LOCAL NEWS - 25TH SEPT. 2010 - A NEW MONASTERY DEDICATED AT NAKWAMEKWI - By Lokatur A. Peter(the navigator) arkpeters@yahoo.com cell; +254 700 386 957

The Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Lodwar, His Lordship Patrick Harrington, today led a congregation of faithfuls in a special holy mass for the inauguration of a new monastery at the Risen Christ Parish Nakwamekwi. Addressing the congregation during the ceremony, His Lordship said the church loves the Turkana community and preserves it always for the best. He said the specific mission of the Augustinian Recollect Sisters of the Monastery of St. Augustine, is to live in community with one soul and one heart directed towards God. He said the sisters will live a life that is only for God and expressed through the continuous praising of the Lord, constant prayer, generous penitence, silence and enclosure which is the physical separation from external world in imitation of Christ who moved away from the multitudes so as to intercede to the father for all of the people of God.
A statement released by the Augustinian Recollect Sisters, indicated that they were called to come from Mexico to found the monastery with a contemplative charism in the Diocese of Lodwar. It stated that God gave them 5 volunteer sisters from among their communities for the new foundation, with them 2 young aspirants from Kenya – one from Machakos and the other from Bungoma.
The new monastery was blessed and dedicated today and will begin its journey with the blessings of God and the authorisation of the Holy see. The Augustinian Recollect, was founded on the 5th of December 1588 by the Chapter of the Augustinian Fathers of the province of Castilla in Spain. In Mexico, the order opened its first foundation in the city of Puebla de los Angeles, in May 1688.

Local news – 27.9.10 - By Zacheaus Otaba and Praxides -SPECIAL PROGRAMMES MINISTER VISITS TURKANA

The minister for special pro grammes Hon. Esther Murugi today visited Turkana region to assess the current food situation.
The minister had a brief meeting with the local leaders at the District Commissioners Office before visiting the National cereals and Produce Board to ascertain the availability of food in the stores. Hon. Murugi proved that there was food in the stores which had not been supplied to the people.
She accused the politicians of politicizing the issue of relief food distribution an d thus went ahead authorising the food distribution to save the current situation of hunger in the Districts.
Mrs. Murugi agreed that, Turkana region is so vast to get services from central government only and that the village elders should be involved too in the implementation process.
The minister therefore visited the family which is alleged to have fed on dogs meat at Nabuin Village as was shown on the television. Hon. Murugi said that it was embarrassing to find Kenyans in such a situation while the lead Agencies are bringing in new rules which the Government will not agree with .She blamed the world food pro gramme for the pathetic situation in the District as they rigid in their rules and expect the Government to follow them.
The minister gave out food to the family which included; maize, beans, cooking oil, mosquito nets, blankets, tents and cooking utensils, and ordered the Red cross team to relocate them from Nabuin to Kanamkemer camp for (internally displaced persons) for accessibility.
The managing director for Red Cross Dr. James Kisia said that the situation is pathetic and that his organization, is going to handle that issue of food distribution. He also said that he was proud to note that his his organization has been appointed as the lead agency for this region.
The minister's team also visited the Kanamkemer Internally Displaced Persons camp, where she promised that the government will build the houses for the I DPs and school to enable the children in the camp to get education

LOCAL NEWS – 26.9.10 - BY ZACHEAUS OTABA - PLEDGE FOR THE TURKANA PEOPLE

The member of parliament for Turkana central Hon. Ekwee Ethuro, has today defended the Turkana people by saying that it is true that, not everybody can earn a living.
Hon. Ethuro said that other Turkana people depend on wild fruits for their living.
Mr. Ethuro said that there is relief food through red cross but the World Food Programme has not yet responded. He has called upon the World Food Programme to release food to save the current pathetic situation in the Turkana region.
He admited that there is division among the people of Turkana, whereby those from Turkana North want their food through Oxfam, while those from Turkana South want their food to be channelled through Red cross society.
Speaking to the press in A.I.C Lodwar town, Ethuro accused the government for interfering with the World Food Programme plans on food release.
Commenting on the situaton of the roads, he said that the World Bank agreed to repair the Kitale-Sudan highway and reconstruct Kawalase and Kainuk bridges.
Mr. Ethuro added that it is time to iron out the existing differences that were there during the referendum campaigns, and instead come together to ensure proper implementation of the constitution.
He said that the government and the church will work together for the betterment of the people of kenya.

LOCAL NEWS - 25TH SEPT. 2010 -A NEW MONASTERY DEDICATED AT NAKWAMEKWI -by lokatur a. peter(the navigator) arkpeters@yahoo.com cell; +254 700 386 957,

The Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Lodwar, His Lordship Patrick Harrington, today led a congregation of faithfuls in a special holy mass for the inauguration of a new monastery at the Risen Christ Parish Nakwamekwi. Addressing the congregation during the ceremony, His Lordship said the church loves the Turkana community and preserves it always for the best. He said the specific mission of the Augustinian Recollect Sisters of the Monastery of St. Augustine, is to live in community with one soul and one heart directed towards God. He said the sisters will live a life that is only for God and expressed through the continuous praising of the Lord, constant prayer, generous penitence, silence and enclosure which is the physical separation from external world in imitation of Christ who moved away from the multitudes so as to intercede to the father for all of the people of God.
A statement released by the Augustinian Recollect Sisters, indicated that they were called to come from Mexico to found the monastery with a contemplative charisma in the Diocese of Lodwar. It stated that God gave them 5 volunteer sisters from among their communities for the new foundation, with them 2 young aspirants from Kenya – one from Machakos and the other from Bungoma.
The new monastery was blessed and dedicated today and will begin its journey with the blessings of God and the authorization of the Holy see. The Augustinian Recollect, was founded on the 5th of December 1588 by the Chapter of the Augustinian Fathers of the province of Castilla in Spain. In Mexico, the order opened its first foundation in the city of Puebla De Los Angeles, in May 1688.

11th Sept. 2010 - TURKANA COMMUNITY NOT READY FOR A RECOUNT -By Peter Lokatur(the navigator) arkpeters@yahoo.com cell; +254 700 386 957, +254 736 383

Turkana Professionals Association has termed the decision by the Minister of State for Planning, National Development and Vision 2030 the Hon. Wycliffe Ambetsa Oparanya, to nullify the census results for Northern Kenya as null and void and has no effect in law.
Speaking on behalf of the Turkana community during a press conference at Splash Guest House on Saturday, the Chairman of the association Mr. Geoffrey Kaituko said that they will not accept a recount and that they will push the government to accept the census results of 2009 where Turkana population is 988,592, failure to which they will want the Minister to nullify the results of the entire country in totality pending verifications of the many inconsistencies in the current data.
Mr. Kaituko said that by cancelling the census results, Hon. Oparanya, was denying the Turkana additional resources, constituencies and awards. In so doing, he said the minister wants to continue perpetuating marginalization and poverty in Turkana for decades to come.
He further added that the Minister of State for Planning, National Development and Vision 2030 and the Director General of Kenya National Bureau of Statistics should redeem themselves by admitting their mistake to cancel some results while accepting others that have huge unexplained anomalies and said it would be honorable for them to step down.
The chairman of the association Mr. Kaituko further said that, the minister was not able to give any convincing explanation for his decision to nullify the results for the three Turkana Districts.

LOCAL NEWS - By praxides khisa and zacheaus Otaba - DROUGHT PREPAREDNESS

The Turkana community have been warned to prepare for the coming drought . The District Deputy Agricultural Officer Mr Ainea Obed said that, the Lanina drought is expected as from December this year where the Turkana people should not be much worried because they might not face a lot of challenges since they are much prepared because the place is well known for droughts.
Mr Ainea encouraged people in the region to conserve little water they have in addition to few water harvested in their areas.
Mr. Obed urged people who stay along the river Turkwel to protect the river banks, to avoid much sweeping of the soil incase it rains heavely.
On food security the officer said that although the region experiences food shortages, he called upon people to use proper control measures in preserving the little food that they have.