Human rights groups in Kenya have called on the government to set up an independent truth and reconciliation commission that will, amongst other things, try judges who were suspended last year on charges of corruption. At present, a special tribunal is dealing with these allegations. Certain activists have little faith in the body, however.

The prospect of a new constitution has been dangled in front of Kenyans since the late 1990's, when a process of review began under former President Daniel Arap Moi. Last December, Moi's successor - Mwai Kibaki - promised the country a new constitution by June. Political bickering may also derail this pledge, however.

Some of the wildlife which had disappeared from Kenya's drylands are starting to return, thanks to the efforts of environmental agencies and the government. The area around Lake Baringo in the country's Rift Valley used to be a great source of biodiversity. But overgrazing in the past 50 years turned it into a barren wasteland - a disaster the area is only now starting to recover from.

Betty Murungi, Director for Africa, Urgent Action Fund, was awarded the Kenya National honor of the Moran of the Order of the Burning Spear by President Kibaki for her work mainly with civil society and human rights issues. Betty was one of the very few women honored and one of the youngest on the list. Read the citation by clicking on the link below.

Kenyan women bore the brunt of Kenya's economic and human rights violations. They struggled to hold their families together through difficult times. Still, countless families were destroyed and fell apart. Kenyan women received no support and no recognition, yet they endured. It is time their stories were heard. This is according to the summary of a report on an all-women forum on a proposed Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC). Urgent Action Fund-Africa collaborated with the Federation of Women Lawyers in Kenya (FIDA-Kenya) to organize the forum. Participants heard testimonies from survivors of human rights abuses, discussed key issues about establishing a Kenyan TJRC and developed recommendations for the TJRC Task Force. The Forum's final report, a summary of which is available by clicking on the web link below, provides background information about TRCs; includes the full text of the keynote address; summarizes survivors' testimonies and views on reconciliation; and presents recommendations to the TJRC Task Force.

A new scheme to pay hospital bills for all Kenyans will take effect on July 1, Health minister Charity Ngilu revealed this week. Ngilu said membership to the National Social Health Insurance Fund will be compulsory and free for poor Kenyans. Unlike in the past when medical cover was only available to people in formal employment, unemployed Kenyans and those in the Jua kali (informal) sector will now benefit, Ngilu said.

Kenya's minister for land on Monday threatened to repossess tracts of idle land and redistribute it to thousands of landless people. Land ownership is an explosive topic in Kenya, with successive governments being blamed for failing to tackle the problem of inequitable land distribution.

Kenya has been reduced to a walking nation, with hundreds of thousands of people covering long distances on foot to work and home everyday. Some walk over 20 kilometres a day. The sight of winding streams of people, from as early as 4.30 a.m., heading to work have become the order of the day. The crisis heightened on Feb. 1 after Kenya’s minibus taxis, known as matatus, refused to adhere to new rules meant to restore sanity on the road. Last year, the government launched a massive campaign to restore discipline and safety in the public transport sector, which had been characterised by disorder.

Urgent Action Fund Africa is accepting applications for a full-time, salaried Program Officer with a focus on grant making in Africa. The position will be based in Nairobi, Kenya. The Program Officer will work with the US-based Program Team in reviewing and managing correspondence from African organisations that request support from the Urgent Action Fund. The Program Officer will report to the Director of UAF-Africa and will supervise a Program Associate.

A Sh17 million study to work out measures of increasing the number of people with access to telephones was launched this week. At the same time, the government said the country will have a second fixed telephone service provider by June.

The first Kenyan judge to appear before a disciplinary tribunal is set to defend himself in the capital, Nairobi. Justice Phillip Waki will go before a tribunal set up after a recent purge on corruption in the judiciary.

Two Swedish businessmen have been convicted on bribery charges related to a roads project in Kenya funded by the World Bank. Claes Fjellner and Ejie Karlsson were jailed by a court in Huddinge, Sweden, for their role in a corruption syndicate which grounded a $115 million plan to improve 26 urban roads. The two were involved in the bribery of World Bank officials overseeing the Kenya Urban Transportation Improvement Project (Kutip).

The contentious topic of abortion in Kenya was revisited Wednesday, during events to mark African Women's Health and Rights Day. At present, the procedure is banned in the East African country. However, women's groups are urging government to open a debate on this policy.

Kenyans have been consuming imported foods that were long banned without their knowledge. Many supermarkets in Kenya have stocks of these banned foods, also known as genetically modified (GM) crops, and the Government is helpless because it does not have the capacity to test and detect if the food is unnatural. The most consumed GM food comes into Kenya from import food markets like South Africa and the US. The South African brokers sell maize bought by some local millers because of the low price compared to locally grown maize.

Eritrean military leaders have rejected assertions by the United Nations that the border with Ethiopia is "militarily stable", claiming instead that Eritrean territory is being occupied. Eritrean Brig-Gen Abrahaley Kifle said on Monday that he disagreed with the UN’s assessment that the situation on the 1,000-km long border remained stable. He made the statement at the UN-hosted Military Coordination Committee (MCC) talks held between Ethiopia and Eritrea in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

Uncertainty shrouds the generous pay proposed for university lecturers and the next phase of teachers' salary increment. In an interview with the East African Standard last Thursday, Finance Minister, Mr David Mwiraria, said the Government may find it difficult to convince the IMF to approve further salary hikes following the recent pay increment for police and prison staff.

Urgent Action Fund Africa is accepting applications for a full-time, salaried Program Officer with a focus on grant making in Africa. The position will be based in Nairobi, Kenya. The Program Officer will work with the US-based Program Team in reviewing and managing correspondence from African organizations that request support from the Urgent Action Fund. The Program Officer will report to the Director of UAF-Africa and will supervise a Program Associate.

Too many of the developing world’s populace remain untouched by Information and Communication Technology (ICTs). This “digital divide” threatens to exacerbate the already-wide gaps between the rich and the poor, within and among countries.

Karatina Town seems a long way from Nairobi, Kenya's capital city of three million people. Yet, 100 km away, about a two-hour drive on the country's tattered roads, the town is the food basket of the city. At dawn, while Kenya turns in its sleep, Peter Kimani is awake and on his way to Karatina Central Farmers Market, the largest produce market in Eastern Africa, to dispose of his produce.

Drugs distributed as part of Kenya's AIDS medicine programme are being sold on the black market, according to a report. Unscrupulous business people are selling the drugs on the back streets of the capital, Nairobi, at less than US$65 for a monthly cocktail, nearly quarter the normal price. Health minister Charity Ngilu announced last year that selected hospitals would dispense the drugs on strictly prescription-only terms and at subsidised prices. The scheme currently provides antiretroviral drugs to 6000 people infected with HIV.