CHAMA CHA MWANANCHI, SOCIALIST

KENYA’S LEADING SOCIAL DEMOCRATS

Archive for October, 2007

CCM NOMINATIONS: GENERAL ELECTIONS 2007

Posted by SG on October 31, 2007

Fellow Kenyans;

Time has come to go back and redraw our political future forwards or backwards. The direction we shall take, as much as we like or dislike, the outcome will depend on how we cast our votes come december 27th 2007. We in CCM are taking part in the coming elections by fielding Parliamentary and Civic cadidates. We shall field as many caditates as we can.

 As a newly registered party we had no time to prepare and field a presidential candidate but we have left it open for our members to vote for any of the aspiring candidates of their individual choice.  As a party, ideologically, we do not relate to any of the aspiring cadidates since they are not social democrats.   The electoral field is unfair to CCM since we lack financial strength. But as a party that stands for the rights of the common wananchi we do not welcome the corrupt in our party just because they have money. Our nomination fees are the lowest. For civic aspirants its ksh 2,000 and for parliamentary aspirants its sh. 10,000. Women aspirants are given a special consideration if they come from the maginalised areas and cannot aford the nomination fee.

Kenyans living abroad and willing to participate in the nomination can do that on line through our email address but be in the country before 13th November 2007 to take part in the nomination exercise. If one has a fellow CCM member willing to vie for the same sit in same ward or constituency there shall be voting by members to determine the winner to be nominated by the party. For more information one can reach the secretary General on tel +254 727 20 95 97.  

 Or write an email. chamachamwananchiccm@gmail.com. To understand what our party stands for you can read our manifesto and constitution in this blog. You can also send us emails and opinions. You can also apply for membership online and get your membership also online.

Let us join hands and create a strong ideological party. A party that has a vision for the betterment of the lives of the majority poor Kenyans. Together, we can make Kenya a better country for all of us. We can build a new Kenya led by new patritotic citizens.  CCM is not just a party for “elections” but for a brighter future. See you there creating history.

CCM Secretary General

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Unguarded tongues, Sad, really

Posted by SG on October 31, 2007

Unguarded tongues sink many a good man’s career

Published on October 31, 2007, 12:00 am

By Muthoni Thang’wa

Watch your idle thoughts, people, for what grows in your heart eventually finds its way to your tongue.

It is amazing how a word, an action or an expression can reveal a person’s innermost thoughts when they let their guard down for a moment.

Heroes are not made by the way it all begins, but by the way it all ends.

Mr James Watson, Nobel laureate turned racist dunce, is a sterling example of how a peek into your heart can reveal what you have been thinking all along, after years of playing the fair, just, aloof professional.

One day, something snaps and you reveal that innermost feeling that you may have had through the years, but couldn’t express freely because your position would not allow it.

I believe it is a peek into the heart since in the case of Watson it cannot be his mind. This is a guy who 45 years ago broke down the structure and properties of DNA, the hereditary material in humans and many other organisms. He is definitely not one of those racists that we can say has a hole in the head.

(When it is suspected that a racist has a hole in the head they are usually forgiven since filling up a void in nature is best left to nature, and what nature has been unable to fill, when it is so reputed to hate vacuums, humans can only labour in vain to fill.)

Watson retired in ignominy last week from the Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory, a New York think-tank that deals with genetic research, after a London newspaper reported him saying he can only foresee gloom and doom for Africa. Why? The reason he gave was something to the effect that all Western policies for advancement are drawn on the premise that the people of the world have equal intelligence, but according to him, that was just not true of Africans. To boost his honesty as a scientist he claimed “testing indicated so”.

This ‘testing’ remains unknown to his American peers and a good majority of the rest of world given that the Federation of American Scientists issued a statement indicating that the comments had no basis in science and, therefore, must have been a personal view.

Sad, really, considering that the world honoured the guy — along with two other scientists — with a Nobel Prize for medicine in 1962. Not that the award is the best judge of brains, human nature or character: it only points out outstanding human achievement in service to humanity.

The Nobel is an award that is supposed to go to the best of the best. We won’t go into whether this year’s winner, former US vice-president Mr Al Gore, deserved it, but it has in the past ignored deserving candidates. To imagine that Mahatma Gandhi was nominated five times (for the more prestigious Peace prize), but never won the award, can only go to make the rest of us see just how ‘excellent’ the awardees are supposed to be.

Ironically, Watson’s work on genetic makeup is an evolutionary milestone that indicates that humans are all the same biologically since they are all made of the same stuff.

His statement might as such be investigated under his other greatest achievements: his contribution to the understanding of mental illness.

Remembered for his racist comments

Now thanks to his comments, it might be that Watson will be best remembered for his racist comments. The guy is 79 and is unlikely to carry out any more shocking ‘tests’ for the world to reel at. In his final hours he will earn a very prominent place in the racist bible. What a crying shame!

Closer home our very own Dr Newton Kulundu, the Minister for Labour, may have been doing some ‘tests’ too and in them he discovered that America and the United Kingdom were the biggest abusers of human rights, democracy and transparency.

He did not hesitate to point out the same to a gathering that was hosted by, and included, the United States Ambassador to Kenya, Mr Michael Ranneberger.

Amazingly, Kulundu still extended his hand for a shake after his speech and got a real good snub for his efforts.

This was an interesting confrontation given the players: One is a politician, the other a diplomat. Politics I’m told doesn’t always attract honest types or people with an excess of integrity. Even if they are straight-shooting to start with, that is cured after a term in Parliament.

Diplomats, on the other hand, are supposed to be the polished lot, showing the utmost decorum even in the face of diplomatic adversity.

The politician and diplomat were at the function discussing an issue that, just like racism, should by now have been stamped out. The illicit trade and traffic in human beings, for one form or other of exploitation, is unfortunately still alive and well.

Research shows that Kenya is a source, transit and breeding point for trafficking humans, especially women and children. Our mega-earner tourist industry is also to blame for the thriving of this slavery.

Sadly, some idle thoughts nursed in Kulundu’s brain found way to his tongue and journalists promptly forgot the meeting’s agenda.

We seem to know the ills so well, slavery and racism, now we need a think tank to find the cure.

The writer (mthangwa@hotmail.com) is a curator at the Karen Blixen Museum

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Poverty too real says Prof Nyong’o

Posted by SG on October 31, 2007

COMMENTARY

The increase in poverty is only too real, Mr Mwale

Story by PETER ANYANG’ NYONG’O
Publication Date: 10/31/2007

FOR SAM MWALE WHO WORKS in State House and probably does not walk to work or buy his lunch, the increase in poverty in Kenya over the last five years is a myth. 

For Sam Njuguna Njoroge who lives in Kangemi and walks to the industrial area to eke out a living and only eats one meal a day, the increase in poverty is a reality he has to confront daily.

In 2002, the cost of a kilo of maize-flour was Sh20; today it is Sh32.50. In the same period, the price of bread has increased from Sh18 to Sh30; sugar from Sh43 to Sh70; kerosene from Sh34 to Sh55; super petrol from Sh55 to Sh75, and tomatoes from Sh33 to Sh55. In poor neighbourhoods like Kangemi where tenants are vulnerable to greedy landlords, rents have more than doubled.

All these price increases are occurring when salaries among the lower classes are stagnant, informal sector jobs are disappearing, and growth in the economy is affecting very few sectors such as construction, leisure, and services where job opportunities are very limited.

THERE ARE TWO THINGS I DID AS minister for Planning and National Development, and when I warned Kenyans very early about what I called the dangers of jobless growth. 

One was that as we started the process of economic recovery, industries which “had gone to sleep” during the Nyayo era due to the hostile business environment would now “wake up” to re-employ the same number of people they had dismissed and not necessarily expand their capital base.

The second was that in this era of sophisticated technology, an industry like construction can bloom and show us wonders but employ relatively very few people. 

The glossy buildings in the new financial and administrative district in the Upper Hill area of Nairobi perhaps use a lot of prefab material as compared to the tenements put up in Mathare North. The latter provides much more work for those urgently in need of money.

Kenya needs massive investments in public works and lower income housing to provide real jobs for the needy and to register real economic growth.

When we launched our report on Pulling Apart with the Society for International Development in 2005, Mr Mwale was still an economic advisor in the Ministry of Planning and National Development. 

In this report, we noted that social and economic inequalities had actually increased, and hence poverty had increased. We did this as a reality check for our development process. It was a wake-up call for us to think about issues of growth with equity and not simply to glorify growth for its own sake.

The report on Pulling Apart was very candid. Having revised our measurement of GDP in line with international standards, the GDP measurement was re-based and automatically moved upwards without changing the reality on the ground. This had an automatic positive influence on GDP per capita, per capita incomes, debt as a percentage of GDP, etc, making us appear better off than we really were. As minister, I explained this very clearly to Kenyans. I did not want us to claim easy victories as this Government is now fond of doing. 

In any case, a 46 per cent poverty level is not something to be proud of. 

Mr Mwale says that there has been increase in investments in agriculture. The current budget tells a different story. More money has been put into “Youth Affairs” than in Agriculture. 

The nebulous Special Programmes ministry guzzles more money than Agriculture!

The Western part of this country boasts of tea, sugar, fish, dairy, and horticultural production. Currently it has no road connection with Nairobi or Mombasa. 

Mr Mwale should try travelling by road from Eldoret to Kisumu. If he could visit the Muhoroni, Chemelil and Miwani sugar-belt, he will discover that there are no access roads into the sugar plantations in both dry and wet weather.

It could easily be the case that this Government does not need to fight poverty in these areas!

I WOULD ALSO LIKE MR MWALE TO provide Kenyans with data on rural electrification constituency by constituency. It is interesting to compare rural electrification connectivity in North, South and Central Imenti with Igembe and Tigania, and even more interesting to compare the connectivity in the three Imentis with that of Karachuonyo, Kuria and Laisamis.

When we talk about the eradication of poverty, the devil is always in the details. Life is not a dress rehearsal; we live concretely today. Let us all share the burden of building our economy while ensuring that we fight poverty by fairly using and distributing national resources.

Prof Nyong’o is ODM secretary-general and former minister for Planning and National Development

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SOMALIA HOSTILITIES WORSEN

Posted by SG on October 31, 2007

East Africa: Developments At the Horn Quite Worrying

The Nation (Nairobi)
 

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Nairobi

Events are unfolding in the Horn Africa region in which Kenya should have an abiding interest, but it would seem matters so crucial to our foreign policy and security are playing second fiddle to the current preoccupation with electioneering.

In neighbouring Somalia, a rift between President Abdullahi Yusuf and Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Ghedi this week forced the resignation of the latter, threatening the stability of a government already struggling for survival against widespread insurgency.

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In Sudan, earlier, the southern representatives to the national government in Khartoum were pulled out in a dramatic escalation of tensions that threatened the fragile peace agreement which ended decades of civil war.

Kenya was conspicuously silent when those developments were taking place. This is strange considering the central role played by the country in brokering both the Sudan peace agreement and also the talks that established the interim government in Somalia.

Both Sudan and Somalia remain essential planks of our foreign policy, and are also of great strategic, security and commercial interest.

South Sudan, for instance, is an exciting new frontier for Kenya’s trade and industry. This country also happens to be fast developing as the natural gateway to a region blessed with vast potential. There is no telling what harm a resurgence of hostilities between north and south would do to our interests.

Relevant Links

In Somalia, Kenya played a key role in helping establish the interim government. It also quietly supported the Ethiopian military offensive that checked the advance of the radical Islamists, seen as surrogates for international terrorist groups.

Thus, Kenya cannot afford to sit back and watch with disinterest internal feuds that weaken the Somali government, for the alternative may be a comeback of the radicals.

A hostile administration in Somalia with links to global terrorism is something Kenya should not countenance, for such a regimen would pose a direct and very real threat to our national security.

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PNU NOMINATIONS STAND OFF

Posted by SG on October 31, 2007

PNU in standoff over joint nominations

Published on October 31, 2007, 12:00 am

By Caroline Mango

A day after President Kibaki stepped in to solve the nomination standoff in his Party of National Unity (PNU), sharp division among affiliate parties still persist.

This emerged even as PNU’s presidential co-ordinating team led by its chairman and Cabinet minister, Mr Mutua Katuku, indicated on Tuesday that parties, which fail to participate in the joint nominations might be locked out of the alliance.

Katuku told The Standard that “joint nominations” was the final decision that parties under the PNU must follow as agreed, in an exercise to be supervised by the Electoral Commission of Kenya.

Even though Kibaki had reportedly told the daylong meeting at State House on Monday that they must go for joint nominations, parties came out of yesterday’s meeting reading from different scripts.

Whereas PNU supporters expected Kibaki’s intervention to solve the standoff, the party seems headed for greater divisions.

“The President’s message was clear. That all internal wrangles within parties and alliance be solved immediately and that all parties go through joint nominations,” said a minister at Monday’s meeting.

“However, things are proving to be extremely difficult in PNU because even after the Monday meeting, some party leaders are speaking a different language,” said a Narc-Kenya official.

Vice-President, Mr Moody Awori, who chaired another meeting of the PNU council yesterday morning, said they were still deliberating on the thorny issue.

Speaking at his Jogoo House office in Nairobi, Awori said they had not concluded the deliberations and that talks were still going on.

“We have not concluded on the nominations. But there is nothing controversial, only that these things go slowly,’’ he said.

Members of the PNU council present during the Press briefing included former MPs Mr Justin Muturi, Mr Moses Wetangula, DP secretary general, Mr George Nyamweya and Mr Lee Karuri of Kibaki Tena lobby group.

Field candidates

The alliance’s co-ordinating team is set to name officials of the Elections Board, on Wednesday.

DP vice-chairman, Mr Joseph Munyao, who also attended Monday’s meeting, said his was for individual nominations.

“Our agreement as a party to field parliamentary and civic candidates is in accordance with the Political Parties Bill,” said Munyao.

“There is no bargain on the fact that parties must keep their identities. I do not know about the other parties in PNU, but that is the final position of DP,” he said.

Shirikisho party leader, Mr Chirau Ali Mwakwere, said the Constitution allows for corporate membership.

“Shirikisho must hold its preliminary party nominations. Then we can face the rest after that. But as a party, we are already on our nomination dates and deadlines,” he added.

Assistant minister, Mr Danson Mungatana said there was a lot of confusion in the alliance, at a time when many thought the problems would be solved after Monday.

“There are meetings still going on. There is a lot of confusion, but people are meeting on the issue,” he said.

Cabinet minister, Mr Suleiman Shakombo, said some parties in the coalition were not sincere.

“So many parties have come up purporting to be behind Kibaki. Those who do not agree to joint nominations have sinister motives,” he said.

Shakombo, who is the Narc-Kenya vice-chairman, said only Kanu has been exempted from joint nominations.

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Wambui’s 5 children, are they Kibaki’s?

Posted by SG on October 28, 2007

the interview
Mary Wambui on marriage, Hillary Clinton and life

Published on October 25, 2007, 12:00 am

Othaya political activist Mary Wambui spoke to Election Platform writer Lucianne Limo about her passion for philanthropy and her marital status.

EP: Are you married?

MW: Yes! And please don’t ask me to whom. Just understand I am somebody’s wife.

EP: Are you married to President Mwai Kibaki?

MW: I am not saying anything. Those who know whether I am a wife [to the President] or not are my parents and the President’s parents. Unfortunately they are all dead. Let the people judge for themselves.

EP: Then what kind of relationship do you have with the President?

MW: I like him and he is my MP from Othaya, where I come from.

EP: You have been involved in charity work all over the country. Where do you get so much money?

MW: I am a farmer and I like to share the little I get from my farm. Sometimes I am lucky to get a few donations from other well-wishers.

EP: Tell us about your professional background?

MW: I am a teacher by profession. I taught at Mukima Primary School in Laikipia District and Cheetah Primary School in Timau in the early 1970s.

EP: What do you think of your daughter marrying one of the controversial Armenian brothers, Artur Margaryan? Is the marriage still on?

MW: As a parent and within the confines of my culture, am not supposed to poke my nose into the personal affairs of my children. If my child wants to get married, it is her prerogative to approach me and tell me that she is intending to get married and to who. I cannot be checking whom my daughter is dating. And she has never told me that she is getting married.

EP: Are you okay being referred to as “Othaya Narc activist”? Or is it now “PNU activist”? Why?

MW: I don’t know why am called whatever activist. I have never considered myself as one. After leaving the teaching profession I set camp at the Kanu office in Nyeri and that is how I started getting a few names. They started referring to me as Wambui wa Kanu.

EP: What drives you into such massive charity work?

MW: I just am a passionate philanthropist. Am happy sharing what I have with the poor in the society.

EP: Is it true you have political ambitions?

MW: I have never harboured any political ambition neither am I a politician nor plan to be one.

EP: Your public appearances have diminished in recent months. Why?

MW: I decided to take some rest for a few weeks to regain strength to campaign for the Government more vigorously.

EP: Have you contemplated President Kibaki losing in the coming polls?

MW: Never! He is not going to loose. I have faith and a lot of confidence that he will win the elections in a landslide majority because of his development record. He introduced CDF. No. Kenyans will definitely vote for Kibaki.

EP: Who are your role models?

MW: President Kibaki and Mrs Hillary Clinton.

The President, because he is a humble man and does not condone corruption. Hillary is a great woman because she forgave her husband even when he was culpable for unfaithfulness.

EP: What are your happiest moments?

MW: When I read the Bible or when am alone with God in prayer.

EP: What of your saddest moment?

MW: When I see people suffer for whatever reason.

EP: What is your favourite food and drink?

MW: I love traditional foods like mukimo and tea.

EP: How do you unwind after a hard day’s work?

MW:I swim in my pool at home.

EP: Where do you live?

MW: Lavington Green Estate in Nairobi.

EP: What is you typical day like?

MW: I wake up early and exercise until 9 O’clock, take my breakfast then off to the office in Lavington Shopping Centre to attend to people. Other times I go to my farm in–.

EP: How many children and grandchildren do you have?

MW: I have five children whose names am not willing to share with you — and six grandchildren.

EP: Do you have a motto?

MW: In order to live a good and fulfilling life, do not be jealous or proud.

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Some people have been pretending to be very brave

Posted by SG on October 28, 2007

Leave my wife alone, Tutui tells politicians

Published on October 24, 2007, 12:00 am

By Isaac Ongiri

Kajiado politician, Mr Patrick ole Tutui, whose wife was recently appointed to the Electoral Commission, now wants the Opposition to leave her alone.

Speaking at Olodokilani in Kajiado on Tuesday, Tutui criticised politicians who, he said, were fighting ‘innocent’ women.

He said his wife, Pamela, deserved the appointment since she had the credentials and wondered what her critics were after.

“Some people have been pretending to be very brave. But what is the measure of that courage if it can only be used to fight a woman?” he asked.

He told politicians not to politicise his wife’s appointment. Tutui said his activities should not be used to hinder his wife from advancing her career and serving Kenyans.

The politician, who is challenging ODM’s Mr Joseph Nkaissery for the Kajiado Central seat, said presidential candidates, Mr Raila Odinga and Mr Kalonzo Musyoka, who opposed the appointment, were jealous.

He told the Maasai and women to vote out those opposed to women’s progress.

“They said Mrs Tutui is related to a PNU politician. My politics has nothing to do with a lawyer who is going to serve Kenyans with dedication,” Tutui told a rally at Indopa Primary School.

But Nkaissery told the Maasai not to celebrate the appointment, saying Tutui was a Kamba and not from the community.

“The Maasai and the people of Kajiado Central got nothing out of the appointment. If the President wanted to give the position to the Maasai, we have enough Maasai professionals,” he said.

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KAJWANG Master of platitudes

Posted by SG on October 28, 2007

political satire
Meet Kajwang’, MP for the constituency called Raila O

Published on October 25, 2007, 12:00 am

By Tony Mochama

It was not very nice of the true luminaries of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) to leave poor Otieno Kajwang’ (Mbita MP, ODM MCee, X-LLB (2nd Class Dis. Hons) so long in the spotlight 10 days ago during their Kibaki Toka launch.

Spotlight? More like the hot sun of Uhuru Park, as the jolly clown from Mbita went about his duties with all the enthusiasm of a frog with a sudden rainfall.

Kajwang’ must have sang his solo hit mapambano about a dozen times as the 400,000-strong ODM throng waited for their Orange double-decker bus to State House to arrive before he was rescued by fellow noisemaker Bishop Her Holier-Than-Thou-Ness Jiggers-on-the-Fingers Dr Margaret Wanjiru (no doubt soon-to-be Professor) and her loud Pharisaic exhortations to the Lord to abide with ODM (does the Almighty vote or support one Kenyan party over another? Hmmmmmm).

Vijana musilale, bado mapambano, mapambano, mapambano, MC Kajwang’ sang until he sounded like a broken gramophone, or a scratched CD. That’s a completely redundant chorus for there’s no way anyone is going to kulala with such a racket going on.

Kajwang’ likes to sing and talk like a chatterbox — at great length with maximum prolixity. Just ask our poor parliamentary correspondents who have often been cornered at the tent in Parliament where Kajwang’ lurks, laying siege to journalists to give them his “side of the story” — and a piece of Raila’s mind.

From lawyer to lowly poet, from court advocate to court poet, Kajwang’ certainly cannot say he has had a “quiet and uneventful” life in his half century on the planet earth.

Prince’s ransoms

Not that it was an artistic call or soul that saw him leave the “sharp practice”, rather it was a phone-call from the Advocates’ Complaint Commission that preceded his being struck off the Roll of Advocates in the year 2000, although, weirdly, the man blamed his woes on then Vice President George Saitoti.

At least Saitoti’s Goldenberg cases, of which he was acquitted, involved billions. By comparison, the Honourable Kajwang’ was said to have done KCB, a client, out of Sh185,000, a petty theft really, and strange when one considers that MPs’ salaries, although not the prince’s ransoms they are now, were still a healthy Sh370,000 a month.

But that is Otieno Kajwang’ for you, a fellow said to usually be broke-for-no-apparent-reason, he who no longer practices (law) but preaches (Raila’s merits), preaches water, drinks wine (and hot liquors). A friend of mine called Clay once said Kajwang’ could not even buy an iced tea for him once. Parsimony as practiced on the purse strings of the non-pusillanimous.

Yes, Kajwang’ is certainly very outspoken when it comes to speaking out for his party leader, even more than for his own impoverished Mbita constituents. So much so that a foreigner, on hearing that Raphael Tuju is the MP for Rarieda, may say, “Oh I see. And Hon Kajwang’ is the MP for Raila?”

Kajwang’, assuming he is not just a learned friend but also well read (and I’m not talking song lyrics) may smile and quote Lenin in his defence. “We cannot be guided by the moods of the masses [of Mbita]“, and also quote Rudyard Kipling, winner of Nobel Prize in Literature in 1907, a century before Doris Lessing won it this year, “No doubt but ye [Raila Odinga] are the people, your throne is above the King’s [His Excellency Mwai Kibaki]. He who speaks in your presence must say only acceptable things”.

Away from the poetic to the more prosaic (and what is more prosaic than money?) it was therefore surprising that the then LDP entrusted a prone-to-pecuniary-embarrassment individual like Kajwang’ with money to oil the palms of the supporters of an LDP candidate for Parliament. That was a brave one by LDP.

Now a smiling Kajwang’ swung voters’ slush cash and was captured on camera “bribing” them outside a church.

Expelled from the University of Nairobi in 1979 for leading a strike, Kajwang’ simply crossed over to Uganda, where he finished his law course at Makerere in 1982, the year of the attempted coup.

Not that Kajwang’ will ever abandon the good ship HMS Odinga. Fish in Mbita? Kajwang’s greatest outrage over the people he represents was when that clergyman turned politician, the Very Reverend Mutava Musyimi, made remarks about the CDF cash that Kajwang’ found not just irreverent but irrelevant. “He should stop making unnecessary comments about the CDF kitty”, Kajwang’ said, ticked off about Musymi’s complaints about the Fund.

Intestinal property

Of course, in politics, the stomach counts for more than the brain, and it is a no-brainer to see why Kajwang’ wanted to protect his intestinal property [the CDF], although at times it does seem like many MPs’ thoughts originate from the colon as opposed to the medulla oblongata, as a learned man from Mbita may be wont to say.

Of course Mbita will remain in many Kenyans’ memories as the place where we saw some Kenyans fondling a GK vehicle early this year like prepubescent boys who have just encountered what Linah Jebii would call five-year-sucklers. When Raila was Roads minister, why did he not throw his perennial sycophant a by-pass or two? Only Lamu is allowed to operate with one vehicle, as the Official Land of Donkey Dung.

Cars haunt Kajwang’ like molasses spectres.

In his first term as Mbita Member of Parliament, (or when he was still a lawyer), Otieno Kajwang’, furious that Embakasi MP David Mwenje had questioned where he got money to buy a second-hand vehicle, laid siege to the midget. So that if Kajwang’ were to say “Can you dare repeat that outside of Parliament?” other legislators should pay heed and beware the bite of a toothless sssark!!

But Kajwang’s real May Day was that sad day in May when he lost LDP grass-roots elections. Shortly thereafter, Raila Odinga surfaced in Kajwang’s backyard and said: “Kwach onindo ethim gitong wuod nyanam koro mani uru lisasi gi bunde ma en kura gi kipande mondo ukonya lweny”, which roughly translates into something about a wounded leopard who must not be fought.

Master of platitudes

But Kajwang’ does not evoke images of a leopard. And when he said Raila was “horrified that friends can turn against him”, the man may have been referring to his declining fortunes in the Mbita area, salvaged from being savaged only due to his talents as singer and sycophant.

Kajwang has licked Raila’s boots so hard and so long his tongue has turned from pink to cobbler’s black. And when he grows up, he will surely be a master of platitudes even more eloquent than Oloo Aringo in his halcyon days.

But when he next sings mapambano, he may want to consider that the only kijana who has slept on the core job of being an MP is himself and that the only person he is wrestling, like Jacob in the Bible, is himself.

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ANTI US TALKS INCREASE

Posted by SG on October 28, 2007

 By Charo Fondo

DURING his visit to Mombasa a few weeks ago, the US Ambassador, Mr Michael Ranneberger, gave an address titled ‘Democracy, Diversity and Development’.

Towards the end of this speech, he referred to a number of “American experiences that may shed light on the challenges Kenyans face”.

It was when he got to the fifth such experience that he mentioned something that has since proved to be the only thing many remember about that speech.

His exact words were: “Fifth, the US and Kenyan experiences highlight the generally positive impact of generational change on the evolution of democratic societies.”

Seen in isolation like that, this statement seems uncontroversial enough. But it was clarified even further when he added: “In coming years — note that I am not referring to this election — the generational change under way in Kenya will provide opportunities to enhance the democratic system by dealing more boldly and effectively with three of the great challenges confronting it: the need to overcome tribally-based politics, corruption and gender inequity”.

I quote from this speech at length merely to leave no doubt in any reader’s mind that this was nothing more than the sort of thing you would expect a well-informed diplomat from a friendly nation to say. It is what many Kenyan political leaders have repeated over and over again, in different ways and at different times.

But in this case, these words soon acquired a power of their own, because they were interpreted by some within President Kibaki’s re-election campaign team as a clear sign that the US proposes to throw its weight behind the President’s most formidable (and younger) challenger, Mr Raila Odinga.

That so much could be made of so little; that this speech, significant as it admittedly was, should have been assessed in such detail and finally misrepresented so completely, raises an interesting question: What does this tell us about that campaign?

For not only was this misinterpreted statement taken as cause for offence by some campaigning for the President’s re-election, but it led directly to a demonstration in Nairobi. The protest ended at the memorial park dedicated to those who lost their lives during the 1998 terrorist bombing of the US Embassy, where a US flag was burnt by the protestors.

Psychology of the average voter

One question it poses is this: Is it really possible for a foreign power to determine the outcome of our General Elections? If, indeed, the US or any other country wanted to impose ‘generational change’ in this country, or even ‘regime change’, could they do this at will, and without openly invading the country to overthrow the Government? Could such a change be brought about simply through influencing an election?

Let us consider the psychology of the average voter: As that man or woman lines up to vote, can we really say that they are oppressed by a sense of futility, believing that the outcome does not depend on them casting a vote, but rather on decisions already made by some powerful outsiders as to who will be the next President of Kenya?

Far from this, the 2002 General Election showed clearly that Kenyan voters deeply resented the assumption on the part of former President Moi, that it was up to him to select his successor.

So, if the Kenyan voter certainly does not feel threatened by outside forces, how do we explain the reaction of some parts of President Kibaki’s re-election team to the Ambassador’s speech? I would say that it shows a striking lack of confidence as well as laziness by these campaigners. It reveals serious doubt in their minds that their candidate will prevail in the presidential election.

Walking down a Nairobi street and burning an American flag is easy. Conducting a serious grassroots campaign is hard work. As they obviously prefer the easy option.

What should be even more worrying to those who wish to see President Kibaki re-elected, is that this tendency by his supporters to accuse the US of all manner of evil, seems to be a growing trend. Consider the recent incident in which the Minister for Labour, Dr Newton Kulundu, declared that Britain and the United States were the world’s leading offenders in matters of human rights.

Both in tone and content, those off-the-cuff remarks seemed more like a settling of scores, and a continuation of the hostility towards the US that has come to characterise some of the President’s supporters.

The writer is a Mombasa businessman

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27 Dec 2007 election day.

Posted by SG on October 26, 2007

Published on October 26, 2007, 12:00 am

By Kipkirui K’Telwa

Kenya’s next General Election will be held on Thursday December 27, the Electoral Commission of Kenya chairman, Mr Samuel Kivuitu has said.

Last Monday, President Kibaki dissolved Parliament paving the way for the Speaker of the National Assembly Mr Francis Ole Kaparo to issue a writ declaring all the 210 parliamentary seats vacant.

Addressing the Press at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, Nairobi, on Friday, Kivuitu said: “The members were elected on December 27 2002 (and) the ECK is now bound by the Constitution and the Law to conduct elections to fill those vacancies”.

The ECK boss, whose tenure of office ends on December 2, also set the formal presidential nominations for November 14 and 15 while the parliamentary nominations shall be conducted on November 23 and 24.

“The Constitution provides that once Parliament is dissolved, election must also be held in respect of the office of the President. Hence, we shall also hold elections for the office of the President,” said Kivuitu.

He revealed that 14,248,838 Kenyans registered as voters and out of these, 7,541,382 are male with 6,707,142 being female. Interestingly, 314 people who registered did not identify their sex.

“These figures are exclusive of voters who registered between September 16 and October 23,” he said adding that the newly registered voters will participate in the December polls.

He revealed that 188,222 persons registered as voters more than once.

Saying these persons are not included in the voters registers, Kivuitu revealed that ECK will supply all the polling stations with “the lists of the names of these persons so that in case they attempt to vote, they would be handed over to the police”.

Even as Kivuiti made known the election date, ODM presidential candidate Mr Raila Odinga has maintained the lead in the opinion polls released by Steadman Group on Friday.

Raila comes ahead of President Kibaki of PNU and ODM-Kenya’s Mr Kalonzo Musyoka.

The latest opinion poll ratings put Raila at 50 per cent, Kibaki at 39 per cent while Kalonzo comes third with 8 percent. Raila, who stood at 53 per cent two weeks ago, has dropped three points while Kibaki moved one point to touch 39.

On the other hand, Kalonzo has maintained the same eight per cent mark that he had in previous poll ratings.

The majimbo issue has also emerged as a key election issue with 38 percent of those polled feeling it should be introduced against 44 per cent who are against it.

Meanwhile, Kivuitu has said he is prepared to retire at the expiry of his term on December 2. Fielding questions from journalists at KICC on Friday soon after announcing election date, Kivuitu said he has set his mind on organising a successful General Election and expressed confidence that all would be in place by the time he departs the ECK, should the President fail to renew his contract.

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Majimbo a danger to peace says Catholics.

Posted by SG on October 26, 2007

NEWS

ODM and Catholics clash over majimbo

Story by ODHIAMBO ORLALE and BERNARD NAMUNANE
Publication Date: 10/26/2007

The Catholic Church has asked Kenyans to reject the majimbo system of government proposed by ODM and ODM Kenya.

 

The position taken by the church immediately put it on a collision course with the Orange parties which have said they will implement the system if they win the December polls.

On Thursday, ODM-K presidential candidate Kalonzo Musyoka and ODM presidential running mate Musalia Mudavadi described the church’s position as strange.

According to Mr Mudavadi, the Catholics’ stand was different from the position the church adopted during the 2005 referendum on the proposed Constitution. The church did not take a stand during the referendum.

Mr Mudavadi asked: “Why is the Catholic church now taking sides on matters of this nature? ODM believes that a federal system would not divide the people, so it is not true for the church to come out in public and deny that they are supporting any party or candidate.”

On Thursday, after reading a pastoral letter signed by 25 Catholic bishops, Cardinal-designate John Njue said majimboism (federalism) would be disastrous for Kenya.

He said the church would continue to support a unitary system, which has been in place since independence 44 years ago.

Addressing a press conference at the Resurrection Garden in Nairobi’s Karen area, the archbishop said: “Just because we don’t support majimboism does not mean we support any political party.”

Archbishop Njue, also the chairman of the Kenya Episcopal Conference, spoke soon after reading a four-page pastoral letter in which the church with 10 million members said it had taken a stand against majimbo as a matter of principle.

“We believe it will be disastrous if we go that way (majimbo)…we are going by the principles we uphold,” the Cardinal-designate said.

But Mr Musyoka faulted the Cardinal-designate and the bishops for the decision to openly oppose majimbo. 

He argued that his party was advocating for “economic federalism” which meant devolution of resources and services to the grassroots.

“While I have a lot of respect for the Cardinal and bishops, I am inviting them to read chapter 14 of the Bomas Draft which I suspect some of them voted for,” he said.

“I don’t remember them (Catholic bishops) coming out to oppose majimbo. They never said what they are saying today in 2005. May be if people do not like the name majimbo, we can call it devolution,” he said.

According to Mr Musyoka, the concept of majimbo was similar to devolution and Kenyans had shown that they want services closer to them. 

Mr Mudavadi of ODM described the bishops’ statement as “hypocritical” and wondered why it was coming on the eve of the General Election.

He said the statement was suspect and could be interpreted to mean that the bishops supported President Kibaki. 

The President has in the past said that those championing majimbo were “dreaming” and Kenya would remain a unitary state.

On Thursday, Mr Mudavadi said: “The (bishops’) statement is hypocritical and extremely strange coming hot on the heels of strong opposition of majimbo by the President and all leaders supporting his re-election.”

Two weeks ago, retired president Daniel arap Moi also opposed the clamour for majimbo.

He said: “Time for honeymoon for ODM is over and the party should face the reality and stop telling Kenyans that the country will adopt majimbo system.”

On the same day, President Kibaki who was in Kisii said: “It will never happen — those who are saying so are dreaming.” He went on to say that Kenya will be for Kenyans.

Others who have asked Kenyans to reject the new system are Kanu national chairman Uhuru Kenyatta, Ford People leader Simeon Nyachae, Narc Kenya chairman Raphael Tuju, and his Ford Kenya counterpart, Mr Musikari Kombo.

The leaders said majimbo would balkanise the country, promote ethnicity and ignite land clashes.

During Thursdays news conference, Archbishop Njue said Kenyans needed more time to embrace the proposed system which was introduced briefly after independence before it was withdrawn after some regions failed to sustain themselves economically.

The archbishop said the fear of balkanisation was not far-fetched and Kenyans must strive to remain united and maintain their identities.

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More Kikuyus youths killed. More killing fields.

Posted by SG on October 26, 2007

EDITORIALS

Killings: Denials by police not convincing
Publication Date: 10/26/2007

Media and human rights organisations have established almost beyond doubt that dozens of young men suspected to be linked to either the outlawed Mungiki sect or criminal gangs have been killed and their bodies dumped in the outskirts of Nairobi.Visits to the sites have revealed gory killing fields with human remains, many of them partly devoured by wild animals. The police strongly deny accusations that they are engaged in extra-judicial executions. 

It is strange, however, that other than issuing flat denials, the police been reluctant to conduct any serious investigations. Reports to local police stations when the bodies first started being discovered a few weeks ago elicited very little interest. 

And even after this newspaper and its sister publication, the Daily Metro, came up with a series of exposes, police seemed least interested in anything other than denying complicity.

We would have expected swift and serious investigations to identify those behind murder on such a mass scale and quickly bring them to justice. 

Detectives and forensic experts should have dashed to the scenes to collect evidence and interview witnesses. Instead, we see a disinterest that sends worrying signals. 

The public, generally, expects and demands very tough police action on violent criminals, terrorists and others who have no compunction about killing innocent Kenyans. 

The police, in turn, have often expressed frustration at how known dangerous criminals are able to negotiate their way to freedom through the judicial system. That, however, can never be an excuse for the police to turn judge, jury and executioner. 

It is frightening to imagine that a unit of the police, or the wider security system, would arrogate itself such powers. For even if initially aimed at eliminating criminals, such power can be terribly misused. The killing fields exist, and the Government owes Kenyans an explanation. Denials are not enough, and the finger of suspicion will only be lowered when the murderers are caught and brought to justice.

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4 killed in Molo new ethnic killings

Posted by SG on October 26, 2007

Four more homes burnt down in Molo

Story by SIMON SIELE
Publication Date: 10/26/2007

Four more houses have been burnt down in the troubled Kuresoi area in Molo District.

These boys joined residents of Kamwaura Village in Kuresoi area for a peace meeting that was called after armed raiders killed two people and stole livestock and household goods. Photo/MARTIN TELEWA

This follows last week’s arson attack that left two people dead and several others injured.

Molo acting district commissioner Solomon Abwaku said no one was injured during the Wednesday night attack at Kariara Village in Kamwaura.

The houses, he said, were unoccupied, and police were investigating the matter. 

Last week, armed raiders attacked Kamwaura trading centre and torched 10 houses before fleeing with seven cattle and household goods.

The arsonists struck as local religious leaders pitched tent in the area to hold prayers and reconciliation meetings.

The area has witnessed ethnic violence in which 15 people have died since last year.

During the Wednesday interdenominational meeting, the police came under scathing attack for failing to arrest politicians fanning violence.

Some of the politicians seeking to contest the Kuresoi parliamentary and civic seats in the area were accused of inciting the youth to commit crimes, which had contributed to ethnic animosity.

Accusing finger

The leaders and local residents pointed an accusing finger at the police for their laxity in dealing with the perpetrators of violence, who were said to be known to area residents.

Kuresoi district officer Muthike Ndambuki and his chiefs were challenged to stand firm and implement the law impartially to ensure stability prevailed.

The religious leaders have been at the forefront of reconciliation effort in the area that has witnessed constant tribal conflicts suspected to be politically instigated.

They called on the Government to involve civil society in peace building efforts.

Led by the chairman of the Likia Peace and Beyond Conflict Resolution Council, Bishop Abraham Gitu, the 50 church leaders pleaded with local communities to coexist peacefully.

Maintain peace

‘‘The police will not maintain peace unless you commit yourselves to a working relationship and find a lasting solution to problems affecting you through dialogue,’’ the bishop said. 

Rift Valley PC Hassan Noor Hassan asked religious leaders to preach peace.

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MAJIMBO IS DEADLY

Posted by SG on October 20, 2007

Majimbo will divide Kenyans, says Kituyi

Published on October 20, 2007, 12:00 am

By Robert Wanyonyi and Peter Atsiaya

Proponents of a majimbo (federal) system want to introduce divisions through the back door, Cabinet minister, Dr Mukhisa Kituyi, has said.

A majimbo system would divide the country along tribal lines, he said.

Addressing rallies at Kamukuywa, Chesamisi and Tongaren centres in his Kimilili constituency on Friday, the New Ford-Kenya leader said his party was focused on uniting Kenyans.

The minister said the majimbo debate propagated by ODM had exposed their plans and those of their foreign backers.

Not all foreign countries wanted a peaceful Kenya, which was the reason some were prodding the Opposition to introduce majimbo, he claimed.

The Trade and Industry minister said majimbo would cause civil strife.

“What they want is a system of fragmentation and it will be wise if Kenyans see that early enough and refuse to give them a chance,” he said.

Separately, Housing minister, Mr Soita Shitanda, echoed Kituyi’s sentiments, saying majimbo would threaten peace and stability.

Shitanda said Kenya was not ready for a federal government.

The Malava MP said ODM was using majimbo as a campaign bait to gain support in Coast Province.

“Raila is targeting Coast votes by advocating for majimbo because the residents have been calling for the same,” he said.

Shitanda warned that if implemented, a majimbo system would boomerang, as it would cause tribal animosity.

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KIKUYUS KILLED IN MOLO

Posted by SG on October 20, 2007

Tension as raiders hit Molo

Story by FRANCIS MUREITHI and NOAH CHEPLOEN
Publication Date: 10/20/2007

Two people were killed yesterday and 10 houses burnt when heavily armed raiders invaded their homes at Kamwaura farm in Kuresoi, Molo District.

When the Nation team visited the area, tension was still high and hundreds of residents were camping at the nearby Kamwaura trading centre.

The bodies of the two victims, Mr Alex Gachiri and Mr Festus Karanja, were still lying at the nearby Ikumbi dispensary. Five other victims who received minor injuries were treated at the dispensary and discharged.

A woman who broke one of her legs while fleeing from the troubled spot was admitted at the dispensary.

Acting District Commissioner Solomon Abwaka led a security team that toured the area to assess the situation.

Security chiefs

Other senior security chiefs included Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Operation in Rift Valley Province, Mr Elphas Kiura, deputy Molo police boss Hesborn Kadenge, District CID chief Geoffrey Gathurima and Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Administration Police Duncan Karanja.

The DC, who addressed the residents at the Kamwaura trading centre, said according to initial investigations from the security personnel on the ground the attacks were not politically instigated.

But the angry residents shouted the DC down forcing him to cut short his speech. They accused the government of laxity and failing to restore lasting peace in the area which has been hit by such clashes in the past.

They said the four police officers at the Kamwaura police post were not enough and more officers should be posted there. 

Learning at Banana, Kamwaura and Boroni primary schools and Kamwaura secondary school was disrupted as the students stayed away fearing more trouble. The most affected were Form Four and Class Eight pupils who were sitting their district mock examinations yesterday in readiness for the national examinations which start next Tuesday.

Residents told the Nation the attackers invaded their homes at about 3.30am and unleashed terror until 5am.

Efforts by two police officers to scare away the raiders by firing in the air failed as the well organised attackers continued with their mission. They robbed the residents of household goods and drove away eight cattle into Tinet Forest.

Ms Ann Njoki, a daughter-in-law of one of the victims, said she heard loud noise outside their homesteads and rushed to hide outside. She heard her father-in-law, Mr Gachiri, pleading with his attackers to spare his life. 

‘‘They never stole anything from our homestead and we wonder what the motive of their attack was,’’ she said.

The attackers after accomplishing their mission moved to the next house from which they dragged Mr Karanja out and hit him with an axe before shooting him with an arrow in the head.

A sister-in-law of Mr Karanja, Ms Mary Wanjiru, said the attackers appeared to know their targets as they torched selected houses belonging to members of a certain community.

Another victim, Ms Fridah Muhonja, said that she lost more than Sh52,000 when her house was torched by the raiders.

Ms Muhonja, the treasurer of Kamwaura Women self help group said she lost all her household belongings and appealed to the government to arrest the attackers to restore peace in the area.

Another victim, Ms Josephine Mokaya whose house was also torched said, ‘‘We hope that what is happening in Sondu will not spill over to Kamwaura as we have suffered for many years.’’

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KILLING PARTIES BILL

Posted by SG on October 17, 2007

Kenya: Parties Bill Crucial, Say MPs

The Nation (Nairobi)
 

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Bernard Namunane
Nairobi

MPs were unanimous on the need to pass the Political Parties Bill which President Kibaki rejected and is expected to send back to Parliament today.

But Opposition MPs accused the President of using the Bill to provide a legal landing for his Party of National Unity (PNU) which is faced with challenges of forging a coalition.

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Nevertheless, they said they would support the Bill that seeks public funding for political parties when it brought back to the House this afternoon.

Cabinet ministers Musikari Kombo (Webuye, Narc), Mutua Katuku (Mwala, Narc), MPs Paul Muite (Kabete, Safina) and Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o (Kisumu Rural, Narc) said the Bill should be passed before Parliament is dissolved.

Said Prof Nyong’o: “It will be very unfortunate for the President to decline to endorse a Bill seeking such an important milestone like funding and regulation of political parties.”

Seek common position

Since the memorandum on the Bill was before Parliament, he said, MPs allied to ODM would seek a common position to push it through.

Mr Otieno Kajwang’ (Mbita, Narc) said it was untenable that the Government sponsored the Bill “only to turn round and argue over definitions as if the Cabinet had not endorsed it.”

“We are going to reject the President’s memo because Parliament cannot revise a law to solve his problems in PNU. The President must not arm-twist Parliament to sort out personal political problems,” the Mbita MP said.

But MPs allied to Ford-K and Narc-K supported the President’s decision to return the Bill to Parliament stating that the proposed law should cement coalitions.

And an ODM-K official said the party was dismayed that the President had returned the Bill to Parliament.

Secretary-general Mutula Kilonzo said some of the grounds that prompted the President to reject the Bill were “flimsy”.

“ODM-K demands that the President assents to the Bill immediately,” Mr Kilonzo said. But he called on the Speaker of the National Assembly, Mr Francis ole Kaparo, to set aside time for MPs to consider the President’s memorandum and pass the Bill before Parliament is dissolved.

Mr Kilonzo argued that time was of the essence since Parliament could be dissolved before MPs could discuss the Bill.

And Mr Kombo, also the Local Government minister, said MPs should have included a clause that defines individual and corporate members of parties.

“The President has done the right thing because we need to institutionalise multi-party democracy. The key to it, as I understand, is to be able to define a political party, therein providing for corporate parties, which are the pillars to multi-party, democracy” he said.

Mr Katuku, the Water Resources and Irrigation minister, said the President’s decision will allow MPs to tackle the issue of coalitions, which are a marked feature on the political scene.

“This will enable us to look at the special issue of coalitions. Parliament overlooked it yet it is a reality that all political parties are joining coalitions. We (Narc Kenya) discussed it this morning and agreed with the memorandum,” he said.

Mr Muite expressed surprise at the return of the Bill to Parliament arguing that it should have been assented to as it was a Government Bill. He was referring to the President’s decision to send the Bill to Parliament with a memorandum detailing the clauses to be amended.

In his memo to Parliament, the President proposes to MPs to insert a new Clause 2 in the Bill to define corporate membership of parties. It says:

“Corporate member means a registered political party which is a member of another political party”.

President Kibaki also wants Parliament to insert a new Clause 17 (4) (a) providing safeguards for members who join another political party as corporate members.

Distribution of funds

And Clause 30 on distribution of funds to registered political parties, the President seeks to insert two provisions:

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(i) “Where a presidential candidate is supported by more than one political party, only the votes for parliamentary and civic candidates shall be taken into account.”

(ii) “In the case of a political party within a corporate member party which opts for nomination of parliamentary and civic candidates shall further be distributed proportionately to the number of parties in reference to the total number of votes secured at the last General Election by each candidate belonging to a political party.”

Additional reporting by Patrick Nzioka

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EACH PARTY MUST FIELD PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES

Posted by SG on October 17, 2007

Kivuitu’s shocker

Published on October 17, 2007, 12:00 am

By Gakuu Mathenge and Patrick Muriungi

The Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) has released a circular that threatens to put the fledgling efforts to craft a pro-Kibaki re-election alliance into a spin.

The ECK chairman, Mr Samuel Kivuitu, fished out a constitutional provision that had been ignored in past General Elections, but which he says all parties must follow.

“…This is the supreme law of the land and must be observed by all…” Kivuitu says, in the circular dated October 12 and sent to all political parties.

If enforced, the Kibaki re-election strategy team would have to return to the drawing board and overhaul the entire blueprint that has all affiliate parties backing the Head of State not fielding presidential candidates.

In the circular, Kivuitu lays down the law thus: “Section 5 of the Constitution of Kenya makes the basic provisions on the elections of a president of the Republic of Kenya … whenever Parliament is dissolved, an election of a president shall be held at the ensuing General Election. Each political party taking part in the General Election shall nominate one candidate for president in such a manner as may be prescribed by or an act of parliament…”

Kivuitu further warns: “Debates have been going on, on how to bring about political alliances while ensuring that only one candidate is nominated for the election as president. ECK would like those involved in these debates and all the voters to always bear in mind that this is the supreme law of the land and must be observed by all…”

The immediate and worrying implication of the law is that it would bar registered political parties under the PNU alliance from fielding a joint presidential candidate.

The circular, that is stamped ‘URGENT’, is likely to hit parties allied to PNU hardest, given that some of them have announced they would support President Kibaki as a presidential candidate but field parliamentary and civic candidates independently.

They include Kanu (Mr Uhuru Kenyatta), Narc-Kenya (Mr Raphael Tuju), Ford-Kenya (Mr Musikari Kombo), Shirikisho Party of Kenya (Mr Chirau Ali Mwakwere), Safina (Mr Paul Muite) and New Ford-Kenya (Mr Soita Shitanda).

Fuel further storm brewing in PNU

This new development could further fuel a storm already brewing in the Kibaki camp over nominations by PNU affiliate parties.

While, Kanu — which is being treated as a partner in the alliance — appears to have cut itself a good deal under the PNU arrangement and was accorded the preferential treatment of being allowed to field its own parliamentary and civic candidates. Other affiliates enjoy no such privileges, making them feel short-changed.

Like Kanu, which threw its lot with PNU on condition that it preserves its identity, the other affiliates are also concerned that by being denied the chance to field their own candidates, they risked obliterating themselves from the political map, hence the disquiet.

Last night, legal opinion was sharply divided on the Kivuitu circular, with the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) vice-chairman, Mr Mugambi Imanyara, saying parties that do not present presidential candidates must be disqualified.

“The law is clear and self-explanatory. The fact that it has not been applied does not mean it cannot be enforced now or any other time. Those who were not caught in the past should consider themselves lucky,” he said, when reminded parties like Safina and others have always fielded parliamentary and civic candidates without presidential candidates.

However, the Democratic Party of Kenya Secretary-General, Mr George Nyamweya, dismissed Kivuitu’s circular as “mischievous and aimed at diverting the mighty river that various parties have been building by joining PNU”

In a telephone interview, Nyamweya added: “Even in law school, they teach you that you must always look for the simplest interpretation of a law, not the most complex. The law is made for men and women and not the other way round. This is mischief meant only to derail PNU”.

Field joint candidates through PNU

DP, Narc-Kenya and Ford-Kenya have agreed to field joint candidates through PNU, but Kanu was exempted and allowed to field its candidates that sail past a joint (PNU) nomination under Kanu.

The ECK’s circular is likely to throw a spanner into the works, especially for Kanu and party chairman Uhuru — who has substantial stakes in the coming poll — and prospects of disqualification are unthinkable.

But Nyamweya was adamant, arguing: “No law can force you to do anything you do not have to, like stopping you from fielding civic candidates if you do not have a presidential aspirant. I am also a lawyer and I know what all PNU affiliate parties have done by nominating Kibaki as their presidential candidate is within the law”.

Imanyara, a lawyer, said on Tuesday: “By law, the parties under PNU must present their individual presidential candidates to the commission for nomination once Parliament is dissolved. This particular law is very clear and one wonders why some parties were allowed to break it during the 2002 General Election. ECK must implement it to the letter and nobody should be exempted from it,” said Imanyara.

The options for affected parties is to dissolve and go into the General Election under PNU as a political party, but that would present peculiar problems for parties like Kanu, whose interests span beyond the coming poll. Kanu could not be reached for comment last night.

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CCM yajulikana saana TZ

Posted by SG on October 17, 2007

Ukiishangaa CCM ya Tanzania utaiona CCM ya Kenya

Mwandishi Wetu

KENYA inajiandaa kwa Uchaguzi Mkuu Desemba, 2007.

Hadi sasa kuna vyama zaidi ya 63 vilivyosajiliwa na vimeshapata tiketi ya kushiriki kwenye Uchaguzi Mkuu ujao.

Hivi sasa kuna wimbi zito la mageuzi ndani ya vyama mbalimbali vya siasa nchini Kenya. Kila chama kimekumbwa na migogoro ya uongozi. Kwa kifupi joto la uchaguzi Kenya liko juu sana.

Kwa wanasiasa kuhama na kujiunga na vyama vingine pamoja na kuanzishwa kwa vyama vipya, ni jambo la kawaida kabisa nchini Kenya kwa sasa.

Moja ya vyama vilivyoundwa hivi karibuni ni Chama Cha Mwananchi (CCM).

Kama jina lake linavyoonyesha, CCM ya Kenya inafanana sana na Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) ya Tanzania.

Kimeamua kujiita CCM kwa madai kuwa kimevutiwa na CCM ya Tanzania na kinatamani kuwa kama CCM ya Tanzania.

Chama hicho kimeanzishwa na Naibu Waziri wa Habari na Utangazaji nchini Kenya, Koigi Wamwere.

Ameanzisha chama hicho cha CCM kinachotumia kaulimbiu ya Mwanzo Mpya, Watu Wapya na Kenya Mpya.

Ufupisho wa chama hicho cha CCM ya Kenya pamoja na kaulimbiu yake, vinashabihiana sana na Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) nchini hapa, ambacho mbali ya kuwa na ufupisho wa CCM, pia kinajinadi kwa kaulimbiu ya Nguvu Mpya, Ari Mpya na Kasi Mpya.

CCM ya Kenya imeanzishwa Septemba mwaka huu, na tayari imepata usajili wa kudumu, hivyo kupata tiketi ya kushiriki katika Uchaguzi Mkuu ujao wa Kenya.

Itikadi ya CCM ya Kenya inasema kuwa taa ya CCM ni Ujamaa na Demokrasia, wakati CCM ya Tanzania ilikuwa na itikadi ya Ujamaa na Kujitemegea.

Katika kuonyesha kuwa CCM ya Kenya inataka kuiiga CCM ya Tanzania, tayari CCM ya Kenya imepata nakala ya Ilani na Katiba ya CCM ili baadhi ya vipengele viweze kuingizwa kwenye Ilani na Katiba ya CCM ya Kenya.

Katibu Mkuu wa chama hicho, Sammy Mwaniki, katika mazungumzo yake na Tanzania Daima kwa njia ya simu, anasema wameamua kuiga CCM ya Tanzania baada ya kufurahishwa na jinsi chama hicho kinavyoongoza nchi.

“Ni kweli chama chetu kina mambo mengi mazuri tuliyoiga kutoka CCM ya Tanzania. Na tunafikiria kuomba mashirikiano ya kindugu na chama hicho,” alisema Mwaniki.

Alikiri kuwa chama chake kinatumia baadhi ya vipengele vilivyomo kwenye Ilani na Katiba ya CCM ya Tanzania na kuiingiza kwenye Ilani na Katiba ya CCM ya Kenya. “Yote hayo tumefanya kwa nia nzuri tu ya kutaka kukiimarisha chama chetu kiwe imara na sifa kama CCM ya Tanzania,” alisema Mwaniki.

Mwenyekiti wa chama hicho Wamwere, kwa sasa ni Naibu Waziri wa Habari na Utangazaji wa serikali ya Rais Mwai Kibaki (NARC), ambaye ameamua kuanzisha chama hicho ili kishiriki uchaguzi mkuu ujao baada ya kuona NARC imepoteza mwelekeo na haina uwezo wa kushinda tena uchaguzi ujao.

Mwenyekiti huyo ambaye pia ni Mbunge wa Jimbo la Subukia – Nakuru, aliwahi kuishi nchini, eneo la Ilala, Bungoni, mwaka 1978 hadi 1979.

Ilani

Ilani ya Chama Cha Mwananchi (CCM), kwanza, inaamini katika uhuru, haki, usawa na uaminifu.

Ilani hiyo inasema CCM ni chama cha wananchi walioonewa na kunyanyaswa, si mabwanyenye wanyonyaji, CCM ni chama cha Wakenya wote, si cha kabila au makabila fulani.

Pia inasema CCM si shamba la wanyama, wanachama wake wote ni sawa.

CCM ni ngome ya kondoo na wala nyasi wote. Haitawaalika masimba, mafisi na mambweha zizini, mafisadi, wezi, madikteta, watesi na wasaliti wa wananchi wote ni marufuku chamani.

Kaulimbiu na itikadi

Kaulimbiu ya chama hicho inashabihiana sana na CCM, kwani inasema Mwanzo Mpya, Watu Wapya na Kenya Mpya, wakati CCM ya Tanzania inasema Kasi Mpya, Nguvu Mpya na Ari Mpya.

Kwa upande wa itikadi, inasema Taa ya CCM ni Ujamaa na Demokrasia wakati CCM ya Tanzania inatamba na itikadi iliyokuwapo wakati ule ya uongozi wa Mwalimu Nyerere ya Ujamaa na Kujitegemea.

MALENGO YA CCM-Kenya

CCM inasema itatawala kwa mujibu wa sheria, haki na kanuni za demokrasia. Lengo la CCM hiyo ni kuwapa wananchi wenye umri mdogo, wazalendo, nafasi ya kupata uongozi wa nchi.

CCM inasema daima, itapinga udikteta na itapigania katiba mpya itakayofuta mizizi ya uimla na kusimamia masilahi na haki za Wakenya wote wakati serikali yake itatetea haki zote za binadamu.

Inatamba kuwa itarejesha maridhiano miongoni mwa Wakenya kwa kuunda Tume ya Ukweli, Haki na Maridhiano kuchunguza madhambi yote waliyofanyiana Wakenya na kuomba wasameheane, kwani ndoto ya CCM ni kuifanya Kenya iwe nchi iliyoendelea kiuchumi.

Chama hicho kinajigamba kuwa kitakuza uchumi unaomilikiwa na Wakenya, si wageni,

kitazingatia maendeleo ya wasio nacho, ya kufuta umaskini, maradhi, njaa na upofu wa kiakili, si maendeleo ya walio nacho, viongozi na matajiri.

Malengo mengine yaliyoainishwa na CCM hiyo ni kupigania ugavi wa mali ya nchi unaolenga kumtimizia kila mwananchi mahitaji yake ya lazima, chakula, nyumba, nguo, elimu, matibabu na usafiri.

Pia imelenga kutoa bila malipo elimu ya msingi, upili, vyuo vikuu, vyuo vya ufundi na taasisi za utafiti kama msingi wa maendeleo yanayotegemea teknolojia, itawaomba Wakenya waliong`ambo warudi nyumbani wasaidie kujenga nchi upya bila kupoteza uraia mwingine, itamaliza wizi wa mali za umma na serikali kwa kuwafunga wote watakaopatikana na ufisadi.

Pia ina lengo la kuwashitaki mafisadi warudishe pesa walizopora na kuweka nje, na kuishitaki katika Mahakama ya Dunia, Serikali ya Uingereza iilipe Kenya, Mau Mau na mashujaa wengine wa uhuru hasara iliyowapata wakati wa vita ya uhuru, itakuza maendeleo katika sehemu zote za nchi.

Chini ya CCM, walio nyuma na walio mbele watakuwa sawa.

Pia itahakikisha uchumi unatolea wasio na kazi, ajira na wafanyakazi mishahara bora na haki zao, italinda masilahi ya wafanyabiashara wadogo kama vile wachuuzi, wapiga viatu rangi, bodaboda, jua kali na kina mama wa sokoni, itahakikisha wakulima hawapunjwi jasho lao, itahakikisha mashamba makubwa zaidi yanapunguzwa na yale yasiyolimwa yanatwaliwa ili yapewe maskuota na wakazi wa miji ya mabanda.

CCM itahakikisha waathirika wa vita ya kikabila wanapewa mashamba na makao, itarudisha, kuhifadhi na kupanua misitu na kustawisha utalii kwa kujenga barabara za lami, mbuga za wanyama, itaunganisha nchi kwa misingi ya uzalendo na utaifa, itaharamisha ukabila na ubaguzi wake, itagawa kazi, rasilimali na wizara kwa mujibu wa sifa, haki na uhitaji, badala ya ukabila, ukoo, familia na urafiki.

Pia serikali ya CCM itahakikisha popote waishipo Wakenya watakuwa sawa na wasioishi katika makazi yao ya jadi hawatabaguliwa tena na serikali kuu, serikali za mitaa au kundi lolote la kisiasa, badala ya majimbo, CCM itatetea Jumuiya ya Afrika Mashariki kuwa nchi na serikali moja ya Afrika Mashariki, itapiga marufuku ubaguzi wote wa kijinsia, CCM itakataa ubaguzi wote wa kidini.

Pia inasema itatetea maadili ya uandishi yatakayofanya vyombo vya habari viwe vyombo vya watu, uzalendo, endelevu, sahihi na maadui wa ukabila na ufisadi na lugha ya Kiswahili ndiyo lugha rasmi ya CCM, na itajenga uhusiano wa kiamani na kirafiki na nchi zote za Afrika na dunia, ambazo hazina ugomvi na Kenya.

Mwenyekiti wa chama hicho, Koigi Wamwere, alizaliwa mwaka 1950, Nakuru-Subukia. Katibu Mkuu wa chama hicho ni Sammy Mwaniki.

Alianza siasa mwaka 1974, baada ya kurejea kutoka masomoni Marekani, Chuo Kikuuu cha Coe.

Katika harakati za kisiasa, Wamwere, Raila Odinga, Ngungi Wathiong’o, na Mwalimu Maniganki Kamau, waliwahi kukamatwa kwa kosa la kuandaa mapinduzi ya serikali ya Moi mwaka 1982, na walikuwa katika Gereza la Kamiti kati ya mwaka 1982 na 1984.

Akiwa bado anakabiliwa na kesi hiyo, mwaka 1985 alitoroka na kwenda uhamishoni Norway. Alirejea nchini mwaka 1990, na kugombea ubunge katika Jimbo la Nakuru North kwa tiketi ya Kanu.

Baada ya kuwa mbunge wa Kanu, mwaka 1994 aliondolewa kwenye nafasi hiyo kwa sababu ya kupinga watu wachache kumiliki ardhi, na kuamua kurejea nchini Norway.

Mwaka 1996, alirejea Kenya na kuanzisha Chama cha KPF kwa ajili ya kushiriki uchaguzi mwaka 1997.

Aligombea urais kwa tiketi ya KPF, ambapo alishika nafasi ya nne.

Mwaka 1998-2000 alirejea tena Norway na baadaye alikwenda Marekani kwa shughuli za kibiashara. Aliamua kurejea tena Kenya mwaka 2001 na kujiunga na NARC ili kushiriki katika uchaguzi mwaka 2002.

Mwaka 2002-2006, amekuwa mbunge kwa tiketi ya NARC, Jimbo la Subukia – Nakuru, hadi leo ndiye Naibu Waziri wa Habari na Utangazaji wa serikali ya Kibaki.

Septemba mwaka huu, aliamua kuanzisha Chama cha Mwananchi, na atakuwa mgombea urais wa chama hicho katika Uchaguzi Mkuu ujao.

Pengine wameona tunafaidi bure bure tu?

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Tuma Ukurasa huu kwa rafiki yako!

  #2  

Old 21st December 2006, 12:50 AM

GAME THEORY GAME THEORY is offline vbmenu_register(“postmenu_11480″, true);

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mabepari wa Kenya sidhani kama wanaweza kukopi iani ya CCM ya TZ si unajua sie bado wajamaa kiaina ?

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Old 22nd December 2006, 09:36 AM

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Hawa jamaa naona wanajiandaa katika jumuiya ya Afrika Mashariki ya kisiasa. Labda huko mbele wamesikia kuwa vyama vya siasa itabidi viwe na wanachama Kenya, Uganda na Tanzania ili kutambulika kama ni chama cha EAC. Ikifikia hapo (kama ni kweli) basi wataungana na wajanja CCM-Bongo.

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  #4  

Old 25th January 2007, 06:21 PM

Tanzanianjema Tanzanianjema is offline vbmenu_register(“postmenu_16361″, true);

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Maskini Koigi,

anongelea CCM ipi. Ya Mwalimu ama ya Baada ya mwalimu?

Lakini napenda kumpongeza kwani ameanza kuonyesha njia wengine wafuate. Wakati umefika kwa vyama vya siasa Afrika Mashariki kuanza mikakati inayolenga kuunganisha vyama.

Wengine wafuate sio kwa majina lakini kwa kujaribu kusabahisha dira, sera, mikakati na malengo yao.

Hongera Koigi lakini pia nakuonea huruma.

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Old 25th January 2007, 08:46 PM

Mkandara Mkandara is offline vbmenu_register(“postmenu_16389″, true);

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Makubwa haya jamani1

CCM TZ ni rolemodel!

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