The heavy rainfall curse.

By Sherleen Maina

A flooded region in Isiolo

Heavy rainfall has displaced thousands of people and left hundreds of animals in Kenya’s arid regions as reported by the National Drought and Management Authority (NDMA). The rains followed a severe drought that had impacted 21 out of 47 counties in Kenya. NDMA said hat 5,000 households have been affected by the rain triggered flash-floods, leading to displacement. The flash floods were mainly reported in Marsabit, Mandera, Garissa, Isiolo, Samburu, Narok, Taita Taveta and Wajir counties.

With pastrolist communities communities having 10 persons in a single household, the number of affected persons is huge.Around 4,000 animals including cattle, sheep, goats and camels have been swept away causing huge loses to their owners. These same animals had survived a severe drought that lasted for over a year.

The NDMA, however insisted that the downpour is yet to positively impact pasture and food production systems in the arid regions bringing the number of people needing assistance still to 4.4 million. Cases of acute malnutrition have also been noted across counties with 970,214 children aged 6 to 59 months and 142,179 pregnant and breastfeeding mothers currently malnourished acutely and in need of treatment.

https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/business/2023/thousands-displaced-in-kenyas-arid-areas-due-to-heavy- rains

Kenya Airways Cancels All Flights to Sudan

Marion Kyalo

Kenyan Airways has cancelled all flights to Khartoum, Sudan for Saturday and Sunday after the country erupted in violence with its military and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces RSF fighting for power. Sudan’s army General Abdel Fattah Al Burhan is reported to have told Aljazeera that RSF had attacked his residence in the morning, igniting the violence. The RSF claimed full control of the presidential palace even as the army claimed control of all the reports. Military aircraft were seen in the above skies Khartoum on Saturday afternoon, with gunfire heard in several parts of the city as the country’s army fought the paramilitary RSF. Several people have been injured in the violence with three civilians reported dead.

Activities around Khartoum International Airport have been halted with aircraft set ablaze. Kenya Airways suspended flights to Khartoum with their communication team saying passengers will be advised as the situation which is being monitored unfolds. Sources at JKIA said several flights to Kenya from Europe had also been turned back due to safety concerns about Sudan’s airspace. Pilots headed to and from Europe and Middle East were advised to seek alternative routes.

There has been a viscous power struggle between General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo of RSF and Abdel Fattah Al Burhan of the Sudan army after the army took charge of Sudan in October 2021, ending a power sharing arrangement arrived at after Sudan’s former president Omar Al Bashir was ousted in a coup in 2019. US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, urged the two sides to find a common ground and end the violence.

https://www.citizen.digital/news/kenya-airways-cancels-all-flights-to-sudan-after-military-violence-erupts-n318068

Mask Awards 2023

Sharon Okumu

If you have a passion for art, innovation , entrepreneurship or leadership then this is for you.

Enter your best artworks on any theme or innovation on the following themes; reduction of inequality, young entrepreneurship, life on land.

Participation is free for all schools and people under 25 years.

Push your imagination and stand a chance to win a trophy and cash prizes of up to ksh 300,000.

To participate;

Follow their instagram account https://www.instagram.com/maskcreativity

Create an account as a school or ana individual. Remember a new account is to be created every season.

Read the briefs and upload your best artworks or innovations.

To enter go to http://www.maskcreate.org/mask-awards/

For more information or to sponsor, email contact @maskcrete.org

http://www.maskcreate.org/mask-awards

Parking hourly fees for Nairobi motorists in CBD will be introduced

Vincent Adhiambo

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Nairobi City County government famously known as Kanjoo has drafted a policy that motorists will start to pay for parking fees hourly in the city centre.

If it is initiated, Boda boda motorists will pay Sh100 in the first hour and Sh50 for the subsequent hours they park in the CBD. The county government says that this are efforts to increase revenue for the next financial year. The County Director of Parking Thomas Karatai also said the county plans to automate parking services, especially those that carry a huge number of vehicles.
If the Bill is tabled and passed by the county assembly, motorists will pay up to three times what they pay currently as parking fees. Currently, motorists pay Sh200 for parking within the CBD.
For a resident who works in the city Centre and arrives at work at 8am and leaves at 5pm, one will be required to pay Sh500. Those who arrive early and stay longer will pay up to Sh600 or more. This translates to between Sh8,000 and Sh12, 000 per month. It is however not clear if the county will keep billing after 5pm, the current cut-off time for paying parking fees. City Hall collects a huge chunk of its revenue from parking fees. In the last three months, the county collected Sh619.9 million in parking fees.

https://nation.africa/kenya/counties/nairobi/nairobi-motorists-to-pay-hourly-parking-fees-in-city-centre-official-4198114

IS MAANDAMANO A BLESSING OR A CURSE?

Mathu Alex

Thousands joined marches called by opposition leader Raila Odinga against high living costs and alleged fraud in last year’s vote. The protesters have accused President William Ruto of mismanagement, while his supporters have accused Odinga of using anger over rising prices, a global phenomenon, to press for political concessions and a possible role in government.

Chaos erupted when police engaged protestors, lobbying teargas along the street, spraying them with water filled with chili pepper and also arresting the rowdy ones. This saw many traders close their shops as the battle continued to intensify. In Mathare, a poor neighborhood in Nairobi, protesters used improvised catapults to launch stones at police in riot gear. Transport was paralyzed along major streets as Azimio supporters blocked roads with lit tyres and stones. A mechanic was rushed to the hospital for treatment after he sustained injuries from a gunshot while participating in the mass action in Kibera, Nairobi County.

During the demonstrations, some of the protesters started looting other people’s property in the name of the demonstrations. This led to videos of the owners complaining that there was no positivity in the demonstrations. Odinga, who has run for president five times, challenged Ruto’s victory in August’s election, but the Supreme Court upheld the result unanimously

https://www.tuko.co.ke/business-economy/498811-maandamano-nairobi-cbd-businesses-close-chaos-erupts-azimio-supporters-police/

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/renewed-protests-kenya-authorities-vow-halt-descent-2023-03-30/

https://www.kenyans.co.ke/news/87109-live-blog-police-deployed-state-house-nairobi-cbd-ahead-azimio-protests

Social Media Usage Among Teenagers

Pauleen Kihali

Unexpected results regarding teenagers’ use of social media have been revealed by a recent study carried out by a group of researchers at a prestigious institution. The research, which examined data from a sample of more than 1,000 teenagers from across the country, discovered that social media sites like Instagram and Snapchat are less well-liked by teenagers than was previously believed.

In the survey, only 36% of teenagers claimed to regularly use Instagram, and only 28% claimed to regularly use Snapchat. This is in contrast to earlier research that claimed these platforms were very well-liked by teenagers.

Facebook, which has recently lost some of its appeal to younger users, is still the most popular social media site among teenagers, according to the survey, with 62% of them reporting regular usage.

social media apps

Dr. Jane Smith, the study’s principal investigator, said that contrary to popular perception, teenagers are not constantly using social media. According to Dr. Smith’s study, teenagers are more selective with their use of social media than originally believed. It’s important to discover the platforms that are most meaningful and relevant to them rather than simply being present on all of them.

The majority of teenagers use social media to stay in contact with friends and family, not to follow influencers or brands, according to the study. This implies that social media is still mainly used for socialization rather than for marketing or advertising.

Teens, Social Media and Technology 2022

Survey on news sources

Fuad Kipruto

According to my recent survey 74% of the total number of people . 50, who responded, rely on social media as their source of news. this shows reliance on social media platforms such as Instagram, twitter and Facebook which has became very popular in our country. Now, 0% depend on news they hear or get from other people showing that there is zero, 0, reliance on hearsay.

88% of the total population of 50 people who took the survey depend on their respective source of news to hand information to them. This is more than 3/4 of the people. Only 12% of 50 people do not rely on their sources for news meaning they might have other alternatives.

lastly, on the same survey, 72% of 50 people find their respective source of news to be credible, that is almost 3/4 around 45 people of the 50. On the other hand 28% of the 50 people are not so sure of the credibility of their news source, this explains why 12% of 50 people do not rely on their source for news.

https://forms.gle/VXKPXTTXkPFexzxb6