Tag: Kenya
Millions hungry but drought overlooked as Kenya prepares to vote
by Nick Perry Agence France-Presse PURAPUL, Kenya (AFP) — In the dust bowl of Kenya’s drought-stricken north, the people of Purapul are edging closer to starvation, surviving on nothing but wild berries as their children waste away from hunger. Loka Metir knows the bitter fruits make her children sick, further weakening their frail condition. But it hasn’t rained properly in three years, and there’s simply nothing else to eat. “This is the only way to […]
‘Trash has value’: Kenyan inventor turns plastic into bricks
by Nick Perry Agence France-Presse NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) – “Plastic still has value,” said Nzambi Matee of the mountains of discarded oil drums, laundry buckets, yoghurt tubs and other trash being shredded into colourful flakes at her Nairobi factory. “I believe that plastic is one of the misunderstood materials.” The 30-year-old Kenyan engineer and inventor would know: her start-up recycles tonnes of plastic destined for landfill into eco-friendly bricks that are stronger, cheaper and lighter […]
UN urged to tackle plastic trash ‘epidemic’ with treaty
NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) – The United Nations opened an environment summit in Nairobi on Monday where nations are being urged to adopt the blueprint for a landmark global treaty to reduce plastic pollution. Representatives from more than 100 nations are expected to agree on a broad template for a world-first treaty on plastic waste over three days of in-person and virtual deliberations. The UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) was told plastic had been found on the remotest […]
Livelihoods lost as climate disaster woes mount in Kenya
by Raphael AMBASU, with Hillary ORINDE in Nairobi Agence France-Presse MARSABIT, Kenya (AFP) – Dabaso Galgalo is now used to the smell and grisly spectacle of rotting flesh festering in the scorching heat as Kenya reels from a spate of climate disasters. Surrounded by barren scrubland littered with withered carcasses of sheep and goats, the 56-year-old pastoralist is struggling to keep his beloved animals, and himself, alive. What was left of his herd after a months-long […]
Firefighters extinguish Kenya forest blaze
ABERDARE, Kenya (AFP) – A fire that raged for two days in Kenya’s Aberdare National Park has been extinguished after burning through hundreds of hectares of wilderness, a government forest official said on Monday. The blaze started Saturday and dozens of forest rangers, firefighters and volunteers had struggled to control the fire from spreading, as suspicions of arson emerged. The park was etched in history when Britain’s Elizabeth II, then a princess on a 1952 […]
Kenya under fire over calls to ‘weaken’ forest protections
by Nick Perry Agence France-Presse NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) – In his 15 years defending one of Nairobi’s last green spaces, Simon Nganga has seen off brazen attempts to seize what’s left of the lush forest bordered by highways and housing estates. Persistent efforts by developers and powerful individuals to seize chunks of the bush as their own were defeated under historic laws enacted to protect Kenya’s dwindling forests from unchecked logging and environmental destruction. But […]
World’s first malaria vaccine making inroads in western Kenya
by Fred Ooko SAIYA, Kenya (AFP) — Lucy Akinyi’s three children were infected with malaria so often she would be at their local health clinic in western Kenya every other week getting them treated. When offered the chance to protect her children with the world’s first vaccine against the deadly parasitic disease, Akinyi jumped at the chance. More than 100,000 children in malaria-endemic western Kenya have received the new vaccine against the disease, which kills […]
Coral reefs of western Indian Ocean at risk of collapse: study
by Nick Perry Agence France-Presse NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) – Rising sea temperatures and overfishing threaten coral reefs in the western Indian Ocean with complete collapse in the next 50 years, according to a groundbreaking study of these marine ecosystems. The findings, published in the journal Nature Sustainability on Monday, warned that reefs along the eastern coast of Africa and island nations like Mauritius and Seychelles faced a high risk of extinction unless urgent action was […]
Death toll from Kenya bus accident rises to 31
NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) — Divers recovered seven more bodies Sunday from a bus that was swept off a bridge by a flooding river in Kenya, bringing the death toll from the tragedy to more than 30. The bus was taking a church choir and other revellers to a wedding in Kitui County on Saturday when it keeled over and sank beneath fast-flowing waters as the driver tried to navigate a submerged bridge. Twelve passengers managed […]
Fearing India-like Covid collapse, Kenya scrambles for oxygen
by Marion DOUET and Hillary ORINDE NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) — At the peak of Kenya’s third wave of Covid-19 in March, hospitals — buckling under the strain of the virus — saw their oxygen reserves fizzle out. Since then, they have been scrambling to increase capacity of the lifesaving element, fearing the nightmare scenario currently unfolding in India due to oxygen shortages. On the roof of the Metropolitan Hospital, a 150-bed private institution that targets […]
Covid Indian variant detected in Kenya: health ministry
NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) — A case of the Indian variant of the coronavirus has been detected in Kenya, the country’s health ministry said Wednesday, a few days after it was also confirmed in neighbouring Uganda. “This variant has been picked (up) in Kenya and because of global connectivity, it is just a question of time. You cannot be able to put barriers … to prevent a virus from accessing your territory,” said the ministry’s director […]
