By William Naggaga In 1980, African heads of State and government, meeting in Lagos Nigeria, adopted the Lagos Plan of Action to galvanise the development and integration of the continent. Negotiations for this plan took almost two years in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and I was privileged to be involved in the process as first secretary for economic affairs at Uganda’s Embassy in Addis Ababa. The embassy was accredited to the Organisation of African Unity and the UN Economic Commission for Africa – the two bodies that provided the technical back up to the negotiations. The Lagos Plan of Action…
Author: NLM writer
A report launched in Nairobi last week presented a bleak forecast regarding the country’s capacity to meet its millennium development goals and execute a socio-economic turnaround. The report, Reasonable Goals for Reducing Poverty in Africa – Targets for Post 2015 MDGs and Agenda 2063, ranks sixth among top 10 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa with large populations living in extreme poverty, and says failure to reduce poverty is threatening Kenya’s economic success. The study used the International Futures forecasting system to explore this goal and established that many African states are unlikely to make this target by 2030. In addition to the…
A cholera outbreak last month in Migori and Homa Bay counties that left scores dead has been blamed on poor sanitation. According to health officials from the two counties, most homes and eateries lack toilet and latrine facilities, and residents often relieve themselves in the bush; when it rains, the faeces are carried into rivers, hence the spread. In addition, according to health officials, residences and eateries lack running water, which has worsened an already bad hygiene problem in the two counties. Besides, there is a high prevalence of poor personal hygiene which has played a major role in the…
Heads of State of the East African Community (EAC) met last month in Nairobi for a summit where, among others, they discuss sustainable financing mechanisms for bloc’s activities. In a statement after the meeting, the Minister for EAC Affairs, Valentine Rugwabiza, said new financing mechanisms were presented as per a directive by the Summit in November 2013 that tasked the Council of Ministers to present a report on alternative financing mechanisms, including the option of one per cent of imports from outside EAC. This is one of the ways the bloc is looking to adopt to reduce overreliance on donor…
As part of its effort and commitment to improve service delivery in public service, the government introduced what are now known as “Huduma Centres” to enhance efficiency in service delivery. The first Huduma Centre was launched at the Teleposta Towers along Nairobi’ Kenyatta Avenue and more were soon launched in various centres in and around the city, as well in different towns across the country. There are plans, government says in a welcome move, to roll out as many as 20 more. At the launch of the very first one, it was lauded as a programme that would transform the…
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi flew into several Africa counties last month, including Kenya, where he lobbied for local support for Chinese construction companies. In Kenya, Wang sought backing for the standard gauge railway line, which is expected not only to cement China’s influence on the continent but also create the link required to promote trade with China. The SGR is seen as a major step towards implementing the important China-Africa consensus of building high-speed railways on the continent, Wang said in Nairobi. The initial phase of the SGR from Mombasa to Nairobi is being built by the China Road…
Last month, the Reporters Without Borders 2015 World Press Freedom Index highlighted the worldwide deterioration in freedom of information in last year. Beset by wars, the growing threat from non-state operatives, violence during demonstrations and the economic crisis, media freedom, according to the survey, is in retreat on all five continents. The report stated that there was an eight percent increase in violations of freedom of information in 180 countries polled countries and regions in 2014 in comparison to the same period last in 2013. From the jailing of Al Jazeera journalists by Egypt, the horrendous murders of some by…
Kenya’s earnings from tea exports last year dropped 15 per cent from a year earlier due to poor global prices. Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics shows that the crop, which has been Kenya’s largest foreign exchange earner, brought in Ksh85.6 billion down from Sh100 billion in 2013. More than 50 per cent of the country’s income comes from agricultural exports such as tea, coffee and horticulture, and a drop significantly affects earnings across the value chain from exporters and manufacturers to the farmer. Latest data shows that of the traditional tea varieties trading in world markets, Kenya…
The expected appointment of Joseph Kipchirchir Boinet as the new Inspector-General of Police could usher in radical changes at the National Police Service. Until his nomination by President Kenyatta in December 2014, Mr Boinet was a National Intelligence Service (NIS) Principal Intelligence Officer. Once Parliament approves his nomination, he will take over from David Kimaiyo who was forced out following a spate of terror attacks and lackluster response to insecurity. But his official appointment is expected to shake up the administration of the National Police Service, with deputy Inspector-General Grace Kaindi the likely biggest casualty. Though he cannot remove her…
The gods of vengeance, it would seem, are not about to leave a powerful Parliamentary committee chair be any time soon. This is after it emerged that a top government official, who also served under the Kibaki administration as a permanent secretary, has given the MP an ultimatum to return the “loot” he allegedly gave him concerning a financial probity case the committee was investigating. The official is understood to have given the MP about Sh5 million to doctor contents of a report touching on expenditure in the Office of the President, covering a period when he was the Permanent…
