Tag: Turkana

Activists and Journalist Getting Death Threats After Exposing Demolition Of Classrooms Built By Eric Omondi in Turkana County

Local activists and a TV journalist in Turkana County are living in fear after exposing the demolition of classrooms recently built with the help of popular comedian Eric Omondi.

The Defenders Coalition, a human rights lobby group, has issued a strong condemnation following reports of harassment and threats against Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) Joseph Egalan and Benard Kerio, as well as journalist Emmanuel Kiplangat Cheboit.

The trio has faced intimidation and direct threats to their lives after shedding light on the demolition of a classroom in Lokichar, Turkana County, through a media commentary.

The incident came to public attention after the story was aired on Radio Citizen and Citizen TV, highlighting the controversial demolition that has sparked outrage among local communities.

However, following the broadcast, unknown individuals have allegedly targeted the HRDs and journalist, deploying goons to surveil and threaten them in what appears to be an attempt to silence their advocacy for justice and transparency.

The Defenders Coalition has confirmed that the matter has been reported to the Lodwar Police Station, urging authorities to take swift action to ensure the safety of Egalan, Kerio, and Cheboit.

The demolition of the classroom in Lokichar has raised significant concerns about the welfare of local communities, particularly children who have been deprived of their right to education. The HRDs and journalist played a critical role in bringing this issue to the forefront, prompting public discourse and calls for accountability.

How It All Began

Eric Omondi, after watching a heartbreaking story online about Kapoo Primary School in Turkana County, Kenya, visited the school and found that pupils were studying under a tree in extremely hot weather.

The children studying under a tree in guidance of a volunteer teacher.

He crowdfunded under his ‘Sisi Kwa Sisi’ initiative and built a classroom to shelter the students, procured uniforms, and hired handymen to make other improvements. He gave the struggling school a new lease of life with the temporary structure, and the new uniforms and shoes brought the students immeasurable happiness and confidence.

In a touching gesture of gratitude, Omondi renamed the school after the volunteer teacher, Elizabeth Kamaret, who had dedicated her time and energy to teaching the children despite the harsh conditions. The move has been praised as a symbol of hope and a celebration of Kamaret’s unwavering commitment to education in Turkana.

County Government’s Response

Turkana County Government projected a total revenue of approximately KSh 19.76 billion ($153 million) for the fiscal year. This revenue comprises KSh 13.65 billion from the equitable share, KSh 320 million from own-source revenue, KSh 1.34 billion from conditional grants, KSh 3.85 billion carried forward from exchequer releases, and KSh 594 million carried forward from special purpose accounts.

The county has been receiving similar amounts each year since 2011. Despite this, the leadership continues to amass wealth, while almost all major humanitarian aid organizations have maintained operations in Turkana County for decades.

Upon learning that Eric Omondi had constructed a classroom, county officials rushed to the school, demolished the structure, dismissed the handymen, and demanded that the pupils return the uniforms and shoes provided by Omondi.

The county officials claimed that Omondi did not follow proper protocols.

The shell after overnight demolition.

According to the news report by Citizen TV, the orders for demolition were allegedly issued by the County Executive Member for Education, Sports, and Social Protection, Willyjustus Lopeyok Akwalata.

Officials are now arrogantly telling Omondi to follow the “right channels,” which essentially means navigating unnecessary bureaucratic procedures that would likely involve bribing officials.

Omondi’s Reaction

In a poignant statement, Omondi expressed his heartbreak over the demolition and the additional cruelty of confiscating the children’s uniforms and shoes, questioning the humanity of such an act. “It is very sad that they demolished the classroom we built for the kids in Turkana, but it’s even WORSE that watoto walinyanganywa uniform na viatu… Are these people even human? How dark are your hearts?” he stated.

Political Undertones

County governments often dislike individual citizens initiating development projects without the blessings of the current administration, viewing such actions as undermining the powers and influence of the governor.

Despite the matter being in the public domain for some time now, Turkana County Governor Jeremiah Ekamais Lomorukai Napotikan has yet to issue a comment. This silence could easily be interpreted as tacit approval of the demolition, especially given the widespread media coverage.

The Poverty Situation in Turkana

The poverty situation in Turkana is a vice that needs to be studied. There is a growing belief that people are kept intentionally poor so that a few can continue to benefit from global aid, which has been flowing into the county for decades.

This cycle of poverty and exploitation must end. The international community, along with local stakeholders, must take a stand to ensure that aid reaches those who need it most and that development initiatives are not thwarted by corrupt officials.

The demolition of the classroom built by Eric Omondi and the subsequent threats against activists and journalists highlight a disturbing trend of suppression and corruption in Turkana County.

The children of Turkana deserve better.

January 31, 2025
Saudi-Owned Almar Water To Build Sh10 Billion Water Desalination Plant In Turkana

For starters, over seven years ago, the government announced that they have discovered aquifer water in Turkana County. The county has now partnered with Almar Water— a Saudi Arabia-based firm— to erect a desalination plant.

The UK-based Guardian newspaper quoted Tito Ochieng, the director of water services in Turkana, stating that the county has contracted Almar Water to put up the desalination plant.

According to the Guardian, Alma Water will construct the plant at a cost of between Sh10 billion. The PPA is expected to be finalized in a few months.

“The national government is not aware as that could be the arrangement between the county and the investor as water is under devolved units,” Water Secretary Simon Chelugui said.

Tito Ochieng was quoted saying that the plant will be erected on top of the Lotikipi aquifer in Nanam village. A relief to Turkana household who have been slitting each other’s throats over the years or had to walk long distances in search of water.

“We want to see if Tullow can help us to build a line from Turkwel to Lodwar so that the residents can benefit from this important resource,” Chelugui said.

n 2013, contained in an aquifer, which is believed to be the largest in the world, was discovered

In 2013, Hydrologists revealed that Mt Mogila in Lotikipi in the larger Lokichoggio along the Kenya-South Sudan border is sitting on a 250 billion cubic meters of water aquifer. The aquifer was projected that it could meet Kenya’s water needs for 70 years.

The Lotikipi aquifer is located between Lokichogio and Lokitaung. The other aquifer is 16 kilometres from Lodwar and is partly fed by the Turkwel River. Waters in this aquifers has, however, not been of use since then because of high levels of salinity which makes it unsuitable for humans and animals.

The National Government had earned 5,000 acres of land in Lodwar for irrigation using water from the aquifer which covers a surface area of 4,164 square kilometres. A move that has since been criticized by scientists who led the discovery of the large aquifers. The hydrologists cautioned the drilling of water wells stating that overexploitation could lead to depletion.

This comes at a time when the same Saudi-owned Almar Water had signed a contract with Mombasa County to put up a similar facility—which they dubbed as the largest water desalination plant in Africa.

November 15, 2019
Chinese Donkey Abattoir In Turkana On The DCI Radar Over Pollution, Animal Theft And Racial Harassment

Three weeks ago, Kenya Insights wrote about why the Population of donkeys in Kenya has dropped by half in less than a decade. China interests in Kenya has seen an increase in demand for donkey meat both for local consumption and skin for export to China a move that has now caused a sharp decline in the animals in Kenya.

According to Animal rights activists, the overgrown demand to feed the billion population of Chinese could soon make donkey extinct in Kenya where they play a vital role as beasts of burden mostly in rural areas.

A few weeks after, a Chinese company operating a donkey abattoir in Lodwar, Turkana County is on the frying pan for selling uninspected donkey meat and enslaving local workers.

Angry Lodwar, Turkanas, resident have now urged the police to investigate Silzha Company Limited over claims of environmental pollution and mistreatment of local workers by the Chinese bosses. The firm is located at Napetet in Turkana Central, five kilometers from Lodwar town, and is run by two Chinese nationals.

According to local authorities, Silzha slaughters an average of 30 donkeys daily and exports the donkey meat to China and other countries.

“It is more than one a year and some of us have not been paid. I don’t have any source of money. We have been patient for a long time to the extent the walls of trust have started cracking. Donkeys from Sasame, Karebur, Kokuro, and Lomanakeju in Turkana North have not been paid for since last year. We have reported the issue to police station Lodwar OB 18/20/05/2019,” Mohammed Katembo, a field Manager of Silzha Limited said.

“Life is becoming hard here because we work with no pay, my family depends on me, my children are at home because of school fees, we are tired of empty promises each and every time,” Production supervisor Lucas Ereman stated.

Pieces of donkey meat packed in trays before transportation. [Bakari Ang’ela, Standard]

There have been also a lot of concerns on the safety of the meat. “We are giving government investigative agencies one week to ensure that this Chinese company is investigated and health measures put in place to guarantee the safety of meat and food handling, failure to which we will hold demonstrations” Joseph Emuria, a resident warned.

Emuria said the slaughterhouse has led to the theft of donkeys across the county as unscrupulous people rush to supply animals to the fast-growing abattoir.

“I foresee the extinction of donkeys in future if these the Chinese donkey meat dealers continue slaughtering the animals at this rate,” said Mr Emuria.

He alleged that the company is exporting rotten meat to unknown destinations as public health officers take no action. The local residents led by their area chief Patrick Lorogoi also raised concern over increasing cases of donkey theft in the area. Lorogoi said complaints of donkey theft have been reported to the police who have launched investigations.

“We suspect that the Chinese are buying stolen donkeys unknowingly. We have established that they don’t ask for livestock movement permits, but that is a matter under investigation,” the Chief reported.

He said he has received complaints from several residents working as casual labourers in the Chinese firm who claim they have been working without payments for several months.

“There are several Chinese nationals doing manual jobs in the abattoir and we suspect they are illegal immigrants. We have asked the police to investigate them but no action has been done. We have been demanding for our pay for more than three months but they have refused to release our dues,” a worker in the abattoir who declined to be named for fear of victimization alleged.

On their defense, Liu Wenchen and Jiang Baogui, the Chinese nationals managing the abattoir denied the claims, saying they export quality donkey meat.“We package and sell all the meat to our international markets. We don’t want wastage because we buy the donkeys at high prices,” he said.

But inside, workers were busy loading donkey meat in carton boxes amid a stinking smell of meat. There are no refrigerators to store the meat awaiting export.

“We are not happy with the manner in which the Chinese are doing the donkey meat business. We have reported this matter to relevant government officers but our concerns have fallen on deaf ears.” A donkey keeper Geoffrey Lokuruka said.

Turkana Central sub-county Police Commander David Mburukwa said police are investigating six Chinese labourers working in the abattoir after complaints that they were in the country illegally.

“For now, we are not looking into the complaints raised by locals working in the abattoir because that is a labour issue and can be handled by other organs,” Mburukwa said.

However, company manager Liu Wanchen said the firm was facing financial challenges and promised that they will be paid soon. Ironically, Liu acknowledged that they usually export spoilt meat to avoid unnecessary losses because they buy animals at higher prices.

Turkana Veterinary Doctor Benson Longo’r told The Standard the county was also investigating the abattoir for failure to adhere to health standards and Kenyan rules. He said the county department had previously warned the management against dealing in uninspected donkey meat.

“There are times we have stopped the company from slaughtering some sick donkeys that according to our assessment, their meat would be unfit for consumption,” he said.”Let them pack spoiled meat but they will not get transportation permit,” he warned.

September 29, 2019
Is Kenya Settling The China Loans With Crude Oil

Kenya exported the first batch of her crude oil from Ngamia 1 fields to China in what seemed like a breakthrough, but Kenyans should expect no revenues from the sold oil yet from China.

Andrew Kamau, the Petroleum principal secretary said that the government will use the 1.2 billion, supposed to be received from the sale, to cover for the expenses that the explorer incurred in market testing for the crude.

Mr. Kamau had previously revealed that Kenya had sold the crude oil to ChemChina UK Ltd and a selected delegation of the ministry of petroleum is set to visit Ngamia 1 to explain to Turkana leaders so that they explain to locals of what to expect from the inaugural sale of Kenya’s crude.

“We will be meeting all the leaders next week to explain to them what the sale means because, as we have always said, the Early Oil Pilot Scheme is a market test and not necessarily a commercial venture,” Mr. Kamau said.

According to the PS, the government is, apparently supposed to recover the cost of setting up the oil drilling machines, rehabilitation of storage tanks and expensive trucking of the crude that saw the pilling of 200,000 barrels headed for Beijing in two weeks.

In a nutshell, the government’s upfront cost recovery from the sale of oil to China means the EOPS may not yield any petrodollars until the project reaches its full development which is projected to be in the year 2022.

“I think we have begun our journey and it is up to us to ensure that those resources are put to the best use to develop our country to make it prosperous and to ensure we eliminate poverty in Kenya,” President Kenyatta said.

What comes as sour news is that, Turkana, according to Kenya National Bureau of Statistics ranking, is among the top poorest counties in the whole of Kenya. Last year’s household integration survey revealed that Turkana county alone accounts for close to 15 percent of the hard-core poverty in Kenya. The country is also food-deficient, with 66.1 percent of its population considered food poor.

Personally, I think the government is playing with not only people’s emotions but also money. The State itself has the said stats and reports of what the people of Turkana should get from the start of this project. See people can’t question everything that’s going on right now because the same very government has declined to disclose its production sharing contracts with British oil explorer Tullow.

Constitutionally, the Petroleum Act 2019, provides for profit-sharing between the national government (75 percent), county government (20 percent) and the local community (5 percent), but that will only be known after the cumulative cost of the Early Oil Pilot Scheme is done, including how the cost will be recovered.

See the government should have told the people of Turkana and Kenyans at large that they were, allegedly, intending to pay off the huge accumulated China grants and loans with the crude oil. The fact is that Kenya and China kept their deals secret, with even the announcement of the crude oil buyer coming two weeks after the deal was made.

Nobody knows clearly, maybe those deeply involved in the Petroleum Ministry and the government, why Tullow Oil insisted that the buyer would remain secret, citing a ‘non-disclosure agreement,’ moments before PS Kamau revealed that they had settled on the Chinese oil multinational.

“Non-Disclosure Agreement does not allow us to reveal the name of the winning bidder unilaterally. However, the process was competitive; a group of target buyers was invited to bid for the crude with the winning bidder selected based on the price offered,” Tullow country manager Martin Mbogo said.

This comes at a time when a coalition of 16 civil society organizations from the Kenya Civil Society Platform on Oil and Gas had been pushing for full disclosure of the contracts which specify how the costs incurred by Tullow Oil will be recovered when oil is sold.

“A normal production sharing contract has a cap on how much is allocated to cost recovery to ensure every year you still get some money. It may take long to make full cost recovery, which is usually a recipe for suspicion, especially from local communities,” KCSPOG Coordinator Charles Wanguhu said

We can’t clearly know what the government is doing, rather it will do with the funds that will be generated from the sale of this precious crude oil. It also remains unclear to know how much Tullow Oil has spent in the Turkana Oil fields and the recent audit that had been commissioned by the government yet to be made public for perusal.

August 19, 2019