January - June 2008 - Kenya Agricultural Research Institute

Within the Community
• Participate in public water conservation meetings
conducted by your local government, water
management ministries and other stakeholders.
• Follow water conservation and water shortage rules
in effect. You are included in the restrictions even if
your water comes from a private well and borehole.
• Encourage your employer to promote water
conservation in the workplace.
• Patronize businesses that practice water conservation,
such as restaurants that only serve water upon request.
• Report water losses (broken pipes, open hydrants,
errant sprinklers, abandoned free-flowing wells, etc.)
to the property owner, local authorities or your water
management agencies.
• Encourage your school system and local government
to help develop and promote a water conservation
ethic.
• Support projects that will lead to an increased use of
reclaimed wastewater for irrigation and other uses.
• Support efforts that create a concern for water
conservation among tourists.
• Promote water conservation in community/work place/
learning institutions newsletters, magazines,
newspapers, pamphlets and brochures, bulletin
boards, and by example. Encourage your friends,
neighbours, and co-workers to “be water smart.”
• Conserve water because it is the right thing to do -
even when someone else is footing the bill, such as
when you are staying at a hotel.
• Try to do one thing each day that will result in saving
water.. Every drop counts!
Water Restrictions
In some communities where drought conditions persist,
officials may recommend measures to ration use of water.
These recommendations may include such procedures as
domestic use, watering livestock, irrigation of crops,
watering lawns and washing cars on odd or even days of
the week, at night, or on weekends. The restrictions may
limit hours or prohibit use of water, or require use of hand
watering instead of using sprinkler systems that use much
more water. You should check with your local authorities
for information on water restrictions that may be imposed
for your area.
KARI Pension Scheme Registered
By Josephine Kahiga, KARI Headquarters
Board members of the KARI Staff Retirement Benefit Scheme pose
with the Registration Certificate
The winds of change have been blowing at the
KARI Staff Retirement Scheme. The Director
KARI, Dr. Ephraim Mukisira, has been committed
to making the KARI pension scheme operate efficiently.
Thanks to his vision and the dutiful work of other Trustees
of the scheme, the scheme was recently registered by the
Retirement Benefits Authority. This is no small feat as
stringent regulations had to be followed so that the
scheme could be legally recognized by the Retirement
Benefits Authority.
One of the agenda items in the 2 nd quarter of 2008
Board of trustee meeting held on 21 st July 2008 at
KARI headquarters ROOM 307 was the presentation
of the RBA registration certificate. All schemes must
be registered by RBA.The scheme now has to
follow, to the letter, the laid down laws and
regulations in the Retirement Benefits Industry or
face serious consequences for non compliance. The
scheme members also get to benefit from various
tax exemptions by saving for retirement through the
pension scheme. All these are definitely bonuses to
the scheme members.
The service delivery by the Pension Administration
Office has also greatly improved. The payment of monthly
pensions is now done through the members bank
accounts. This cuts down on administrative costs as well
as being convenient for the scheme members. Long
standing dues to pensioners and dependants of deceased
members are also being paid in an organized way. These
are only initial improvements and the Trustees are keen
on further improvements.
We congratulate the Board of Trustees for a job well done.
Highlighter No. 23
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