Category Archives: News

President William Ruto has said the plan of creating a new generation of homeowners under the Affordable Housing Programme is on course.

He said the goal of the Government is to construct 250,000 houses every year for low income-earners.

The President has already commissioned 17, 850 units in Mukuru, Rongai and Kibera to ease the housing burden affecting low-income earners.

He said the Programme also targets the over 6.5 Millions Kenyans living in slums and informal settlements.

President Ruto spoke on Wednesday during the ground-breaking ceremony of the Mavoko Affordable Housing Project in Machakos Country.

He said this confirms the Government’s strategic focus on expanding access to quality, spacious, clean, safe and secure dwelling places at affordable cost in our country.

“This transformative Plan goes beyond the provision of affordable housing units to presenting opportunities for gainful employment and wealth creation to millions of Kenyans struggling to put food on the table.”

The fertilizer subsidy in Kenya is a program by the government aimed at helping farmers to access fertiliser at a bit lower price. Under this program, the cost of fertilizer is reduced to Ksh 3,500. In January this year, the government of Kenya kicked off the training of deputy county commissioners, cooperative officers, chiefs, assistant chiefs and other government administrators who will be helping in the distribution of the subsidized fertilizer.

Farmers will be picking the subsidized fertilizers from the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) stations nearest to them. NCPB is working together with the Kenya National Trading Corporation (KNTC) and other state agencies in the distribution process to ensure that as many farmers as possible get the subsidized fertilizers before the rains start.

For you to access the subsidized fertilizers, you must register under the e-voucher system. This system was rolled by the government to not only ensure traceability and full accountability of the distribution process but also to address the challenges that farmers faced such as travelling long distances and failure to get enough of the inputs.

How to register on the fertilizer subsidy e-voucher system

To access the subsidized fertiliser, a farmer registers on the e-voucher system through their phone by dialling *707#. In the registration process, the farmer provides details of the size of land and the type of fertilizer they need. They then pay via Mpesa or Airtel Money and get issued with an e-voucher which they will use to collect the fertilizer from their nearest depot. The assistant chiefs can help in this process.

Farmers are allowed to buy only the amount of fertilizer they need for their size of land. For example, a farmer with 1 acre can only be able to purchase 2 bags of fertilizer.

President William Ruto launched phase 2 of the Hustler Fund, which will provide loans of between KSh 10,000 and KSh 200,000 to businesses. This follows phase 1 of Hustler Fund that offers individual loan product that was launched earlier.

The Head of State launched the micro-loan product that seeks to help millions of small businesses, which are the bedrock of the country’s economy, access affordable credit to boost their operations.

The three boats will be distributed to fishermen in Mombasa, Kilifi and Lamu counties

By Mohamed Hassan

Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya has commissioned three powerful fishing vessels in Mombasa County to allow local fishermen to take up deep sea fishing. Mr Munya said the three boats would be distributed to fishermen in the coastal counties of Mombasa, Kilifi and Lamu for the purpose of deep sea fishing in the region.

He disclosed that two other modern boats would be procured to be deployed in the counties of Lamu and Tana River to also tap into their huge aquatic resources. The CS spoke Friday 12^th February 2021 during the commissioning of the fishing boats at the Liwatoni Fishing Port in Mombasa where he observed that the maritime space in the country has great potential to spur social-economic development.

He said the commissioning comes at a time 186 local fishermen have been trained in deep sea fishing at the Bandari Maritime Academy in Mombasa. “The trained fishers are expected to offer specialized manpower to local fishing fleets which are undergoing expansion under the Blue Economy Programme” he said.

Mr Munya said the government is now turning its focus on maritime matters as the ‘next frontier of economic growth’ hence underscored the need for the youth to explore career opportunities at sea. The blue economy sector encompasses fisheries, maritime biotechnology, aquaculture, tourism and marine transport and logistics.

He said the fishing vessels which are ready for operations were each procured at a cost of Sh20 million and would empower local fishermen to venture into deep sea fishing. Mr Munya noted that local fishermen have for long been challenged by lack of modern fishing vessels to allow them embark on deep sea fishing which he added has been exploited by foreign trawlers.

“These boats are fitted with necessary navigation and safety equipment that would enable our fishermen to exploit fisheries resources in deep waters,” he said, adding that they can comfortably cruise at 12 knots with over 10 tons of fish on board.

The CS said the government is determined to invest in the fishing sector to increase fisheries contribution to the GDP and create employment. He said the government is refurbishing and rehabilitating the Liwatoni Fishing Complex to allow it to provide first-class fisheries jetty, adequate cold storage, fish processing facility and a fish auction centre.

Munya said to promote fish handling, hygiene and reduce post-harvest losses, the government is constructing fish markets of Malindi fish market in Kilifi and Likoni fish market in Mombasa.

The CS said local fishermen face the challenge of accessing fish landing sites which he lamented have fallen into the hands of private developers in the past. “But following a presidential directive that we repossess all grabbed public beach landing sites and that several in Mombasa and Kilifi counties, we have already reverted back to the government,” he said.