Category Archives: Kenya

Africa sees sharp rise in road traffic deaths as motorbike taxis boom

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Fatalities rose by 17% in a decade on the continent, despite falling globally, with campaigners calling for stricter safety standards on motorcycle helmets

The number of people who died in traffic incidents in Africa rose by 17% in the past decade, despite global road traffic deaths falling by 5%, according to the World Health Organization.

The Road Safety report found that nearly one in five fatal traffic incidents across the world occurred in Africa. “Part of the reason for increased fatalities in Africa is the increase in the number of vehicles on the roads,” said Nhan Tran, leader of WHO’s safety and mobility unit and the lead author of the report. “People who were not able to afford a vehicle 10 or 20 years ago can now buy one. Africa has seen a big increase in motorisation, but the infrastructure to facilitate it is not there.”

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‘As a parent, I lost hope for justice’: family seeking answers over death of man on Del Monte farm

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Kenyan parents of Peter Mutuku Mutisya claim his neck had marks like he had been strangled. No injuries were recorded on the official report

When Peter Mutuku Mutisya’s body was found floating in a dam on Del Monte’s farm in Kenya last month his family and friends had already been searching for days.

Mutisya, 25, worked as a chemical sprayer at the neighbouring farm and was relied on by his relatives, to whom he would offer lifts on his prized motorbike.

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Human rights groups investigate death at Kenyan Del Monte pineapple farm

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Exclusive: Inquiry comes after discovery of body of Peter Mutuku Mutisya, 25, in a dam on the plantation

Human rights groups are investigating a death at a Del Monte pineapple farm in Kenya after a man’s body was found in a dam there last month.

The body of Peter Mutuku Mutisya, 25, was discovered floating in the dam on Del Monte’s plantation near Thika on 17 November, four days after friends said he had gone there to steal pineapples.

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World Bank accused of ‘turning blind eye’ to sexual abuse in Kenyan schools it funded

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Calls grow for independent inquiry after the bank’s internal watchdog found 21 cases of child sexual abuse by teaching staff

The World Bank has been accused of failing to prevent child abuse at a school chain it funded in Kenya.

The bank’s internal watchdog, the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), found that the bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) had failed to satisfy its own environmental and social requirements before it started funding Bridge International Academies in 2014, and during its supervision of its investment in the project, which came to an end last year.

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British soldier, 32, dies while off duty in Kenya

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UK defence secretary, Grant Shapps, leads tributes to Maj Kevin McCool saying his death is ‘tragic loss’

A British soldier has died while off duty in Kenya, the Ministry of Defence has said.

Maj Kevin McCool, 32, was reportedly on a motorcycle trip off base when he was attacked. The MoD said he died on 29 November but that it would not be releasing any more details. His next of kin have been informed.

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‘A biodiversity catastrophe’: how the world could look in 2050 – unless we act now

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The climate crisis, invasive species, overexploitation of resources and pollution could break down crucial ecosystems. We asked experts to lay out the risks and offer some solutions

The continued destruction of nature across the planet will result in major shocks to food supplies and safe water, the disappearance of unique species and the loss of landscapes central to human culture and leisure by the middle of this century, experts have warned.

By 2050, if humanity does not follow through on commitments to tackle the five main drivers of nature loss critical natural systems could break down just as the human population is projected to peak.

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Australian Christian group fights claim it was linked to leader of Kenya starvation massacre doomsday cult

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Kenyan parliamentary committee report finds Paul Mackenzie, held responsible for more than 400 deaths, was ‘influenced’ by Australians Dave and Cherry McKay, which they vehemently deny

A Christian doomsday cult responsible for the deaths of more than 400 people from starvation and beatings in Kenya was influenced by an Australian religious group, a parliamentary committee report in the east African nation has found.

The report into the Shakahola massacre, tabled in the Kenyan Senate on 19 October, found that the accused leader of the group, Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, “was influenced by Dave Mackay and Sherry Mackay [Dave and Cherry McKay] from Australia who are founders of a cult movement known as the Voice in the Desert”.

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Countries meet in Kenya to thrash out global plastic pollution treaty

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Delegates in Nairobi for talks in what experts say could be most important multilateral treaty since Paris accord

• The godfather of microplastics on how to stop them

Government delegations will gather in Nairobi, Kenya, to hammer out details of what could be the first global treaty to tackle the plastic pollution crisis.

A key focus for the discussions on Monday will be whether targets to restrict plastic production should be decided unilaterally or whether states should choose their own targets; this is, say environmentalists, the “centre of gravity” for the treaty’s ambition.

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‘We are living in absolute fear’: call to stop Indigenous evictions in Rift Valley

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Human rights groups demand Kenyan government halt forced evictions of Ogiek community from Mau forest

Human rights groups are calling for the Kenyan government to halt forced evictions of the Indigenous Ogiek community from their ancestral land in the Rift Valley.

“We are calling for an immediate cessation of ongoing demolitions and the evictions,” said Cyrus Maweu, deputy director of Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR).

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Plastic waste ‘spiralling out of control’ across Africa, analysis shows

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Predicted 116m tonnes of waste annually by 2060 is six times higher than in 2019, driven by demand in sub-Saharan Africa

Plastic waste is “spiralling out of control” across Africa, where it is growing faster than any other region, new analysis has shown.

At current levels, enough plastic waste to cover a football pitch is openly dumped or burned in sub-Saharan Africa every minute, according to the charity Tearfund.

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Kenya makes 13 November nationwide tree planting day a public holiday

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Move announced by interior minister is part of ambitious Kenyan plan to plant 15bn trees by 2032

The Kenyan government has announced a surprise public holiday on 13 November for a nationwide tree planting day, part of its ambitious plan to plant 15bn trees by 2032

The interior minister, Kithure Kindiki, made the announcement via an official notice posted to social media.

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Kenya manufacturer is first in Africa to get WHO approval for malaria drug

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Pre-qualification seen as significant step towards self-sufficiency in healthcare in continent where more than 70% of drugs are imported

A Kenyan pharmaceutical company, Universal Corporation Limited, has become the first manufacturer in Africa to receive World Health Organization (WHO) approval to produce a lifesaving malaria drug.

The antimalarial drug, sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine plus amodiaquine (Spaq), is frequently used to prevent seasonal malaria in children during months of peak transmission periods such as rainy seasons. Previously, demand for drugs such as Spaq in Africa has been met through the importation of generic versions of the medicine from India and China.

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Allegations of extensive sexual abuse at Kenyan offsetting project used by Shell and Netflix

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NGOs report allegations of abuse and harassment at Kasigau Corridor conservation project in southern Kenya over 12 years

Male staff at a leading Kenyan carbon-offsetting project used by Netflix, Shell and other large companies have been accused of extensive sexual abuse and harassment over more than a decade, following an investigation by two NGOs.

The Kasigau Corridor conservation project in southern Kenya, operated by the California-based firm Wildlife Works, generates carbon credits by protecting dryland forests at risk of being destroyed in key elephant, lion and wildlife habitats west of Mombasa. The scheme was the first ever forest protection scheme approved by Verra, the world’s leading certifier of carbon offsets, and has also been accredited for its biodiversity and community benefits, probably generating millions of dollars in revenue in carbon-credit sales.

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China ‘world’s biggest debt collector’ as poorer nations struggle with its loans

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Country, estimated to be owed up to $1.5trn, is increasing penalties for late payments and cutting back on infrastructure projects

China has become the world’s biggest debt collector, as the money it is owed from developing countries has surged to between $1.1tn (£889bn) and $1.5tn, according to a new report. An estimated 80% of China’s overseas lending portfolio in the global south is now supporting countries in financial distress.

Since 2017, China has been the world’s biggest bilateral lender; its main development banks issued nearly $500bn between 2008 and 2021. While some of this predates the belt and road initiative (BRI), Beijing’s flagship development programme has mobilised much of the investment in developing countries.

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King Charles’s ‘deep regret’ for colonial atrocities was a ‘miss’, Kenyans say

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Rights groups repeat calls for apology while President William Ruto says ‘much remains to be done to achieve full reparations’

King Charles’s expression of “greatest sorrow and deepest regret” over colonial atrocities committed by British forces in Kenya has been criticised as a “miss” in the east African country.

Reactions to the king’s statement were mixed, with the president, William Ruto, diplomatically welcoming Charles’s “courage and readiness to shed light on uncomfortable truths that reside in the darker regions of our shared experience”, but calling Britain’s colonial suppression of Kenya’s freedom movement “monstrous in its cruelty”.

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King Charles stops short of apology for ‘abhorrent’ colonial violence in Kenya

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Visiting monarch speaks of sorrow and deepest regret for past ‘wrongdoings’ under British rule

King Charles has spoken of Britain’s “abhorrent and unjustifiable acts of violence” committed against Kenyans during their fight for independence, but stopped short of an apology despite human rights groups demanding one.

The monarch made the comments in a speech, delivered during a banquet in Kenya held in his honour, in which he referred to the “greatest sorrow” and “deepest regret” for the “wrongdoings” of the past.

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King Charles asked for ‘unequivocal apology’ by Kenya’s rights commission

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King urged to offer apology while in Kenya for UK’s ‘brutal and inhuman treatment’ during the Mau Mau uprising in the 1950s

The Kenya Human Rights Commission has called on King Charles to offer an “unequivocal public apology” for colonial abuses, during his visit to the country this week.

“We call upon the king, on behalf of the British government, to issue an unconditional and unequivocal public apology (as opposed to the very cautious, self-preserving and protective statements of regrets) for the brutal and inhuman treatment inflicted on Kenyan citizens,” the KHRC said.

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Kenya to scrap visas for all African nationals

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President William Ruto says change aims to boost trade and allow goods, services, people and ideas to move freely across continent

Visas to visit Kenya are to be scrapped for other African nationals from next year as part of a movement towards opening up trade and travel within the continent.

“By the end of this year, no African will be required to have a visa to come to Kenya,” Kenya’s president, William Ruto, said at a climate change conference in Congo-Brazzaville.

Costly and time-consuming visa requirements, as well as high air fares, have long created barriers to inter-African travel for African passport holders; 32 out of 54 African countries still require the nationals of half or more countries on the continent to obtain a visa.

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Meta’s settlement talks with Kenyan content moderators break down

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Facebook parent company and two subcontractors face court hearing over unfair dismissal allegations

Settlement talks have collapsed between Facebook’s parent company, Meta, and Kenyan content moderators over a lawsuit alleging unfair dismissal, a tech rights group working with the plaintiffs has said.

The 184 moderators sued Meta and two subcontractors earlier this year after they allegedly lost their jobs with one of the subcontractors, Sama, for organising a union. They say they were then blacklisted from applying for the same roles at a second firm, Majorel, after Facebook changed contractors.

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King Charles to acknowledge ‘painful’ colonial past on state visit to Kenya

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Monarch’s recognition will come as country prepares to celebrate 60 years of independence from Britain

King Charles will acknowledge the “painful aspects” of Britain’s past actions in Kenya during a state visit later this month.

The visit follows an invitation from the country’s president, William Ruto, whose country will celebrate the 60th anniversary of its independence from Britain on 12 December. The two countries have enjoyed a close relationship in recent years despite the violent colonial legacy of an uprising in the early 1950s, which led to a period known as “the emergency”, which ran from 1952 until 1960.

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