Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Resettle IDPs and pay teachers dues, urges Karua



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By Nation Correspondent
Posted  Monday, January 2  2012 at  22:00
The coalition government has not fulfilled its promises to internally displaced persons and teachers, presidential aspirant Martha Karua has said.
The Narc-Kenya party leader, who is also the Gichugu MP, said the government had been “unable” to resettle IDPs and failed to pay teachers their allowances.
“They (IDPs) have been languishing in misery and abject poverty in camps for the last four years even after the much-hyped resettlement programme was started,” said Ms Karua.
She observed that even after promising to pay retired teachers their dues by Christmas, the government had not kept its promise.
Due to the State’s inaction, the Kenya National Union of Teachers, has threatened to call another strike over non-payment of their members’ allowances.
She was speaking at St Patrick Catholic Church in Thika during the burial of Ms Mary Wangui Waweru, the mother of former Thika mayor John Mutahi Waweru.
The current government, she said, had neglected the majority and cares only for a select few.
She asked voters to reject leaders who might incite them to violence and avoid a repeat of the 2008 chaos that left 1,133 dead and hundreds of thousands displaced.
“Kenyans should conduct the election peacefully,” the former Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister said.
She reaffirmed her quest for the presidency, adding that her party was prepared to form the next government. To achieve this, Narc-K has continued to recruit members across the country while other parties “are asleep.”
Separately, an Anglican cleric, the Rev Patrick Ndorongo, praised the Kibaki administration for improving infrastructure and maintaining peace.
He also urged the government to devote this year to fighting corruption.
Terming it as unfortunate the current deadlock over the appointment of the anti-graft commission nominee Mumo Matemu, the Rev Ndorongo criticised some parliamentarians for opposing Mr Matemu’s team.
“We should stop the culture of opposing anything from the Executive. Let us give the new officials a chance to prove themselves,” said the Rev Ndorongo, who is the coordinator of the Kenya Anglican Men Association in Mt Kenya Central diocese.
He praised President Kibaki’s leadership and prayed for his successor.
Political alliances
“He deserves a 70 per cent score for efforts to improve the country’s infrastructure and maintain peace,” he said.
But the cleric cautioned against political alliances among presidential hopefuls, saying this may split Kenyans along tribal lines.
“We need unity, not alliances or groupings as this may divide the people,” advised the priest.
The government should also ensure that the new devolved governments do not become a huge burden to tax payers, he told a church service at the ACK Mairungi Church in Kandara.

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