OLD KITUI DISTRICT

1901: Kũka kwa kĩlovoo- Introduction of Rupee coins

1908: Yũa ya Kĩlovoo (malakwe)- Famine of beans

1913: Kaũ mũnene- 1st World War

1917: Mũimũ wa andũ(ĩmili)- Cerebral spinal Menengitis

1918: Mũminũkĩlyo wa kaũ- End of WWI

1922: Kũka kwa Silingi-Introduction of shillings

1924: Yũa ya Nzalũkanga-Great famine

1926: Kũkwatwa kwa sua- Great solar eclipse

1929: Yũa ya Kakũti-Great famine

1930: Yũa ya Silanga-Famine during digging of dams

1935: Yũa ya Mavĩndĩ-  Famine of selling bones

1939: Kaũ wa nzilimani na Italia- 2nd World War

1942: Yũa ya Maanga- Famine of cassava

1944: Yũa ya Nzie(Ngie)- Famine of Locust

1945:Mũminũkĩlyo wa kaũ wa Italia- End of 2nd World War

1946: Yũa ya mutumbu katune- Famine of Red flour relief(Ndovoi)

1950: Yũa ya makonge- Famine of selling sisal

1952: Mau Mau- Mau Mau oath taking and declaration of emergency in Kenya

1961: Yũa ya ndeke,Mbua nene- Transportation of relief food by air, heavy rains caused by floods & locust

1963: Kenya kũkwata Ũũrũ- Kenya became independent (12-12-1963) 

1965: Yũa ya mũtu wa ngano- Famine when people were using wheat flour

1966: Yũa ya Masinga- Famine when people from Kitui were buying food from Masinga in Machakos

MAKUENI/NZAUI/KIBWEZI/MBOONI

1900: Mission (at Muisũni, KDO)

1904: Ilovi yĩyatũangwa (first settlement in Nairobi)

1906: Kyeso (Dance)

1908: Andũ ma mbee kutua kuu kuma Mua- Chief Ntheketha

1910: Ndata ila yaunie(Famous star)

1910-1915: Malakwe Famine-  Famine of beans

1911: Timamu (Report) 1012

1914: Kaũ wa mathyaka: 1st World War

1915: Sukulu ya lazima: Compulsory School)

1918-1919: Muimu wa mavui(Epidemic of domestic animals)

1926: Yila kwatukie (solar eclipse)

1927: Mwaka wa Ngie- When locust invaded Machakos

1929: Nzalũkangye,Kakuti, Nzalũkye (famine)

1931: Ngiye syaya Liu (Locust which destroyed crops)

1934: Yũa ya Ũkũkũ (famine)

1938: Kũawa kwa itheka na makonge (fencing with sisal)

1938: Ũkũ kutwika chief (reign of chief Ũkũ)

1939-1940: Mũindi Mbĩngu

1939-1945: Kaũ wa Nzilimanĩ Italia (WWII)

1942: Munyoloka/Munyoloka Upesi (famine)

1943: Mbulunga (famine)

1945: Mwolyo (famine)

1946: Kuandikithw’a kwa itheka sya kuta (Land Registration for sale)

1949-1951: Silanga iyambĩwa kwĩnzwa( Building of dams)

1952: Mbua ya kanzi/Mamboleo (floods)

1952: Mau Mau- State of Emergency

1962: Yũa ya Ndeke , Mbua nene- Great famine & floods

1968: Yũa ya Atta( Famine)

1969: Kũtalwa kwa mbee ĩtina wa Ũsumbĩ ( First post Independence Census)

1972-1973: Yũa ya Longosa ( The Famine that caused movement problems in cattle)

1974: Yũa ya Longosa (Drought that affected livestock)

1978: Kũkw’a kwa Kinyata na kusumbika kwa Moi ( Death of Jomo Kenyatta & Inaugration of President Moi)

1980: Yũa ya Nikwangwete (Famine whose money was available but no food to buy)

1984: Yũa ya Katokele/ yua ya ndukambikwatye (The famine of yellow maize) or 

1985:Ivinda ya Kiinyu (Army worm invasion)

1986: Ndata yooneka (A strange star was seen in the sky)

1989: Utalo wa andu wa keli kuma Ũsumbĩ ( 2nd post independence population census)

1991: Kwambiiwa kwa syama mbingi ( Introduction of multi-partism)

1992: Kwambililwa kwa District nzau(Creation of new district)

1997-1998: Mbua ya El Nino (El Nino rains)

1999 : Mutalo wa andu itina wa mbua ya El Nino (3rd post independence population census)

2000: By Election itina wa kukwa kwa MP wa Kilome Ndilinge

2002: Kusoivwa kwa lelu wa Mombasa- Rehabilitation of Mombasa raod

2005: Kukunwa kura sya usenzya kativa(Referundum)

2007: Kwambiwa kwa Nzaui District( inception of Nzaui District)

2009: Yua ya Ukamba (Drought in Ukambani)

MACHAKOS/KANGUNDO/MWALA/YATTA

1900: Mission (At Muisuni,  KDO)

1904: Ilovi yiyatuangwa (first settlement in Nairobi)

1906-1910: Andu ma mbee kutua Masaku Kma Mua Chief Ntheketha

1908: Andũ ma mbee kutua kuu kuma Mua Chief Ntheketha

1910: Ndata ila yaunie(Famous star)

1910-1915: Malakwe Famine-  Famine of beans

1911: Timamu (Report) 1012

1914: Kau wa mathyaka: 1st World War

1915: Sukulu ya lazima: Compulsory School)

1918-1919: Muimu wa mavui(Epidemic of domestic animals)

1926: Yila kwatukie (solar eclipse)

1927: Mwaka wa Ngie- When locust invaded Machakos

1929: Nzalukangye,Kakuti, Nzalukye (famine)

1931: Ngiye syaya Lĩu ( Locust which destroyed crops)

1932-1934: Yua ya Ũkũkũ (famine)

1938: Kuawa kwa itheka na makonge (fencing with sisal)

1938: Ũkũ kutwika chief (reign of chief Ũkũ)

1939-1940: Mũindi Mbĩngu

1939-1945: Kaũ wa Nzilimanĩ Italia (WWII)

1942: Munyoloka/Munyoloka Upesi (famine)

1943: Mbulunga (famine)

1945: Mwolyo (famine)

1946: Kuandikithw’a kwa itheka sya kuta (Land Registration for sale)

1949-1951: Silanga iyambiwa kwinzwa( Building of dams)

1952: Mbua ya kanzi/Mamboleo (floods)

1952: Mau Mau- State of Emergency

1962: Yua ya Ndeke, Mbua nene/Mafuriko- Great famine & floods

1968: Yua ya Atta(Famine)

1969: Kũtalwa kwa mbee itina wa Ũsumbĩ( First post Independence Census)

1972-1973: Yua ya Longosa ( The Famine that caused movement problems in cattle)

1974: Yua ya Longosa (Drought that affected livestock)

1978: Kukw’a kwa Kinyata na kusumbika kwa Moi ( Death of Jomo Kenyatta & Inaugration of President Moi)

1980: Yua ya Nikwangwete (Famine whose money was available but no food to buy)

1984: Yua ya Katokele/ yua ya ndukambikwatye (The famine of yellow maize / when Food for work programme was introduced) 

1985:Ivinda ya Kiinyu (Army worm invasion)

1986: Ndata yooneka (A strange star was seen in the sky)

1989: Utalo wa andu wa keli kuma usumbi ( 2nd post independence population census)

1991: Kwambiiwa kwa syama mbingi ( Introduction of multi-partism)

1992: Kwambililwa kwa District nzau ya Makueni kuma Machakos(Creation of Makueni district from Machakos)

1997-1998: Mbua ya El Nino (El Nino rains)

1999 : Mutalo wa andu itina wa mbua ya El Nino (3rd post independence population census)

2000: By Election itina wa kukwa kwa MP wa Kilome Ndilinge

2002: Kusovwa kwa lelu wa Mombasa- Rehabilitation of Mombasa road/ NARC government take over

2005: Kukunwa kura sya usenzya kativa(National Referundum on Constitution)

2007: Kwambiwa kwa Machakos,Kangundo, Mwala and Yatta District( inception of New Districts from Machakos  district)

2009: Yua ya Ukamba (Drought in Ukambani)

MWINGI/KYUSO

1929: Nzalukangye (Famine)

1952: Mau Mau (state of Emergency)

1954: Yua ya Laini, Yua ya Nguni (Movement of livestock to Nguni and arranged according to locality)

1971: Construction of Nguni Health Centre, Major outbreak of Cholera in Nguni)

1981: Siting of a large Star in the west (Kwoneka kwa ndata nene uthuiloni wa sua)

1981: Handing over of St.Arms Memorial Hospital to GOK (Mwingi Level IV Hospital)

1985: Death of Philip Manandu, former M.P for Kitui North

1989: George Adamson killed by Shifta bandits & buried at Kambi ya Simba

1993: Creation of Mwingi District

1996: First visit by President Moi to Ngomeni and Tseikuru divisions

2006: Tseikuru Primary school temporarily closed over pupils’ Riots

2007: Creation of Kyuso District from old Mwingi district

2008: Kalonzo becomes Vice president in the Grand Coalition Government.

The name Nuru Okanga was trending heavily on the X App for the wrong reasons. The candidate earlier said that his target was to get between 250-280 marks which would guarantee him a slot in secondary school before he could vie for MCA position in his village ward come 2027 General Elections. 

The candidate who had emerged victorious by scooping 428 was nowhere near Nuru Okanga in terms of media hype. A national TV channel went ahead to conduct an interview for the staunch Azimio la Umoja supporter to confirm if it was true he garnered the said marks. Many politicians congratulated him and he at some point claimed that ODM party leader gave him money to celebrate the fake results. Two days after the release of KCPE results by Kenya National Examination Council, Nuru Okanga was among the list of people who were complaining that they had not gotten their official results online and they feared someone was taxing their grades. 

What was so conspicuous from the results is how the pupils from private schools performed very well. They dominated top lists in various counties as best pupils and schools. On the other hand, pupils from public primary schools performed very poorly. They only dominated the range of between 0-100 and 100-200 marks. So does this really reflect the true input of pupils being directly proportional to the results they got.

We have this data, it is available for the government and general public to analyze. Does it mean, for a pupil to be bright in Kenyan context they have to come from a certain background? Pupils from groups of schools were shown as the best performing going by the recent results. So was there any effort or visible contribution we could say that the Ministry of Education has done to improve public primary schools? 

First of all, many parents who take their kids to public primary schools, they do so because they have no better option. Parents have risked to sell their land and property to make sure they send their children to private schools which appear to be well managed and improved in terms of infrastructure. The kids who are likely to school from public primary schools, commonly regarded as polling stations (because they are used as polling stations during General Elections voting days), are those of the parents with low income. These schools are characterized by shortage of teachers, dilapidated infrastructure, sometimes kids from these schools carry their own water and fire woods to school, which is supposed to be used to cook relief food from government, well-wishers and Non-Governmental Organizations. The schools especially in remote areas serve large geographical areas such that a pupil has to walk for an average of 10 kilometres every day to get to school and back.

So what is the Ministry of Education telling Kenyan parents by these results?  Does it mean it is only wealthy parents who produce bright kids? If Mama Mboga and Bodaboda parents cannot afford to send their kids to private schools, does it mean they will never be categorized as bright pupils? Are we measuring the input of the parent to judge who is bright and who is not?

Then if the trend has always been this predictable, what is the point of wasting time sending kids to schools, we can as well grade them using their parents’ levels of income and save government monies that is wasted going into those public primary schools in the name of teaching our kids.

Another battle which is likely to emerge is between competition for slots available in good public secondary school. Parents who feel they have put so much to get their kids to good private schools will claim their kids have all the rights to join the best national schools in the country. The same will apply for their kids. Additionally, a parent who did not have capacity to send their kid to a very good private school, is likely for feel disadvantaged because of their incapability to get their kid to good private schools. Their children are likely to blame their fate on not being born into wealthy families.

Having been done with 8-4-4 syllabus system, there comes another headache from Competence Based Curriculum [CBC] system lot. Initially, it was intended to have the junior secondary school pupils learn at secondary schools. That was later reversed due to unavailability of classrooms to house them. There is yet another classroom that is supposed to join junior secondary schools early next year. Has the government built enough classrooms to accommodate the new pupils and do we have new teachers to take them through the curriculum? Or are we likely to see emergence of private secondary schools to beat the incapacity in the public schools? 

There are some news doing rounds that capitation money neither comes in time nor is it adequate to facilitate curricular and co-curricular affairs. Primary School Heads have been required to send back some percentage of the inadequate capitation they receive back to the Ministry to facilitate for preparation of co-curricular activities. Allegations of blackmail to primary school heads have been made. Some Public Primary Schools were so underfunded, that they could not afford to request results for their schools online.

While many private primary schools’ candidates got their results few minutes after the results were released, majority of the primary school KCPE candidate had to wait for the results to be brought physically to their school. 

When will the government streamline the public schools to match the standards we are witnessing from private schools?  So what next after releasing the results? What is the plan for kids who performed very poorly? Majority come from the public primary schools and their parents are the boda boda drivers and mama mbogas. What does the Bottom Up government have for them? Will the school fees keep increasing and what does that mean to a parent who could not afford their kid to a private primary school in the first place? 

Fortunately, low income earner’s parents compose a good percentage of voters’ base today. Good enough to put a chicken seller on the top most office in Kenya. If they wanted to elect a person who will change things, they still have the powers to do so. The only thing standing between them and doing so is time and amount of information they need for the to understand access to free and compulsory education, access to highest attainable standards of healthcare, access to clean drinking water and sanitation are rights provided for their kids in the Kenyan Constitution 2010.

A few places in the arid and semi arid county will receive moderate to heavy rainfall of more than 30mm a day towards the end of this weekly weather forecast.

The maximum temperature during the forecast period is expected to be between 24°C and 32°C while the maximum temperature is expected to range from  16°C to 22°C.

The deceased was rushed to Mumoni Nursing Hospital in Tseikuru trading centre where he died while undergoing treatment.

Police have commenced investigations into the incident. The motive as to why the deceased police officer took poison is not yet known.

"Let's wait until the conclusion of the probe to come out. Sooner than later we will know what happened,", said Leah Kithei, the county police boss.

We could not establish how long the deceased officer worked at Mr Musyoka's rural home since the area sub county police commander Fredrick Onyango was said to be away on leave.

Speaking in her Kitui office, Kithei said she could not reveal the name of the deceased police officer because she was not sure if his next of kin had been informed of his demise.

In a separate incident, a middle-aged man from Kalimbui sublocation is recuperating at Tseikuru sub county hospital following an attempted suicide. Sources told MWINGI TIMES that he was rescued by relatives while trying to commit suicide.