Kenyan game rangers yesterday began rounding up thousands of zebras to be moved to a reserve where starving lions have been attacking livestock. The spectacular nationwide operation, launched in Soysambu conservancy by the Kenyan Wildlife Service, is due to last until the end of the month in
Posts Tagged ‘Kenyan’
Kenya rounds up thousands of zebras to feed starving lions
February 11th, 2010 |
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Somali group lauds U.S. killing of al Qaeda suspect
September 15th, 2009 |
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A Somali militia opposed to Islamist insurgents al Shabaab praised a U.S. commando raid that killed one of the region’s most wanted al Qaeda suspects. U.S. special forces in helicopters struck a car in rebel-held southern Somalia Monday, killing the Kenyan said to have built the truck bomb that claimed 15 lives at an Israeli-owned beach hotel on the Kenyan coast in 2002.
Kenya shuns special poll tribunal
July 30th, 2009 |
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By Will Ross
BBC News, Nairobi
Kenya’s cabinet has announced that it will not set up a special tribunal over last year’s post-election violence, and will use local courts instead.
The prime minister said the judiciary, which is viewed by many as corrupt, will first be reformed.
Senior politicians are accused of playing a role in the violence and many fear they can influence the courts.
So the idea of referring the investigation to the International Criminal Court is a popular one.
After the cabinet stated that it was still determined to pursue the perpetrators of last year’s post election violence, Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga said the public had no confidence in the judiciary, so there would first need to be judicial reform.
He made it clear that – contrary to the recommendations of an inquiry into the violence – the Kenyan cabinet had decided against setting up a special local tribunal.
"The final goal is to try people through the Kenyan laws… through the normal courts, once the judiciary has been reformed," he told the BBC.
Minister thwarted
Asked whether such a reform would not take years, he replied that it could be undertaken "quickly".
But few Kenyans will believe that the words "judicial reform" and "quickly" belong in the same sentence.
The country has a history of impunity.
It will be of great concern to Kenyans and the international community that the cabinet has ruled out setting up a special tribunal that would have featured some international judges.
On the eve of the cabinet meeting Kenya’s justice minister, Mutula Kilonzo, had told the BBC he was determined to put in place such a tribunal.
But his goal was clearly thwarted by cabinet colleagues, several of whom he said were running away from justice.
A number of Kenyan politicians have been accused of perpetrating last year’s violence.
It is clear that some of them have been reluctant to pass a law that might result in their own prosecution.
There is still an option for the International Criminal Court to open investigations against key perpetrators.
But the cabinet’s decision will do nothing to change the minds of those who believe Kenya’s politicians are more concerned with covering their own backs than finding justice for the violence that brought the country to the brink of civil war.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Dutch held ‘heading for Somalia’
July 30th, 2009 |
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Four Dutch nationals have been arrested in Kenya on suspicion of aiding insurgents in Somalia.
The four 21-year-olds, three born in Morocco, the other in Somalia, were stopped by Kenyan police as they were heading for the border.
The local police were not satisfied with their claims to be tourists.
There have been a series of recent reports that young men from the US, Europe and South Asia have joined the Somali insurgents in a "holy war".
Lamu District Commissioner Stephen Ikua told the BBC the four had travelled by boat from Lamu island before hiring a tractor.
He said it was possible they were headed to Somalia to assist one of the insurgent groups there and they would be interrogated in Nairobi.
The Kenyan authorities say they have arrested and deported several other young men from Tanzania and the United States in the same area for the same reason.
BBC East Africa correspondent Will Ross says in recent months eyewitnesses in Somalia have reported seeing foreigners amongst the insurgent fighters known as al-Shabab.
Al-Shabab wants to overthrow the UN-backed transitional government in Somalia and put in place strict Islamic law.
The hardline Islamists control much of southern Somalia.
Foreigners have headed to Somalia to take part in what they consider a holy war or jihad.
The authorities in Minnesota in the United States are investigating claims that several young men were lured to Somalia to fight.
Since early May, the fighting between the insurgents and the forces loyal to Somalia’s government has displaced nearly 250,000 people.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Kenyan students charge their mobiles with pedal power
July 24th, 2009 |
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Two Kenyan university students have invented a device that allows bicycle riders to charge their mobile phones.
Jeremiah Murimi, 24, and Pascal Katana, 22, said they wanted their dynamo-powered "smart charger" to help people without electricity in rural areas.
"We both come from villages and we know the problems," Mr Murimi told the BBC.
People have to travel great distances to shops where they are charged $2 a time to power their phone, usually from a car battery or solar panel.
"The device is so small you can put it in your pocket with your phone while you are on your bike," said Mr Murimi.
It is estimated that some 17.5 million people out of Kenya’s 38.5 million population own a mobile handset – up from 200,000 in 2000.
"We took most of [the] items from a junk yard"
Pascal Katana
Young Malawian invents wind generator
The two electrical engineering students have been working on the invention, which they are selling for 350 Kenyan shillings ($4.50) each, over the last few months during their university break.
In Kenya, bicycles are sold with a dynamo to be attached to the back wheel to power the lights.
The dynamo lead can be switched to plug into the charger instead, they explained.
The BBC’s Ruth Nesoba went to Nairobi University campus to see the young men demonstrate their handiwork.
Jumping on a bike, Mr Katana explained it takes an hour of pedalling to fully charge a phone, about the same time it would if it were plugged into the mains electricity.
Our reporter says after a short ride, the phone’s battery display indicated that it was charging.
Guinea pigs
The cash-strapped students used old bits of electronic equipment for the project.
"We took most of [the] items from a junk yard – using bits from spoilt radios and spoilt televisions," said Mr Katana.
Workers with bicycles at the campus were used as guinea pigs, including security guard David Nyangoro.
"I use a bicycle especially when I’m at home in the rural areas, where we travel a lot," he said.
"It’s very expensive nowadays charging a phone. With the new charger I hope it will be more economical, as once you have bought it, things will be easier for you and no more expenses."
Mr Murimi says so far they have only made two chargers – but are making five more for people who have seen it demonstrated.
"And a non-government organisation in western Kenya wants 15 so they can test them out in rural areas to see how popular they prove," he said.
The two friends are about to start their fifth and final year at university in September.
"We are not planning to stop our studies," Mr Murimi said.
Kenya’s National Council for Science and Technology has backed the project, and the students hope they will find a way of mass-producing the chargers.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Kenya boosts Somali border force
July 21st, 2009 |
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Kenya has promised to reinforce its border with Somalia after several abductions near the frontier.
Officials have been discussing how to stop incursions since the weekend, when militants snatched three foreign aid workers from the town of Mandera.
A defence spokesman promised to try to stop the militants, but said it was often difficult to identify them.
Meanwhile, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki blamed Somali insurgents for an influx of illegal weapons into his country.
Defence spokesman Bogita Ongeri said his forces were working with other nations to try to keep Somali militias such as the radical al-Shabab group at bay.
"My government will not spare any efforts to mop up illicit arms"
Mwai Kibaki
Kenyan President
"The challenge that we have at border points is that these people come from the same clan, and you find that sometimes to identify who is al-Shabab and who is not is a problem," he said.
"Our borders are porous and it is not a place where you can totally keep al-Shabab at bay. But we are trying our best."
‘Banditry attacks’
The BBC’s Ruth Nesoba, in Nairobi, says a series of incidents on the Somali border has raised questions about the ability of Kenyan security agents to keep the country safe.
On Saturday alleged members of al-Shabab crossed into Kenya, kidnapped three aid workers in Mandera and returned to Somalia – apparently without any resistance.
Our correspondent says the incident came just days after militants were reportedly sighted trying to recruit young men outside a local school on the Kenyan side of the border.
During a speech to the armed forces, President Kibaki linked the insurgency in Somalia to the rise of insecurity and crime in his country.
"The continued fighting in neighbouring Somalia has contributed immensely to the infiltration of these illicit arms into our country," he said.
"My government will not spare any efforts to mop up illicit arms that are used by criminals to carry out banditry attacks."
Earlier this year militants from Somalia abducted two Italians nuns from the same border area.
The two were released a few weeks later after ransom money was paid.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Kenya seizes coffin-stashed ivory
July 14th, 2009 |
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Kenyan authorities have seized 300kg (660 lbs) of illegal ivory hidden in coffins on a plane bound for Laos.
The haul included 16 elephant tusks and black rhinoceros horns. Officials said the blood on the ivory suggested the animals had been killed very recently.
The flight – which stopped in Nairobi – originated in Mozambique and was bound for Thailand and then Laos.
The haul of ivory may have had a value of about one million dollars (£614,000,000), Reuters reports.
Officials from Kenya’s Wildlife Service said the ivory might have come from Tanzania or South Africa.
The black rhino is found only in eastern and southern Africa.
The international ivory trade has been banned since 1989. The sale of ivory is illegal if the ivory is not from pre-1989 stockpiles.
However, some countries have done little to enforce the ban. </p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.