonated their main charge which shattered surrounding windows.

The glass tore out Catherine's eyes, blinding her instantly, it was a tragically common injury.

Manhunt
Our correspondent says the blast changed the lives of so many victims, but it also created a kind of bond among them.

It did much the same for Kenya and the United States.

The two countries are now firm allies in the fight against terrorism, both countries still struggling to come to terms with its consequences.

But the botched operation on Sunday has raised questions in Kenya about whether the government is doing enough to protect its citizens from the threat of terrorism.

The police have intensified their manhunt for the fugitive in the coastal city of Mombasa, and security along the country's borders has been tightened.

The country's sizeable Muslim community also says the "war on terror" is being used to victimise Muslims.

At least 17 Kenyan Muslims are being held in Ethiopia on suspicion of involvement in terrorism.

The survivors and families of those who died in the attacks have called for compensation from the US and Kenyan governments to help them cope with the effects of the blasts.

Will you attend the ceremonies? Were you injured in the blasts? Did you witness the attacks?

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Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/7546696.stm
Published: 2008/08/07 09:44:10 GMT© BBC MMVIII

Blog editor's note: The following report from the Standard claims to be an "exclusive" story and is not confirmed by any major news outlet.

Terror: Shocking CIA report on blast

Published on 07/08/2008
By Otsieno Namwaya Investigation Editor

Ten years to the day a massive al-Qaeda bomb exploded in Nairobi, fresh details show that previously undetected, complex planning by terrorists who had plotted to use a device twice as big as the one that exploded.

Confidential documents from American intelligence service, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), obtained by The Standard also show that terror suspect Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, who is being hunted for the Nairobi and Kikambala bombings, was not even the one initially picked by terror kingpin Osama bin Laden for the operation.

Osama had picked a terrorist said to have been deadlier than Fazul to carry out the bombings, but he died in mysterious circumstances in Kenya before executing the plan.

A new group had to be constituted afresh by al-Qaeda to launch a second attack. Details also show that the terrorists who bombed American embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam had plotted to explode the devices a year earlier.
Unknown to Kenyans, the al-Qaeda cell that would finally blow up the embassies had operated undetected in Nairobi and other towns for five years from 1993.

The CIA dossier in our possession, which was used in prosecuting the suspects in the US, details how the terror group had set up base and businesses in Kenya in 1993 with the intention of launching the attack earlier than 1998.

The plan for an earlier attack was, however, derailed when the al-Qaeda military commander in Kenya, who had operated stealthily — Abu Obadiah — drowned in a boat accident on Lake Victoria as he attempted to cross to Uganda to meet contacts in 1996.

In CIA’s thinking, had Obadiah not drowned in 1996, the attack on American installations in Kenya would probably have taken place either in November, 1996 or February, 1997.

The brief from Osama for Obadiah was to use a load of explosives twice as big as the one that Fazul’s team ended up using on August 7, 1998.

Police did not know
But Police Spokesman Eric Kiraithe says Kenya had no information that Fazul’s predecessor had drowned in Lake Victoria in 1996 as he tried to cross over to Uganda.

He said the police also did not know that the 1998 terror attack on the US embassy would have happened earlier had the Al Qaeda leader, Abu Obadiah, not drowned in the boat accident.

"But we have an operation and there is a lot of information coming through. If you allow me some time, I will be able to verify that information. The US government had not shared it with us," he said.

Following the unexpected death of Obadiah, al-Qaeda quickly reviewed its plans as arrangements were made for Abdi Karim, alias Fazul Mohammed, to take over as the military commander-cum-head of the East African cell.

Fazul took over as head of the group’s entire operations, including military training and business, including fish trade, along the East African coast and Lake Victoria.

Prior to establishing base in Kenya, Obadiah, together with his senior colleague in the al-Qaeda hierarchy, Atef Al Banshiri, had initially only paid occasional visits to the Kenyan cell from their base in Afghanistan, the founding home of al-Qaeda in the early 1980s.

Deliberations on the attack on the US embassy in Nairobi began in October, 1993, mainly in retaliation for US participation in what was then called ‘Operation Restore Hope’ in Somalia.

Ali Mohammed, a US citizen and a confessed al-Qaeda member, surveyed the US embassy for a possible terror attack. He took photographs and made sketches, which he gave to Osama Bin Laden, who had then shifted base from Afghanistan to Sudan.

Preparations for the attack on the US embassy in Nairobi moved to a different level when in June, 1998 two members of al-Qaeda — Fahid Mohammed Ali Msalam and Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan — bought a Toyota pick up and embarked on modifying its body for the mission.

Final meeting
The final meeting that fine-tuned details of the attack was held in 43 New Runda Estate in Nairobi on August 2, 1998 and was attended by, among others, Mohammed Odeh, Mohammed Rashed Daoud Al’Owali, Fahid Mohammed Ali, Sheikh Ahmed Swedan and a Mr Assam, a Saudi national.

It was decided at the meeting that once everything was in place, members of the group should leave the country by August 6. Two members, Assam and Al’Owali, had offered themselves as the suicide bombers who would drive the truck, fitted with a bomb and other explosives, to the basement parking of the US embassy.

Al’Owali had been taken to Afghanistan for specialised training as part of the preparation for the Nairobi attack. He travelled from Afghanistan to Nairobi using a false Yemeni passport just a few days to the mission.

On his arrival, he linked up with his two colleagues whose names are given only as Haroun and Assam, who was the man behind the wheel of the truck that carried the bomb that brought down the US embassy on August 7, a Friday.

Another key al-Qaeda operative, Mohammed Odeh, an American who had worked for Osama in Sudan for several years and later deployed to Mombasa to set up a fishing business whose proceeds would support the group’s activities in the region, received an emergency order that all al-Qaeda members should leave the country by August 6.
He travelled overnight by bus from Mombasa to Nairobi, leaving his home and family at the Coast. Odeh joined colleagues, including the masterminds of the attack like Fazul, at a hotel in downtown Nairobi’s River Road where they spent three days – August 4, 5 and 6.

Odeh and a few other members who were not going to be part of the direct action on August 7 left the country on August 6 using a false passport.

He had shaved his beard to camouflage his appearance.

On the material day, Assam drove the truck carrying the bomb at the back to the US embassy, with Al’Owali as his co-driver with whom they had resolved to die in the attack.

As the truck approached the embassy, Al’Owali got out to request the security guard to open the gate, with the apparent intention that he would quickly return to the truck before it exploded.

But the guard asked many questions and Al’Owali got impatient and hurled a stun grenade at the American marine.

That allowed Assam to quickly drive the truck behind the embassy, get out and detonate the bomb, demolishing a multi-storey secretarial college and damaging the embassy building and the bell-bottomed Co-operative Bank house.

Escaped unhurt
The explosion claimed the lives of 213 people and injured about 5,000 others.

Assam was also killed in the attack, but his colleague, Al’Owali, who had gotten out to persuade the guard to give way, escaped unhurt.

But Al’Owali had not expected to survive and thus had neither a plan B nor money or passport to get him out of Nairobi or Kenya.

After a few days in hiding within the city, he called a telephone number in Yemen to request for money to be sent to him in Kenya. Just minutes after he called, Osama also called the same line and in a short while arrangements were being made for him to get out of Kenya.

When Osama called the terrorist in Nairobi, he was very furious because the suicide bomber had evaded death by running from the scene. Osama reportedly screamed at him: "What are you doing alive! Have you forgotten you are a martyr?"

Al’Owali and Odeh were later arrested by the US government and charged with the Nairobi attack. With two other convicted terrorists, they are serving life terms at the Federal Bureau of Prisons Administrative Maximum Facility, a super-maximum ‘prison within a prison’ in Florence, Colorado, US.

http://www.eastandard.net/InsidePage.php?id=1143991891&cid=259



Kenya remembers bombing, urges Mideast peace

Thu Aug 7, 2008 1:53pm EDT
By Daniel Wallis

NAIROBI (Reuters) - The world must solve crises in the Middle East and Somalia or they will spawn more of the extremism that led to bombings of U.S. embassies in east Africa a decade ago, Kenya's prime minister warned on Thursday.

Raila Odinga was speaking at a ceremony commemorating the 10th anniversary of explosions that tore through Washington's missions in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam and killed more than 200 people, mostly local Africans.

The attacks were blamed on al Qaeda -- the first time Osama bin Laden's group had burst onto the world stage.

"The scale of this atrocity shocked our nation to the core," Odinga said after laying a wreath at the site of Nairobi blast.

"We must leave no stone unturned in fighting the scourge of terrorism. But at the same time, unless we provide just solutions to political crises such as those in the Middle East, new extremists will continue to be created," he added.

At a commemoration ceremony at the U.S. State Department in Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice paid tribute to "innocent people stolen from us in a moment of terror."

Rice said the embassy bombings were seen in a new light following al Qaeda's attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, the bombing of the USS Cole warship off the coast of Yemen in 2000 and other incidents.

"We see them (the embassy bombings) as they were, as the opening of a new twilight struggle between hope and fear, peace and hatred, freedom and tyranny -- a struggle that has now finally fully been joined," said Rice.

Rice is mediating slow-paced peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians and Odinga called for the swift creation of an independent Palestinian state with secure borders for Israel.

SOMALIA CONNECTION
Odinga also urged the U.N. Security Council to end violence and suffering that has plagued Kenya's chaotic neighbor Somalia.

"We must do not only because it is our humanitarian duty. A lawless Somalia threatens Kenya's security," he said.
The United States says several al Qaeda operatives suspected of being behind the 1998 bombings have sought refuge in Somalia.

This weekend, police on the Kenyan coast said they narrowly missed catching one of them, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, after he slipped back over the border for medical treatment in Malindi.

Odinga vowed his government would never let down its guard.

"The stark revelations of the last few days have reminded us yet again that we have terrorists in our midst still planning awful deeds," Odinga said in his speech.

Dudley Simms, a U.S. diplomat who survived the embassy bombing in Tanzania, said in Washington that those responsible for such attacks would be caught and brought to justice.

"We are better off than those evil-doers who have to look over their shoulders, cover their backs and hide in their holes, day and night," he told fellow diplomats. "They are the ones who are running and we will catch them all," he said to applause.

(Additional reporting by Sue Pleming in Washington; Editing by Xavier Briand)

(For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: africa.reuters.com/)
© Thomson Reuters 2008. All rights reserved.

http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnN07333746.html

Thursday, August 7, 2008
US News & World Report

A Grim 10-Year Anniversary of the U.S. Embassy Bombings in Africa

With the attacks, al Qaeda emerged as the pre-eminent terrorist threat to the United States
By Kevin Whitelaw
Posted August 7, 2008

It was 10 years ago today that Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist network scored its first direct hit against the United States with the bombing of two U.S. Embassies in Africa.

Twin explosions in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, at 10:40 a.m. on Aug. 7, 1998, left more than 220 people dead and some 5,000 injured. As in many subsequent al Qaeda attacks, the bulk of the dead were locals, who just happened to pass by the U.S. Embassy at the wrong time. Twelve Americans were killed in the Nairobi blast.

The attack was notable not only for its brutality but also for al Qaeda's meticulous planning and its ability to pull off the difficult feat of staging nearly simultaneous bombings in two separate countries.

U.S. News chronicled the FBI's exhaustive investigation into the deadly attack, a probe that lost precious hours early on because of mechanical problems with the FBI's plane but eventually involved some 375 agents and crime experts. Many of the operatives were later rounded up and put on trial.

In the wake of the Africa bombings, President Clinton fired more than 70 Tomahawk cruise missiles into Afghanistan to target a suspected al Qaeda training camp. He missed bin Laden, but an unknown number of al Qaeda followers were killed. He also sent six Tomahawks to destroy what U.S. officials insisted at the time was a chemical weapons plant in Sudan. It later appeared to be a more innocent pharmaceutical factory.

The bombings heralded the emergence of al Qaeda as a serious international threat capable of projecting violence across the globe. Two years later, al Qaeda operatives blasted a hole in the side of a U.S. Navy ship docked in a Yemeni port, killing 17 sailors. And bin Laden struck America directly on Sept. 11, 2001.

Tags: Africa terrorism al Qaeda

Today's headlines - Tues 8/5/2008

BBC News
Kenya intensifies search for terror suspect
Xinhua, China - 7 hours ago
5 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan police on Tuesday stepped up efforts to arrest one of East Africa's most wanted terror suspect, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, who escaped a ...

Kenya charges three for helping al-Qaeda leader Radio Netherlands
Kenya charges 3 in al Qaeda suspect's reported escape Reuters South Africa
Kenya: US embassy bomb suspect flees raid CNN International
guardian.co.uk - The Citizen Daily
all 273 news articles »

Standard Chartered Kenya's Profit Little Changed (Update1)
Bloomberg - 6 hours ago
5 (Bloomberg) -- Standard Chartered Bank Kenya Ltd., the east African nation's second-biggest bank, said first-half profit was little changed. ...
National Bank of Kenya's 1st-Half Profit Rose 38% (Update1) Bloomberg
all 3 news articles »

NBO:NABK - NBO:SCBK - LON:STAN
Kenya pushes for reduction of import duties
Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, Kenya - 4 hours ago
Kenya is negotiating with the World Trade Organisation -WTO- for a global policy to give developing countries an opportunity to add value to their ...
WTO: Africa Must Take a Leave of Absence Accra Daily Mail
Collapse at WTO gravely undermines Africa: minister AFP
Who wins and who loses from Doha's downfall? Foreign Policy Passport
Business Daily Africa - Voice of America
all 32 news articles »

Kenya boosts tea and coffee marketing budgets
Reuters South Africa, South Africa - 54 minutes ago
By Duncan Miriri NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya is boosting the budgets of its tea and coffee boards to help them compete more effectively in the global ...

Kenya central bank expected to maintain key rate
Reuters South Africa, South Africa - 1 hour ago
By Helen Nyambura-Mwaura NAIROBI (Reuters) - The Central Bank of Kenya is expected to keep its key CBR lending rate at 9 percent even though it is lower ...

Kenya shilling firms vs dollar, seen rising further
Reuters South Africa, South Africa - 3 hours ago
NAIROBI (Reuters) - The Kenya shilling firmed against the dollar on Tuesday, helped by trimming of long dollar positions by banks and slow corporate demand ...

Kenya seeks "as many medals as possible" in Beijing
Xinhua, China - 9 hours ago
5 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan Olympic delegation chief David Okeyo said on Tuesday that he expected Kenyan athletes to win "as many medals as possible" in the ...
We don’t want joy riders, say athletes Standard
Kenyan to train athlete for Beijing Paralympics IPPmedia
Kenya's sole rower eyes final A at Beijing Olympics Xinhua
tandardall 5 news articles »

Mwaruwa replaced at Kenya Ports Authority
Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, Kenya - 3 hours ago
Abdallah Mwaruwa has been relieved of his duties as the Managing Director, Kenya Ports Authority. He has been replaced by former Finance Manager at KPA ...

New! Get the latest news on Kenya with Google Alerts.

Today's Headlines on Kenya - Thurs 7/31/2008

More Canadian missionaries to return to Kenya
Canada.com, Canada - 11 hours ago
CALGARY - Bob Rowe says he has no fear of travelling to the same area in Kenya where two Canadian missionaries were viciously assaulted and left for dead ...
Calgary group going to Kenya Canoe.ca
Family members cry out as Canadian missionaries attacked in Kenya ... The Canadian Press
Canadian Missionaries In Kenya Arrive Home After Violent Assault AHN
CBC.ca - United Press International
all 127 news articles »

Clashes hit Kenya tourism figures
The Press Association - 12 hours ago
Kenyan tourism dropped by more than a third in the first half of this year after the violent clashes that followed the country's elections. ...
Kenya tourism down in wake of election violence International Herald Tribune
Kenya tourism revenue plunges after election violence AFP
Kenya tourism earnings tumble 32 pct on violence Reuters South Africa
Standard
all 21 news articles »

Teen prostitution up after Kenya's election crisis
International Herald Tribune, France - 1 hour ago
AP ELDORET, Kenya: This time last year, Janet Kimani spent her days at school and her nights fighting with her little brothers over what to watch on the ...

Kenya's mediation talks end
Xinhua, China - 3 hours ago
NAIROBI, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Talks aimed at ending Kenya's post election crisis have come to an end after members of the mediation team concluded the last ...
EiTB

Kenya inflation drops to 26.5 pct in July yr/yr
Reuters South Africa, South Africa - 45 minutes ago
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's annual inflation rate fell to 26.5 percent in July from 29.3 percent the previous month as food prices dropped, the national ...
Inflation rate hits its peak in last ten years in Spain EiTB
all 2 news articles »

Kenya seeks environmental-friendly mobile phone handsets
Xinhua, China - 3 hours ago
NAIROBI, July 31 (Xinhua) -- The Kenyan government vowed to step up measures to ensure that manufacturers of electronic products avail to the market only ...

BBC News
Kenya's expensive free education
BBC News, UK - 5 hours ago
By Anne Mawathe When the Kenyan government promised to provide free secondary education last year, many parents were elated. Rolling out the programme in ...

Kenya Muslims say government blocking abuse report
Reuters South Africa, South Africa - 21 hours ago
By Guled Mohamed NAIROBI (Reuters) - Muslim leaders in Kenya accused a senior government official on Wednesday of blocking the release of a presidential ...

Kenya: Officers Cleared of Mt Elgon Abuses
AllAfrica.com, Washington - 3 hours ago
Maj-Gen Ali, who received the report last week and presented it to the minister, said many cases mentioned in a report by the Kenya National Commission on ...

Following EU's integration model in the Brussels of east Africa
Irish Times, Ireland - Jul 30, 2008
All the talk of the crisis gripping Europe in the wake of Ireland's Lisbon Treaty No has gone unnoticed by the members of the EAC, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, ...
US warns travelers to East Africa of terror risk The Associated Press
all 51 news articles »

New! Get the latest news on Kenya with Google Alerts.

UN report on AIDS - Kenya HIV rates rising - Wed 7/30/2009

Progress made in HIV prevention - BBC
7/30/2008

There have been significant gains in preventing new HIV infections in a number of heavily-affected countries, a United Nations programme report says.

However, UNAids warns the Aids epidemic is not over in any part of the world.

The report says prevention programmes have seen changes in sexual behaviour, and a drop in infection rates in countries such as Rwanda and Zimbabwe.

Condom use is also increasing among young people with multiple partners in many countries.

HIV INFECTIONS 2007
Sub-Saharan Africa:
Total infections: 22m
New infections: 1.9m
Deaths: 1.5m

South and Southeast Asia:
Total infections: 4.2m
New infections: 330,000
Deaths: 340,000

Latin America:
Total infections: 1.7m
New infections: 140,000
Deaths: 63,000

Eastern Europe and Central Asia:
Total infections:1.5m
New infections: 110,000
Deaths: 58,000

North America:
Total infections: 1.2m
New infections: 54,000
Deaths: 23,000

East Asia:
Total infections: 740,000
New infections: 52,000
Deaths: 40,000

Western and Central Europe:
Total infections: 730,000
New infections: 27,000
Deaths: 8,000

North Africa and Middle East:
Total infections: 380,000
New infections: 40,000
Deaths: 27,000

Caribbean:
Total infections: 230,000
New infections: 20,000
Deaths: 14,000

Oceania:
Total infections: 74,000
New infections: 13,000
Deaths: 1,000

This has been seen in seven of the most affected countries: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Uganda and Zambia.

In Cameroon the percentage of young people having sex before the age of 15 has decreased from 35% to 14%.

UNAids reports that since 2005 there has been a tripling of HIV prevention efforts, with a focus on sex workers, men who have sex with men, and injecting drug users.

The report also reveals that the percentage of HIV-positive pregnant women receiving antiretroviral drugs to prevent transmission of the virus to their child rose from 14% in 2005 to 33% in 2007.

In the same period the numbers of new infections among children fell from 410,000 to 370,000.

Dr Peter Piot, UNAIDS executive director, welcomed the progress.

But he said: "Gains in saving lives by preventing new infections and providing treatment to people living with HIV must be sustained over the long term.

"Short-term gains should serve as a platform for reinvigorating combination HIV prevention and treatment efforts and not spur complacency."

Globally, the number of new HIV infections has declined from 3 million in 2001 to 2.7 million in 2007. However, rates of infection are rising in many countries.

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.
The BBC's Peter Biles reports from an HIV care centre in Johannesburg

There are now an estimated 33 million people living with HIV worldwide, with two million estimated to have died from Aids last year.

RISING RATES OF HIV
China
Indonesia
Kenya
Mozambique
Papua New Guinea
Russian Federation
Ukraine
Vietnam

The number of deaths was down for the second consecutive year - 200,000 less than the 2005 figure.

Aids continues to be the leading cause of death in Africa, which accounts for 67% of the total number of people living with HIV.

Six out of ten of those living with HIV in Africa are women.

The UNAids report stresses that the fight against HIV requires sustained long-term financing.

It warns that as more people go on treatment and live longer, budgets for HIV will have to increase over the next few decades.

Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/7530359.stm
Published: 2008/07/29 16:41:33 GMT© BBC MMVIII

======================================

UN - IRIN

KENYA: HIV services are scarce on the street
Photo: Allan Gichigi/IRIN

It's easier for street people to get drugs than healthcare

MOMBASA, 29 July 2008 (PlusNews) - In the next four months, Rashid Mwaneno Dona will become the father of a baby that he and his girlfriend, Fatma Chelimo, conceived while living on the streets of Mombasa, on the Kenyan coast.

The excited couple have already chosen names: if it is a boy, he will be named DJ, in honour of Dona's dream career; if a girl, she will be named Tamara, after a benefactor of local street children.

Before starting a sexual relationship, Dona and Chelimo went to a local voluntary counselling and testing centre for an HIV test.

"This test changed our lives; we have decided that we have nothing to do with other people, we are going to stick together until we get our baby and think seriously about how to bring it up," Dona told IRIN/PlusNews.

They are an exception rather than the rule; few people living on the street choose to take HIV tests before sexual activity.

"They have become hardened by life on the streets and their main priorities are finding food and day-to-day survival - they rarely think about the implications of unprotected sex," said Dinah Wairimu, a justice and human rights officer for Youth Alive, a Kenyan NGO working with young people.

A high-risk life
"These people have to make a living, so the girls often turn to sex work and will easily have sex without protection; they are also unprotected from sexual violence," Wairimu said. "They are especially vulnerable because many are children orphaned by HIV and have had no real family structures around them when they were growing up."

Illegal drugs were widely available on the streets, and while high on glue and other substances, young people often made unsafe sexual choices or shared needles, putting themselves at greater risk of contracting HIV.

"The majority of the street families in Mombasa and elsewhere have succumbed to HIV due to the 'don't care' lifestyle practiced on the streets," Dona said, adding that people living on the street were extremely sexually active.

A 2004 study on the sexual behaviour of street children in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, by The Society of People with AIDS in Kenya, found that street children began sexual activity between 12 and 14 years of age, and about 80 percent of them were drug users; they also reported being sexually abused.

The researchers found that although most boys and girls knew about the possible consequences of unprotected sex - including pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections - they rarely took this into consideration before engaging in sex, and only a minority used contraceptives.

In Mombasa, child sex tourism is extremely common, and according to a 2006 study by the government and the United Nations Children's Fund, many of the city's child sex workers had spent part of their lives on the street.

Not welcome in hospitals
"There are no programmes directly targeting these people for HIV education - most programmes are geared towards getting them off the street," said Wairimu. "At the group homes they go to they may get HIV education, but not on the streets."

Moreover, street people found it hard to get medical care. "Many hospitals don't accept them; if they get pregnant they give birth on the street and raise their babies on the street," she said.

Many hospitals don't accept them; if they get pregnant they give birth on the street and raise their babies on the street. Many teenagers, children and even families living on the streets found it difficult to access counselling, testing for sexually transmitted infections and treatment, including life-saving ARV [antiretroviral] drugs and the necessary support to ensure that those who were not infected remained uninfected.

"The most common problem street families face is that they suffer TB [tuberculosis], which could be [related to] HIV, but they do not want to come out in the open to seek treatment," Dona said.

Chelimo had learned about HIV before she started living on the streets in early adulthood and sought the help of social workers at the local Tonoka Social Hall as soon as she discovered she was pregnant, and began attending the antenatal clinic.

Soon after, a fire gutted "Maboxini", a construction of cardboard boxes behind a local bank that she and Dona called home, and her clinic records were burnt.

"Since these vital documents were destroyed it has become extremely difficult to receive the care I need because I do not have the records for my pre-natal clinic," she said.

The records are required for attending the clinic. However, she Dona and were lucky; they were able to find accommodation at Tonoka Social Hall, where they get cooked meals every day and have a bed and blanket.

Wairimu said because only a small number of people on the street managed to permanently rejoin mainstream society, there was a need for HIV education among them, and for hospitals to be more sensitive to their needs.

Kenya has an estimated 300,000 street children, 60,000 of whom live in the capital, Nairobi. Mombasa and the western city of Kisumu also have large numbers of children and young adults living on the streets.

nk/kr/he
Theme(s): (IRIN) Children, (IRIN) HIV/AIDS (PlusNews), (IRIN) Urban Risk [ENDS]

> Full story

Recent violent crimes against westerners - Tues 7/29/2008

These recent incidents of violent crime against westerners are extraordinary and a departure from the norm in Kenya, of respect and hospitality toward volunteers and tourists.

If western women are being raped, what of the Kenyan women who have no voice in the press or the courts?

Kenya is now more than ever in great need of Friends' skills in peacebuilding, healing, reconciliation.

> Learn about AGLI's work to spread the Alternatives to Violence Program (AVP) workshops.

========================================

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From Google News

Gun culture in Kenya - Tues 7/29/2008

Gun culture takes root in Kenya
A new study says police are responsible for nearly a third of gunshot victims in the country. Photo/FILE
By GATONYE GATHURA (email the author)


Posted Tuesday, July 29 2008 at 00:00

In Summary

• People seeking treatment for gunshot wounds at KNH usually aged between 18 and 24
• University research study shows one third of victims were found to be targets of police shootings or “official stray bullets”.
• Young males with gunshot wounds are more than females, outstripping then by a ratio of almost eight to one
• Gunshots now third most common cause of spinal injury after road accidents and falls from heights

Guns, both illegal and legal, are now the major cause of death for young Kenyan men, the University of Nairobi says.

People seeking treatment for gunshot wounds at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) are usually aged between 18 and 24, indicating an increase in gang violence and a population that is engaging in criminal activities at a very young age, a new study by four researchers at the university says.

“Barely 10 years ago, victims of gunshots were two decades older and most were shot by criminals interested only in dispossessing them,” says lead author W.A. Odhiambo.

But in this study, done at KNH, almost one third of the victims were found to be targets of police shootings or “official stray bullets”.

This is the first time a structured scientific study indicts the police as being responsible for a significant number of gunshot victims.

Although the study does not dwell on circumstances leading to the police shootings, calling them “stray bullets”, this could be interpreted to mean a poorly trained force or what activists call trigger-happy policemen.

“The perpetrators of firearm violence were often identified by victims as a thug or robber (66.4 per cent), followed by police officers, who were responsible for 23 per cent of the injuries out of which nine per cent were ‘stray bullets’,” says the study.

Published in the March issue of the East African Medical Journal, the study looks at more than 700 firearm injuries at the hospital in 2004 to 2005 and within the same period, records a significant increase in the use of guns in committing a crime.

The study, however, does not include those who had died of gunshots before reaching the hospital.

Young males comprise the highest number of victims reporting to the hospital with gunshot wounds, outstripping females by a ratio of almost eight to one. However, when women are involved they are much younger than their male counterparts — by almost seven years.

The study says gunshots are now the third most common cause of spinal injury after road accidents and falls from heights. It warns Kenyans to be more vigilant between 9pm and 10pm because this is when assaults peak.

“Members of the public could be advised to avoid dangerous areas around these hours, while police patrols are increased.”

Another senior lecturer at the university’s School of Medicine, Dr H. Saidi, draws a chilling parallel between the unfolding situation in Kenya and South Africa, whose gun-related crime rate is very high. He says a South African study found that 86 per cent of victims of gun-related incidents were between 13 and 18 years, the majority of whom were intoxicated.

Young victims
“The local study also depicts very young victims. Under what circumstances would this post-school population become victims of firearm assault? Could the current and younger group, as in South Africa, possibly be involved in crime and gang violence?” the study queries.

It concludes that in the absence of any structured crime prevention programmes, increasing poverty and a growing drug culture, firearm-related crimes can only get worse.

> Full story

100 Days Together - Coalition Poll results - Tues 2/29/2009

100 days together

Kenya's president Mwai Kibaki (R) and Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

Photo/REUTERS/Presidential Press Service

By JEFF OTIENO (email the author)


Grand Coalition Government’s performance has been rated at 65 per cent
Mr Odinga tops with 75 per cent approval
President Kibaki has 68 per cent

Prime Minister Raila Odinga commands the highest approval ratings in performance in the Grand Coalition Government, ahead of President Kibaki.

According to the latest opinion poll conducted by the Steadman Group, Mr Odinga tops with 75 per cent approval compared to President Kibaki’s 68 per cent.

The Grand Coalition Government’s performance has been rated at 65 per cent.

The study coincides with 100 days since the formation of the Grand Coalition Government which brought together the two political rivals — President Kibaki and Mr Odinga.

According to the opinion poll, majority of Kenyans view Mr Odinga positively in public service compared to President Kibaki or the Coalition Government as a whole. The study, which was conducted between July 6 and 11, this year, interviewed 2,012 Kenyans aged 18 years. Respondents were from all the eight provinces. The study had a margin of error of +/-2.2 and a 95 per cent confidence level.

However, Steadman’s political consultant, Dr Tom Wolf, said the research did not seek to find out why majority of Kenyans approved of the PM.

“Many Kenyans placed Mr Odinga on the highly approve and somewhat approve categories ahead of President Kibaki,” Dr Wolf said while releasing results of the survey at the Steadman headquarters in Nairobi.

However, he said any leader in the world should be happy with an approval rating of over 50 per cent especially under a difficult political arrangement like the one in Kenya.

Dr Wolf also said many ODM supporters still viewed President Kibaki with hostility as many believe their presidential candidate was robbed of victory.

“Unlike ODM supporters, many PNU supporters view Mr Odinga “mildly” since their candidate was the one who was sworn in as the President,” he said.

Civil war
Dr Wolf said the approval rating of the Grand Coalition was above 50 per cent, largely because of saving the country from imminent civil war rather than its achievements in the past six months.

Majority of Kenyans (78 per cent) support the power-sharing agreement. At the political party level, the agreement receives the highest rating from both PNU and ODM-K faithful at 80 per cent each, with ODM followers giving it a 76 per cent score.

On the provinces, Mr Odinga’s ratings are higher than the President’s in five provinces. The PM leads his partner in Nairobi, Coast, Rift Valley, Nyanza and Western. President Kibaki’s ratings are highest in Central, Eastern and North Eastern.

Individually, the two score highly than the Government in all the provinces except North Eastern where the Grand Coalition scores a high of 80 per cent. In the province, President Kibaki scores 78 per cent, followed by Mr Odinga at 75 per cent.

Performance
So far Kenyans are satisfied with the Grand Coalition’s performance in secondary and primary education, in which it scores 78 per cent and 70 per cent approval respectively.

However, the study was conducted before student riots became widespread, affecting the country’s hitherto stable education system.

Kenyans are also happy with the way the Government is handling health matters, with the respondents giving it a satisfaction rating of 65 per cent, followed by electrification programme (58 per cent), water supply (58 per cent) and road construction (55 per cent).

The public, nonetheless, is unhappy with the way the Government is tackling poverty, unemployment, the rising food prices, graft and crime. All have an approval of below 50 per cent.

Of the three political parties forming the Grand Coalition, majority of the respondents identified themselves with the Orange Democratic Movement (53 per cent), followed by the Party of National Unity at 29 per cent. ODM-Kenya (seven per cent) and other smaller parties (four per cent). Seven per cent do not align themselves with any political party.

> > > Full Story

Turkana region suffers - Tues 7/29/2008

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

KENYA: Insecurity heightens poverty in northwest

Photo: Ann Weru/IRIN

Residents often have to rely on police reservists and have organised local security to safeguard their livestock

LODWAR, 29 July 2008 (IRIN) - John Lochimoe used to own several heads of cattle that his grandfather left him, until raiders from the neighbouring Pokot District of northwestern Kenya took the animals.

"All the cows my grandfather left me have been stolen, driving me deeper into poverty," he said.

Today, Lochimoe, a single parent of two, who also cares for his mother and mother-in-law, can hardly cope thanks to the insecurity that has robbed him of his livelihood.

"At night the dogs bark all the time and people are always on the look-out. It seems as if the peace and reconciliation efforts do not work," Lochimoe, a former teacher living in Oropoi village, Turkana North District, said.

Like Oropoi, many areas of the mainly arid northern Kenya experience resource-based conflicts, livestock theft and a lack of access to infrastructure such as roads, schools, communication and health facilities.

The situation has particularly affected the pastoralist communities that dominate the region. The major causes of conflict include cattle-rustling, proliferation of illicit arms, inadequate policing, and competition over control and access to natural resources, according to a report by the NGO Practical Action Eastern Africa report. The NGO implements peace programmes in northern Kenya.

"The pastoralists cannot access water and pasture because of the insecurity," Turkana Central District Commissioner George Ayonga said.

Residents rely on seasonal rivers and water pans, and rising fuel costs have also reduced access to motorised water schemes. The insecurity, he added, had caused population displacement, especially in areas such as Lokori and Lomelo, south of the main town of Lodwar.

To cope, residents often have to rely on police reservists and have organised local security to safeguard their livestock. Boys, some as young as 14, carry guns while herding livestock.

According to a drought bulletin for Turkana, June was particularly bad for conflicts in all cross-border zones of Turkana North, Central and South districts.

The problem was attributed to resource-based battles after the failure of the long rains. The region borders Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda and the areas of Baringo, Marsabit, Samburu and West Pokot in Kenya. The bulletin recommended strengthening early warning and rapid response systems, in addition to holding peace meetings and encouraging dialogue.

Health issues
According to Sarah Wanaswa of the Oropoi dispensary, many cases of assault and gunshot wounds were reported during the months of peak conflict.

"When there are no peace and reconciliation efforts, there are also many raids," Wanaswa said. "We get targeted more when the herds move."

Apart from insecurity, the region experiences other health problems. Low awareness of personal hygiene, she added, had also often led residents to suffer preventable diseases such as diarrhoea, skin and eye infections. The dispensary, which treats between seven and 10 people each day, relies on supplies flown in by the government and NGOs.

Photo: Ann Weru/IRIN

John Ichom, a teacher at a Catholic mission nursery school in the Kaeris area of the Turkana North district.

The other problem was low latrine coverage.

"Most people use the 'cat method'," she said. "Those [residents] who are mobile see no value in erecting latrines which they will not use for long.

"Some say the soil is rocky and are therefore reluctant to dig latrines," she said. "Waste disposal depends on personal knowledge."

Wanaswa said community health workers were conducting outreach services. "We are educating the people on the consequences of not having a toilet."

The dispensary at Oropoi also lacks HIV prevention services while most women deliver at home, seeking medical help only in case of complications. At the same time, the population movements had also contributed to low immunisation coverage of childhood diseases such as measles.

Education
While enrolment in nursery and primary schools is high, transition to secondary education is low due to the tradition of early marriage for girls and boys dropping out of school to take care of livestock. High enrolment in the lower classes is boosted by the school-feeding programmes.

"For most children this is their main meal," John Ichom, a teacher at a Catholic mission nursery school in the Kaeris area of the Turkana North district, said. There are few boarding schools and in some, the classrooms double up as dormitories at night.

"It is as if we are not part of Kenya," said a resident of the lack of infrastructure and rampant insecurity, which had also restricted access to key markets within and outside the region.

In a bid to develop the northern regions, the government has established a ministry of state for the development of northern Kenya and other arid lands.

aw/eo/mw

Themes: (IRIN) Children, (IRIN) Conflict, (IRIN) Health & Nutrition
[ENDS]

Report can be found online at:http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79500
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

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