The Star News Brief gives you a summary of the stories making headlines in Kenya today and offers you a glimpse of what to expect in tomorrow's newspaper.
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Kenya draws plan to hire more doctors to fill existing gap
The government plans to employ more doctors to fill the existing shortage gap. Similarly, those whose contracts have expired will have them renewed after the Health Ministry finalizes talks with the Treasury on the matter. The country’s healthcare workforce continues to be threatened by the now ravaging Covid-19 disease, with more than 30 frontline health workers having succumbed to the virus.
So far, 10 specialist doctors have succumbed to the disease. The ministry is yet to reveal how many are to be hired but the doctors union has been pushing the government to employ at least 2,000 more doctors who are currently out of employment. There are 9,826 doctors licensed to practice in Kenya out of whom 2,606 are specialist doctors in various fields.
Kenya could default on foreign debt by 2025 - Report
Kenya is listed among countries likely to default on external loans in the next five years, risking strategic assets used as collaterals. A report by IHS Markit dubbed report titled ‘investors fret over sovereign bankruptcies in coming years’ compiled by the Financial Times shows Kenya’s probability of defaulting has grown to 35 per cent.
Argentina tops the list with a probability of 55 per cent, Angola 52 per cent, Pakistan 48 per cent, Iraq 45 per cent and Cameroon 42 per cent. Zambia is the latest country to default on sovereign debt as reported by Financial Times on Monday, joining Ecuador, Lebanon, Belize and Suriname. Talks with creditors hit a snug. Kenya’s public debt has been on the rise in the past decade, with the International Debt Statistics 2021 by the World Bank showing that the country’s external debt has grown four folds in the past decade.
Inside the juvenile gangs idle students have flocked to
They are scavengers by day and gangsters by night. They may be young but don't be fooled, they know how to terrorise. These are the juvenile gangs of Mwakirunge, Mombasa County. Comprising mostly schoolchildren and dropouts aged 14-19 years old, the gangs’ numbers have swelled thanks to school closures. Members play out their double lives at the Mwakirunge dumpsite, which at 60 acres is the biggest in the country, double the size of Dandora dumpsite.
The gangs rummage through the trash to get items they can sell, including metals and plastic bottles. They have become accustomed to the stench, smoke and filth, and are oblivious of the health problems they are exposing themselves to. What others sneer at, as garbage is a goldmine to them. When night falls, they use crude weapons, such as knives and pangas, to prey on helpless residents in the poorly lit streets.
ODM: Why we are not donating any money to Nasa affiliates
ODM has maintained that it will not donate a single cent of monies received from the Political Parties Fund to affiliates in the National Super Alliance. Secretary-general Edwin Sifuna said the Registrar of Political Parties Anne Nderitu misled a parliamentary committee when she said NASA was to come up with guidelines on how to share the money.
Sifuna said ANC, Ford Kenya and Wiper were entitled to the portion of the fund ODM would receive on account of the presidential vote since they campaigned for Raila Odinga. However, he said, the three cannot be entitled to monies due to ODM on account of the votes received by the party’s other candidates. The three Nasa parties have been on ODM’s neck demanding a share of the money allocated from the Political parties Fund.