There has been a continuing debate amongst grass root Kenyans as to what is truly causing the high food prices. Theories proposed have ranged from there having been poor harvests due to lack of rain; and the after-effect of the post-elections violence and displacement; the disappearance of traditional foods from the farmers’ options of crops and that the food crisis is a global problem.While there may be some truth in these factors, Kenyans nevertheless see a clear link between the high food prices and corruption.

A High Court has ordered the development of a controversial $370 million sugar and biofuels project in Kenya's Tana River Delta, guaranteeing a temporal reprieve. Mumias Sugar Company's intention to convert 20,000 hectares of the Tana Rive Delta to plant sugarcane has raised anger and opposition of local and international conservationists, fearing that the proposal would threaten biodiversity and livelihood of local communities.

Kenyans are paying more bribes for services due to government inefficiency in services delivery which results in bribery by citizens who want to speed up access to services. This is according to The Kenya Bribery Index (KBI), released by Transparency International-Kenya (TI-K).

Kenya stands to lose a nature-based economic asset worth over US $300 million alone to the tea, tourism and energy sectors if the forest of the Mau Complex continues to be degraded and destroyed, the UN Environment Programme has said. The Prime Minister of Kenya, Raila Odinga, announced this week that the Kenyan government is taking steps to combat the destruction of the largest forest ecosystem in Kenya.

Only 15% of Kenyan tax money goes into the Kenyan Development Budget; a country where 80% of the population is poor by United Nations standards.

For Kenya's police force--struggling to keep the peace in a nation traumatized by post-election violence that tore open ethnic fault lines--a handful of middle-aged mothers from the slums of Nairobi make a strange sort of target. "We are Kenya's four most wanted," said a 43-year-old woman who sells traditional wrap skirts for a living. She called herself Mary, saying the police would come for her if she gave her real name.

An HIV-positive former waitress has won a precedent-setting case in the Kenyan High Court, after suing her doctor for unlawful disclosure of her HIV status and her employers for dismissing her based on that information. The case is remarkable because Kenya's constitution does not specifically prohibit HIV-related discrimination.

The Launch of the Gender-Based Violence Recovery Centre by Kenyatta National Hospital and other stakeholders is a milestone for Kenyan women who have been suffering silently without knowing where to seek suport and treatment after sexual violation. The establishment of the centre is very unique, as it is the first of its kind that offers a comprehensive approach to the management of women and girls who have been sexually violated.

African Lens,The Story of Priya Ramrakha commemorates the work of a remarkable photographer who defined his career by embracing the people and events of Africa as a personal subject. One of Africa's first international photojournalists, Ramrakha traveled the continent, documenting the lives of ordinary people for the world press.

Kenyan environmentalists have told the BBC that the government should revoke a decision to allow a controversial biofuels project to go ahead. The project involves growing sugarcane for biofuels in coastal wetlands.

Kamlesh Pattni, the architect of the Goldenberg scandal, and 16 accomplices were given immunity from pursuit by the Kenya Anti Corruption Commission and the Central Bank of Kenya on April 9th 2008. The settlement agreement was registered in court on the same day by the Assistant Director of the KACC, Fatuma Sichale, and it was stated that the settlement was pursuant to section 56B of the Anti Corruption and Economic Crimes Act. The trouble is; there is no section 56B of the Anti Corruption and Economic Crimes Act.

Finally the nomination process in the search for Kenyan heroes has been launched. The debut nomination form was published in The Daily Nation on 4th July 2008 and in Taifa Leo on the same day. You can also nominate your Kenyan hero.

We demand the unconditional release of our patriotic colleagues in the civil society who were brutally manhandled and arrested this morning as they exercised their constitutional rights to demand the resignation of Amos Kimunya as Finance Minister.

Their right to freedom of peaceable assembly was brutally violated by members of the Kenya Police. We demand their unconditional release for they have committed no crime. The Police officers who directed the assault on Ann Njogu and her colleagues must be subjected to appropriate discipline by the Commissioner of Police.

Kenya is not a Police State and Kenyans will not surrender their constitutional freedoms or their right to complain against wrongdoing, or to speak against grand corruption and impunity.

The arrested members of the civil society must be released. In any event the man they were protesting against, former Finance Minister Amos Kimunya has resigned his office and stepped aside to facilitate investigations into the subject matter of the protest of civil society.

In the spirit of a transparent enquiry into the role played by numerous public officers and institutions in the grand corruption saga that is the Grand Regency Hotel ‘handover’ and sale, it is morally and legally right that no one should be punished for speaking out for the Kenyan people in their time of need.

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Prices of food in Kenya, which have already risen by 50 percent since the start of 2008, could increase further following a new government regulation, a consumer watch group has warned. From October, all food products sold in Kenya will have to bear an approval mark from the country’s bureau of standards (KEBS), which will charge a fee for this service.

With the revelations that the Director General of Kenya Anti Corruption Commission Mr. Aaron Ringera, the Governor of Central Bank Mr. Njuguna Ndungu and the Finance Minister Mr. Amos Kimunya have conspired to sell Grand Regency Hotel to the Libyan Government, all that Kenyans can do is to immediately boycott doing business with Grand Regency Hotel immediately.

On Wednesday 11 June, some participants from the Get Organised for Human Rights programme were take to Dam Village, Kangemi, Nairobi. There they met and learned from the Dam Village community about the destruction of the village. On 9 May 2008, in the middle of the night, a demolition force entered the village, and without any warning, forced people out of their homes, destroyed community buildings and homes, thus rendering 300 women, children and men homeless. “We need your solidarity” said Mr Stephen Shipanzi, Chairman of Dam Village.

The Kenya government has commenced a profiling assessment exercise of the post 2007 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Molo district. The exercise was launched on June 5, 2008 at Mkulima primary school in Kuresoi division, Molo district and was expected to end on 3rd July 2008.

"We hurriedly buried the seven in the shallow grave and fled due to fears of attacks," explained Joseph Mwangi Macharia as armed police accompanying him went through the motions of evacuating the cattle farmer’s entire family, all victims of post-election violence in Kenya.

The Africa Research and Resource Forum, The Kenya Human rights Commission and Fahamu invite you to a Public Forum

FOREST FOR THE TREES: TRADE, INVESTMENT AND THE CHINA-IN-AFRICA DISCOURSE

PANELISTS

Barry Sautman, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology
Yan Hairong, Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Dr. Musambayi Katumanga- University of Nairobi

Moderator:
Wangeci Chege, Kenya Human Rights Institute (KHRI)

DATE:
Wednesday 2nd July 2008

TIME:
4.00 P.M. – 6.30 P.M.

VENUE:
HILTON HOTEL, NAIROBI

ENTRANCE FREE

For more information kindly contact the undersigned at [email][email protected], [email][email protected], or [email][email protected]

A substudy of the randomised controlled trial (RCT) of male circumcision as an HIV prevention method in Kisumu, Kenya has found that there were virtually no differences in risk behaviour or in STI infections between circumcised and uncircumcised men. The trial also found that risk behaviour and STI infection decreased substantially amongst both intervention and control groups during the study.