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Makueni county choir shines at peers’ major music jamboree

The Makueni county choir was crowned  overall winners in the 92nd edition of the Kenya Music and Cultural Festival held in Meru after making its first appearance at the national level.

The county choir, which had registered  in two categories for presentation took the lead with the song “Ain’t That Good News,” of class 435 Negro Spiritual category, beating other several county choirs competing in the class.

According to the gender, children, culture and social services executive member Dr Godfrey Makau who had accompanied the team during the festivals, it was a big surprise for the choir to emerge winners owing to the fact that it had just made its first entry for the competitions.

“Amazingly, the choir appeared for the first time at the national level during the 2018 Music and cultural festival and emerged overall winners. It was a big surprise to all of us!” Dr Makau exclaimed.

However, the win didn’t come easy, according to Pius Mutinda who is the vice- secretary, Eastern Regional Music Festival and one of the choir trainers, adding that the members sacrificed their time to perfect the items for the competition.

He said: “The group, as young as it is, was able to register a superb performance. However, they sacrificed their time to polish and compete favorably, which they did.”

The 92nd edition of the national festival, which ran from November 23 to 29, attracted over 30,000 participants from across the country.

The group, established in July this year has 42 members comprising of county staff and members of the public drawn from various wards across the county.

The county director alcoholic drinks control, Joseph Katumo who is also the second trainer said that the team was formed to among others nurture talents in arts, sensitize the public about the government programs, create awareness on social issues within and without the county and promote national and county cohesion through diverse cultural practices, sentiments which were echoed by Dr Makau.

The choir has since received several invitations to perform in various events, and was applauded by the Country First Lady Margaret Kenyatta for its awesome presentation when she graced the official commissioning of the county Mother and Child Hospital in Wote.

The county government is set to officially commission the choir during the county prayer and thanksgiving ceremony to be held on 31st this month, an event which will be graced by governor Kivutha Kibwana.

Makueni inks deal with Centre for Health Solutions for healthcare promotion

Makueni County has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Centre for Health Solutions Kenya (CHS-Kenya) to advance its quality of healthcare promotion.

The MoU, signed by governor Kivutha Kibwana and CHS-Kenya Chief Executive Officer Paul Wekesa on Monday seeks to:

Support in implementation and expansion of high quality HIV Care, prevention and treatment through training and capacity building activities, provision of commodities and other relevant assistance;

Provide technical advice to policy makers and to those in county health institutions that will deliver the services through the MoH;

Establish collaborative framework to institutionalize the use of evidence informed interventions through activities such as baseline assessments, program reviews and operations research;

Enhance support in monitoring activities of the National Tuberculosis Leprosy and Lung Disease (NTLD) Program through support, supervision and quarterly meetings.

The deal, according to governor Kibwana, is in line with the county government’s commitment to advance appropriate and rapid responses to the County’s HIV/AIDS epidemic and to health promotion in general.

The deal will cover 64 health facilities across the county, among them the sub county hospitals and the Makueni County Referral hospital.

Town Cinema to Screen Indie Movies

An independent film is a film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced and/or distributed by subsidiaries of major film studios.

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Kilome residents secure date with NLC over alleged land injustices

Over 3,000 members of Kiima Kiu-Kalanzoni and Mukaa (KIAMUKA) Society have secured a date with the National Land Commission to present their grievances on alleged historical land injustices committed against them.

The society members, spread across Mukaa and Kiima Kiu/Kalanzoni wards in Kilome constituency, claim that a 5,048-acre piece of land leased to a British immigrant Robin Woodcraft Stanley in 1947 was forcefully taken from them, and a myriad of atrocities committed during their eviction.

The society has since petitioned NLC to look into the alleged historical injustice committed against them and their petition admitted.

Mr. Stanley popularly known by the locals as Makala has also petitioned the land commission seeking to stop any proceedings of whatever kind in relation to the piece of land.

The locals also claim that the piece of land owned by Makala is bigger than the 5,048 acres declared in the title of lease and want a survey done to ascertain the authenticity of the declared size under lease.

In a meeting attended by NLC commissioner Dr. Rose Musyoka, Governor Kivutha Kibwana, County Commissioner Maalim Mohammed, representatives of senator Mutula Kilonzo Jnr, members of county assembly and KIAMUKA society members on Monday, it was agreed that both the society members and Makala be heard by NLC in November to expeditiously put the matter to rest.

It was also agreed that the department of lands and urban planning in the county carry out a survey of the land next week as part of the process of the petition hearing.

Makueni youth in Rwanda for continental networking summit

20 young people from Makueni are taking part in this year’s Youth Connect Africa summit staged in Kigali, Rwanda.

The summit brings together young people from across the continent to share ideas on the possible opportunities that they can collectively exploit to empower themselves and engineer the much needed continental transformation.

According to the organizers of the event, the forum seeks to connect 100 million young Africans, empower 25 million youth with skills, create 10 million jobs for the youth and nurture a million young leaders.

The three-day forum was officially opened by Rwandese Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente on Monday 8th.

Makueni governor Prof. Kivutha Kibwana, also addressed the forum on Tuesday 9th.

He challenged policy implementers to involve the youth in policy formulation and work with them on youth empowerment initiatives instead of working for them. He also called for a paradigm shift in youth mobilization as many miss opportunities for lack of information.

“For young people to be empowered, they have to be informed. Most ordinary youths miss opportunities because policy makers only target elite youths by means of communication,” he said.

Makueni County executive for Education, Youth, Sports and ICT Dr. Naomi Makau said the 20 youths from Makueni are in Rwanda to interact globally with other youths from the continent and learn from best practices on how to empower themselves.

Naomi said plans have been made to ensure the skills acquired from the forum cascade down to all the villages across the county.

The 20 were competitively selected from the six sub counties, with each sub county represented by three youths and two from the Makueni Youth Empowerment Service (M-YES).

An application to facilitate the youth networking will be launched at the end of the forum.

Mwau talks tough on cruelty against women

Makueni deputy governor Adelina Mwau has  warned gender based violence perpetrators in the county saying stern action will be taken against offenders to fight the vice.

Mwau spoke at Unoa grounds where she addressed a women conference convened to discuss gender mainstreaming, women’s financial stability and healthcare among others.

The county had partnered with Musyi FM a Nairobi based vernacular radio station   to organise the event that brought together women from different spheres of life.

The deputy governor regretted  that incidences of violence against women had become  rampant in Makueni terming such acts unfortunate and barbaric.

‘’We are witnessing a lot of defilement and rape cases across the county. This is disheartening and no woman or child deserves to be violated,” Mwau noted.

She repeatedly quoted a recent case where a 77-year-old woman was raped by her 24-year-old grandson.

Mwau thanked police for moving with speed to apprehend the suspect and expressed hope the judiciary will be swift in dealing with the matter.

She urged women not to hide incidences of defilement and incest involving their husbands adding that it was hurting the battle to win justice for the victims.She urged the security apparatus to take action against those hiding such criminals.

‘’What are you still doing with a husband who defiles your daughter and impregnates them?,’’ She posed.

She continued, “ You deserve a legal action and no mercy should be shown to you. You are badly tormenting those young girls.’’

The County Executive Committee  Member for gender Dr. Godfrey Makau noted that the community needed more sensitization on measures taken in case of rape or defilement, gender responsive budgeting tools as well as women gender agenda.

‘’Our people need more education on measures they should take incase such barbaric acts are committed against them; the county has done a lot but we still need to reach out to more people,” Dr Makau noted.

At the same time  deputy governor announced that her office is keen on promoting women’s participation in leadership, decision making, advocacy as well as implementation of strategies geared towards empowering the woman.

She also said that the county has an already existing revolving fund that has been benefiting organized groups such as women, youth, men and PWDs since 2016.

‘’This interest free loan has achieved a lot so far in empowering these groups economically and soon we will introduce a Nzangule ya Matangi loan so that the county realizes its CIDP rain water harvesting plan’’ Mwau reported.

Makueni MP Daniel Maanzo appreciated the office of the deputy governor for championing the gender affairs, adding that Mwau has been on the forefront in the fight against gender based violence.