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The Kenya Engineer (May - June '10)

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May - June issue; Journal of the institution of engineers of Kenya.
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NEWS

Institution of Engineers of Kenya holds annual conference in MombasaMAY/JUNE 2010News..........................1-14 People........................15 News.............................................16 Profile............................................17 IEK Conference......................18- 22 Research .................................23-26 Kenyas Export Potential...... 27-28 Geothermal...................................29 IEK..........................30-32 Magazine of the Institution of Engineers of Kenya Registered Office: MOPW &H Building, P O Box 41346, Nairobi Correspondence should be addressed to the Institution. Kenya Engineer is published every two months. Views expressed in this Journal are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect those of the Institution. Copyright: Reproduction of any article in part or in full is strictly prohibited without written permission from the Institution of Engineers of Kenya. Editorial Committee: A A McCorkindale Chairman F W Ngokonyo - Vice-Chairman J N Kariuki Prof M Kashorda S M Ngare Allan Muhalia A W Otsieno S K Kibe R Mwaura J Kimani Published by: Intercontinental Publishers Ltd P O Box 45754 Nairobi Tel: 4443649/50 Fax: 4443650 Email: [email protected]/ [email protected] Printed by: Ramco Printing Works Ltd P O Box 27750- 00100 NAIROBI

CONTENTS

Members of the IEK council pose for a group photograph with the Minister of Roads Mr. Franklin Bett. It was the first time, since the inception Odinga who was represented by Mr. Alfred of the institution, that the Engineers were Khangati, the assistant minister in the retreating to the coastal town, Mombasa, office of the prime minister who read to host their annual conference. The theme his speech. The premier emphasized the of the conference was The Role of Public importance of objective public and private Private Partnership (PPP) for Development partnership. He did a comparative analysis of Sustainable Infrastructure. The on how this has aided the development of conference committee through consultation infrastructure of other nations in the world with government and private sector settled over with specific reference to Greece. An on this theme because its a key pillar in excerpt of his speech: It was just about the realization of vision 2030. The conference time of Olympic games and Greece being an was held at the Sarova Whitesands Beach ancient nation was chosen to host this very important games, her ancient infrastructure Hotel from 21st to 23rd of April. notwithstanding. So, the only remedy was to Attendance This was a well attended event, with over go triple P by inviting a German developer 250 registered engineers participated as on a build, own and operate arrangement. delegates; the Kenya government was This worked on very well. represented by the office of the Prime The prime minister asserted that his office Minister by Mr. Alfred Khangati, the roads has already rolled out plans to reach out to the private sector and an ongoing one is docket was represented by the minister Mr. Franklin Bett and his Permanent the quarterly meeting with private sector Secretary Mr. Michael Kamau who is also under the auspices of Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) and Kenya Private the chairman of Engineers Registration Sector Alliance (KePSA). He reiterated that Board. Other professional private bodies represented were Association of consulting engineers should continue to find solution Engineers of Kenya (ACEK) and the to Kenyan problems especially in energy and transport sector. One of the challenges Association of Architectures of Kenya (AAK). Within East Africa the Institution has been decongesting the roads in Nairobi and the solutions are obvious to engineers: of Engineers of Uganda were represented. There was a huge presence from the having a proper working railway system, cooperates, this included Bamburi cement, broader road networks and an organized Athi River Mining, Tsavo Power, Rhino reliable mass transport, he concluded. Also present during the opening ceremony was special products , E A Cables and Sony Mr. Franklin Bett, Minister of roads. His Sugar, among others. speech was more focused on challenging Opening address The chief guest was Prime Minister Raila engineers to take position in the leadership Kenya Engineer - May/June 2010 1

NEWSof this country. He started by addressing the enactment of the engineers act that will give the institution powers to get money through grants and donations, the act will provide a clause for conflict resolution within the profession and allow funding from the government through Engineer Registration Board (ERB). He said the prime minister has been very instrumental in this and the document has passed through the cabinet sub-committee and will soon be presented before cabinet for approval. The minister mentioned that there have been enormous reforms in the roads sector and every Kenyan can see the results. The budget allocation from the exchequer has also risen considerably from 13.4 billion last year to 72 billion this year, said the minister. He further added that the ministry have signed major contracts, this included Mau Summit-Kisumu road, Mariakani Kilifi road, Nairobi-Thika road and the Northern and Eastern bypass. He recognized the importance of PPP by saying that ministry expect to go into an arrangement with private sector to have Nairobi urban toll road and a toll bridge at Nyali. The ongoing PPP arrangements are the weighing bridges in major highways. He however appealed to transporters to adhere to the regulations to prolong the life span of major roads. Our motto at the ministry is to deliver quality roads in time, so engineers over to you, He concluded Outgoing Chairmans speech Speaking earlier at the ceremony the outgoing chairman of the institution of Engineers of Kenya, Eng. F W Ngokonyo welcomed the chief guest Prime Minister Raila Odinga who was represented by Mr. Alfred Khangati and other guests. On behalf of the institution its ma esteemed pleasure to welcome the Premier, the minister, the invited guests and the participants to the 2010 Engineers conference, I hereby declare the conference officially opened. The outgoing chairman further went to explain the theme of the conference by saying that the triple P is the way to go if only the government is keen to deliver quality services to Kenyans. In as much as there is a variant of interest, where the private sector focuses on profit making, through government leverage and objective partnership the two can achieve their roles, he explained. Im glad with the quarterly meeting that is held between the Prime Ministers office and the private sector under the auspices of Kenya Private Sector Alliance and the Kenya Association of Manufacturers, he added. 2 Kenya Engineer - May/June 2010 Eng Ngokonyo observed that the Institution of Engineers of Kenya as a society of professionals has enormous potential in the development of entire nation through many ways such as participation in research, innovations, enhancing capacity of small firms through joint bidding and the members welfare. He requested the government to engage engineers in search of Outgoing Chairman F W Gokonyo takes Minister of roads solutions to Kenyans Franklin Bett through the registration process problems especially infrastructure. For a prosperous nation engineers must be engaged in decision making, formulation of policy and implementation he reiterated. Finally, he thanked the Prime Ministers o ff i c e a n d e n t i r e cabinet subcommittee for their role in passing the new engineers act. He was optimistic that when the engineers act come in force, the institution will benefit Mr. Alfred Khangati, assistant minister in the office of the prime f r o m g o v e r n m e n t minister and Minister of roads during the conference opening funding under the engineers registration Board and this will make it possible for the institution to develop a centre for engineers excellence in preparation for the vision 2030. C o n f e r e n c e resolutions The event was declared a success by the Chairman of the conference Eng J Mutai, he went ahead to chair the resolution session, among many Eng F W Gokonyo, the outgoing chairman (third from right) i s s u e s d i s c u s s e d and the incoming chairman, Eng D M Wanjau , at Rhino special the following were products exhibition station. resolved: sector ought to come up with an organized, Infrastructure; to decongest urban roads the regulated mode of mass transport preferably government in partnership with the private busses, secondly the railway services must

NEWSbe upgraded or an overhaul carried out of the whole system to ease traffic, thirdly an initiative for toll bridges and urban roads should be rolled out. Leadership and Legislation; the government should prioritize the review of the engineers act because it shields the local engineers, has a provision for conflict resolution among other benefits. Within the ministries that deal directly with the engineers or affiliated to the engineers the government should engage qualified engineers in policy formulation, decision making and implementation. Energy sector; there is need for more investment in energy sector particularly alternative energy such as wind and solar, the build own operate formula should be given a chance to give the investors value for their money. Engineering practice: To enhance capacity of local firm joint bidding ought to be the answer, in procedures the government should formulate a policy of Design and Build to enhance quality. The Institution of Engineers consultancy firm will be the vehicle for competitive bidding for contracts because of its expertise and capacity. Training; there should be a syllabus review in the institutions that offer engineering

Minister Franklin Bett delivering his opening address courses, this should be done with a by citing successfully implementation view to meet the market demand both in of such projects this included: weighing bridges by the Kenya National Highway professionalism and in numbers. Authority in the major highways, oil Closing Ceremony After three days of deliberation the exploration at Isiolo, Olkaria III geothermal conference was officially closed by the operated by Orpower, Rabai power plant in Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Mombasa, Wind power in Lake Turkana. He Finance. In a statement read on his behalf further went to assure the participants that by Mr. Chiboli I. Shabaka, who is a the government through his ministry were director of administration in the Ministry prepared to jointly fund projects with the of Finance. Mr. Uhuru Kenyatta recognized private sector to enhance service delivery the importance of Public Private Partnership to wananchi.

Masinga Dam to be raisedThe Masinga Dam wall is to be raised by 1.5 metres at a cost of Sh1.1 billion. According to the national power generator. The Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) said the expansion will increase the capacity of the dam by more than 400 million litres to nearly 2 billion litres. This will help contain the current overflow of 125 million litres. We already have a consultant on board to sort out the expressions of interest and work will start as soon as the rains stop, said Eddy Njoroge KenGen managing director. During a tour of Masinga Dam mid-May. The project will take 14 months to complete. Mr Njoroge said the filling of the dam in predictable three year cycles puts a strong case for raising Masinga Dam to enable it capture higher volumes of water during periods of above average and El Nino rains. He said increased rainfall had enhanced the performance of hydro power stations countrywide from 2.5 gigawatt hours in October 2009 to 12 gigawatt hours a day currently. Enhanced hydropower generation had already displaced most of the expensive thermal emergency power, he said.

A section view of Masinga Dam According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, the share of hydroal domestic consumption of electricity stood at 414.3 kilowatt hours in February 2010 which was a decline from 484.1 kilowatt hours in January. The man aging director who was

accompanied by KenGens chairman Titus Mbathi said KPLC had already been instructed to dispatch as much electricity as possible in order to take up the increased generation capacities. The water contained in the Seven Forks dams is capable of supplying the country with hydropower for the next one year. Kenya Engineer - May/June 2010 3

NEWS

Mombasa GAMA 2010 by Eng. Sam Mambo (Chairman ACEK)Introduction GAMA, the short form of Group of African Member Associations, is affiliated to FIDIC and brings together consulting companies from the African Continent. Currently, 10 countries are active members: South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, Egypt, Nigeria and Tunisia. Ghana and Malawi have recently expressed interest to rejoin the club and Mozambique will be a new entrant. Currently, the GAMA secretariat is hosted by the Consulting Engineers of South Africa (CESA). GAMA members meet once every year in different countries and the Association of Consulting Engineers of Kenya was nominated to host the 2010 Conference and Annual General Meeting. This conference and AGM were held at Sarova Whitesands Hotel in Mombasa from 15 March to 18 March 2010. This was the third time that Kenya was hosting the GAMA Conference. Previously, it was held here in 1991 and 1993. The objective of these GAMA Conferences is to bring together engineers principally from the Private Sector in Africa to discuss matters of mutual interest and promote a single image for the engineering profession in Africa. The Conferences also provide excellent opportunities for networking. Attendance The Mombasa GAMA Conference was attended by 147 delegates who came from South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, Nigeria, Tunisia and Denmark. FIDIC was represented by the President, Mr Gregs Thomopulos and the Managing Director Mr Enrico Vink. In addition, there were representatives from the African Development Bank and IDC who played key roles in the workshop conducted on 18 March 2010. The Chief Guest at this Conference was Rt. Hon. Eng. Raila Amolo Odinga who officially opened the conference and delivered a keynote address on Monday 15 March 2010. He was accompanied by two Ministers, Hon. Franklin Bett, Minister of Roads, Hon. Najib Balala, Minister of Tourism and Wildlife, Assistant Minister in the Prime Ministers office, Hon. Alfred Khangati and the area MP, Hon. Mohammed Joho. Theme and Sub-Themes The conference theme was: The Engineer as a Strategic Partner and the sub-themes were: The Engineer in Policy Formulation and Implementation v The role of the Engineer in Improving Governance v Sustainable Infrastructure: The Role of the Engineer v The Consulting Engineer in Global Economic Recession Key Note Address In his key note address to the conference delegates before officially opening the conference, the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Eng. Raila Odinga, recognized the important role played by Engineers in nation building and expressed confidence that Kenyas Vision 2030 will be achieved if Engineers play their rightful roles. He, however, did not mince his words when he told the delegates that there were rotten potatoes among them as was clearly demonstrated by some poor quality work being done and poor financial control of capital projects. He advised Engineers to always uphold professional ethics and refuse selling their profession cheap. The Prime Minister asked Engineers to be in the forefront in fighting corruption and avoid escalating projects by issuing unjustified variation orders. Papers Presented During the first 2 days, some excellent papers were presented that addressed the various sub-themes. The papers that were accepted for this conference were: v The Engineer in Policy Formulation and Implementation by Michael Daka (Uganda) Why Engineering Structures Fail by Sam Mambo (Kenya) Issues and Challenges facing Consultants in Africa by Mayen Adetiba (Nigeria) The Consulting Engineer in Global Economic Recession (Energy Efficiency) by N Mehta (Kenya) Engineers, Policy and Infrastructure by Enrico Vink (FIDIC) Reforms in the Engineering Profession (the Case for Tanzania) by Exaud Mushi (Tanzania) Sustainable Deign Infrastructure by S K Mwea (Kenya) Renewable Energy Policy the Impact of Incorporating PVC Lighting Systems in Domestic Residences by C M Muriithi (Kenya) A Structure to Develop Infrastructure P ro j e c t s u s i n g M a s t e r P l a n n i n g , Development Institutions, and Private, Public Partnernerships by Jonathan Cornish (South Africa) v Structuring the Future by Malan Padayachee-Saman (South Africa) The third day was devoted to a workshop that addressed the theme: Financing Africas Infrastructure Tomorrow. The workshop was well attended and the following excellent presentations were made: Overview of the African Development Bank Private Sector Operations by Douglas Barnett (ADB) ADB Organization Structure by Frank Mvula (ADB) Business Opportunities with the African Development Bank Group by Frank Mvula (ADB) African Financing Partnership by Douglas Barnett AMSCO (African Management Services Company) Building Sustainable African Enterprises and Human Capital IDC (Industrial Development Corporation) Financing Projects in the Rest of Africa by Ashley Petersen (South Africa) Social Functions Delegates and their accompanying persons attended the following social functions: A Cocktail on the day of arrival, 14 March A visit to one of the best examples of environmental restoration, Haller Park Coast Night Dinner at Ngomongo Village

Eng Sam Mambo, ACEK Chairman

4 Kenya Engineer - May/June 2010

NEWSVisits to Fort Jesus and Kaluworks Gala Dinner at Whitesands Hotel Sponsors :To host a conference of this magnitude ACEK sought external sponsorship and the following organisations responded positively:Power Technics, East African Cables, Grundfos, Bamburi Cement, Gibb Africa Ltd, Geothermal Development Company, Civicon, SIDA, KPLC, Howard Humphreys, Kaluworks, Rio Vipingo, Gathaiya Njagi & Partners and KenGen.

Members of IEK pictured at Athi River Mining cement plant able them to trouble shoot whenever need arises. Ryce Engineering offers vital back up service to ensure that there is minimal down time at any of the installed sites. The service technicians have been stationed in various locations around Kenya. From these base locations, they are able to respond to an emergency at site installations in a very short period of time, and to diagnose the cause of the problem. The response technicians are equipped with service parts for quick diagnosis and replacement. In most instances the speed of response is very important, thus the technicians must be skilled enough to quickly diagnose to diagnose and repair the causes. Ryce Engineering has a crew of trained technicians with full understanding of the products. They are always on stand-by and ready to respond to any emergency at any site across the country. The technicians are based at strategic towns around the country with a view to respond at a site within the brief period. Some of the response bases include; Nairobi, Kisii, Kitui, Machakos, Nakuru, Eldoret, Kisumu, and Mombasa With each generator service undertaken by Ryce engineering, we ensure that we use only manufacturers original parts to replace worn parts. This is the assurance we offer to the customers. Ryce keeps stocks of the parts to ensure minimal delay in actual replacement at the site. Genuine parts also prolong the useful lifetime of the generators, thus improving the benefits to the customers.

RYCE ENGINEERING: SDMO GENERATORSRyce Engineering is a division of Ryce East Africa dealing in energy solutions. It is the sole distributor of SDMO generators from France, the worlds third largest manufacturers of diesel generators. Ryce Engineering is capable of designing a power solution for a broad number of application including Telecommunication, Industrial, Residential, institutional or any other requirement. At Ryce, our strength lies in the kind of after sale service that we offer to our clients with a total technical service crew of over 80 staff. The service technicians are fully trained to understand each of the products that we stock and are available to visit any of the sites where our clients are based. As part of the after sale service, we train the clients operators or technicians to en-

NEWS

EU grants Kenya Sh15.4 billion for roads upgradeEuropean and US institutions, such as the World Bank, IMF and EU had slowed their loan disbursements in the 2009/2010 fiscal year due to perceived weaknesses in the administration of the finances, including accusations levelled against top officials of the ministries of education and agriculture over the schooling funds and the maize import allocations But China and Japan stepped in the multibillion contracts as they shrugged off the governance concerns in their efforts to deepen their economic and political influence in Kenya. It is not certain if the European Union is racing to boost its influence in Kenya in the wake of increased participation of the Asian nations, but what is clear is that the Western Institutions have been losing clout in their quest to influence Kenyas economic and political direction using loans. On 20th April 2010 Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and the EU head of Delegation Mr Eric Van der Linden signed six financing agreements at the Treasury. Of the total of Sh15.4 billion given, Sh790 million will go towards technical assistance and sector policy studies for the Ministry of Roads, Kenya Highways Authority, Kenya Urban Roads Authority, Kenya Rural Roads Authority and the transport ministry. The second grant of Sh9.3 billion will support regional roads component, in particular, the upgrading of the 122kilometre Merille-Marsabit road. This will enhance regional economic integration

President Mwai Kibaki commissioning Maji Ya Chumvi- Miritini roadsince the road section is part of the NairobiAddis Ababa highway, said Mr Kenyatta. During a briefing at the Treasury. The community Development Programme will be financed to the tune of Sh3.4 billion. The fourth agreement was on implementation of the Kenya Private Sector Development Strategy that is intended to boost and competitiveness of the private sector and create employment. The fifth agreement for Sh966 million is for ways of addressing Governance challenges, including dealing with negative ethnicity and the rebuilding of a democratic and responsive state as well as the promotion of the rule of law. The sixth accord, for Sh483 million, is for technical support programme to improve the co-operation between Kenya and the EU.

Safaricom posts record profitsSafaricom continued its record-breaking ways by posting a Sh21 billion profit on a day that saw the Government shelve regulations Safaricom had strongly opposed. Highlights: A strong growth in data usage pushed the mobile telephone service providers pre-tax profit for the year ended 31st March up by 37 per cent. Becoming the first ever Kenyan company to pass the Sh20 billion profit mark. Revenues grew from Sh70 billion to Sh83 billion during the year Data profit (M-Pesa, Broadband and SMS). Broadband grew by 91.7 per cent, SMS by 11.3 per cent and M-Pesa by 158 per cent. M-Pesa raked in Sh7.5 billion. Revenue from calls was Sh63 billion with subscribers up by 18 per cent Safaricom holds a significant 78 per cent of the mobile phone services market share in Kenya Mobile and fixed Internet the new revenue stream earned Sh2 billion

Safaricom posts sh 21 billion in profitKenya Engineer - May/June 2010 7

NEWS

Mombasa port traffic up 16 per cent

Mombasa port handled a total of 19.06 million tonnes in 2009, up from 16.41 million tonnes in the previous year the port operator said in a report. The container terminal handled 618,186 twenty foot equivalent container units (TEU) in 2009, up slightly from 615,733 in 2008, although it was designed for 25,000 TEU. Over a quarter of the total throughput, 4.98 million tonnes was transit cargo. Uganda goods accounted for just under 80 per cent. These figures highlight the growing use of the port by the region and show signs of an improvement in regional economic performance, the Kenya Port Authority (KPA) said in its 2010-2011 handbook. KPA is forecasting continued growth for 2010 and 2011, albeit at a slower pace owing to the current economic conditions. 8 Kenya Engineer - May/June 2010

More than 90 per cent of the current cargo is moved by trucks but Kenya and Uganda are planning to lay a 1,290 standard gauge track to supplement the existing metre gauge railway between Mombasa and Kampala. KPA said Chinese and Korean firms had expressed interest in constructing the wider track. Turnaround time improved to three days from five days in 2008 after the port adopted 24-hour work schedules and opened new container freight stations. KPA said work on a second terminal with a 1.2 million TEU capacity began in 2009 and there were plans to convert existing berths into a third terminal. The second terminal whose first phase should be operational in 2013 will cost an estimated $235 million and will be financed by a Japan International Coopera-

tion Agency loan. KPA has already decided that the second terminal should be operated by a concessionaire in some form of competition with the authoritys own container handling facility, KPA said. KPA also hopes to dredge the port to a deeper 15 metres from 13 metres to enable bigger ships to call at the port. The Mombasa port also serves Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, south Sudan, eastern DRC and Somalia. Aid agencies also use it for food aid it handled a million tones of aid cargo last year, nearly double the amount of food discharged in 2007. KPA said. Food destined for Somalia took nearly 40 per cent. Zambia. Ethiopia and Malawi were considering using Mombasa port for some overseas markets.

NEWS

World Bank projects exempted from procurement law

Views of the proposed World Bank offices in Kampala UgandaThe commencement of many important projects is frequently delayed by losing bidders lodging appeals at the Public Procurement and Oversight Authority . To overcome this often annoying practice Energy Permanent Secretary Patrick Nyoike has inserted an advert in the local press stating that: Procurement of contracts financed by the World Bank will be conducted through procedures as specified in the World Banks Procurement Guidelines on Procurement. Under IBRD Loans and IDA Credits (current edition) and is open to all eligible bidders as defined in the guidelines. The statement adds that consulting services will be selected in accordance with the World Banks Guidelines on Selection and Employment of Consultants by World Bank borrowers (current edition). Ultimately this means that procurement for all projects under the Electricity Expansion Project will be conducted under the World Bank guidelines, giving little room for losing bidders to file for appeals. This will reduce project delays due to the long appeal process. Already the Government has applied for $330 million from the World Bank to finance the projects with additional funding expected from other financiers. The projects include the construction of 280 MW geothermal generation plant in Olkaria that consists of the Olkaria I capacity by 140 MW, a new power station at Olkaria IV with a 140 MW capacity systems for connection of steam wells., the two power stations and associated substations and transmission line facilities. Other projects include building of three new transmission lines, upgrading and expanding of Kenya Power and Lighting Company distribution networks, electrification of priority loads in rural areas and electrification of slums. The decision to use the World Bank Procurement Guidelines is a desperate measure by the Government to contain rising cases of losing bidders filing for appeals in the Public Procurement Oversight Authority. In contention of how the contracts are awarded. Already, implementation of the 280 MW geothermal plant is shrouded in a procurement controversy after a losing bidder in a two electric land rigs contract managed to convince the high court to cancel the contract. So far, the Government has secured Sh38 billion for the project estimated to cost Sh98 billion. However, there are fears that the decision to use the World Bank guidelines could raise protests because they leave losing bidders little room to appeal. Other financiers of the Electricity Expansion Project include the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the French Development Agency, the European Investment Bank, Germany Development Cooperation and the Global Program for Output Based Aid.

KenGen to end power supply deal in AugustWith the record inflow of water to the Seven Forks dams and with Masinga reservoir full to overflowing it has reached its optimum capacity of 1056.5 metres on 10 May - the generation of hydropower has returned to its former high levels. KenGen therefore has given Aggreko Plc three months notice of its intention to terminate 100 megawatts of emergency power from August 2010. power from the emergency plants by the end of March 2010. This has left Aggreko to generate 140 MW at Embakasi and Naivasha stations. On 11 May 2010 Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) said fuel cost adjustment - a varying item on the power bills that is linked to the amount of power on the national grid that is generated from thermal sources - had dropped from Sh6.72 in April to Sh4.98. We have had a significant reduction of nearly 40 per cent in the cost of fuel since November 2009 and we could see more cuts in the coming months because of improved hydrology h, said KPLC managing director Joseph Njoroge in a press briefing. Consumers should, however, not exchange much change in their individual power bills because fuel cost charges only form one of the variables that determine the overall value of the bill, he added. Kenya Engineer - May/June 2010 9

Agrreko power deal endsOutput to the national grid has gone down with the terminating of 150 megawatts of

NEWS

Fly540 launches daily flight to KakamegaThe Kakamega business community, Provincial Administration, local leaders and MPs were all at hand together with Eldoret Kenya Airports Authority Manager Peter Wafula to welcome the inaugural Fly540 to Kakamega Airstrip on 14th May. Ensuring the long-term success of Kakamega Airstrip has been one of the top priorities of my administration. Working with the Provincial Administration and the Domestic Air Service providers, we have opened up Kakamega to the world, bringing new jobs and new business developments to the region, said Mr. Stephen Gichuki, Kenya Airports Authority Managing Director. Today, I am thrilled to add to our list of successes the start of Fly540 flight service at Kakamega Airstrip. This is another significant step forward for our organization and the region. Fly540s arrival into the Kakamega market will provide tremendous opportunities for travellers from the region. The new flight service will open up competition for two of Kakamegas most important business destinations, Kisumu and Eldoret. Fly540 will help keep Kakamega Airstrip competitive by providing travellers with

better choices at better prices. Increasing access and competition to these two major business centers will also help stimulate additional economic growth for the western region. It has been our goal to attract new Airlines and see the existing Airlines expand. This

celebration today is the result of a great deal of hard work, careful planning, creative enterprise and an unwavering focus on this important vision, said Gichuki. The Airports Authority is elated that Fly540 Airways will be bringing its unique brand of air service to Kakamega Airstrip.

Geothermal firm targets East PokotOlkaria III Geothermal power plant

The Geothermal Development Company (GDC) will begin exploring possible sources for geothermal power in East Pokot District. Managing Director Silas Simiyu said the aim is to speed up fast efforts to narrow the growing demand for electricity and available sources. GDC will begin feasibility studies in June before drilling begins. The company will 10 Kenya Engineer - May/June 2010

hold meetings with communities living in targeted areas later this month to get their views on the project, and understand their needs and expectations. The community will benefit from this project as it will not only boost their economic status, but GDC also plans to support the community projects they propose, said Simiyu. East Pokot is part of North Rift and has been

plagued with cattle rustling. The project is expected to boost economic status of towns in the area, with the expected improvement of security once the project kicks off. The company has also been carrying out studies at the Menengai Crater in Nakuru, and drilling is expected to start sometime in October.

NEWS

China lends Kenya Sh7.5 billion for drilling geothermal wellsKenya has received a concessional loan of Shs7.5 billion from the Export-Import Bank of China to be used for drilling 26 steam production wells at the Olkaria !V geothermal field. The loan agreement was signed on 13th April 2010 by Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and the Export-Import Banks Vice-President Zhu Hongjie. Also present at the signing ceremony was Energy Minister Kiraitu Murungi. In consideration of the present energy situation, high fuel prices and overdependence on hydropower production the government of Kenya now recognizes the need to diversify sourcing of power generation through environmentally friendly sources. Uhuru said. The minister added the funds will be used for drilling 26 steam production wells at olkaria and that once completed the project will inject an additional 140MW to the national grid which will considerably reduce the current power deficit.. Xhu Hongjie said that although the drilling facilities has been delayed the work is currently under way and he commended the government for prioritizing the power project. A second 140MW power plant is being

Olkaria II geothermal power stationdeveloped at Olkaria 1. This is being financed by Sh23.4 billion loan from Japan and Sh6.5 billion from Germany. Earlier Mr Hongjie met with President Kibaki who hailed the strong bilateral ties existing between the two countries and the continued support that China has extended to Kenya. The President noted that under the Forum for China Africa Cooperation platform, China has enabled Kenya boost the pace of implementing development projects. He mentioned that Kenya is determined to develop the port of Lamu and establish a standard gauge railway to serve the northern parts of the country, south Sudan and Ethiopia.

Kenya Engineer - May/June 2010 11

NEWS

A strong case for a second port at Lamu

The present port of LamuThe Kenya Government on 20 May 2010 awarded a contract to Japan Port Consultants to carry out a feasibility study for the development of a port at Lamu. and also the development of a transport corridor connecting Lamu to Southern Sudan and Ethiopia. Earlier in May President Kibaki visited China for discussions with Chinese President Hu Jintao. The two leaders agreed to prioritize the construction of the Lamu Port as a key pillar project to open up large areas of Northern Kenya and benefit regional economies of Southern Sudan and Ethiopia. A second port at Lamu makes economic sense since the Port of Mombasa is almost stretched to capacity. The port received 19 million tonnes of cargo last year against an installed capacity of 20 million according to the Kenya Ports Authority. The volume of cargo this year is likely to reach the maximum capacity hence the need to construct another port if Kenya is to remain the regional hub, said KPA Operations Manager JosephAtonga, who noted that extra capacity ought to have been created six years ago. Eng Atonga said Mombasa would not be relegated to a feeder port. The two ports would complement instead of competing with each other. The two ports would focus on different corridors, Whereas Mombasa port is expected to serve the traditional Uganda, Rwanda and DRC, Lamu port will handle cargo for Southern Sudan and Ethiopia. Said Eng Atonga. Former KPA managing director, Jonathan Mturi said the new port will place Kenya in a competitive position. We are talking about a port that has the capacity to open up this country, to be a business hub in the whole of Africa especially because Kenya is centrally located on the continent, he said. KPA, which manages all ports in the country, is already upgrading the port of Mombasa to ensure that it remains a transit hub through the Northern Corridor. The authority is also building a second container terminal that will create an extra capacity of 1.2 million 20 foot equivalent units compared to the present terminal which has the capacity to handle 250,000 TEUs. With the entry of Southern Sudan into the regions economy, estimates put unrestricted demand of cargo through Kenya rising upwards of 32 millions tonnes per annum, said Dr Mutule Kilonzo, Lamu port economic adviser. It has been recognized for a long time now, that Kenya , as the principal gateway to the sub-region needs an alternative port which was identified by a study carried out as early as 1975 and recognized Lamu as a suitable alternative, said Dr Mutule. The port will be able to handle super post- Panamax vessels because of its deep natural channel and will be one of the largest ports on the continent, also serving as a trans-Africa port, according to Mutule. The terms of reference for Japan Port Consultants states that the government envisions the development of a new transport corridor linking Lamu port with Garissa, Isiolo, Maralal, Lodwar and Lokichoggio and branching at Isiolo to Moyale and proceeding to the border with Southern Sudan. The corridor will comprise a new standard gauge railway line, a new road network, an oil pipeline, an oil refinery at Lamu, a new airport and a free port at Lamu. In addition, three resort cities will be established in Lamu, Isiolo and on the shores of Lake Turkana. The consultant is required to identify and concretely define the dimensions of a new transport corridor complete with basic transport infrastructure to improve access and connectivity of transport between Kenya and Southern Sudan and between Kenya and Ethiopia. Development models with cost estimates and recommendations on possible public private participation is the development of the infrastructure is also required..

12 Kenya Engineer - May/June 2010

NEWS

Isiolo gas find sparks hope of oil boom

Oil rigThe China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) has announced the discovery of what has been termed very high concentrations of natural gas in its Bhogal 1 well at Isiolo but it will be a further month from June before they know whether the find is commercially viable. Although the well, the countrys 32nd, yielded no oil Energy Minister Kiraiitu Murungi remained optimistic. God is not that unfair so as to allow oil in Uganda, and Southern Sudan and gas in Tanzania and forget that we are here in Kenya, we have high hopes and expectations, he said. I am happy to report that the well has encountered gas in four zones, the Minister told delegates at the inaugural Eastern Africa Energy Conference in Nairobi on 11 May 2010. The well is within Block 9 of the Anza Basin of noth-east Kenya. CNOOC with its partners, Africa Oil, Lion Energy and China Petroleum Corporation has completed drilling to a depth of 6,085 metres the deepest ever drilled in Kenya will conduct further tests and have ordered some specialized equipment to survey the quantities. Another firm, the US second largest gas producer, Anadarko, which early this year discovered gas in Mozambique, is also exploring for oil and gas in Kenya. Meanwhile the Government is drafting laws to regulate the sharing of revenue expected from the discovery of a commercial oil or gas find. We have already begun to take appropriate measures for transparent and accountable oil and gas fiscal management systems even before we make any commercial discovery. Said Minister Murungi. State owned National Oil Corporation (NOCK) says there are 22 leased blocks with 12 different companies operating on some of them. Drilling is about to start. Among them is the acquisition of 900 square kilometers three dimensional data by Origin Energy, which has already completed 3D seismic data in Block L8 in Lamu Basin. The data is currently being interpreted to identify drillable sites on Mbawa prospect, after which drilling will begin, said Murungi.

Davis & Shirtliff

NEWS

Marsabit wind energy project gets boostGitson Energy, a local firm owned by Kenyans in the diaspora proposes to set up Kenyas second largest wind energy project in Marsabit. Gitson started conducting wind monitoring and energy assessment at its wind harvesting farm in Babisa near Marsabit last year. According to Cyrus Thairu the companys communications director, Gitson has completed funding negotiations with two United States financing agencies. They include Exim Bank and Overseas Private Investment Corporation that help the private sector invest abroad. Gitson has completed data collection and plans a 300 MW wind farm and a further 50 MW from a solar project in the same area. We are evaluating several proposals and term sheets that we have received from various potential strategic partners. Said Mr James Gitau the companys chief executive. The project is due to be completed by 2012 and will share a transmission line being installed by Ketraco for the Lake Turkana wind farm project. Mr Gitau said that Gitson has received a draft power purchase agreement from the Kenya Power & Lighting Company. The project has

been approved by government through the County Council of Marsabit, the Ministry of Energy and Green Energy program chaired by Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

The project has also been endorsed by the United Nations Development Programme Growing Sustainable Business in 2007.

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14 Kenya Engineer - May/June 2010

Efficient Strong Machine Efficient Reliable Support

PEOPLE

Eng Joseph K Njoroge Eng Joseph K Njoroge, MD & CEO and Eng Raphael Mwaura, Power Systems Development Manager Kenya Power and

Eng Raphael Mwaura

Eng David Mwangi

Lighting Company were in Sudan from Chief Manager Planning Resources KPLC nd th 7th to 11th March 2010 to attend an Eastern was in Zambia from 2 to 6 March 2010 to discuss the Zambia-Tanzania Kenya Africa Power Pool meeting. Power Interconnector

Eng. Charles. O. Obuon, Manager (Roads), Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA), attended a Course in Transport Management and Planning at Galilee College, Nahalal, Israel, between 18th February 2010 and 8th March 2010. The course covered Public Transport Planning and Mnagement, Road Safety, Decongestion, Smart Highways, Concessioning and public private partnership (PPP). A Diploma was awarded on completion of a project proposal.

Henry Odedeh Chief Engineer KPLC was in Boston, USA from 19 to 28th March 2010 to attend the 2010 International Conference organized by Doble Engineering Company. Joshua Mwangi , Deputy Manager North/ South and Eliud Limo, Chief Manager Energy Sector Recovery Programme, KPLC were in Soeul, South Korea from 13th March to 4th April 2010 to attend Power Engineering & Management Training sponsored by Korea Electric Power Corporation.

Rosemary Gitonga Manager (Roads), Kenya National Rosemary Gitonga , Chief Manager Commercial Services KPLC was in South Africa from 14th to 20th March 2010 to attend Power Electricity World Africa Conference. Her visit was sponsored by Terrapin Ltd. To appear on this page, contact us at Tel: 4443649/50 Fax: 4443650 Email: info@kenyaengineer. or.ke/ken-eng@africao line.co.ke

Kenya Engineer - May/June 2010 15

NEWS

Power line to pave the way for investment in green energyConsumers are set to benefit from a plan to build a power line that will tap into wind, solar and geothermal energy generation pool, easing Kenyas reliance on erratic hydro power. Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (Ketraco) is set to construct the power line stretching from Marsabit, , Lake Turkana to Suswa . The construction to commence in September this year is a great relief to private green energy investors like Lake Turkana Wind Power as they will not have to construct transmission lines, an incentive that could also see the country attract more players. Lake Turkana Wind Power plan to produce 350 MW. We have the money that is required for these projects . The donors are competing to fund us because of the immense importance of electricity access for development. Said Joel Kiilu KETRACO managing director. Investors will also not pay to use transmission lines. The transmission line is like a road that is meant to facilitate business and we do not intend to earn from it, said Kiilu. Lake Turkana Wind Power had planned the construction of a 428 kilometre 400 kV Double Circuit line from their Lake Turkana site to Suswa at a cost of Sh14 billion, Ketraco however said they will take over

the project. The planned line is a strategic move by Ketraco to create adequate transmission

infrastructure within the areas that hold the highest potential of green energy generation in Kenya.

Lake Turkana wind power project to benefit from carbon saleThe planned 300 MW wind power project in Turkana will earn up to 14 million euros (Sh1.3 billion) in carbon credit sales a year , the initiatives debt arranger said recently raising hope for the improvement of the livelihood of communities living around the site. The community around Turkana has been marginalized for a long time and the project promises a windfall in terms of proceeds from carbon credit sales that would be used to improve development in the region, Mr R Pitmann the African Development Bank (AfDB) vice- President for Infrastructure, Private Sector and Regional Integration has said. Adding The earnings could be even more than projected because the demand for clean energy is huge. The AfDB estimates that during the projects 20-year lifespan carbon emissions will be reduced by an estimated 16 million tonnes indicating the potential earnings the project is likely to generate from the facility. The 16 Kenya Engineer - May/June 2010

Wind firm

bank is facilitating a debt tranche for the Sh55 billion wind power project that could add up to a third of power supply to the national grid. The lake Turkana Wind Power project

envisages constructing a wind farm consisting of 353 wind turbines each with a capacity of 850 kilowatts The total power generated in the initial phase of the project is expected to reach 300 MW by July 2012.

PROFILE

Profile:Dionysius Maina Wanjau BSc, MSc, REng, FIEKEng Dionysius Maina Wanjau took over as Chairman of the Institution of Engineers of Kenya on 22nd April 2010. He was born in Nyeri District on 3rd October 1956 and attended Giathugu School for his Primary Education, Kiangoma Secondary School, Nyeri then Nakuru High School for his A Levels. His secondary School results were excellent and he excelled in Mathematics and Science and on the advice of his masters he decided to become a Civil Engineer. I was also influenced by Eng. Ranji Patel when gave career talks on engineer and of course my Physics teacher Mr.W J Arnold. He enrolled in the Universityof Nairobi Department Of Civil Engineering in 1977 and graduated in 1980 with a BSc Upper Second Class Honours degree. Looking around for a job Wanjau decided that Water should be his speciality so he approached Nairobi City Commission who were undertaking at the time the largest water project in the country, the Third Nairobi Water Supply project. It included a 65m high earth gravity dam with 234 million of fill on the Thika River to impound 70 million cubic metres reservoir and a 5km rock raw water aqueduct tunnel and seemed to offer the challenge he was looking for. The dam was being designed by Howard Humphreys and so, after joining the Commission, he was seconded to them to assist on site investigations. After this assignment he was engaged on a number of interesting projects: Resident Engineer on East Dagoretti Water Distribution Works Engineer-in-charge of supply contracts valued at KSh9 million Engineers Representative on Water Reticulation schemes Buru Buru Phase V 800 middle class housing units. Project Engineer on East Dagoretti Water Improvement Scheme to serve ultimately 250,000 people. In 1985 he was awarded a scholarship by the World Bank/NCC to undertake Master of Science studies at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and on his return in 1986 he was promoted to Senior Assistant Engineer. The following year he was promoted to Principal Assistant Engineer and continued to be involved in monitoring activities on the site supervision arrangements for the Third Nairobi Water Supply contracts. In 1988, Wanjau decided that his future lay in conducting research in the broad areas of environmental engineering and hydraulics and joined the teaching staff in the University of Nairobi as a lecturer in the Civil Engineering Department and currently a Senior Lecturer. Besides lecturing, I supervised and was an Internal Examiner for graduate engineers taking an MSc degree in a wide range of topics in Civil and Environmental Health Engineering. I was also given special responsibility for Water Supply Management in the University culminating in the drilling of boreholes in all campuses through stage capital utilization, This earned me a measurement of praise from the University authorities, he says with pride. Later he was appointed to chair a committee on College of Architecture and Engineering (CAE) Industrial Training and Linkages. The committee formulates strategies for closer collaboration between the University and Industry. He was also, at this time, Senate Representative for the Faculty of Engineering. Wanjau established his own consultancy firm in 1990, Syntex Consultants (INT). This firm has carried out several interesting assignments, including: The design of Industrial Waste Treatment plant for East African Industries. Engineering appraisal, rehabilitation studies, design and supervision of community based self-help schemes sponsored by Swedish Development Agency in Timau, Meru, Kabuku, Rioni and Kiambu. Design and supervision of rural based irrigation sprinkler system for Kanjoo Irrigation Project. Rehabilitation of Hudur town water supply system in Somalia Establishing the causes of unacceptable water losses through seepage in small dams and pans for National Water Conservation and Pipeline Corporation. Design of 110km irrigation canal to serve Makueni District for National Water Conservation and Pipeline Corporation Design of Bakotech Sanitary Landfill for the Gambian Agency for the Management of Pubic Works, West Africa Design and commissioning of

pretreatment and disposal system for a vegetable oil factory in Dar es Salaam Preliminary design and Detailed Design for upgrading 20km KianyagaKiamutugu-Githure Road. These, and several others, were all challenges which were most interesting, he says with some satisfaction. Eng Wanjau has over the years attended a number of Workshops overseas, including: * In 1993 in Mauritius on Training A p p ro a c h e s f o r E n v i ro n m e n t a l Management in Industry. * In 2002 in CapeTown on Continuing Engineering Education Training of Trainers. * 1n 2005 in Johannesburg on Capacity Building and Best Practice in Water and Sanitation. * In 2009 in Johannesburg on Engineering and Technology for Poverty Reduction. Eng Wanjau enrolled as a Registered Engineer with the Engineers Registration Board and joined IEK as a Corporate Member in 1986. He was elected to the Council in 1994 and served as Hon Secretary from 1998 to 2005, followed by 2nd Vice-Chairman from 2006 to 2008 and 1st Vice-Chairman from 2009 to 2010. He was a Council Member, National Environmental Council 2001 to 2004 and is currently Chairman, Academic Qualification Committee and Civil Engineering Panel of ERB. He has been Chairman of the IEK Membership Committee from 2005. He plans as Chairman to improve the performance of the Secretariat by appointing an Executive Officer and to take measures to collect the substantial backlog of subscriptions owed to the Institution. He also Kenya Engineer - May/June 2010 17

PROFILEplans to give priority to the establishment of an Engineers Centre to further the status of the profession in Kenya. I am also anxious to have a structured training programme for graduate engineers and curriculum-based industrial attachment for undergraduate students to realize the objectives of the founders of the Institution to have qualified engineers in private and public sector for the service of the society he says with conviction. Eng Wanjau is the fourth University of Nairobi engineer to become IEK Chairman. He follows: Prof A V Otieno 2003/2004 Prof J K Musuva 1994/1995 Prof F J Gichaga 1985/1987

CONFERENCE

The Engineers Conference: The Role of Public-Private PartnershipThis years annual engineering conference of the Institution of Engineers of Kenya was held at the Sarova Whitesands Beach Resort, Mombasa from 21st to 23rd April 2010. A report on part of the proceedings is given below. Development of sustainable infrastructure

The Chairman of the Institution Eng D M Wanjau presented a comprehensive paper on the topic, and discussed arrangements where the private sector supplies infrastructure assets and services that traditionally have been provided by the government . He said that Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) are involved in a wide range of social and economic infrastructure projects such as building and operating hospitals, roads, bridges, ports and water supplies. PPPs can be effective to both the government and the private sector in that they do not add to government borrowing. He explained that: An infusion of private capital and management can ease fiscal constraints on infrastructure investment and increase efficiency. Reflecting these advantages , PPPs are taking off around the world ; there are well established programs in a number of countries. However, it cannot be taken for granted that PPPs are more efficient than public investment and government supply of services. One particular concern is that PPPs can be used to bypass spending controls and to move public investment off budget and debt off the government balance sheet, while the government still bears most of the risk involved and meets potentially large fiscal costs. Adequate risk transfer from the government to the private sector is a key requirement if the PPPs are to deliver high quality and cost effective services to customers and the government. But this is only one of a 18 Kenya Engineer - May/June 2010

Minister of Roads Franklin Bett (second right) and the incoming chairman Eng. D M Wanjau at the Rhino Special Products stand number of preconditions for success. The risk transfer to the private sector. In any quality of services has to be contractible event disclosure of PPP contracts is so that payments to service providers necessary to assess risk transfer. can be linked to their performance and A typical PPP takes the form of a designthen the need for contract renegotiation is build-finance- operate (BDFO) scheme. minimized, and there has to be competition Under such a scheme the government or incentive-based regulation, which is specifies the services it wants the private essential for efficiency. An appropriate sector to deliver, and then the private partner institutional framework characterized by designs and builds a dedicated asset for political commitment, good governance that purpose, finances its construction, and clear supporting legislation is also and subsequently operates the asset and needed. In addition the government has to provides the services derived from it. This develop the skills needed to manage a PPP contrasts from traditional public investment program and in particular to refine its project where the government contracts with the appraisal and prioritization. private sector to build an asset but the design and financing is provided by the Eng Wanjau continued: Assessing risk government. In most cases the government transfer is difficult given the multitude then operates the asset once it is built. The of risks in which PPPs are exposed and difference between these two approaches the complexity of PPP contracts. When reflects a belief combined responsibilities some countries make such an assessment, for designing, building, financing and the focus is on selected provisions of PPP operating an asset is a source of the contracts that may be indicative of limited increased efficiency in service delivery that

CONFERENCEjustifies PPPs, Eng Wanjau concluded.

P O Jangoya and C W Siters of the Civil and Structural Engineering Department, Moi University and F Sakwa of Bamburi Cement Limited presented a paper on Cement Concrete Road Development in Kenya. Mbagathi Way, Nairobi being the only major concrete road to be constructed in Kenya. Inevitably was the subject of discussion. The authors pointed out that Kenya has always developed roads using asphaltic concrete which have proved costly to maintain generally because of insufficient financial allocations or the culture of rehabilitating a road when it is at the verge of Collapse. They point out that there is need to invest in a kind of pavement which will require less maintenance logistics and frequency as compared to the asphaltic concrete roads currently in use in Kenya. The authors explained: Cement concrete roads development requires high initial development costs, but lower life cycle costs as compared to asphaltic concrete roads. These high initial costs can be shared between the government and the private sector among other stakeholders, as it is too expensive for the government alone to handle. However, in the long run this partnership is financially beneficial to all parties. The first ever cement concrete road in Kenya (Mbagathi Way) can be researched on to come up with a Kenyan cement concrete roads design code and developing more roads in cement concrete. These will require the involvement of the concept of Public Private Partnership in the development of these roads, the authors suggested. The Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, Moi University (DCSE) used Mbagathi Way as a research project

Cement Concrete Roads

Public Private Partnerships: The Best Practices

Eric Mwandia, Engineer CEO (Management Consultant), KAPS Ltd and Lawrence Madiolo, Advocate, KAPS Ltd presented a paper entitled The Best Practices In efficient Public Private Partnerships. They said that Public Private Partnerships are now a widespread concept in many countries and operates as an arrangement between the public authorities and the private sector for the performance of large sized works and utility services by means of sponsored or administrative concessions, sharing venture risks and primarily counting on private funding. A PPP, the authors said, is an

The delegates of the conference on a factory visit to Athi River Mining indispensable alternative for economic new enabling institutions and they lead to growth and meets the critical need on the changes in public sector jobs. To work well social and economic fronts, to be addressed they require well functioning institutions, by a positive cooperation between the transparent, efficient procedure, accountable public and private sectors. The driving and competent public and private sectors, force behind the new impetus and debate I.e. good governance. on PPPs is primarily the well known Enforcement of contracts and the security critical shortage of public funds to sponsor of their effective enforceability is a critical infrastructure works and utility services factor in the good governance and in the and to meet the demand resulting from investment decision for international and developing nations announced economic domestic investors. growth spurts. The shortage of public funds In the final analysis the enactment of the PPP coupled with the private sectors lack of regulations demonstrates to some extent a interest in taking over such works and practical commitment by the government services under the traditional concession to undertake PPP projects. However, for system, may explain why infrastructure the success and efficacy of PPPs, a robust investments have not been successful in the and efficient dispute resolution mechanism past and that calls for innovative ways of and the role of the judiciary as the ultimate funding public infrastructure. PPPs in the custodian of rights including economical delivery of public services have become a rights cannot be over emphasized. The phenomenon which is spreading the globe courts not only ensures that the laws are and generating great interest. The reason for respected but also creates jurisprudence this is that PPPs often avoid the negative that either further interprets the law or effects of either exclusive public ownership sets precedents for future PPPs . Even the and delivery of services, on the one hand, best framework legislation will remain or outright privatization, on the other. In ineffective if implementation mechanisms contrast, PPPs combine the best of both are weak or nonexistent or if a high level of worlds, the private sector with its resources, corruption prevents the justice system. For management skills and technology, and the this reason, independent judiciary, low level public sector with its regulatory actions and of corruption and regulatory framework protection of public interest. The balanced to prevent abuse of public funds are all approach is especially welcome in the important factors that will foster the creation delivery of public services which reach on of real partnerships between the private and every aspect of human life. public sectors for the benefit of all. The authors continued: Even though there are lots of reasons why governments around the world favour PPPs and plenty of Writing good requirements for evidence that they work well, governments projects admit that they do present a severe Noah Omondi Ogamo of Kenya Power organizational and institutional challenge & Lighting Company presented a paper for the public sector. They are complex in on this topic in which he gave his detailed nature requiring different types of skills and views. He covered most of the common

Kenya Engineer - May/June 2010 19

CONFERENCEproblems that are encountered in writing requirements and then described how to avoid them. In his introduction he explained that: The need for good requirements starts early at the pre-project planning stage. Pre-project planning is the process of developing sufficient strategic information with which owners can address risks and decide to commit resources to maximize the chance for a successful project. Stakeholder identification and team alignment are critical to project success. Alignment is the process of incorporating distinct viewpoints of team members into a uniform set of project objectives that meet the organisations needs. The critical alignment issues include the requirement that stakeholders should be properly represented on the pre-project planning team and that project leadership is defined and made accountable. Most requirements that are too stringent may happen accidentally and not intentionally. Specification The specification sub-phase involves documenting the requirements into a well-formulated, well-organised document. Numerous resources are available to help with writing and formatting good requirements and good documents. A major resource is the set of engineering standards. Valuation Once a requirements specification is completed in draft form it must be reviewed both by peers of the author and by the project stakeholders in most cases. If detailed stakeholder requirements were written and signed off by the stakeholders they may not need to participate in the review of the more technical system requirements.

Mr. Alfred Khangati of the office of the Prime Minister reading the Prime Ministers speech during the opening session of prices. The specifications are reviewed by a group Site physical and technical studies are of people to ensure technical correctness essential to determine requisite materials and completeness. Often checklists are and works specifications . If these studies used to ensure all requirements in all are not fully carried out there is a danger of possible categories have been elicited and claims arising during works implementation documented correctly. Validation is actually on costs, sourcing of materials and a quality assurance topic. All documents achievement of qualities specified. produced throughout a project should Financing sources for a project undergo validation reviews. Eng Rogo said: There are various sources for financing projects locally and Dispute Resolution Eng A O Rogo, Consulting Engineer, internationally. However, it is essential Arbitrator and Adjudicator presented a that the project attracts financing sources paper entitled, Contracts Compliance suitable for its circumstances apart from Performance Monitoring and Dispute the standard needs of any repayment Resolution in Civil Works. He first outlined terms. Flexibility in financing decision making is essential to cope with unforeseen Potential Sources of Disputes. He started by describing clients needs, variations that usually occur in civil works and said :It is essential that clients needs implementation schedules. both current and proposed are accurately determined and prioritized. This is essential to avoid over provision or under provision. This could have an adverse effect on the clients investment programmes of requisite facilities. It is a likely cause of works claims/disputes as a result of changes in the scope of the works and hence variation Te n d e r D o c u m e n t a t i o n a n d Procurement Eng Rogo stressed that: i) Must take into consideration feasibility studies, financing agreement, designs and specification factors. ii) Should take into consideration recognized local and international procedures. These require prequalification of bidders and clear bidding processes, inclusive of pre-tender site visits. iii) Relevant and clear dispute resolution procedures. These must take into consideration local laws and dispute resolution procedures which are recognized internationally. iv) Clearly specified works and procurement conditions ie FIDIC, Plant Design Build Turnkey, Single Sourcing, Short Term Contracts, etc. v) Evaluation of Bids/Negotiation and Award Must be undertaken carefully and strictly on the basis of the Bid Documentation. This is to ascertain that the most suitable bidder gets the job.

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Roads Eng. Michael Kamau who is also the Chairman of Engineers Registration Board delivering a keynote speech at the Mombasa conference 20 Kenya Engineer - May/June 2010

CONFERENCEDispute Resolution Strategies What is a dispute? Eng Rogo answered : Generally a dispute is a situation where a party to a contract raises a proposal for resolution of an issue during the performance of a contract and the other party rejects the proposal. The current course of action is to resort to a third party for resolution of the dispute. The third party could be an Engineer, Adjudicator, Mediator or Arbitrator. A dispute will have arisen when a partys claim is rejected wholly or partially by the other party. In this instance, for a resolution to be reached, a Third Party has to be involved. In civil works, contract parties to a contract are usually the Contractor who has contractual responsibility for carrying out the works and the Client Employer who owns the facility being created. Key to resolving disputes Eng Rogo said are: * Dispute Resolution Conditions * General Conditions and Specifications * International accepted Standard procedures in Civil Works It is vital that Civil Works contracts contain a Dispute Resolution Chapter or Agreement that is clear and binding to the parties to

Eng. Vincent Sidai (far right) of Bamburi Cement and member of the conference committee follows the proceedings of the conference with other delegates. the Contract. It is worth noting that a Dispute Resolution realization and, in my opinion, no Costs/ Agreement may be entered into before Efforts should be spared in coming up with or after a dispute has arisen between the appropriate Dispute Resolution measures including availing adequate related training parties. for Project Managers and accessing the best Finally Eng Rogo ended: Today, Disputes are one of the key Risks/Costs in projects Professional services necessary thereto.

KENYA RESEARCH AND EDUCATION NETWORKS

Engineering a Sustainable Kenyan Research and Education NetworkBy Meoli Kashorda, Executive Director, KENET In the January/February 2010 issue we published Part 1 of a feature by Meoli Kashorda on the above topic. Part 2 of his paper is reproduced below.1. The current implementation of virtual private network is referred as Phase 1 and was designed to distribute satellite bandwidth 200 Mb/s and about 620 Mb/s (STM-4) of undersea bandwidth. As we have described in Part 1, the network uses the managed optical fiber network of KDN to provide the necessary leased lines. Currently, 100% of the recurrent costs are subsidized by the grant at total cost of about $1.5 million for two years. We note that neither the last mile links nor the backbone links in Phase 1 are owned by KENET. That means that the associated recurrent costs increase linearly with capacity required. This is therefore not a sustainable or scalable long-term solution since all member institutions, particularly universities, will require cost-effective broadband (Gigabit capacity) connectivity by 2015. Moreover, the use of managed leased lines cannot support the network experimentation typical of a research and education network. Apart from the capacity limits, the virtual network cannot achieve high levels of availability desirable since the last mile leased lines were not designed as local access ring networks (the backbone leased lines are part of the KDN backbone ring network). Phase 2 of the optical network design therefore aims to address the sustainability, scalability and availability issues for both the backbone and the local access network segments. In addition, the virtual network will contain some campus wireless campus network to increase access by students, faculty and researchers. In the following, we highlight the design considerations in phase 2 virtual network design. 1.1 Backbone network design considerations The current virtual network has a backbone of seven PoPs interconnected at speeds between 100Mb/s to 200 Mb/s (see Figure 1). Although this appears to be low by standards of NRENs in the high-income and middle-income countries, our traffic analysis in the period June 2009 to December 2009 suggests that this is more than adequate at this time. This is because of the low levels of local (national) traffic when compared to the national traffic that peaks at about 350 Mb/s (uplink and downlink) with undersea bandwidth. However, we expect local traffic to increase dramatically in the next one year as universities start rolling out broadband educational applications (e.g., streaming video and video-conferencing). Moreover, NRENs aim to be low-congestion networks. Consequently, under ordinary circumstances the links should not be loaded at more than 10% of their capacity. Thus, Phase 2 design aims to achieve at least 1 Gb/s connectivity in the backbone network and in some segments, up to 10 Gb/s. This might require the use of dark

Meoli Kashorda, Executive Director KENET fiber in the backbone network that would be lit by KENET. Alternatively, KENET will negotiate IRU-like national contracts

Figure 1. NOFBI and KENET institutions map Kenya Engineer - May/June 2010 23

KENYA RESEARCH AND EDUCATION NETWORKSfrom the commercial operators for the high speed links in order to support the Gigabit speeds at relatively low costs of about $1 per Mb/s (this still translates into a high cost for Gigabit links). The design will therefore aim to use the open-access National Optical Fiber Backbone Infrastructure (NOFBI) setup by the government its backbone links. Figure 2 shows that most of the PoPs and institutions outside Nairobi are close to NOFBI but last mile integration would still be required. In addition, it could use other fiber operators who are selling IRU-type connections (e.g., Kenya Power and Lighting Company with its overhead optical fiber cable). Apart from high speed fiber backbone links, the design will also include redundant high-speed digital radio links for some of the critical segments of the network. KENET is currently completing the design of the backbone network and the tender documents are expected to be completed by April 2010. 1.2 Implementing last-mile and local wireless access network solutions As of December 2009, 57 of the 68 sites had already been connected. The ongoing 11 institutions had not been connected due to non-technical reasons. Only 12 of the 57 sites connected have a last mile radio link. Although the completion of the Phase 1 of the virtual network has been completed, all of the large universities, colleges, and research institutes are among the 57 and all the international bandwidth has been distributed. The challenge for the last mile is that 11 of the 12 radio links are based on shared WiMax technology with only the Egerton University being point-to-point high capacity radio. The performance of the shared WiMax radios is not appropriate for institutions with large student populations (e.g., Moi University with about 20,000 students). In addition, the last mile optical fiber-based leased lines were not setup in ring network topology for reliability. That is, if the last mile link is cut at one point, the institution is disconnected for the period it takes to repair the link. In Phase 2 design, all the last mile links will either be setup in a ring-network or with a redundant last mile digital radio link for increased reliability. In all cases, only carrier-class point-to-point shared radio links will be used in the virtual 24 Kenya Engineer - May/June 2010 network. The design also aims to increase the number of last mile links that are owned by KENET, especially the high capacity links connecting the large universities. This will be achieved either using high-capacity digital radio links or open-access optical fiber links provided by NOFBI as shown in Figure 2. This will be necessary to reduce the recurrent costs of high-capacity managed leased line. In addition, KENET experience is that some of the rural institutions are outside the backbone networks of the commercial operators (e.g., Moi University campuses outside Eldoret town do not have opticalfiber based last mile leased lines. Although the KENET virtual network was intended to interconnect campus networks of member institutions, Phase 2 network design will also include wireless campus networks segments. This is because the majority connected institutions do not have the resources to create carrier-class campus networks with adequate network access points. The target is to achieve at least 1:5 student to network access points ratio by end of Phase 2 implementation. We note that by November 2008, the networked computer to student ratio was only 5.3% (i.e., 5.3 computers shared by 100 students) against a target of 10% [Kashorda 2009]. Although some of the Kenyan universities have been setting large computer labs to provide access to students (see Figure 5), this is not scalable and wireless access points will be required. 1.3 Network Operations Center for the Virtual Network KENET currently provides all layer 3 services to connected institutions. It uses a small-scale Network Operations Center (NOC) based on open source tools that have been setup by KENET engineers to manage the network (e.g., Cacti and Nagios). However, KENET has designed a large carrier-class NOC to support the large network and provide a full suite of network management services (Layer 1, 2, 3 fault reporting, performance, configuration, security, and accountability). This NOC will provide all billing services, a distributed helpdesk, centralized video conferencing and IPTV and VoIP telephone services. Apart from the NOC services, the NOC will also provide limited data center services to member institutions, particularly the small and/or new universities. Such universities do not have the skills and have also not yet operational campus data centers. The data center will therefore provide hosting, collocation, and disaster recovery services to member institutions. KENET has prepared NOC competitive bidding documents and it is expected that bids will be invited in Jan 2010 using the World Bank procurement procedures. Implementation is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2010.

Figure 2: Campus-based student lab

KENYA RESEARCH AND EDUCATION NETWORKS2. Conclusions At the end of the implementation of Phase 1 of the KENET virtual network in April 2010, KENET will be distributing about 800 Mb/s of undersea bandwidth, 100 Mb/s of satellite bandwidth to connected institutions. All of the 63 connected institutions will have equal access to Internet bandwidth irrespective of their locations (i.e., only the institutional Internet budgets of the institutions will limit the International bandwidth available rather than the network). KENET has adopted a flat bandwidth pricing structure that is independent of location or geography. The equivalent bandwidth price shall be about equivalent price of bandwidth will be down to $300 per Mb/s by April 2010 during peak time and about $200 per Mb/s during offpeak hours (evening and weekend). This is because of the high efficiencies. Phase 2 of the virtual network will see an upgrade to 2.5 Gb/s speeds for the backbone and at least 2.5 Gb/s access to undersea international optical fiber IRU bandwidth. The virtual network will be reliable up to the last miles which will also have optical fiber rings and/or digital radio backup for critical links. Wireless campus networks will also have been established at most of the campuses of the universities, allowing students and staff to connect different access devices, including mobile phones, PDAs, netbooks, laptops, and desktop computers. The NOC and associated data center will also have been implemented and KENET will be providing full network management services, including data recovery services. The virtual will have direct links with other NRENs in Europe and USA via peering UbuntuNet Alliance Africa regional REN (http://www.ubuntunet.net) and the European regional REN, GEANT (http:// www.dante.net). This will provide world class access to research and learning resources to Kenyan students, faculty, and researchers. We expect this connectivity to dramatically improve the quality of Kenyan higher education. At the end of Phase 2 in 2012, the government will have invested about $13.5 million of KTCIP funds in building a high-speed virtual network and in the purchase of about three STM-4 (2.5 Gb/s) IRUs for KENET members. In addition, the Government will have used about $8 million on satellite bandwidth subsidy and recurrent costs of leased lines. The total investment will be $21.5 million. Similarly, the connected institutions are expected to have invested similar amounts in upgrading their campus networks including the virtual network nodes, purchase of computers, and paying recurrent costs of the virtual network and international Internet bandwidth and connectivity and providing the engineering and network management services. Thus, one of the key innovations in implementation of KENET academic network is that it has used the open source model to dramatically reduce the engineering and network consulting implementation costs of a large and complex network. The network is operated by a small full-time technical staff supported by volunteer technical staff from the different universities. The combination of the government and institutional network investments and the open-source low-cost engineering and operational model is what makes the network sustainable. A sustainable and affordable high speed network is a necessary platform for innovation and experimentation in learning and networking technologies. This is the promise of an NREN.

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KENYAS EXPORT POTENTIAL

Assessment of Kenyas Export Potential and Supply Capacities in the Engineering Services SectorExtracted from a World Bank/Export Promotion Council - Services Exports Study 2010 Compiled by Andrew OtsienoOverview of Services Export Globally services are the fastest growing contributor to world economy accounting for nearly 20% of world global trade. Emerging countries are fast discovering services to be a great contributor to their economies. Indeed Kenyas services contribute some 60% to GDP, compared to agriculture at 24% and industry at 17%. This World Bank/ Export Promotions Council Services Study: Assessment of Kenyas Export Potential and Supply Capacities in Selected Professional Service Sectors - 2010 focused on sectors identified with high services exports potential. In this article we take an in-depth look at the engineering services sector to reveal the strategies and constraints faced in export markets. Modifications to Exported Services Modifications to exported services are done minimally and are mostly carried out to suit client expectations. Presented in the table below are services offered, the commonly exported services and an illustration of the kind of modifications done to the service to ensure exportability of the service. Export Process and Procedures Engineering firms provide design reports and supervisory management services. In foreign countries theres usually a standard way of doing things; Kenyan service firm standards are adapted to fit the foreign countrys building standards. Work permits are required for consulting and supervisory work. Staffs travel to foreign country e.g. South Sudan or Rwanda work for a temporary period of time. The step by step process firms go through when exporting their services comprises: 1. Initial Client Engagement 2. Investigation of project 3. Preparation of scheme plans for development 4. Tender document: preparation of specifications, builders quantities, drawings 5. Inviting tenders & evaluating them & recommending their acceptance 6. Supervision of work 26 Kenya Engineer - May/June 2010 Export Marketing Strategies Marketing strategies used by Kenyan service exporters are largely not well defined. Majority of firms do not deliberately set out to enter foreign markets. Oftentimes foreign market entry results from referrals where foreign clients contact the company directly or in some cases the companies follow their clients as they enter foreign markets. As a result few firms undertake foreign market evaluation processes that identify a specific country or region prior to selecting a market and thereafter conducting country visits. Those firms that undergo this process are larger firms with turnovers of 100 million to over 1 billion shillings. Mid and small firms undertake preliminary analysis, either using internet or business contacts to assess the foreign market before proceeding to enter. Marketing strategy begins with identifying the market, possible collaboration, checking on competition and determining entry strategy. The main marketing strategies used by engineering service exporters are as follows: - Networks in the local industry - Advertising in specific & targeted journals that are read by engineers - Website presence - Use of company profile in brochures - Word of mouth Perceived Competitive Advantage The key attributes identified by the survey as competitive advantages by survey respondents were unique service offer, high skill level, quality services, and competitive pricing. Perceived Service Positioning in Target Market Service firms from Kenya generally positioned themselves: Regionally - as premium quality service providers especially in countries where there is a lack of manpower / skilled professionals. Kenyan firms perceived as superior and offering better work than local counterparts. Internationally as value service

Andrew Otsieno originally trained as an engineer at the University of Nairobi and has post graduate training in organizational leadership from the African International University. He has over the past 20 years transformed into an organization development consultant and an enterprise management development expert. He currently heads EMD-Kenya - certified by the International Trade Centre - Geneva as a national centre of Enterprise Management Development programmes. He also teaches and provides advice in the planning, management, and evaluation of mission-driven organizations, enterprises, and projects, and facilitates any process that requires structuring and effective communication. management, and evaluation of mission-driven organizations, enterprises, and projects, and facilitates any process that requires structuring and effective communication.providers i.e. able to provide quality service at lower cost relative to local service providers in the foreign market. In some countries such as Tanzania, there is nationalistic sentiment that views export services firms as taking away indigenous jobs.

KENYAS EXPORT POTENTIAL

Pricing Strategies The study uncovered three general pricing strategies; premium pricing, value based pricing, and low-cost/volume based strategies. Engineering fees are regulated; scaled fees from the Ministry of Public Works are applied by the Association of Consulting engineers. Pricing is based on percentage of the project costs. Abroad pricing is based on the standards of the country and negotiated percentage with the client. Methods of Receiving Payment Firms in services sector receive payment in a variety of modes and do not restrict themselves to one form of payment. The most prevalent modes of payment for services rendered are electronic bank transfer and payments by cheques. Payments are done as soon as deliverables are received. The deliverables are normally based on achieving various milestones. Typically there will be a mobilization fee, upon completion of work along predetermined timelines (e.g. completion of draft report) and upon final completion and acceptance of work by the client. Obtaining Export Contracts Most firms use a combination of modes to attract foreign clients. However, referrals where foreign clients contact firms directly is the most widely used method of obtaining foreign contracts. For Engineering services firms this is the most common method of gaining clients as they are prohibited by law from actively seeking out clients. To circumvent this restriction most of these firms have websites, attend conferences, give talks on various subjects as an indirect way of showcasing their expertise and join international networks that refer work strictly to members. Marketing and advertising efforts along with personal client visits are other ways firms obtain business. Government and donor work normally has to go through a competitive bidding process. Sources of Financing Firms in the service exporting largely use retained earnings/internal fund obtained from professional fees for most of their financing needs. Working capital needs are financed through internal funds/retained earnings by most firms; same for investment needs. Commercial banking facilities such

Level of Competition in Current Export MarketsMain Export Regional countries Markets Level of Competition: H


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