Femi One, the renowned Kenyan artist and philanthropist, along with her foundation, One For One Foundation, participated in the historic first-ever Menstrual Equity Summit held in Nanyuki.

The two-day event brought together a remarkable lineup of industry speakers, including Diana Odhiambo, the Gender Equality Advocacy Director for Better4Kenya.

Coinciding with the observance of #MenstrualHygieneDay, the summit showcased the tireless efforts and remarkable achievements of girls and women who have shattered barriers in the pursuit of their dreams.

Femi One and One For One Foundation were at the forefront of this momentous event, pledging their commitment to eradicate period poverty.

As a staunch advocate for menstrual equity, Femi One has been actively working towards creating a world where every girl and woman has access to safe and hygienic menstrual products.

Through her foundation, One For One, she has been instrumental in providing menstrual supplies to underserved communities and raising awareness about the importance of menstrual hygiene.

The Menstrual Equity Summit served as a platform for sharing insights, strategies, and best practices to address the pressing issue of period poverty in Kenya and beyond.

The event facilitated discussions on policy reforms, innovative solutions, and the importance of collaborative efforts in bringing about lasting change.

Diana Odhiambo, the Gender Equality Advocacy Director for Better4Kenya, delivered a thought-provoking address, shedding light on the challenges faced by girls and women due to menstrual inequality.

Her presence and expertise added immense value to the summit, inspiring participants to take actionable steps towards ending period poverty.

Femi One expressed her gratitude for the opportunity to join forces with industry leaders and fellow advocates at the Menstrual Equity Summit.

She emphasized the urgency of tackling period poverty and reaffirmed her commitment to making a difference in the lives of countless girls and women.

"Together, we can break the stigma surrounding menstruation and create an environment where every girl and woman can thrive without being limited by their periods," said Femi One.

Adding  "By joining hands and taking collective action, we can end period poverty and empower girls and women to reach their full potential."

The dream to visit China has always lingered on my mind for a very long time.

This year (2023) I was part of a group of Journalists from several African countries selected to take part in the ‘Seminar for Heads of the International Departments of Major Media Outlets From African Countries’ held in Beijing from May 10^th to May 23^rd.

The seminar sponsored by the ministry of Commerce and organized by the China International Communications Group (CICG) Institute of International Studies and Advanced training brought together Journalists from Kenya, Nigeria, Angola, Tunisia, Mauritius, Ghana and Burundi.

Special appreciation to Mama Salma Noor for making this dream a reality

I was in China not only to learn but also get a first hand experience of the great country with a rich history and culture.

In this article, I want to share with you some of the things that I liked about China and places I managed to visit.

People

I just loved the people in China. The people were kind and positive. The people really like meeting foreigners especially Africans, they are always eager to learn more about Africa and speak our different languages. The first thing they will ask from you is a picture , to take a photo together and are always ready to  teach you their Chinese language.

I remember one evening as we were having a walk with colleagues in one of the busy streets, a group of young Chinese approached us and told us “ China and Africa are very good friends” before requesting for a picture with us, they even offered to take us round and show us some of the nice places around.

Check Video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgU0sqrN2Ec&t=17s

Technology

The level of technology advancement in China is very impressive. Everything in China works with a QR code, nobody asks for your phone number, all they need is your QR code.

The most interesting thing is there is no WhatsApp in China not unless you are using VPN. In china people use their version of WhatsApp, WeChat, this is everything in one app. You can use for chatting, making payments among other things.

In China, people rarely walk around with cash. China is a cashless society thanks to the e-payment apps , all you need to have is just your smartphone. All transactions, when paying for your taxi, taking a bus, paying for your shopping or any other transaction you just use WeChat or Alipay which is another popular application used especially when doing online shopping.

Beijing Bicycle Lifetsyle

The public bicycles in Beijing help the residents reach different places within the city conveniently. Riding a bicycle in Beijing city is convenient, flexible and efficient especially during rush hours.

There are different specific docking stations for the bicycles in almost all parts of the city where one can easily access the bicycles for their use.

The bicycles can be rented through mobile apps where you just scan through your smart phone.

Check video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLTrJ4oIukg&t=9s

Beijing Subway

The Beijing Subway is the second longest subway system in China and the World. The Beijing subway has 24 subway lines in operation, 428 subway stations, and cover a total route length of over 700 kilometers.

The subway has over 20 lines including 19 rapid transit lines, two airport express lines, one maglev line and 2 light rail lines.

The subway has automatic ticket machines that can scan smartphones for payment.

The Beijing subway system provides Beijing visitors with a fast, convenient and cheap way to get around.

Beijing subway is not difficult to navigate, with signs and onboard announcements in English and Chinese. There are also LED displays in more modern carriages. Signs in subway stations on either side of the tracks indicate upcoming stations and journey times.

Check Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bgl3mcjA7Ik&t=16s

Below are some of the  places that we visited in China.

The Great Wall of China

"If you haven't been to the Great Wall, you aren't a real man," Mao Zedong.

What is the point of visiting China if you do not climb the Great wall?. This is a ‘Must’ when travelling to Beijing. It is among the seven Wonders of the World.

The wall, a defense made of various materials stone, rammed earth, brick  was built on imperial order to protect the empire from invasion. The Chinese have a long history of building walls, dating from the Warring States period.

With a total length of 21196 kilometers (13170 miles), the wall is connected by different wall sections built in different dynasties. There are more than ten sections of the Great Wall open to tourists and each of the sections offers different sights and levels of accessibility.

Watch my video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t_Dc206OIA

Yongtai Ancient Castle

Yongtai Fortress, a 400-year-old ancient city built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), is located in the Gobi desert in Jingtai County of Baiyin, Northwest China's Gansu Province.

Due to it’s castle resembling a golden turtle, it is also known as "turtle city".

It is the most representative and well preserved military castle of the Ming Dynasty along the Silk road and an important component of the defense system of the  Ming Great Wall. It is currently a national key cultural relic protection unit, a famous historical and cultural village in Gansu, a film and television shooting base in Gansu province and a municipal defense education base.

Yongtai Ancient castle with its unique architectural form and primitive ecology in the Northwest has attracted the attention of many movie directors. With the filming of film and television works such as ‘Western Hot Land’, ‘Sweat Hot Blooded Horse, ‘Battle of Chama Town’ among others.

Tiantishan Mountain Grotto / Giant Buddha Statue

While in Gansu, we also visited the historic Tianti Mountain Grotto.  With a history of 1,600 years, the Tianti Mountain Grotto is one of the earliest grottos excavated in China

Inside the mountain lies a 92ft-high Buddha statue along with its heavenly guards. Mmebers of the Buddha community regard this as a sacred place where they visit for special prayers and as a source of inner peace.

The name, Tiantishan, means a mountain with a ladder to heaven.

As the biggest statue in Tiantishan Grottoes, the Buddha, in No 13 Cave of this Buddhist grotto complex, has been there for more than 1,300 years.

Check Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6ztssSSe-E&t=12s

A section of sector players in the maritime industry have called  for concerted efforts by the various maritime administrations in Africa to enable the industry to compete favorably with its counterparts in other continents.

Speaking in Mombasa on Thursday at the sidelines of the 6th conference of the  Association of African Maritime Administration (AAMA) and general assembly,  Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) acting Director General  John Omingo reiterated that there is a need to build a competitive maritime sector in Africa through continuous engagements and sharing of ideas. 

Kenya has been elected as the chair of (AAMA) for the next two years taking over from Nigeria who had taken over from South Africa with a mandate to bring out the opportunities within the blue economy, space and maritime transport industry.

Omingo said the conference also delved on how the African continent can own ships to facilitate transportation of cargo within the continent as well as harnessing opportunities in maritime transport.

 “The income is not coming out very well because we don't own the ships, the ships are done by foreigners and it's time as a continent we put our minds together to own ships to facilitate regional trade and serve the continent well,” said Omingo.

He said with African continental free trade area coming up to open up the borders there is bound to be more trade within borders and increase from the 17 percent trade currently within African countries compared to 70 percent in Europe.

“African share of global trade is about 2 percent which means there is a lot to be done, so administrations come together to rally the continental approach, and coming together you can have a common voice,” Omingo added.

Zamanchonco  Chonco, a member of the AAMA secretariat from South Africa said African countries should create their own solutions to problems affecting their maritime economies by creating the requisite infrastructure.

“We have 54 African countries and it’s important for us to come together and share common ideas on how we can improve within our own maritime administrations,” said Chonco, adding that countries bordering the ocean have rich resources which need to be exploited.

On his part Unathi Sonti the chairperson of the Maritime business chamber based in South Africa said matters of maritime administration should be handled amicably by all countries to ensure a common ground for the region.

Kenya hosted the 6^th conference of the association of African Maritime administration (AAMA) and general assembly for the first time, which brought together delegates from the African continent.

The conference also addressed matters related to blue economy investments, environmental sustainability among others.

National carrier, Kenya Airways (KQ) has unveiled a new inflight dining experience in its Business Class and Economy Class cabins for specific long and medium haul flights.

The revamped in-flight experience includes a new menu as well as a new plating service for business class and tray service for economy class.

The new menu will include meals made from sustainably locally sourced ingredients.

The revamped culinary experience is designed within the airline’s strategy to enhance its customer service delivery and offering across all touch points through its personalised culinary experiences that reflect African authenticity, hospitality, and simplicity.

The new experience has been carefully crafted from customer feedback in mind, years of research and testing to ensure it is responsive to customers' needs and expectations.

Kenya Airways will introduce an improved menu and plating service for business class passengers on four long haul international flights specifically Paris, Amsterdam, New York and London.

The new service and menu will debut on the flight to Paris on 1st May and will be subsequently rolled out to the other three routes within the month.

Speaking on the launch of the new inflightservice, Allan Kilavuka, Kenya Airways Group Chief Executive Officer, and MD stated: “Kenya Airways positions itself as the customer-centric carrier championing the African culture and we are delighted to launch our inflight menu and offering”

Adding “ Our approach is designed to continue to provide guests with a highly personalised and bespoke service tailored to ensure our guests have a memorable culinary experience while travelling with us. We will continue to innovate and improve our services to ensure our customers experience the highest level of customer service.”

Plating service involves the introduction of table service with hot meals plated on board in the galleys by crew trained by 5-star chefs for flights above 7 hours.

The meals will move from the signature rectangular casseroles lined on a rectangular base plate to a proper round dinner plates.

For the economy class international passengers, KQ will introduce the tray service to replace the existing box service and an addition of an extra meal offer of a starter for hot meals and yogurt for breakfast.

The tray service will debut on 3 rd July 2023 on the Dubai and Mumbai flights and will be later rolled out on flights to West Africa, Central Africa, Southern Africa and then East Africa.

KQ will also introduce additional seat comfort for long haul flights through a mattress service for the business class seats on flights to Paris,

Former Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho's Director of Communication Mudathir Abdulkareem has landed a new government job.

The soft- spoken communication specialist and strategist has been appointed as  the Chief of Staff, office of the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Culture and Heritage.

Mudathir who once served as the public relations officer at the National museums of Kenya, served as the Deputy Director of Communications at the office of Mombasa governor from 2017 to 2019 before being appointed as the Director in 2019 where he served until 2022.

Mudathir will now undertake various mandates including managing the office of the Permanent Secretary Ummy Bashir. 

Kenyan Premier League side Bandari FC have sacked their head coach Anthony Kimani.

The dockers are said to have reached at the decision after recording a string of poor results..

"Bandari FC wishes to announce that we have parted ways with our head coach, Anthony Kimani, on mutual consent. The Board of Trustees arrived at this decision after thorough deliberations," said a club statement released on Monday.

Adding ""We also want to assure our fans and stakeholders that the club remains steadfast in its commitment to achieving our goals and aspirations as a club,"

The Mombasa based club was at the weekend knocked out of the Mozzart Bet Cup after a  3-0 defeat to AFC Leopards.

 Twahir Muhiddin now takes over the reins for the remainder of the campaign.

Kimani joined Bandari FC in February 2021 as an assistant coach to Rwandese tactician Andre Casa Mbungo before taking over in an acting capacity in February last year after Mbungo was sacked due to  the same reason, a series of poor performance.

The Kenya Ports Authority management led by KPA board chair Benjamin Tayari and Managing Director Captain William Ruto have scaled up efforts to improve port services along the Northern corridor.

The move is aimed at ensuring that the port of Mombasa remains the port of choice in the importation and transportation of cargo in transit markets along the corridor.

During a tour of the Mukwano Industries in Uganda on Wednesday, Chairman Tayari and MD Ruto assured the business community that delays at the Malaba border post will be addressed through automation to ensure cargo is delivered to its destination in good time.

"KPA will also work closely with the Kenyan embassy in Uganda to organize business symposiums with the business community in Uganda to pick emerging issues and effectively find solutions," said Tayari.

In the last visit to the transit markets, the KPA delegation met and engaged customers in Kampala Uganda in a bid to streamline services and address shipping and logistics challenges experienced by the business community.

Earlier on Tuesday, the KPA delegation met with the Burundi Business Community where they urged them to utilize the Naivasha and Nairobi Inland Container Depot for clearance of cargo.

"Non-tariff barriers like weighbridges along the northern corridor, free storage period and port charges are some of the customer concerns that KPA will address to improve efficiency of the Port of Mombasa," Tayari said.

The delegation was in Bujumbura for the ongoing transit stakeholder visit to understand customer concerns and needs.

The delegation later paid a courtesy call on Kenya's High Commissioner to Burundi H.E Daniel Wambura.

Last weekend, the KPA chair was in the Democratic Republic of Congo where he reiterated KPA’s commitment to faster and efficient clearance of cargo destined to DRC when he met the business community in Goma.

He said that the Kenyan government has undertaken to reduce the number of weigh bridges along the northern corridor which have caused delays in cargo movement to the hinterlands and transit markets.

"KPA is also planning to open an office in Goma to efficiently serve the DRC business community in DRC in shipping and transport logistics," he said.  

The Chairman and his delegation including Managing Director Captain William Ruto, Director Emmanuel Kibet, General Manager Corporate Services Edward Kamau and other senior managers earlier on paid a courtesy call on the Governor of North Kivu Lieutenant General Constant Ndima Kogba.

Mombasa Pastors fellowship has condemned the actions on Kilifi pastor, Paul Mackenzie, who is accused of influencing congregants to starve to death.

Led by the Pastors fellowship patron Bishop Tee Nalo, the clerics called on the government to properly investigate the actions, which have led to the loss of more than 100 lives.

"As the leadership of pastors from Coast we disassociate ourselves with Mr.Mckenzi and we condemn his actions of what we see as murder," said Bishop Nalo.

Bishop Nalo further emphasised the need for regulation in churches, saying churches should have umbrella bodies to enable them self-regulate.

"What we stand for is that churches should have umbrella bodies because we advocate for self regulation, churches need to be answerable to a body not operating on t heir own," said Nalo.

Speaking at a media briefing on Thursday, Nalo said the pastors fellowship distances itself from the actions of Mackenzie saying churches should not be victimized for mistakes committed by an individual.

"We reiterate that whatever happened in Shakahola is an isolated case and it will be very unfortunate if the church is lumped together, we want it treated as an isolated case, there are laws that should be follow," Nalo added.

They say Mackenzi church was not aligned to any umbrella body and that he took advantage of that to conduct ‘evil activities’.

On his part Kwale house of Bishops deputy patron Elphas Goda called for investigation of senior police chiefs including DCI officers to state why they never took a action when the henious acts were being conducted by Mackenzie.

"The questions we are asking ourselves is what happened to the intelligence of this nation, we want to know if there were reports, and what did they do. We want to urge that as he is being investigated, the government should also investigate the police force and DCI to say what they knew and what they did with the information that they got," said Goda.

Kenya Police football club walloped Bandari football club 3-0 to collect three points during a mid-week league match played at Kenya Ports Authority [KPA] Mbaraki Sports Club in Mombasa county.

The visiting team scored their first goal through Cliffton Miheso in the 40th minute of the first half before rains flooded the pitch during the second half.

The disciplined forces recovered from the 1-0 defeat by former league champs Gor Mahia football club by taking advantage of the weather.

The visiting team scored their second goal through Elvis Rupia and Clipton  Kinago sealed the goal scoresheet with a third goal.

The entrance to watch the match, which was also attended by former Nairobi governor Mike Sonko, was free and it had attracted a fair fair crowd.

The visiting team enjoyed playing on the waterproof pitch as the spectators were treated to a circus.  

Home team striker Umar Kachuma tested the visiting team's goalkeeper Patrick  Matasi twice with the home team playing in an unfamiliar territory after rains almost disrupted the match in the second half.

Prior to the mid-week encounter Bandari were held 1-1 by  FC Talanta at the same venue.