Corridor of Power

Wednesday, 30 March 2011 00:01 BY ISAAC ONGIRI

Two MPs— one from PNU and the other from Narc-K—nearly came to blows when they differed over money they claimed a foreign diplomat had paid out to them for some unspecified purpose. The diplomat had allegedly paid the money to one of the two MPs at a Naivasha hotel. However, the recipient kept on insisting he had not received the cash which led to the near fight.
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An MP from Coast Province has sold off his magnificent and state of the art limo to settle huge debts he owes several creditors who have been threatening bankruptcy action against him. The man used the down payment from the sale to settle some of his debts and bought a small car even as he tries to settle his debts.
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We are informed that ODM party leader Raila Odinga has sent a team to Ikolomani constituency on a fact finding mission on the situation on the ground ahead of the May 3 by-elections. Our mole has also told us that the team will report directly to him on the state of affairs in Ikolomani. Minister Gumo, an ally of the party leader is leading a team to have the party back former MP Bonny Khalwale.
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AFC Leopard’s technical director Hector Como is very concerned about the revival of the legendary football club. The man has vowed to use his foreign connections to seek ways of strengthening the once vibrant club. We are told that new official has launched a manhunt for two Brazilian players who could be booked by the club.
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Some managers operating at a company associated with a water company are fleecing tax payers of millions of shillings. The managers are getting a big cut from the money water consumers are paying for water services. The readings are however false as the meters have been disabled making it impossible for the residents to know how much water they are consuming. They pay the inflated estimates which they are presented as their water bills and the managers and clerks share in the loot.

Orengo refutes Bett claims over land for IDPs

Wednesday, 30 March 2011 00:01 BY HENRY WANYAMA

The government has never released any money to buy land for people evicted from Mau Forest, Lands minister James Orengo said yesterday.
He said his ministry had received Sh2.9 billion in the last two years specifically for internally displaced people from the 2008 post-election violence and not former forest settlers. “This is contrary to the many statements that have been made by a section of political leadership that the ministry of Lands is sitting on funds released for the resettlement of the Mau Forest evictees,” said Orengo in a statement.
Orengo was responding to claims by politicians including Roads minister Franklin Bett that the ministry was “sitting” on funds meant for Mau IDPs. Rift Valley MPs have claimed that the government released Sh3.6 billion for the Mau IDPs. Orengo has refuted the claims many times.
Yesterday, he further refuted claims that his ministry had bought 4,000 acres but had refused to settle people evicted from the forest. Orengo said he wrote to the President and the Prime Minister last year requesting for money to settle people evicted from the forest.
He said he gave the head of public service Francis Muthaura a budget of Sh3.5 billion in November but had not received the money to date. The evictions in 2009 were aimed at reclaiming the degraded Mau complex, Kenya’s largest water tower.
So far, 24,000 hectares of the forest’s 400,000 hectares have been reclaimed affecting 2,900 families, according to the Mau Forest Restoration Interim Coordinating Secretariat.
Many of these families are living in roadside camps as they claim they have no other land to go to. Orengo said the ministry will seek money to buy land for all IDPs including those evicted from Embobut forest.

Uhuru warns leaders who divide Kikuyu

Wednesday, 30 March 2011 00:00 BY FRANCIS MUREITHI

THE organisers of the Muranga ceremony where Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta was installed as Kikuyu leader on Sunday say they they did not make him a king.
Before the installation Uhuru had warned that leaders who divide the Kikuyu that they will be flushed out and dealt with.“We should not be afraid to be called Kikuyus. All of us should follow our muthamaki (great leader) Kibaki. None of these leaders here would have made it to Parliament in 2007 if they did not support Kibaki. Now they pretend they made it to Parliament on their own. When Kibaki says something or shows the direction to follow, they are the first ones to contradict him. The first person to betray us to others is one of us. I want to tell all the leaders here that if any one of them fails to toe the line, they should know that their politics is over." "If Kibaki tells us to go to the left, we should do so, just like Ruto tells his people to go one way and they all do so. We will now allow ourselves to be killed just because we are not following our leaders. Those who fail to do this, we will follow them to their homes and expose them as the ones who are betraying us. We will say 'See, this person is the one who is failing to work with us'." “We have one disease, and that disease is the disease of loving ourselves, that we leaders do not listen to each other. When we vied in 2007, we stood by many parties. I even don’t know how many they were,” he said. “And that is why the ones we were competing with had the chance to claim that we stole the votes, because when votes were counted, Kibaki’s party did not have people because they had been scattered in other parties.”
Speaking in Kikuyu, Fr Gitonga who presided over the ceremony told the rally, “Now we are going to make Uhuru the King of the Kikuyu community and King of the entire country. We are going to give him this stick which has nine levels which signify the clans of the Kikuyu community." He used both the words muthamaki and kingi.
Yesterday Fr Gitonga told the Star, “I know I mentioned the word king during the ceremony but that was a mistake. Traditionally we did not have a king in the Kikuyu community but we made him an elder.” Retired priest Fr Joachim Gitonga is the chairman of the Kikuyu council of elders in Murang’a East district.
Murang’a is the home ground of Planning assistant minister Peter Kenneth, considered a potential rival to Uhuru. He was not at the ceremony because he was in Ikolomani campaigning for Bonny Khalwale in the upcoming by-election. Gitonga told the Star why Murang'a was chosen.“It is here in Murang’a that Jomo Kenyatta was chosen by the Kikuyu Association, who were Kikuyu elders then, to go to send the memorandum of independence, the land and education to Colonial Secretary and to the Prime Minister in 1929,” said Fr Gitonga.
Fr Gitonga said in 1962 when Kenyatta was released from prison, the then MP Kariuki wa Njiri stepped down in favour of Kenyatta who was declared MP for Kigumo which covered the entire Murang’a.“People had come all the way from all parts of Central including Meru to see Kenyatta declared the MP for Kigumo,” he said. “That is the history I am disclosing to Uhuru so that he remembers where President Kenyatta started,” he added.
Speaking in Kikuyu, Fr Gitonga told the rally, “We will also give him a stool, which is for sitting when he is presiding over cases, guiding the people and showing them what to do in the country."
Fr Gitonga was the founding Principal of the Murang'a College of Technology.Fr Gitonga said the elders picked Uhuru for his leadership qualities.“By giving him muthigi (long stick), it was very significant to the Kikuyu, I will compare it with the mace in Parliament,” said Fr Gitonga.“We gave him the cloth made from wild animal hide. This was worn by all Kikuyu elders and it is also a symbol of authority,” he said. He said the flywhisk handed to Uhuru was a traditional symbol of authority for keeping peace.

MUTHAURA CONSIDERS RESIGNING

Wednesday, 30 March 2011 00:00 BY ISAAC ONGIRI

PENSIVE: Muthaura with the commanders of the armed forces outside parliament last week.

HEAD of Public Service Francis Muthaura is considering resigning before flying to The Hague next week. The revelations came as Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Monday insisted in Dubai that those responsible for the 2008 post election violence must be punished.
A source at the Office of the President revealed that a temporary resignation of the most powerful civil servant in Kenya was being considered.“Discussions on the exit of Ambassador Muthaura are in progress. It is only a matter of time,” indicated a top official at OP who cannot be quoted.
Muthaura’s resignation is being considered to avoid a possible confrontation with the ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo who could report a breach of the conditions set by the ICC to the Ocampo Six and that could lead to the issue of an arrest warrant for Muthaura.
Muthaura is chairman of the National Security Advisory Committee, Cabinet Secretary, Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President, as well as Head of Public Service boss. A Wikileaks cable released this month referred to him as the 'de facto president'. Two weeks ago Ocampo said he would not continue with testimony taking until Muthaura, stopped exercising his authority over the police.
The other ICC suspects are Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta; former minister William Ruto; former minister Henry Kosgey; former Police Commissioner Gen. Hussein Ali; and radio presenter Joshua arap Sang.
Harambee House insiders are worried that Muthaura might be treated like former Congolese Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba. Interpol pounced on Bemba in Belgium on May 23, 2008 after Ocampo’s request for a sealed warrant was granted following violation of court conditions. President Kibaki has been made aware of the issue by his close advisers. Yesterday Kibaki was in Harambee House for the second time this week and met PNU ministers.
Yesterday, Imenti Central MP Gitobu Imanyara warned that suspects might not come back.“Breaching the conditions already set by the court may be considered an obstruction of the activities of the court and could lead to a possible issuance of sealed warrants to control contacts of the suspects and the witnesses,” Imanyara declared.
Ndaragua MP Jeremiah Kioni blamed plans to have Muthaura resign on undue external pressure.“For this we will have all ourselves to blame for putting unnecessary pressure on Muthaura and the others to resign based on external aggression,” Kioni said.“I have not heard of his plans to resign. But that is bad news indeed,” stated assistant Minister Kareke Mbiuki.
Mbiuki was yesterday among seven MPs who yesterday applied for visas at the Netherlands embassy seeking to travel with Uhuru to The Hague.
Ocampo is concerned that Muthaura's continued stay in office might hinder his ability to prove a state policy to attack civilians in Kisumu and Kibera.
Earlier this year provincial police chiefs refused to give evidence to the ICC making it difficult for the prosecutor to make a strong case against the state.
As a result, the Pre-Trial Chamber left out Kisumu and Kibera when issuing summons to Muthaura, Ali and Uhuru. “With respect to these events in Kisumu and Kibera, the Chamber notes that the Prosecutor, although mentioning in his application that the violence was executed by the Kenyan Police Forces, failed to provide an accurate factual and legal submission which would require the Chamber to examine whether the acts of violence were part of an attack pursuant to or in furtherance of a State policy,” the judges said.
The judges however recognized that the police used excessive force in Kisumu and that their raids produced deaths, injuries and rapes in Kibera.
On Monday in Dubai Prime Minister Raila Odinga declared, “Somebody will have to take responsibility for the deaths of more than 1,300 people in the post election violence of 2008," according to a statement from his press unit.
Raila said punishment for the masterminds of post-election violence would not only end impunity but also the culture of forming commissions to investigate injustices only to refuse to implement their recommendations.“If it is not the six, then it must be some other people and Kenyans deserve to know,” Raila said.“Killing 1,300 people is not an easy or simple task. In Egypt, they had protests that went on for about two months. So far, only 300 people have been found to have been killed and a minister has been charged in court over their death,” he said.
The PM said he is prepared to face charges if he is found to have been behind the murders. Raila is attending a conference on Education without Borders in the United Arab Emirates and returns on Wednesday.

Ocampo Six slapped with EU travel curbs

Suspended minister William Ruto, ODM chairman Henry Kosgey, radio presenter Joshua Sang, Head of Civil boss Francis Muthaura, Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Postmaster-General Hussein Ali have been ordered to The Hague over their alleged role in the post-election violence.

By BERNARD NAMUNANE bnamunane@ke.nationmedia.com AND JACOB NG’ETICH jngetich@ke.nationmedia.com

Posted  Wednesday, March 30 2011 at 22:06

In Summary

Visa to Hague is of a special kind
Schengen visas are issued by member states of the European Union, except the United Kingdom, which allows free travel to any country in the bloc.
The issuance of visas to people appearing at the International Criminal Court is done in coordination with The Hague.
The visa is of a special kind, to cater for the visit, which is not a normal visit.

The Ocampo Six will face strict visa conditions when they travel to the International Criminal Court at The Hague.

They will be issued with a visa that allows them to travel to the Netherlands, where the ICC is located, but not to the other European Union countries.

The suspects will be denied the Schengen visa, issued by 17 EU countries, which allows a visitor access to other countries.

The Dutch embassy First Secretary in charge of politics and press affairs, Ms Camilla Veerman, said the travel of the Ocampo Six was being coordinated between the government of Netherlands and the ICC, which imposes its own restrictions.

“The issuance of visas to anybody with a matter at the International Criminal Court is done in coordination with The Hague. This is a special kind of visit, it is not a normal one,” she told the Nation.

Ms Veerman said Netherlands had crafted a special visa issued to individuals summoned by The Hague to ensure that the conditions issued by the court, such as limited territory, are met.

Special issues

“For these reasons, the visas issued to them will not be Schengen visas. They will be issued with visas that only allow them to travel to Netherlands because they are travelling for special issues,” she said.

Schengen visas are issued by member states of the European Union, except the United Kingdom, which allows free travel to any country in the bloc.

Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, suspended minister William Ruto, ODM chairman Henry Kosgey, Head of Civil boss Francis Muthaura, Postmaster-General Hussein Ali and radio presenter Joshua Sang have been ordered to The Hague for the initial appearance over their alleged role in the post-election violence. (READ: Ocampo Six ordered to appear at Hague)

Mr Ruto, Mr Kosgey and Mr Sang will appear before the Pre-Trial Chamber on April 7, while Mr Kenyatta, Mr Muthaura and Maj-Gen Ali will appear the following day.

There has been speculation that the suspects could be detained or that Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo will make an application requiring those still in government to either resign, or be detained at the Hague.

But ICC Registrar Silvana Arbia said the suspects were free people who will appear before the court and be allowed to return home. She warned, however, that they must abide by the conditions imposed by the ICC judges.

A source close to the family of Mr Kosgey on Wednesday accused the Dutch government of frustrating efforts by the suspects to obtain visas.

“Since March 17 when Mr Kosgey applied for the visa a day after getting the summonses, the embassy has not given him a visa and has also not communicated officially any reasons why they have not provided it given all the time,” the source said.

The embassy was busy on Wednesday as the Ocampo Six, MPs allied to them, members of civil society and the media rushed to get the visas to beat the deadline.

Mr Ruto’s lawyer, Mr Katwa Kigen, said the Eldoret North MP is expected to collect his visa on Thursday morning. He said the Dutch embassy had asked his client to collect their visas on Thursday.

UoN students take over streets again

BY SIMON NDONG'A

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null 1/1 NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 30 - University of Nairobi students took to the streets for the second time on Wednesday afternoon after a brief lull, to continue protests over a missing colleague. The students had confronted motorists earlier in the day but retreated after engaging the police briefly in a standoff. Their action caused a massive traffic snarl up and was expected to cause further delays as the second riot kicked off as the rush hour was picking up. The students were decrying what they termed as failure by authorities to trace the 5th year university student who went missing on the 18th of this month. Student leader Dennis Kiogora said university authorities and the police were not taking the matter seriously. "It has emerged very clearly that the efforts to find the student have been minimal. The university and other concerned authorities have been handling the matter very lightly," he stated. Attempts by Nairobi Provincial Police Officer Antony Kibuchi to calm them fell on deaf ears and they demanded to speak to Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere. Speaking to journalists, the boy's father said a search to find him had not borne fruit despite all his efforts. "When I heard that the boy was missing, I travelled from my home in Lamu and when I reached here, I found that he had been missing for three days," he said. "From that day onward I have not heard any news about him." Concern has been rising in the university's main campus after the engineering student vanished mysteriously. Peter Kamau Gikonyo was last seen leaving his hostel on Mamlaka Road on the evening of March 18 heading to an unknown destination. His colleagues said that they had they had searched every conceivable place he could have been all to no avail. "Even his parents and relatives in Lamu and Nairobi do not know where he is and this is very worrying," said one of his colleagues. They now fear that Mr Gikonyo may have been kidnapped, since his mobile phone has been off since he vanished. Mr Gikonyo's colleagues have reported the matter to the police and have also scoured several hospitals and prisons in Nairobi in the hope of hearing a word about him in vain. They said that he was a down to earth boy who did not frequent nightclubs and didn't go out much and does not drink alcohol. The students have made an appeal for anyone with information about their missing colleague to report the matter to Central police Station in Nairobi. Follow us on http://twitter.com/CapitalFM_kenya

Read more: http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/Kenyanews/UoN-students-take-over-streets-again-12231.html#ixzz1I5p4YOlZ
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Why I Will Go To The Hague With Uhuru and Ruto

Tuesday, 29 March 2011 00:03 BY MIGUNA MIGUNA

Like my hero the late great Pan-African revolutionary Bantu Steve Biko wrote before he was assassinated by the Apartheid regime – I Write What I like. But I write responsibly, of course. The Constitution of Kenya entrenches and protects my right to free expression and speech. And so do various international instruments. On April 7 and 8, 2011, I intend to exercise two other fundamental rights and freedoms the Constitution guarantees me: the right of association and travel.
I plan to accompany two of Luis Moreno-Ocampo’s celebrated Kenyan indictees - Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto - to The Hague. I am not planning to attend as a lawyer, though, as a well-trained and experienced barrister and solicitor, I am more than qualified to hold brief for the two. I haven’t been retained and instructed; and I don’t want to be accused of soliciting.
Nor will I be there as a spy. There isn’t anything to spy on since the ICC process is transparent and the two will appear in open court. Moreover, full details of the charges the two are facing have been published locally and abroad. The user-friendly ICC website where the charges and summonses have been posted is accessible to everyone in the world. That site contains everything anybody would like to know about the cases, minus the identities of witnesses. Moreover, on April 7 and 8, no witnesses will be called. No actual court proceeding will ensue. So, unless Uhuru and Ruto intend to detour to herbalist Ambilikile Mwasapila’s miracle “clinic” in Loliondo, Tanzania, there will be nothing to spy on.
I actually could have represented the two “presidential front-runners,” pro bono, if they were facing similar charges the Kapenguria Six faced. In Toronto, Canada, I specialized in defending those brutalized and mistreated by the Police. In my fifteen years of active litigation, I did more than my fair share of malicious prosecutions, illegal arrests and unlawful detentions. I got lots of innocent victims of police abuse of power from the jaws of racist criminal justice system. I know a thing or two about being framed. After all, I attended two blue-laced universities in Canada: the venerable University of Toronto and the inimitable Osgoode Hall Law School of York University.
I have absolutely nothing against the private college Uhuru attended in the U.S.A. That a person with no intellectual, commercial or artistic flair – and who has never been gainfully employed through merit - would be considered a “presidential front-runner” by an incumbent president whose legitimacy is questionable, is a phenomenon only a Kenya can explain to the world. In North America and Europe, they swirl around military heroes, tested performers, industry titans and custodians of integrity. Oratorical flair comes in to boost the pith of one’s character; not as a convenient substitute to substance.
Wealth is a poisoned chalice in North American politics if its sources are murky. Not in Kenya. In Kenya, it is how much wealth one has – regardless of its sources and no matter the ethical pedigree of its wielder – that determines one’s “status” in life. Even before the “Sonko” phenomenon, those occupying exalted positions in life neither earned nor merited them.
The problem is that unlike my heroes, Steve Biko, Nelson Mandela, Chris Hani, Joe Slove, Govan Mbeki and Walter Sisulu who suffered treacherously but courageously waging war against the Apartheid regime in South Africa; Uhuru and Ruto are facing charges at The Hague for crimes against humanity because they allegedly slaughtered innocent Kenyan civilians. Before that, they excelled in YK’92! Uhuru and Ruto are what one might call “historical eyesores”.
Uhuru and Ruto are not facing sedition or treason charges. Had Mungiki been a liberation movement – like the Mau Mau and the Umkonto we Ziswe - Uhuru could have earned my pro bono services. But the ICC has accused Uhuru, not of fighting to free the poor and downtrodden Kenyans from poverty, police brutality and abuse; he is facing charges for allegedly using the Mungiki to butcher innocent Luos, Luhyas and Kalenjins in Naivasha and Nakuru for parochial political interests during the post-election violence. Ruto, on the other hand, is accused of burning women and children alive in a church in Eldoret.
Of course, Uhuru and Ruto have asserted their innocence in public rallies and funerals. And as a lawyer, I accord them the benefits of doubt that all accused persons are entitled to. The problem, however, is that I watched, like many others, the sickening bloodbath and tragic barbarism that saw thousands murdered, maimed, raped and displaced in 2007/8. The Pre-Trial Chamber II of the ICC, which is the only competent and credible judicial authority that has independently and impartially assessed Moreno-Ocampo’s evidence, unanimously agree - even the dissenting judge agreed - that Uhuru Kenyatta, William Ruto, Henry Kosgey, Husein Ali and Joshua Sang, are most responsible for those crimes and should therefore stand trial.
Because of the catalogue of crimes against humanity that the ICC has assembled against the Ocampo Six, I intend to travel to The Hague as a spectator to the mourning sessions that the two “celebrated” indictees plan to unveil at The Hague on April. According to various media reports, Uhuru and Ruto are planning to perform the most breathtaking political dirges that have never been seen before. Using a cast of forty MPs - the “Honourable Mourning Troupe” – Uhuru and Ruto will conduct rehearsals in Parliament Buildings, Nairobi; the JKIA and the Amsterdam Schiphol Airport; and hold the final performance at The Hague on both April 7 and 8.
The “Mother of all Funerals” will be staged at The Hague. The chief drummers and trumpeters will be from the infamous YK’92 Troupe. The PNU/KKK and Ocampo Groupies have hired mugithi, nyatiti and sukuti dancers who will stage dazzling traditional dirges that have never been seen before. The two “presidential front-runners” are conducting their political funerals ahead of time. I don’t want to miss the show. That’s why I am traveling to The Hague.
Political burial arrangements will be announced later, possibly after the confirmation hearings in November!

Miguna is the PM’s advisor on Coalition Affairs. The views expressed here are his own.

What Does Uhuru Really Stand For?

Tuesday, 29 March 2011 00:03 BY DAVID MAKALI

For a long time Uhuru Kenyatta has cultivated the image of a secretive receding politician who shies from speaking out his mind on controversial issues. Whenever he was expected to take a stand on national issues, Uhuru retreated back to consult family, political godfathers and community. But more recently, he has become exceptionally vocal with his being named by Moreno Ocampo as a potential perpetrator of the 2008 post-election violence.
But as he steps forward and whips up a political storm, many questions linger over his whole mission and whether the strategy will work. Uhuru is still dogged by the tag of a 'project’ many years after ex-president Daniel arap Moi introduced him to politics and tried to groom him to be his successor. Every step he makes seems reminiscent of that plot and calculated to accomplish that unfinished mission.
It is either poor strategy or the nasty politics that have frustrated his climb to the top. Almost ten years since Moi installed him at the helm of the Kanu party, his imprint on it is insignificant. Although he is the blue-eyed boy of the system, he still has to elbow for room and consort with friends to keep his mission alive. The past ten years he has dabbled in this and that short-lived alliance, swung between the opposition and government but moneyed Uhuru still sounds like a frustrated politician struggling to find his footing.
Although he is the chairman of Kanu, he has gravitated towards the Party of National Unity, Kibaki’s 2007 patchwork of mainly Central province outfits, with which Uhuru finds natural affinity. His strategy of inheriting Kibaki’s vehicle and reaching out to other areas for top up votes is being resisted by potential aspirants such as Martha Karua, George Saitoti and Peter Kenneth, who smell a whiff of hereditary politics at play.
Uhuru has announced that he is coming our to fight and fight isn’t he, oh boy! But his forays and alliance-building outside Central Kenya are suspect and opportunistic at best. One can sympathise with his predicament being faced with the ICC, and an outgoing Kikuyu presidency. He has clearly stated in response to ICC’s summonses that all he did in 2008 was to “help his
people” and vowed that he would do the same again in similar circumstances.
That sounds like the stuff of a political martyr. We do not know what heroic things he did but we will hopefully know when he and Moreno Ocampo face each other in the Hague. Surely one cannot be charged with crimes against humanity for merely providing blankets, food and transport to displaced people.
But isn’t it strange that Uhuru’s comrade in arms and ally now is his counterpart (at the Hague) in allegedly perpetrating attacks against Uhuru’s “people”. Kenyans may have to wait for the alliance to mature, but there is an eerie feeling that this is a partnership consecrated in the innocent blood of victims of post-election violence.
I read in one weekend newspaper that Uhuru had declared in Meru that he and his allies have now ditched their offices to conduct “serious politics” and fight Raila because he is the one “who caused the chaos after he refused to concede defeat” and that he should be the “one to be arrested to ensure this does not happen again.”
Uhuru further said that because Raila had confessed he took part in the attempted coup in 1982, he should be in jail. But the clincher was Uhuru’s assertion that “in 2007, Raila vied, was beaten, refused to accept defeat and called for violence.”
If indeed Uhuru said these things and they are all true, then I think the ICC is doing a very shoddy job. But why has Uhuru taken so long to tell the world these 'truths’? And what are the Kenya police still investigating?
Now we all know the genesis of this “serious politics” and Uhuru is but “politicking”. We need not hold him to specific proof because that is a matter for Raila to deal with. But I am keen to find out what Uhuru really thinks about the fate of those families that lost their loved ones, property and became destitute. I am keen to find out what he thinks about the people who were exterminated in Naivasha or burnt do death in Kiambaa church.
There is clearly no love lost between the two politicians, and each must be itching for a duel to settle old scores, but should that be at the expense of justice to innocent people who voted for either Kibaki or Raila?
Since 2002 when Raila ditched Uhuru, who went on to lose to Kibaki’s National Rainbow Coalition in which Raila was the matchmaker, he has always been broody. Through 2002-2007, Uhuru was thrust into the uncomfortable role of opposition leader in which he performed disastrously. But as fate would have it, he was forced by circumstances onto one side with Raila in opposing the 2005 draft constitution, through which Uhuru sat uneasily.
Although he swam with the crowd, his heart was always with President Mwai Kibaki. Soon as the referendum over, Uhuru switched camp back home. We now know from Wikileaks what Uhuru thought about Kibaki throughout his first term. But does anyone really know what Uhuru stands for or indeed what his leadership would look like?

 Makali is a journalist who comments on topical issues

KARUA PARTY CLEARS TWO FOR KAMUKUNJI NOMINATIONS ON THURSDAY

Tuesday, 29 March 2011 15:54 BY ISAAC ONGIRI

Narc Kenya aspirant for Kamukunji seat Brian Weke . 28-03-2011.chrispinus wekesa..

Two to fight for Narc-K's Kamukunji ticket

BY ISAAC ONGIRI  



Narc-Kenya has cleared two candidates to fight it out in the nominations for the Kamukunji by-elections set for Thursday this week.
City based human rights activist Brian Weke and former nominated councilor Muthoni Kihara will face off in the nominations after another candidate Anthony Githua withdrew.
Interim Independent Electoral Commission has given political parties upto mid next month to conduct nominations before elections are held on May 23.
Party Secretary General Danson Mungatana said the party will conduct democratic nominations to ensure it comes out with a strong candidate to face those from other parties.
Narc-Kenya led by Gichugu MP Martha Karua surprised many when it clinched Makadara seat in a by-election despite strong competition from ODM and PNU.
“I am set for the nominations. I have done ground work well enough and I know I will beat my challenger,” Weke said.
Weke’s opponent Muthoni is along time confidant of Karua.
At the weekend Weke traversed city estates— Eastleigh, Baraka, Shauri Moyo, Jerusalem, Uhuru and Majengo — wooing  voters.
Former Kamukunji MP Simon Mbugua, David Wahiga and John Chachaare also expected early next month to fight it out for PNU's ticket.
Yesterday Mbugua said Kamkunji people must elect a local not individuals migrating from Kileleshwa and Runda just to run for the elections.
“I am not introducing myself. The people of Kamukunji know Mbugua quite well and they know the unfinished business we must complete. My challengers are people who don’t belong here, no one knows them,” he said.
At the same time talks among the Somali Community to discuss the nomination of a joint candidate collapsed after the Ogaden and Issaq clans failed to reconcile ODM candidate Ibrahim Ahmed Jonnie and Yusuf Hassan of ODM-K.
The elders committee chaired by city businessman Mohamud Khalif hit a snag after both Jonnie and Yusuf insisted they are in the race.
Khalif’s team held a meeting at the Red Court  hotel where the last attempt by 10 elders from the two Somali clans failed.
ODM-K has already issued a nomination certificate to Yusuf who has hit the ground running in his second bid to become the Kamukunji MP.
Yesterday Jonnie said he will continue with his campaigns without being undermined by the collapsed attempt to unite him with his opponent.
“We are not bothered by that. We are going to continue with our campaigns because we know we are winning,” Jonnie said.
Jonnie who is known for his horse riding campaigns is remembered for having successfully challenging Mbugua’s elections in court.

Corridor of Power

Tuesday, 29 March 2011 15:53 BY POLITICAL DESK

Police officers attached to the Presidential Escort are up in arms following an order by a senior commander based at State House that the officers pay out Sh100 so they can get their new ceremonial uniforms. The said commander has told his juniors the money will be given to the designer as a gift. Our mole at State House has whispered to us that those who have refused to pay have been threatened with transfers to hardship areas.
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An assistant minister from North Eastern had to draw a dagger in order to recover Sh1million he loaned out to a broke MP from Coast Province. The same legislator is in trouble after he borrowed Sh1.5 million from a wealthy MP from Nyanza and wrote two bouncing cheques. The man has been promising that he is expecting huge deposits from a foreign diplomat in Nairobi which has not been forthcoming. In this regard, an MP from Ukambani has now taken the initiative of cautioning MPs against the bad debtor who targets unsuspecting colleagues.
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 A grand coalition official known for globe-trotting to solicit for presidential campaign resources is at it again. Pictures showing the man begging for money from a congregation of a controversial London-based preacher are in circulation. The man also recently traveled  with a questionable Mombasa businessman to the Middle East where they discussed serious business deals. What is more, the said politician, has been in constant communication with Yagnesh Devani of the Triton scandal whom police cannot trace in Dubai.
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Narc-K leader Martha Karua and her General-Secretary Danson Mungatana are said to be divided in the coming Kamukunji by-elections. Karua is said to be uncomfortable with Brian Weke who has been warmly welcomed to the party by Mungatana.The Gichugu MP is said to be keen on former nominated councillor Muthoni Kihara.