The Coalition on Violence against Women- COVAW (K) is a women's human rights organization that is committed to the eradication of all forms of violence against women and the promotion of women's human rights. She is a registered non-governmental organization that does not make profit and is non-partisan. The coalition works in close collaboration with other like-minded Non-Governmental Organization, Community Based Organizations, Government and Donors.

COVAW (K) has locally spearheaded the Annual Sixteen Days of Activism Against Violence against women Global Campaign, which has been instrumental in placing violence against women in the public and political domain.

For the full calendar of activities taking place in Kenya over the 16 days, please contact [email protected]

The long-running inquiry into Kenya's biggest financial scandal has ended after some 300 days. The so-called Goldenberg Affair is thought to have cost Kenya as much as $600m between 1990 and 1993. During the hearings, former President Daniel arap Moi was accused of being part of a scam that involved re-exporting gold and diamonds. Neither Mr Moi nor his close aides appeared in person but their lawyer denied the allegations on their behalf.

This study explores the relationship between HIV/AIDS and land rights in Kenya, with a particular focus on women as a socially vulnerable group. It examines: the ways that HIV/ AIDS-affected households are coping in terms of land access, use and management; the consequences of these coping strategies on security of access and rights to land; and how changes in land tenure, access and rights to land among different categories of people are affecting agricultural productivity, food security and poverty.

The Chairman of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights Maina Kiai has underscored the need to approach historical land injustices with soberness. Maina said land issues are critical, sensitive and complex and can only be solved through dialogue. He noted that although land might have been taken away from helpless, ignorant indigenous Kenyans, there are existing realities and dispensations that cannot allow the people to go back to the traditional settings.

A graduate, with a post-graduate qualification in public health, international development or related field, you will have a minimum of 8 years experience of managing network and multipartner development programmes.

Kenyan HIV/AIDS advocates have urged the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to continue funding HIV/AIDS programs in 2005, the IPPMedia/Tanzanian Guardian reports. Fund Executive Director Richard Feachem in October said that the fund faces a "critical year" in 2005 because of funding shortfalls and that it might not be able to award new grants. In order to carry out its work for 2005, the Global Fund needs at least $2.5 billion in funding, but it so far has secured only $1.6 billion from donors.

All World Bank projects in Kenya are being investigated for possible corruption, it has been revealed. And a sampling of other donor schemes will also be audited, according to a statement by Finance minister David Mwiraria. The decision to launch the investigation follows the presentation of a report, last week, which showed the Kenya Urban Transport Infrastructure Project (Kutip) had lost millions of shillings through graft.

Kenya's wildlife head has been suspended amid allegations that he recruited trainee rangers recommended by politicians, officials say. Kenya Wildlife Service director Evans Mukolwe is presently being investigated by corruption officials. Kenya's Anti-Corruption Commission says investigations show 520 of nearly 1,000 trainee rangers were employed on the recommendations of politicians.

The government has bowed to pressure to make public the wealth declarations of top officials, including the president, cabinet ministers and MPs. The decision to lift the veil of secrecy which the government had thrown over the contents of the wealth declaration forms filled out by public servants - including all the cadres of the military, judiciary and central government - is understood to have been taken after it was realized that continued secrecy was making a nonsense of efforts to contain high-level official corruption.

By any measure, the enrolment of over a million extra children in Kenya’s primary school system over the past two years is a success story. Enrolment figures in the East African country burgeoned after President Mwai Kibaki introduced free primary education in 2003, when he took over as head of state from Daniel arap Moi. One group of children has little to cheer about in this regard, however, namely child workers. Rights activists warn that government will have to couple its policy of free primary schooling with laws making education compulsory if these children are to be brought in from the cold.

Difficulties mobilizing development resources for Africa and ways of improving the continent's financial systems are being discussed at a workshop in Kenya this week coordinated by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). Experts attending the Nairobi meeting, held from 1 to 3 November, are seeking to identify how African countries can garner the $64 billion in new investment needed to generate a growth rate of 7 per cent and meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) designed to halve extreme poverty by 2015.

Kenyans are fed up of waiting for a new constitution which seems to be dragging on indefinitely. To break the impasse, several meetings, attended by stakeholders such as legislators and civil society groups, have been held this year to put the constitutional talks back on track. The draft constitution was drawn by the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission, after collecting views from Kenyans on what they wanted in the document.

Without doubt, the star of the October 12-13 international conference on anti-corruption that brought together delegates from more than 90 countries to Kenya was Georgian Prime Minister Zhurab Zhvania. He was remarkable in his clarity on anti-corruption efforts, expressing his willingness to take on the high and mighty as a way to tame corruption in Georgia. He did not mince his words in a typical bureaucratic and diplomatic manner as most leaders do, winning over the vast majority of the audience. He said anti-corruption efforts must be multi-faceted, including political, social and legal censure, especially since finding the evidence to sustain a legal charge can be hard to come by.

His statement that serious circumstantial information against a minister or top civil servant was a reflection on him directly as prime minister and therefore merited political action through suspension from office until investigations were complete, brought thunderous applause from the audience perhaps reflecting on the differences between Kenya's fight against graft and Georgia's. Mr Zhvania described how on taking office he reduced the size of his staff from 600 to 90, recruiting new and highly qualified people as a way to bring in reformers to implement the changes required.

He talked of how he dismissed 20 of the 23 generals in the military and how he scrapped the entire traffic police unit which was the most obvious corruption machine in the country. The leader emphasised that one cannot have reforms without reformers, a statement that has begun to emerge strongly in Kenya and which Mr Justice Aaron Ringera also endorsed. One of the most important tools for fighting corruption, he declared, was a Freedom of Information Act that strips away the secrecy in and of government, on which grand corruption thrives.

This in Kenya would mean the discarding of the Official Secrets Act that some top officials love and throw in the faces of potential whistle blowers on corruption attempts. But critically, for us in Kenya, it would also mean ensuring that the declarations of wealth introduced last year be made public.

By the end of the conference, participants remarked that this was the approach that Kenya, and Africa needed to tackle corruption. The meeting was an outstanding success, having been organised by the Department of Governance, Transparency International-Kenya, and Transparency International Secretariat in Berlin. The fact that so many leaders in politics, civil society and anti-corruption commissions from across the world agreed to come to Kenya attests to the international recognition that Kenya has gained - even if only slightly - from the days of the Moi regime. It is unimaginable that a conference of this nature could have been held in Kenya two years ago.

The presence of so many leaders was a tribute to the international credibility that Ethics and Governance permanent secretary John Githongo brings to the anti-corruption struggle. The gathering included the Prime Minister of Norway, who reminded the audience that fighting corruption is not done for the sake of it, but to reduce poverty and realise economic and social rights.

Others were the Mexican minister for Public Administration, who together with his president is responsible for taking action against public officials who engage in corruption, the Peruvian Speaker of the National Assembly and the chairman of the Parliamentary Oversight Committee, and the Norwegian Minister for International Development.

There were five leaders of anti-corruption agencies from Pakistan, Malawi, Zambia, Indonesia, Guatemala, and South Korea who were all relatively new in their positions, reflecting the start-stop-start nature of anti-corruption efforts across the world.

President Kibaki got the ball rolling by reaffirming his personal commitment to leading the fight against corruption. He stated that like any battle, the war must be led from the front by generals so that officers and foot soldiers can carry it on. Justice minister Kiraitu Murungi repeated his clear and unequivocal attack on corruption saying: "We must not feed corruption by hiding it away."

He also reiterated his oft-quoted view that the networks of corruption still existed and were clearly operating within the State bureaucracy. He stated that corruption must be at "the top of the development agenda, since it destroys everything including the fabric of society." And he is right, since State tolerance of corruption makes nonsense of any efforts geared to improving human rights record, security and eradicating poverty.
But was this meeting simply an attempt at public relations on anti-corruption? What lessons were learnt, if any?

Mr Zhvania spelt it out clearly that anti-corruption efforts need a strong, concerted and determined approach, without fear of making mistakes, to succeed. It needs strong will, clarity of mission and decisiveness. And it needs political and legal action. Some in the audience attributed his direct and total approach to anti-corruption crusade to the fact that he is only 41 years-old.

But the Prime minister explained the approach was a direct result of having watched the slow but sure collapse of the Shevardnadze regime in Georgia of which he had been a part of and which had come to power following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Mr Shevardnadze had come to power with massive popular support, promising to reform and rebuild Georgia and its overwhelming corruption problem. Some of his advisors, such as Mr Zhvania, urged him to move quickly on corruption before the window of opportunity closed.

But Mr Shevardnadze was indecisive, allowing the return of the networks of corruption and endemic corruption. It was so big a problem that it infected Mr Shevardnadze himself, and he attempted to steal the November 2003 election to remain in office. He had to be forced out in what became known as the "Rose Revolution" because thousands of protesters carried roses to symbolise their peaceful intentions.

On becoming prime minister, Mr Zhvania vowed not to make the mistakes of his mentor and moved fast before the window of opportunity closed. His radical approach has borne fruits, not just in terms of massive political support but also economically, as both domestic and international investors increased their confidence in the country. Moreover, his war on graft has reduced some of the costs that arise with irregular deals, making life a lot more affordable. The government has also recovered some stolen assets, adding to its capacity to realise economic and social rights.

Notably, many Kenyan ministers and senior civil servants were not fully engaged in the conference, despite the presence of the international VIPs. Indeed, some of the foreign guests, such as the Norwegian minister for International Development, organised important side meetings during the conference, something that our ministers, many of whom either did not attend or only made technical appearances, would have gained from.

But perhaps the enduring lesson for us is the immensity of the gap between official rhetoric and actual implementation. The rhetoric is spot on, and if Kenya were to be judged from the number of official speeches and pronouncements made against corruption, I am sure we would be at the top of Transparency International's Perception Index. Given some of President Kibaki's actions, such as restoring Mr Githongo to State House, only but a small minority in this country do not recognise his depth and personal commitment to the crusade.

The problem is the considerable public doubt on the commitment of some of the key players in his Government - both political and bureaucratic - to anti-corruption measures. This apparent lack of commitment is gauged by the immense defensiveness and discomfort exhibited when "new" corruption is discussed and by statements that attempt to whitewash scandals such as Anglo Leasing.

It is expressed in the lack of consistency in dealing with circumstantial evidence to force key people around the Anglo Leasing scandal to step aside like Mr Shem Ochuodho and Mr Maurice Dantas of Kenya Pipeline were. They were suspended, not because they engaged in corruption, but to facilitate free investigations.

The lack of commitment is shown by the refusal or time wasting tactics employed whenever questions of expenditures in ministries - especially with regard to the buying of luxurious vehicles at the tax payer's expense - are raised.

Make no mistake: The line between wasteful expenditure of taxpayer's money to buy vehicles worth Sh15 million each for Government officials and official corruption is thin. The mindset that focuses on entitlements in office and using taxpayer's money unreasonably is extremely close to the one that dispenses of the pretence of buying items and simply pocketing the money directly.

As stated by the Norwegian prime minister, Mr Zhvania and Mr Githongo, the window of opportunity to fight official corruption is very small. Mr Githongo suggests 24 months. I think that is too much and the revival of grand corruption in Kenya; through such scandals as Anglo Leasing; attests to the very real possibility that our window of opportunity has closed.

Information in the public domain suggests that the officials who signed the paperwork with a fictitious entity called Anglo Leasing should be charged, at the very least, with criminal negligence and attempt to commit fraud. But this has not been done. Yet there is a real possibility that doing so could lead to further evidence of the real people behind Anglo Leasing.

Similarly, it is not enough for Mr Murungi to continuously complain about the inherited civil servants who facilitate corruption and are an obstacle to reform. For he is a minister, and a powerful one at that, who should act to bring about change instead of just complain like a civil society activist.

That is the challenge before us today. For Kenyans to reap the benefits of all this anti-corruption talk, then the litmus test is the final dismantling of the networks of corruption inherited from the Moi regime which seem to have found a comfortable home within the ranks of the Government.

Only then can we feel confident that the more than US $1 billion stacked abroad from our taxes from the past regime's will bear solid fruit as a dividend on the war against corruption. Only then will we begin to trust the Government to close the door on irregular and illegal allocations of public land and plots.

Time is short but with strength, clarity and leadership, we can still turn this boat called Kenya around.

* Maina Kiai is the Kenya National Human Rights Commission chairman. This article first appeared in the Daily Nation and is reposted here with permission of the author. Please send comments to

The UN Security Council has voted unanimously to meet in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi next month in order to forge peace in southern Sudan, Africa’s longest running civil war. "My hope is that the parties will certainly close the differences very, very substantially, and it would be great if there were a peace agreement," said US Ambassador John Danforth, who sponsored the resolution. The Security Council will hold official sessions in Nairobi on November 18-19, which will be aimed at giving momentum to solving the crisis in Darfur, in western Sudan.

The richest 10 percent of Kenya's households control more than 42 percent of its total income, according to a report that ranks the East African country among the ten most unequal nations in the world. The poorest 10 percent make do with less than one percent of Kenya's wealth, noted the report, which was launched on Tuesday. "For every shilling spent by the poorest 10 percent in Kenya, the richest 10 percent spend about 52 shillings," said the report, compiled by the Society for International Developmet (SID) in conjunction with Kenya's planning ministry and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).

The United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) first Global Women’s Assembly on Environment: Women as the Voice for the Environment (WAVE) convened from 11-13 October 2004, in Nairobi, Kenya. The Assembly focused on generating outputs related to the upcoming Beijing+10 review session, the five-year review of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and the 13th session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-13). Over 150 participants from 60 countries attended the Assembly, some from remote indigenous communities and small island developing States.

Two Kenyan radio journalists trained in how to cover HIV/AIDS under Internews Network’s Local Voices project have won a prestigious award for the best HIV/AIDS radio program in Africa. The Union of African Radio and Television Organizations (URTNA) announced recently that Ann Mikia and Sammy Muraya had won the award for their program, “A Stitch in Time.” They both work for the Kenyan Broadcasting Corporation’s (KBC) English Service.

Discussions about improving the level of education in Kenya often focus on the challenge of achieving universal primary education, or ensuring that girls are not discriminated against when it comes to schooling. While these matters are undoubtedly important, it appears that a continued focus on childhood education is marginalising another group of people who are also in urgent need of educational assistance: Kenya's illiterate adults.

Rural Women's Peace Link has established 14 area networks of women working for peace in their local communities. RWPL has trained women of all ages and many tribes all over the Great Rift Valley, including Turkana, Pokot, West Pokot, Mt. Elgon and Chepsiria Toror, to use and expand their traditional roles for peace. Through the rich history of RWPL, the program has developed and influenced many different areas in society including elders, youth, men, police, government officials and other peace-keeping groups.

Former French teacher turned Playwright, John Sibi-Ukumu, is breaking new grounds. His new work, "Role Play" - an unapologetic look at racial stereotypes in modern Kenya - was chosen to premiere at the historic reopening of Nairobi's National Theater this fall. He put off his desire to write for fear of the repressive regimes of presidents Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel arap Moi. Today, Ukumu is just one of a number of artists and writers flourishing under the new democracy of President Mwai Kibaki.