Friday, February 28, 2014
BOY:"A, B, C."
BOY:"A, B, C."
GIRL:"What?"
BOY:"Always Be Carefull."
GIRL:"Aha then?"
BOY:"D, E, F, G."
GIRL:"Meaning what?"
BOY:"Dont Ever Forget That."
GIRL:"Forget that...?"
BOY:"I'm H, I."
GIRL:"What H, I ?"
BOY:"Happily Inlove."
GIRL:"So."
BOY:"J, K, L, M."
GIRL:"Meaning?"
BOY:"Just Keep Loving Me."
GIRL:"How about N, O, P, Q, R, S, T,
U, V, W, X, Y ,Z...?"
BOY:"No Other Person Quite
Reasonable Shall Treat U Very Well
Xcept me You'll Zee ."
davie
GIRL:"What?"
BOY:"Always Be Carefull."
GIRL:"Aha then?"
BOY:"D, E, F, G."
GIRL:"Meaning what?"
BOY:"Dont Ever Forget That."
GIRL:"Forget that...?"
BOY:"I'm H, I."
GIRL:"What H, I ?"
BOY:"Happily Inlove."
GIRL:"So."
BOY:"J, K, L, M."
GIRL:"Meaning?"
BOY:"Just Keep Loving Me."
GIRL:"How about N, O, P, Q, R, S, T,
U, V, W, X, Y ,Z...?"
BOY:"No Other Person Quite
Reasonable Shall Treat U Very Well
Xcept me You'll Zee ."
davie
The Only Relevance Of ODM Party Polls
This weekend sees a much-awaited event finally take place – the ODM party elections, which is supposed to create the “winning team” that will at last propel the ODM party leader, Raila Odinga, all the way to State House.
Raila may not have declared his candidature yet. But few are fooled by his posturing: no presidential candidate who believes he was rigged out twice - and obtained ever greater tallies with each election - gives up without trying one more time.
Of course there are many who have no doubt that Raila will never be president; that he might as well just give up and retire from politics. But those are people with no knowledge of history.
It is not at all unusual for a man who to only become president, after three or four unsuccessful attempts.
The current president of Zambia, Michael Sata only gained victory in his third attempt – much like our own former President Mwai Kibaki. And he had a far less auspicious start to his career as a presidential candidate: when his Patriotic Front party first participated in an election, in 2001, it only won one seat in parliament.
Then there is former Senegal president Abdoulaye Wade: he first ran for president in 1978, and lost three consecutive times, finally winning on his fourth attempt in the year 2000. He then won re-election in 2007. But in 2012 he was defeated, after a controversial and unprecedented bid for a third term, which was only made possible by a constitutional amendment which did away with the previous two-term limit for the presidency.
Nor is it just in Africa where such things happen: the late French political leader Francois Mitterrand first ran for president in 1965, and only gained victory finally, 16 years later in 1981. Mitterrand then went on to be the longest serving president of France, holding office up to 1995.
The point then is that from a historical viewpoint, there is nothing at all unusual in Raila now planning to make his fourth attempt at winning the presidency. Many others, who in the end succeeded, followed much the same path.
Nor is the outcome of the ODM internal elections a matter of any real significance.
Other than perhaps the question of who ends up as the Secretary-General, does it really matter who holds what position in that party? Where is the Kenyan political party which does not approach its internal party elections without a pre-selected lineup of ‘new party officials’? Are not all such party elections merely a PR exercise aimed at presenting the country with a team of officials which “reflects the face of the nation”?
For by now – unless we have a pleasant surprise awaiting us in 2017 – the established pattern is that Kenyans vote along rigidly tribal lines at every General Election. So what will determine the outcome in 2017, has nothing really to do with "clean party elections". Kenyan political parties are, by and large, merely the 'special purpose entities' for contesting elections, unburdened by ideology, or democratic traditions or indeed, any practical plan for ruling the country.
And given that there has been very little by way of ‘reconciliation’ since the March 2013 election; given that those who believed that Uhuru won fair and square continue to believe so, and those who believe Raila was rigged out cling fiercely to that conviction; I would say that Uhuru will be a very vulnerable president come 2017.
A good part of this vulnerability is of the president's own making: but some of it - like his failure to appease the Rift Valley in the matter of appointments to high public office - would have been impossible for any president.
In any event, it seems to me that - given relatively free elections - the Kenyan preference, going back to 2002, is for a one-term president.
So there is one very important thing which should come out of the ODM party elections – something which matters much more than who wins what seat, other than Raila himself.
In general, leaders who end up having to wait for decades before they win the presidency, tend not to want to let it go once they finally get there.
So it would be sound strategy, as well as the right thing to do, if Raila - upon being declared the ODM flag-bearer all the way to the 2017 election - immediately and publicly announced that it is his solemn intention to only serve for one term.
Corridors of Power
State House.
Nairobi county speaker Alex Ole Magelo. Photo/FILE
Parliament buildings. Photo/Monicah Mwangi
Was it just a mistake or State House has its own version of the constitution? Yesterday the House on the Hill named the head of the Kenya Police Service as one of the organs that comprises the National Security Council chaired by the President. However, Article 240 recognizes the head of the National Police Service, which essentially is the organ that commands both the Kenya Police Service and the Administration Police Service. Both the KPS and AP have bosses answerable to head of NPS.
===
Nairobi County Speaker Alex Ole Magelo has been irked by allegations that he ordered that cars belonging to some MCA be clamped. Apparently some naughty city askaris have been clamping cars and when asked why they are doing so they told the owners that "we are implementing an order by Magelo". A shocked Magelo has denied issuing the orders and issued a stern warning to those using his name to justify their deviant behavior.
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Some members of the Nairobi county executive committee are not happy with Deputy Governor Johnathan Mueke. They say Mueke has been using abusive language while addressing them during meetings. The members claim Mueke uses "mediocre" quite a lot while referring to them. They have now warned him against using the language or they will table a motion against him.
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Real Estates Investments Trusts made a debut at the Nairobi Securities Exchange in 2013 with a company known as Home Afrika Limited. While the property market is promising and booming in Kenya fears have been expressed that this sole company does not allow prospective investors to verify its value by availing copies of its title deeds and deed plans especially for the Migaa and Mitini Scapes projects in Kiambu. Other projects are in Kikwetu in Machakos, Lakeview in Kisumu and Llango in Kilifi. The company value stands at Sh8.7 billion and investors are wondering the reason for the drop in the first price listing from Sh12 to the current Sh6 per share.
Uhuru and Ruto out of country the same time
MANDATE: Deputy President William Ruto, DR Congo First Lady Olive Lembe and President Joseph Kabila. Photo/REBECCA NDUKU/DPPS
PRESIDENT Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto were both away from the country yesterday.
The two have on several occasions told the ICC that they cannot be out of the country at the same time because doing so would violate the constitution.
Yesterday, Uhuru left for Juba, South Sudan for a oneday visit.
Ruto left the country for Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday. He is attending the 17th Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa summit. Uhuru was however expected back in the country yesterday but Ruto may not be back until Friday. He is scheduled to go to Nigeria from Kinshasa to represent Uhuru in the country’s centenary celebrations.
“We will work with ICC, but it must understand that Kenya also has a Constitution. Ruto and myself cannot therefore be away at the same time,” Uhuru said last September in Ruiru stadium where he and Ruto attended a prayer rally.
“When Ruto is at the Hague, I will be here, and when I am at the Hague, Ruto will be in Kenya.”
“We have agreed to work with the court but they must respect our Constitution.” Their lawyers at the ICC relied on a similar sentiment while seeking to change the schedules for their trials, both which were to start last year.
The court agreed to alternate the trial sessions after factoring their arguments as well as the fact that the court has only two courtrooms.
Uhuru’s trial was however later postponed. In Juba yesterday, Uhuru was to take part in talks to resolve the crisis in the country. He was accompanied by Foreign Affairs Secretary Amina Mohamed and his special envoy in the peace process Dalmas Otieno.
Raila Odinga: Stick with us
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Remarks by the Rt Hon Raila A Odinga EGH at the launch of the CORD ACTION PLAN FOR YOUTH.
THANK YOU for inviting me to share my thoughts with you on the situation of young people in our country today, and what we in CORD and ODM are doing about it.
I know very well how hard young people are struggling to get out of poverty. About 800,000 youths leave school each year and begin looking for jobs.
I know how much each and every one of them would like to be economically independent, would like to find a decent job or start a business, and would like to be able to provide an economically secure future for a family of their own.
But today two million young Kenyans, whether educated or not, are without work or an income. And the current government is doing nothing about it. Its election pledge to create a million jobs a year has vanished without trace. Have any jobs at all been created in the past 12 months? We have not heard of them.
I was well aware of the problems of joblessness and poverty when I joined government in 2008, and that was the reason one of my first tasks was to initiate the Kazi Kwa Vijana programme. Then, in June 2011, I introduced subsidised unga for the less economically able.
At a time when a 2kg bag of Hostess unga was selling for 156 shillings, and Jogoo at about 130 shillings, I prevailed on the government to subsidise unga for the poor, something that had never been done before in Kenya – and under the project a 2kg bag retailed at the greatly reduced price of 52 shillings.
The next step would have been to introduce vouchers and special shops where the less economically able could buy basic commodities at cheaper prices. Kazi Kwa Vijana, known as KKV, addressed the fact that the poor and the unemployed, whether educated or not, ALL have families to take care of. Phase one, with its labour-intensive jobs, was rolled out to target those with less education – while I continued to plan phase two, targeting those with formal educational qualifications.
I took these steps because I believe a government exists to care for the nation’s people.
Unfortunately, our Kenya government includes too many people who care only for themselves. The subsidised unga and KKV programmes ran into problems due to lack of public accountability by the corrupt. They took advantage to amass money for themselves. At the same time, those controlling the Treasury saw an opportunity to create negative propaganda against ODM, fearing that our programmes, designed to assist the poor, would make ODM popular.
Those who controlled the Treasury found ways to kill these programmes. It seems that there are always people in government who think the poor are there simply to be exploited. We see this today in the prices of unga, milk, sugar, paraffin, electricity, books and mobile phones, which have all risen steeply under the current regime.
Nobody in government has the least idea how to stop this, or how to cushion the poor. Nor do they care. Of course, it doesn’t happen only in Kenya.
In the US, for example, similarly selfish people have been grimly fighting President Obama’s plan to introduce health insurance for the poor. Greed and self-interest are what drives such people. So what are we doing as Opposition? We have a plan but, before I lay it out, let me pose the Six-Billion-Shilling Question.
During the election campaigns last year, both CORD and Jubilee promised that, if they won the election in the first round, they would give out to the youth the six billion shillings that had been set aside for a potential second-round run-off. Today, a year later, Jubilee is not talking about this money. Instead, it is talking of a Bill to give contracts to the youth. It is talking of the Uwezo Fund etc. What happened to the six billion Kenya shillings?
In the Acts of the Apostles, we hear how the Apostles came across a poor, crippled beggar, and Peter told him: ”Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk.”
CORD did not form the government. In ODM, we don’t have political power or much money. But we will give you ideas and expertise. That is what we can share with you. That, and concrete, supportive plans to help you progress. We promised to help young people acquire business skills, to give them seed money to start businesses and to help them attain loans. We shall be embarking on these programmes immediately after our party elections.
We shall organise seminars and youth camps, and bring successful businessmen and women and professional economists to speak on how to start businesses, about which ideas work and which don’t, about how to write business plans, how to raise start-up capital, and how to do book-keeping and manage accounts.
We are establishing teams to lobby banks to set up loans for youth-led Small and Medium Enterprises– boda boda operators, scratch-card vendors, fishmongers, second-hand-clothes dealers and so on.
They should all be able to access bank loans on easy terms. We are taking this up immediately after our party elections. We are setting up teams to help our young people in schools and colleges make good career choices. At present, there are leaders in this country who cannot tell you what their profession is or where they ever worked.
In CORD and ODM, we don’t have that problem.
We are a party of serious professionals and, as well as party members, we shall be bringing in other professionals to talk to our young boys and girls about their plans for the future. Expect to see me in your schools talking to your children and your brothers and sisters about what it takes to be an engineer. I am not just a politician. I am an engineer. Expect Mutula Kilonzo Junior, his sister Kethi Kilonzo, Otieno Kajwang and Ababu Namwamba in your schools and youth camps during the holidays to talk to your children about what it takes to be a lawyer.
I will bring Dr Agnes Zani over to speak to young people about what it takes for a woman to get a PhD, to be a sociologist and a lecturer. As a sociologist, Dr Zani is an expert on social and family issues, including crime and drug abuse. She will be coming over to discuss family issues with you.
Everyone wants to bring up good, successful families, but sometimes families fail and fall into hardship. This often sees youngsters missing school or getting pregnant, drifting into crime, going to jail and eventually creating further generations of homeless street families.
That is not the way forward for our nation, and we shall talk openly to young people about these issues. Our party and our coalition want to maintain a special relationship with young people. It will be fun, and I invite you to look forward to it. Just last week, I read the story…… and yes!
As any responsible leader should, I DO read the newspapers, so that I am well-acquainted with what people are going through. How can any leader worth his salt say that newspapers – the public record of the hopes and challenges of our nation – are only fit for wrapping meat?
Anyway, I read the story of a young boy, Martin Obila, who walked from Rarieda to Kakamega High School where he had been admitted. He could not raise the fees, so he went physically to explain himself and secure his place. I want to salute that young boy for his courage and determination.
I want to thank Kakamega High School principal Mr Oliver Minishi for admitting the boy, and I am asking education officials in Siaya County and the MP for Rarieda to take up the boy’s case, if they haven’t already, and pay his fees.
After we defeated Kanu in 2002, we fought hard for the Constituency Development Fund, and for free primary and secondary education. Now, why is any child undergoing what Obila has? And I know Obila is only representative of thousands of others with little hope.
We want to change that. I know some of you are feeling the fire I felt at your age. You are dying to move into politics, to take over, and to push this country forward. We shall support youth in that, too. We shall be creating camps to teach the youth the organisational skills they need in politics. I shall be there personally to take them through some lessons. So my word to everyone
is, don’t give up. Life is not for quitters. CORD and ODM are not for quitters. CORD and ODM are made up of tough men and women who have made it against great odds.
is, don’t give up. Life is not for quitters. CORD and ODM are not for quitters. CORD and ODM are made up of tough men and women who have made it against great odds.
Indeed, this whole COUNTRY has made it to where it is against great odds. And after all that hard work, do we want to see the old Kanu culture – handouts, delegations to State House and people’s homes, begging the government for jobs – to make a comeback?
It is already happening and, if we are not very careful, we shall soon be back to square one. We can’t allow that to happen. And there is an alternative. Stick with us, stay engaged and we shall change this country together. God bless you all.
Raila A Odinga EGH
Leader ODM;
CORD Coalition
Leader ODM;
CORD Coalition
I DON’T HAVE TO BE PRESIDENT SAYS RAILA
Diaspora Messenger | February 27, 2014 |
FORMER Prime Minister Raila Odinga has said he does not have to be Kenya’s President. In an extensive interview with Citizen TV on Tuesday night, Raila said he can not impose himself on Kenyans. He said he joined politics in the late 70s to change the country but not necessarily through the presidency.
FORMER Prime Minister Raila Odinga has said he does not have to be Kenya’s President. In an extensive interview with Citizen TV on Tuesday night, Raila said he can not impose himself on Kenyans. He said he joined politics in the late 70s to change the country but not necessarily through the presidency.
“I have never been in politics to be a president but to serve the people. I can do so in whatever capacity that they will accord me,” said Raila.
Now 69, Raila has contested and lost three presidential elections, two of them controversially. He first ran in 1997 and lost to President Daniel arap Moi. He ran again in 2007 when Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner in a disputed result that led to post-election violence. In March 2013 he lost to President Uhuru Kenyatta.
In the Citizen interview, Raila denied that age would disqualify him in 2017 when he will be 72 years. “I will still be younger than President Kibaki when he contested and won the presidency in 2002 and went on to serve for two terms. I will still be younger than the late Jomo Kenyatta and Nelson Mandela when they took power,” responded Raila.
He said age is just a number and if Kenyans endorse him, he would consider it. “I have severally put the question in rallies and other gatherings and people have always given me the answer. I will consult and weigh the options. I am also not a fool. I know when to quit,” he told presenter Hussein Mohamed.
He said the Cord coalition with the Wiper party of Kalonzo Musyoka and Ford Kenya of Moses Wetangula remains in place.
He said he could support either of the two as the Cord presidential candidate in 2017 if they are selected. “I am not selfish. All I want to see is change. I have demonstrated this before. In 2002 I backed Kibaki to realize change,” he said. He denied that he is grooming his eldest son Fidel Odinga to take over from him.
Raila said he cannot groom anyone because “politics is a calling.” He said his late father Jaramogi Odinga did not groom him and he made a personal decision to quit engineering for politics.
“Fidel is a businessman for now. He is well over 30 and he can make a decision of his own. I do not have to do so for him,” he said. He said the struggles in ODM ahead of tomorrow’s polls testifies to the party’s internal democracy.
Two factions have emerged seeking the party’s top leadership positions. One comprises Senator Agnes Zani, Senator Otieno Kajwang and MP Paul Otuoma while the other consists of MP Ababu Namwamba and Governor Josephat Nanok and Governor Hassan Joho.
Raila denied forcing Luo-Nyanza candidates out of the race in favour of some candidates. “What I clearly stated to them, and I am ready to reiterate, is that ODM is a national party which must have the face of the whole nation in its executive and so they should stop seeing some positions as preserve of Luo-Nyanza,” he said. He has been criticised by regional leaders led by Kisumu Central MP Ken Obura and Rongo MP Dalmas Otieno.
Raila confessed that his party had faced “challenges” providing effective opposition to the Jubilee government since the election “We have ironed out the issues,” he said and promised that Cord would now become an effective opposition. Raila denied practicing double standards by advising Jubilee to respect the judiciary when he himself had criticised it. “I obeyed the decisions even though I did not agree with them. And I said as much,” he said.
Raila also said he disagreed with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni over anti-gay legislation which he said is not a priority for Kenyans.
- the-star.co.ke
Thursday, February 27, 2014
I can't afford to let Ababu go, says Raila
LOYALTY: Budalang?i MP Ababu Namwamba and ODM leader Raila Odinga during the launch of the Cord Effect campaign on January 29 last year. Photo/File
ODM leader Raila Odinga has wished well all party candidates for various seats ahead of the Friday and Saturday elections. Raila moved to deny having any preferred list of candidates ahead of the elections.
He disclosed that all the candidates cleared by the party’s elections board are qualified for the positions they are vying for. “I therefore have no reason to support a particular candidate. I am fully behind all the contestants as they all belong to the orange family,” he said.
He allayed fears that Budalang’i MP Ababu Namwamba is a mole within ODM party. Odinga described Ababu as one of his fiercest general’s that he cannot afford to lose.
“Ababu is not a mole as some people claim, he is a staunch ODM member and I will stand by him,” Odinga said. He was addressing mourners at a funeral in Vihiga County over the Weekend.
He was accompanied by Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya, Senators Otieno Kajwang’ (Homabay) and George Khaniri (Vihiga), Suna East MP Junet Mohamed and Vihiga County youth leader Ben Ombima.
Ombima said Western region has endorsed Ababu for Secretary General. “We have convened meetings where the region’s delegates have agreed to rally behind Ababu for the Secretary General position.
He said several delegates from Nyanza region have also shown interest in supporting Ababu for the Secretary General position. Odinga said the fiercest campaigns being witnessed in ODM are healthy for the party.
He said it depicts then popularity of ODM across the country. “It is only ODM that has organized such elections. Other parties like TNA, URP and even UDF should conduct their elections if at all they want to be in the league of ODM party,’ he said.
Otieno and Uhuru to Sudan
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Monday, February 24, 2014
Tullow to begin oil survey in Kisumu
TOWERING: Tullow Oil Paipai-1 drill site as seen from the entrance of the drilling camp in Turkana. Photo/File
TULLOW Oil Company is set to begin an oil seismic (scanning) survey in various parts of Kisumu county. The survey is part of the national government’s efforts to explore minerals in the region believed to have oil deposits.
Infrastructure executive Vincent Kodera said it will help establish potential oil areas in the county. He said several community sensitisation programs have been conducted ahead of the oil scanning.
Kodera said the company’s technicians visited various subcounties in Nyanza region for oil prospecting in 2012. Some of the counties believed to have oil deposits include Kisumu, Homa Bay, Kericho and Migori.
Kodera said the survey is expected to run for six months and will be undertaken in Nyakach, Muhoroni, Nyando and along the lake. He said the Tullow Company had secured a certificate of exploration from the Ministry of Energy.
Speaking yesterday at his office in Kisumu town, Kodera said the technical officers said they will put up a drilling machine. “Kisumu was marked and Tullow were awarded the certificate to carry out exploration activities for oil,” Kodera said.
Corridors of Power
Deputy President William Ruto with wife Rachael leave the ICC courtroom on Friday Photo/DPPS
Members of a funeral Committee instituted to raise funds in aid of funeral arrangements of a popular University don who died last month have been accused of swindling some cash. Corridors heard that the committee members who mainly consisted of lecturers of the university decided to feast and go merry with a larger portion of the cash because they felt the late professor’s family is too rich. They are reported to have converged at a popular club in Siaya County where they ‘drunk’ a larger amount of the cash and distributed the remainder amongst themselves.
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A vehicle dealer in Valley Arcade is a worried man after some of the cars he supplied to Machakos County broke down a few days after a flamboyant show off in the area. Our moles tells us that after issues of audit were raised in the county by the Auditor General, the man has made a habit of not showing up in his site for fears of the unknown. The man is said to be fearing a grand appearance of Senator Johnstone Muthama at his yard. Muthama has been at logger heads with Governor Alfred Mutua.
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A proposal by State House and Office of the President operatives that the political parties funding allocated to President Uhuru Kenyatta’s led TNA and his Deputy William Ruto’s URP be collapsed and utilized under the Jubilee coalition, has sent jitters among the URP brigade. We are told Ruto’s confidants have smelt the rat in the latest development and were overheard swearing in their ethnic language that the merger of the fund will only happen over their dead bodies.
Yvonne Wamalwa: I am open to dating but I have not met the right man yet
#Trendsetters: Yvonne Wamalwa: I am open to dating but I have not met the right man yet http://bit.ly/1fpktXo via Eve Woman Magazine
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