Mau Mau veterans in Kenya have vowed to continue fighting for reparations from the British government for abuses perpetrated during colonial rule in the East African country -- this after Britain dismissed the compensation claim. "We will not be silenced," Gitu wa Kahengeri, a member of the Mau Mau War Veterans Association (MMWVA), told journalists Tuesday in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi.

The Kenyan Section of the International Commission of Jurists and the entire Freedom of Information Network celebrates the dawn of an era in Kenya marked by the introduction of the Freedom of Information Bill, 2007 in Parliament Yesterday 17th May 2007 by Hon. Gideon Moi on behalf of Hon. Prof. Anyang’ Nyong’o.

Kenyan 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai’s Green Belt Movement is one of the most prominent women’s civil society organizations, based in Kenya, advocating for human rights and supporting good governance and peaceful democratic change through the protection of the environment.

The European Union (EU) has donated Sh24 million for the conservation and management of Mau forest, Lake Nakuru’s main catchment area. The money was given to the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and the communities living near the forest as part of KSh430million EU has set aside for development projects across the country.

The second pan-African conference on ICT for development, education and training is scheduled to take place in the Kenyan capital Nairobi from 28 to 30 May year. It is expected to be graced by over 1,200 delegates from 81 countries around the world. Organised by ICWE GmbH and Hoffmann & Reif in collaboration with the Kenyan government, the annual conference focuses on ICT for development, education and training in Africa.

The Kenyan Internet market is set for a big change as the players transform their strategies to take advantage of new opportunities. With legal VoIP, they are now no longer looking at just offering Internet access. Once the long-delayed interconnect agreements are sorted out, these newcomers will start making inroads into the voice market. With the arrival of cheaper, plentiful international bandwidth in 2008, those who will flourish in a competitive market will no longer primarily sell bandwidth.

In Parliament on the 10th of May 2007, the MP for Ntonyiri, the Hon Maoka Maore tabled copies of what are or appear to be Irrevocable Promissory Notes, issued by the Treasury on behalf of the Government of Kenya. These Irrevocable Promissory Notes, (IPNs) were issued in respect of a contract signed on 29th September 2003 – or about 9 months after the current government came to power. This is detailed in press release by Civil Society.

We are pleased to announce the 8th Forum on Telecommunications/ICT Regulation in Africa (FTRA-2007), organized by the Telecommunications Bureau (BDT) in collaboration with the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK). The "Infrastructure Sharing" Forum will be held in Nairobi, Republic of Kenya from 6 to 7 June 2007 and will be chaired by, Eng. John Waweru, the Director General, CCK.

The Boran, Gabra and Orma pastoralist communities share a common ancestry, having gradually moved from southern Ethiopia to Kenya’s Eastern and Coast provinces. In this report, Panos finds that over the last few decades, many of these pastoralists have experienced resettlement and a change of lifestyle. The causes are varied but irrigation schemes and other development projects, as well as conflict and drought, are the primary reasons.

Forced internal displacements are an acute and sensitive issue in Kenya. According to the more recent statistics provided by United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, there are around 380,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Kenya. This places the country at the 7th rank in Africa in terms of numbers of IDPs.

Emily Mugo has an axe to grind about her place of employment - in one of Kenya's Export Processing Zones (EPZs). "One has to collapse from sickness to be allowed to seek medical attention. However sick one may be, you cannot afford to miss work: you will be sacked," she noted of the textile factory located on the outskirts of the capital, Nairobi.

According to Eric Masinde Aseka, the precariousness of contemporary politics of identity in Kenya seems to affirm the philosophical insights of Frantz Fanon when he states in "Black Skin, White Masks" that the colonized subject cannot make a meaning for himself.

Emmanuel Barasa, 17, is a former primary school pupil from the Mt Elgon district in western Kenya, along the Kenyan-Ugandan border. Barasa, who is now living with relatives in Bungoma, a neighbouring district, spoke to IRIN during a food aid distribution about the effects the fighting has had on his education.

Reverend William Kebeney is a cleric working with the Full Gospel Churches of Kenya in Kipsigon, Kopsiro, one of four administrative divisions in the strife-torn Mt Elgon district, near the Kenyan border with Uganda. Kebeney deals with the spiritual and health needs (the church runs a health centre) of the affected people but talked to IRIN about the other needs, those not often addressed.

At the heart of Meru district, Eastern province, a dusty road leads to Ruiga Girls' School. It is a typical village school with no power and vehicles to the shopping centre that operates only on market days. To access it, one needs prior information, if it rained; don't bother visiting because the road is impassable. The school is two kilometres from the road with no public transport.

The government plans to set up ‘digital villages’ throughout the country, to ease access to information for its citizens according to a report in the Daily Nation. Information assistant minister Mr Koigi Wamwere said during the weekend that the villages to be set up in all the 210 constituencies, will facilitate easy access to information that would trigger economic development in those areas.

Kenyans now have the opportunity to read for themselves what has transpired within the KPLC and in particular a picture of a procurement quagmire involving electricity poles on which the national grid is supported. A new report by the Mars Group Government Accountability Project (GAP) details the corruption involving the parastatal electricity company.

The conference organising committee for ICT Africa 2007 is pleased to invite the submission of abstracts on or before 15 May 2007 and full papers on or before 30 June. This conference and tutorial programme will bring together engineers, scientists, developers, government leaders, corporate managers, educators, financiers and project representatives from all over Africa and abroad.

Ordinary Kenyans have not felt a significant impact from the Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) process, a new report has found. The report, commissioned by the Open Society Initiative for East Africa (OSIEA) and OSI’s Africa Governance Monitoring and Advocacy Project (AfriMAP), calls on the government to deliver a programme of action that will increase democratic space for Kenyans.

Kenya’s APRM review focused heavily on the delivery of services, according to the report, but did not tackle the more challenging task of institutional reform that is vital for Kenya’s democratic transition.

'It is not enough to just ask Kenyans what they want from their government and then say we have completed the APRM process',said Binaifer Nowrojee, OSIEA director. 'The work is not done until the government responds to these concerns. That is what democracy is about.'

Set up by the African Union, the APRM process is intended to give citizens a greater voice on how the country is governed and thereby foster democratic participation in Africa. Kenya conducted its APRM process from February 2004 to March 2006.

The report: 'The APRM Process in Kenya: A Pathway to a New State?' provides the leading independent analysis of Kenya’s experience. It is a valuable resource not only for Kenyans, but also for other African countries about to undergo the APRM review.

The report commends the Kenya government for being one of the first African countries to open itself to critical examination of its governance and human rights record. To date, the government has done well in complying with its reporting obligations to the APRM Forum. The report recognises the strong support from the minister of planning and the wide consultation around the country that succeeded in giving ordinary Kenyans some voice to their demands for change.

The report also highlights some key concerns that emerged. The APRM national steering committee, set up in December 2005, is dominated by government representatives and was appointed in a non-consultative manner. Since then, key stake holders have found themselves left out of the preparation for the progress report. The disproportionate role played by state actors in conducting this process is resulting in weak engagement of the civil society sector.

OSIEA/AfriMAP call for the APRM report to be made more accessible, including through simplified language-appropriate versions for local communities; the creation of participatory tools such as citizens’ report cards to measure government performance; and the expansion of the process beyond the executive branch to include other state structures, such as parliament, and non-state organisations.

'Kenyans need to organize to push the government to deliver on its promises – We need to ensure that the APRM really does bring greater accountability to Africa', said Ozias Tungwarara, AfriMAP director.

African states have pledged a growing number of commitments to promote democratic principles and good governance since the African Union was formed in 2002. One of these mechanisms is the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) that contains the APRM for governments to conduct a self-assessment report through a participatory process. The APRM covers four areas: political governance and democracy, economic governance and management, corporate governance, and socio-economic governance.

French and English versions of the report are available at or www.osiea.org

For further information, please contact Mugambi Kiai, Program Officer, OSIEA/AfriMAP on + 254-720-439622 or mkiai at osiea.org

The cost of telephony and Internet connections is expected to drop by 80 per cent in 24 months thanks to an ambitious information technology project that aims to position Kenya as one of the most wired countries on the continent.