The government has issued new orders limiting the number of days government officials can travel overseas per year.

The days have been capped at 45 days per year, with officials not being allowed to travel for more than seven days per trip.

In a communique dated July 29, and released by Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service Felix Koskei, Cabinet secretaries, PS, chairpersons and CEOs of state corporations will only be allowed to travel for events that have a bearing on policy and will not be allowed to travel for more than 15 days per quarter.

The size of the delegation is also limited to four people for CSs, which includes the Cabinet secretary, as the head of delegation and three people for the other categories of state officials.

Personal assistants and security personnel will not be approved for travel, Koskei said in the communique.

He added the delegations should have the most relevant technical staff who will assist the principal in meetings and deliberations.

The move is a continuation of the suspension of non-essential foreign travel that was put in place.

Koskei said that his office, as part of the application review process, will obtain advisory from the Foreign Affairs ministry on the necessity of participation of a delegation from the ministry over and above onsite foreign service staff.

Koskei reiterated that requests for travel will continue to be obtained from President William Ruto through his office.

He said that technical meetings should be attended by technical officers with the requisite expertise and added that calendars should be synchronised so that not both CS and PS are away at the same time.

Officers were also told to submit requests for travel at least seven working days before travel.

A caution was also made on benchmarking visits, which should be associated to a gazetted reform initiative targeting policy that is towards finalisation.

Ministries were also advised to opt for virtual participation in international conferences and workshops with the chief of staff saying that approval will not be granted for foreign travel for internationally hosted trainings, meetings and events organised by local and regional based public/private institutions.

A 39-year-old man living with bullets lodged in his chest for the last 16 years in Telanet village within Kericho County is appealing to well-wishers and the government to help him raise money in a bid to seek medical attention.

Collins Kiprono was hit by stray bullets in Kericho town as police were dispersing demonstrators in the wake of the 2007/2008 post-election violence and his life has never been the same since December 26, 2007.

He senses that the bullets, which are lead, may have leaked into the bloodstream, causing his ill health and wants to confirm the extent of damage they have caused.

In an interview with KNA at his home, Kiprono testified that his health began to deteriorate in 2020.

“I am always worried about my fate and it is not easy to live with bullets in your body,” adds Kiprono, who needs a CT scan to help him determine his next course of medical action.

A look at his back confirms the same, with two distinct permanent marks clearly showing the bullets had been directed from behind before being embedded inside his chest cavity.

The father of three earns a living by roasting maize at Kapsoit Market, a venture he opted to take up due to his deteriorating health.

“I used to engage in farming and sell my maize and bean crops to the surrounding markets within my area, but now, due to my failing health, I have stopped all this. I buy maize from other farmers from the different sub-counties within Kericho and manage to roast and sell it within Kapsoit Market. I am committed to this business, having started it in 2015 and the monies I earn go to provide for all the basic needs of my family,” added Kiprono.

With fear in his eyes, he says he understands that, with the bullets still lodged in his body, time is ticking away and he is living on borrowed time.

“For the last three years, each time I engage myself in heavy tasks like digging my shamba or carrying heavy loads, I always cough blood and my breathing system is not okay because I experience laboured breathing. I cannot stand up straight each time I wake up in the morning. I have to wait several minutes for my back muscles to relax on their own before I can stand up and walk. I now walk with a slight hunch,” a teary Kiprono narrates.

Having defaulted on his NHIF contributions as the proceeds from his maize roasting business are inadequate to cater for all his family’s needs, the class eight dropout now appeals for medical and financial assistance to aid his deteriorating health.

“From July 2013, I have defaulted on my Sh500 per month National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) contributions. I used to engage in casual work but the money I would get paid would all go to feeding my young family of three. Currently, my two daughters are in primary school, my eldest is in Class 8 and I am not able to go for another CT scan to confirm my health status,” added a worried Kiprono.

Kiprono, the first born in a family of three, narrates how on that day he had paid a visit to his grandmother’s home at Kipchimchim village on the outskirts of Kericho town and decided to walk to the town while heading back to his home.

On reaching Kericho town, he met a crowd of people and was unsure what was going on. Though curious, the sight of police officers brought him to the reality that all was not well, and he immediately started running with no clear direction for where he was going.

Kiprono adds that he suddenly started sweating profusely with sudden body weakness, like having cold water poured on him without a warning.

He was not sure whether he was alive or dead but the sight of blood on his torn shorts made him cry for help while lying on the stone pavement near the Kericho County Referral Hospital Mortuary.

Passersby rushed him to the Kericho County Referral Hospital using the mortuary entrance, where he was immediately taken for an operation and later admitted to a ward at the facility.

He remained there for three days before being discharged, but with bullets still lodged in his chest, as doctors maintained that any operation would result in his death.

“I came to know that I was shot and two bullets were lodged in my chest. I only got to know about this from the doctors attending to me while I was admitted at the Kericho County referral hospital,” he added.

His family members took him to Tenwek Mission Hospital, where an x-ray opinion confirmed his worst fears. Any operation conducted to remove the bullets would be very risky.

A medical discharge summary dated January 17, 2008, from the medical facility confirms that he has bullets lodged in his body. It states ‘that a gunshot wound to the right chest retained the bullet.’

The doctors advised him to attend medical checkups on a regular basis, a thing Kiprono admits he has not been committed to due to his low income.

“Being a class 8 dropout, I have dreams of my children growing up to be better than I was.” I have never disclosed to them my condition,” adds Kiprono.

His 31-year-old wife, Caroline Chepkoech, revealed that he met Kiprono in 2010 and decided to spend the rest of her life with him, knowing too well that life with him would be full of challenges as he has two bullets lodged in his body.

Chepkoech is worried as her husband, the family’s breadwinner, has been coughing up a lot of blood and has given up all hope that he will get any assistance.

The family can be reached at 0711 868834 or 0723 401633.

Kenya is ready to lead a multinational force in Haiti and will deploy 1,000 police officers to the strife-torn Caribbean nation once its offer is accepted, Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua has said.

“At the request of Friends of Haiti Group of Nations, Kenya has accepted to positively consider leading a Multi-National Force to Haiti,” Mutua said.

“Kenya’s commitment is to deploy a contingent of 1,000 police officers to help train and assist Haitian police to restore normalcy in the country and protect strategic installations.”

Gangs control about 80% of the Haitian capital, and violent crimes such as kidnappings for ransom, armed robbery and carjackings are common.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry have for nearly a year sought international intervention to help support the police, but no country had stepped forward.

Its proposed deployment still required a mandate from the U.N. Security Council and approval from domestic authorities, said Mutua.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by phone Friday night to Kenyan President William Ruto, according to State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.

Despite her own security challenges due to Alshabaab and bandits in the north, Kenya is seen as a democratic anchor in East Africa and has participated in peacekeeping operations in its immediate region including in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia.

Haiti, the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation, has seen compounding humanitarian, political and security crises, with gangs controlling most of Port-au-Prince.

Guterres said this month that violence had continued “to escalate and spread,” citing killings, kidnappings, rape of women and girls, looting, and the displacement of thousands of people.

Guterres, relaying a request from Henry, began calling in October for an international, non-U.N. deployment to help support police in the troubled nation.

The Security Council this month adopted a unanimous resolution encouraging member states “to provide security support to the Haitian National Police,” including through “the deployment of a specialized force.”

But the text, which focused on a one-year extension of the mandate for the special U.N. political mission to Haiti, BINUH, stopped short of making direct plans for such a force.

The council has asked Guterres to present by mid-August a report on all possible options, including a U.N.-led mission.

Earlier this month, Blinken said the U.S. remained active in its search for a country to head a multinational force in Haiti.

This week, Washington ordered nonessential personnel and family members of government employees to leave the country.

Staff at the U.S. embassy in Port-au-Prince already live under tight security — confined to a protected residential area and forbidden to walk around the capital or use any public transport or taxis.