The holy matrimony that never was!

By Prisca Njarachu

You cannot tell the happiness and eagerness that the bridegroom has when he is ready to meet with his bride. He, in anticipation of having the bride handed to him, sees everything including time to be moving at a slower pace than usual.

Not so long ago, this happened to me. It was early last week when my wedding ceremony was well prepared and everything in place.

Early morning on the D day, my neighbors and the organizing committee arrived at dawn and proceeded with the programme as scheduled. At 10 o’clock they were through with the kitchen affairs, eagerly waiting for the bridegroom to arrive.

Within no time, the groom arrived and so the presiding pastor proceeded with the ceremony where we took our vows and exchanged our rings amidst ululations from the women and cheers from the congregation.

I was glad to be joined with my beloved man and as a sign of joy and love that I felt, I passionately hugged my partner before sealing it with a big kiss.

Suddenly, I felt a big blow on my forehead and before I could comprehend what was going on, I woke up only to find myself in the all familiar environment of my bedroom.

That’s when I came back to my senses and realized it was just a dream. a section of my bed sheet was wet with saliva, I had chewed in the dreams as I ate my wedding cake. Wooh, what a messy dream.

Development stakeholders from Muhotetu division demand action from the local authority

By Waweru Kanja

Development stakeholders from Muhotetu division of Laikipia West district are demanding immediate rehabilitation of key roads in the division to ease transportation of farm produce.

Speaking during a development meeting held at Muhotetu chief’s ground, the stakeholders who included the area district officer, all divisional departmental heads and farmers representatives took issue with the Laikipia county council which they accused of neglecting the roads in the area for a long time.

They said roads in the division are dilapidated and especially presently due to the heavy rains pounding the area, making it almost impossible to transport any produce to the market.

“The county council is collecting a lot of money in cess from this area and should reciprocate by opening up the small roads connecting the various villages while repairing the key ones in order to reach out to all farmers in the division.

A farmer Mr. George Kaboci decried the poor prices of maize and other farm produce citing poor roads as the main cause of their predicament.

Another farmer Mrs. Mithamo blamed poor drainage system in the area as the cause of dilapidated roads adding that this was contributing greatly to farmers’ exploitation of by brokers.

Mr. Ndiritu the divisional fisheries officer reported that 42 fish ponds have been constructed in the division with two of them already operational.

Nderitu said that a cooperative society would be formed by member groups which would ease the marketing of the commodity.

The divisional agricultural officer Mr. Githua said that Muhotetu Joy self help group would benefit from water harvesting training by the ministry and that a water pan would be constructed with a water point at Gacoro area or at John Nderitu’s farm in Chereta.

He added that there were plans to sign up an agreement between Mr. Nderitu, the group and the Laikipia West district agricultural officer that he would offer his three acres of land for at least eight years to be used by the group as a training farm. Farmers he said would be trained on use of drip irrigation to grow fruits, among other modern farming methods.

The agricultural officer reminded the people who attended the meeting that 10 percent of every farm in the country should be covered with trees, in a move to increase the forest cover to the world standard of eight percent from the current three percent.

He added that all water catchments areas should be covered with environment friendly trees.

Agri-business

By Ann, Maina and Mutua - LRV team

Unlike the past when agriculture was taken by many as just another occupation, today most farmers treat it as a business and earn their living from the same.

A spot check at Sipili Division of Laikipia West district, in Laikipia County revealed that agriculture has become the daily occupation where many are depending on it for livelihood.

In order to put the whole picture in mind, we interviewed several farmers most of whom had no idea how the sector is transforming people’s lives.

They lack market Information and do not know where to sell their produce. They are being exploited by cartels who are buying maize at poor prices as farmers have no control of the prices of their own produce.

One of the farmers whom we interviewed Mr. Kanyutu Ndegwa said they had tried all ways known to them to raise their economic standards admitting that it was not as easy.

“We have done all we could in order to improve our living standard but all in vain. The cost of production is higher than the proceeds. Our maize is being bought at a very low prices compared to the resources, time and work put in its production,” said Mr. Ndegwa.

He blamed middlemen whom he said had formed cartels that were fleecing farmers their hard earned cash.

“The brokers have invaded Sipili and they are dictating prices as if they gave us hand in producing the crop,” he added.

He said some of the major challenges facing farmers currently in the area include heavy rains which are making transportation of any farm produce hard due to impassable roads.

Lack of proper food storage in the area, inaccessibility of market information and human wildlife conflict also featured prominently on the farmers’ list of challenges.

The farmers are now asking the relevant government arms including the ministry of transport and that of agriculture to intervene in order to save them from the current situation.

They said lack of such assistance would cause them huge losses and possibly drive many of them out of the business.

Sipili divisional agricultural officer concurred with the farmers on the poor road network in the area which he said was causing farmers great suffering since farmers had limited access to the market.

He further said that lack of good means of communications between the farmers and agriculture officers bad severally resulted to bad timing of planting. Other issues, he said, include the existence of fake fertilizers and certified seeds, poor or lack of storage forcing farmers to sell their maize at low prices.

Farmers are now calling upon the government to help them with the right information on farming and marketing in order to ensure they succeed in the agriculture business.

Rains cause havoc in Sipili

By WaJoe


Heavy rains have pounded Sipili area of Ng’arua in Laikipia for the last three months casing great damage to the infrastructure.


Weather in the semi arid area which is known to receive inadequate rainfall has changed drastically with the rains falling daily filling every valley and gully with flash floods.


Roads have been rendered impassable causing farmers who are currently harvesting their maize untold suffering. The most affected are the farmers who intend to sell their produce since no vehicle can manage to move to the interior areas as owners fear getting stuck in the mud.


Dairy farmers are no better. Milk production is high but with no means of taking the produce to the market. Motor cycle business or what many refer to as boda boda has also been affected with many people preferring to walk to avoid the risk of traveling by a motor bike on slippery roads.


Matatu operations have not been spared either and join the list of the most affected business people. Those using Sipili- Kinamba route say the road is in poor condition complaining that their vehicles are getting damaged.


A driver of a Nissan matatu by the name ‘My choice’ said they are wasting a lot of time as they evade pot holes at Karungubii and Njorua areas. It was confirmed that a vehicle is using more than one hour from Sipili to Kinamba instead of the usual 20 minutes.


School going children have also been affected. Streams are full to capacity and lack bridges or culverts. Parents are forced to take their children to school in the morning while teachers escort them in the evening to avoid endangering their lives.


The most affected schools are Nyakinyua day secondary school and the neighboring. Nyakinyua primary school where a pupil was swept away by flash floods some years back only to be rescued by passersby.


A teacher from Supreme Academy at Kiriko village whom we caught up with while escorting children who had just closed school expressed fear that drowning cases may occur and cautioned parents to be careful this December holidays.


Area residents are arguing the relevant authority to repair the roads saying if no measures are taken urgently, the whole area will be cut off from other parts of the region.

The thin line between modern dressing and decency

By Macharia Kung’u

Technology is advancing rapidly and the youth, mostly in towns, seem to understand the meaning of modernization better. They have chosen dressing style as their specialty to show how advanced they have become.

In the past, culture limited the youths on what to wear, where to wear what and how to wear it. Different functions had different dressing styles, for example people would dress differently in occasions like wedding, dancing and circumcision.
The appropriate dressing code when adhered to accorded one good reputation in the community. The elders on the other hand punished those who failed to follow the norms appropriately so as to act as a deterrent to others. Nowadays the opposite is happening.

Currently, the youths are now considering traditional culture as archaic. They, while comparing themselves with the western world say that culture needs reform.
“I can no longer sell traditional attires in my shop as few people if anyone will buy them,” Says Kogi, a trader at Muthurwa market in Sipili, Ng’arua.

In pursuit of modernization and assimilation, the youths find themselves in conformity the road. They tend to dress like musicians, actors, models and other celebrities in order to be seen to be moving with the current trends.
They give little or no thoughts as to why they should do so and whether they are ready to deal with the repercussions.

If we take girls as our example, the way they clad is at times in revealing clothes leave most men with the desire to see beyond the cover.
Due to moral decadency, girls are walking half naked so as to ape modeling stars. This has largely been promoted by the media which advertises these types of clothes in the name of business but conversely affecting future generations.
Immorality chips in and considering the presence of HIV/AIDS, the ‘dot com’ generation becomes doomed.

In conclusion, we are aware that every car has an engine and every component that makes it run. Thus, you do not need to be shown the engine to confirm that is indeed a car. Likewise, some modern attire is so revealing yet we know that the wearer has an ‘engine’. We know you have it and you therefore do not have to show or keep reminding us.

Businesses closed in Sipili due to spewing toilet.

By L.R.V correspondent 

 Small scale traders in Sipili are counting losses after they were ordered to close down their shops, kiosks and open air market due to lack of sanitary facilities. The divisional public health officer gave the directive after noticing a discharge from a filled up public toilet. Grocery traders, milk bars and food kiosk operators were hard hit by the directive. 

Spoiled stock thrown out on the road side

  The single public toilet in town is not only in bad shape but also filled up. Splash water is discharging waste into the open! Human excrete is washed downstream, following heavy downpour, putting the lives of hundreds of people in danger of contracting diseases. The eight feet toilet built over 15 years ago, serves an estimated population of 200 traders and community members on daily basis and another over two thousand every market day.

 Traders painfully narrated their agony to Laikipia Rural Voice (LRV) on Thursday. The weight of the matter on their daily livelihoods could not be underestimated. Mama Kelly who sells fresh produce like bananas, kales (Sukumawiki), Oranges and mangoes, lamented the loss of her daily income, saying that her fresh stock will go bad in the next few hours. She recounted how the issue will affect her family’s income saying that she has not paid for the milk she usually receive from a farmer in the morning, because she has not sold anything!

 Three quarters of the shops remained closed, as traders sat in groups chatting sorrowfully in low tones. Women who received health risk warning from the public health officer supported the action, but urged the county council to built another toilet ‘‘County council is squarely to blame for their laxity’’ said one trader who sought anonymity. Traders took issue with the county council saying that they collect levies sometimes by force but little services are rendered to them. 

Toilets issue; a matter of concern world over.
  In 2001 WTO declared 19^th November World Toilet Day (WTD). Today it is celebrated in over 19 countries with over 51 events being hosted by various water and sanitation advocates. 

World Toilet Organisation created WTD to raise global awareness of the struggle 2.6 billion face every day without access to proper, clean sanitation.WTD also brings to the forefront the health, emotional and psychological consequences the poor endure as a result of inadequate sanitation.

Though the WTD's popularity is gaining momentum, the event was not marked in Sipili as it happened in about twenty other countries. In Singapore, over 600 squatters joined the cause in six locations island-wide. ‘‘If promoted sufficiently, the day will become "The" event that represents the sanitation crisis globally, and we strongly encourage our members, volunteers, the community, media and partners to get behind our cause and support our day’’- quart from WTO website- http://www.worldtoilet.org/wto/index.php/our-works/world-toilet-day .

Smart move for two way benefit

By ELVIS NDERITU ryecharis

I was chit chatting with a buddy last week and guess what? I think it’s the best way to get information so far. We started on a casual talk about school; both of us are students by the way. Latter on our talk drifted to politics or is it ‘politricks’?

On the first Sunday of December 2011, there was a fundraising at the Sipili Parish Catholic church though I did not attend personally. The main agenda as I understood was to buy a car for the current priest. I thought it was okay but my friend seemed to have a different opinion however we did not argue about that. 

Considering all that should be I thought this people pulled one stunt by planning. They perfectly planned on a rainy day. You think that’s not enough? Well you are right! They also planned on how to catch the big fish in a small net. However small the fundraising was, there was one guest who really intrigued her.

 Hon. Mwangi Kiunjuri, the MP for Laikipia East. I heard he arrived sometimes in the afternoon and you can guess what he encountered. Due to the previous day’s rain, the road to Sipili from Kinamba was not in the best condition, for his car- I missed out the model-, what an understatement! The road was incredulously impassable. He had to park at Njorua, almost 5 km from Sipili and trekked all the way to Sipili on the muddy road.

 What amused me was my friend’s reaction to this. She was seated outside the church hall- I mean she is a youth- and saw this rich dude arrive in a suit she said was familiar, and when she recalled where she had seen it, it dawned to her this was the Hon. Mwangi Kiunjuri. I had to stifle a smile and inquired why on earth she would recognize a person by his dress code and thought because she hesitated then it was something intrinsic, to all ladies? I will look into that.

So I asked her about the amount the MP donated, but first she told me of the politics. The MP is garnering votes for the 2012 elections as … she could not clearly remember but it was either Senator or Governor, and my question again was, was the Mp for Laikipia west present? I mean this was his constituency. And to my dismay, he was not. If I had probed deeper, which I feared, may be he was on the guest line. Or he simply was out; and may be even out of Politics and Politricks. An objective conclusion though!

The issue of coming on foot was a heat up. This executive walked 5km to here; this guy has charisma if you asked me. He then talked about the issue although the people were used to such tales ever since yeah-long periods. This edged him up the vote ladder and dipped someone for sure but who knows? Politics is unpredictable, is it?

The Hon. Gave Ksh 100,000, that was cute I would say.

Well, do you imagine then what those of us who frequent the road undergo? Especially during the rainy season! The question lingering in the minds of residents is if someone is not doing his or her job well!! The bottom line is that something needs to be done. And if it is not done, it must be done!!!