Parents of 40 girls who fled from their homes in Marakwet District to escape female genital mutilation (FGM) are locked in a dispute with a human rights organisation. And now the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (CHRD) is strongly protesting against the alleged harassment of its staff by the girls’ parents, who are demanding their daughters back. The centre’s executive director, Mr Ken Wafula, has told a news conference that his staff had been threatened with unspecified consequences if they do not return the girls to their homes.

A new initiative to strengthen food security and enhance economic growth in East Africa through a sustainable, long term partnership between governments, traders, producer associations, development and aid agencies has been set up in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. Supported by the United States Agency for International Development and the Famine Early Warning System, the Regional Agricultural Trade Enhancement Support and FOODNET projects, the information network aims to gather, analyse and increase access to information about key food commodities such as maize and beans in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Ishmael Reed Publishing Co, a prestigious publisher of anthologies of poetry is looking for 25 poets from Kenya, for a book to be published in California titles '25 New Kenyan Poets'. Please send three of your best poems, as an email word attachment to: [email protected] with the subject of the email being: submission for poetry anthology.

Kenya is losing 19,000 hectares of forests each year. Environment minister Newton Kulundu said forest cover had drastically decreased over the last 20 years to 1.7 per cent. New technology was required in forest management to reduce destruction, he told a workshop on tree biotechnology in Nairobi. "We need to increase our forest acreage to enable us to benefit fully from the trees," he said. More than 80 per cent of the population depended on forests for fuel and the cover should be increased if the supply is to be sustained.

Officials at the heart of the Goldenberg inquiry stand accused of taking bribes of up to one million shillings from key players in the scandal. The bribes were offered by people anxious to influence the outcome of the inquiry by tilting evidence yet to be heard, sources said last night. The dramatic claims of corruption brought the inquiry to a sudden halt in its 133rd day as the commission announced a one-week adjournment.

There is greater acceptance that having dual citizens hasn't done much harm to nations, and that the benefits of dual citizenship extend beyond the individuals concerned. Dual citizenship makes it easier for individuals to move between countries for business, employment, social and cultural purposes. Time is ripe for Kenya to recognize the potential and importance of Kenyans abroad and join the vast majority of the rest of the world that acknowledge the importance of its citizens that may not be resident in-country, argues this campaign. Click on the web link provided to sign an online petition.

More than 4,000 women delegates will gather in Nairobi next month for a conference on Aids. The three-day meeting will empower participants with the skills to fight the scourge, Health minister Charity Ngilu has announced.

A regional women's network based in Nairobi, Kenya is seeking to employ a Communications Officer for a two-year full time contract. A probation period of three months shall apply. Applications for this consultancy should be sent by Friday February 20th 2004 to the Executive Director, African Women's Development and Communications Network (FEMNET), P O Box 54562, Nairobi, Kenya, Email: [email][email protected] The application should include a letter explaining your interest in and expectations of this consultancy and your CV with copies of supporting documentation and three references. Please also include samples of your writing, editing and/or audiovisual production with your application.

This is a new collection of interviews with a remarkable group of some of Kenya's most prominent literary writers, gender activists and public figures. The interviews are concerned with diverse aspects of Kenyan women's lives: what it is to be a women, a writer, politician, activist and mother; how Kenyan women feel about Western feminism; feminist literature and identities; ideas on liberation and their relevance to the African context and more. The interviews include a long exposition from Wanjiku Kabira on the history and future of the women's movement in Kenya and her role, and on institutions of power and polygamy; and Majorie Olughe Macgoye, on being a British born woman and writer who married into Luo society.

Nine more judges have been accused of corruption and abuse of office, in a formal report by the Law Society of Kenya. The five Appeal Court and four High Court judges - eight of whom are still serving - are among a total of 14 named in the report on graft in the Judiciary which has yet to be released. Five of the 14 have already been named in the Ringera report on corruption on the bench, and have either resigned or are waiting to appear before disciplinary tribunals which will decide their fate.

What are the challenges faced by developing countries in providing for children with special educational needs? How should special schools and units relate to the aims of mainstream educational provision? Are attitudes towards special education still shaped by the colonial legacy? Do ministerial directives on special education actually influence provision?

Human rights movements the world over have a major role to play to guarantee peace and the survival of the world. But, argues Dr. Willy Mutunga, Executive Director of the Kenya Human Rights Commission the dangers that the human rights movements face have to be confronted head on. "This confrontation is only possible if the national, regional and continental human rights movements become powerful, vibrant and acquire a mass following. Such movements will strengthen the international human rights movements that are important pillars in facing the challenges posed by the enemies of human rights. The human rights movements the world over are the only engines for social justice. And it is for these reasons that the movements face mortal danger in the context of the war on terrorism."

Kenya's Maasai people, who depend on tourists visiting the Maasai Mara game park, are facing big challenges after a dramatic fall in wildlife numbers. Visitors were already staying away due to fears of terror attacks, poor infrastructure and bad land management. In the last 10 years, poaching, population growth and overgrazing have led to a 43% fall in the amount of wildlife found in the buffer zones. Conservationists say changes are needed, but it is going to take a fundamental shift in the thinking of the local people.

Is your Member of Parliament suddenly proving elusive? And are you at a loss as to why he or she cannot honour pledges for fund-drives, or are you wondering why "call or see me next week" has become his/her perpetual excuse? A survey carried out two months ago, explains just why most of our MPs are becoming desperately dodgy - they are spending far more than they earn. The report, "Paying the Public or Caring for Constituents", explores expenditure patterns by the MPs. The Transparency International-Kenya survey is part of an endeavour to examine aspects of public affairs that impact on corruption.

For many young women in Nairobi's crowded Kibera slum, life is fraught with danger in addition to the hardship they share with other residents of one of Africa's poorest neighbourhoods. They live in constant fear of violence, rape, sexual abuse, HIV/AIDS, unequal access to education, and excessive domestic responsibilities.

The continuing struggle between university lecturers and the State is still smouldering and, therefore, worth revisiting. But, unlike the past strikes by the Kenyan working classes, the academics are not publicly demonstrating or picketing. Most are eager to get back to work, but only after their complaint has been addressed. These people are some of the best-educated individuals in Africa. All along the government and the woolly-headed public have taken them for granted. The government, in particular, has always behaved as if the intellectuals do not exist and has preferred to import white advisers, says this editorial in Kenya's The Nation newspaper.

UNAIDS last Tuesday urged caution in interpreting a recent study that implied that Kenya's HIV prevalence rate has decreased or is overestimated, Agence France-Presse reports. Researchers administering the Kenyan survey interviewed 8,561 Kenyan men and women to collect health information. In addition, 70% of the participants agreed to have blood samples taken for HIV testing. Researchers found that 6.7% of Kenyans are HIV-positive, compared with a previous estimate of 9.4% by the country's Ministry of Health. UNAIDS in a statement said that the study should not be interpreted as a sign that the severity of Kenya's epidemic has been overestimated. Although the statement said that UNAIDS "welcome(s)" household studies, it questioned the dramatic differences in prevalence rates between men and women.

A split has emerged among public university lecturers over Tuesday's decision to call off their two-month strike. Some officials of the Universities Academic Staff Union (Uasu) protested at the timing of national vice-chairman Kimani Njoroge's announcement of the end of the boycott. He did not consult the National Delegates Conference, they said. The Moi, Kenyatta and Nairobi universities chapters argued that the union's national officials did not consult the NDC, which was scheduled to meet on Saturday.

Kenya, seeking to end an unhappy era of tribal "Big Man" rule, resumed faltering efforts to write a new constitution on Monday, dogged by feuding inside the government over how to dilute the powers of the president. A constitutional conference reconvened on the outskirts of Nairobi to map out long-awaited reforms aimed at trimming the powers of the office accumulated by former president Daniel arap Moi and independence leader Jomo Kenyatta.

Police raided news stands in major Kenyan towns on 10 January and confiscated copies of newspapers published by the "alternative press". Scores of vendors were arrested in the well-coordinated crackdown, which Tourism and Information Minister Raphael Tuju said was aimed at getting rid of illegal newspapers. He added that the action was taken because the newspapers had not complied with the law on "registration, execution of a bond and making returns".