GAY MAGAZINE EDITORIAL ON MUFFLED KILLER

The harsh, the not-so-harsh and the favorable comments have died down now, though many people who watched Muffled Killer are still surprised. Yesterday evening (February 28) I had a session with Daystar University's MA Media class to discuss the story. Clearly, this is a story that has had a huge impact in society. Many members of the gay community were however unhappy with content of Muffled Killer; they accuse the reporter (myself) of homophobia. On the other hand, some religious leaders were equally unhappy and interpreted the story as a ploy to promote homosexuality in the Kenyan society. In this month's edition of the Identity magazine targeting the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Inter-sex community, editor Dennis Nzioka lays bare his opinion. Read on...

Gilgil Hills on K.C.P.E. Scandal

The private schools association is now offering to regulate its members as the ministry of education embarks on investigating malpractices perpetrated by the private schools. This comes just two days after KTN exposed tricks private schools use to rank among top performers nationally. This year's giant that was later relegated to position two nationally, sought to clarify its position against claims by parents that the school had segregated weak students from top performers and registered the two lots in different centers to enhance its mean score. I interviewed school director Isaack Kamunya and compiled this story. video

K.C.P.E. Private Schools Scandal

Are you transferring your child to a school that ranked top ten in previous years' national examination results? Well, a KTN investigation has revealed the devious tricks private schools use to dupe academically weak candidates and their parents to protect their Kenya Certificate of Primary Education rankings. Well known private primary schools have been caught in a KCPE registration scandal that education minister professor Sam Ongeri now says will lead to immediate closure of such schools when investigations are completed. video

MUFFLED KILLER PARTS 2&3

Violence and sex trade go hand-in-hand here in Kenya. In the second and final part of the series 'Muffled Killer' I bring you a feel of life in the streets of Nairobi as a male sex worker and explains why no Kenyan should sit pretty thinking the activities of male sex workers do not affect them. video

MUFFLED KILLER PART 1

There are Kenyan men who make a living selling their bodies to other men. Over 60% of their clients are married. They contribute to a fifth of new HIV infections annually. Here's the first part of Muffled Killer. video

DRUG RESISTANT TB: Kenyans at risk

Commuters in different parts of Kenya may be exposed to Tuberculosis infections - including drug resistant strains - due to a failure to isolate highly infectious patients. The recent diagnosis of an Extensively Drug Resistant TB case adding to over 400 known cases of Multidrug Resistant ones brings the poor state of health infrastructure into focus. I interviewed a former TB patient Eddie Chichi for this story. video

XDR TB IN KENYA: The challenge of managing the deadly disease

Kenya's healthcare system has been caught flat-footed without an isolation facility following the diagnosis of an extensively drug resistant tuberculosis strain. The case is the third in kenya and the first in Nairobi and healthcare workers at the Kenyatta National Hospital are worried that the lack of an isolation ward could result in the spread of the highly infectious and deadly disease that is also expensive to treat. The Global Fund-supported isolation unit is yet to be completed 7 years after money was set aside to renovate the ward. video

HIV FUNDING: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH UNAIDS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MICHEL SIDIBE

United Nations Under-Secretary General who is also the Executive Director of the joint un programme on HIV/AIDS Michel Sibide says it is time Africa came up with domestic avenues for raising funds for HIV programmes. In an exclusive interview, Sidibe asserted that the war against HIV has to take the joint effort of developed and developing countries that largely bear the burden of aids. video

CRIMINALISING HIV TRANSMISSION?

"A former sex worker from Kitchener, Ontario been sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to criminal negligence causing bodily harm and sexual assault.Lara Dick, who tested positive in 2006, ..."
"A 33 year-old man from small town Villa Grove, Illinois has pleaded guilty under Illinois' "criminal transmission of HIV" law for having unprotected sex with a woman without disclosing his HIV status. This ..."
"A 37 year-old man from Sterling, Illinois has been charged under the state's "criminal transmission of HIV" laws, even though "the actual transmission of HIV is not a required element of this crime." It is ..."

From Ontario, Canada to Illinois, USA... people are facing serious law suits for 'transmitting HIV.' In Kenya no one has yet sued another for HIV infection. But are the excerpts shown above a sign of things to come? Otiende Amolo is a Nairobi-based lawyer who played a big role in hte drafting of the HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Act (2006) says it would be extremely difficult to prove a case of HIV infection. In a related video, he argues that Science and consent issues would stand in the way of proving 'beyond reasonable doubt' that a suspect deliberately infected a person with the virus. One it may be difficult to prove a suspect was aware of his/her HIV status at the time of consummation. Secondly, the window period (the duration during which available tests cannot detect presence of the HIV) can take a while, meaning a test taken a month ago may not be a true representation of one's current HIV status. Amolo says a case of criminal HIV infection has to be deemed outrageous.

Taking ARVs 'a small part of life'

Alice has lived with HIV for 16 years. She is on ARVs and living a normal and productive life. She takes her ARVs at 8.00 in the morning and evening without fail. In this clip I traveled with her to the market at 7.30a.m. and witnessed her swallow the medicine at the market (video). Her determination to live life in spite of stigma associated with HIV is rubbing off on her neighbors. Way to go for PLWH!

AIDS PIONEERS WIN NOBEL PRIZE

Two scientists have been awarded a shared $0.7M for discovering the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, the virus that causes AIDS. The award ends a longstanding dispute over who between Luc Montaggnier and Francoise Barre-Sinoussi discovered the virus in the early 1980s. They had both previously accused each other of working with contaminated samples. But now the y seem to have let bygones be bygones.

The French scientists are credited for discovering that the virus infects and kills immune cells called lymphocytes from both diseased and healthy people. That knowledge formed the basis for other researchers to understand how HIV damages the human body. It also made possible the design of life-prolonging drugs. Good contribution.

But I guess there is one thing that they need to tell us more about - what was that about contaminated samples?

RITE OF PASSAGE

A man is caught and forcefully circumcised. Reason? His neighbours insist he has to adhere to their tradition before he can continue living with a girl from their community. The 'male circumcision' craze has hit Kenya. A nod from the government, and more importantly from Luo Members of Parliament, just validated this injustice. It is a case of a noble course misintepreted to validate skewed opinions. One thing we journalists must always assert as we report on male circumcision as one of the way of reducing HIV infection is: it is VOLUNTARY.