Busy week didn’t give you time to catch up with all of the interesting news items? Relax, HerBusiness will be summarizing all these things that made the news every week.
Government to pay coffee farmers
Regulator, Coffee Directorate recently piloted the program to pay coffee farmers on a monthly basis, in Meru. Instead of waiting 6-months for sale to be made, farmers will now get pay from Co-op bank with county governments acting as guarantors. The monthly pay will be computed from past records and actual deliveries by coffee farmers. This is one of the initiatives to resuscitate coffee farming in Kenya.
Dandora power plant
Nairobi’s efforts to set up a waste-to-energy plant were thwarted in 2016 over disagreements between the German investor and the County Government. Contention was over guarantees of subsidy, waste collection and 15 hectares of land. The newly elected Government has now secured a title deed and is, actually, closing invitation for the sh.20 billion tender on 19th April, 2018. The plant will use waste to generate 160 MW of electricity according to Nairobi County Government Officials. Dandora dumpsite will therefore not be relocated.
Anti-FGM
Amref and USAID are partnering in a 3-year project dubbed ‘Koota Injema‘ (come let us talk) to push further in efforts against Female Genital Mutilation. Sh.372.5 million will be committed to training communities, in Samburu and Marsabit, over dangers of FGM and in rescue efforts against it. The communities will be involved through respective clan elders. Anti-FGM Board CEO, Bernadette Lolojuu expressed positivity over work being done. She said, “We are starting to see an increase in the number of anti-FGM male activists.”
Public sector workers face retrenchment
The World Bank is at it again. It is leading calls urging Kenya to send home thousands of public sector employees at national and county levels. The country’s access to credit is now pegged on this piece of advice. World Bank wants Kenya to show ambition in reigning in on its recurrent budget by “cleaning the payroll.” We could see the 2015 golden handshake of between sh.450k and sh.750k return. Fun times.
Coming soon: single currency in East Africa
By soon, we’re talking about some 10 years. The East African Community (EAC) is heeding advice to set up strong institutions ahead of the change. East Africa Legislative Assembly is using April to come to a consensus on two bodies. One, the East Africa Monetary institute that will act as the region’s central bank. Two, the Statistics Bureau that will gather data on policy. Member states are also expected to meet macroeconomic goals on aspects like inflation and public debt by 2021.
Land reforms?
Land reforms are the first step to development since it allows agriculture to prosper. Is there any sign Kenya is headed that way? This week, Auditor-General, Edward Ouko revealed to Parliament that he has been after names of beneficiaries of Kenyatta-era resettlement schemes. The plan was to buy out colonizers and allocate to Kenyans on credit basis. But the practical idea was hijacked by short-sighted, self-centered local elites and senior civil servants. These transactions under the Agricultural Settlement Fund Trustees are worth sh.2.8 billion.
Boda boda riders to reveal identity
Boda boda riders have come together in a fight back to retain their reputation against criminals using the same means of transport. The boda boda association of Kenya will require its members to put on branded jackets with registration numbers printed on. You can log onto their website and use the number to find out details such as name, ID number and motorcycle registration.
Some 4,000 are said to have registered so far.
