All posts by mwalimu bewere

There is obviously no lesser death but some deaths, more than others, descend with added malice and clearly drive a stake in the heart of society.

The death of author and journalist Ken Walibora is one such death. It was unexpected, unfair and unbelievable.
Walibora was the author of many books in Kiswahili, the most famous being Siku Njema.

In my view, his contribution to the language rivals that of Julius Nyerere, Shaaban Robert, and Wallah Bin Wallah, but I will leave the measure of his contribution to be determined by Kiswahili scholars.

Different schools

Each of the boys in our class had come from different schools from all over Kenya, and from all walks of life. Ken had come by way of Olekejuado High School but he was from Trans Nzoia, Cheranganyi to be exact.

I remember him then as a devout Christian who was later to profess Jehovah Witness convictions but with an ever-inquisitive mind.

We all knew him then as Kennedy Wafula Waliaula, and had nicknamed him «Alufa,» which was based on a reverse reading of the name «Wafula.» He was a great soccer player, a lanky boy who played the goalkeeper and was the captain of the school soccer team.

At one time, he actually broke his leg while playing for Koelel and spent six weeks with a humongous orthopaedic cast and crutches. He looked cool with it and even got a special dispensation to sit special end of term exams.

Yours truly, then called philosopher, mainly for reading huge, dog-eared novels, was the unofficial reporter for all school games and other functions and events.

At one time, we gatecrashed into a Catholic function just so that we could be within striking distance of interesting visitors from Njoro Girls High School who were easy on the eyes of the beauty-famished boys. For our troubles, six of us were sent home for two weeks.

Notable author

To complete his three A-Level subjects, Walibora also studied Kiswahili under Mr Alex Ngure, who was to become a notable author himself after publishing Utoro and Fasihi Simulizi.

Truth be told, however, we focused more on reading novels than reading textbooks.

The son of a teacher, it was evident from our discussion those days that Walibora was quite well read. His exposure to literature was however more structured, unlike some of us whose reading was more of the free reign kind.

Walibora was a genius when it came to languages. People know his prowess in Kiswahili. What they don’t know is that he could write equally well in English. Indeed English was his language of deep scholarship. He wrote his PhD in English and published several academic papers in the language.

At Koelel, he penned many poems and regaled us with many mashairi that he composed. I hope some of those early works, which he once told me he had misplaced, will be re-discovered and published posthumously.

After A-Level, Walibora trained as a probation officer at the Kenya School of Government while I pursued journalism. We used to meet while we were in different colleges in Nairobi. He envied my luck. And I felt bad about it knowing where his heart really was.

There is something to be said about the nature of abiding resilience and focus. Those with evergreen resilience always get what they ask for. Walibora never gave up the pursuit of a career in letters.

A great deal has also been said about the correlation between great grades and success.

News casting

While still working as a probation officer, Walibora eventually found his way to the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, initially in a talk show, before gravitating into news casting. He later pursued further education at Ohio State University where he finished his PhD and later taught at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, before returning to Kenya.

Along the way, he worked for NTV as a news anchor. He was until his death a senior lecturer at Riara University in Nairobi.

When talked last year, he told me he had been charged with establishing a centre for the study of international languages at the university.

In life, however, even incidental experiences are a resource.

«I am an avid reader and good keen observer and patient listener. Like all humans, I make mistakes from time to time, regret them, and I apologise, but most importantly, I learn from them and move on. I strive to attain more humility in all spheres of my life in good times and bad times, and to always avoid being prejudicial and celebrating another person’s crisis or calamity. I want to appreciate people more and not to judge them harshly by relying on one-sided sources».

Clearly, Walibora desired to be understood in a particular way, an acknowledgement that no one is an open book, not even the writers of books.

The Teachers Service Commission has been asked not to remit teachers’ loan deductions to banks.

This is in line with the government’s plea for leniency from lenders in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers said several financial institutions are yet to provide customers with reprieves on loan repayments.

Many teachers’ payslips are heavily deducted to settle various loans with banks and other financial institutions, and this leaves them with so little at the end of the month, said Akello Misori, the Kuppet secretary-general.
Mr Misori said whereas the little teachers got after deductions could previously sustain them under normal circumstances, the amount is no longer tenable under the prevailing times.

In a letter to TSC Chief Executive Nancy Macharia, Kuppet now wants the employer to inform financial institutions that it shall not be remitting teachers’ deductions.

«We urge the commission to withhold deductions for teachers’ loans and liaise with financial institutions on the same on behalf of teachers,» said Misori.

He said Kuppet is not able to state with certainty the extent of compliance with the appeal for leniency on loans, and asked TSC to intervene.

«Some banks are dragging their feet on implementing the directive, or creating unnecessary means-tests on a policy that should benefit all workers,» said Misori in a letter dated April 14.

He said the policy directive to cushion workers applies to all loans that were running at the time of the declaration.
This was aimed at boosting efforts to cushion families and businesses from the effects of reduced business activity during the coronavirus crisis.

Kuppet said only a handful of financial institutions have offered various reprieves, from outright loan holidays to the suspension of the levying of interest. The union also said only a few financial institutions have communicated with account holders on the same.

Misori said with schools closed, many teachers are currently far away from their bank branches and are unable to make individual applications for relief.

The Teachers Service Commission is banking on the support of Northern Kenya communities to ensure employees posted there are safe.

The commission will also engage other stakeholders to ensure learning is not disrupted for thousands of children because the lives of teachers are threatened.

Non-local teachers working in Mandera, Garissa and Wajir counties have been the targets of attack by al Shabaab militia with several killed and others injured.

Three teachers were killed in a suspected Shabaab attack in Kamuthe in Garissa, in a pre-dawn attack on January 13.
The attack led to the transfer of 2,340 non-local teachers from the county.

The situation was so bad that TSC boss Nancy Macharia on February 26 said they would not post teachers to Northeastern if the insecurity situation was not fixed.

But in its audit report of the first year of the 2019-23 strategic plan, the commission seems to have softened its stance.

TSC will enhance collaboration with local communities and government agencies to address insecurity in certain parts of the country, the report signed by chairperson Lydia Nzomo reads.

Members of Parliament from Northeastern failed to agree with ministry officials on how to remedy the withdrawal of the teachers.

The situation caused a learning crisis with students attending classes with no teachers to teach them.

The MPs protested that the mass transfer of teachers was inconsiderate, impulsive and discriminatory.

They also demanded to have locals enrolled in teacher training colleges with lower entry requirements and then posted to local schools following the staff crunch.

The teachers are serving them and communities should work with them for their children to be educated, commission communications head Beatrice Wababu said Tuesday.
The commission

said the communities should provide the first line of security to people serving them and other Kenyans.

The killings are only targeting teachers and not other professionals such as doctors and nurses. It shows clearly that some locals might be involved, she said.

The commission said it will encourage residents from the region to join the teaching profession.

We will talk with the communities so that those people who get C+ are encouraged to join teaching, TSC said.

In the year under review, TSC hired 13,993 teachers. Some 1,364 were posted to Wajir, Garissa, and Mandera to enhance equity. Another 5,906 teachers were promoted to various grades.

President Uhuru Kenyatta has applauded the efforts by Kenyatta University Students for coming up with a ventilator prototype to help in the fight against COVID-19.
Kenyatta University students developed ventilators for COVID-19 patients who developed difficulty breathing since they are only a handful in the country.

Speaking during a presser today, April 16, 2020, the Head of State commended the efforts initiated by Kenyans of goodwill to win the fight against COVID-19, adding that everyone should take responsibility.

The invention was done by 16 KU students in under one week and detailed the prototype, a cubical unit made of hard silver plastic parts with pipes connecting to an oxygen tank and two other pipes delivering the air.

The mechanical unit is controlled from a computer on top of it from where doctors can monitor the concentration of oxygen in the air that the machine is pumping into the patients’ lungs as well as control the ventilators’ intensity.
If approved, the University Vice-Chancellor indicated that the institution was capable of producing 50 ventilators per week.

We came up with the idea to make a ventilator when we heard that there were in short supply and with almost all the countries in lockdown, we could not import them from elsewhere, he said.

Further, President Uhuru announced a welfare package for health workers to cushion medical workers on the frontline against COVID-19.
He also directed medical insurance companies to cover hospital staff managing the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hundreds of private school teachers in Nakuru County have had their contracts suspended as the school shutdown heads to the third month.

President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered all schools closed on March 13 to counter the spread of Covid-19 in Kenya.
According to letters sent to the teachers by their employers and interviews with officials of the Private Schools Owners Association, the contracts have been suspended indefinitely.

The schools, in their notifications to the teachers, said the contracts remain suspended because of inability to sustain their payrolls.

Nakuru County Private Schools Owners Association Chairman John Waweru said the institutions took the decision due to the prevailing circumstances.

«Some of our members have delayed the decision as they try to get school fees arrears from parents to keep their staff on the payroll,» said Mr Waweru.

April and May

In one of the letters seen by The Standard, a private school has notified its teachers that the suspension of contract for the month of April and May will be treated like a normal holiday.

«This is taken to save the situation of any legitimacy that may arise later on. We all feel for you but we have nothing to do but to protect the school for future sustainability,» a letter to the staff by St Joseph’s Kirandich Secondary school in Nakuru noted.

The school noted that the staff might not be able to sign their contracts as was the norm whenever school re-opens.
In another letter by Carol Academy, the school notifies all teaching and non-teaching staff of unpaid leave.

Due to unforeseen circumstances caused by Covid-19 worldwide, the board of management of Carol Academy has decided to allow you to proceed on unpaid leave effective April 1, 2020 until further notice as directed by the national government, the letter read.

The board explained that with all schools closed it was difficult to generate income to run operations.

We regret this action but have no alternative as the school is no longer operational. We pray and hope that the situation will improve in the coming days when we shall inform you to resume work,» the letter stated.

Henry Ogada, the principal of Kings Academy, said the current situation posed a challenge in keeping staff on the payroll because private schools were no longer generating incomes.

As a student or recent graduate there are many important things we were not taught in class. You were not shown how to get a job and what to expect in the professional world.

1. That you need a professional CV to get a job

While in school, no one, even teachers and lecturers ever mentioned to me that having a CV was a very important tool for successful job search after graduation. All were taught was ‘Education is the key to success. So most of us just wanted to graduate, get a job automatically and succeed in life.

After looking for a job for two years without success, I approached a friend who asked to see my CV. He pointed out that my CV was the one letting me down. It was not professional to fit the current job market.

A professional CV is your marketing tool in the real world. Even when you don’t have any work experience, you need one that contains your skills and introduces you to Kenyan employers.
It is important that you seek help from CV Writing professionally in Kenya and ensure that you increase your chances of getting interviews with a professional CV.
You have probably heard of something called Personal Branding.

2. You need a personal brand

Just to remind you, it is the art of marketing and positioning your skills and competencies in order to package yourself well for the job market.
I was never taught in school that failing to brand you can affect your job search. You need to brand yourself as an expert in your own field even when you are not. Let the potential employers believe in your abilities by just looking at your CV.

3. Having a mentor is important to your career

Do you have a mentor? If you don’t, it is time to find one. In the university, I rarely heard people talked about the importance of having a mentor. Many people wanted to finish school, work on their own and achieve their goals.
However, in the real world, I have noted that everyone needs a support system. In the course of your career, you need to find someone to guide and advise you through the journey.
A mentor is someone you admire. The one who has gone through the life you want to live. They have firsthand experience in your field and so you can learn from them.

4. Networking is good

Some have been lucky, while others are yet to see the fruits of having good networks.
You may have not been taught on how to network by networking, but we all live in a world where information is accessible anytime through social media.
Online platforms provide great professional networking without much stress. You can consider using LinkedIn or interpersonal relationships to develop networks which can connect you with opportunities.
This way, you might get a job and progress in your career.

5. Never burn bridges

If you want to live a very fulfilling life, never burn a bridge. Whatever someone has done to you, always show compassion and acknowledge that people are unique and can behave differently.
Truth is, you never know when you will need their help again.

Let me know in the comments section below.

Findings from a police investigation into the stampede that claimed the lives of 15 pupils at Kakamega Primary School have been handed over to the Director of Public Prosecutions for direction.

According to Western Region Criminal Investigation Officer, Shem Nyamboki, the DPP is yet to communicate on the next cause of action.

The pupils who died in the February 3, 2020 tragic incident that shocked the nation were from Grade Four and Five.
Mr Nyamboki said the DCI was waiting for the way forward from the DPP before proceeding to act.

Detectives recorded statements from 46 pupils, 16 teachers and several other witnesses.

The police had indicated that 15 pupils who sustained injuries in the incident would be issued with P3 Forms to be duly filled by doctors.

Parents affected by the tragedy have been pushing the Ministry of Education to make public the findings of the probe.

Chairperson of the Commission on Administrative Justice Florence Kajuju visited the school with her team and faulted the manner in which the staircases on both ends of the storey building were constructed.

Ms Kajuju had blamed the Ministry of Education for the tragic incident, saying the building had two narrow staircases which could have contributed to the stampede as the classrooms on the third floor of the building had 540 pupils.

She said the classrooms were congested.

The Ministry of Education is not following up to ensure expansion of the infrastructure and teachers in learning institution to match the number of learners. The stairways on the two sides of the building are narrow and have no rails, she added.

The CAJ, known as the Office of the Ombudsman, has the mandate to investigate complaints of delays, abuse of power, unfair treatment, manifest injustice or discourtesy to tackle maladministration in the public sector.

Ms Kajuju noted that the investigation reports will determine long and short-term solutions on the status of the building.

“There should be a staircase for boys, another one for girls and a third one for the teachers to reduce commotion in the building,” recommended Ms Kajuju.