A regional women's network based in Nairobi, Kenya is seeking to employ a Communications Officer for a two-year full time contract. A probation period of three months shall apply.

The position is based at the CABI Africa Regional Centre in Nairobi, which works in 6 thematic areas: rural knowledge systems, smallholder commodity chains, sustainable pest management, alien invasive species, conservation and utilisation of biodiversity, and information & communication technologies.

Working with the representative in Nairobi and other Ford Foundation staff, the Program Officer will be responsible for the Foundation's Eastern Africa programming on education and sexuality in the region.

Direct theft was not the only virus that afflicted the harambee system, says this article from The Nation newspaper. A top Moi Government official, Mr Philemon Mwaisaka, confesses he retained Sh1 million for 14 years because he and another Moi potentate would not agree on who should control the school for which the money was collected. His is a rare mea culpa from that generation of permanent secretaries. More encouraging still, he says he has finally turned over the cash.

Child labour, especially in plantation estates in the Rift Valley, is hampering the government's effort in sustaining the free primary education. The practice, which is rampant in the tea and sisal estates, led to the withdrawal of pupils from a number of schools so as to provide cheap labour.

The plan by the Government to provide anti-retroviral drugs to Aids patients all over the country is almost complete, the Director of Medical Services, Dr Richard Muga says. Installation of devices to be used in these centres is at an advanced stage. The devices include machines for counting CD 4 cells for appropriate administration of the drugs to patients.

The death of Kenya's Vice President Michael Kijana Wamalwa at a London hospital last week is a double-edged sword for the seven-month National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) government that has been grappling with serious cracks within its ranks since last December's elections. For one, the death of the second in command – being the first vice-president to die in office in Kenya's independence history – will in effect force a temporary lull in the infighting over power-sharing arrangements that has been threatening to not only tear the ruling coalition apart, but also the stability of the country after leaping from a semi-pariah nation to a showcase of democracy in the continent.

The Ministry of Water Development has been asked to help slow down water pollution in the Coast region instead of ignoring it. The Environment Trust of Kenya (ETK) wants the Minister for Water, Mrs Martha Karua, to rectify water contamination in the province to avert impending health disasters. The recent findings by Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) and Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (Kemfri) that water in the region is unfit for human consumption has continued to cause panic among the residents, ETK said.

The Team Leader will play a lead role in design and implementation of the Emergency Response Team's strategy for building agency capacity for enhanced emergency preparedness and response capacity.

A regional women's network based in Nairobi, Kenya is seeking to employ a Financial Administrator for a two year period. A three month probation period shall apply.

Kwani? (www.kwani.org) is a literary journal founded by some of Kenya's most exciting new writers, to provide to the Kenyan reading public writing of the highest quality. We believe that Kenya is presently producing world-class writers, and we proved this with our very first edition. Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, a kwani? writer who had never been published before was short listed for the Caine Prize for African Writing. Also, referred to as It is our objective of kwani? to get Kenyans reading quality writing again.

Kenyan scientists are embroiled in a deepening controversy over whether Kenya should lift a ban on the pesticide DDT in a bid to reduce deaths from malaria. A government-commissioned taskforce is poised to reveal its advice on whether the pesticide should be reintroduced. Meanwhile sharp divisions are appearing between two of the country's leading research organisations, the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), both based in Nairobi.

The task force that was mandated to establish whether the country needs a Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) has recommended the setting up of a powerful commission with powers to track down stolen public property and funds.

Several organisations have pledged support for the Government in rehabilitating street children. Eleven non-governmental organisations dealing with children said they would begin programmes to support street families. Their representatives said they would form an alliance with private companies to ensure more than 1,500 children countrywide were rehabilitated.

President Mwai Kibaki has pledged to be the first to declare his wealth once the various administrative procedures are in place. "I have offered to be the first to declare my wealth and that is real," said Kibaki. The President said the Public Officer Ethics Act, under which all public servants are expected to declare their assets and liabilities, aims at bringing about cultural change in the public service.

Former President Daniel arap Moi has been advised to voluntarily appear before the anti-corruption police unit to record a statement and to clear his name against the many economic crimes levelled against him. Justice and Constitutional affairs Assistant Minister Robinson Githae at the same time dismissed claims that the former President was being harassed by the NARC Government, adding that other than the sitting President, nobody else enjoys immunity.

Two thousand nurses are to be hired for public hospitals this year. Director of Medical Services Richard Muga said this was expected to ease staff shortages and improve public service.

The lives of about 17,000 people living in the Kakuma refugee camp, northwestern Kenya, are in danger from flooding caused by the merging of two seasonal rivers, the UN warned on Monday. The two rivers, the Taraich and the Nakabet, are expected to merge during the next rainy season in October which will lead to an island in the centre of the camp. The camp could then collapse.

Kenya is under immense pressure from the US government not to ratify the Rome Statue on the International Criminal Court (ICC). Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Mr Peter ole Nkuraiya, said the US is putting pressure on Kenya not to sign Article 98 of the Statute. "We are left to wonder what is the way forward as regards the issue. We are being arm and neck twisted by the big brother," he said.

Ten thousand families in Ewaso Narok settlement in Laikipia have resolved to sue the government over its eviction order. The families, which were settled there by the government in 2000, were recently directed to move out by Chief Conservator of Forests M.W. Muniu. The government says the allocation was an illegal encroachment on forest land.