NAIROBI: PRESS RELEASE

REPUBLIC OF KENYA

RESPONSE REMARKS BY HON. ESTHER MURUGI MATHENGE, EGH, MP, MINISTER OF STATE FOR SPECIAL PROGRAMMES, DURING THE WORKSHOP ON HIV AND AIDS FOR MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT AT MOMBASA CONTINENTAL RESORT HELD ON JANUARY 28^{th, 2011.}

Good morning Members of the Press　
I have called you this morning to put the records straight regarding my comments during a workshop for Members of Parliament on HIV and AIDS held in Mombasa from 27^{th to 29th Last Month. I have been shocked by the misrepresentation of my remarks during this conference where in my off curve remarks, a used an example of Cuba on the incarceration of people living with HIV. I would like to explain my intentions in using this example.}
But since the media have kept on replaying only bits of my comment to achieve their objects I would like to repeat the exact words I used "In Cuba, when the President Castro was still very strong, anybody who was tested with HIV/AIDS was actually locked somewhere, and once you went in, you did not come out. I don’t know whether we should be that drastic or what we should do.
But sometimes I think maybe that is what we should do so that those who are ill are locked in, am just suggesting, it is up to you to tell me whether we should do that or not. It is not right but that is what he did and that is why in his country there is almost zero contamination. It is discrimination, but that is how he thought he should deal with it.
Am saying what we should do is to start thinking outside the box and we should do that what need to be done. We are generals, we are soldiers, and we have to win the war. So it is up to you to look for the best method that will ensure that we win this war of HIV/AIDs".　
　
　

From the media reports the main agenda for the meeting has been distorted and I would also like to clarify the Broad objectives of the workshop which were:

I would also like to put the records straight regarding Kenya’s position on HIV and AIDS

The Kenya HIV response is based on human rights principles. It prohibits discrimination on grounds of HIV status; Supports the right of people living with HIV to participate as full actors with dignity; and the right to treatment for HIV as part of the right to the highest attainable standard of health as enshrined in the Kenyan constitution.

Kenya has made tremendous success in tackling HIV and scaling up services to reach universal access to HIV prevention, care and treatment.　 HIV prevalence has declined from a high of 14 percent in 1990s to an average of 6% among adults in 2009/2010.

Despite these commendable achievements, the country continues to record an average of 122,000 new infections each year. To sustain the success in fighting this epidemic therefore requires us to examine what has worked in other countries and what we can do to achieve zero new infections.

In my remarks, I sought to provide examples of other countries that have tried to control the epidemic. I gave the infamous example of how Cuba in 1988, after a massive testing campaign, incarcerated people living with HIV. Cuba has always had very low prevalence and very low new infections and in that way, is very different from Kenya. They withdrew the policy of incarceration in 1993.

Other countries that have recorded tremendous success include

I raised the issue of Cuba in order to foster discussion and debate and never intended to imply that Kenya should move to a strategy of incarceration.　 This would be contrary to many Human Rights conventions that Kenya has signed. Ultimately such an approach would also not be successful in controlling the epidemic. Controlling an epidemic of this magnitude, where 1.5 million people are living with HIV, requires a massive scale up of people accessing testing and counseling and disclosing to their sexual partners and accessing a range of prevention services. Currently only 57% of adults have ever tested and this is cause for concern.

In addition, as a government policy the HIV and AIDS prevention and control Act 2006 states that no person shall be quarantined or placed in isolation on the grounds of the person's actual, perceived or suspected HIV status. We therefore continue to encourage Kenyans to know their status, access prevention, treatment and care services.

While I continue to support that we look at other countries approaches and learn from them in order to rid Kenya of HIV, protecting and promoting human rights will encourage people to come forward and access services and reduce stigma and the epidemic

Ladies and gentlemen I therefore don’t understand why the media choose to pick and hype my example which was only intended to activate a discussion. During the workshop other opinions were raise for instance one member of parliament suggested that all boys should be circumcised immediate after birth by tying their manhood to reduce HIV infections others suggested men should marry more than one wife ---------

But all these were open discussions. We as Members of parliament came up with resolutions which should have been the gist of your reporting. Just to mention a few ---

Rwanda whose prevalence rates have reduced from a peak of 11% in the 90’s to 2.8% in the recent times. In these countries, universal access and country ownership drive the HIV response thus low HIV incidences and lowered AIDS related deaths.

RESOLUTIONS

1. Members agreed to support sustainable financing of HIV and AIDS programmes in Kenya including setting up an AIDS Trust Fund. By

Following the Media misrepresentation I have been viewed to be a very controversial Minister. But I would like to state that I will continue talking openly on issues regarding HIV and AIDS since they fall under my ministry. Personally, I have lost relatives and friends who have succumbed to AIDs. I have also seen orphaned children who are also suffering from AIDs. I therefore know what it means to be infected and affected by the disease.

The other day I mentioned issues regarding Most at risk populations which include Men having sex with men, Sex workers, Intravenous Drug users etc.

For us to fight HIV and AIds and reduce stigma we must continue discussing opening on these issues.

Kenya’s population is 39 million.

Population tested 4.5million

HIV positive population 1.5 million

Population on ARVs 350,000

Children on ARVs 28,000

Population NOT on ARVs 30,000

Estimated population NOT tested 15 million

　

My parting shot.

　

I call upon all Kenya to know their status. Please let us all get tested.----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fast tracking of the enactment of the KNAC Bill that will ensure the establishment of the Fund that is prudently governed and managed. (through contributions from Government, private sector, levies, remittances etc) 2. Members agreed to support a review of Sessional Paper Number 4 of 1997 to facilitate addressing of the emerging issues and challenges.3. The members agreed to support their CACCs to acquire an office where need arises.
4. Members agreed to support institutional strengthening for NACADAA especially in terms of staffing and financial resources.5. Members agreed to support the establishment of Narcotics Control Board to deal with the demand and supply issues.6. Members to support the
a) Curtail the supply of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and the inter addiction of illicit drugs.
b) Control the importation and prevent the diversion of precursor chemicals to manufacture illicit drugs.7. Members to support the adoption of conducive legislation to prevent HIV among injecting drug users in all settings including prisons through implementation of the following interventions:
a) Needle and syringe programme
b) Opiates substitution therapy
c) Comprehensive HIV control programme in prisons enactment of watertight legislation to:

　



To update Members of Parliament on the progress made and challenges in the national response to HIV and AIDS including Third Kenya National Aids Strategic Plan (KNASP III).



Present to Members of Parliament the Revised Field Operations Guidelines for Constituency AIDS Control Committees (CACCs) and District Technical Committees (DTCs).



Provide a brief on the available funding for HIV and AIDS programmes which are being implemented by Civil Society Organizations and the private sector at CACC, DTC and National levels.



　To brief Members on the role of drug abuse in the spread of HIV and the need to fight against Drug Abuse at CACC and DTC level and the KNAC Bill 2010.

NAIROBI: PRESS RELEASE

The Government has expressed its commitment in revolutionizing service delivery in public institutions for the benefit of the citizenry.
Prime Minister Raila Odinga said with the new constitution Kenyans should be assured of a lot of reforms in the public sector.
In his speech during the award ceremony of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Quality Management System (QMS) 9001:2008 to the Ministry of State for Planning, National Development and Vision 2030 and the Kenya Institute of Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) at KICC today, Mr. Odinga emphasized on the need for public servants to enhance their performance to restore confidence in the civil service.
"We as a Government should take lead in spearheading these reforms. This will only be possible if preceded by public service reforms. Let ISO QMS Certification be the mustard seed that will mushroom into a culture of quality and efficiency in Government business," said the Prime Minister.
He praised the Ministry and one of its Semi- Autonomous Agencies KIPPRA for their achievement noting that ISO QMS standards "are a reflection of global consensus on good management practices that aim at ensuring quality and customer focused service delivery."
Prime Minister Raila Odinga while acknowledging that the road to the system certification was long and rough urged the Ministry officials to jealously guard the accomplishment.
"Earning the SGS Certification and UKAS Quality Management Marks which you can proudly flaunt from today is certainly no easy achievement. But this certification is merely half of the victory. You must now consolidate these gains and live up to the expectations of this certification to ensure the effort which you invested in the lead up to certification is sustained," he said.
Planning, National Development and Vision 2030 Minister Mr. Wycliffe Oparanya said with ISO 9001:2008, his Ministry was in a better position to execute its mandate of providing leadership in policy formulation and coordinating implementation of the country’s economic blue print Kenya Vision 2030 in a more transparent and accountable manner.
"Therefore to satisfy the public’s expectation of service delivery, government agencies are now required to conform to international quality management systems in order to offer quality services to the public," said Oparanya.
He said there was no operational area within the scope of certification at the Ministry and KIPPRA that functions outside the documented ISO QMS procedures.
"In my office for example there are 10 procedures that guide my actions in discharging my duties to deliver the Ministry’s mandate and the most important thing is that the management system has closely linked operations across operational areas thus there can be no passing of the buck as systems are talking to each other ensuring effectiveness, timeliness, transparency and accountability at every stage," said the minister.
On his part, the Ministry’s Assistant Minister Mr. Peter Kenneth noted that for the country to attain the Kenya Vision 2030, there’s need to adopt innovative systems of service delivery geared towards strengthening global competitiveness.
"Until recently, the general perception in the public sector has been that pursuance of ISO certification is the preserve of the private sector. However, with the onset of the public sector reforms, this attitude has changed and ISO certification has become a widespread practice and public institutions are now increasingly working to conform to the international standards," he said.
Addressing the same meeting Head of Public Service Ambassador Francis Muthaura said for the country to achieve its goals as outlined in the Vision 2030, a modern result oriented public service was a prerequisite.
"The overall aim is to enhance efficiency and effectiveness together with probity and integrity in service delivery. When the delivery of services is constrained it affects the quality of life of the people and a country’s development," said Muthaura.
He said the Government had on a number of occasions introduced intervention measures to boost service delivery in the public service citing the Results Based Management (RBM) introduced in 2004 and Performance Contracting in 2003.
According to the Head of Public Service, currently 470 institutions; 46 ministries and accounting departments, 178 State Corporations, 175 Local Authorities and 71 Tertiary institutions are on performance contract.
Planning, National Development and Vision 2030 PS Dr. Edward Sambili expressed delight saying the award of ISO certificates marks the beginning of a lasting commitment to offer services that are benchmarked to international standards.
He said to ensure the system is maintained and improved on a continuous basis they have put in place a comprehensive framework in line with the requirements of the standards including scheduled internal audits, management reviews and customer feedback among others.
Ends………..

Dave Jones Buchere
Public Relations Officer
Ministry of State for Planning, National Development and Vision 2030

NAIROBI: IMF LENDS KENYA 40 BILLION

The International Monetary Fund logo,IMF has granted Kenya a three year 40 Billion shillings loan.

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today approved a three-year arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility for Kenya in an amount equivalent to 40 Billion Kenya Shillings (about US$508.7 million). The program is aimed at protecting Kenya’s external position, while allowing a gradual fiscal adjustment. The Executive Board’s approval will immediately enable an initial disbursement of an amount equivalent to SDR 65.1 million (about US$101.7 million).
The program is designed to help rebuild Kenya’s international reserves, by supporting the conditions for sustainable growth while preserving macroeconomic stability. It will help address balance-of-payments financing needs and provide a reserve cushion to help the country deal with adverse shocks.
Following the Executive Board’s discussion on Kenya, Mr. John Lipsky, First Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair, stated
Kenya’s economy is bouncing back from the slowdown that accompanied the global financial crisis. Fiscal stimulus has boosted the recovery, especially in construction, and benign weather conditions have supported a rebound in agriculture. The ratification of the new constitution by the August 2010 referendum has spurred confidence as it provides an opportunity to address long-standing social and institutional problems and implement additional reforms, including on fiscal decentralization, the public expenditure framework, and land ownership.
"Sustaining high growth will require addressing remaining macroeconomic vulnerabilities. The ongoing recovery will further weaken Kenya’s external position and the rise in public debt resulting from the fiscal expansion should be reversed. However, fiscal consolidation needs to accommodate the costs of implementing the new constitution as well as high-priority public investments
"The authorities’ program under the three-year ECF arrangement aims at boosting international reserves and strengthening the fiscal position. The arrangement provides a reserves cushion to reduce vulnerabilities to external shocks, including a projected deterioration of the terms of trade in the next two years. The program will help maintain fiscal discipline as fiscal decentralization gets underway, while keeping inflation low in the context of Kenya’s floating exchange rate regime.
"The program targets a gradual reduction in the central government primary balance through tax reform and strict control of current spending. Tax measures include the reform of the value-added and income taxes to improve coverage and compliance. A successful implementation of constitutional provisions will also address governance issues, by strengthening the judiciary and overhauling the public expenditure management framework. The program will create the fiscal space necessary to implement the constitution, raise infrastructure investment, and protect spending aimed at poverty reduction," said Mr. Lipsky

Kelvin Mwangi,
Nairobi.

NAIROBI: HOW CONSULTATIONS WERE HELD BETWEEN PRESIDENT MWAI KIBAKI AND PRIME MINISTER RAILA ODINGA ON JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS

                                    Vice President Hon. Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka

1. The subject of Judicial appointments was first discussed at a meeting between the President and the Prime Minister held before Christmas, on December 16th 2010. During the meeting, the President felt that it would be better if the issue was revisited after the New Year.

2. The item of the appointments was subsequently placed in the agenda and discussed on January 6, 2011, at Harambee House between H.E. the President and The Rt. Hon. Prime Minister. The meeting agreed on the procedure to be followed in the appointments:
The identification and consultations on the nominations by the two principals and submission to parliament by H.E. the President for approval.
It was agreed that the law did not require the selection of the candidates by either the Judicial Service Commission or Public Service Commission.
The technical team was instructed to identify suitable candidates to facilitate further consultations. In the technical meetings it was observed that:
　. The Prime Minister had expressed the view that we should have a foreign Chief Justice.

ii. However, His Excellency the President insisted that at close to 50 years of independence we have very qualified Kenyans and to search for a Chief Justice outside Kenya would be improper and would send the wrong message to the Law Society of Kenya, the Legal Fraternity and the rest of Kenyans.

3. On Thursday, January, 27th, 2011, the item was on the agenda in a consultations meeting held from 12 noon between His Excellency the President and The Right Honourable Prime Minister, at Harambee House.

During the meeting, President Kibaki presented his proposal, borrowing on the consultations which had taken place between the technical teams representing him and the Prime Minister. The Proposal was:
Justice Kihara for Chief Justice
Fred Ojiambo for Attorney General
The post of Deputy Chief Justice to be filled by a woman through the Judicial Service Commission.
Kioko Kilukumi for Director of Public Prosecution.
William Kirwa for Director of Budget
4.In response, the Prime Minister said that if the President could not agree for a Judge from the Commonwealth to be Chief Justice, then he would insist on Justice Omollo for the position of Chief Justice.

5.The President pointed out that he needed to make the appointments before he left for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for the African Union meeting. It was therefore decided that the technical team would discuss the list and report back on the same day in the afternoon. The team comprised Amb. Francis Muthaura, Mr. Mohammed Isahakia, Prof. Nick Wanjohi and Mr. Caroli Omondi.

6.The technical team reported separately that they had agreed on three of the positions but were unable to agree on the position of the Chief Justice. The team presented three options for Chief Justice: Justice Omollo, Justice Kihara or Justice Visram for consideration by the Principals.

7.At the same time, the President asked the Prime Minister to propose an Attorney General to replace Mr. Ojiambo, as the job of the Attorney General, being the chief legal advisor of Government required higher post-graduate qualifications. Prof. Githu Muigai was proposed and agreed on by both technical sides.


8.The President said that because he was travelling to Addis Ababa on Saturday, the matter needed to be finalized by 12 noon on Friday, January 28, 2011. It was imperative that the proposals were made before the African Union’s Heads of State meeting in Addis Ababa. This was made clear to the Prime Minister.

9.On Friday morning, January 28, 2011, the Prime Minister sent a letter signed by Mr. Caroli Omondi addressed to Amb. Muthaura saying that the Prime Minister had left for Addis Ababa and that consultation should be held the following week.

10.The Prime Minister was informed that because the matter needed to be concluded before the President left for Addis Ababa, consultations could be facilitated through the phone. The President then made the proposal of having Justice Visram as Chief Justice, who hails from a minority community to accommodate the Prime Minister’s concerns of neutrality. The proposal was communicated to the Prime Minister. In response, the Prime Minister said he had no problem with Prof. Githu Muigai as Attorney General but insisted on Justice Omollo being nominated as Chief Justice.

11.The Prime Minister was asked to call the President from Addis Ababa so that they could finalize. The Prime Minister said he would call the President. The President waited at Harambee House from 12:30 pm until 3 pm but the Prime Minister did not call.

12.The President left for Statehouse for lunch at 3 pm, and a telephone number to reach the President at Statehouse was communicated to the Prime Minister so that he could call the President. The Prime Minister did not call.

13.At 6pm, the Statehouse Comptroller called the Prime Minister for the President to speak to him. Mr. Caroli Omondi answered the Prime Minister’s phone. After consulting, Mr. Caroli Omondi said the
Prime Minister was busy and would call back after one and a half hours.

14.The President then felt that he had consulted extensively and had accommodated the Prime Minister and had fulfilled the constitutional requirements and therefore, made the announcement on Friday, January 28th 2011 at 8.30pm.



STEPHEN KALONZO MUSYOKA
VICE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA

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