Saturday 23 November 2013

Zimbabwe gives foreigners December ultimatum to close businesses

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe inspects a vendor’s stand on the sidelines of a business forum on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) held at a hotel in Harare, capital of Zimbabwe. PHOTO | XINHUA | FILE
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe inspects a vendor’s stand on the sidelines of a business forum on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) held at a hotel in Harare, capital of Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe has given foreigners up to the end of December to close their businesses in sectors reserved for locals or risk arrest.PHOTO | XINHUA | FILE  XINHUA

Friday, November 22, 2013
By Kitsepile Nyathi

Zimbabwe has given foreigners up to the end of December to close their businesses in sectors reserved for locals or risk arrest.
According to the country’s indigenisation laws, foreigners are not allowed to operate retail and wholesale businesses, barbershops, hairdressings, beauty salons, employment agencies and grain milling.
The Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act also reserves agriculture (primary production of food and cash crops), transportation, estate agencies, tobacco grading and packaging, tobacco processing, advertising agencies, milk processing and provision of local arts and crafts, marketing and distribution to locals.
Mr George Magosvongwe, the secretary in the ministry of Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment told a parliamentary committee on Thursday that foreigners who defied the law would be arrested.
RESERVED SECTORS
“I confirm that some non-indigenous entities are still operating in the reserved sectors and there is a deadline for January 1 for them to comply with the requirement to relinquish their holdings in that sector,” he said.
“You will realise that January 1 is a month to come and we are putting in place measures for enforcement in the event that they do not comply.”
Mr Masgosvongwe said the government would identify indigenous Zimbabweans that would take over the businesses from foreigners to avoid shortages in the economy.
“There is need to ensure that we don’t create shortages in the economy, but certainly the ministry is going to enforce the reserved sectors rule,” he said.
“We will bring in the enforcement agencies from right across the government departments and local authorities to ensure that enforcement happens.”
The move will mainly affect Nigerians and Chinese who have flooded Zimbabwe since the country’s economy started collapsing in the late 1990s.
After his controversial reelection in July, President Robert Mugabe vowed to intensify the implementation of the indigenisation law that seeks to compel foreign companies to transfer 51 percent of their shareholding to locals.
However, the law has caused uncertainty in the economy at a time the country is desperately seeking foreign investment.

Friday 22 November 2013

Exclusive: British diplomats ejected from a Kenyan hotel

Click here for details

click here for details
Second Secretary in Charge of Political Affairs Tom Howe, Director of Political Affairs C Sugden and another officer only identified as Nancy, were kicked out of Sirikwa Hotel in Eldoret town, the venue of the aborted meeting, after the county Deputy Governor Daniel Chemno accused them of violating diplomatic protocol. Mr Chemno who stormed the meeting at around 11.30 am when introductions were ongoing, hit out at the officials to the consternation of participants, claiming that the county government was not informed about the forum. “I have just come to register my displeasure to you the officials from the UK High Commission. How can you come here without having the courtesy of notifying the county government of your presence and purpose of your visit as diplomatic protocol demands. It is wrong that we are just being informed by locals,” posed Chemno. The deputy governor told them the meeting was secretive noting that such forums should not take place at this time when the issue they were discussing at the meeting was being discussed at the International Criminal Court (ICC) with state parties. Earlier on, a team of plain clothes police officers had camped at the hotel after local leaders raised concern over the presence of the British High Commission officials. Some officials claimed they were on a mission to collect new evidence and recruit additional witnesses to testify against the Kenyan leaders facing crimes against humanity charges at the ICC. There was commotion and tension in the hall where the officials and participants were set to hold the meeting forcing the organisers to kick out journalists who had come to cover the event. Wesley Chirichir, the coordinator of Kenya Sports Foundation told the journalists to leave the venue saying their presence was not needed as the meeting was a closed door consultative forum. “We kindly request you not to take any photos or notes as this meeting is purely closed door and therefore your presence is not welcome for now,” stressed Mr Chirchir. Chemno accused the British government of undermining the county government and their leadership terming its action as unwarranted and vowing to notify President Uhuru Kenyatta of the matter.
Read more at: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000098325
By PETER OCHIENG Three senior officials from the British High Commission were flushed out of a hotel in Eldoret where they were scheduled to hold a day-long meeting with several civil society organisations from North Rift region.
Read more at: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000098325
By PETER OCHIENG Three senior officials from the British High Commission were flushed out of a hotel in Eldoret where they were scheduled to hold a day-long meeting with several civil society organisations from North Rift region.
Read more at: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000098325
By PETER OCHIENG Three senior officials from the British High Commission were flushed out of a hotel in Eldoret where they were scheduled to hold a day-long meeting with several civil society organisations from North Rift region.
Read more at: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000098325

Raila lectures at Strathmore Law School, November 21, 2013



Former Prime Minister of the Republic of Kenya Raila Odinga made rare remarks this afternoon at Strathmore University Law school at the invitation of students and faculty of the institution.“I had a wonderful time interacting with the students and fraternity of Strathmore University’s Law School. Our future as a nation is indeed bright in the hands of such talented and promising individuals” Odinga later wrote on his Face book account.Odinga’s address to an intellectual audience comprising students and faculty at Strathmore Law School is the first in Kenya since leaving power at the beginning of this year.

In June, Odinga delivered one of the best democracy speeches by an African leader in the 21st century at the University of Pretoria where he challenged leaders and pioneers like him to “to keep empowering the youth, support their education, strengthen their grassroots networks and help them keep the flames of liberation burning”.
At Strathmore, here are are some of the hilarious questions students asked mwenyekiti:

Students: Aren’t you bitter? With being kept in detention and being tortured?
PM: Response: Mandela Left Prison after years of being Tortured and Detained and became the President of South Africa. We learn to forgive because they did not know what they were doing.
Students: You have been in government for as long as I was born (Laughter) how come there have been no progress or growth in Government?
PM: Ethnicity and Elitists nature is our Number One Enemy where the Elite surround centers of power and fear letting go. Laws of the land were only answerable to one Mtukufu Rais and nothing could move without his consent. This promoted Nepotism, Tribalism and corruption which inhabited growth because there were no checks and balances.
Students: How do we attain this Democracy!? How do we save ourselves? How do we unify our country so that we can develop?

PM: Devolution under the new constitution was passed so that we can attain all this however, because of ethnicity and elitist nature (of the national government), it is being fought, if we can give power to people at the grass roots level then I shall have achieved my dream of unifying one nation. . .the Kenyan nation… because this is my dream.
Closing remarks by a Student: (Addressing the PM) We appreciate you taking time to come be with us today. . .(usual undergraduate hope filled thank you speech)
These remarks are yet to be confirmed by any of the press secretaries attached to the PM as verbatim record of the PM’s talk with the law students, however, it is a great stride for this country that an academic institution did “muster courage” to invite Odinga to speak to Kenyan students.
Read Odinga’s speech here.
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THE FULL SPEECH:

SUSTAINING DEMOCRACY’S FUTURE IN AFRICA: A CHALLENGE TO THE NEXT GENERATION.
Presentation by Hon. Raila A. Odinga, Former Prime Minister, Republic of Kenya during the Forum at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.


Mr Chairman; Ladies and Gentlemen:
It is always an honour for me to have the opportunity to discuss a subject that ever-remains so close to my heart: democracy, particularly with special reference to my continent, Africa;
For some people in this audience, democracy in Africa could be mere theory; safely commented upon and discussed from the safe confines of the academia or a conference setting.
For some us though, it has become life; real life.
At your age, my generation of Africans believed there was only one threat that, once conquered, everything would be fine on our continent.
Growing up in the Africa of the 1950s and 1960s, we believed that once colonialism was defeated, the future would be bliss.
While today we repeatedly say Africa’s future belongs to its young people, in the Africa of pre and immediate post independence period, the present and the future were in the hands of the revered founding fathers. We deeply trusted the founders of our newly independent nations.
The idea that after independence, Africans could once again take up arms, return to the streets and even to the bushes to fight fellow Africans who were taking over the reigns of power from the colonialists was extremely remote.
Independence had come. The leadership comprised those who had fought for basic freedoms of expression, speech, association and movement.
We assumed the leaders understood the pain of being denied these freedoms. They understood the pain of inequitable distribution of resources.
They knew the pain of being discriminated against on the basis of tribe, race, religion and place of origin. They would not commit such sins against their own people.
Today, we know we were wrong. The struggle that the African people have had to endure in the years after independence have been as vicious as, sometimes more vicious than, the ones they waged against the colonialists.
It was a struggle laced with the pain of being betrayed by a brother, an uncle, a father, a neighbour, and a friend. Where were we to turn?
This is the reality this generation of Africans here in Pretoria and across the Continent have to face. We must never trust individuals. Only institutions count.
Even more importantly, we bequeath to you that the reality that freedom, as President Ronal Reagan said, is never more than a generation from extinction.
It must be fought for, protected, and handed on to the next generation to do the same, “or one day, we will spend our sunset years telling our children and their children how it was once like in a land where men were free.”
Let a young Kenyan, Zimbabwean, Sudanese, South African or Ugandan not say “the environment is so bad here, let me struggle and get out to Britain, the U.S, France or any other countries where systems seem to work.”
You have a rendezvous with destiny. To protect democracy, the youth of Africa must reinvent the spirit of patriotism that informed our struggle to be free.
And by patriotism, I don’t mean blind obedience. I mean a deliberate effort by the youth to treat their countries as the last heaven on earth where if they lose freedom, there is nowhere to escape to.
You have the responsibility to tell those in power that the first duty of the government is to protect the people, not run or ruin their lives.
Sometimes you will succeed in these efforts. Sometimes you will fail. But there is always an option. You have the energy, the flexibility the audacity to dream. And you have the numbers.
So do what Reagan told us: “When you can’t make them see the light, make them feel the heat.”
Engage in the affairs of your nation and your parties. Retreat and surrender are never options.
Leaders, elders and pioneers; whether in government or out have a duty to keep empowering the youth, support their education, strengthen their grassroots networks and help them keep the flames of liberation burning.
Your generation is coming up well aware that the single goal we were made to pursue; that of throwing out the colonialists, was not good enough.
We know the colonialists left, but in a number of places, secret admirers took over from where they left.
This generation is therefore confronted with two paths and two realities. One reality you must grow up with is that the struggle in Africa continues.
You must know that without securing the basic freedoms, you are on a path to conflict, bloodshed, underdevelopment, poverty, racism, tribalism and religious intolerance and strife.
The other path will lead you to more democratic space, more opportunities more freedoms. It is the path to take.
Let me conclude by reminding you that there still remain forces that want to perpetuate impunity in the continent.
They scheme to scuttle the free expression of the popular will by ensuring that even the most expensive electoral technology must fail in African elections.
They endorse fraudulent elections, even where all other facts point to the contrary;
They ensure that even judicial decisions are compromised and a far cry from basic sense of natural justice and expectations, and;
Who knows, they will ensure that any remnants of true African liberators are gagged, hounded and tormented to their graves;
I remain optimistic and emboldened by faith; that with your engagement, propelled by the history you have been eye witnesses to, Africa will triumph; the goodness that God intended for all of us will triumph over all evil;
And as I said as Prime Minister, Africa remains the next frontier for genuine economic hope, peace and prosperity.
RT. HON. RAILA AMOLO ODINGA



Friday 8 November 2013

UK scraps Sh400,000 visa bond



By Nation Reporter

Author Profile
Britain has abandoned a contentious proposal to have people from selected countries deposit a bond of Sh400,000 before they can be granted visas.
The policy was revealed in June by Home Secretary Theresa May, but will now be scrapped, according to a spokesperson for the British Home Office. (READ: UK plans new visa conditions for Kenya)
“The government has been considering whether we pilot a bond scheme that would deter people from overstaying the visa. We have decided not to proceed,” the spokesman said.
British High Commissioner to Kenya Christian Turner on Tuesday told the Nation: “The UK wants the brightest and the best to help create the jobs and growth that will enable Britain to compete in the global race.”
The policy was set for piloting this month to coincide with the start of the Christmas shopping season.
Kenya was among six countries in Africa and Asia that had been singled out as “high risk”, meaning they are the source of the highest number of immigrants to the UK.
The £3,000 bond was to serve as a guarantee that the visa applicants would return home after the allowed period.
Others countries were Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. (READ: Nigeria slams UK cash visa bond plan as 'discriminatory')

Tuesday 5 November 2013

Preparations Underway For DUT’s Third and Final Inaugural Lecture For 2013

olugbara.jpg
Preparations for the last inaugural lecture in 2013 at the Durban University of Technology are in full swing.
Professor Oludayo Olugbara, Professor of Computer Science and Information Technology in the University’s Department of Information Technology, will deliver his inaugural lecture on Wednesday, 20 November 2013, at the DUT Hotel School Conference Centre, DUT Ritson Campus, at 18H30. His inaugural lecture follows two previous ones by Prof Nirmala Deenadayalu, Professor in the University’s Chemistry Department as well as Prof Suren Singh, Department of Biotechnology and Food Technology HoD.
Titled: Smart Cities in a Complex Hyperconnected World, the lecture will provide an overview of the inherent merits of integrating smart city infrastructures - which are tied in with the development of relevant services within the world economy - to improve human lives and transform complex heterogeneous ecosystems. The inaugural lecture will focus on the utilisation of these infrastructures to enhance applications and services.
Prof Olugbara, Research Co-Ordinator at the KwaZulu-Natal e-Skills CoLab, holds a PhD in Computer Science, University of Zululand, 2008; a M.Sc. in Mathematics (Computer Science Specialisation), University of Ilorin, Nigeria, 1995, and a B.Sc. (Honors) in Mathematics (First Class Honors), University of Ilorin, Nigeria, 1991. He is a member of the DUT Senate, is Vice-Chairman of the Space Science Research Group at DUT and he is also a member of the Research Network for E-Skills (ResNES). He has extensive teaching experience in Computer Science, Information Technology and Mathematics at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He has supervised postgraduate research students at the Tshwane University of Technology since 2009. He lectured at the Covenant University, Nigeria, between 2002 and 2006, Akintola University of Technology, Nigeria between 1995 and 2001, and at the University of Ilorin, Nigeria between 1992 and 2001.
He arrived at DUT in 2010 when he was appointed Associate Professor of Computer Science and Information Technology in the University’s Information Technology Department. In 2011, he became Professor of Computer Science and Information Technology in the Department.
He has supervised 6 Doctoral students, 10 Master’s students and more than 250 under-graduate students. He mentors postgraduate students and examines dissertations and theses at the aforementioned academic level.
He has published over 30 peer reviewed journal articles and over 50 conference papers. He has also presented at workshops and symposiums including the International Workshop on Pattern Discovery in Biology, Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria, 2005. He is a peer reviewer for the Maejo International Journal of Science and Technology, Thailand, 2009 to date, and the Journal of African Studies and Development, 2009 to date.
Prof Olugbara is an external moderator and an examiner for the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science; University of Zululand’s Department of Computer Science as well as the University of South Africa’s School of Computing.
He co-authored the book Computer Application Packages, 1995, published by McKay Educational Series. He has also authored chapters in five books.
His research inclinations are machine learning, computer games, image processing, Grid/Cloud computing, e-Healthare, e-Commerce, e-Government and scientific computing. Prof Olugbara has over 24 years of programming experience in software development, the use of operating systems (Windows XP/Vista, LINUX and SUSE) and the use of many productivity enhancement software tools. While he uses programming languages and scripts including C#, Java, HTML, XML, PHP, MATLAB, QT and Carbide C++, his main programming tool for implementing and testing his research ideals is C/C++.
He is a member of Marquis Who’s Who in the World, USA. He is also a member of the editorial board of the Signal & Image Processing: An International Journal. Prof Olugbara has received a string of awards and scholarships including the Centre of Excellence Scholarship award by the University of Zululand, 2006-2008; International Federation of Information Processing (IFIP) TC2 Scholarship Award by Microsoft Research Limited, Cambridge, 2007; International Student Society Most Deserving Award by the University of Zululand, 2006-2007; Medal Award by the International Conference on Information and Communication Technology (ICICT), Cairo, 2005, and the Faculty of Science Prize by the University of Ilorin, Nigeria, 1991.
He has chaired conference sessions, collaborated with other scholars on research and presented at numerous regional, national and international conference meetings. He is a member of six professional societies including the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), New Zealand, Computer Society of South Africa (CSSA), as well as the Mathematical Association of Nigeria (MAN), Nigeria.
His consulting experience includes Principal Consultant, Kreative Resources Consultancy, Ilorin, Nigeria; designer and implementer of the Student Registration and Examination Results Processing System, University of Ilorin, Nigeria, and Principal Consultant for the Training of local government chairmen and secretaries of the 754 local governments in Nigeria, 2000.
- Sinegugu Ndlovu
Pictured: Prof Oludayo Olugbara, Professor of Computer Science and Information Technology in the University’s Department of Information Technology, who will deliver his inaugural lecture later this month.

ICC judges explain reasons for excusing Ruto from trial


Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Deputy President William Ruto sits in the courtroom of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.  PHOTO/AFP
Deputy President William Ruto sits in the courtroom of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. PHOTO/AFP 
By Walter Menya

The International Criminal Court excused Deputy President William Ruto from the courtroom because the reasons given by his defence met the threshold of exceptional circumstances.
While giving the reasons for the excusal Tuesday, presiding judge Chile Eboe-Osuji said the chamber was satisfied with the reasons in Mr Ruto’s application, which was largely in private session.
Mr Ruto was last Friday excused from being in the courtroom for the whole of this week.
“The chamber is satisfied that the circumstances are exceptional. The meetings that Mr Ruto and President Uhuru Kenyatta have were planned when the schedule did not foresee extension of the current session,” said judge Osuji.
The chamber also held that the criteria for excusal set in the judgement of the Appeals Chamber of October 25 were met.
In any case, the chamber agreed with the Ruto defence that adjournment, which is one of the alternatives available to it would not be feasible since there is witness 268 on the stand whose testimony cannot be disrupted.
INTERNATIONAL LEVEL MEETINGS
On Friday, the Ruto defence requested that the chamber excuses him from the courtroom this week, listing a number of meetings at international level that President Kenyatta and Mr Ruto are required to attend.
“It was the submission of the defence that arrangements for the meetings were made on the understanding that there would be no sittings this week. The defence further submitted that adjournment was not an option since there is a witness on the stand.”
President Kenyatta left for an official visit to South Africa and Botswana on Monday and is expected back in the country Wednesday.
Thereafter, Mr Ruto will also be required to chair a meeting on refugee and drought on Thursday and Friday in Nairobi.
Both the prosecution and the victims’ lawyer had opposed the Ruto request arguing that granting him the excusal would make his absence the general rule rather than the exception, and thus go against the interpretation given by the Appeals Chamber on October 25.
The excusal of Mr Ruto came just two days after he returned to The Hague on Thursday October 31, having been away with the court’s permission to take charge of government affairs as President Kenyatta travelled to Kigali for a three-day official visit to attend a regional infrastructure and security meeting.
However, former journalist Joshua Sang’s application to be absent from the courtroom on November 1 to attend his daughter’s graduation was rejected, with the majority returning a decision that the request failed the exceptional test.

Deputy President William Ruto defence links Kibaki to chaos

Former President Mwai Kibaki
Updated Saturday, November 2nd 2013 at 20:10 GMT +3

By FELIX OLICK IN THE HAGUE
Deputy President William Ruto has opened fire on former President Kibaki over the horrific 2008 post-election violence as he fights to defend himself at The Hague.
Ruto now seems to be shifting from  former Prime Minister Raila Odinga as the architect of his woes in his new legal strategy.
Observers of the International Criminal Court are unanimous that unlike the pre-trial hearings when Ruto largely questioned why the prosecution picked on him and not Raila who led the ODM brigade, this time, he has trained his guns on Kibaki and his former allies. “It is indeed true that Ruto’s strategy has changed,” noted Donald Rabala, Senior Advocate of the High Court of Kenya.
“The reason is that he has since realised that the only defence plausible for him right now is to state the facts as they happened,” he said.
On Thursday, Ruto’s defence lawyers tore into the character of Kibaki as they rebutted the testimony of the sixth prosecution witness insisting that he openly rigged the 2007 presidential polls.
Ruto’s lawyer David Hooper, painted the picture of the retired president as a dishonest man who planted the seed of tribalism in Government and watered it with corruption.
Plotted to rig
“As the election came closer, was it right that there was apprehension that Kibaki would not deal fairly and squarely with the election process,” asked Hooper and the witness, the first Kalenjin, agreed.
The British lawyer maintained that Kibaki plotted to influence the poll outcome by single-handedly appointing 19 out of 22 Commissioner to the defunct Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK).
He said that even the late ECK Chairman Samuel Kivuitu expressed his reservation with 9 of the commissioners ahead of the polls and called them ‘riggers.’
Hooper even claimed that on the night of December 30th, 2007, unknown people broke into the presidential tallying centre at Kenyatta International Conference Centre, Nairobi. “I understand that on the night of the election on December 30th, 2007, some people broke into the tallying centre. Did you come to hear about that? asked Hooper
Witness: No.
Mr Hooper: For the ordinary Kenyan seated at home, would you agree that there would be sufficient evidence that the elections had been stolen?
 Witness: Yes
 The European Union, the USA, the United Kingdom and Kenyan observers were dissatisfied with the way the elections had been conducted. Would that be fair to say?
 Witness: Seemingly.
Njahira Gitahi of Strathmore Law School says that Ruto is fighting for his life and would undoubtedly leave no stone unturned in his quest to be vindicated of the serious charges.
“It is said that a dying man will clutch at a straw. This is not to say that Ruto is already losing his case, but is instead trying to exploit all avenues to shift the blame away from him,” she told The Standard on Sunday. “His counsel might be employing this tactic due to a lack of options. Perhaps, being unable to prove why Ruto is not guilty, they intend instead to prove why other people are more guilty than Ruto is,” says Gitahi.
Her sentiments are echoed by Rabala who says that Ruto is compelled to “put the blame where he thinks it belongs because its now about self preservation and securing his freedom and clearing his name.”
After he was committed to full trial, Ruto fired some of his lawyers including Kenyan Attorney Kioko Kilukumi and adopted nearly the entire defence team of former Civil Service Chief Francis Muthaura.
During the explosive and tense cross-examination Thursday, Hooper maintained that Kibaki betrayed the hopes and aspirations of a better future Kenyans had in the Narc Government after his overwhelming victory in 2002.
He pointed at Kibaki’s failure to honour his memorandum of understanding with Raila, failure to deliver a new Constitution in 100 days and an alleged failure to ‘de-ethnicise’ the civil service and weed out corruption. “By 2007, there was a perception that he had created an over powerful presidency, a regime that had a criminal element. Would you agree? posed Hooper and to which the witness said yes.
The Queens counsel claimed that after Kibaki took over power in 2002, he sacked many senior Kalenjins in the civil service, in the military and in the police
Quoting from an excerpt of the Waki Commission report on inquiry into post-election violence, Hooper said Kibaki’s administration retreated into an ‘ethnic enclave’.
 He singled out the Anglo leasing scandal and the cocaine haul as evidence that Kibaki had failed to tackle corruption.
But this was not the first time Ruto is blaming Kibaki for his tribulations since his trial opened at The Hague on November 10.

Sunday 3 November 2013

Warning: Do not view eclipse with naked eye

The solar eclipse as witnessed in Kenya's capital Nairobi at 8.30 a.m on January 15, 2010. Tourists, visitors and other astronomy enthusiast have been advised to use protective glasses to view the  solar eclipse Sunday afternoon.  Photo/PHOEBE OKALL


Tourists, visitors and other astronomy enthusiast have been advised to use protective glasses to

Tourists, visitors and other astronomy enthusiast have been advised to use protective glasses to view the solar eclipse Sunday afternoon.
In Marsabit, the protective gear is being distributed to tourists and astronomers heading to Sibiloi National Park on the shores of Lake Turkana to view the total solar eclipse that is to last for about 15 seconds.
On Friday, Tourism Cabinet Secretary Phylis Kandie flagged off a caravan to Sibiloi. Saturday night she left for the UK on a tourism marketing venture.
She said astro-tourists and astro-enthusiasists were gathering at Sibiloi Park to get a perfect view Sunday.
Sibiloi is on the border of Turkana and Marsabit.
Ms Kandie said the total solar eclipse is a stunning once- in- a- lifetime sight and event, and Kenya is privileged to provide one of the best view points for this show of nature.
“Failure to use appropriate filtration may result in permanent eye damage or blindness,” said a statement from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
BY James Ngunjiri @mjngunjiri ngunjirij@ke.nationmedia.com and Francis Njenga @franknjenga1fnjenga@Ke.nationmedia.com

Saturday 2 November 2013

Numbers rise as tourists flock Marsabit for eclipse Sunday



About 1,000 tourists have already arrived in Marsabit County in anticipation of the hybrid eclipse viewing on Sunday.
The first of the tourists who had travelled by road arrived into the county on Thursday evening and more people are expected to arrive before Sunday.
A convoy organised by the Kenya Tourism Board, Kenya Wildlife Services and the National Museums of Kenya and comprising of local and international tourists was on Thursday flagged off from Nairobi.
They spent the first night in Isiolo before proceeding to Marsabit early Friday morning.
Speaking to the Business Daily after flagging of the caravan headed for Sibiloi from Marsabit town, County Governor Ukur Yatani said that the eclipse had stimulated an entrepreneurship spirit within the county.
“In the short span of time we have seen entrepreneurs come together to set up accommodation facilities and provide other essential services like food and water to the large number that we are receiving,” he said.
He explained that the local communities had also been mobilised in groups to sell artifacts as well as being given designated platforms to showcase the county’s different cultures.
So far 25 campsites have been set up within Sibiloi and adequately equipped with sanitation services and water points for the tourists.
In anticipation for those who would be weary of the long distance road travel the KWS extended the runway of the airstrip at the Sibiloi National Park in order to be able to receive larger aircrafts.
“We are anticipating about 2,000 local and foreign tourists and it is still possible for people to come for the siting because the airstrip is receiving direct charter flights,” he added.
Those on the caravan will have an opportunity to travel through the Chalbi Desert to North Horr before proceeding to Sibiloi on Saturday.
This article first appeared on Businessdailyafrica.com
schao@ke.nationmedia.com