A call for a transitional government
Honesty in the face of despair is the rarest commodity in Kenya today. The reality is that our jealously guarded cultural and tribal biases have manifested into the most painful event in the history of our nation. Through excruciating personal experiences of loss, pictures of bludgeoned and bleeding children and the circulation of death infested video clips; we have become accustomed to visions of dead or dying Kenyans. The sound of rapid gunfire, the wailing of mothers and the screaming of toddlers no longer disturb our heavy sleep.
This is the Kenya of today….but for how long? Let us not seek solace in the Kenya of yesterday; for it was dogged by tribalism, corruption, ineptitude and suppressed feelings of hate, resentment and impending atrocities. As we live amidst this explosion of tribal hate, we realize that many of our neighbors, classmates, colleagues and friends were in deed living on borrowed time. The demon is us has been awoken.
It is the fire that burns Kenya today that must also provide the light that guides our future. Let no burnt churches or bullet riddled bodies reduce us to hopelessness.
It is clear that the current administration, one of questionable character, unclear mandate and doubtful legitimacy, cannot successfully pursue an inclusive agenda of justice, national healing and reconciliation. It is these overwhelming evidences of deficiencies that call for a transitional government. If Kibaki accepts, we could use the opportunity provided within the transitional period to heal and unite as Kenyans. This would be an opportunity to reconstitute the ECK providing it the capabilities to efficiently and fairly conduct a presidential election….thereby providing Kenyans a properly elected president.
If Kibaki refuses, then he must use his forces to suppress all manner of uprisings with an aim of ‘moving on’. Kenyans are now tired. Let him jail us all if that would mean that our children return to school and our wives find peace. Let him maintain a heavy police presence in every street corner, after all it will also deter carjackers and common pickpockets. Let him espouse his Moism traits and bring order by intimidation and detention; civil order if through fear is better than violence and destruction. Let us in fact tremble at the sight of the presidential motorcade. Kenyans, the ‘half’ that apparently didn’t vote for Kibaki must be hammered into submission. Wameze wembe na kazi iendele.
-Question: If the current real or imagined tribal hate has resulted in the bloody fracas of today, what will happen five years from now when, in addition to the current resentments, that of a stolen presidency is added?
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18:41 As an African are You Ashamed of This?
» The Displaced African Part three of the 10 things I wish I knew before I left Africa
You know it’s absoloutely amazing how ‘coincidences’ (is there really such a thing) occur at just the right time. As I was sitting down to right this article I noticed a great post from the Whispering Inn which ties in pefectly with what I want to talk about in this post. Please go to this page and listen to the audio of Mzee Jommo Kenyatta’s speech
I Am His African Child and I Feel Betrayed (more…)
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18:10
Why risk your life for Raila or Ruto?
» Kenyanentrepreneur.com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stqvmNDs5PQ
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15:10
Why Raila should prepare for his day in court.
» Paza Sauti As I have said before, I am 'ODM damu' and I believe that this election was stolen by Mwai Kibaki and his cronies. I believe that this atrocity is unforgivable and those responsible should be charged in a court of law, for treason against the Kenyan people and receive the due penalty. Having said this, I am only open to peaceful means to resolving this impasse. My objection of violence is based on the same reasoning that demands that this electoral fraud must be resolved. The instance we perceive options outside participatory democracy, as viable means to obtain political power, be they electoral fraud or coercive means, opens a Pandora's box that offers legitimacy to illegitimate means. I am of the opinion that ODM should prepare for its day in court. I know this is an unpopular opinion in my ODM circles, I recently polled some of my colleagues on this question and a solid 85% were categorically against the idea, understandably so, because this opinion does not guarantee success and involves significant risks.
The first risk is one of principle - in going to court, in petition, one is accepting even though partially, or in interim, the legitimacy of this executive and allowing it to function, and exercise its full constitutional mandate as appointed by the people, and we all know this is not the case. The fact that the position that is disputed is the head of government, head of the military as commander in chief of the armed forces and the ceremonial leader of the nation, demands that this leader draw his mandate from the people and this be a true mandate. Therefore, as the court runs its course, we as Kenyans, ODMers would be in principle accepting this unpalatable fact, even in the interim.
The second risk stems from the fact that the individual, who occupies the sit of the presidency, even if in interim, wields an inordinate amount of power. This authority can be used with devastating effectiveness to consolidate power and obliterate any opposition or challenge to self perpetuation. This was masterfully displayed by Daniel Moi, in the constitutional ninety days, he was president, after Kenyatta’s demise in 1978. Moi was able to contain a powerful and wealthy opposition and proceed to rule for more than two decades, after witnessing the demise or conversion of all his opponents into his supporters.A third risk is based in the concern that the executive has undue influence in the matters before the judiciary. Kenyan history is inundated with a prodigious number of issues that have met their conclusion, without resolution, in the Kenyan judiciary, through executive interference. Be it charges of assault by the first lady, to complex cases like Goldenberg. Amos Wako has reigned supreme, over justice, with his nolle prosequi and I do not know enough about the law to conclude that there any way to stop Mr. Wako from playing his trump card again. This position is supported by the AG’s lack of independence. He recently proposed a way out of the impasse after the elections. This proposal involved independent tallying of the vote, but one imagines, that the proposal was not cleared by his superiors, before it hit the media. The proposal was withdrawn a day later, I believe under the same pressure that Samuel Kivuitu had to announce the flawed results.
A final risk that I see, is specific to the Judiciary itself, independent of the Executive’s influence. We have had a large number of botched cases that are still unresolved and justice is still pending for the victims. Pinto, Mboya, JM, Ouko are just a few of the high profile cases, that have not been resolved to the extent where, we can say, justice has been matted in to an unrecognizable outcome. Thus, it is not clear that these courts can actually dispense justice. My thoughts are that these courts, where judges and lawyers wear white men’s wigs are designed to oppress the masses not dispense justice, but that is content of another article. In addition to this inability of the court to dispense justice the system places limits on the public debate on an issue that is before the courts. This restriction presents the threat that all meaningful discussion may be halted, while court proceedings continue.
Petitions fall in their own class; it does not take much to loose a petition in Kenyan courts. Kenyan legislators have, out of their own interests, made it very difficult to have a successful petition. Filing a successful petition requires a stringent adherence to rules and regulations that precedent has upheld, the following of letter of the law and not the spirit of the law. The precedents in Matiba and Kikabi’s own petitions against Moi have almost proved that the incumbent has the upper hand in any petition.
Hey, wait a minute, you must be saying, this article was why Raila should prepare for his day in court, yet all my arguments are re-enforcing the well entrenched idea that ODM should stay away from the courts. The primary reason I go into great lengths to outline the risks is to communicate my keen awareness of the risks involved, in employing this court strategy to overcome this illegitimate government. My argument is that court should not be relied on or discarded, but maintained as an option amongst a quiver full of arrows.
Now, let us explore the current options, with a view of determining who has the ace in each of the peaceful strategies employed by ODM. I in on no way claim to have their play-book. ODM may have someone with an infinitely larger strategic acumen; I am only calling it as I see it.
Mass action has been the predominant approach employed, and it has been fairly successful, to this point, though at a very high cost. I view success as maintaining this issue as a problem, and not allowing the illegitimate government to proceed with business as usual. My assumption is that ODM's goal is to ensure that the countries systems do not take on a post election stance, pending true resolution. The more Kenya looks like business as usual, the more the electoral fraud will be an event in the past. But this strategy can only keep the issue as current in the eyes of the media, international community, Kenyans and all other concerned parties. There are no power transitions that have been made in the streets; the streets only apply pressure for other measures to affect the actual goal. The mass action has taken the form of street protests, these have served the purpose of wining the perception war, the government, through its police action, is now widely perceived as a draconian and repressive regime. But who holds the ace in street mass action? If the Kibaki regime were strategic thinkers as opposed to reactionary buffoons, they would have stolen ODM’s thunder by allowing the rallies at Uhuru Park and asked ODM to guaranteed that the rallies are peaceful. I would even go further and have the police provide security for the rally. ODM would have had its national rallies, I am sure masses would turn up, possibly the one million people Raila promised, there would have been fiery speeches, then people would go home, and wait for ODM’s next move. If the rallies turned violent then ODM would be called to account as the violent faction. Therefore, the illegitimate administration holds the ace and is able to change the perception dynamics here. The fact that the government has not changed this dynamic, has more to do with the absence intellect, than the absence of the opportunity. Like a brutish ogre that swats a fly on its head with a club, and dies in the process, this government shoots itself in the foot, along with innocent Kenyans.A more direct approach of mass action would be non-violent civil disobedience, imagine work go slow n critical industries, or all ODM members sit in the roads of all major cities, on railways and obstruct ports. Police would be overrun with arrests and the cells will not be able to hold the volumes. This approach allows ODM to hold the ace and raise the ante at their time and place of their choosing.
Parliamentary pressure is the most viable approach in my opinion. Here ODM have a both the ace and the constitutional platform to change the illegitimate government. ODM holds a majority in the house and both the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker position. The most direct approach would be would be a vote of no confidence in the president, followed by the necessary dissolution of parliament, then a new election. This would prove to Kenyans, more so than the world, that peaceful democratic processes can reflect the 'voice of the people'. The challenge here, is good old greed. As much as I love our ODM Members of Parliament, I know they are not selfless leaders and Raila would be hard pressed in appealing to the MPs to loose their seats to provide Raila with a chance to recapture his. The financial cost and the real possibility of losing both your seat and Raila not capturing the presidency, are perceived to be too huge a risk to undertake. The MPs would rather fight for democracy riding on the backs of mwanainchi as they do on all other issues. It would be a pleasant surprise if this option is given much thought and actually carried out. It would warm this skeptic’s heart.
A more plausible parliamentary option would be legislative gridlock - no bills, no budgets, and no business in the house. The true cost for this grid lock would be on the Kenyan people, as usual, because this will stop the schools and medical supplies, there will be government layoff and no contracts - development would come to a halt. But this like mass action, this approach would not hold any aces against the PNU bandits because they could dig in and wait this out, and at a certain point Kenyans will want their life back and this strategy could backfire with long term effects for ODM.
International pressure is the other option available. This option, though effective in rational environments, where the despot has some goodwill towards his people, and values his or her image in the global arena, has some flaws. In this scenario the despot opts to sacrifice his personal gains for the good of the masses and for the good of his image. Kibaki seems to be to far removed from the cause of the common Kenyan, as displayed by his Nazi like massacre of innocents, in Kibera and Kisumu. He also appears to be too morally inept to care about his legacy. But this is not the greatest weakness of this approach to resistance. For international pressure, one has to rely on a fickle international community. Who will change their pressure depending on what is politically expedient in each nation’s political climate, today it will be Syria- tomorrow Burma - the follow in will be Zimbabwe, depending on what’s hot for the week. ODM should not place all their eggs in this basket. Further more international pressure will only be sustained if the tripartite nexus of media, foreign national interests and a champion is sustained. The media needs to keep the issue alive; Kenya needs to be of some special interest to the international community; and one nation needs to champion the cause. These factors are all outside ODM’s control; therefore making the international community a necessary, but an unreliable partner. Mugabe has shown that inspite of a most concerted effort by the international community the despot still holds the ace and he has dig in and has remained in power like a nightmare in an endless night.
This brings me back to why Raila should prepare for his day in court. Taking this issue to court in petition moves the ace from either Kibaki or Raila and places it on the Judiciary. A legal strategy does not preclude the use of mass action, parliamentary pressure, and international pressure in concert with a court petition to this illegitimate I believe with all the challenges, the courts are a direct strategy that gores at the heart of the problem, the Kibaki presidency, and has a constitutional framework that can support a positive outcome and an actual change in government. All other options with the exclusion of parliamentary action will lead to a suboptimal outcome, as a result of give and take negotiations. For me a negotiated outcome will not honor the people’s voice of a Raila presidency, Kibaki as only the member from Othaya, and a shift in roles in parliament. Without this fundamental shift in the status quo, ODM can not effect the systemic changes of a Federal system and uprooting corruption systems and structure from the Kenyan society. Therefore, Raila must do what he is doing but also prepare for his day in court.
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12:12
Chasing the Rat as the House Kenya Burns
» You Missed This 
Summoning of the UK's envoy by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to demand a forced recognition of Kibaki's government is an apt case of reversed priorities. Wetangula may be doing his job by soothing the ego of whoever pays and butters his bread. But on the same breathe the good 'lawyer' must not be NAIVE to demand recognition of an ILLEGITIMATE government.
The British government was told of a Mr Kibaki whom they urged to dialogue with his competitor a Mr. Odinga and there lies the bare facts. Playing games with such weighty diplomatic matters is definitely a lose-lose situation. This is one war Wetangula is destined to lose even before he starts. In retrospection he is unwittingly providing a face for egg plastering.
One would be occasionally tempted sell ice cream to an Eskimo. Instead of addressing sideshows, how I wish the MP for Sirisia would put his brilliant legal acumen to good use by advising his boss Emilio to face the truth and save Kenya from the furnace he started on December 30, 2007. But agian you don't expect a goat to appreciate the melody from a guitar no matter expertise of the maestro strumming the strings.
As Kibaki and his cronies shamelessly and insensitively chase after rats escaping the burning house, more Kenyans continue to be butchered across the country courtesy of his belligerence. Speak of insensitivity at its zenith.
Make no mistake, human blood is never shed in vain and one day (no matter how long) it will be time to met justice and it will surely be served cold and unadulterated.
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10:15
Dumb And Dumber: Bank Of America Acquires Countrywide Financial
» For Love and Money Dumb And Dumber: Bank Of America Acquires Countrywide Financial
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The Unanimous Declaration of the SIX United Provinces of Kenya
» You Missed This The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription
IN THE KENYA PARLIAMENT, MARCH 1ST, 2008.
The unanimous Declaration of the SIX united Provinces of Kenya
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
-That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,
-That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
-Such has been the patient sufferance of these Provinces; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present President of Kenya is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these Provinces. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Mount Kenya brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their leaders to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our existence here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.- He has refused his Assent Bomas Constitution, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
- He has forbidden his Members of Parliament to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
- He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
- He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
- He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
- He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the Province remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
- He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these Provinces; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Empowerment of people; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
- He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers, and by installing a Chief Justice who is his Kinsman.
- He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
- He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
- He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
- He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
- He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
- For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
- For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these Provinces:
- For our votes through an impossed electral commission:
- For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
- For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
- For transporting our muslim brothers beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
- For abolishing the free System of Assembly in the world, establishing therein an Arbitrary police government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Provinces:
- For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
- For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
15. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
16. He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
17. He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
18. He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Kikuyu Savages (Mungiki), whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the Orange Republic Of Kenya, in General Parliament, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Provinces, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Provinces are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent Country; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the Mount Kenya Mafia, and that all political connection between them and the Province of Eastern and Central (Banana Republic of Kenya), is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent Provinces, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent Countries may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
Western
Rift Valley
Nyanza
Nairobi
Coast
North Eastern
www.ODM.gov
21.Nov.2008
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5:12
400 dead and not a tear from the ODM
» Kenya Imagine Rasna Warah's article published in the Daily Nation on 21 January 2008 betrays a sense of reckless indifference to the plight of the victims of the violence meted out on certain communities in the Rift Valley suspected to have voted "against the grain."
This indifference runs through the ODM leadership and is not unique to Ms. Warah.
Read more from Brian Muthiora here. -
The Delusional Omnipotent
» Kenya Imagine Opposition leader Raila Odinga is a man who likes many things. He likes big cars, and flashy clothes. He likes to talk politics, he loves fame. He loves propaganda and more than anything he loves cameras. That I suppose is alright, to each his own.
But the ODM leader also loves anarchy and has an exaggerated passion for destruction, if he cannot have it, no one else will.
Read more from Victor Mwangu here.
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Kenya Polls Crisis: What PNU And ODM Are Secretly Planning
» You Missed This Kenyans Should Prepare Themselves For A Nightmare Where Their Worst Fears Become Reality
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Quote of the day
It is important for the President to come out and meet Raila. Kenya is bleeding and people are suffering.
Why is Kibaki not ready to meet Raila? After all Raila campaigned for him in 2002 and I believe they can still sit down and talk. What is too difficult for the two to talk about?
In 2003, I warned the leaders, that their misunderstandings would lead to something bigger, but they did not listen. I was a lone ranger and now this is the result.
I am now urging the international community to put pressure on President Kibaki and his Government, without which innocent Kenyans will continue to suffer.
Wangari Maathai
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Since Mwai Kibaki and a few handlers fiddled with presidential election votes and stole the election plunging the country into chaos, many Kenyans have come out calling for peace.
Even the media has been convinced to censor itself in many instances (to avoid incitement) for the sake of peace. So far nothing has worked and peace in Kenya has continued to be elusive.
Few have really bothered to ask themselves why Kenya has stubbornly refused to return to the peace and tranquility we had all taken for granted, and the media has continued to play games. Let the world know today that when the police chase rioters into the slum area of Kibera and spray bullets into houses with rather “porous” walls, according to the Kenyan media, this is not news. Only the Standard newspaper under considerable pressure occasionally dares to include such occurrences in a major article somewhere in the newspaper.
Naturally everybody is eager that things should go back to normal as soon as possible. After all our children need to go to school and we need to earn a living and therefore anybody who does not promote peace is the enemy (like Kumekucha. Only that most people do not know that Kumekucha wants peace more badly than most, that is why I have been warning about tribal tensions in this blog for over 2 years now).
It is yet to dawn on the minds of most peace-seeking Kenyans that there is no way that peace will come unless we address the root cause of the problem. I challenge you to tell me how else peace can come. I hear somebody saying; by telling the Luos and Kelenjins to shut up. (That is the “ingenious suggestion” of some commentators in this blog).
It is also yet to dawn on most Kenyans that the biggest hindrance to the restoration of peace are not violent Luos or angry Kalenjins. It is not the mass action called for by Raila Odinga and his gang.
It is the gentleman whom most of you saw seated taking notes as he listened to a carefully selected delegation of private sector personalities (most of whom helped fund his campaign) the pother day in State House. That man calls himself the president of the republic of Kenya. If this was not such serious business, that is laughable. This is the same man whose wife slapped a civil servant in public in front of the poor man’s family. Rumours have persisted that the same woman (who obviously needs medical help) slapped Gitobu Imanyara...
Read more
Who actually owns Equity Bank? -
Who Actually Owns Equity Bank?
» You Missed This By a Guest writer (Mark)
Besides the fact that Transcentury holds a direct stake in Equity bank, it also holds a stake through Britak which in turn has a large shareholding of Equity Bank.
Recently, Transcentury also bought the maximum stake allowable for one shareholder of a bank in Kenya (24.9%) though their holding in Helios EB Partners. Helios Partners is a foreign incorporated company that recently got new investors in the form of Transcentury and more than half the money invested by Transcentury ($300M = Ksh 19.5B) came in to increase the capital of Equity Bank (This amount was approx Ksh 11B). The Finance Minster decided to look the other side as this transaction happened right under his nose. He even gave this group the exception from any scrutiny of who the shareholders are for 9 years.
Essentially, we will never know who the investors are for 9 years in this bank. Why would the government official make an unprecedented decision to exclude them from a regulation to protect consumers in such a sensitive sector? The reason could be to be to hide the fact that the ‘foreign investment’ is actually local investors and the fact that the same local investors have violated the max. Shareholding rules for banks. Picture this…
• Maximum Shareholding allowable to a shareholder who is not an executive = 24.9%
• Equity bank holding through Britak = 10%
• Equity Bank holding as Transcentury directly = aprox 3+%
Clearly, Transcentury now holds more that 38% of Equity Bank!
Proof of this available on: http://www.transcentury.co.ke/transcentury/portfolio.asp
For the government officer involved… what was in it for him? For the government? Think of Equity bank chairman in London with PNU chaps openly campaigning for PNU and rubbishing ODM… do you start to get the answers?
Issue with Diversity at Equity Bank:
We have established that the majority shareholder is Transcentury, now other issue is almost all senior managers of the bank are from one community. Over 85% of the employees in the bank are from the same community. The converse is that more than 50% of the banks customers are drawn from all the ethnic communities of this country. How do you support a company that does not promote diversity? There are multitudes of Private companies that do not promote diversity, but the duty for a listed company is to represent all Kenyans in its workforce and Equity is not exempted. If they exempt themselves, then we tell their customers so they can choose if that’s acceptable.
Business Model:
Most people defending Equity bank never fail to mention that it has helped the poor and I support that, but this particular business model targeting the millions at the bottom of the pyramid is no longer unique to Equity Bank. We have leading financial institutions like Barclays, KCB following suit and doing it well with their deep pockets. KCB as a local bank and deserves our support, Barclays too because in as much as it’s about capitalism for its shareholders, they promote diversity internally in their recruiting.
IPO (initial Public offer)
Please note that Equity bank is the only listed company that got listed on the NSE without selling any new shares, so it wasn’t an initial public offer per se but a listing. The difference is it retains the exact shareholding when on the NSE as before with no dilution at all. These and only these shareholders were able to benefit with this listing, and later, the secondary buyers and sellers on the NSE. The best way to say this is they got credibility out of the listing without offering anything to the public.
Tell tale signs of the success of the Boycott:
• A day after word spread around on this, I had a chat with some staff members and one mentioned that they stopped 2 days ago paying cash against uncleared cheques even for a fee.
• Share starts the downward trend and will be a good sign that ODMs strategy is working.
• Few to no deposits in Equities branches in Western and Rift Valley. The first sign of a run on the bank and I am sure the CBK will come and rescue them by closing these branches due to the ethnic connections they have.
• Equity bank website www.equitybank.co.ke is now down. Reason? You and I can speculate that they have something to hide… I was looking for the IPO briefing document that listed the largest shareholders, but doubt you will find it again. I had to revert to an earlier download.
Eventually really, if they can balance the staff and hiring to represent the face of Kenya without bias, and I am sure they can find skilled talent from all ethnic communities, though they choose otherwise, then the boycott should be re-considered.
(Kumekucha: Please publish this as a contribution article to kumekucha instead of a s a comment. Hopefully this will provide a forum to justify the reasons why these institutions have been selected for the boycott and you can call on more articles on Brookside, Citti Hoppa etc
Another suggestion on the boycott campaign is to brand it a “Kenyan Company Diversity” campaign to show that this is not about one community but ensuring a better Kenya for all)
-Mark-
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ODM Calls for Fresh Protests, Govt creates Mediation Team
» Kenya Imagine Over the weekend, the Orange Democratic Movement called for more protests among its supporters. [Check for Updates] 0900
Updates here!
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