MCK launches Industrial Placement Programme for journalism students

The Media Council of Kenya has Thursday launched the Industrial Placement Programme for journalism students in Kenya.

During the launch, Media Council CEO David Omwoyo said many young people in Kenya are unable to access internships to enable them gain industry experience. “We have a major internship crisis in this country and this calls for concerted efforts by all stakeholders”.

He further urged media houses to take up the journalism students adding that the Council will facilitate their placements. “It is not fair for a student to pay school fees and then being asked to pay for an internship to gain industry experience”.

“Industrial placement of journalism graduates will expose them to experience and enabling them to perform better in the real media work while some can even start their own media enterprises,” said Omwoyo.

Echoing what the CEO had said, MCK Director for Media Training and Development Victor Bwire called for measures to address the rife internship crisis in Kenya.

“We must unclog this capacity development challenge where students complete their course work but are unable to graduate due to lack of internship. We will create linkages between industry and academy to allow industries and academy to adapt competency-based training,“ he said.

Roselyn Ombala who is an MCK Council member on her part affirmed the Council’s commitment to promote and enhance ethical and professional standards amongst journalists and media enterprises in Kenya through development of training standards to build their capacity.

Also speaking at the function was the Ministry of ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru who said media performance remains under constant scrutiny over the professional conduct of its personnel and the burden of expectation placed on the industry because of its central role in society.

The CS urged journalists to remain impartial in their operations noting that “the media is a key pillar that should hold others accountable, not because you have an agenda you are trying to achieve, but because you have a higher calling to be the voice of the people.

“The media have the power and a huge responsibility to the populace to not only keep them informed and entertained but to also shape political discourse and guide them in making the right socio-economic and political decisions,” Mucheru added.

In conclusion, the CS acknowledged the challenges young people face in accessing jobs after graduating from college due to lack of skills to undertake competent media work. ” There is need for skilling our journalism graduates with requisite industry skills”.

American sprinter arrives ahead of Kip Keino Classic

Two-time World 100m champion Justin Gatlin is among the star studded line-up set to take place at the upcoming Kip Keino Classic set for the weekend on Saturday 18.

The 2017 World 100m champion is relishing at the prospect of running on Kenyan soil noting that there has always been a good rapport between him and Kenya athletes when they meet at Diamond League, World Championships and Olympic Games.

“I have been to South Africa twice and Morocco twice two but this is my first time in Kenya. I wanted to experience the real Africa and that is why I am here in motherland,” said Gatlin, who arrived in the country on Thursday dawn.

The 39 year old who claimed a double at the 2005 World Championships, winning both the 100m and 200m titles acknowledged the level of potential in Kenya singling out both 2015 World javelin champion Julius Yego and latest sprint sensation Ferdinand Omanyala as his admirers.

“It shows that Kenya has the potential to produce great athletes in sprints and field events. This is good for a country that is deeply rooted in distance races. I am really proud of Yego and Omanyala,” said Gatlin, adding that getting to run at altitude will be a punishing and tough experience though.

He won gold in 100m at 2004 Athens Olympics before settling for bronze at 2012 London and silver at 2016 Rio Olympics.

A total of 265 athletes both local and international will compete at the Absa Kip Keino Classic, the final leg of the 2021 World Athletics Continental Gold Tour on Saturday.

Bitcoin protests in El Salvador against cryptocurrency as legal tender

Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in El Salvador, angry at the introduction of Bitcoin as its legal tender.

President Nayib Bukele says the cryptocurrency will help Salvadorans working abroad to send money back home.

But demonstrators fear it will bring instability and inflation to the impoverished Latin American country.

Some protesters set fire to a brand-new Bitcoin machine, while others held signs reading “Bukele Dictator”.

Last week, El Salvador became the first country to use the virtual currency as a legal tender, alongside the US dollar.

The demonstrators, gathered in the capital San Salvador on the 200th anniversary of the country’s independence, brandishing placards reading “No to Bitcoin” and “Respect the Constitution”.

They accuse the president of using authoritarian means to tighten his grip on power.

Mr Bukele has moved to cement control over the judiciary which recently cleared him to run for office for a second successive term despite constitutional limits.

“It’s important to say this morning: Enough already! What the government is doing is arrogant, it is authoritarianism,” protester Dora Rivera told Reuters news agency.

But Mr Bukele still enjoys strong support in El Salvador, with a recent newspaper poll showing 85.7% of people approved of the president.

Help trace our son, family of abducted police officer pleads

The family of a senior police officer allegedly abducted along Blue Post Junction along the Thika-Nyeri highway has called on the government to help him trace their son.

They said Osman Godana, 38, a Police Sergeant based at Laisamis Police station in Marsabit County a year ago was abducted while travelling to Nairobi on Monday at around 9 pm.

His father Omari Godana said Osman was in the company of three other friends on a personal vehicle when four armed men, dressed in bullet proof vests ordered them to stop, taking away his son.

“They were from Isiolo County with a GSU friend based in Nairobi County. On their way at Blue Post Junction, a black tinted Toyota Noah that had been trailing at high speed intercepted them and ordered him out. All of the men were armed. All of them had a smart shave, bullet proof vests and were armed. They bundled him into their car and took him off,” said Godana, who was speaking to the press in Thika.

Ever since, his phone has been off and has been untraceable. The father of one has served as a police officer for 14 years and was once a GSU officer. The case was reported at Gatanga police station, O/B number 20/14/9/2021.

Godana said his son had been transferred to a police station in West Pokot last year but has been hesitant to report all the while. “All I know is that he did not report to West Pokot,” he said.

He said there is no instant that his son had been in trouble with the law or had a court case, wondering what led to the abduction.

The family has requested Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr. Fred Matiang’i to tell them the whereabouts of their kin as they claimed he is in the hands of the police.

“We want the government to produce our son alive because from the details that we have, he was abducted by police officers. Let him be produced in court if he has committed any crime,” he said.

Speaking on phone, Murang’a County Criminal Investigation Officer Daniel Kandie said the matter had been reported and investigations have commenced.

Women empowered to break cultural barriers ahead of 2022 elections

UN Women have embarked on a campaign to help women aspiring for various leadership positions to break cultural barriers that have denied them from clinching elective positions.

The organization on Wednesday organized a forum that brought together women and men who are keen to ensure women are represented in the elective seats in Lodwar.

UN Women champions gender equality and seeks to ensure that women and girl’s rights are upheld to ensure they realize their full potential.

UN Women member, Lucy Mathenge, said they have funded a number of organizations, including Kenya Women Parliamentary Group Association, to help break the cultural barriers in preparation for the upcoming elections.

“We want to make sure that the ground is conducive for women to participate in leadership and decision making,” she said. She also underscored the organization’s commitment to having more women in leadership positions.

“We also listened to women to see whether there are areas where we can improve and have a difference in 2022,” she said.

Turkana County nominated Member of the Assembly (MCA), Zainabu Lokaale, said women politicians are strategizing to face-off with the men, during the forthcoming 2022 General Elections.

Lokaale said women will go for all elective seats and unlike in the past, where they have shied away from some seats such as that of gubernatorial and the senate.

“My appeal is to every woman, wherever she is, to vote for a female candidate in 2022,” said Lokaale.

She hailed KEWOPA for helping unite women and advocating for their rights especially in political representation.

World Ozone Day: Kenyans urged to forsake harmful plastics

Kenyans have been advised against the continued use of coolants and other household items that contain harmful Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), the Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Forestry Hon Keriako Tobiko has said.

Speaking in Isiolo County while leading the nation to mark the International Ozone Day, Hon Tobiko said the need for cooling is growing rapidly in the country and that cold chains for fresh produce as well as safe transport and storage of vaccines are of necessity.

However, the CS noted that phasing down HFCs and at the same time improving energy efficiency in the cooling sector, the country would be contributing to combating climate change.

Tobiko assured that as a government, they will continue to raise the awareness needed among the general public of the potential wider impact the work of protecting the ozone layer has on safeguarding people and the planet.

The theme of the International Ozone Day 2021 is Montreal Protocol – keeping us, our food and vaccines cool.

Mithika Mwenda, the Executive Director, Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) said the International Ozone Day is a stark reminder of how man’s activities continue to endanger the very environment that was meant to sustain our lives and our livelihoods.

Science, he said has pointed out that a number of commonly used chemicals at home and in our various office premises are extremely damaging to the ozone layer, which acts as our shield against the harmful rays from the sun.

“Ozone layer depletion can exposed mankind to the ravages of climate change; and at our slack pace of acting against some of these dangerous chemicals, am afraid, it may be too late for us to reverse the rate at which climate change is to take place,” he said.

PACJA has been advancing the approach of locally led actions, which ensures that climate actions are just and respond to the needs of African communities.

Recently, PACJA signed an MoU with an American-based firm to advance issues around the Circular Economy to galvanize communities towards waste circularity.

“We want waste products repurposed as a raw material for new products and I believe that our able Cabinet Secretary will lead our government to see into it on how the issue of circular economy could be strengthened so that we do not compromise the need to safeguard our environment with our responsibility of ensuring jobs to our youths,” he said.