All posts by Dan Owino

Chief Administrative Secretary Hon. Rachel Shebesh on Thursday 20th presided over the handing over of food and non food donations to widows under the Come Together Widows and Orphan Organization (CTWOO) to cushion them during the Covid-19 global pandemic period.

In her address at the National Youth Service (NYS) headquarters, Nairobi, Hon. Shebesh called upon women in leadership positions and other well wishers to support and empower widows who often face a myriad of challenges.

The Chief Administrative Secretary also said that Government should support widows in acquiring and payment of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF).

Hon Shebesh called on the widows to form groups and apply for Affirmative Action Funds namely Uwezo, Women Enterprise Fund and Youth Enterprise Development Fund for their economic empowerment.

The Founder of Come Together Widows and Orphans Organization, Dianah Kamande, noted that there has been an increase in the number of widows during Covid-19 Pandemic and majority of the widows have lost their sources of income owing to the measure put in place to contain the spread of Corona Virus.

She requested the government to protect widows especially those whose husbands have died as result of Covid-19 pandemic.

Donations handed over from UNFPA, KEPSA, NYS, NGAAF, UWEZO, Manu Chandaria Foundation and Crawn Trust included sanitizers, masks, buckets, bar soaps, cooking fat, rice, beans and lessos among others.

Accompanying Hon. Shebesh were Deputy Governor Kiambu County, H.E Joyce Ngugi, CEO UWEZO Fund, Peter Lengapiani, NGAAF CEO, Titus Lotee, Director NYS, Matilda Sakwa, Gladys Mugambi from Ministry of Health, Gloria Ndekei from KEPSA and Daisy Amdany from Crawn Trust.

Principal Secretary for Public Service, Mrs. Mary Kimonye on Wednesday 19^th visited Kajiado Central and Kajiado West Huduma Centres to inspect the measures that have been put in place to ensure the safety of citizens and staff as services resume in all centres across the country.

The Principal Secretary said fumigation of Huduma Centres is being carried out on need basis which included Huduma Centres in Nairobi area where they handle large number of clients per day and few reported cases of Covid-19.

“We have now introduced a special ‘service by appointment’ that will allow clients to book for appointment and this will minimize exposure at the Huduma Centre. It will improve safety of our staff and clients as we tackle COVID-19 pandemic,” said Mrs. Kimonye.

She said the re-organization of GPO Huduma Centre was necessary to ensure adherence to the Ministry of Health guidelines due to heavy traffic being handled on daily basis.

However, she pointed out that there are over 180,000 uncollected Identity Cards and 60,000 Birth Certificates in the Huduma Centres across the country and members of the public need to collect their important documents.

Mrs. Kimonye noted that plans were underway to partner with the local administrators to mobilize distribution of the IDs and Birth Certificates to reach the respective owners without compromising on the safety.

While on her inspection tour she received donations of 1000 bottles of sanitizers and 2000 surgical face masks from the National Oil Corporation of Kenya through the National Oil CEO, Mr. Leparan Ole Morintat.

She was joined by Huduma Kenya Secretariat CEO, Mr. James Buyekane, Kajiado County Commissioner, Mr. Joshua Nkanatha and Kajiado West Member of Parliament Hon. George Sunkuiya among other Government Officials.

Cabinet Secretary, Prof. Margaret Kobia today presided over the virtual signing of financial year 2020/2021 Performance Contract by the Ministry’s Principal Secretaries and respective Chairpersons of the State Corporations under Public Service and Gender.

While speaking during the virtual meeting, the Cabinet Secretary noted that, the Performance Contracts signed by the state officers will accord them and their management an opportunity to implement the performance targets that are aligned to the development agenda for both the Ministry and National Government.

Adding that the Performance Contract is a tool of management that enhances accountability for results against resources that have been entrusted to the Principal Secretaries and their respective departments and corporations.’’ The tool will not only be instrumental in supporting evidence-based decision-making but also will also be used to hold you to account for your actions.”

Prof. Kobia acknowledged the unprecedented environment that Covid-19 has placed the economy under, noting that service delivery has been affected by the pandemic.

“The global pandemic has affected service delivery in all sectors of the economy. Some sectors have closed down while others are re-opening amidst strict health containment protocols,” she said.

However, she called upon those in public service to be innovative enough to sustain service delivery so that service delivery is not considerably affected to a level of complete halt.

She urged the Chairpersons of various State Corporations and management to put in place service delivery innovations that are coupled with COVID -19 recovery strategies and plans.

Prof. Kobia lauded the Ministry for developing an on-line Government Performance Contract Information System that has been rolled out to various Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies.

The Cabinet Secretary reiterated the President’s emphasis on the need to ensure completion of already existing projects before embarking on new ones. She, therefore, urged the Ministry Departments and Agencies to use the President’s emphasis as a guide to implementation of the projects they have committed to this financial year.

“I will be keen on ensuring that this directive is followed in your respective State Corporations,” she said.

In her remarks the Chief Administrative Secretary, Hon. Rachel Shebesh, commended the job done by the Semi-Autonomous Government Agencies satisfaction under their watch.

“I am proud to report that in many cases; our SAGAs are doing an excellent job in serving our citizens,’’ she said.

The virtual meeting was attended by Principal Secretaries Mrs. Mary Kimonye and Prof. Collete Suda, Chairpersons, Directors, Director Generals and Chief Executive Officers of Ministry’s State Corporations.

Chief Administrative Secretary Hon. Rachel Shebesh on Thursday 13th August, commended stakeholders working in women empowerment sector in West Pokot County for their role in mitigating Gender Based Violence.

Hon. Shebesh lauded the GBV program by World Vision in West Pokot county when she visited the Child Protection Unit at Kapenguria police station which is being supported by the Non-Governmental Organization.

The unit is acting as a safe house for young girls rescued from early marriages and Female Genital Mutilation in the County. West Pokot is among the 22 hotspot Counties where FGM is practiced.

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The Chief Administrative Secretary called on other state and non-state agencies to emulate the effort made by World Vision by coming on board to complement Government effort towards ensuring Gender Based Violence is minimized.

Addressing Chiefs and Assistant Chiefs Hon. Shebesh reminded them that as the leaders on the ground, they carry the onus of implementing the Presidents Directive of ending FGM by 2022.

“It’s your role to ensure that no Female Genital Mutilation takes place within your jurisdiction; the law is clear and we must enforce it to ensure that we protect our girls from the vice.” said Hon. Shebesh.

West Pokot County Governor, H.E Prof. John Lonyangapuo who had earlier hosted Hon. Shebesh to discuss possible areas of collaboration between the Ministry of Public Service and Gender and the County Government said that he fully supports the President’s Directive and pledged his support towards working with Anti-FGM board to ensure that FGM is eradicated in West Pokot by 2022.

The Chief Administrative Secretary Inspected the Children Protection Unit at Kapenguria police station and also presided over Women Enterprise Fund cheques issuance worth over Ksh 6 Million to various groups in West Pokot County.

Hon. Shebesh was accompanied by the County Commissioner, Mr. Apollo Okello, County Women Representative Hon. Lilian Tomitom, and Anti-FGM Board Chairperson Mrs Agnes Pareyio among other National and County officials.

The Ministry of Public Service and Gender in partnership with UN Women, Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis, UNICEF and UNDP, on Monday 10th August, virtually launched the Women’s Empowerment Report and the Comprehensive Poverty Report.

Cabinet Secretary, Prof. Margaret Kobia who attended the virtual launch commended the progress that has been made in achieving gender equality and women empowerment through the development of policies and legislative frameworks. She noted that attaining gender equality is a slow process that includes changing cultural practices and value systems. “It takes a lot more than changes in law or policy to incorporate adjustments at the individual, family, community and even at national levels,” she said.

Prof. Kobia acknowledged that despite the innumerable interventions geared towards achieving gender equality and empowerment of women, Kenya still lags behind many countries even within Sub-Sahara Africa. “According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report (GGGR), 2020, Kenya is ranked 109 out of the 153 countries scoring an index of 0.671,” she said.

WEI provides a comprehensive and systematic measure for women and girl’s empowerment that will provide meaningful opportunities for positive change and enable women and girls to access and take control of productive assets. It will facilitate financial inclusion for women and girls and enable them to build sustainable livelihoods. The indices will provide sound gender statistics, representing a turning point in the women’s empowerment agenda in Kenya.

The Ministry will focus on realising the recommendations of the report through the following:

1. Improved quality, availability and representativeness of data;
2. Improved advocacy on the use of the Women’s Empowerment Index to inform laws, policies and resources allocation towards gender equality and women’s empowerment;
3. Enhancing coordination of all relevant stakeholders and partners to increase demand and utilization of gender statistics; and
4. Strengthening timeliness for gender data production and its integration in reporting on achievements.

The Comprehensive Poverty Report was also launched during the virtual exercise. This report measured multidimensional poverty among children, youths, adult women and men, and the elderly in Kenya; studied the relationship between monetary and multidimensional poverty; and identified factors associated with poverty among children, youths and women. The report also identified the most vulnerable population groups that are both multidimensional and monetary poor, and shed light into geographical inequalities with realisation of rights and fulfillment of basic needs.

The virtual event was attended by Hon. (Amb.) Ukur Yatani, Cabinet Secretary, the National Treasury and Planning; Hon. Eugene Wamalwa, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Devolution and ASALS; H.E. (Hon.) Wycliffe Ambetsa Oparanya, Chairman Council of Governors; Prof. Colleta A. Suda, Principal Secretary, State Department for Gender; Mr. Saitoti Torome; Principal Secretary, State Department for Planning, Dr. Siddharth Chatterjee, United Nations Resident Coordinator; Ms. Mniza Zaman, UNICEF Representative; and Ms. Anna Mutavati, UN Women Representative.

Cabinet Secretary, Prof. Margaret Kobia was today hosted by her cabinet colleague for ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs Mr. Joe Mucheru as she presided over the virtual launch of the National Youth Week 2020 in Ongata Rongai, Kajiado County.

In her remarks, Prof. Kobia commended Mr. Mucheru and his team for planning various week-long activities despite the prevailing COVID-19 challenges, to recognise the role of young people’s creativity, talent, resilience, innovation and energy in developing the nation.

Prof. Kobia pointed out that this year’s theme for International Youth Day which is “Youth Engagement for Global Action” is a call of action to consider the positive effects on the inclusion of youth in all spheres of life and to maximize their full potential locally and globally.

“The role played by the youth during Covid-19 pandemic in crafting and communicating credible public health information enhances trust in public institutions among their peers and younger Kenyans,” said the Cabinet Secretary.

She challenged the youth to take responsibility of their lives and destiny in today’s very competitive global environment as the government and private sector continue to provide diverse opportunities for their advantage.

Prof. Kobia also commended H.E. President Uhuru Kenyatta for appointing seven young Chief Administrative Secretaries serving in various ministries noting that the appointments had placed young people at the core of Government’s decision making.

She lauded the youth-led community conversation dubbed ‘KIKAO’ noting that the platform has involved over 4,000 youth in the past one year in establishing instrumental networks for entrepreneurship initiatives and disseminating information on various topics.

The opportunities include: Affirmative Action Funds i.e. WEF, YEDF, UWEZO and NGAAF; AGPO, training opportunities under Ajira Digital and KYEOP among other initiatives.

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The week-long activities will include the launch of the Kenya Youth Development Policy 2019, the launch of Generation Unlimited Report (education, training and entrepreneurship) and the launch of Top 35 under 35 initiative.

Present at the virtual launch were: Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Forestry, Mr. Keriako Tobiko; Governor of Kajiado County, Hon. Joseph Ole Lenku; and Principal Secretary Youth Affairs, Mr. Julius Korir among other distinguished guests and government officials.

Uwezo Fund, established in 2012 and operationalized through the Public Finance Management (Uwezo Fund), Regulations, 2014 on Wednesday, 5^th August virtually launched its five year Strategic Plan 2019-2023.

In her remarks during the launch, Cabinet Secretary Prof Margaret Kobia, who was represented by the Chief Administrative Secretary Hon. Rachel Shebesh, said that the Fund has laid a foundation on which it can now develop and grow further to reach more deserving Kenyans.

”The development of this Strategic Plan will provide a coherent and systematic roadmap to guide the implementation of the Fund’s program and activities in the next five years 2019- 2023. “ said Prof. Kobia.

To date the Fund has so far disbursed Kshs. 6,499,650,005 to 290 Constituencies as loan fund for lending to groups. A total of Kshs. 6,220,408,660 has been loaned to 67,241 groups (42,307 women, 22,993 youth and 1,941 PWDs) country wide.

On her part, Principal Secretary, Prof. Collette Suda said the Fund was purposely established to support the most vulnerable including Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities (PWDs).

She urged the Board to leverage on technology during Covid-19 pandemic and beyond in fulfilling its mandate to empower the vulnerable groups and improve the livelihoods in every Constituency.

“The groups who have been able to repay their loans on time should be allowed to access another batch of loans within a shorter period of time,” said the PS.

Present during the virtual launch was Prof. Losenge Turoop Chairperson, Uwezo Fund Oversight Board, Peter Lengapiani, CEO Uwezo Fund Secretariat, Hon. Peter Mwathi – Chair of National Assembly Committee for Labor and Social Protection, Hon. Alice Wahome – Chair for Kenya Parliamentary Women Caucus, Hon. Abdul Rahim – North Imenti Constituency M.P., Hon. Dr. James Murgor – Keiyo North Constituency M.P. Mrs. Mary Kimonye – Principal Secretary, State Department for Public Service among others

Chief Administrative Secretary Hon. Rachel Shebesh on Monday 20th held community barazas engaging women and elders of three villages that had been identified as hot spots for Female Genital Mutilation in Taita Taveta County namely; Mata, Kimala and Bura Ndogo.

This meetings were convened as a result of the issues that had emerged of a new trend that targets young girls as young as a week old baby girl being subjected to the harmful practice of FGM.

In her address to the residents, Hon. Rachel Shebesh affirmed that the law is clear and amplifies punitive obligations on violators. She reiterated that, all administrators and stakeholders have an obligation to ensure that the perpetrators of FGM are brought to book.

Taita Taveta County has an FGM prevalence rate of 22% among the 22 Hotspot counties where the vice is being practiced. Worrying has been the trend on the acts aforementioned.

“Female Genital Mutilation and any other form of Gender Based Violence can no longer be tolerated this time round, we must concentrate on empowering our girls by educating them. FGM must stop and the time is now,” said Hon. Shebesh.

The CAS also presented dignity kits donated by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to several girls during the barazas to sustain them during the COVID-19 period.

During her visit, Hon. Shebesh made stop overs to inspect the ongoing Kazi Mtaani programme at Voi Airstrip and Taveta town where she called on the young people under the programme to make good use of the earnings for their economic empowerment.

The CAS was accompanied by Taita Taveta Women Representative Hon. Lydia Haika, former Governor, H.E Samwel Mruttu, Anti-FGM Chairperson Agnes Pareiyo among other National and County officials.

Cabinet Secretary Prof Margaret Kobia today welcomed the Professional Criminologists Association of Kenya into the coalition of organizations that have been implementing programs to fight Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) in the country.

The criminologists’ association brings together professional practitioners who assist in the detection, prevention, and investigation of criminal activities in the country, under the clarion call “Crime must Fall”. Prof Kobia welcomed the association into the fold as she officially launched the Association’s Report on SGBV during the Covid-19 pandemic period titled “Trapped within a lockdown: Understanding Sexual and gender Based Violence During the Covid-19 Period.” The association commissioned the research following His Excellency the President’s call for focused research to inform and address the escalation of SGBV in the country in the recent past.

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Professor Kobia noted that the report would not only inform mitigation measures during the Covid-19 pandemic but would also contribute to the general body of knowledge on the causes and effects of SGBV, which would benefit future programs. She commended the association for taking a front seat and being proactive in the fight against SGBV.

Noting the importance of research in informing policies and programs, the Cabinet Secretary called for studies to inform best practices in mitigation, noting that counties such as Isiolo, Tharaka Nithi and Marsabit had recorded low numbers of SGBV. She called on researchers to commission studies on SGBV forms that affect the boy child noting that studies had shown the boy child equally suffered from SGBV. “Our programs to assist and protect the girl child should not leave out the boy child who suffers in a similar manner. Our mitigation programs must not be counter-productive,” she noted.

The Cabinet Secretary also welcomed KIRK Television into the coalition of SGBV fighters and praised them for producing and broadcasting programs that sensitize communities on the negative effects of SGBV. Prof Kobia at the same time asked communities to dialogue and provide community-based solutions to the SGBV problem noting that communal action is needed to return social morality to a society that seems to have slid away from the wishes of God. She noted that the multi-dimensional basis of the problem called for multipronged solutions that address significant factors such as education, customs, beliefs, and socio-economic empowerment of SGBV survivors.

Present at the launch was the Deputy Inspector General of National Police Service Mr Edward Mbugwa, PCAK Association legal advisor Gitobu Imanyara, Gender Secretary Ms Faith Kasiva and Anti FGM Board CEO Bernadette Loloju. The Cabinet Secretary also welcomed Ms Caroline Chepkorir Tegeret the first female lawyer from the Ogiek community, who is a member of PCAK and has committed to serve as an advocate of the FGM campaign in the Ogiek community.

Chief Administrative Secretary Hon. Rachel Shebesh on Thursday 16th July, carried out an inspection tour of the recently launched Phase two of the “ Kazi Mtaani” project in Mombasa County. The National Government project which is meant to engage jobless youth across the country in income-generating activities has seen more than 200,000 youth enrolled into the programme.

The National Youth Service, a state agency under the Ministry of Public Service and Gender is tasked with supervising the programme across the country.

The CAS carried out inspection visits at Ziwa la Ng’ombe in Nyali, Kaa Chonjo in Mvita and Bangladesh in Jomvu. She called on the youth to make proper use of the earnings for their economic empowerment.

Hon. Shebesh also held a meeting with Mombasa County Government officers led by the Deputy Governor H.E Dr.William Kingi to deliberate on Ministry projects within Mombasa County and other possible areas of collaboration between the Ministry and the County Government of Mombasa before presenting Affirmative Funds cheques namely Uwezo Fund, Women Enterprise Fund and National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF) worth over Ksh 32 Million to various youth, women and People Living with Disability groups in Mombasa County.

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Thereafter, the CAS presented dignity kits donated by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to school going girls drawn from Kisauni Sub County, Mombasa.

Speaking to the girls, Hon. Shebesh urged them to be vigilant and report any person who tries to lure them into sexual activity.

The dignity kits consist of sanitary pads, soap, underpants among other items meant to sustain the girls during the Covid 19 period.

The CAS was accompanied by Mombasa County Women Representative, Hon. Asha Hussein among other officials.