Snail Pace Myanga Market construction irks traders

Written by Daniel Saenyi

The stalled market construction five years later after its work began.
Five years down the line since the conception of construction of a market square at Myanga market in West Bukusu, nothing seems to be moving beyond the mere skeleton of mortar and iron already erected.

Traders continue to languish in the open spaces, exposed to the scorching sun and biting cold despite the governments spending a fortune in the multi-million project.

Toilets are barely enough to accommodate hundreds of buyers and a host of traders who throng the market every Wednesday and Saturday. It is pathetic, Mary Nafula* 37, not her real name, laments that at some point she is forced to duck into a nearby bush for a long call risking the wrath of the county council and irate members of the society.

The task to construct market square was awarded to Trapezoid Contactors through a competitive tender in 2006. The work on the skeleton as it stands today began in April last year.

Nalianya Wekesa the clerk to the council attributed the slow progress inadequate workers on the site and general laxity on the part of the contractor.

Mr.Nalianya called upon the building contactor to fast track the process because the council is losing out a lot of tax money due tax evasion by traders.

In his defense the site construction engineer, Thomson Owaka said that getting money from the government is a long process and it doesn’t make it easier when they release it at their own pace, but he assured the public that the construction done in the next six months.

“We are loosing out too much, the contractor must really make sufficient efforts to complete the project because it will enable us control the traders,” he said.

If completed the square market will have at least 400 stalls, to accommodate a good number of trader and widen the tax net for the council.

Myanga market is famous for poultry especially turkey and other food stuffs such finger millets and cassava which are available at very affordable prices.

The market serves a rich agricultural hinterland with the local populace growing highly commercialized crops like sugarcane, Tobacco, sweet potatoes and a wide range of vegetables.

If the project that began in 2006 financed through the year’s developmental budget will at any time be complete, only time will tell.

Bungoma teachers vow to go on strike on July 1

Written by Saenyi Daniel Teachers from Bungoma have vowed to go on strike on July 1, if the government does not employ teachers currently on contract on a permanent basis. The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Bungoma branch has said that the teachers will comply with their leaders’ directions and go ahead with the strike if their demands are not met. The government had promised to employ 18,000 teachers before the end of the financial year 2011/2012 and there is still no hiring done, those who were employed on contract are still employed under contract and earning very little. Mr. Kennedy Nganga, the Executive secretary for KNUT in Bungoma District said that according to the rules governing workers (International Labor Organization) a person will only be employed on contract for six months and will be permanently employed on the seventh month. ``There are some teachers that have been employed on contract for more than seven months and are still not permanently employed. It seems the government is trying to change its game plan and not employ the extra teachers,” Said Mr. Nganga. According to Mr. Nganga, KNUT had only allowed TSC to employ teachers on contract because there were no enough teachers at the time and the country was in an economic crisis. “Right now the country’s economy has stabilized and it’s very much capable of employing more teachers, recently the MP’s have been added 20 per cent salary and we do not see why the teachers should not get employed permanently when clearly there is money,” Said Mr. Nganga. They have requested the minister for Finance Mr. Uhuru Kenyatta to recommend budgetary reallocations so that money is saved for teachers’ employment. They warned that if the MP’s will not adhere to these demands, they will not only strike but they will not vote for them come 2012 elections. The government is supposed to employ a further 10,000 teachers to achieve the target of 28,000 by 2012 as stipulated in Vision 2030. Mrs. Unita Kasila, a teacher and woman representative in Bungoma County said that the government should consider the teachers on contract before employing more teachers because it’s their rights they are fighting for. More than 250,000 teachers command significant influence especially at the grassroots. The union’s ultimatum on the employment when implemented would translate to a large number of students lagging behind in the syllabus and poor performance in the national examinations at the end of the year. The ministries of Finance, Education, the TSC and Knut had also agreed that retired teachers be paid their arrears in two installments; beginning on July 1, 2011 and the last instalment would be paid by July 1, 2012. The union says it would be forced to take industrial action if TSC does not react to this demand positively and nobody should blame it if the Government does not give in.

Business people complain of high taxes at Chwele town

Written by Daniel Saenyi

A council officer collecting tax from a bodaboda operator in Chwele. [Photo/Daniel Saenyi/WestFm]

Trouble is brewing between the Bungoma Central district administration and local boda boda operators over tax collection at Chwele town, Bungoma County.

The boda boda taxi operators have raised concern over the raised tax money from Sh40 to Sh80.

After the town was elevated into the district headquarters for Bungoma Central district, money collected from various business operators at the market has been raised as the town struggles to attain expectations of its newly acquired status.

In the implementation of the new taxes that is meant to fund developmental projects in the town, some of the public transport operators claim that they pay more than enough to the council and yet no roads have been constructed or repaired.

They claim the council officers are even found collecting money along the village roads from any business or business operator.

The road from Chwele to Lwakhakha is in very bad condition yet it is the one with many roadblocks taking money from motorbike operators’ as tax for the towns’ development.

 According to motorbike riders, the road has at least 8 road blocks.

Mr. Kennedy Wamalwa, a motorbike operator said that they even took the initiative as motorbike riders and come together to repair the road from Nalondo to Msese, and immediately it was finished, county council operators put stops to collect taxes.

Chwele is only town with this many county council stops in Bungoma County yet there is little development being done.

Public transporters claim that they even pay more than once a day and this is hard on them especially in these hard economic times.

However, officers from the district office at the town said that the claims are baseless because they only collect taxes once per day from every business person.

They also denied the allegations that the riders came together and repaired the road from Nalondo to Msese saying that they are just riders and they have no way of acquiring the capital for the repairs of the road.

Chwele town is on the verge of development and it needs capital to facilitate this, caution should be taken as some people may take advantage of this and exploit the towns’ people, the economy is hard enough as it is to be added on another burden of false tax.

Refigah Mtoto wa Kibera

Written by Daniel Saenyi Yusuf Noah, famously known as Refigah is a 30 year old musician cum manager. The Artiste grew up in Kibera or as he puts it, he is a B.B.K (Born and Bred in Kibera). He has been in the music industry for 14 years and is even organizing an anniversary Party in Nairobi on 16th July. This Kibera based rap artist has been on the Kenyan hip-hop scene since 1997 and his music is well known for social, cultural and moral restraint while still entertaining in lyrics and beats even when he decided to venture into production and artist management.  The former musician crossed the border to the production side and runs an event Management Company dubbed First Class Entertainment and also started Grandpa Record’s label which has signed artists like Wyre, Kenrazy, Nazizi , Mr. Blue and J.I. He is currently focusing on bringing up new artists like Tierra Gee and Chupee who performed during Wyre’s tour of Bungoma over the weekend at various venues. When he started out Refigah’s family was against him being in the music industry but became supportive when his carrier picked up. His music productions are based on what’s in style currently to get a wide variety of customers and exploring new styles. As to why he decided to abandon singing, Refigah claims that he wants to revolutionize the music industry and drive out brief case producers who are out to exploit the talents of young musicians then finally dump them. He is trying out new styles in music like the afro-fusion for Wyre and J.B Mania which was a worthwhile risk as the style has picked up to cater for young and the old generation as he puts it himself. “In the music industry, one can do two things; they can focus on what’s in style now or secondly take a risk and introduce a new style. Either way you still get a 50-50 chance at staying on top in both options, but its better to invent your own style and let others follow you.” According to him it’s harder being a Manager than a musician because of too much pressure from the artists who expect the best from you. “As musician, you only have to worry about yourself but being a manager you carry the whole load of over 25 musicians on your shoulders who expect you to make sure they are on television, get advertisement deals, get shows all over and make sure their albums sell,” Said Refigah. Piracy is what is killing the music industry in Kenya today. Many upcoming artistes don’t make it because their albums are pirated and sold cheaply to the customers. As he puts it, the only way to handle piracy is to come up with good strategies that will bring down the trend. Upcoming artistes should not just sign with anyone because we now have very many briefcase producers, advised Refigah. Before one signs with any manager, they should do a background check on the person and have enough information before signing any contracts. He goes on to tell upcoming artistes not to copy the styles of other musicians because it won’t be competitive in the market. They should have their own talent and be flexible. They should be able to do any type of music be it Reggae, RnB, Dancehall or Hip-hop like Wyre. Refigah will be in Bungoma on Friday 24th June on a tour with Kenrazy on his way to perform in Kitale on Saturday. He says Bungoma has a nice a crowd that listens to almost all his artists’ songs and promises to come back with many other artists on Tours.