By JOHN NJIRU jnjiru@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Tuesday, May 21 2013 at 10:46

In Summary

• Initiative is a partnership between Ericsson and Refugees United to find new ways of reconnecting refugees with their family members.
• The competition will be held on three weekends ahead of World Refugee Day on June 20.

Kenya mobile application developers have been given an opportunity to unite refugee families separated due to conflict, war and disaster.

Eight people have been killed and 35 injured in clan fighting in Mandera County over the weekend.

This is in addition to the two who were shot dead and three injured in a raid on the Mandera police canteen on Saturday night.

The killings are the latest in a string of bad news for the new administration that has been trying to get a largely under-resourced and unresponsive police service to tame runaway crime.

It has not helped that the creation of counties has opened up a hole in the security set up — there are no county-level security structures as yet.

By NATION TEAM newsdesk@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Sunday, May 12 2013 at 23:30

IN SUMMARY

• River Nyando bursts its banks as number of people in need of help following days of heavy rainfall increases daily

Three schools have been closed indefinitely and nine others flooded after River Nyando burst its banks during heavy rains on Saturday night.

Learning has been paralysed in the schools, among them Ahero Girls Secondary School, Kokwach and Apondo primary schools, all in Kisumu County.

In Summary

•The Geological Department has already warned of more landslides in the area if the heavy rains persist.
•In Usonga, Siaya County, residents have expressed fears of an outbreak of waterborne diseases and malaria due to heavy flooding.
•The flooding was worsened when River Nzoia burst its banks, leaving 100 families homeless.

More than 10 families were Wednesday displaced after landslides destroyed their homes in Baringo Central.

More than 6,000 pupils have not reported to school for the second term after 25 institutions in Tana River and Nyanza were marooned by floods.

Fifteen schools in Tana River County were inaccessible after roads were cut off and bridges swept away, area assistant education director Frederick Njuga said.

“In the Wema area there are eight marooned schools. The roads and bridges have been washed away. We cannot even attempt to go there for assessment,” he said by telephone from Garsen on Tuesday.

The government is unable to reach more than 87 families, whose homes have been marooned by floods in Ugenya District, Siaya County.

Families displaced by the raging floods on Saturday night have been marooned once again by water at Mahawa Centre where they camped.

Ugenya district commissioner Caroline Onchoka said they were looking for boats to help them access the centre located at the foot of Nyambare Hills to enable food and other supplies to reach the families.

The Kenya Red Cross Society on Wednesday evacuated more than 8,000 Tana River and Lamu residents after their homes were submerged in flood waters.

The exercise, led by KRCS’s Tana River County coordinator Michael Ayabi, involved a twin-engine boat to reach marooned villages, vehicles and other property in the lower Tana.

The disaster was caused by the swelling of water levels in River Tana two days ago occasioned by heavy rains pounding the region.

Hundreds of livestock and houses have been washed away by heavy rains that hit Banissa area in Mandera County.

Provincial administration officials have asked the government to send relief supplies to the affected families.

Speaking to the Nation over the phone, Dherkhale chief Adan Samow said many people are homeless following the rains that washed away their property.

“Hundreds of women and children slept in the cold after their homes and other property were washed away by the heavy rains,” he said.

By DANIEL NYASSY dnyassy@ke.nationmedia.com and JOHN SHILITSA jshiltsa@ke.nationmedia.com

Posted Sunday, April 28 2013 at 23:30

IN SUMMARY

• Victims suffer from dehydration following bouts of vomiting and diarrhoea in the Tana

• Health workers put on alert in flood-prone areas

Seven people were on Sunday admitted to a Malindi hospital after contracting water-borne diseases.