Jimco 15 , Aug 2025 {HMC} The BBC has defended its investigation into child sexual exploitation in Kenya, after the government described it as a “hoax”.

Speaking in parliament on Wednesday, Interior Minister, Kipchumba Murkomen, described the documentary as “fake because the people who were interviewed were not underage”.

Mr Murkomen added that the victims interviewed by BBC Africa Eye were “posing as children”.

The BBC says the documentary was clear that those interviewed were adults recounting “experiences of abuse that occurred when they were underage”.

The broadcaster added that the Africa Eye investigation was “an important piece of public interest journalism”.

Mr Murkomen also alleged that the BBC had promised “financial reward” to contributors.

The statement from the broadcaster stressed that the victims were offered no financial incentive to share their story.

“For clarity, none of the contributors featured in this film were paid, offered payment or ‘coached’ in any way.”

The statement added that the BBC had handed over evidence from the investigation to Kenyan police in March this year.

The BBC followed up on numerous occasions to ensure children at risk would be protected. Footage of two women exposed was shown to authorities in April.

BBC were told by the police that action would be taken, particularly to rescue children.

In Mr Murkomen’s speech in parliament, he defended the Kenyan government’s record on protecting children, saying it took cases of trafficking of minors “seriously”.

There was also criticism from the Speaker of the National Assembly Moses Wetang’ula, who said the aim of the documentary was to “besmirch” Kenya.

The BBC investigation, which was published on 4 August and has so far received more than one million views on YouTube, details cases of underage girls as young as 13 who were being trafficked for sex in the transit town of Maai Mahiu in Kenya’s Rift Valley.

Two different women were shown admitting to knowingly and illegally trafficking underage girls for sex.

The BBC’s footage caught a woman, who calls herself Nyambura, laughing as she says: “They’re still children, so it’s easy to manipulate them by just handing them sweets.

“Prostitution is a cash crop in Maai Mahiu; the truckers basically fuel it. And that’s how we benefit. It’s been normalised in Maai Mahiu,” the woman explained, adding that she had one girl as young as 13, who had already been “working” for six months.

The film identified the perpetrators of the crimes against children as well as victims who were in need of urgent assistance.

Following the documentary, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions told the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to investigate the matter.

The BBC noted with concern that the survivors of the abuse who contributed to the film were interviewed at length by investigators from the Kenya Directorate of Criminal Investigations without legal representation.

The BBC confirmed that none of the survivors interviewed were involved in the undercover investigation itself.

The two women exposed have not been apprehended. Mr Murkomen said they had not been found.

Cecilia Macaulay, Anita Nkonge

Jimco 15 , Aug 2025 {HMC} Tension is boiling over in Mandera County as fighting factions across the border in Somalia drag their war into Kenya.

On Wednesday evening, Fatuma Madnur Mohammed died after an improvised explosive device (IED) abandoned on her farm in Bulla Hawa exploded.

Police believe the device was left behind by fleeing fighters of the Jubaland forces, who are entangled in war with those of the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS), which is pushing to reclaim the Gedo region.

Since the fighting broke out last month, forces from both sides have been crossing into the Kenyan side in Mandera East Sub-County, where they seek refuge before regrouping and returning to the battlefront.

Fatuma, 44, died on the spot in the 6.50pm incident, which left her daughter, 11-year-old Asman Mohamed Noor, nursing serious injuries to both legs.

Asman came across the IED and took it to their hut, where it exploded as her mother tried to ascertain the nature of the object.

County Police Commander Robinson Ndiwa urged locals to exercise caution whenever they come across suspicious objects. “The incident is regrettable, but we have intensified patrols and curtailed the fighting factions away from the border of our country,” said Ndiwa, adding that another IED killed a donkey.

According to Fatuma’s brother, Abdi Mohammed, the home of the deceased is about 100 metres from the border.

The Gedo region, occupied by the influential Marehan clan, is largely under the control of the Jubaland administration headed by Ahmed Mohamed Islam, alias Madobe.

Of late, the FGS has succeeded in taking control of strategic towns such as Balad Hawo, Garbaharey and Bardere.

Since the conflict broke out, hundreds of people have been fleeing to Kenya and are being hosted by the Kenya Red Cross Society in temporary camps at Duse and Barwaqo Primary Schools in Mandera town.

The conflict intensified when two military helicopters carrying senior officials, among them Abdirashid Hassan Abdinur, landed in Balad Hawo town.

Formerly the Minister of Security in the Jubaland administration, Hassan defected and was appointed the FGS’s head of intelligence for Gedo – a move that fuelled the violent confrontations.

Before the fall-out, the two forces had been fighting together against Al Shabaab. The federal government now accuses Madobe of orchestrating the fighting.

The fighting has already claimed the life of Colonel Hussein Giif, the Jubaland police chief for Gedo, in an assault by FGS forces that left several Jubaland soldiers dead and others injured at Tuulo Amiin village.

During the ambush targeting a military camp, some Jubaland soldiers managed to escape, fleeing to Kenya and Ethiopia.

Amid the infighting across the border, the Deputy Inspector General for the Kenya Police, Eliud Lagat, on August 9 toured Mandera, where, in the company of his Administration Police counterpart, Gilbert Masengeli, he urged residents to identify individuals inciting inter-clan conflicts and engaging in terrorism.

“Inter-clan clashes and terror activities remain a major security concern in the region, and we must jointly address these critical issues,” Lagat said, emphasising the need for cooperation between security agencies and the communities.

By Hudson Gumbihi

Jimco 15 , Aug 2025 {HMC} A broken borehole motor has triggered a severe water crisis for hundreds of displaced families and pastoralists in Hoosingow in southern Somalia’s Lower Juba region.

The borehole, which served over 600 families, broke down on 20 July leaving the community in distress after a period of poor rainfall.

For Fadumo Dahir Omar, a displaced mother of eight, life in Uusle camp revolves around her eight kilometre walk each morning to fetch a 10-litre container of water from a seasonal pool that is rapidly drying up.

“The water has been cut off since the motor broke down. The children haven’t bathed and there is nothing to cook with. The children’s clothes are dirty and just piled up outside. So, this is the problem we have here. We are really upset and very worried about it,” she said.

The water she fetches from the pool is barely enough for their needs and also wears her out carrying it. The water is also not clean.

“The water is green and has changed colour and taste. It’s hard carrying it on my back and my legs hurt. Every night, my whole body aches. We are suffering so much from this.”

The long hours she spends fetching water, that can take up to 10 hours, leave her no time to collect firewood outside the town that she used to sell for an income. Her children try to help out but they don’t manage to collect much wood.

Life has become miserable for Fadumo, who was displaced from Bulo-haji village in 2022 due to conflict. The family’s hut was damaged by strong winds as well as she hasn’t the time or money to repair it.

Pastoralists in Hoosingow are also being severely affected by the water shortage. Ahmed Jibril Yusuf arrived in the area with his 50 camels and was shocked to find the well was broken.

“The camels have been without water for six days. When the well broke down, I was in the wilderness with the camels and had no idea about it. The pool is not enough for both people and animals. We have a big problem facing people in this area, and we are all struggling a lot,” he said.

Ahmed has no money to buy water and had relied on access to the free water from the well. Commercial water vendors told him they would charge five dollars just to supply enough water for one of his camels.

With his camels growing weaker, he is now considering moving to another well 40 kilometres away, although the animals are not in a good condition for such a trek.

“The people of this area are mostly pastoralists. We don’t have capacity to fix this mechanical problem. We can’t afford to buy a new motor or anything like that,” he said.

According to Mohamed Ali Abdi, the borehole manager, the borehole motor was given to the community in 2019 by Wajir South Development Association. He said they had been trying unsuccessfully to fix it motor for the past two weeks and had requested assistance from the Jubbaland administration.

“We need spare parts and mechanics to repair this one. Everyone is thirsty and we have not yet had anything to drink. This has severely affected people and animals in a way that has not been seen before. People are thirsty, and it is not a simple thirst; the animals are the same,” he said.

The breakdown of the well coincided with a poor Gu’ rainy season in the area causing a shortage of pasture and economic hardship.

Jimco 15 , Aug 2025 {HMC}  The U.N. says sexual violence in conflicts worldwide increased by 25% last year, with the highest number of cases in the Central African Republic, Congo, Haiti, Somalia and South Sudan 

UNITED NATIONS — Sexual violence in conflicts worldwide increased by 25% last year, with the highest number of cases in the Central African Republic, Congo, Haiti, Somalia and South Sudan, according to a U.N. report released Thursday.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ annual report said more than 4,600 people survived sexual violence in 2024, with armed groups carrying out the majority of the abuse but some by government forces. He stressed that the U.N.-verified figures don’t reflect the global scale and prevalence of these crimes.

The report’s blacklist names 63 government and non-government parties in a dozen countries suspected of committing or being responsible for rape and other forms of sexual violence in conflict, including Hamas militants, whose attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, sparked the war in Gaza.

Over 70% of those listed have appeared on the report’s blacklist annex for five years or more without creating steps to prevent the violence, the U.N. chief said.

For the first time, the report includes two parties that have been notified the U.N. has “credible information” that could put them on next year’s blacklist if they don’t take preventive actions: Israel’s military and security forces over allegations of sexual abuse of Palestinians primarily in prisons and detention, and Russian forces and affiliated armed groups against Ukrainian prisoners of war.

Israeli U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon, who circulated a letter Tuesday from Guterres about the country’s forces being put on notice, said the allegations “are steeped in biased publications.”

“The U.N. must focus on the shocking war crimes and sexual violence of Hamas and the release of all hostages,” he said.

Russia’s U.N. mission said it had no comment on the secretary-general’s warning.

The 34-page report said “conflict-related sexual violence” refers to rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, forced abortion, forced sterilization, forced marriage and other forms of sexual violence. The majority of victims are women and girls.

“In 2024, proliferating and escalating conflicts were marked by widespread conflict-related sexual violence, amid record levels of displacement and increased militarization,” Guterres said. “Sexual violence continued to be used as a tactic of war, torture, terrorism and political repression, while multiple and overlapping political, security and humanitarian crises deepened.”

The U.N. says women and girls were attacked in their homes, on roads and while trying to earn a living, with victims ranging in age from 1 to 75. Reports of summary executions of victims after rape persisted in Congo and Myanmar, it said.

In an increasing number of places, the report said armed groups “used sexual violence as a tactic to gain and consolidate control over territory and lucrative natural resources.”

Women and girls perceived to be associated with rival armed groups were targeted with sexual violence in the Central African Republic, Congo and Haiti, it said.

In detention facilities, the report said sexual violence was perpetrated “including as a form of torture,” reportedly in Israel and the Palestinian territories, Libya, Myanmar, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen.

“Most of the reported incidents against men and boys occurred in detention, consistent with previous years, and included rape, threats of rape and the electrocution and beating of genitals,” the report said.

The U.N. peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic documented cases of rape, gang rape, forced marriage and sexual slavery affecting 215 women, 191 girls and seven men.

In mineral-rich eastern Congo, the peacekeeping mission documented nearly 800 cases last year, including rape, gang rape, sexual slavery and forced marriage, “often accompanied by extreme physical violence,” the report said. The number of cases involving the M23 rebel group, now controlling the main city Goma, rose from 43 in 2022 to 152 in 2024, it said.

In Sudan, where civil war is raging, the report said that groups providing services to victims of sexual violence recorded 221 rape cases against 147 girls and 74 boys since the beginning of 2024, “with 16% of survivors under five years of age, including four one-year-olds.”

By EDITH M. LEDERER