Ommy Dallah
President Kenyatta Asks Sports Fund To Boost Sports And The Arts, Preserve National Heritage
President Uhuru Kenyatta today at State House, Nairobi, challenged the Sports, Arts and Social Development Fund Oversight Board, to utilize resources at its disposal to restore the country’s sporting glory, promote the arts, and preserve Kenya's rich national heritage.
Speaking after being briefed on the progress made by the board in achieving its broad mandate, President Kenyatta said sports and the arts has the potential of being a major source of jobs for Kenya’s youth if well resourced and managed.
“We need to revive sports and the arts in the country. One way of doing that is to motivate our young people through adequate resourcing,” the President said.
He said that as part of fulfilling its mandate, the board should be able to facilitate all national teams participating in international games not only by funding them but also by branding them with national colours through provision of uniforms and other supplies necessary for the teams to succeed.
“You need to be in the forefront of building strong national sporting teams through provision of adequate funding as well as through branding and provision of the necessary supplies they need to excel,” said the President.
President Kenyatta asked the sports oversight board to ensure that activities under its mandate which include national heritage, culture and the arts are fully catered for, saying preservation of the country’s heritage and culture will help in building a strong reference point for future generations.
He tasked the board to ensure that Kenya's heritage sites and resources including museums, monuments and artefacts are properly mapped, secured, resourced and managed.
On the arts, the President called on the board to support the Studio Mashinani Initiative, a national government project aimed at ensuring availability of high quality multimedia studio production facilities and equipment to young talented Kenyans across the country.
The President asked the board to ensure that the Studio Mashinani Initiative, which is growing very fast as a platform for talent development and source of livelihood for thousands of young Kenyans, is adequately resourced and expanded to cover the entire country within the shortest time possible.
President Kenyatta further pointed out that the board should do all in its power to attract many more youths to utilize their talents in sports and the arts by renovating existing national facilities and by constructing new modern sports infrastructure including stadia.
He observed that many young people get disillusioned when individuals who are mandated to facilitate them achieve their goals fail and frustrate their efforts, a vice that the Head of State said should end.
“You should refurbish existing sports infrastructure and develop new ones throughout the country. This will be one of the ways of attracting and enabling young Kenyans to explore and utilize their talents to earn a living,” President Kenyatta said.
The President asked the board to partner with the private sector in resourcing and in the running of the National Drama and Music Festival activities which is one of the major platforms used by most children in Kenya to discover their talents and gifts in the arts.
“We appreciate the role played by the private sector in supporting the growth of sports and the arts in the country. Although we appreciate their support, as government, we need to take up our responsibility by participating fully in these noble activities,” he said.
The Sports, Arts and Social Development Fund Oversight Board was gazetted in December last year and its members include former Vice President Moody Awori and Athletics Kenya President Lieutenant General (RTD) Jackson Tuwei. Other members of the board include National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich, Principal Secretaries for Sports Amb. Kirimi Kaberia, and his Education and National Treasury counterparts Belio Kipsang and Kamau Thugge respectively.
President Kenyatta Directs Government Agencies To Come Up With A Single Revenue Collection System
President Uhuru Kenyatta today issued a directive for the creation of a single system of revenue collection to eliminate duplications and wastage of resources.
He said the new system will be used across the 47 county governments and will be integrated with National Government systems.
President Kenyatta said currently counties are using 11 different revenue collection systems, which are not integrated with those used by the National Government or even those used by other counties.
“The bottom line is, this has severely limited the amount of revenue collected by the counties,” said the President.
He spoke at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre where he was updated on the progress of a multi-agency geospatial mapping project of Kenya.
“To eliminate this duplication of efforts and waste of resources, I hereby direct the Commission on Revenue Allocation, the Council of Governors, the National Treasury and the Kenya Revenue Authority to form a Multi-Agency Team whose principal aim shall be to deliver on a single revenue collection system, that is integrated with National Government Systems and to be used across all 47 Counties,” the President ordered.
He said the Taskforce working on the revenue collection system must take into account the work done by the Multi-Agency Team on Joint National Resource Mapping Project.
The mapping task force did a presentation on the progress it has achieved so far at very minimal costs as compared to what it would have cost tax payers if private firms were contracted for the job.
ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru said the team has already produced 75 maps of the country including some that will help the National Government and counties enhance revenue collection and utilization.
The maps that will come in handy for counties to collect revenue contain details of all businesses and all license paying premises.
"If revenue collection systems are integrated with the map, it will be easy, for example, to know who has paid land rates," the President observed.
“This Multi-Agency Team has thus far updated 75 topographical maps and drawn six full county maps, in addition to digitizing the cadastral plans for Nairobi City County,” the President added as he observed that the digitised map of Nairobi heralds a new era for the city.
President Kenyatta said the multi-agency task force has saved billions of Shillings of taxpayers money that would have been paid out if foreign or local private companies were hired for the work.
“Our initial projections had indicated that the production of a single map sheet would cost us Ksh. 148 million. However, the multi-agency team has produced them for Shs 70,000 each,” said the President.
He added, “Initial estimates for the nationwide airborne geophysical survey indicated that the project would cost the country Shs 7 billion; but, through pooling of resources from different ministries and agencies, we have cut that cost to Shs 2 billion.”
President Kenyatta said the geospatial mapping project will be completed by November 2020 and will provide government agencies with the necessary data to spur enhanced and more efficient delivery of their mandates.
He said the private sector will also derive tremendous benefits through opening up opportunities in infrastructure development, e-commerce, extractive industries and the 24-hour economy.
President Kenyatta said the quick success in the mapping project is as a result of the multiagency approach as it drew representation from a broad spectrum of government agencies and departments..
“The present case is the latest in a long string of successes for multi-agency teams. Leveraging on synergies and competencies of our various agencies and the economies of scale, we have secured encouraging results for the nation,” the Head of State said.
The President said great success has been achieved by multi-agency teams in a number of flagship national projects including LAPSSET, SGR, the Blue Economy, Immigration and Border Security, Counter-Terrorism and Environmental Conservation and Rejuvenation.
The Head of State commended the Kenya Defense Forces for their contribution to the success of the project and urged the disciplined forces to be part of all initiatives aimed at transforming the country.
Kakamega Governor Wycliff Oparanya who is also the Chairman of the Council of Governors, said resource mapping will help county governments enhance revenue collection.
He urged counties to adopt the option of cooperation, collaboration and dialogue in serving the public and working closely with the national government.
King Kaka Set To Release His New Video With Romain Virgo- Video
Kenyan rapper King Kaka is set to release his new collabo with Jmaican lover rock artist Romain Virgo.
King Kaka took to social media to share a teaser of their new video stating they will be officially releasing it next week.
The song is off King Kaka's Royalty album
Watch the teaser below.
Rayvanny And Diamond Platnmuz Finally Release Their Much Anticipated Video 'Tetema'
Rayvanny and Diamond Platnumz have finally released their much anticipated video 'Tetema'.
This comes just few days after the two released the audio which has since been receiving alot of airplay and attracted over 1 million views on you tube in a span of one week.
The video has also been trending on major social media outlets including you tube since its release, you can watch it below.
Nandy Explains Why She Shot Her New Video In Mombasa
Controversial Pantyless Dancer Zodwa Wabantu Shops For Her Coffin..Video And Photo
Controversial South African dancer Zodwa Wabantu known for her provocative dancing styles and no panty policy has shockd many after she went shopping for her coffin on Tuesday.
According to Zodwa who was banned from entering Zambia due to her lifestyle, she does not want her family to be in trouble for lack of money to bury her when she is dead.
She went ahead to share a video of herself shopping for the coffin on social media stating 'Black Society this is a Taboo'.
Roche Joins Beyond Zero Program To Train More Nurses From ASAL Regions
Swiss multinational healthcare company, Roche, has partnered with the First Lady Margaret Kenyatta’s Beyond Zero Initiative in an ongoing programme to train more nurses from Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL) regions.
The World Bank funded training programme for Enrolled Community Health Nurses (ECHN) aims to specifically populate rural health facilities in hard to reach areas with qualified personnel as a strategy to increase service provision by skilled attendants.
The training is in line with the First Lady’s 2018-2022 Strategic Framework which aims to provide accessible, appropriate, effective and sustainable health interventions in all parts of the country.
The training of the ECHN nurses is being channelled through the Ministry of Health and executed through the various campuses of the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC), specifically those in the ASAL regions.
The first cohort of 300 beneficiaries of the World Bank scholarship graduated in December of last year. The second and third cohorts are expected to join the training programme this year
“The aim of the programme is to mitigate the shortage of human resources for health in hard to reach areas through production of a critical mass of enrolled community health nurses equipped with knowledge and skills to provide quality health care to mothers and children in their home areas,” said Dr. Leah Bii from the KMTC when she accompanied the Roche team to State House where they met with the First Lady, Tuesday.
Dr Bii was accompanied by KMTC Chief Executive Officer, Professor Michael Kiptoo.
The Roche team was led by its Manager for East Africa, Frank Loeffler who pledged support for the training of 100 nurses every year for the next three years.
Currently, the students are trained in KMTC campuses in Lodwar, Kapenguria, Kabarnet, Bomet, Kitui, Loitokitok, Kilifi and Msambweni.
KMTC has proposed that the next cohort of 100 students be placed in KMTC campuses in Lodwar, Kapenguria, Loitokitok and Msambweni.
First Lady Margaret Kenyatta thanked the Roche team for agreeing to partner with Beyond Zero and KMTC in the training programme and invited more partners to come on board.
Beyond Zero hopes to sponsor the training of an equal number of nurses, to match the 1200 health professionals trained under the World Bank sponsorship.
The World Bank/Beyond Zero partnership is expected to aid in the reduction of maternal and child mortality, hence contributing to the attainment of the government's universal health coverage pillar of the big four development agenda.
Masauti Drops New Video 'Sare'
Mombasa's finest Masauti has just drooped his latest video.
The video is titled 'Sare' and has been directed by Nezzoh Montana.
watch the video below
Timaya Releases New Song Off His New EP
Timaya has just released a new song off his new EP, Chulo vibes.
The song titled Balance is the lead single off the Chulo Vibes EP. With consistent melodies, unique rhythm and catchy hooks, he asserts his stance as a certified hit maker.
"Balance" is another classic Timaya feel good song, made for every playlist - traffic, club nights, family gatherings etc.
The track was produced by long time ally, Orbeat and the video was directed by Unlimited LA.
"Balance is just a feel good song , its how i felt that moment in the studio working with Orbeat. I feel very good about where I am in life right now and everything around me" says Timaya.
The video of the song was shot in Lagos, Nigeria, you can watch it below.
New Video: Nandy- Hazipo
Tanzanian female singer Nandy 'The African Princess' has just dropped her latest video off her album'The African Princess".
The video was shot in Mombasa under Above the Rim Production, a Mombasa based production house.It was directed by Kelvin Bosco Jnr.
Watch the video below
