The Aberdare Mountain Ranges, By Kamau Mbiyu

The Aberdare Mountain Ranges

The Aberdare mountain Ranges are found in Central Kenya. Spanning a length of 160km and the highest peak reaching 3994m above sea level, the ranges act as a spectacular natural tourist attraction, besides being a habitat for lots of wildlife, indigenous trees and other flora, as well as being a prime water catchment area. Several rivers have the range as their source. They start as small springs, which join up with others, to make bigger streams and rivers. Here, the water is usually very clean and absolutely unpolluted. Not even by a particle of soil.

On the western side, the lake Ol-borosat is found near its foot. The lake habours thousands of birds of diverse species. Hippos are also found here.

From a distance, the ranges have quite a lovely and scenic view. The Aberdare National Park is found on the North Western side of the ranges. The park hosts various animals most notably elephants. There is an estimated 2000 elephants in the park. They are used to visitors’ cars and one can view them closely enough.  Other wildlife found here include dikdik, bongo, warthog, waterbuck, suni, bush pig among others. Many species of birds are also found here.

There are numerous water falls which provide magnificent an breathtaking views. The slopes of the aberadres are rich with forest growth most notably bamboo and hardwoods such as camphor, cedar and podo.

The ranges are ideal for anyone who likes hill or mountain climbing. The south eastern side has a number of peaks, staring with the peak despair, buffalo, elephant and satima being the highest. From these peaks, one is treated to a beautiful view of the grounds below, and one can spot various towns from here.

There are several luxurious lodges in the Aberdare, most notably TreeTops, Outspan among others. Treetops is famous for hosting Elizabeth II when she became Queen of the United Kingdom, while on vacation to the Aberdares. The Abredares is also famous because it is where J.A. Hunter killed the Rogue elephant of Aberdare, which is published by Harper Collins. The bull elephant terrorized villagers and was known not to attack a village twice, hence difficulty in tracking it. It is also one of the places one can enjoy a hot air balloon ride in Kenya. Experience all these and more while on safari Kenya.

WRITER’S BIO

Kamau Mbiyu is a Safari and Travel consultant at Explorer Kenya Tours & Travel. Kenya Safari includes; Lodge and camping safari, hotel bookings, luxury tented tours, wildlife and bird watching, family safaris, mountain climbing and bungee jumping. Click here http://www.explorerkenya.com for more information on Safari in Kenya.

Maurice Odhiambo: Why Eldoret North MP is not fit to be president

WHY ELDORET NORTH MP IS NOT FIT TO BE PRESIDENT

Not every politician who uses democracy to get elected is a democrat. Many deeply anti-democratic politicians have abused democracy to get to the top. Such wolves in sheep’s clothing are deeply entrenched in Kenya’s political elite.

When Kanu was the sole political party, they were menacing sycophants. They denounced human rights groups as treasonous and called democracy a foreign ideology.

To them multipartism was un-African. They are opportunists who never miss an opportunity. Many are flying high harvesting the bounty of the freedom for which their victims fought. None of these converts to democracy is amazing than Eldoret north member of parliament William Ruto.

The genius of Christian faith is salvation. That is why many people believe that even those with the darkest of hearts can be redeemed. In secular logic, people are dynamic and can be transformed.

That’s why it’s difficult to irrevocably condemn someone, lock them up, and throw away the key. Not unless they are the worst of the worst. The human proclivity is to give the sinner and offender a second chance.

In my view Mr. Ruto and other anti-reform “graduates” of the Kanu regime must stay on the road to Damascus. But again we have a large body of evidence that Mr. Ruto has been unable to find the road to Damascus. That’s because he hasn’t wanted to find it.

Let my jog your mind on Mr. Rutos exploits in Kanu under president Moi which is not debatable. Ruto was Kanu’s blue eyed boy and this came when he was the organizing secretary for the notorious youth for Kanu 92 which was accused of ethnic violence against the kikuyu and other opposition groups in rift valley ahead of 1992 elections.

In 1997 Mr. Ruto was elected Eldoret north MP. His career then had a meteoric rise. At the young age of 31, he was appointed assistant minister in the office of the president. In 2002, elected Kanu’s director of elections and in quick succession Moi appointed him minister for home affairs and elected Kanu secretary general in 2002. He had a visceral hatred and disdain for reformers and human rights activists.

I will forever remember Ruto as a rabid Kanu defender even as the party disintegrated after 2002 polls. Ruto is no one’s dummy, he knew Kanu was dead and that Moi his former master was history. He then teamed up with Mr. Odinga to ‘bury’ Moi.

That’s how Ruto slew the former head of state and blew his towering legacy. Such a destructive man does not fit the bill to be president of this country in the new dispensation. I believe he is in the same mode of people like Hitler if given power can destroy a country. He must be stopped.

Mr. Ruto led the Reds, a coalition of churches and politicians, against the new constitution. He opposed accountability for the post election violence and has bitterly attacked the Kenya national human rights commission and international criminal court over his alleged role in post election violence.

Eldoret north MP should not at any moment be allowed to dine with reformers because he does not fit the bill to be president of this great nation.

 Maurice Odhiambo.

The writer is a young ambassador for world peace under United Nation

And youth federation for world peace.

Email:morriskings@gmail.com

Prof. Kamar, this is just a tip of the iceberg

Prof. Kamar, this is just a tip of the iceberg

I take time to appreciate the great work that HELB has done to poor university students. Without the higher learning lending institution, poor people like us would have not reaped from the fountains of knowledge in the university. We owe it our present status and the best present we can give to the institution is to faithfully and promptly pay back our loans, not only for sustainability of the program but also for other students to benefit.

The Higher Education minister must be commended for rising up against loan repayment dodgers. She noted that graduates must repay their loans promptly to increase access to education. She went further to reiterate that beneficiaries that default on repayment risk losing out on state jobs.

Bu I would love the good Prof. to focus more on the quality of graduates released from universities because this is the root cause of the loan defaulting. I believe that most graduates wish to promptly pay back their loans. If graduates would immediately get well paying and secure jobs immediately they graduate, repayment would not really be a problem. Most of us are dodgers simply because the little they get can not make ends meet, let alone be sliced to pay back HELB loans. How do you tell a person who has been jobless for the past seven years to promptly pay back loans?

We seem to be more focused on monetary matters. University lecturers have just gone on strike seeking salary increments. The government itself is piling pressure on jobless graduates to pay back loans. Universities are busy implementing the double intake policy yet the few stagnated resources in our universities can not cope with student numbers. Few lectures, limited lecture facilities and accommodation have continued to compromise quality education. University campuses and new universities are opened day in day out. The Kenyan Public University Education system seems extremely concerned with numbers. Quality is increasingly becoming compromised. It would be better if we even have only one university that is well equipped in capital and human resource which can produce graduates who can adapt to the job market demands.

What emphasis have we put on quality university education? Do the engineers, social scientists and health professionals who stream the market from college have the necessary technical skills to adapt to the swiftly changing job market?

How well have we moved swiftly to curb cases of exam irregularities, sexually transmitted marks and ethnicity in our learning institutions? A lot of talk and no action.

Solving loan defaulting in Kenya would be very simple of our universities would be well equipped to produce properly baked graduates who can easily get jobs that can secure them as they pay back HELB loans. This should be the major focus of the minister. In the meanwhile, let us work hard in these hardship times to heed to the minister’s call.

Chrispory Juma Ombuya,

Former student, Moi University, School of Public Health,

Resident of Oyugis town

Religion should not bar one from seeking health-care

Religion should not bar one from seeking health-care

                By Chrispory Juma Ombuya

When a couple in Kirinyaga vowed to disown its children if they are immunized against polio, measles and other diseases, it highlighted how extremist religious beliefs have continued to endanger public health. It becomes more dangerous for people who can not make independent choices, like the children.

I would not get drawn into the controversies that have surrounded vaccination from days gone but rather look at why our faith should not compromise our inherent right of access to quality health care. We have heard of cases of HIV/AIDS positive people who abandon ARV treatment to depend on faith healing and those who end up dying of curable diseases. There are those who do not seek treatments for the slightest of ailments like headaches or fevers but instead view them as signs of God’s impending punishments.

Sadly enough, most of these diseases are infectious and therefore for purposes of health of the general public. Access to quality health care is a universal human right and every government has a responsibility to provide it to its people. The people should hold their governments to account for the services they offer. It becomes a tragedy when governments have to push their people to enjoy these rights, even dragging them to court.

Religion, more-so Christianity, should be a source of hope and healing but not confusion and primitivity. There is no faith that doesn’t teach about good health. The Bible itself rates health right near the top of the list in importance. The Bible lists a number of things that man is forbidden to eat or not allowed to do for the purposes of always staying healthy.

God promises to restore our health and heal all our wounds (Jeremiah 30:17). By the grace of God then, we should seek treatment. Humans treat but God heals. Prayer healing itself alone, to me, is like the story of the proverbial potter who believes that it is God who is to get the clay and mould it for him to get the pot. Ronald Reagan once said, “God helps those who help themselves.”

Religion and science are inseparable. Albert Einstein once said, “Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.” Indeed, if you are promoting a religion that runs counter to scientific knowledge, you will have to be not only blind, but cut off from all sensory awareness to maintain it. If your religion lives in this real, material world, then it must take into account the real, material facts about this world. If there is a common understanding that a disease kills, it very moral of all people to participate in eradicating it.

 

The writer is an Environmental Health Officer based in Oyugis, Kenya.

Decisive action must be taken to avert accidental deaths

Decisive action must be taken to avert accidental deaths

The causes of death in this nation have of late become so predictable that one must not go to the hospital records to check number of deaths but just sit by the a radio to note those who have been vanquished by road carnage, fire tragedies, illegal brews or collapsed buildings. We have even forgotten the perennial killers like Malaria, HIV/AIDS and Cancer.

We must feel disappointed that we have forgotten the hunger that is ravaging most parts of the country to shift our focus to opportunistic deaths that we saw coming but couldn’t prevent just because a decision was not firmly made. Our case is so tragic that if decisive measures are not taken, productive and patriotic Kenyans will continue to uncontrollably languish.

We play the blames games amongst us and our leaders or point fingers at infectious impunity that has embedded itself at the heart of the Kenyan society but the buck stops at the implementation of the measures to prevent such deaths.

The tragedy with this nation is that while we have the laws to prevent such deaths or punish those who punish them, indecisiveness on the part of effecting the law is to blame for the massive deaths that we have faced in the recent past. Impunity must not only be looked at as failure to obey the law but also the sheer inability to effect the law fully.

Decisiveness should also be the people’s. Kenyans must learn to obey the law and regard it at all times. As Chief Justice Willy Mutunga once put it, Kenyans must be law abiding citizens as this would even help reduce the number of cases in our courts.

The stakeholders in the implementation of Public Health laws like the Local Government, Public Health Officers and Policemen must not be compromised in their mandates to protect Kenyans.

Political interests that put Kenyans’ lives at risk must be discarded and the politicians brought to book. If a politician can incite the public against Government Officers who want to demolish poorly constructed buildings and get away with it, it is a shame to the dreamed of a changed nation which we yearn to have.

As a Public Health Officer, I feel that we must be allowed to do our jobs. It is us who carry out quality controls and inspections of the things that affect our lives. We deal with buildings approvals, land and settlement management and occupational safety. We participate in the demarcation of inhabitable places due to the dangers they pose to the people. We must shun interferences that hinder our work in protecting Kenyans.

The government needs to embark on a serious awareness creation to reach the most ignorant citizens so that we create values amidst us that help us know that overloading in PSVs, sipping leaked fuel and living in landslide prone areas or dangerous spots are not only unlawful but also dangerous.

To safeguard the lives of Kenyans for posterity against these deaths, we must invest empowering them through education, employment, better housing and fighting corruption.

Chrispory Juma Ombuya

The writer is a pre-graduate student of the School of Public Health, Moi University based in Oyugis town

We must redem the integrity of Hospital

We must redem the integrity of Hospital

Over the past roughly a year, Moi Teaching and Referal Hospital has been on the spotlight for unnecessarily bad reasons. The director’s appointment saga, death threats to an assistant director, staff protests, tribalism claims, reported patient and journalists’ harassment, police intrusion at the height of the post-election violence and alleged corruption are just some of the evils that have, in a nagging insistence, plagued this beloved hospital. The sooner it puts these ghosts behind it, the better.

Having been a student of the School of Public Health, Moi University, Town Campus (brain child of Prof. Mengech who was the founding dean of the faculty of Health Sciences) for the past four years, I feel I have witnessed how expedient the hospital is to the socio-economic development of the East African region. Walking through the corridors of the hospital to class and room, I had always had reasons to believe it does not deserve all the meddling.

This Teaching and Referal Hospital is not just like any other. As a teaching hospital, it gives life to the School of Medicine (Moi University), KMTC (Eldoret), Baraton University (Nursing School) among other institutions. Due to it, Moi University’s School of Medicine attracts students from all over the world for studies and exchange programmes.

It has some of the world reknown physicians and academicians like Prof. Mengech, Prof. Ayuo, Prof. Kimaiyo, Prof. Esamai, Prof. Chemtai, amongst others. This has in turn made it a centre of medical research. A breathe of the air inside the corridors of the hospital is freshening, not just because of the beautiful short trees within it, but because of the abundance of knowledge in the offices that hang over the wards.

The former Director is the brainchild of another beacon of hope to thousands in Western Kenya and Rift-Valley, AMPATH. The Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH) is Kenya's most comprehensive initiative to combat HIV.

It is a working model of urban and rural HIV preventive and treatment services in the public sector. AMPATH cares for more than 100,000 HIV-infected adults and children, with nearly one-half of all patients on anti-retroviral drugs, and enrollment into the program rising by 2,000 patients per month.

The story of how a humble cottage hospital started in 1921 can be told in many pages. It saddens to see these events colluding to corrode its reputation. We must strongly turn from this. All stakeholders must rise to the occasion and think of how far things have come and what needs to be done to get things back to normalcy.

We can take advantage of the renewed wind of change and an inspired sense of accountable leadership to inspire people like me who believe that the scandals bedeviling this hospital can be defeated. We must admit that our politics is still young and lacking in directional leadership and stop bringing politics into the management of the hospital.

In a country where health facilities are few and the few ones are under-drugged, under-staffed and under-equipped, we have to support this beauty of an infrastructure. Billions have been invested into building this hospital and donors have shown commitment to increasingly support it. The ghosts are not good signals at all!

The people who this hospital has helped in any way must think of how to make it better. It is no one’s, no community’s and no group’s hospital. It has proven to be the hospital of the world. The world is looking upon us as Kenyans, to clear it of any taint. Let us not disappoint.  

Chrispory Juma Ombuya,

(Final-year student of BSc. Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Moi University)

Chrisjuma1@yahoo.com