Japanese Ambassador Ken Okaniwa

Thika- Kiambu

Malaria Research Centre Unveiled at MKU

Mount Kenya University set up a Malaria elimination research facility at its main campus in Thika with the aid of a grant from Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA). MKU won the Sh450 million grant jointly with Osaka City niversity in Japan (reported by Star newspaper July 18th 2023).

The main object of the center is to mitigate the effects of Malaria on the health of the general population. The facility will boost the ongoing studies into the disease, which continues to cause untimely deaths in the country, due to resistance to anti-malarial drugs among other factors.

The Japanese Ambassador to Kenya, Mr Ken Okaniwa said, “The difficulty with malaria is not just the medicine but also the mosquitos and the housing so people know what to do to fight the disease.”

Dispute over Madaraka Market

The County of Kiambu leadership and the National Government are both claiming ownership over the Madaraka market in Thika, which has led to interruption in the construction. The row surfaced on July 17, 2023 at the market, when officers from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development arrived to inspect the premises, led by Ms. Alice Ng’ang’a, the Thika town MP. The National Government claims to have financed the project with Kshs 400 million, while the County Government wants to develop the market and inject Kshs 200 million. Ms. Nganga, accused the local government of seeking to duplicate functions of the National Government and take credit for it.