Sunday, June 30, 2013
Corridors of Power
Decorum in the National Assembly was at its lowest on Thursday evening as Jubilee and Cord MPs clashed over the funds to be allocated for the free laptop programme. Lawmakers resorted to name calling and use of obscene gestures, including the flashing of the middle finger, against their opponents. The tantrums escalated when an MP, while seeking a ruling from Deputy Speaker Joyce Laboso on the use of the dirty gestures in the House, ended up repeating the mistake as he flashed his middle finger several times as he addressed the speaker.
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Still on MPs and their weird behavior in the House, a Cord MP from Nyanza who was agitated by the behavior of a Jubilee rival from Rift Valley, yelled at him: “You murderer!” Determined not to take the insult lying down, the Rift Valley legislator, who is a first timer in Parliament, hit back: “You seasoned chief extortionist.” Corridors is hoping that the two “honourable members” will not go for each others' necks in case they meet outside the House.
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Some Jubilee bigwigs were overheard boasting how they will block Kethi Kilonzo from vying on a Wiper ticket for the Makueni senatorial seat. The individuals were claiming they have enough evidence to prove that Kethi was outside the country during the March 4 elections and could not have voted for her late father Mutula Kilonzo. They even threatened to release documentary evidence of the hotel abroad where she was staying on election day.
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Officials of a Chinese roads construction company are in panic after an audit revealed that they received pay for an El-Nino project seven years ago. Attempts by the officials to ward off investigative journalists from a local television station probing the more than Sh89 million double payment appears to have hit a snag. Corridors has learned that the media outlet is about to expose how rogue government officials have been reaping off tax-payers in collusion with unscrupulous contractors by raising invoices which are promptly paid under pending bills.
Moi: Leave me out of teachers’ strike
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Former President Daniel arap Moi gestures at a press conference in his home at Kabaranet Gardens in Nairobi. Photo/STEPHEN MUDIARI NATON MEDIA GROUP
By WALTER MENYA wmenya@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Saturday, June 29 2013 at 20:58
Posted Saturday, June 29 2013 at 20:58
Retired President Daniel arap Moi has dissociated himself from the teachers’ pay deal signed 16 years ago during his presidency.
Speaking to the Sunday Nation through his Press Secretary Lee Njiru, the former president said the pay deal was a collective government decision which had nothing to do with him as an individual.
“This thing should not be personalised. When he (President Moi) handed over to his successor in 2002, he passed on all the instruments of power, including the pleasures and the agonies. When you hand over, you hand over lock, stock and barrel. He did not retain anything that was government’s,” said Mr Njiru.
In 1997, then Head of Public Service Phares Kuindwa, Treasury Permanent Secretary Simeon Lesirma and Solicitor- General Aaron Ringera signed the Legal Notice 534 at State House that awarded teachers between 105 and 200 per cent salary increments. Implementation was to be in phases over a five-year period starting from July 1, 1997.
“It was not Moi as a person. It was signed by officers of the government, not President Moi,” Mr Njiru said.
At the signing ceremony, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) was represented by Secretary-General Ambrose Adongo, chairman John Katumanga and Treasurer John Bosco Mboga.
Prior to the deal, Education minister Joseph Kamotho had vehemently refused to budge on the teachers’ pay demands. But with a General Election fast approaching, President Moi, perhaps afraid of losing the collective vote of teachers, summoned the Knut officials to State House.
Mr Njiru, however, insists President Moi’s actions were not dictated by the impending poll but the interest of the country.
“This was a government decision, and at the time, government did what it could to deal with the situation. This (the strike) is a policy matter and there is a Cabinet in place to deal with it as they deem fit.”
Mr Kamotho, despite being the Education minister, was left out of the meeting, even though he later gazetted the legal notice. Knut maintains the minister did not have to be present at the signing of the 1997 agreement.
“Whether the minister was present or not, who appoints the ministers anyway? The president is the head of government and can exercise the powers of the minister. Our employer was also present.
It is a non-issue to start claiming that a minister was present or not. We negotiated with the government and our employer, period!” said Knut chairman Wilson Sossion.
2012 strike
Since the October 1997 strike, teachers returned to the the streets in 1998 and in July last year. The 2012 strike was motivated by their unsuccessful demand to have Legal Notice 16 — which revoked the 1997 deal — degazetted.
Teachers appear to time their strikes to either coincide with a looming General Election or just before national examinations begin, which often results in a deal. But Knut denies being motivated by prevailing politics with Mr Sossion insisting that teachers only take to the streets when they feel their rights have been violated.
“Our industrial actions have no correlation with elections or national exams. In fact, if you recall, the strikes come after the budget has been presented, and the government has failed to allocate funds for allowances or salaries that have been awarded,” said Mr Sossion.
He added: “Whenever we realise that the Treasury has ignored us in the budget then we start preparing teachers.”
Knut also maintains that the venue where the agreement was signed is not an issue as long as it was signed within the Republic of Kenya.
The legal notice awarded the teachers house allowances of 35 per cent in the first year. This would rise to 45 per cent by 1998/99 and a final 50 per cent by 2000.
The teachers also got medical allowances of 15 per cent in the first year which would then be raised to 20 per cent by 1999. In addition, Knut also bargained for and got responsibility allowances of 100 per cent of the prevailing rates in 1997 and 400 per cent by 2000.
The responsibility allowances would then plateau at 500 per cent by 2001 and subsequent years. They would also earn a special allowance payable to teachers in special education institutions of 10 per cent from July 1, 1997.
Teachers in hardship areas would also draw hardship allowances of 30 per cent of the minimum pay from 1997.
Legal Notice 534 also awarded teachers a commuter allowance of 10 per cent from 1998, accommodation allowance of between Sh600 for the lowest paid teacher and Sh2,000 for the chief principal per night; transfer allowances equivalent to one month’s gross basic salary and advances to buy motor vehicles.
In December 2002, a memorandum of agreement reaffirmed that the government would “irrevocably honour the teachers’ salary award as contained in Legal Notice 534 of 1997”. The MoU was signed just three weeks to the General Election in which then opposition Narc candidate Mwai Kibaki trounced Kanu’s candidate and current President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Appending their signatures to the memorandum were Mr Ibrahim Hussein and Mr Benjamin Sogomo for Teachers’ Service Commission, Mr Katumanga, Mr Francis Ng’ang’a and Mr Peter Mutulu for Knut. The government was represented by Education PS Japheth Kiptoon, his Treasury counterpart Joseph Kinyua and Mr James Ongwae who was in charge of personnel management.
But the government would only later increase the basic salaries and leave out the allowances. Instead, in 2003, then Education minister George Saitoti gazetted Legal Notice 16 which sought to overturn the 1997 agreement by varying the allowances that the government had agreed to.
With the legality of the 1997 agreement in question, two Cabinet Secretaries – Labour’s Kazungu Kambi and his Education counterpart Jacob Kaimenyi –now argue that teachers have no case as far as the government is concerned based on the 2003 legal notice.
“Knut does not have a case, and I would advise them to get a collective bargaining agreement. Going to the streets does not solve the issue, but coming to the (negotiation) table solves almost all the issues,” Mr Kambi said last week. The Labour Secretary’s argument is that teachers only have a gazette notice while salaries are negotiated on the basis of CBAs.
But Knut maintains that the government must nullify Legal Notice 16, recognise the 1997 agreement and reinstate their medical, house and commuter allowances of 20, 50 and 10 per cent respectively.
“The Legal Notice 16 alleges that it was signed by our leaders yet it did not originate from the Teachers’ Service Remuneration Commission. The degazettement should be the starting point because we do not recognise the said legal notice,” said Mr Sossion.
The Knut officials said the government was becoming mischievous and was involved in games that would not solve the stalemate. Mr Sossion said Section 13(1) of the Teachers’ Service Commission (TSC) Act establishes the Teachers’ Service Remuneration Commission (TSRC) which is equivalent to the Industrial Court. Therefore, there was no need for teachers to deposit the 1997 agreement with the Industrial Court again.
“CBAs that are deposited with the Industrial Court are from the private sector for purposes of protection. But teachers are not in that category. They are permanent and pensionable,” he said.
TSRC, the Knut boss argued, was established because the government recognised the special position of teachers in the country. “Therefore, the 1997 agreement is a valid CBA that has been recognised as such by the TSRC as well as other courts of this land.”
The High Court in Nakuru had in October 2003 upheld the 1997 agreement as a CBA. In 2010, November, the courts again endorsed the earlier ruling. The teachers, Mr Sossion said, would stay out of the classrooms as long as it takes the government to recognise the 1997 deal.
“There has been no cordial approach or talks taking place behind the scenes. Instead, the government has run to court, but teachers will remain on strike as long as it takes. Remember at one point we have been out for close to a month. We are ready for the same,” he said.
On Friday Prof Kaimenyi threatened to withhold teachers’ salaries if Knut does not come to the negotiating table. But Mr Sossion said the law is clear that the Cabinet Secretary cannot withhold salaries for workers who have performed their duties for at least 21 days.
Yesterday, he confirmed that some teachers have been paid. “Three-quarters of teachers have received their salaries, especially those in Equity Bank,” said Mr Sossion.
10 GREAT RULES THAT WILL HELP YOU REMAIN POOR ALL YOUR LIFE
1. Never wake up early: Keep stretching and turning in bed until you get too hungry to continue dozing. If there are no bedbugs, why hurry to get up?
2. Never plan how to spend your money: Whenever you get money, start spending it right away and when it is finished, try to count and recall how you spent it.
3. Don't think of saving until you have real big money: How can you save when you earn so little? Those telling you to save are not sympathetic to your burning needs.
4. Don't engage in activities usually reserved for the 'uneducated': How can you, a graduate, engage in petty trade or home- based production? That is for people who never went to school.
5. Don't think of starting a business until an angel comes from heaven and gives you capital: How do they expect you to invest before you get millions of shillings? Even though more than half the businesses in your town were started with a few hundred shillings, you as a smart person can only start with millions.
6. Complain about everything except your own attitude: Blame the system, the government and the banks that refuse to lend you money. They are all bad and do not want you to get rich.
7. Spend more than you earn: To achieve this, buy consumer products in credit and keep borrowing from friends and employer.
8. Compete in dressing: Make sure you wear the latest clothes among all the workers in your office. Whenever your neighbour buys a new phone, get one that is more expensive.
9. Get yourself a nice second- hand car that costs more than three times your gross monthly pay: That will surely keep you in debt long enough to hinder the implementation of any bad plans that could make you accumulate capital.
10. Give your children everything they ask for since you are such a loving parent: They should not struggle for anything because you do not want them to suffer. That way, they will grow up lazy and hence poor enough to ensure they cannot help you in your old age.
HOPE THIS HELPS U GUYS
LIKE if you agree with this and SHARE to inspire all your friends and relatives out there.
Woman MP slapped in House chaos
Posted by: The People in Main story June 28, 2013 0 10642 Views
By ANTHONY MWANGI/Photo: File
A female Member of Parliament was slapped and another splashed with water on the face by an irate male colleague, as chaos erupted in the National Assembly yesterday over an attempt to divert money meant for the schools laptops programme to pay teachers.
It was an afternoon of ugly scenes and shameful conduct by MPs that saw insolent behaviour and derogatory language turn the hallowed chamber into scenes reminiscent of town hall brawls. The height of chaos was when Suna West MP Joseph Odege ordered some Jubilee women MPs to ‘shut up!’, but after he was heckled he grabbed and slapped Laikipia County MP Sarah Korore in the face.
Drama escalated as Meru County Women Representative Florence Kajuju, who was sitting next to Korore, dared the assailant to a fight, but a fuming Odege grabbed a bottle of water and splashed it on Kajuju. The matter degenerated into a near mass brawl as other members, led by Juja’s Francis Waititu, joined in the side of the women MPs, threatening to pounce on Odege.
Heated drama had started unfolding during debate on the Appropriations Bill, when Cord moved amendments to have money set aside for the primary school laptops project diverted to pay teachers who are on strike. Hell broke loose after their Jubilee counterparts carried the day during division to determine the fate of the amendments moved by Minority Deputy Leader Jakoyo Midiwo, after heated debate.
Furious words and insults unheard in Parliament before were traded across the floor, as Deputy Speaker Joyce Laboso appeared to lose all control. The incident between Odege and the women MPs did not mark the end of the ugly events. After Cord lost the vote, Midiwo, annoyed by the outcome, gestured at Subukia MP Kimani Ngunjiri who was celebrating with the V (for victory) sign.
A charged Ngunjiri did not take it hands down and tried to dash to where Midiwo was, but was restrained by colleagues. And in an attempt to fuel the situation, Sirisia MP Waluke also flashed the V sign to the Jubilee side. Nyando MP Fred Outa also had to be restrained as he attempted to scale the division barrier to square it out with Ngunjiri.
The session sunk into more drama after David Ouma of Ugunja tried to grab the mace before the Sergeant-at-Arms and his officers moved to stop him. And when the mover of the motion was called to respond by Laboso, Cord members demanded for yet another division, which was overruled. They remained adamant even as Laboso ordered them to address themselves with decorum, prompting her to walk out of the chamber in a huff, marking the end of the chaotic session.
Earlier, Cord had put up a spirited attempt to have the money set aside for the laptops programme re-allocated to pay the teachers, but were defeated by the Jubilee side. The defeat marked the start of the shouting match with Cord leading with the popular campaign refrain ‘bado mapambano’ (the struggle continues), which was countered by the Jubilee’ side with’winner eh eh eeeh winner’ hymn.
Attempts by Laboso to call for order fell on deaf ears, forcing her to wait for the members to calm down. At this juncture, Kisumu Town East MP Ken Obura was thrown out for lack of decorum. All the amendments proposed by Cord MPs were defeated with only that of Jubilee’s Eldama Ravine MP Moses Lessonet sailing through. He had sought to have Sh2 billion removed from the Education Vote to address the teachers’ pay.
Bomet Central MP Ronald Tonui had earlier distanced himself from his Jubilee side, to have money withdrawn from the Education Vote to pay the teachers, but was defeated after his side disowned him. And in his amendment, Midiwo had sought to have Sh47 billion re-allocated from the education and a further Sh3 billion be given to the political parties and Sh1.6 billion to the DPP’s office.
But Johnstone Sakaja, TNA nominated MP, dismissed Midiwo’s proposals as ‘political’, saying Cord was out to fight off the laptops project for fear of its success. Sakaja said money from the Education Vote could not be re-allocated since it was for, among other needs, free education. The House was expected to meet later in the night to pass the Bill which, according to constitutional timelines, could not have gone beyond yesterday.
Is Raila Regrouping For The Biggest Comeback?
You could see it everywhere; the look of dejection and depression among Raila and Cord supporters right from the very moment their eyes were glancing at projections on televisions that unbelievably showed Uhuru was beating Raila by a margin that never deviated no matter how many different areas were reporting—an anomaly by any measure only IEBC had the ability to produce.
On the other hand, Uhuruto and Jubilee supporters could not contain themselves in their glee in what they were seeing, but some to their credit did try.
The dejection and depression was muted if somewhat with the filing of Raila and AfriCog’s petitions challenging the declared results that Uhuru had won.
Hope they did, meaning Raila and Cord supporters that the Supreme Court would do the right thing and at least order a re-run, if not a run off but those hopes were mercilessly crushed with the Supreme Court dismissing without likely not even bothering to read the petitions.
It was deja vu for we had been on this road before except the last time there was death, bloodshed and great destruction of property and lives the country has yet to heal from justice having not been served in the view of PEV victims and their families and friends as well as those who value justice for all.
The rest are practically indifferent or simply don’t care as is now proven, given they came out in large numbers to vote for two individuals charged at The Hague for commission of these very crimes.
To lose an election due to rigging is one thing but to lose an election to individuals charged with these serious crimes is altogether a totally different matter.
It takes a special individual to walk with his head up and even manage an affable smile after being rigged out of the presidency not once but twice—in a row, to boot, leave alone the circumstances related to post-election violence and ICC.
What is more agonising and painful than that, other than the death of a loved?
Going through hard time for a crime one never committed comes to mind or being held in custody and tortured for nearly a decade for standing up for the rights of others as Raila was and overcame only to emerge as an even more powerful and loved politician in the country.
Those who talked to Raila in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s intellectually shallow and embarrassing decision were surprised to find the man in great spirits, even cracking jokes!
Many a man would have been wallowing in rage for days and wanting to do something—whatever to right the wrong but not Raila.
The seasoned politician he is, Raila is no doubt regrouping and as the proverbial cat with nine lives, he might as well now be known as the big cat of them all for he’s clearly on to his fourth or fifth life by now.
No one engenders much in both love and hatred than Raila.
The very idea of Raila reinventing himself and going for it again surely must turn the stomachs of his haters while sending the rest of them screaming and breaking things but why?
Why would Raila generate this much dislike among people he has never met, let alone done anything to them to deserve this hate.
He’s not alone on this count as his cousin in the United States, one Barack Hussein Obama, is loved and hated there in almost equal measure.
The use of 'almost equal measure' here is deliberate because Raila holds that position alone and no one comes even close to being loved and at the same time hated almost equally.
A majority of the nearly half of those who went to the polls on March 4, 2013 and voted for now President Uhuru Kenyatta did so not because they love Uhuru but simply because they hate Raila.
They just couldn’t stand the thought of having Raila in office as president they were perfectly okay and quite happy voting for someone who remains charged with serious crimes against humanity at The Hague.
Can Raila turn-around some of these voters as he contemplates reinventing himself and going for it again? Even more broadly, does the man have the energy, goodwill and stamina left in him to hit the campaign trail again one more time and cross his fingers that he won’t win for the third time and still be rigged out?
There are several reasons, some historical, that point to the answer in the affirmative on both questions.
First, Raila is now at 68, which is the new 48 for those with good, healthy eating habits and exercise regularly as Raila does. He will be 72 when sworn in as our next president, if he wins again as he and many believe he can.
This is two years younger in real time than Mandela was when sworn in as South Africa’s president and more than 22 years younger going by the indisputable formula above about changing demographics and life expectancy.
Second, love him or hate him, Raila still remains the most popular politician in the country and no presidential candidate has a shot against the Jubilee machinery than he alone.
Third, those who keep railing and are now plotting to punish or somehow “tame” Raila if he doesn’t retire do so strictly for narrow, partisan and even personal reasons that have no bearing on the man’s ability to lead.
No one but Uhuru should welcome Raila’s continued participation in politics for much as many believe he’s an illegitimate president, he should welcome Raila to the ring and if he gives him a KO or merely wins by rounds in an open, fair and transparent elections, he would go far in establishing legitimacy as our president and shall go on to rule a second time as if it were his first.
Newly minted billionaires in Kenya revealed
Posted by: The People in Main story June 29, 2013 1 Comment 6459 Views
By GITAHI NGUNYI
They are young, mostly in their 40s and 50s. They are self-made entrepreneurs with a sharp eye for money spinning ventures in Kenya economy. Meet the new class of super rich Kenyans. Away from the media glare, the new billionaires are slowly edging out of boardrooms owners of the old money in virtually every sector of Kenya’s economy. Today, The People profiles the 12 Kenyans topping the list of owners of the new money in town.
Dr Evans Kidero
People know him as the Governor of Nairobi and the former chief executive of Mumias Sugar Company. But not many know that Kidero is a top notch investor with a multi-billion real estate empire.
Kidero’s climb to the top of the money mountain is a typical rags to riches narrative. Born to a policeman in the city’s Majengo slum, the man at the helm in the Kenyan capital city had a difficult start in life but beat the odds to graduate as a pharmacist at the University of Nairobi. His entry into big money began in 2000 when he founded a real estate venture, Relocation Kenya.
The company has since developed multibillion estates in city upmarket areas including Karen, Runda, Upperhill, and State House Road. It is also present in Kisumu’s Milimani area with luxury apartments overlooking Lake Victoria. Kidero’s latest investment is Yala Towers, a modern office block within the city’s Central Business District, off Koinange Street.
Kidero also has a huge presence in the banking and media sectors. He is the second largest shareholder in Family Bank with a 3.2 million share portfolio worth over Sh100 million. In the media, his interests are in Radio Africa Group, the holding company that has The Star newspaper, Kiss TV, and a host of FM stations under its stable.
Anthony Wahome
He is a self-effacing telecommunications engineer and owner of the telecommunications giant, Linksoft Systems. The company provides support services to everybody who is somebody in the telephony industry including Safaricom, Bharti Airtel, Vodacom, MTN, Etisalat, Huawei, Nokia-Siemen and Tiggo. The company has offices in six African countries.
Wahome is the man who bought the prestigious Hillcrest group of schools previously owned by the Kenneth Matiba family. Wahome is also key shareholder in leading public relations firm, the Red House Group. Though founded only a year ago, the company is making major waves in the industry with a Sh 2 billion turnover.
Dr Sam Nthenya
The founder of the Nairobi Women’s Hospital is your typical rural boy brought up by a single parent in a dry section of Murang’a County called Gaturi. Nairobi Women’s Hospital has seven branches spread across the country. Dr Nthenya is also a big name in the real estate market. He is key shareholder in Kitisuru Country Homes which leases mansions in the range of quarter million shillings per unit.
Mobicom duo
Through their company Mobicom, Paul Wanderi and Joel Kibe have made huge bundles of cash from distribution of mobile phone accessories and airtime. With the income earned from the telecom boom, the duo have gone ahead to snap big shareholding in blue chip counters at the country’s stock market.
They are major investors in Housing Finance, Kenya Airways, Olympia Capital, Car and General and CMC motor group. They are the names behind the corporate coup that had owners of old money, Charles Njonjo and Jeremiah Kiereini, eased out of the board of CMC.
Paul Kinuthia
Nice&Lovely is a household name in the local beauty industry. But many people hardly know the soft spoken entrepreneur who founded the brand. Like others in the new money club, Kinuthia is a media shy entrepreneur who has succeeded in avoiding the public glare. Beginning with a small shop in city’s Kirinyaga Road, Nice&Lovely is now the region’s giant in beauty and personal care products. Some of the company’s well known brands include Bouncy diapers, All-Tyme sanitary tampons and Golden Shine shoe polish. The People Saturday, June 29, 2013.
Vimal Shah
This is the name behind Bidco Oil Company. From a small edible oil extraction company, Vimal Shah has transformed Bidco Oil to an African food and detergents giant. Bidco brands include Kimbo and Cowboy cooking fats previously owned by Unilever. Vimal Shah is also one of the investors behind the Sh 300 billion Tatu City project.
Simon Gicharu
He is a big name in university education sector. Until he made his entry, private university education in Kenya was the preserve of religious organisations. Gicharu’s flagship, Mt Kenya University, has its main campus in Thika town and has presence in all major Kenyan towns. Gicharu also owns the biggest university in Rwanda by the same name.
Liz Wanyoike
She is quickly following in the footsteps of Gicharu. She will be the first Kenyan woman to own a university once her multi-billion institution at Ongata Rongai is granted a charter. At the moment, she is best known as the proprietor of the Nairobi Institute of Business Studies (NIBS) on Thika superhighway. She is also a major property owner with flats in middle class estates in Nairobi, Kiambu and Thika. She is also putting up a six story hotel complex in in the lush Kileleshwa area.
The Suraya Family
Peter and Susan Muraya is the couple behind property development firm, Suraya. It is this couple who came up with the new fad in town called “gated community estates”. Besides estate development, Suraya also offers management and consultancy services. At the moment, the family is building the Spring Valley Business Park which include six office blocks and a four star hotel.
Lee Karuri’s group
The architect is best known for transforming hitherto low priced land into premium real estate projects across the country. The group which brings together financing guru, Dan Awendo, and real estate project manager Engineer Mbugua Kamau, is behind what has been popularised as golf estates. They include Thika Greens Golf Estate, Iluluwe Golf Estate and the Aberdare Golf Estate.
Karuri’s group is also best known as the avenue for real estate investors in the Diaspora. Karuri is the founding chairman of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance and owns an architectural firm, Dimension Architects. His co-investor, Mbugua, owns the firm, Pinnacle Projects, which manages the golf estates. Their partner, Dan Awendo, is the founder of Investeq Capital, a venture capital firm in the real estate sector.
Forbes’ list of highest paid African footballers
Updated Saturday, June 29th 2013 at 19:25 GMT +3
NAIROBI, KENYA: Sports is big business. This is true globally and in Kenya, sports has created multi-millionaires, especially in athletics. Our sports heroes, however, earn peanuts compared to the dollar billionaires from other parts of the world that owe their riches to their prowess in the field, track, golf courses and other sports arena. A recently released list of the richest sportsmen shows golfer, Tiger Woods, as the highest paid athlete in the world, getting $78.1 million a year in salaries, winnings and endorsements. Tennis player Roger Federer and basketball player Kobe Bryant are second and third respectively.
Globally stars like David Beckham ($47 million), Cristiano Ronaldo ($44 million) and Lionel Messi ($41 million) are the highest earning footballers and ranked eighth, ninth and tenth on the Forbes list. The Forbes list of Africa’s highest paid footballers based solely on their annual salaries are:
Country of citizenship: Ivory Coast
Club: Manchester City
Annual salary: $18.2 million
The 28 year-old Ivorian midfielder is the highest paid African player in the English Premier league. Made global headlines last summer when he left Barcelona (after a very successful streak) to join his elder brother Kolo at Manchester City. Smart move: Toure currently earns $320,000 a week. Other compensation includes an image rights payment of $2.5 million a year and an additional $1.3 million bonus every time Manchester City qualifies for the Champions League.
Samuel Eto’o
Country of citizenship: Cameroon
Club: Anzhi
Annual salary: $13.4 million
The revered Cameroonian striker is a four-time winner of the African Player of the Year award. He scored over 100 goals with previous club Barcelona FC over a five season period. His weekly take-home pay stands at $300,000. Eto’o bagged the African Player of the Year award for three consecutive years in 2003, 2004 and 2005.
Didier Drogba
Country of citizenship: Ivory Coast
Club: Galatasaray
Annual salary: $12.9 million
One of the most highly rated strikers in the world, Drogba is currently the highest goal-scorer for the Cote D’Ivoire national soccer team and is Chelsea’s 6th highest goal scorer of all time. Currently his earnings stand at $185,000 a week. The 33 year-old has endorsement deals with Nike, Pepsi, Samsung and Orange France. Large heart: Has committed some $5 million to building a children’s home in Abidjan.
Seydou Keita
Country of citizenship: Mali
Club: Dalian Aerbin
Annual salary: 12 million
Born in Bamako, Mali he has previously for Barcelona and is a key player in the Mali national team. Keita started playing for Mali in 2000 and has so far represented the country in six African Cup of Nations tournaments. Previously, he helped the under-20s finish third at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship in Nigeria, scoring in the last match against Uruguay and being named the tournament’s best player.
Emmanuel Adebayor
Country of citizenship: Togo
Club: Tottenham
Annual salary: $10 million
Born to Nigerian parents in Togo, the Manchester City striker started out his career playing for OC Agaza, a Togolese football club based in Lome. In July 2009 he exited Arsenal, signing a five-year contract with Manchester City, for a transfer fee of $40 million. Earns $220,000 a week. In January signed a loan deal to play for Real Madrid. Endorses energy drink, Power horse.
Mandela’s ex-wife blasts Zuma over ‘insensitive’ visit
| June 30, 2013
Nelson Mandela’s estranged wife Winnie/FILE
LONDON, Jun 30 – Nelson Mandela’s ex-wife strongly criticised on Sunday a visit paid by South African President Jacob Zuma in April to the ailing anti-apartheid icon, who is again critically ill in hospital.
Zuma and the ruling ANC party had come under fire at home and abroad for the visit in April to the former president, who was recuperating at home following a 10-day hospital stay.
“I honestly cannot put in words how hurt the family was. It was one of the most insensitive things for anyone to have done,” Winnie Madikizela-Mandela told Britain’s ITV News television.
In excerpts published on the ITV website, she added: “It was insensitive, it compromised the family, compromised his dignity and it should have never been done.”
Zuma said at the time Mandela was “up and about”, a description that was clearly at odds with televised footage that showed the revered ex-leader frail and dazed, sitting frozen in an armchair.
Mandela, 94, is said to remain in a critical but stable condition after more than three weeks in a Pretoria hospital suffering from a recurrent lung infection.
Divert laptop cash for teachers' perks, says Cord
PHOTO | PHOEBE OKALL | FILE Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga (left) and former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka (right) at a past function. NATION MEDIA GROUP
By MWAKERA MWAJEFA mwajefa@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Sunday, June 30 2013 at 18:31
Posted Sunday, June 30 2013 at 18:31
Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Sunday urged the government to divert money earmarked for purchasing laptops for class one pupils to paying allowances demanded by the striking teachers.
While addressing a meeting of Cord governors and senators in Mombasa, Mr Odinga said the public school pupils constitutional rights had been violated because of the strike.
“Why the rush to issue laptops to class one pupils when logistics are not favourable?" Mr Odinga posed. Read (Ruto invites Knut for perk talks)
Mr Odinga noted that the Cord's manifesto had an elaborate structure for introducing information communication and technology (ICT) to public schools in phases.
He said computer labs should first be introduced, then, teachers be trained as the programmed is rolled out in public schools.
“You cannot give class one pupils laptops when their security is not guaranteed," he said.
Fulfil pledges
Mr Odinga also urged Cord governors and senators to fulfil election pledges.
“As a coalition, we want to initiate changes by the Constitution to bring the education sector under the county governments,” he said adding that the Cord senators and MPs should be ‘bi-partisan’ when dealing with national issues.
Warning that non-performing governors might be a burden to the coalition in 2017, Mr Odinga asked the county leaders to spend public monies wisely.
“When we hear a governor spending million of shillings to fight pornography or allocating huge sums of monies for entertainment, we get worried as Cord leadership. What the people want is service delivery, period!” he said.
Mr Odinga also criticised the government of trying to ‘kill’ devolution through county commissioners, district officers and chiefs who were only answerable to the national government.
“If I were the president, I will have the governors as my representatives at county levels because they have promises to fulfil compared to the commissioners whose duties is only to please their boss,” he said.
He said that the commissioners were being used as a ‘parallel system’ to check on the governors who constitutionally should have more roles in county affairs.
In a rejoinder, former Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka urged the 24 Cord governors to deliver their pledges and boost the coalition's chances of ascending to power in 2017.
Noting that the Coast region was largely dominated by Cord leaders, Mr Musyoka urged them to work together to rid it of the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) influence.
“MRC is a product of marginalisation but if you can guarantee them that devolved governments can resolve some of their fundamental issues, then we will form the next government,” he said.
Kenya loses to England in World Cup semis
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Kenya celebrate reaching the cup semi-final at the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2013 in Moscow. Photo/IRB
By AFP
Posted Sunday, June 30 2013 at 17:50
Posted Sunday, June 30 2013 at 17:50
Kenya lost to England 12-5 in the second semi-final of the IRB World Series Sevens on Sunday as torrential rain played havoc with ball-handling on the pitch in Moscow.
Try-machine Dan Norton crossed for a first-half brace, but Kenya pulled back a five-pointer in a second period dominated, unusually for the abbreviated game, by kicking tactics.
When Willy Ambaka broke down the left wing with the hooter just about to sound, Norton was on hand to bring his man down, the ball was scrambled away and the English were through.