Kenya has launched a multi-million dollar appeal to help restore a vital forest resource which is threatened with extinction due to human encroachment. The appeal to save the Mau Forests Complex was launched late Wednesday by the Government of Kenya at a Partners Forum hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The UN is helping Kenya prepare to mitigate the impact of potentially-lethal torrential rains anticipated in the last three months of the year due to the El Nino weather pattern. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) made this known in a statement issued on Thursday in New York, US.

Although widely derided as an expensive toothless bulldog – and even as a fig leaf for the corrupt – the Kenya Anti Corruption Commission (KACC) is Kenya’s premiere statutory anti-corruption agency recognized as such by the United Nations Convention against Corruption and the African Union. It has been in operation since 2004 and has investigated among many other pending mega corruption Scandals.

At 6 am on Saturday, 06 Sept. 2009,t is reported that 300 heavily armed Borana and Somali gunmen attacked the Samburu tribe at Losesia, in Samburu District, near Archer's Post, approx 38 km from Lerata. In addition to killing 3 herdsmen and injuring 2 others, the militia stole 3765 head of cattle, 2635 goats and sheep, 141 camels, and 19 donkeys, according to Samburu East MP Raphael Letimelo. All livestock were removed in lorries.

Responding to an article by that calls for former president Daniel arap Moi to be ‘arrested and prosecuted’, Arap Rotich says the roots of the Kenya’s ‘diverse and divisive’ problems lie deeper in the country’s history.

Freedom of expression is one of the main pillars of democracy, argues the Africa Free Media Trust (AFMT) in this week's Pambazuka News. Although freedom of the press and expression are theoretically guaranteed in Kenya, AFMT stresses that the reality is different and indeed wonders whether the country is reverting back to the old days under President Daniel arap Moi. The existence of multiparty elections and the right to speak out should not be taken for granted, AFMT concludes, and Kenya must not allow freedom of expression to be jeopardised any further.

Appealing to the UN secretary general, Isaac Newton Kinity makes the case for former Kenyan president Daniel arap Moi to be tried at the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the use of thousands of imported poison arrows in the 1991 killings of 800 pro-democracy activists.

An ancient myth from Meru, eastern Kenya, tells of a war during which all the healthy men in the village were deployed to fight an enemy tribe, only to return and find the women had been impregnated by the men left behind, who had been deemed incapable of defending the village. From that day on, the legend continues, Meru women have had their clitorises removed to curb their sexual appetites and ensure their marital fidelity.

The International Criminal Court could decide to take over trials of key poll chaos suspects after meeting a government delegation at the end of September. An official of the court made the revelation on Sunday as two Cabinet ministers and assistant ministers vowed to shoot down a Bill that is meant to set up a local tribunal to try the suspects.

“THE DRUM CAFE”, is an innovative network of creative and performing professionals with the Central aim of re-defining drum music as a powerful medium of social change in east Africa. The first drum cafe was first hosted by Alliance francaise de Nairobi in September 2006 and supported by various individuals, cultural and artistic institutions. The DRUM CAFÉ 2010 PEACE FESTIVAL will be a seven day celebration presented by and for the various Kenyan ethnic subgroups and communities living in Nairobi.

Lamenting the longstanding inability of Kenya's citizens to transcend ethnic divisions, Cheruiyot Collins calls upon Kenyans to free themselves of ethnic jingoism in a bid to steer the country on a true path towards nation-building. While constitutional change and greater responsibility from politicians are not to be discounted, Collins contends in this week's Pambazuka News, ultimately Kenyans must strive for change from within and themselves take responsibility for the pervasive culture of greed and self-interest hampering the country.

Concerned by government statistics on Kenya's ethnic composition, Samuel Abonyo laments the enduring difficulty presented by the concept of tribe in Kenyan society. First developed under the auspices of colonial-era governance, the practice of tribal geography, writes Abonyo in this week's Pambazuka News, is still going on in today's Kenya. But what really is a tribe? What is the government actually counting? Figures on tribes, Abonyo concludes, remain at best inaccurate and at worst highly damaging in depicting false, divisive categorisations.

The Open Society Initiative for East Africa (OSIEA) seeks a Grants Coordinator to maintain its grants database and oversee legal and administrative compliance for its grants portfolio. Based in Kenya, OSIEA implements a range of initiatives to advance justice, free speech, public health, and independent media in Eastern Africa. Working under the supervision of the Finance Manager, the Grants Coordinator manages the daily flow of grant-related data and documentation. This job requires strong computer skills. Search Closes: October 1, 2009.

Kenyans for Justice and Development have decided to constitute a parallel people’s government to widen the battlefield now that Kenya's two main parties, PNU and ODM have closed ranks to 'protect and propagate impunity', and to originate pro-people public policies and programmes that we will use to create a national platform for the people’s march to the Second Republic of Kenya.

The Kenya 2012 general election is around the corner. A decision on where to try the perpetrators of the Post Election violence has not been reached. By September 2010, the 2012 election fever will have began. The Kenyans Eyes From the Diaspora urges for haste in both the prosecution of the perpetrators of the Post Election Violence and the setting up of a conducive and competitive Constitution.

Kenyans against Impunity (KAI)is seeking support from willing Kenyans to carry out its activities which include public engagement on political and legal process to address among others corruption, extrajudicial killings, enforced evictions, enforced disappearances, mismanagement of public affairs, police brutality, arbitrary arrests, police harassments, rape and gender rights violations.

"Many people had hoped that Kenya's 2007 presidential elections would cement Kenya's democratic progress and would provide a solid foundation for the country to break out of its economic doldrums and begin to achieve some of its enormous economic potential. Instead, the 2007 elections brought trade and commerce to a halt, polarized the country along regional and ethnic lines and for a brief moment nearly brought the country to the edge of civil war." - Johnnie Carson, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Africa. This AfricaFocus Bulletin, available on the web but not distributed through e-mail, contains the transcript of the July 22 speech by Carson. Another AfricaFocus Bulletin, on the web and sent out by email, contains excerpt from an analysis by former Kenya National Commission on Human Rights chairperson Maina Kiai and other commentaries on recent Kenyan developments.

On July 30, only days before this week's visit of U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton to Kenya, the first stop on her 7-country Africa trip, the Kenyan Cabinet decided to reject special prosecution of those responsible for post-election violence in 2007 and 2008, whether under a domestic special tribunal or by the International Criminal Court (ICC), to which the case has been referred. This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains a brief commentary by Muthoni Wanyeki, executive director of the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), excerpts from an extended interview with Maina Kiai, the former chairperson of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), and links to a number of other related commentaries and reports.

The Kenyan government has given Ogiek communities living in the Mau forest until mid September to abandon their homes or face arrest. Police officers have been stationed around the forest in preparation. The Mau forest has been severely degraded in recent years, largely due to an influx of logging companies and illegal settlers exploiting the area’s resources. The Kenyan government has decided to combat this problem by evicting everyone, including the Ogiek people who have lived there for centuries.

Kenyan female students will now have to undergo pregnancy tests at least once a term if the new guideline launched by the Public Health and Education Ministers - Beth Mugo and Prof Sam Ongeri - are implemented. The Guideline was launched amid rising number of pregnancy related school dropouts. The test is supposed to be voluntary, the guideline said.