The Narc Government is yet to root out grand corruption, several key speakers said last week. The launch of the Transparency International Bribery Index 2003 was turned into a Government-bashing forum with participants saying that grand corruption is still a reality in Kenya. They argued that the current administration only fought corruption in the first few months after it came to power.

The ongoing destruction of the Mau catchment area is threatening the survival of over three million people, a lobby has said. The group said if the destruction was not checked, tourism activities in the Maasai Mara Game Reserve and the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem would also suffer. The Indigenous Peoples Land Commission said the livelihood of the Maasai and Ogiek communities, who depend on these resources, was also in jeopardy.

Public university lecturers have rejected what appeared to be a final government salary offer. And they threatened a new class boycott as they called a national delegates conference next week to decide on the next move. Lecturers at individual universities have been asked by the national union officials to find ways to force the Government to meet their demands before the March 6 talks.

The police force remains the most corrupt institution in Kenya, an independent study has revealed. A survey conducted by Transparency International says it has found that police are still the most frequently bribed public officials. But the Kenya Bribery Index notes the number of corrupt incidents has dropped by 77% in the force compared to 2002.

The European Union has announced that it was ready to remove contentious domestic subsidies as long as its American counterparts followed suit. Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy said the European Union was ready to zero rate agricultural export subsidies for members of the G90 who include Africa upon request. The EU however declined to give a specific date for implementation, a key demand by African Trade ministers that led to the collapse of the Cancun talks. "We are reforming our systems to ensure less distortions and hope that Americans will do the same or else if they don't we shall be at a trade disadvantage," Mr Lamy said.

Women in Kenya have praised President Mwai Kibaki's promise to waive heavy taxes levied on women's sanitary towels as a move which will greatly enhance women's reproductive health and reduce the costly burden of hygiene on poor women.

A project that uses the latest mobile telephone tracking equipment in elephant conservation has been launched. The equipment uses mobile provider Safaricom's Global System for Mobile Communication technology. The tracking technology, jointly run by Safaricom and Save the Elephants – a local wildlife conservation organisation – will provide more accurate information on areas suitable for reintroduction of wild animals and their movements.

Export processing zones have come in for substantial criticism since the 1970's, when their number started to grow worldwide. Labour activists claim that the incentives offered to attract companies to these zones create an environment where virtually any corner can be cut in pursuit of profit. Now, these concerns are finding a voice in Kenya. This week (Feb. 17), the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) launched a book entitled - The Manufacture of Poverty: The Untold Story of EPZ's (export processing zones) in Kenya”. The publication documents the human toll taken by the country's 41 EPZ's.

Kenya risks being suspended from the United Nations Convention Against Torture, Kenya Human Rights Network (K-Hurinet) has said. Speaking on behalf of other K-Hurinet officials, Mr Kamanda Mucheke said this was because Attorney-General Amos Wako has not submitted a single report to the UN Committee Against Torture for the last seven years. "This is despite several reminders and the fact that the A-G as a member of the committee and has been flying to Geneva every year to review other countries’ reports," he said.

Kenya will be the first African country to implement the Nepad concept on good governance review every three years. The African Peer Review mechanism of the New Partnership for African Development (Nepad) requires members to be scrutinised by other member states. This would mean that Kenya could be examined by such countries as Nigeria, South Africa, Rwanda and Burundi, in which case a judgement would be entered on issues to do with governance, economy and social welfare.

President Kibaki has been urged to sack ministers linked to corruption to demonstrate the Government's zero tolerance on the vice. The Kenya Human Rights Commission chairman, Prof Makau Mutua, also criticised the State for allegedly supporting investors but failing to guarantee workers' rights. Mutua said the "high carry-over of thieves" by the Narc Government from the previous Kanu regime was causing harm to President Kibaki's anti-graft war.

Agence France-Presse reported on 19 February 2004, that the topics on Kenya’s first national AIDS conference agenda include the proposed bills on HIV/AIDS and women's rights that are to be debated in parliament; the role of women in fighting HIV/AIDS; discrimination and stigmatization. The meeting aims to provide participants with skills to fight the disease, especially at local level.

The persistence of human rights violations committed by the police makes a mockery of the government’s stated commitment “to retrain, equip and better remunerate police and other security services to ensure they are people-oriented and work efficiently, effectively and fairly,” says the Kenya Human Rights Network in a letter to Christopher Murungaru, Minister of State-National Security and Provincial Administration. "The prevailing culture in the rank and file encourages officers to commit human rights violations and expect no ramifications. This explains the persistence of numerous and serious human rights violations by police officers who enjoy impunity for their actions. To reverse this cycle, the K-HURINET recommends the establishment of a tribunal to hear about the violations committed by the police while demanding that the government heed the advise of the Task Force on Truth Justice and Reconciliation, which recommends the establishment of commission to deal with transitional justice."

Eighteen mountain bongo antelopes, a critically endangered species, arrived safely in Mt. Kenya National Park last month from the United States via a special plane through an unprecedented international partnership that hinges on local communities. The wild bongo population was decimated by unrestricted hunting and poaching and lions, and the last sighting was nine years ago. The goal is to re-establish the bongos, bred in captivity in the US, in their species' native habitat, now a World Heritage Site.

Representatives of women's organisations in the Great Lakes region have recommended the formation of a regional women's network, which would ensure their effective representation at women's meeting to be held in May in Rwanda and at an international conference for the Great Lakes, planned for later in the year.

At this time when the Government is restructuring the country for economic recovery and creation of employment and wealth, the importance of land as a primary economic resource and the basis of livelihood for the people should not be ignored. The only way to jump-start the economy is by ensuring that land is held, used and managed in an equitable, efficient, productive and able manner for the benefit of all. Land is the most crucial element defining our life as a nation, as it does not only give people cultural identity, but also nourishes their spiritual life. It provides the foundation of shelter, food and labour, hence, it is fundamental to any strategy for poverty reduction.

Kenyan Health Minister Charity Ngilu last Thursday said that by 2005 the government would provide free antiretroviral drugs to 140,000 HIV-positive individuals, the East African Standard reports. She also said that the government has adopted the World Health Organisation's 3 by 5 Initiative to combat HIV/AIDS.

Women from Africa's Great Lakes region will spend a day trading ideas on peace and security in Kenya next week in preparation for a meeting of women's organisations in Rwanda later this year, the United Nations reports. "The participants at this one-day brainstorming session are expected to discuss their various inputs, give an update of ongoing efforts by women's organisations and NGOs [non-governmental organisations] and make suggestions on the way forward for a successful meeting of the women's organisations to be held in Kigali in May," the Nairobi-based Office of the Secretary-General's Special Representative for the Great Lakes region said in a statement.

A Baltimore-based aid agency, World Relief, issued a guide in Kenya to assist churches with caring for Aids orphans in Africa. Entitled "Our Children: The Church Cares for Children Affected by AIDS", the 92-page document underlines the importance of helping orphans - or children who are caring for parents with AIDS-related illnesses - to continue their education.

Mary Waweru, a kindergarten teacher in Nairobi's sprawling Kawangware slums, has noticed that some of her pupils are increasingly absent from school due to ill health. Some of the young children have already been orphaned, being supported by charity organisations. Waweru has begun to suspect that these frequently absent pupils could be suffering from AIDS, which she thinks may have been passed on to them by their parents before they were born.