Archive for February 12th, 2010
Five arrested in Kenya over planned gay wedding
Posted by jambonewspot on February 12, 2010
Members of African gay and lesbian communities demonstrate in Nairobi in 2007
MTWAPA, Kenya — Kenya police on Friday arrested five suspected homosexuals in a coastal resort town after hundreds of residents protested over a planned gay wedding, a local official said.
The five were among would-be guests at the wedding, which was meant to be secret. Residents learned about it and alerted the police, who raided a house and nabbed the men.
Homosexuality is illegal in Kenya and it was unclear who was to officiate at the marriage.
Local district official George Matundura said the couple who were to marry escaped from Mtwapa, a vibrant party town to the north of Kenya’s coastal city of Mombasa, where the wedding reception was to be held.
Matundura said the five — aged between 20 and 35 — will “undergo a medical examination before we charge them with homosexuality.”
“We will move swiftly and close down bars which condone gays, lesbians, prostitution and drug abuse in their premises,” he added.
“We are grateful to the public for alerting the police. They should continue cooperating with the police to arrest more.”
Muslim and Christian clerics condemned the planned marriage.
“We cannot allow these young boys to ruin their future through homosexuality,” said Sheikh Ali Hussein of the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya. “We shall use all means to curb this vice.”
Bishop Lawrence Chai of the National Council of Churches of Kenya told reporters: “This is immoral and we shall not allow it, especially here in Mtwapa.”
-AFP
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Kenya: Girls World
Posted by jambonewspot on February 12, 2010
Mukuru Kwa Njenga- Thousands of girls from this slum as well as millions of others from poor families across Africa have been forced to stay out of class every month because they cannot afford to cope with menstrual cycles. They have no access to sanitary towels which are inaccessible and unaffordable. But majority will be able to continue with their classes without obstacles due to introduction of re-usable sanitary towels here in Kenya.
The program dubbed Huru which means free in swahili is an initiative from corporate America and Elton John’s Foundation and aims at giving millions of under priviledged girls a ray of hope to continue with their education without any hindrances. Each girl receives a kit consisting of eight re-usable towels, five pairs of underwear, soap, a plastic bag and a carrier bag.
But how hygienic are these re-usable sanitary towels?
Wanjiru Kefa is the administrative manager fom American Share one of the corporate partners in this initiative.
“The material we use for the pad is 100% cotton. We train the girls to wash the pads, make sure they understand that it is important for the pad to dry completely before they re-use it,” Wanjiru said. “To facilitate that, we give them eight pads per kit so that they have enough to change and they will also have enough time to dry the ones they had used the day before, before they need to re-use it again,” she added.
According to the United Nations Chiildren’s Fund (UNICEF), one in ten school going girls across the continent skip school during menstration losing close to four days every month. In extreme cases the stigma attached to the menstrual process coupled with lack of clean sanitation facilities at school has brought the premature end to to some girls shooling.
They say neccessity is the mother of invention and the lack of sanitary towels in most cases has forced the girls to use creative and sometimes unhygenic alternatives.
“We were using magazines and some clothes when we were not having sanitary towels,” said one of the girls.
“Did it make you miss some classes?,” asks the interviewer.
“Yeah, because you find that we are shy because blood might come out during classes and so may we sit home during times of periods,” the girl adds.
“ I was using a cloth or nothing and just stayed like that. We were not able to attend classes as we feared standing up when a teacher asks a question,” says another.
The re-usable towels will be provided at no cost to the girls. They will be accessible to millions of girls assures Wanjiru Kefa.
“We will give them for free to the girls so the girls will actually not have to pay anything. We are still working on the process with the Kenya Bureau of Standards and as soon as we are through with them, we will be able to put it in the market and make sure it is accessible to as many people who might want to buy as possible,” Wanjiru said
Days free from embarrassment of having to hide oneself during the menstrual will now be a thing of the past something the girls across Kenya will be happy to sing about.
Material derived from an audio from the BBC world service put together by Angela Ngendo.
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Toyota recall comes to Kenya: 570 cars affected
Posted by jambonewspot on February 12, 2010
By WINFRED KAGWE
Toyota East Africa on Friday announced a recall of about 570 units of the New Generation Corolla model in the Kenya roads.
Making the announcement, Toyota East Africa managing director Hylton Bannon said this would affect the specific model and only cars made between November 2007 and January 2010.
“We have sold approximately 570 new generation Corollas out of which we expect that some may need correction,” he said.
The “special service campaign” by the company targeting its NG Corolla model comes at a time when it has recalled millions of cars worldwide due to accelerator pedal problems.
The problem is that there is a possibility that certain accelerator pedal mechanisms may mechanically stick in a partially depressed position or return slowly to the idle position.
The cause of this is that some accelerator pedal mechanisms may become worn and as a result when combined with certain operating and environmental conditions, friction in the mechanisms may increase and intermittently result in the accelerator pedal being hard to press, slow to return or in the worst case stick in a partially open position.
“We will inspect and if necessary install a reinforcement shim in to the accelerator pedal assembly, which will increase clearance in between the internal mechanisms in the accelerator pedal assembly,” said Mr Bannon.
Harder to Press
Drivers were also advised to be on the look out as the warning signs are gradual. The driver may notice that the accelerator pedal gets harder to press and may notice some rough or chattered feeling when depressing or releasing it.
Mr Bannon said in Kenya this affected only the NG Corolla model because “Toyota Motor Corporation has isolated a specific supplier of the accelerator pedal on this specific model”
The New Generation corolla sold in the Kenyan market is made in South Africa.
Mr Bannon said none of the other models sold in Kenya needed to be checked adding they were in direct contact with the customers with those cars.
The company it will offer free check up for both its customers and other Toyota users and corrective service, if found necessary, offered in a 30 minutes operation.
Mr Bannon said he was not authorised to comment on which other countries in East Africa had been affected and the extent of the damage.
Reuters on Wednesday reported that Toyota South Africa Motors would recall more than 50,000 cars, including Corolla, Auris and Verso models to fix accelerators and 216 Prius hybrid cars sold since August for a software upgrade to the electronic brake system.
Daily Nation
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Pensioner charged with cocaine smuggling
Posted by jambonewspot on February 12, 2010
A pensioner has been charged with smuggling cocaine into Britain, the UK Border Agency said today.
Derek Orton, 76, was arrested yesterday when he arrived at Heathrow airport after flying in from Nairobi, Kenya.
Two kilos (4.4lb) of cocaine, with a street value of around £80,000, was found in baggage, officers said.
Orton, who was born in Essex but now lives in Kampala, Uganda, was later charged with attempting to import a Class A drug.
Peter Avery, assistant director of the UK Border Agency’s criminal and financial investigation team, said: “UK Border Agency officers are determined to stop Class A drugs reaching our streets.
“We would urge anyone with information about drug smuggling to call our Smuggling Hotline on 0800 59 5000. Orton is due to appear before Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court, north London, today.
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