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20:19
From: You Missed This
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Martha Karua at the height of January’s political heat couldn’t have put it more poignantly-NO NEED TO SECURE VISA, PARADISE IS HERE. So Uncle Sam Kivuitu should take heart and call the US bluff in denying him visa. If anything his deputy Kihara Mutuu had eaten from the same plate of denial. So where does that leave us Kenyans and our mentality of MOVE ON while the fundamentals of all our institutions are left to go the dogs?
It appears we are condemned to the big brother curse. With no trace or element of shame we have to wait to be pushed off the chair and start crying wolf in mother tongue for sympathy even when the sins we commit are bloody red. Please do not insult the ears with the deceptive mantra of innocent till proved guilty since conscience need no trial.
Mbeki’s resignation as SA president may have been a classic political revenge from his hitherto comrades whom he betrayed. But just like Mandela before him, he has proved that he is cut from a different political fabric compared to other African despots masquerading as custodians of their countries’ interests with every scheme plotted to auction everything within their borders.
Guillotine is here
We may conveniently choose to run from the truth and reality with the selfish MOVE ON sermon but we can hide from the hole we dug ourselves into. Thank God for small mercies doled in big brother. True there is no free lunch. The international community will not sit pretty as our so-called leaders impunity to a different level exclusively for their interests. Well, the predictable rants about neo-colonialism will definitely flood our shores but that won’t let the powers that be blink.
Kumekucha may have asked in jest the price of stealing elections. Well, the truth is that the zeroes to the right will make Zimbabwe’s inflation rate look like numerical decorations before the decimal points. The cost is huge and the perpetrators are hellbent on recouping their investments in the shortest time possible. Thanks to mother nature which works in mysterious. Now pirates have blown the cover of our own arm dealers.
The political scoundrels ran with the hounds and must now suffer the wrath of fleas. They may run but will never hide forever. It is a small world and payback time is nigh. The axe will not spare any guilty scalp and like the guillotine ECK is having its head on the chopping block. Who is next?
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0:59
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Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Kenyans are idiots sometimes. That is the truth. They have great respect for people’s academic qualifications and experience without looking too deeply into the background of those people. Especially if those people are white. They also have too much respect for cash without asking themselves exactly where that cash came from (but that is a story for another day).
Johann Kriegler
What I would mainly like to dwell on today is one Afrikaan conman judge who came into town and had Kenyans eating out of his hand in no time at all. His name is of course Johann Kriegler.
Anybody who had a chance to view any of the TV call in shows the judge participated in would not have missed the anger at the judge from many Kenyans calling in. And with good reason.
There are many things about Kriegler and his report that are very annoying but top on the list is the man’s insistence that he found no evidence of fiddling at the vote tallying centre at KICC. What hog wash!!! Mutahi Ngunyi’s grandmother would have found plenty (and she has no legal training).
Let us for a minute replay some of the telling eerie events of last December.
As Kenyans were anxiously waiting for the election results, the police commissioner, Major Gen Hussein Ali held a lengthy press briefing at the KICC with journalists where representatives of the political parties were present. The gist of it was to tell Kenyans that they must accept election results irrespective of which candidate was declared winner. Nobody paid much attention to this because at the time the ODM candidate Raila Odinga was leading by a wide margin. But looking at it in retrospect and looking at what happened next, it is quite clear what was going on. Kenyans were being prepared for big time fraud.
The good judge has also insinuated with a straight face that one of the main problems that could have created mistakes in the tallying at the constituency level was the fact that returning officers did not have electronic calculators to add up the numerous votes. ---------------------- Are you in Nairobi? Order the latest DVD movies online from the comfort of your home and receive them at your doorstep. ----------------------
To cap this whole comedy, many Kenyans have received the Kriegler report with open arms because according to them the judge was “very wise” in not “rocking the boat” so soon after the horrors we saw early this year in post election violence.
Excuse me, this is the exact same attitude that culminated in those very troubles. If you take time to review many comments in this blog in the run up to the ill-fated general elections, you will realize that there were many people who felt that it was very wrong for us here to dare discuss tribal tensions which in their view did not exist at all. In fact the general feeling was that it was this writer who was creating and fanning those tribal tensions.
Well now we want to sweep under the carpet what happened last December. That is Kenyans for you.
Personally I am still very angry that somebody would have wasted my time getting me to vote when the election results had already been “fixed.” And now to make matters even worse, we have invited an Afrikaans judge (remember the guys who legalized apartheid?) who in private has shown lots of contempt for Kenyans and in public the same by trying to hoodwink a whole nation in telling us about pocket calculators and absolutely nothing else at the end of a high profile tour of our country.
The sooner Kenyans looked in the mirror and cut the cow waste and faced the truth, the better it will be for all of us. Nay, at least we will have a fighting chance of saving this great country. There is absolutely no hope if we continue to bury our head in the sand and pretend that the forest is not already burning.
General biographical information on Kriegler
Raila moves into the premises traditionally reserved for leader of the official opposition
Now US says arms in hijacked ship were headed to South Sudan
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14:21
From: You Missed This
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Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} The crisis off the Somali coast where a Russian ship carrying arms destined for Kenya has been hijacked by pirates, has raised an interesting precedent. It has been reported in the media that Vice president Kalonzo Musyoka is currently the acting commander in chief and was in fact the one who ordered the Kenyan navy and military into action over the hijacked ship crisis.
The reason given for this is that the president is currently out of the country.
Now, now, one of the reasons why this development is so fascinating is that there was a time former Vice President Prof Josephat Karanja (now deceased) got into serious political problems with claims that he had called himself acting president when president Moi had traveled on a foreign trip. A terse statement from State house made it clear that the president remained commander in chief even when he was overseas. Indeed even in advanced democracies like the United States, the Vice President can only act as president when the president is seriously incapacitated and unable to govern. It happened some years back when a US president had to undergo a medical operation.
This is what makes the issue of Kalonzo Musyoka acting as commander in chief so fascinating. Still, in my view Kalonzo is much more capable of handling the delicate crisis that is still unfolding over the Somali waters as both Russian and US war ships close in on the hijacked ship which is carrying tanks, arms and so much ammunition that shooting at it would cause a huge explosion and the destruction of cargo valued at over Kshs 2.4 billion. What complicates matters further and probably explains the interest of the Americans are the reports that the pirates were working with a Somali organization known as Al Shabaab which has been linked to Al Qaeda.
Regular readers will know that I am no Kalonzo fan, but I am trying to illustrate a point here. The reason why Kalonzo is obviously a more qualified decision-maker than his boss in a crisis of this magnitude (at least in my view) illustrates an important point that Kenyan voters should take careful note of. And that is the fact that it is becoming increasingly clear that the country would be much better off with a new crop of younger more vibrant leaders who understand the new increasingly complex world much better than the old prejudiced crop who have desperately been hanging on to power for decades on end and having nothing new to offer to Kenyans.
P.S. It is rather fascinating that the government and the Department of defence seem to be reading from different scripts. DOD insists that the arms in the hijacked ship were NOT meant for the Kenya army while government spokesman Alfred Mutua says they are. So who is telling the truth?
Are you in Nairobi? Order the latest DVD movies online from the comfort of your home and receive them at your doorstep.
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1:23
From: You Missed This
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 Dr. Joyce Laboso and Mrs. Beatrice Kones (pictured above) are the new MPs elect for Sotik and Bomet constituencies respectively. Dr. Laboso garnered over 23,380 votes against her nearest competitor, UDM's Alexander Sitenei who garnered 13,843 votes, while Mrs. Kones garnered more than 30,210 votes against KANUs Nick Salat who garnered 15,015 votes . The two ODM politicians emerged the winners in by-elections conducted yesterday occasioned by the deaths of Lorna Laboso and Kipkalya Kones in a fatal plane crash. More information hereAdditional post by Chris The good news for me is that we have an extra woman in the august house. This should be good news to Kenyans too. Meanwhile all hell is breaking loose in Nyanza: Hospitals swamped with men who want to be circumcized.Are you in Nairobi? Order the latest DVD movies online from the comfort of your home and receive them at your doorstep.
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11:53
From: You Missed This
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..the explosive politics of facing the knife As a matter of fact, while the Luo have never communally embraced this type of surgery, they have never been wholly against it either. In Luo land, circumcision has been a ‘none issue’….. more like whether one wears a pair of black or white pants i.e. personal decision. Unlike the case in other communities, this practice has never been associated with bravery, social status or rite of passage. The cut will not erode or enhance the Luo culture. It is of no cultural consequence. In allowing the individual man to determine the personality of his ‘member’, the Luo community has been at the forefront of liberty. So that is how life at the lakeside has been until a group of HIV researchers showed up with good advice. The rest is history. Luo men are forming long meandering queues in wait of the cut. Were it not for the scourge that is killing Kenyans like flies, Kisumu, in the dead of night, when all the bars and clubs are closed and patrons have gone home, would still be the noisiest city in the country. So why talk about this painless practice in a political blog? Well, because it is political. It will not escape the minds of Kenyans that the Luo people have been constantly and publicly degraded, demonized and ridiculed simply because of their reluctance to indulge in genital mutilation. In Kenya, the Luos have been shelved and associated with derogatory terms ever since the birth of the nation. Until Raila won the 2007 election, a section of Kenyans had been thoroughly convinced and indoctrinated to believe that an uncircumcised Gentile must never rule. It follows that many Luo men were rounded up by Mungiki surgeons and forcibly circumcised by use of blant pangas in Kibera. Folks, such has been the hate of the ‘man with the foreskin’. He has been called dirty, coward, kihii, unmanly, childish and in some extreme instances, evil. The ‘man with the foreskin’ has been denied his rightful place at board meetings, staff meetings and other social gatherings where he must not ‘sit in the presence of men’. The fully grown 'man with the foreskin' has been set aside to converse with his 'age mates' at the children’s table. So here we are today and Luos are getting circumcised from left and right. With this simple voluntary act of health, THE GRANDEUR OF CULTURAL CIRCUMCISION HAS BEEN DYMYSTIFIED. How else will you ridicule and put down the ‘man with the foreskin’ if he no longer has a foreskin? Do you see the social and political implications here? How will you teach your children to pronounce a hateful word that no longer has meaning? And what happens to the ego brought about by undergoing the cut? What happens to the notion that my community is the better because we circumcise our men and women? This is what I’m saying, when you are culturally preprogrammed to put the ‘man with the foreskin’ in the dustbin, do you easily accept him when he cuts it off? If circumcision liberates the Luo men from the yokes of hate and avails them an opportunity to be seen and accepted as men, does it also institute a powerful object of fear? You are all aware of the ‘white fear’ that denied the black man in America an opportunity to vote and attend desegregated schools. Just like the Luo, the black men in America have been called monkeys, black devils and consequently hang on trees until dead….simply because of the color of their skin. In Kenya, male high school students 'with the foreskin’ have been beaten to death. They are not allowed to shower in the same bathroom with the circumcised…instead they have to take a bath alongside the schools' fence….in full view of the fellow students in the neighboring girls high school…..after all they are all ‘women’. Well, as we have seen so far, both the Luo in Kenya and in the USA have and will successfully win the presidential elections respectively. Are you in Nairobi? Order the latest DVD movies online from the comfort of your home and receive them at your doorstep.
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16:26
From: You Missed This
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Anyone surprised at the muses of Kriegler must be an alien visiting Kenya from planet Pluto on a tourist visa and for the very first time. To display overwhelming astonishment at his commissions’ report is in itself not Kenyan. I thought we had all known and accepted that Kriegler was here to simply play his role as pacifier. Sasa nini?
Was it not obvious that after such a mischievous election, the entire nation needed time to cool down tempers? As with Kenyan tradition, enter Kriegler and his commission of respectable professionals turned investigators. And I must say they have done a wonderful job. Kenyans are largely back to business, Lucy is out of hiding, children are back to school, Dagoretii slaughter houses have reopened……even his Excellency Kibaki is meeting Condoleezza Rice in a NY hotel bedroom. Life is back to normal and we should all be happy and move on with the current GNU…so say’s Raila.
The way I see it, anyone castigating Kriegler for leaving out some obvious truths does not appreciate the responsibility on the shoulders of truth. In fact, it could be that they cannot handle the truth…..and I’m not talking about the consequent anxiety that would accompany the truth. Other than earning a fat paycheck and sipping afternoon tea in a cramped musty room for the better part of 2008, Kriegler’s job was to make sure that he drafts a report that ensures the continuity of the prevailing peace. While disappointing to some, the media reports on the report suggest that the commission has succeeded in doing just that.
So let us not ask for the truth. It is not forthcoming. In fact, it has reached my ear that the Right Honorable Prime Minister Raila Odinga was on the ready to dismiss, reject and disassociate himself from any commission findings that would have suggested that he indeed won the election by garnering 70% of the vote.
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17:17
From: You Missed This
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You don’t choose to live a national lie and expect to be delivered from chronic deceit by a foreigner. That good old Judge Krielger passed a verdict that pleased nobody was no surprise. Since Kofi Annan couldn’t stay here forever to persuade us from hacking each other, he had to find a spare hand to pay in doing the thankless job of saving Kenyans from their murderous selves.
Judge Kriegler came and witnessed first hand our DECEPTION IMMORTALIZED. Being no fool he had to leave us holding onto our skunk of living the eternal lie we have perfected as a nation. Listening to the old Afrikaner wax intellectual by rubbing it in that ours is a lost course of serial sham election, one would be forgiven for labelling him as patronizing and condescending. But who cares provided you don’t upset the political cart, the looters can pat you on the back for reinventing a wheel that is not even round in the first place.
You see in reminding us of the ruinous Moi ERROR, Kriegler has overtaken every average Kenyan in setting the bar to its lowest level. Are we not the same people who elevate tokenism to obscene heights as the ruling class auctions Kenya to the lowest bidders? You don’t need post apartheid electoral experience to dissect dysfunctional and incompetent ECK. Kivuitu may epitomize last year’s bungled polls but concentrating exclusively on his head is akin to blaming the dog for a vicious attack while exonerating the master who order the bitch in the first place.
Living eternal political lie
Last year’s electoral fraud was the culmination of an elaborate plan to maintain status quo at whatever price. It is only that concentration of the outcome while remain oblivious of the process left the perpetrators criminally exposed. Even the equally senile Mugabe had the presence of mind to allow himself to be defeated if only to proceed to the second round of voting where he knew the die was cast and he didn’t disappoint. At least Zimbabwe is re-enacting Kenya in the reverse albeit painfully so. We have set the worst and most shameful political precedent in killing the spirit and body of competitive politics.
True to a lawyer's forte of wordiness bereft of direction while conveniently avoiding the challenge at hand, Judge Kriegler declared NO WINNER. The next basic and logical consequence would have been recommending fresh polls. But Kriegler knew his script inside out and apologists of Kenya’s status quo will promptly raise the red flag of opening old wounds. Well, we better nurse the festering wound till the doctor comes with the saw calling for the limb’s severance before our body collectively succumb to septic shock. Well, let us enjoy the swim till we drown in pus.
Escapists may wish to call it flogging a dead horse. The truth is this baggage will hang on our necks for the rest of our lives. Meanwhile we suffer the absolute perils of living a political lie. Kriegler came, lived and conquered. Thank you Judge Krigler. May you judiciously transfer the Kenyan experience to save your smouldering native South Africa from herself too.
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11:25
From: You Missed This
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Lee Njiru press secretary to former president Moi has issued a bizarre statement to the press which has been given great prominence in today’s Sunday Nation. In what is the first statement Mr Njiru has issued for years without the blessings of his boss (former president Moi) or so he claims, Njiru who also served under Kenya’s first president, Jomo Kenyatta claims that Kenyatta died more out of neglect than anything else. Mr Njiru says that those who surrounded Kenya’s first president were so busy “eating” that they did not care less what happened to Mzee. Quite a tale. You can read the Nation story on it HERE. But Njiru’s statement raises too many questions. Why now? His story about the official secrets acts does not quite ring true. But my biggest problem with Mr Njiru’s explosive story that made for some interesting Sunday reading is simply this; where does Mama Ngina Kenyatta fit into all this? Is Mr Njiru saying that the then first lady took to “eating” with the rest and neglected her husband? That is something that I find a little difficult to swallow. Methinks that the timing of this statement is such that the only conclusion I can come to is that it is part of some political chess being played out involving the likes of retired president Moi. But let time tell us the truth behind this rather fascinating incident. For now I would like to focus one issue that clearly came out from what Njiri would like us to believe was him pouring out his heart fro the sake of the motherland and out of his love for the same. And that is the shadowy characters who position themselves around the most powerful man in the land and create so much chaos. It is not only President Kenyatta had them. President Moi had them and so does President Kibaki and indeed even the Prime Minister Raila Odinga. The reason why Kenyans should take heart is that these evil guys never seem to succeed in their grand schemes no matter how hard they try. For instance Minister of State Mbiyu Koinange was always at President Kenyatta’s side. So powerful was the stocky balding cabinet minister that at public meetings he would be the one to invite the president to address the public and not the then Vice president Moi. The plans of the Kiambu mafia were well laid and they knew that it was just a matter of time before Kenyatta would fail to wake up from one his constant comas. The whole plan was that Koinange would inform his colleagues and before anybody knew what was happening they would set their plan in motion. Guess what? On the one day that Koinange was not with Mzee for decades, is the day that the old man passed on. Koinange was not in Mombasa. You do not even want to think what would have happened had Mbiyu Koinange been on President Kenyatta’s side when Kenya’s first president died. The fact that the powerful minister represnting the Kiambu mafia was not there that day saved the country. Vice president Daniel arap Moi took over and the Kiambu mafia assumed that they would deal with him shortly. The rest as you know is history. Moi consolidated his position and proved to be an even more powerful president than Kenyatta had ever been. When Moi’s time came to exit the stage, he too had around him profiteers and schemers who had amassed vast wealth by just being around him. The first name that comes to mind is that of Nicholas Kipyator Biwott better known as “Total Man.” We are told that the plan was to refuse to hand over power on a technicality to the effect that the National Rainbow Coalition was not a political party but a coalition. Again they failed miserably and the baton of power was passed on to Emilio Stanley. Now once again we have some powerful chaps surrounding the presidency who will stop at nothing to ensure that their current gravy train will continue forever. Of course they are telling themselves that they are much more intelligent than those who have gone before them. And that they will succeed where the Kiambu Mafia and the Kabarak mafia failed before them. To make matters even more complex they hope to succeed when the Kenyan voter has smartened up considerably to what is really going on. Some pipe dream, that, but they can dream on, I guess. Read full statement from Lee Njiru to the press on Kenyatta's death
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12:21
From: You Missed This
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Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} Is crime reducing as the police tell us? Or dramatically increasing? For the last 3 years Sylvester Muithya Matheka has lived every day fearing for his life. Last Thursday morning the Machakos businessman received a visit from 5 people armed with an AK47 in his rural home up in the hills about 15 Kms from Machakos town in a place called Lita. The kind of deep rural neighborhood where folks don’t lock their doors at night because violent crime is unheard of. One of the gunmen shot him twice. The second time apparently to make sure. He died on the spot. Read the account of the incident in the East African Standard. The most telling comment came from his grief stricken first born son currently doing a masters degree at a local university, who with tears in his eyes told our Kumekucha informant that he was happy for his dad. The reason was that the poor man had finally rested. From the fear. From looking over his shoulder constantly. A terrible thing for a son to say about his slain father, but a clear illustration of the kind of life Muithya (as everybody called him) lived. He is not the only one. There are numerous businessmen in Kenya today who live the kind of life the deceased lived. Never spending the night in their homes. Constantly moving, always afraid for their lives. The police who are paid by tax payers to protect all citizens of our great nation are mostly overwhelmed and many times compromised so that the people with the real power in Kenya today are those who pedal fear. Indeed there is a budding industry in the country for blackmailers as well as paid hitmen. Muithya received one sms message from a cell phone with Tanzanian numbers about 8 months ago. The eerie message told him that the sender had been paid Kshs 300,000 to deliver his head and he would never return to Tanzania until he had accomplished his mission. The SMS was shown to the police who never even made any effort to try and trace the source of the SMS message.
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0:33
From: You Missed This
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Is it that impossible to tell who won the 2007 general elections? Well Judge Kriegler thinks so. But is that the truth? Last night the retired South African judge was interviewed on a live talk show on KTN. It was obvious from the call-ins that Kenyans are very angry at the judge for wasting our time and telling us nothing. Political analyst Mutahi Ngunyi put it very well when he said the old Afrikaner man told us nothing that his (Ngunyi's) grandmother would not have told him. Incidentally Kriegler said on the show that he has not spend a single cent of the Kenyan tax payers money and that he has been paid by “other people.” Interestingly he did not mention who these other people are. Okay so he wasted somebody else’s money, but that still does not make us feel any better does it? I can understand the anger that Kenyans feel. What really infuriates me is the lack of honesty in our people. Shortly after the “acrobatics” of last December 30th or thereabouts Kumekucha had a reporter on the ground in Naivasha and she clearly reported that people who had solidly voted PNU were saying that Kibaki had stolen the elections from the Jaruo. We reported that right here. Now just a few weeks later, those same people were swearing on their dead grandmothers and other ancestors) that Kibaki won. Eti fair and square. I still cringe when I see them in the media trying to keep a straight face and saying that Kibaki won. Even when all the evidence says otherwise. This morning somebody told me that the wisdom of King Solomon can be used to easily discover who won the elections. I was amazed. You remember the bible story about the two women who both claimed that the live baby was there child and that the dead one belonged to the other? Well earlier this year the same scenario was repeated in Kenya. As the country tottered on the edge of an abyss and as Kenyans and the international community discovered for the first time exactly what Emilio Stanley was about, there were a few interesting things that happened that people have now forgotten. Even as the country neared shut-down, PNU and Kibaki were saying that they would not under ay circumstances cede key ministries to ODM and Raila. These ministries included the now famous ministry of “Grand Regency scandal” Finance, Foreign Affairs, Internal security and defence. In fact clearly Emilio did not seem to care less if the country shut down. At this point he was very much the woman in the Bible who was saying that it was okay of the child whom they were squabbling over was cut into two and each woman given her half. After all it was not her child. After all the presidency was NOT rightfully Kibakis. The real mother took the baby and handed her over to the other woman rather than see him die. In the same way Raila and ODM agreed to receive weaker and less powerful ministries (although they won the elections) rather than have the country fall apart. They handed the country to Kibaki even though it was NOT rightfully his. Sadly there was no King Solomon there to hand over the “baby” to the rightful owner. So now you know who won the general elections. Case closed. Now before the PNU brigade comes out spitting fire or the ODM die-hards come out celebrating. Let me emphasize that all that is now water under the bridge. In my opinion both Kibaki and Raila should now go home and the sooner the better for Kenya. Kumekucha's News Round Up: Kivuitu And His ECK Cronies Panic Is Kivuitu running scared?Police Constable Pamela Jelimo chats with President KibakiWhy the Kenya shilling is rapidly weakeningSalim Lone confirms old Kumekucha story that he had earlier denied to the effect that he had fled the country fearing for his life
Live TV coverage for parliamentary committees comingLove and relationships: Warning signs your relationship is going nowhereIn Praise of older men
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0:33
From: You Missed This
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23:26
From: You Missed This
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23:26
From: You Missed This
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Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} On the London eye high above London recently where you are able to see huge chunks of the city widely recognized as the financial capital of the world, I was reminded of the place where my father was born high up in the hills that used to be called the Iveti hills in Machakos. When you are coming down to Machakos town you can actually see very far. Far enough to tell that the car coming rounding the corner down there at high speed is bound to have a head on collision with the lorry approaching the same corner from the opposite direction. Those on the ground cannot see this, but from up there you are able to clearly see it all.
That is the view I have been trying to get of the currently chaotic Kenyan political landscape as I stayed away from penning anything in my beloved Kumekucha blog (because the truth is that I can make posts from anywhere in the world. Even the Sahara desert as long as I can get an internet connection). You see I hate to write any politics when I don’t have a bird’s eye view of what is really happening.
What I can tell you my dear friends is that I have emerged from this hiatus with a much clearer mind and with numerous clear ideas to make Kumekucha even better. Briefly on the subject of improvements in this blog, I will regularly do a news round up where I will link to other news sources online. Just like I did this morning to the disappointment of some readers here and the delight of our enemies who took the opportunity to declare the death and burial of Kumekucha (poleni sana, mambo bado).
But for today I want to talk about Martha Karuas bid for the presidency. The first thing is that it excites me very much. It is a sign that Kenyan politics is about to change and to change dramatically. Mainly because her politics are different from the old school politics everybody else is playing. Indeed she is a breath of much needed fresh air. Regulars here will know that I have a clear bias when it comes to choosing between a man and a woman in politics. I think history and the track record in Kenya clearly shows us that women make better leaders most of the time.
However I have a few serious problems with Ms Karua’s bid. Top on my list is the fact that she was a chief architect of the events of last December 29th and thereabouts. She used her sharp legal mind to steer a ship called Mwai Kibaki safely through some sharp jutting rocks and right back into State House. Of course it was all at great cost to human life, not to mention financial cost to the country. I will say nothing further on that subject.
But back to my excitement. Karua’s effort will of course fail. Not because she is a woman. But because the strategy being used by her and her backers will not work in 2012. It is the same strategy that ODM used. Which means that we should expect many more declarations of intent in the months to come and then finally all these presidential candidates will declare one of their own “tosha.”
Time and again it has been proven that politics is too fluid and I will repeat again that the tactics of 2007 will NOT work in 2012. Incidentally I need to ask the million shilling question. Does the fact that everybody is adopting the tactics Raila used in 2007 mean that they are all telling us it was Raila who won those elections by a near land-slide? You tell me? Ama does it mean that they are adopting a loser’s strategy?
Finally I will say something about our beloved Prime Minister. Again this is NOT personal. Just pure cold political analysis. The truth of the matter is that immediately somebody gets into government in an environment where there is competitive politics (and NOT the mama na baba days of Kanu) it simply means that they are in the twilight years of their political careers. This is the situation with Raila. It is unlikely that Agwambo will garner the same support he received in 2007 and you can take that to the bank. I already feel the barbs flying through the air towards me but let me ask two simple questions before I take cover. Why is it that the Prime Minister has said nothing about the shoddy treatment meted out to Jacinta Mwatela the former deputy governor of the Central Bank? His silence has been way too loud. My second question is why is it that the Prime Minister was initially against a similar move made at NSSF against another woman only to backtrack a few days later and support his cabinet colleague? The answers to those questions are explosive to say the least and are published in my raw notes which will be released early next week.
News Round Up By Chris It seems that the troubles of PNU are not ending soon as 8 MPs ditch PNU
Meanwhile Kimunya the former finance minister has taken to golf and winning golf tournaments
Did you know that originally the KICC was meant to be 7 storeys?
Now Mwatela's husband who is a politician speaks out
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10:18
From: You Missed This
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 Also published recently in Kumekucha: Chris is backThomas Cholmondeley, 38 year old divorced father of two, is escorted in the high court by police during his murder trial in Nairobi, September 16, 2008. The trial of Thomas Patrick Gilbert Cholmondeley for the May 2006 murder of Gilgil stone mason Robert Njoya at the expansive Soysambu ranch in Naivasha is now approaching its end and a verdict is expected by the end of October. Ranch owner Tom Cholmondeley allegedly shot ‘poacher’ Njoya in the buttocks as he was running away and the rifle shot reportedly caused a massive pelvic wound that resulted to the death of Njoya. The unenviable task of passing the verdict will fall on the shoulders of 53 year old Honourable Mister Justice Muga Apondi. I have no reason to doubt the abilities of Justice Apondi – who is no stranger to controversial and sensitive judgements, the recent having been ordering a freeze on the bank accounts of runaway Rwandese fugitive Felicien Kabuga – but as a Kenyan, this case arouses my interest just as it would any stuggling-to-survive black landless man. Granted, the judgement will also be viewed as an acid test to the ability of the Kenyan judiciary to enforce the law equally and fairly, especially when it involves the mighty and powerful of this country. Tom Cholmondeley is the great grandson of the 3rd Baron Delamere who was among leading British colonial farmers who settled and established large farms across Kenya's white highlands. The Delamere farm is one of the largest and well organised mixed farms and wildlife sanctuary in the Rift Valley province. Tom will become the 6th Baron Delamere upon the demise of his father. Going by the final submissions of defence lawyer Fred Ojiambo, it appears Tom Cholmondleley is seeking acquittal on the basis of the prosecution’s failure to directly link him with the bullet that killed Njoya. This is probably in line with Tom’s own testimony last July in which he expressly denied ever having deliberately shot Njoya and implying that that the fatal shot was most probably fired by his friend, Carl “Flash” Tundo with whom he had been strolling at a remote corner of the farm where Tundo, a local rally driver, wanted to lease land and build a house when they stumbled on a group of poachers who set their dogs on them. In keeping with Kenya Wildlife Service regulations, Tom took aim at the dogs with a Winchester .303 hunting rifle, killing two. He then claimed that Mr Tundo most probably fired the fatal shot with his pistol. Tundo was initially arrested by police together with Tom but was released a few days later after recording statements. It is unclear what forensic investigation reports were filed in the court. In subsequent police statements, Tom allegedly confessed to having shot at some poachers on his expansive 55 acre ranch that stretches from Naivasha to Gilgil town. Not surprisingly, in their submissions on Tuesday, lead defence lawyer Ojiambo dismissed these confessions as inadmissible in a court of law. Ojiambo added that there was no eye-witness account of the shooting and also no one actually saw the deceased being shot by anyone. Meanwhile the prosecution was today expected to prove that Tom deliberately shot at Njoya with an intention to kill and that contrary to assertions that Njoya was a poacher, no civilian is required to apply to Kenya Wildlife Service, let alone the Soysambu Ranch management, for permits to hunt the more than 10,000 different species of small game that roam the ranch. In any case, prosecution emphatically adds, the wild animals are lawful properties of the state, under the care and supervision of KWS, and not Tom Cholmondeley! Predictably, drums of war can be heard and emotions are already escalating in the Naivasha area in anticipation of a verdict in favour of Tom, who incidentally was also in 2005 acquitted for lack of evidence in yet another murder trial of KWS warden Samson Ole Sisina. Both killings sparked outrage countrywide, with Naivasha residents holding demonstrations around the farm forcing police to deploy 24 hour patrols. One politician called for Tom to be lynched at sight! His acquittal forced police to physically restrain hundreds of war-cry chanting Masaai morans from invading the Delamere estate. The highly controversial Sisina acquittal had its own high profile casualties. Philip Murgor, the then Director of Public Prosecutions, was immediately sacked by President Kibaki for acting unprofessionally after he dropped Tom’s murder charge, but even then, the accused was never brought back to stand trial until he allegedly killed another man hardly one year later. Although he confessed shooting Ole Sisina, he pleaded self defence claiming he thought he was confronting armed robbers. The murder of Robert Njoya aside, the Delamere Estate, also known as the Soysambu Ranch, is the envy of many politicians with interests in venturing or expanding into lucrative flower farming and general horticulture, while on the other hand, a rapidly growing population has led to scarcity of land and inevitably bred resentment among poor landless Kenyans who are having to live as squatters in their own country. Without wanting to be seen to be taking sides or being accused of contempt of court, me thinks this is one of those ‘open and shut’ cases which fortunately or unfortunately has dragged on and on because we all have to respect the rule of law. Kazi kwako Justice Apondi.
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9:06
From: You Missed This
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Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} THE KENYANS FOR PEACE WITH TRUTH AND JUSTICE THE NATIONAL CIVIL SOCIETY CONGRESS PRESS RELEASE THE PROGRESS OF THE MEDIATION PROCESS AND THE POST-ELECTORAL COMMISSIONS OF INQUIRY “The Kriegler Commission must faithfully fulfil its mandate” Nairobi, September 16, 2008 : Kenyans await the imminent release of the Independent Review of the Elections Commission (IREC) report to His Excellency the President as well as to His Excellency Kofi Annan, the chair of the African Panel of Eminent African Personalities that crafted the National Accord. However, that wait is tinged with reservations. Reservations informed by the long and disappointing experiences with commissions of inquiry which never fulfilled their mandates or whose recommendations were never implemented. In addition the conducting of the inquiry and the public pronouncements of its chairman, Justice Johann Kriegler have fuelled public scepticism about the likely quality and impact of findings and recommendations emerging from this Commission of Inquiry. In all fairness, Kenyans must wait and hear what Justice Kriegler and his colleagues have to say. But we wait in the consciousness of the historical significance of this report and of the heavy negative consequences that could attend an insufficient fulfilment of IREC’s mandate. The 2007 General Election in Kenya was, arguably, the most closely contested ever. The consequences of that election nearly tore the country apart. Many Kenyans quickly came together upon the eruption of violence to seek peace. One such group stressed that achieving peace alone would not be sustainable without the telling of Truth and the search for Justice. This is how a group of civil society organizations and individuals evolved into the Kenyans for Peace with Truth and Justice (KPTJ). We are joined on our concerns by the National Civil Society Congress (NCSC). We still do seek truth, which we believe will only return Kenya to durable stability and peace if it is told and known. Electoral truth, truth on the processes, voting and tallying truth, as well as the truth of the roles played by individuals as well as institutions must be told. KPTJ and NCSC also seek justice for the people of Kenya. Electoral justice will, in our view, be the foundation of growth in democracy and freedom. This justice must include the final determination of what exactly happened to the ballot and who may have won the election insofar as this can credibly be ascertained. We, too, seek justice for the people that were violently deprived of their lives, livelihoods and property. We hope that the Internally Displaced Persons shall have their share of justice through the report of the Commission on Post-Election Violence (CIPEV). We deplore the continuing suffering of the IDPs and condemn the inadequate attention which is being paid to finding speedy and sustainable resolution of their plight. In order to heal itself, Kenya accepted a grand coalition government, which resulted from the Kofi Annan led mediation process. In addition, the abovementioned commissions, IREC and CIPEV, were set up to deal with outstanding issues. The mandate of the Independent Review Commission includes the investigation of ALL aspects of the 2007 presidential elections and the making of findings and recommendations to improve the electoral process. We do expect that IREC shall provide a faithful report that will, among other things, do the following: - Substantively and conclusively note the accountability function of the Electoral Commission of Kenya. This will include clear findings on what the ECK did wrong, who did wrong, what ECK failed to do right, what it could have done better and its responsibility, and that of individual officials, for the aftermath of the elections.
- The Commission should clearly identify the culpable parties for the electoral fiasco that nearly brought the country to its knees. This should include specific findings on individuals, political parties, candidates, state agencies, security agencies and any other parties. We expect that IREC will indeed proffer an answer as to what exactly went wrong with the elections and who had the greatest responsibility for the disaster that happened to Kenya. We seriously expect that the Independent Review Commission will not pass the buck but precisely locate it.
- The IREC will have to be acutely aware that, in the event Kenyans feel that the commission has not fully and effectively discharged its mandate, it will have endorsed impunity and diminished faith in elections as an essential tool for democracy. This will risk being considered a perpetuation of the betrayal that led to the loss of lives and property following the elections.
Whereas we are hopeful that the IREC will acquit itself in respect to the foregoing, we are aware that the commission faces some key challenges. These include: - The Commission’s apparent narrow interpretation of its mandate to exclude the possibility of credibly identifying who may have won the presidential election. We have stressed in all our public statements that this may be extremely difficult, if not impossible, if the records have been extensively manipulated. However any professional and conscientious forensic audit of the documentation should at least provide guidance on what really happened and who was culpable. Judge Kriegler’s apparent public fudging on this mandate is in contrast to the Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation agreement, which said that the IREC “would be mandated to investigate all aspects of the 2007 General Election”. One of IREC’s terms of reference enjoin it to “investigate vote counting and tallying with special attention to the presidential poll to assess the integrity of the results”.
- The Commission’s highly questionable definition of the primary stakeholders of the inquiry process to be political parties, the ECK and the government.
- Since the IREC’s investigation was based on possible mischief by the political actors and the ECK their above-mentioned privileging by the commission and the reluctance to allow civil society to play a more active role in the proceedings of the inquiry was regrettable since IREC’s independence could come into question, and thus reduce the credibility of its report.
- In contrast, and without prejudice as to its eventual findings and recommendations, the Commission of Inquiry into Post-Election Violence (CIPEV) under Justice Waki has worked well with civil society. We believe that this has had a positive impact on some of the testimony received and the outreach that CIPEV could attain.
In conclusion, the KPTJ and NCSC fully expect the Commission to be faithful and forthright to its mandate and to the people of Kenya so as to safeguard democracy and the fidelity of the electoral system and responsibly use the considerable public resources allocated to it. We also urge the President to immediately publish the report to its true principals, the Kenyan people, so that Kenyans can evaluate it, respond, and take the necessary steps to heal and reconstruct their nation. The same demand will be made over the CIPEV headed by Justice Waki, which is also soon completing its report. Signed: Gladwell Otieno Kenyans for Peace with Truth and Justice
Njeri Kabeberi National Civil Society Congress
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10:05
From: You Missed This
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 President John Kufour of Ghana is entertained at the White House during his three day visit. Ain't that presidential? And when will Kibaki ever be invited anywhere? Even Moi used to fly out once in a while…you know making us proud with his scrappy 'English' and coming back with cow feed. Although Kalonzo was received and hosted by obscure assistant ministers and sub chiefs in Beijing, at least he flew the Kenyan flag. As for Raila, even though he's a perennial pest at the Obama residence in Chicago, he's read some good speeches in a few places. While world leaders wine and dine for the benefit of their countries, Kibaki is sitting on a stool under a mango tree in the State House back yard. What I'm asking is this, when was the last time a Kenyan political leader made you feel proud? Fellas, if we leave it up to these mad men (no offence to real mental patients) masquerading as leaders, we will reduce our status to equal countries like Chad or Equatorial Guinea (no intended offense to Chadians or Equatorial Guineas).
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21:23
From: You Missed This
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The circus presently going on at Central Bank cannot be divorced from Kenya’s version of industry and hard work. CBK forms the nerve centre of all past and present mega scams and hence the need to sanitize it with the right officers in anticipation of unfavourable Majid Cockar’s verdict on Prof Joseph Ndungu. The stubborn and LAZY Mwatela must give way no matter the price for the RIGHT candidate at the helm of CBK.
That the Cockar commission is proving to be Goldernberg probe II with same cast of lawyers and clients but reversed loyalties is no surprise. You only ned to master Kenya’s unique script on how to work hard and remain industrious as other lazy bones cling to unbankable honesty clothed as principles.
Give it to one Kamlesh Pattni aka Paul. The smart Kenyan will go down in Kenyan history as the public face of grand corruption. And no amount of religious gymnastics appears to extricate Brother Paul from the intricate web of fraud spanning across decades. Pattni story epitomizes everything bad with Kenya. The more things change the more they remain the same or in our case degenerate to worse levels. Pattni made his hay when the sun was still up during the ruinous Moi ERROR when smart Biwott knew whom to use as fraud conduit.
You see more than five years since Moi vacated Kenya’s centre of power, Pattni is still fighting enmeshed in corruption with the new owners. Poor Kimunya must be cursing what hit him. While Amos is cooling his political heels in Siberia, Pattni is at his best spilling the beans on KACC and its director Aaron Ringera. The infamous dragon slayer couldn't have his name more besmirched. Justice Ringera is a living paradox. Otherwise how do you reconcile his penchant to waxes Shakespearian with everything to do with radical surgery while on the same breathe he fails to eradicate the heap of warts threatening to blind him.
Well, double standards can surely reign supreme especially if you are politically untouchable and and enjoying the right patronage. Ringera and his team of liars are so shameless they lie on camera and continue to shout from the rooftops about sins they have no intention to stop committing themselves.
Commercial conscience
We are ruled by scoundrels whose blurred vision can not illuminate anything outside their selfish spheres and schemes. All the complaints during Moi’s time must have been borne from jealousy with cries to inherit the reigns to power and the singular intention to perfect GRAND DECEPTION. No wonder they readily avoid challenges with a litany of commissions whose principal objective is to have crones feather their nests at our collective good while ridding on our short memory.
Granted, religion has been misused to whitewash unforgivable sins against humanity and Pattni has mastered the pulpit theatrics that preys into our emotions at the expense of our national good. The painful truth however is that behind every grand corrupt move driven by Pattni lurks the ruling class smiling all the way to the bank as they suck Kenya’s last drop of blood.
Leaves you wondering when Pattni goes as far as revealing April 9 as the date Ringera and Prof Ndungu granted him GLOBAL AMNESTY on surrendering Grand Regency whether the two gentlemen have any trace of conscience. But again within our borders conscience is not a commercial item worth investing in. You need lessons on industry to succeed and only few have compatible DNA.
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5:05
From: You Missed This
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 Minister for Information & Communication, ODM-Kenya Chairman and MP for Kacheliba Samuel Poghisio, gestures during an interview with Reuters in Nairobi February 6, 2008. When it comes to alternative leadership, many Kenyans are quick to mention names like Maina Kiai, Mutava Musyimi, Wangari Maathai, John Githongo and so forth. Has anyone looked at parliament in search for alternative leadership or does Kenya truly have a Barack Obama within our midst? Me thinks there is! Information and Communication minister, who is also the ODM-K MP for Kacheliba , Samuel Losurwon Poghisio is one such person. He also happens to be the latest Kenyan to declare his interest to run for presidency in 2012, presumably on ODM-K ticket. In an elaborate series of thanksgiving and homecoming ceremonies in West Pokot district last week, Sam Poghisio not only announced his intention to run for president in 2012 but was also seemingly ‘endorsed’ by ODM-K party leader and V-P Kalonzo Musyoka, himself an interested party to the presidential ticket. Sources reveal that before making this announcement, Poghisio has since late last year held deep consultations with Pokot elders, local MPs and political personalities who matter in the Upper Rift Valley region who have all showered him with praise, paid glowing tribute to his lengthy public service record and unequivocally supported his noble intentions to go for the presidency. Some of them have been quoted asking why ex-President Moi did not see the potential in Poghisio early enough. Former Daystar University lecturer ‘Pogs’ (as he was popularly known by Daystar students) turns 50 this year and will be 54 by the next general elections in 2012. One of the longest serving MPs, Pogs was was first elected to parliament in 1988 at the age of 30 and has been consequently relected in 1992, 1997, 2002 and 2007. The 2007 general elections were most remarkable for Pogs, considering ODM swept most of the parliamentary seats in Kalenjin land. One of those that were spared was Kacheliba which elected an ODM-K MP, reputed to be the only one in the entire expansive Rift Valley province. Perhaps his strongest selling point is that, unlike most of the leading Rift Valley politicians, Poghisio is among the few moderate former KANU MPs who did not inherit their political mantles and remain largely untainted by corruption or ethnic cleansing allegations normally associated with bigwigs of the former ruling party. Interestingly, these KANU moderates, which featured the likes of the late Bonaya Godana and Robert Ouko, were generally acceptable to opposition supporters before and after the struggle of multi-party politics during those dark Moi days. Most of his colleagues in parliament cutting across political parties rate Poghisio very highly and civil servants who have had the pleasure to serve under his ministry describe him as a strict but amenable boss. Political analysts and a few Western diplomats believe a Poghisio presidency could help heal and unite the country. It could also offer the best chance for facilitation of fair, representative and acceptable constitutional reforms because, unlike ALL potential candidates from the so-called major tribes, Poghisio does not have any significant personality scores to settle with anybody in Kenya, and neither does he nor the Pokot people have any historical grievances that might cause a split in this country right down the middle. In other words, he carries no political burden that would work against him in the eyes of all Kenyan people. What are his REAL chances of being elected president of Kenya? To begin with, while still in ODM-K, Pogs has to contend with going beyond V-P Kalonzo Musyoka, who by virtue of being a sitting Vice President and the party’s former presidential candidate, has a huge headstart over Pogs. Even more challenging, the party is still in the hands of Daniel Maanzo who remains more of a Kalonzo ally than a Poghisio ally. Beyond Kalonzo lie national challenges. Mwai Kibaki, Daniel Arap Moi and Jomo Kenyatta were all elected and supposedly ‘re-elected’ to the presidency under varying circumstances. But if the truth be told, they had to use incumbency to manipulate things in their favour so as to win. Pogs faces an uphill task and unfortunately Western diplomats or leaders who have so far endorsed him do not provide the millions of votes required to win a presidential contest. One of the shortest ways to the the top of the political ladder is for Pogs to effectively market himself. And here, effective could mean staging a bloodless coup in ODK-K where he is already Chairman but his aim should be to take over and declare himself party leader. He has willing partners in the Kilonzos and Kubebea. Thereafter, he should immediately embark on establishing alliances with parties that can be sold countrywide as opposed to briefcase parties. As a former high school teacher and university lecturer, Pogs is a man of modest means and even then, hails from one of those tribes that most Kenyans have very little knowledge of except perhaps cattle rustling and other backward behaviour. The Pokots are sometimes considered to be non-Kenyans and are frequently derogated to join their Karamoja kinsmen in Uganda. One important aspect of any presidential campaign in Kenya is the ability of the respective candidates to marshall funds that can adequately finance a formidable campaign effort. A conservative budget for both party and candidate can be placed at Kshs. 5 billion. Is Pogs ready to raise and part with this mind-boggling amount considering it is a risk that carries no guarantee of winning? Controversy sells. As a politician who is on the threshold of his third decade in parliament, I bet he knows this very well. As a Pokot MP, he has courted many controversies, just like his mentor Francis Lotodo. But West Pokot District is not the same a platform as national politics. Poghiso will need to adopt radical positions (similar to what Raila Odinga, Martha Karua and William Ruto have done) so as to capture the national psyche. With the constitutional referendum coming up, it is a perfect opportunity for Pogs associate himself with the push for anything that identifies with the masses in West Pokot and the country at large (eg. devolution or parliamentary system) and then openly and radically push for its enactment in the final draft. Poghisio belongs to the Nilotic Pokot sub-tribe of the Kalenjin who occupy the West Pokot and Baringo Districts of Rift Valley, Kenya and also in Eastern Karamoja on the Ugandan side of the border. There are less than 150,000 registered voters in the entire West Pokot district comprising three constituencies of Kacheliba, Kapenguria and Sigor. He is already popular enough in West Pokot, he needs to extend this popularity in to neighbouring districts and eventually to the larger Rift Valley so as to be at par with, if not greater than, the William Rutos of this world. In 2002, Mwai Kibaki’s election not only brought an end to KANU’s 40 years grip on power but it also successfully united the country as never seen since the formation of FORD in 1992. If any of the two leading political parties (ODM and PNU) could put ethnicity aside in 2012, then form an alliance with ODM-K (assuming the party nominates Pogs) and all rally behind Poghisio’s run for presidency (like they did Kibaki’s), then Kenyans can begin to boast to belong to the same league of 'tribeless' societies like Tanzania. ODM- Kenya soon goes to its own retreat to discuss how it will comply with the provisions of the political parties act. Other than this challenge, the party will also have to discuss and resolve its future relationship with PNU and by extension the thorny issue of internal rebellion, as well as the recent declaration by its Chairman Samuel Popghisio that he is gunning for the presidency in 2012. Please ODM-K, do not let brother ‘Pogs’ be another Julia Ojiambo running mate circus!
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9:33
From: You Missed This
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Six Years on..........PNU allies finally see the true colour of FRAUD. And that is not a friendly gesture from the Iron Lady, is it?  Narc-Kenya Chairman Martha Karua (right) addresses the Press at the DP party headquarters after a meeting with other PNU affiliate parties officials in Nairobi on Wednesday. With her are Narc-Kenya secretary general Danson Mungatana, DP’s Wilfred Machage and the DP organising secretary Jacob Haji. Photo/STEPHEN MUDIARI (Nation Newspapers) The so-called PNU allies of President Kibaki have been screaming themselves hoarse after belately discovering that their very own PNU which was supposedly and strictly a party of parties (read statehouse vehicle), has recently been carjacked (literally) by a not so hooded group of politicians led by Kibaki himself and supported by loyalists Nyamwea, Wekesa, Thuo, Mugo and the whole lot of them. (The recently enacted political parties act 2008 does not allow for corporate membership in political parties.) The statement read by Karua’s sidekick Danson Mungatana said in part: "The PNU fraternity has a history of not respecting any agreements or MoUs like the 2002 Narc and now the failed 2007 PNU affiliate parties agreement,” It goes without saying, Kibaki is officially the only MP elected on a PNU ticket and therefore the words "PNU fraternity" are a direct reference to Kibaki himself! Where were the Mungatanas of this world when LDP were crying foul in 2003? Former PNU Affiliate parties are upset that the president is reneging on his pre-election promise not to convert PNU into a fully fledged political party and to respect the indepence of the affiliates. The president has been declared PNU party leader and he has also gone ahead and promised grassroot elections. As expected, this has alarmed FORD-K, DP, NARC-K and SAFINA who retorted with the now familiar line "......our support in parliament should not be taken for granted.” Why should Kibaki worry about parliament? He has a diligent Prime Minister who is in charge there, right? Curiously though, only a faction of KANU led by Uhuru Kenyatta are steadfast in their support for the actions of President Kibaki. By turning PNU into a political party, Kombo, Karua and Munyao have been left holding on to their skeleton parties since the majority of their own membership are opting to jump on to the PNU boat. But then, KKM are not alone. In the last elections, many politicians sacrificed their individual political careers the minute they took up "PNU fraternity" campaigns into their own localities. Nyachae, Tuju, Karume, Kombo, Munyao, Kibwana, Dzoro – to name but a few - all put their political lives on the line for PNU fraternity, but in the end, they were all discarded without second thought! Martha Karua gallantly defended a stolen election and was lead negotiator for the "PNU fraternity" in securing the presidency...but all indications are that she is now serving her last weeks as Justice & Constitutional Affairs Minister and soon after the forthcoming by-elections she may, at worst, find herself on the back bench and without any MPs supporting her NARC-Kenya bid for presidency. And this will be without second thought from the appointing authority. In retrospect, one sad experience was that of former Kibwezi MP Kalembe Ndile who was last year co-opted into the "PNU fraternity" presidential campaign team only to end up losing his parliamentary seat courtesy of the ODM-K wave. And to rub it in, "PNU fraternity" immediately entered into – you guessed it – another MOU with ODM-K who were hitherto fierce opponents of the "PNU fraternity". As if this was not enough, PNU failed to nominate Kalembe to parliament or even offer him a state appointment. Kalembe then made an attempt to be re-elected to parliament through the Embakasi by-elections, but even then, PNU fraternity had their own ideas in supporting Fedinand Waititu. Thank God, Kalembe has learnt his lesson, and it is a matter of time befroe Judas Iscariot Kalonzo Musyoka experiences his at the hands of “PNU fraternity.” This also conveniently gives Madame Pauline Musyoka a while to play fake philanthropist with funds sourced from state coffers on tax payer account! In the meantime, it is gratifying that the party in whose hands millions of Kenyans have placed their hopes – ODM – having learnt from the bitter experience of the 2003 NARC fraud, have made it impossible for the “PNU fraternity” to defraud us a second time and ensured that all agreements made were made legally binding through minor constitutional amendments. Business Africa: Unique stories to inspire you
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20:00
From: You Missed This
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The perils of living a political lie must be taking its heavy toll on Kibaki. With the political bills knocking, the opportunity wouldn’t have been more favourable to flex political muscles in managing own succession- autopolitisiasis. But alas! Kenyan political birds have discovered the feathers on the owl’s head and no amount of threat and misinformation that they are horns will wash. As Mungatana aptly put it PNU ran its course and the vehicle delivered its goods. It may be time to seek fresh business but not so fast when the passenger has just discovered the beauty and benefits of owning the car. Now that the wheels are claimed by everybody with eyes singularly trained in 2012 when Kibaki will be past his sell-by date, whom do you turn to for negotiation? Well, Kibaki has the power instruments of an incumbent and whether he wields that to beat everybody in line is proving to be politically very elusive. With DP throwing political tantrums at any available microphone, Kibaki finds himself with many political foes than friends. Mark you some of these people know him better than all of us put together and his penchant to ride on people’s back may prove to be his Achilles heels this time round. With Martha and co pissing from inside and daring both perceived and real political foes awaiting the President’s hand, the political road ahead can be anything but not smooth. Toothless political dog Four years is a lifetime in politics and Kibaki needs all his political associates lest he is left holding the leaking bath tub with the baby gone. The Gema votes are central to his political schemes and the same commodity pushes Kibaki between the hard rock and the political dark blue sea. The political concoction of Jomo Junior and Prof Kiarie Kinuthia complicates matters for the present heir presumptive. While the hand is crying to be exposed, the law and benefits of loyalty demands otherwise and in the process tension boils. So how do you rediscover your political teeth when the law of disuse have dispensed of the same? Well, the perils of living a political lie shrouded in deception is not sustainable and the facade may just be about to explode. The DP brigade knows better and with them lies some of the finest strategies to expose the King’s nudity. The time of political reckoning is here and the faint-hearted are in for the shock of their lives. Welcome to realpolitik made in Kenya as practiced by political scoundrels. Simply put PNU was a political fraud and the monster is coming back for its dues. Business stories to inspire you
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20:29
From: You Missed This
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This is the only subject I'll ever write twice on.
About two weeks ago, I humbly proposed that our leaders, President Mwai Kibaki, Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, call Kenyans to Uhuru Park and lead the nation in a national day of forgiveness. I did so because it's evident that there comes a time when justice just isn't the answer.
Before you attack me for being naive, let me say that I understand the need for the rule of law and justice to be the guiding light in all our national endeavours and interactions. But I also think that at this point we've all sank so deep in a hole that justice can't pull us out of. In the interest of fostering the spirit of forgiveness, I won't drop any names of the people our nation feels have wronged us. I will, however, draw a map of what a bright future would look like if we started off at the point of brotherly embrace.
Why Forgiveness?
Kenyans have stored pain in their hearts. Most of our fellow countrymen were witnesses to the murderous rampage that washed away any of our claim to innocence...after the elections. Children saw their parents killed, brothers saw their fathers kill, mothers cried as their sons failed to return home, and daughters wailed when their husbands' bodies were found in a trench somewhere. The psychological impact of what Kenyans dealt with will never go away just because a couple of boys are tried and locked up or killed. The only way to deal with a matter like this is to call friends and foes together and watch as they embrace in a spirit of forgiveness.
The matters that need to be forgiven are murders, assassinations, corruption, detention without trial, tribalism, and all the wrongs that have been committed against Kenyans by our leaders of the past. But while our leaders own up to their wrongs, we as Kenyans must also own up to the fact that we've failed to b | |
