Infrastructure Brief

News and opinion on public works procurement

NGO To Bring Toilets To All Tanga Primary Schools

By Kevin Davids

The Tanga International Competence Center (TICC) announced plans to construct toilets at all the primary schools in the city.

The TICC Director, Ruth Nesje, told journalists that the organisation has already got the permission to implement the project from the Tanga district council.

The director said the project is useful because it protect the health of school children in the city because there is shortage of toilets in most of primary schools.

“We hope that we would get enough funds to implement it,” Nesje said.

She said, TICC has already constructed toilets at Mwang’ombe Primary School in the city at the cost of 6.6/m-.

According to information made available from the council’s website, the schools in the city face a shortage of 1,621 toilets.

There are only 753 available toilet holes in a total of 100 Primary Schools (79 public and 21 private) with a total of 57,737 students.

City education officer, Enedy Mnzava revealed that the council is taking various measures to reduce the shortage of toilets.

Mnzava said that the council has already set aside funds to build six toilets at Mwang’ombe primary school.

The education officer said the city plans to build many more toilets in other schools in the city in order to address the shortage.

Mwang’ombe has two toilet rooms for girls and one room for boys.

The Mwang’ombe primary school Head Teacher, Rachel Temu said that the new toilets have reduced the problem by 0.03 per cent.

“There are a total of 1,411 pupils, 882 being girls and 729 boys, with eight toilet holes, two have collapsed and only four are in use,” the head teacher explained.

Facing Corruption Charges, Kenya Ports Boss Resigns

By Kevin Davids

Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) Managing Director Daniel Manduku, who is facing corruption charges, has resigned.

Mr Manduku is facing charges of unlawfully awarding tenders for the construction of cargo storage facilities at the Nairobi Inland Container Depot (ICD).

Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia Friday confirmed receipt of Mr Manduku’s resignation letter.

The former National Construction Authority (NCA) executive director, was first appointed to the position in an acting capacity on May 30, 2018, replacing Ms Catherine Mturi-Wairi who was sent on compulsory leave by the KPA board due to lack of effective leadership.

“I shall be eternally grateful for the support of all the outstanding individuals who have contributed to what we have achieved over the last few years and to you in particular for your leadership and vision,” read part of the letter to CS Macharia.

His initial two-month contract lapsed on July 31, 2018 but on August 1, the board of KPA extended it by four months up to November 30.

Transport CS James Macharia confirmed him to the position after the extension lapsed.

DPP, DCI feud

Early this month, Mr Manduku was brought before a Nairobi court together with the commissioner customs and border control at Kenya Revenue Authority, Mr Kevin Safari but they were released after the Director of public Prosecutions Noordin Haji declined to approve the charges against them.

The two had been arrested a day before and held in custody awaiting to be charged. But when they were brought before senior principal magistrate Kennedy Cheruiyot, there was no prosecutor but only his lawyers and an officer from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.

The court adjourned the case briefly, waiting for the prosecutor and the file to be brought from the DPP’s office.

And when he appeared before Mr Cheruiyot, assistant director of public prosecution Joseph Riungu then told the court that he does not know why the two were brought to court.

According to the prosecutor, the DPP had instructed that they be released on police bond as he looked into the matter.

A charge sheet released a day earlier indicated that Dr Manduku and Mr Safari would be charged with unlawfully awarding tenders for the construction of cargo storage facilities at the Nairobi Inland Container Depot (ICD). There were to face a total of 11 counts.

Lawyer Nelson Havi told the court that Dr Manduku was arrested despite obtaining a court order in December, stopping his arrest. He said the MD had paid an anticipatory bail of Sh500,000 before the High Court in Mombasa.

Mr Cheruiyot said it was not fair to continue holding the two in the cells yet there was no charge sheet.

Following the differences between DPP and DCI, Mr Manduku walked out of the court a free man.

EAC Borders Stay Open For Transport Of Goods And Services

By Kevin Davids

Free movement of goods and services will continue in the East African Community (EAC) bloc despite the Covid-19 outbreak.

However, in order to ensure thorough screening, trucks will be disinfected before they are allowed to continue to their final destinations. Crew members will be quarantined for 14 days in countries of destination, according to new national guidelines.

These are among decisions made by the Health ministers and ministers responsible for EAC Affairs from the six partner states on Wednesday during their video conference.

“The partner states should implement 100 per cent exit and entry screenings,” the ministers said, adding that movement of trucks carrying goods would continue.

They resolved that the EAC organs and institutions would utilise video conferences, Webinars and Skype in crucial meetings instead of face-to-face encounters.

Besides strict screening, the truck drivers would be required to stop only at designated points along the transport corridors “so as to limit chances of spread of Covid-19 during transit”.

The crew for cargo planes and vessels will be determined by the specifications of the aircraft or ship and set international guidelines. The crew will be quarantined at a government designated hotel for the period of their stay.

The ministers directed the partner states to establish a surveillance system to monitor crew health and enable contact tracing.

The East African Health Research Commission (EAHRC), an institution of the EAC, was requested to conduct research on Covid-19 which to date has affected four of the six partner states.

Research on the deadly virus, it was stressed, would enable the EAC countries to be informed on new technologies, advances in care and treatment, vaccines, behaviour of the virus and diagnostics among others.

Until Wednesday, there were 91 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in four EAC states – Tanzania (12), Kenya (28), Uganda (14) and Rwanda (41).

No cases had been reported in Burundi and South Sudan although the two countries have like the rest of the world applied mandatory measures against Covid-19.

Already, a number of countries in the region have taken various steps in a deliberate move to contain further spread of the coronavirus.

As part of the additional measures to curb the spread of the virus, President John Magufuli said earlier this week that Tanzania would put all visitors and Tanzanians arriving from the high risk countries under quarantine at their own expenses for 14 days. President Magufuli also called upon Tanzanians, especially public servants to avoid travel to countries which have recorded high infection rates.

The country was already in partial lockdown as the government closed schools, colleges and universities as soon as the first coronavirus cases were confirmed.

Rwanda became the first nation in Africa to be placed on lockdown for at least 14 days in an effort to fight the coronavirus outbreak.

The country banned unnecessary movement and visits outside the home by the country’s 12 million citizens, except for essential services such as health care, food shopping or banking, and for the personnel performing such services. All employees, public and private, would be working from home, except for those providing essential services. Rwanda has also closed its borders, except for shipments of goods and cargo and returning Rwandan citizens and legal residents, who will be subject to mandatory 14-day quarantining at designated locations.

Kenya is in a partial lockdown after President Uhuru Kenyatta announced the closure of schools, and imposed sweeping travel restrictions.

Travellers from any country with a single case of the virus have been barred from entering Kenya for the next 30 days.

Only Kenyans and foreigners with residence permits will be allowed in, so long as they agree to be quarantined.

Uganda, which has so far confirmed a total of 14 Covid-19 cases, announced that no person will be allowed to enter the country starting from Monday this week in a bid to stem the coronavirus outbreak in the landlocked East African nation.

Tanzania: As COVID-19 Forces Classes Online, Many Students Left Behind

By Kevin Davids

Public learning institutions are shut down since last week after close kindergarten, primary and secondary schools were ordered to stop activities, then followed colleges and universities who were in recess at the time.

Some private schools issued notices to parents on how to continue with programmes through virtual classrooms via information and communication technology (ICT) facilities.

The International School of Tanganyika (IST) is one among schools that have closed campuses for staff and students but not learning itself.

A public notice posted on its website just after the closure of the school affirmed that the school will be moving learning activities to online platforms. “Teachers and staff will be working remotely,” it stated.

“To ensure the safety of the IST community through this difficult time, we have closed both campuses to students, parents, staff and the public,” it stated, elaborating what should be done during the closure period.

Online learning requires regular access to a computer with an internet connection facilitated by high speed broadband access. It is highly recommended for optimal learning experience while some courses require advanced ICT facilities.

While these requirements are basic needs for some parents and schools, they are a pipe dream for the majority of parents especially those banking their children’s education in public schools.

Apart from e-learning, some private schools have designed a month-long homework package for pupils to keep them busy during the period.

Interviews conducted by The Guardian yesterday found mixed feelings, with some observing the need for “serious measures to be taken to ensure that when learning resumes, all pupils become the same level.”

One of the parents, Joseph Thomas, whose son is in standard six at an English medium private located at Segerea in Ilala municipality, commended the creativity made by private schools saying that pupils will continue learning at home instead of staying idle.

“I have today received a message from my son’s teacher instructing me to go and take a holiday package for their monthly homework. Why can’t public schools do this?,” he demanded.

He challenged teachers in public schools to adopt such creativity, arguing that the majority of parents these days can access learning materials from teachers via mobile applications such as WhatsApp.

But Salum Rajabu, whose two children study at Maendeleo primary school— a public school located at Mbagala Kuu in Temeke municipality, said since the closure of the schools last week there has been no communication with teachers on how to continue with learning.

“What I see is that some parents who bought text books encourage their children at home but for the rest, learning will resume once schools open,” he said.

He expressed fears that there could be a wide gap of knowledge between pupils who continue with learning during the 30-days and those who stay at home without any learning to do.

But for Anna Muga, a parent with pupils at a private preschool and primary school located at at Salasala within Kinondoni municipality, parents have a responsibility to cultivate friendship with teachers as that can lead to continuity of learning in unprecedented times such as these brought about by COVID-19.

“My sons continue with assignments as usual as if they are in school thanks to good cooperation with the school administration. Our children will not be affected by the closure compared to their counterparts in public schools, ”she said with some relief.

Joyce Makassy, resident of airport zone said she had received a message from the head teacher of Iringa-based public secondary schools urging parents to ensure that their children continue with studies at home as per the syllabus.

“I encourage my son to revise on the materials they were taught before the closure so that when they start he will not have to go back,” she added.

DRC Declares State Of Emergency, Closes Borders

By Kevin Davids

Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi has declared a countrywide state of emergency, and shut down national borders in a bid to stop the potential spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking on national television on Tuesday night, the DRC leader said the move had been occasioned by the rising numbers of new infections for Covid-19.

“In view of the gravity and the dangerous nature of this situation, I declare a state of emergency taking into account the security situation which prevails at the moment in our country in connection with the Coronavirus pandemic”, said Tshisekedi.
DRC reported one cured patient on Tuesday, but then reported new cases on the same day. By Tuesday night, 48 people had been confirmed infected, according to Health Minister Eteni Longido.

The presidential decree means there will no longer be passenger flights from Kinshasa to the provinces and vice versa, until the state of emergency is lifted.

The country is also shutting down its land, sea and air borders to passenger, private or commercial travel.

But freight services and emergency transportation would be spared with their crews strictly screened before admittance.
The head of state also ordered the “establishment of minimum services within services and institutions.”

DRC, still smarting from an Ebola scourge has some of the poorest health systems in Africa.

With Coronavirus, the population has been largely in panicky mode as seen on Monday when a plan landed with passengers showing symptoms in Lubumbashi, the capital of southeasten province of Haut-Katanga.

“The two suspected cases have been tested negative by the laboratory of the national biomedical research institute,” said Félix Tshisekedi.

With reports that chloroquine can fight against the Coronavirus, the Congolese head of state instructed the “task force” of the fight against Covid-19 to “be able to reflect on this opportunity to eradicate the Coronavirus virus pandemic.”

Ugandan Truckers Stuck At Busia Border

By Kevin Davids

Several Kenya and Uganda-bound trucks and fuel tankers are stuck at the Busia-Kenya border after foreigners, especially Ugandan drivers, were stopped from crossing into Kenya.
 Most of Uganda’s fuel is transported through Kenya; so the closure of the border over coronavirus threatens to hurt exports and fuel supplies.

Uganda is a landlocked country and depends on Kenya to bring in her imports.

The blocking of trucks started on Monday morning.
Mr Sulaiman Sadique, a driver of a fuel tanker, said he had spent more than 12 hours at the border yet he was supposed to get fuel from Eldoret and deliver it to Kampala.

“They are giving us hard conditions to release our fuel tankers to Kenyan drivers which is impossible,” he said.
Mr Sulaiman Kavuma, a truck driver who was taking milk to Kenya, on Tuesday said he arrived at the border on Monday.
“I arrived here on Monday but up to now we have been denied entry into Kenya,” he said, adding that instead, Kenya police told him to hand over his truck to a Kenyan driver to deliver the milk to Eldoret.

Empty fuel tankers heading to Kenya to pick fuel, plus trucks carrying Uganda’s exports, especially sugarcanes, are among those stuck at the border.

By Tuesday evening, the queue of trucks had stretched to more than three kilometres.

Kenya and Uganda have since closed their borders to foreign travellers following directives from presidents Uhuru Kenyatta and Museveni, respectively.

Mr Michael John Amodoi, a clearing agent on the Uganda side, said whereas Uganda had allowed Kenyan drivers to enter their country, it was different on their side.

“Here, we have allowed drivers holding Kenyan national Identity cards to freely drive into Uganda, but in Kenya, it’s different,” he said.

Mr Amodoi said Kenyan clearing agents had refused to hand over papers exiting fuel tankers and trucks to Uganda.

“The Kenyans are insisting that unless they are allowed to cross into Uganda and clear their trucks and fuel tankers, they will not release any papers to Ugandan agents,” he said.
Mr Mophat Odiambo, a Kenyan clearing agent, said they will only allow trucks from Kenya if they are allowed to cross the border and clear on the Ugandan side.

“Under the East African Community (EAC), we are allowed to work on either side of the border,” Mr Odiambo said.
On the Kenyan side, trucks and fuel tankers were equally held up after Kenyan clearing agents held on to their exit documents.

Mr Carlos Wanyama, a clearing agent on the Ugandan side, thinks allowing the Kenyans to cross over and clear trucks and fuel tankers on the Ugandan side will flaunt the presidential directive.

Mr Simon Esunget, a customs supervisor at the Busia border, told border agencies that after a lengthy meeting with Kenyan authorities they had allowed Kenyan clearing agents to cross the border and clear trucks on the Ugandan side.
“We have adjusted on the restrictions and allowed Kenyan and Ugandan agents to clear on both sides of the border,” Mr Esunget said.

He, however, added that the clearing agents will have reflectors for identification and hoped this will allow trucks bringing supplies into Uganda to cross.

Kenya Plans Geothermal Powered Industrial Park

By Kevin Davids

The government of Kenya has announced plans to develop an industrial park powered by geothermal energy in Nakuru County Kenya. Geothermal Development Company (GDC) Board Chairman John Njiraini revealed the plans and said the company has entered into a joint venture with Nakuru County Government for the development.

The development will be located near Menengai where GDC has been drilling extensively with construction of three privately funded geothermal power plants to kick off soon. According to Mr. Njiraini, the industrial park will offer cheap geothermal power and steam.

“There is so much that geothermal energy can offer to different investors especially those who require heavy energy for production. In geothermal, the concept of direct use is gaining traction and we have installed the first cereals dryer of its kind in Africa that uses heat from geothermal fluids. That is the kind of innovative thinking we want to expand into commercial scale so that investors can benefit more from geothermal power,” said the company MD Johnson ole Nchoe.

Nakuru County, is home to Africa’s largest geothermal power plants located at Olkaria in Naivasha and Menengai in the outskirts of Nakuru town. The county is banking on geothermal energy to power industrial reforms, restore the region’s lost glory and boost the national government’s realisation of the Big Four agenda.

“Due to ongoing geothermal production, we are anticipating a boom in the geothermal industry in the county which will in turn open some of the most exciting investment opportunities for investors. Various investors have shown interest in putting up industries in the county because of affordable power. We want geothermal energy to support the economic fortunes of Nakuru,” said Mr Lee Kinyanjui, Nakuru County Governor.

Yanga Stadium Construction To Begin

By Kevin Davids

Construction of the Young Africans leadership (Yanga) stadium is soon to commence. The club’s Building and Infrastructure Committee secretary-general, Saidi Mrisho made the announcement and said that they are in the final stage of embarking on construction of own state of the art stadium.

Saidi Mrisho said the stadium will be called the Kigamboni Sports Complex and Home of Champions. It will be a a 20,000 capacity seater stadium which will feature volleyball and basketball courts.“Basically, we have decided to build two stadiums in Kigamboni, one for training and another for handling international matches as per the requirements of the Confederation of African Football (Caf) and the world’s soccer governing body (Fifa),” said Mrisho.

The stadium will have a gym, a 50m Olympic status swimming pool, sauna and other training facilities. The Committee secretary-general explained that they earlier planned to rebuild their Kaunda Stadium, but the plan was dropped to pave the way for another government project in the Jangwani area.

“We have seven acres at Kigamboni, which, however, are not enough as we planned to build the biggest stadium in the country with a hostel, canteen and restaurant. We have also visited and viewed the Azam Complex, where we learnt a lot of things about how we can construct ours. We are aware of the challenges they are facing and how to address them. We really thank Azam for their cooperation,” said Mrisho.

The project funding is under the club leadership as the land use master plan has been completed by professionals forming the committee.

Alphabet’s Project Loon Takes Off In Kenya

By Kevin Davids

Alphabet’s internet-delivery balloon service, Loon, has finally received approval from the Kenyan government. To help improve communication during the coronavirus pandemic, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta fast-tracked the regulatory approval Loon and its partner, Telkom Kenya, were waiting on. Loon expects to begin providing service to remote areas of Kenya in the “near future.”

Once up and running, Loon’s internet-delivery balloons will allow Kenyans to buy 4G service from Telkom Kenya. The project has been in the works since 2018, when Loon signed a contract with the operator. Last summer, the partners received approval for commercial testing in the country.

Loon is now dispatching its existing airborne balloons and preparing new ones to launch from sites in the US. Those balloons will travel to Kenya via stratospheric winds 20 kilometers above Earth, a process that takes a number of weeks. Once the balloons arrive in Kenya, Loon will conduct the final stages of network integration testing with Telkom Kenya.

“Given the global situation with COVID-19, we’re working as fast as we can to deploy the Loon service in Kenya to help in the short-term, and establish sustainable operations that will continue to serve Kenyans for the long-term,” Loon CEO Alastair Westgarth wrote in a blog post.

While Loon is attempting to help those in need during the coronavirus pandemic, like all companies, it has been impacted too. It has reduced operational capacity at its launch sites and is adjusting to necessary travel restrictions. Thanks to the groundwork already laid in Kenya, though, Westgarth says, “we’re confident that we can address these challenges and begin providing meaningful service to Kenyas in the near future.”

Uganda In Talks With Kenya Over Dwindling Oil Supply

By Kevin Davids

Finance Matia Kasaija says Uganda’s fuel reserves were drying up as the quota it imports through Kenya’s seaport of Mombasa has reduced.

Uganda’s minister of finance Matia Kasaija on Tuesday said the country is in talks with neighboring Kenya over the dwindling fuel supply.

Kasaija told parliament that Uganda’s fuel reserves were drying up as the quota it imports through Kenya’s seaport of Mombasa has reduced.

“We have raised the issues with the Kenyan authorities and we are doing everything possible to ensure the supply of petrol and diesel is sorted,” he said.

He attributed the reduction to global outbreak of the novel coronavirus that has forced the oil producers in Middle East to reduce the supplies.