Police hunt killer of wife and children

Jacob Owiti | Nation A picture of Ms Pamela Achieng Orawo, whose body and those of her three children were found with deep cuts at their house in Nyalenda slums in Kisumu on Sunday.

By STELLA CHERONO scherono@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Monday, August 30 2010 at 22:00
In Summary

Boda-boda operator had threatened to kill his wife and children for disturbing him

Residents of Nyalenda slums in Kisumu are still shocked by the killing of a woman and her three children purportedly by a man they called their father for six years.

Hundreds of people continued flocking to the home to view the scene of the murders that were committed on Saturday night.

Police in Kisumu have launched a manhunt for the suspect, Mr James Ochieng’, who worked as a boda-boda operator in Kisumu.

According to a neighbour, Mr Peter Okech, the suspect inherited Ms Orawo in 2006 and had been living with her since then.

“I saw the couple fetching water yesterday (Saturday) night after the children arrived with their mother from a funeral, but I did not hear them quarrel,” Mr Okech said.

“Pamela has lived here for over 13 years and the man joined her when he inherited her after the death of her first husband,” another neighbour said.

The neighbour said that the couple lived in harmony until three months ago when they started having regular quarrels.

“There is a day Ochieng’ threatened Ms Orawo, saying that he will kill her and her children because they were disturbing him,” the neighbour claimed.

Mr Samson Odhiambo, a brother of Ms Orawo’s first husband, said that Mr Ochieng’ had inherited Pamela together with her children and that the couple had no children together.

“All of the three children were my brother’s biological children,” Mr Odhiambo said.

“Neighbours have even told me that he had threatened to burn them all,” he said.

A boda-boda operator who did not want to be named, said that Mr Ochieng’ was a quiet man who worked hard.

“I do not know if he had issues with his family and I did not even know where he lived,” he said.

The bodies were found lying on the floor on Sunday morning by a neighbour.

Kisumu OCPD John Mwinzi said that the body of the teenage girl indicated that she had been raped.

“We will not rest until the suspect has been arrested,” Mr Mwinzi said.

Police found a machete suspected to have been used in committing the murders.

Woman who sends the wheels of justice spinning

Joan Pereruan | nation Registrar of the High Court Lydia Achode swears in Chief Justic Evan Gicheru during the promulgation ceremony at Uhuru Park in Nairobi last Friday.

By JOY WANJA jwanja@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Monday, August 30 2010 at 22:00
In Summary

Achode brought together all 327 magistrates and 17 kadhis on short notice for the swearing-in ceremony that was brought forward from Saturday to Friday

Her spirit is exuberant, her gait graceful and one may not match it to the weight of the Judiciary that falls on her shoulders.

Ms Lydia Awino Achode is the Registrar of the High Court and advocate who played a key role during the promulgation ceremony.

“We worked round the clock to ensure the ceremony was perfect,” she told the Nation at the High Court on Monday.

The occasion brought together the three arms of government to usher in what will strengthen the trio in days to come.

“The changes have come at an opportune time when we have been calling for the strengthening of the Judiciary,” she says.

Ms Achode likens the relationship between the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary to the traditional three-stone cooking place where each stone supports the cooking pot.

“That is the collaboration that will be observed because for the meal to be well cooked the pot has to be balanced on the three stones.”

And the pot symbolises the Second Republic.

She was charged with the task of bringing together all 327 magistrates and 17 kadhis on short notice for the swearing in ceremony that was brought forward from Saturday to Friday.

“I received a call at 6pm from a colleague that Parliament had voted to have the ceremony the following day instead of Saturday,” she says.

And the headache of calling the judicial staff in all corners of the country began, a task that she accomplished in less than five hours.

“Everyone was sworn in,” she says flashing a smile.

Away from the robe, hood, wig, belt and sash that are the official attire, lies a mother of four whose passion is taking care of her family.

She graduated top of her law class in 1980; a nun had earlier encouraged her to take up law.

Competently acted

The second born in a family of seven was confirmed as the Registrar after having competently acted in that capacity for three months.

Prior to this she had been the chief court administrator having been appointed to that position in 2004.

She began her career as a district magistrate II at the Kericho Law Courts in 1986 and was promoted two years later to the post of Resident Magistrate.

She was posted to Makadara Law Courts in Nairobi where she served from 1988 to 1994. In 1994 she was transferred to Mombasa as a Senior Resident Magistrate.

Her diligence was again recognised when she was promoted to Principle Magistrate in 2000 and to Senior Principle Magistrate 2004.

She was appointed anti-corruption magistrate in Coast Region and North-Eastern Province in the year 2004, a position she held until she got appointed as the chief court administrator.

At the swearing in, President Kibaki urged the new judges to adhere to the rule of law.

“I am sure you are capable and will perform your duties well.”

She envisions a country where citizens are conversant with their rights and understand the law.

“Some Kenyans are only aware of us once they have been arrested and arraigned in a court or when a relative is in trouble or whenever a dispute arises,” she says, and urges Kenyans to take more interest in the new document.

The Judiciary will keep the pens the president used to sign the new Constitution. “It is part of our history and a symbol of our rebirth,” she concludes.

Government ready to get its hands dirty in hunt for oil

As prospects fade after Isiolo well returned negative results, State launches its own exploration projects

By JUSTUS ONDARI jondari@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Monday, August 30 2010 at 14:01

Smarting from a devastating setback in what looked to be a definite find of natural gas in Isiolo, the government is adopting a different strategy in its quest for oil.

It hopes taking charge of the oil search alongside private and mostly foreign explorers and pumping more funds and effort into its agency would speed efforts to strike the elusive “black gold”, buoyed by optimism after Uganda stumbled on commercial quantities recently.

This comes a few weeks after the government shattered Kenya’s sky-high hopes by announcing that traces of natural gas found by China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) after drilling a five-kilometre deep well would not yield commercial quantities.“Time has come for us (government) to get more involved,” Energy Permanent Secretary Patrick Nyoike told Smart Company in an interview last week.

Forced back to the drawing board by the Isiolo failure, the government, among other measures, is planning to carry out more surveys in various exploration sites to build up a comprehensive database in a bid to reduce some of the risk costs to potential investors.

“We want our geologists and other technical personnel to do more besides the government facilitating National Oil (Corporation of Kenya) to play a significant role in our oil exploration programme,” he said. National Oil’s mandate includes oil and gas exploration and production besides its widely known mandate of acting as a national oil and exploration data repository.

Mr Nyoike says the government’s move was mooted after realising that whenever an exploration company strikes a dry well, interest wanes as happened with CNOOC, which is planning to reduce its shareholding in the consortium that was involved in the exploration.

This is not new for Kenya. Woodside of Australia also left in 2006 after hitting a dry well in the Lamu area. “Risk averse multinational oil companies will hardly venture into frontier areas such as Isiolo unless oil and gas has been found in large enough quantities and political risks are minimal,” Petroleum Focus Ltd director, George Wachira, wrote last week in his column in the Business Daily, noting that as much as Sh2 billion risk capital may have been spent in the Isiolo well alone.

According to the PS, the Isiolo area will feature prominently in the government-sponsored studies as it still holds promise of commercial gas deposits. “We have been informed that in some areas in China that were abandoned because of their dry wells, new drilling 30 years later saw the exploration companies discovering huge deposits of oil,” he said.

It is a view supported by industry analysts. “One fact has, however, been established; that there exists a likelihood of natural gas in commercial quantities somewhere in the vicinity of Isiolo,” said Mr Wachira. The state is not trying to re-invent the wheel by equipping the National Oil Corporation to carry out advance studies.

This is the strategy it’s currently employing in geothermal and power transmission sub-sectors. For instance, frustrated by the slow exploitation of the geothermal resources – so far 202 megawatts (MW) against a potential of 7,000MW to 10,000MW – and the fact that it could not pump money into the Nairobi Stock Exchange-listed KenGen, the government set up a special purpose vehicle, Geothermal Development Company (GDC), to fast track the process.

Similarly, in a bid to get around restrictions faced by NSE-listed Kenya Power and Lighting Company and speed up distribution of power across the country, it set up another fully state-owned entity, Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (Ketraco) for that purpose.

But the mere fact that neighbouring countries – Uganda (oil), Tanzania (natural gas) and Southern Sudan (oil) – have struck it rich, the government is under great pressure to speed up exploration both for economic reasons and to placate Kenyans whose anxiety turn into despair every time a prospective well turns out dry.

“We know Kenyans are disappointed with what happened in Isiolo. But we wish to inform them that, the world over, it (oil exploration) is an expensive and sometimes frustrating process,” said Mr Nyoike, “but we will continue searching.” He said all is not lost and gas exploration sub-sector is still vibrant going by investors it is attracting.

Tullow Oil Plc, the company behind the successful oil discoveries in Ghana and Uganda, has acquired a 50 per cent interest in an oil exploration block near Lake Turkana, owned by Centric Energy Corporation of Canada. “The acquisition is conditional upon completion of due diligence, the negotiation and settlement of definitive farm-in and joint operating agreements and the approval by the Kenyan Government and the Toronto Stock Exchange,” Centric Energy said in a statement last week.

Tullow recorded its largest ever discovery, the Jubilee offshore field in Ghana in 2007, before its Uganda success. Another company, New York Stock Exchange listed Anadarko Petroleum Corporation is conducting an oil and gas offshore exploration in five blocks – L5, L7, L11A, L11B and L12 – in the Lamu Basin.

Anadarko, one of the largest independent oil and natural gas exploration and production companies in the world, it recently struck oil in Mozambique and has operations in Sierra Leone, Algeria and Ghana. Cove Energy plc, formerly Lapp Plats, is also said to be angling for a piece of the action in the country’s exploration process by acquiring a stake in Anadarko’s Lamu operation.

All these are keeping the hope of oil alive in Kenya. Some of the exploration challenges include lack of sufficient local technical and financial capability. Oil exploration is highly capital intensive and the high risk keep off many companies, says an a analysis by the Ministry of Energy.

The government has no risk capital to engage in full scale oil exploration. “Dry wells are a major disincentive to investors and hence perceived high geological risk,” it says. Kenya has low well density – one well in every 13,000km2, compared to Uganda’s one well in every one square-kilometre and Tanzania’s one well in every 7,000 square kilometres. The Minstry says lack of drilling capability for oil and gas both in terms of personnel and equipment has been a hindrance even as procurement of drilling rigs causes delays.

BASHIR DN CARTOON

Kenya forest guards clash with squatters

Written By:KBC reporters , Posted: Mon, Aug 30, 2010

Caption: Ngong forest also forms the upper catchment of Athi and Kiserian rivers and also serves as a wildlife habitat.

Parts of olteyani in Ngong were turned into a battlefield as irate residents resisting eviction from the forest took to the streets barricading roads and lighting bonfires.

The residents were protesting evictions from parts of the ngong forest which they claim is their ancestral land even as forest officials say they had encroached on forest land.

It took the intervention of anti riot police and the district commissioner to quell the tension and restore calm.

According to the KFS Deputy Commandant Major (Rtd) Charles Otieno who was leading the team, the residents were armed with crude weapons which forced armed KFS rangers to withdraw to avoid any possible injury.

According to the Head of Nairobi Conservancy Ms Charity Munyasya, the squatters had been given adequate notice to vacate the forest land which they had encroached.

She said the over 6,000 families had the previous week sought audience with the forest officials who declined to give in to their demands.

KFS said they will continue with their efforts to conserve and rehabilitate the forest.

The squatters claimed that those outside the gazetted forest were also being targeted in the evictions but the officials refuted the claims saying only those within the forest will be evicted.

Approximately 600 households live within this 400 yards perimeter line, and occupy over 400 hectares of forest land, which was grabbed in 1990 and illegally allocated.

The forest hill because of its imposing nature, having a summit of approximately 8,000 feet (2438m) above sea level is an important landmark especially in aerial navigation.

Ngong forest also forms the upper catchment of Athi and Kiserian rivers and also serves as a wildlife habitat.

President Kibaki leaves for Swaziland

Written by K24
Monday, 30 August 2010 13:53

President Mwai Kibaki has left the country on a three-day official visit to Swaziland to attend the 14th Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Summit of the Heads of State and Government.

The COMESA region is Kenya’s largest export destination. Last year Kenya exports to COMESA were worth Sh110 billion.

COMESA institutions based in Nairobi include the COMESA insurance institution- ZEP-RE, the COMESA Monetary Institute and the Regional Reference Laboratory, catering for plant protection. The headquarters of the PTA bank was located in Nairobi until 2009.

Kenya is also expected to hold a high-level conference for mobilization of resources for infrastructure development in the Northern Corridor in October this year.

The 14th COMESA summit will examine, among other things, developments on the regional integration agenda, including progress towards full implementation of the Comesa Customs Union, the tripartite cooperation between Comesa-East African Community-Southern African Development Community, and how the region can enhance the use of science and technology for the benefit of its people.

During the Summit, Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe is scheduled to hand over the Chairmanship of COMESA to His Majesty King Mswati III of Swaziland.

The President will be accompanied by Ministers Moses Wetangula, Chirwau Ali Mwakwere and the High Commissioner to Zambia, among other diginitaries.

Air wars: Orange jumps in

Written by K24 Business Desk
Wednesday, 25 August 2010 12:55

The price war in Kenya's mobile communication sector has yet again taken on a new dimension, after Telkom Kenya launched the new lowest on-net calling rate, for both its post- and pre-paid customers.


The new tariff will see Orange subscribers paying 2 shillings for on-net calls, and 4 shillings on calls made to other networks.


The permanent offer will also see Orange customers spend 1 shilling and two shillings on SMS within and across networks respectively.


The new tariff also comes with an additional benefit of free calls for its prepaid customers, from 10 am to 5pm, for every 100 shillings top up per month, and across all Orange networks such as Orange Mobile, Orange Wireless and Telkom fixed.


Telkom Kenya CEO Michael Ghossein says the new tariff, which takes effect at midnight tonight, has been developed to ensure that their customers consistently enjoy value for money, through the provision of reliable services.


Mr Ghossein however exuded dissatisfaction about how the industry's regulator, the CCK, has implemented the new telecommunication regulations, which require service providers to lower interconnections rates, saying that their concerns were not addressed. He further reiterated that the sudden moves being made by service providers may not relate well with future market dynamics in the mobile telephone industry.


This latest move by Telkom Kenya is clear-cut proof of just how the battle for numbers in Kenya's mobile telephone industry is set to intensify by the day.


Zain Kenya sparked the onslaught by launching a 3 shillings flat call rate, and Essar Telkom followed suit with a 50 % reduction on its cross-network calls to 3 shillings. Just yesterday, market leader Safaricom effected a 3 shillings cross-network calling rate applicable to its post-paid customers, and as of today, Telkom Kenya has joined the band wagon.

Zain issues 5Ksh and 10Ksh airtime vouchers

Zain issues 5Ksh and 10Ksh airtime vouchers

Kenya police brace for major changes

BY BERNARD MOMANYI

NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 30 - The administrative command structure of the country’s two major security organs is set to change once Parliament enacts legislation as enshrined in the new Constitution.

The National Police Service Bill is among the five Bills that Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Mutula Kilonzo wants expedited as the government moves to implement the new law.

“I know the bill on reforming the Police Service is also ready. It is only waiting some polishing and approval by the Cabinet,” the Minister told Capital News.

“This is also another of the Bills I would want passed by Parliament before Christmas,” he added.

The new Constitution calls for the establishment of the National Police Service within two years after the promulgation date.

Once established, it will bring together the Kenya Police Force and the Administration Police to be governed under one command – the Inspector General.

Whereas there will be no merger of the two security organs, their commanders will report to the Inspector General who will be appointed by the President with the approval of Parliament for a single term of four years.

Under this new structure, the Inspector General shall have two deputies, one of them will be in charge of the Kenya Police Service and the other will head the Administration Police Service.

The two Deputy Inspectors General shall be appointed by the President in accordance with the recommendation of the National Police Service Commission.

An official at the Office of the President told Capital News that a team of technocrats has already been assembled to work on a defined structure for the two services.

“There is a lot that needs to be defined clearly, for instance, since the top most rank of both the services will change, then it means the ranks of the officers who will serve under them will equally change,” the official speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not allowed to discuss pending security matters or resolutions said.

“The team is also working on how to harmonise the insignias that will be used by the senior officers as well as a clear command structure all the way down,” he added.

Whereas the Kenya Police Service will continue to carry out its mandate, the Administration Police Service will largely serve in the devolved government of counties as is the case under the current structure of the Provincial Administration, the official said.

The new Constitution is silent on the specific roles the two police services will play in maintaining law and order and does not state if their uniforms will be similar.

The Kenya Police’s official uniform for junior ranks is a blue shirt for men, and dark blue trouser and skirt for ladies. Women wear white blouses.

In the Administration Police Service, officers mainly use jungle green as their official uniform.

Officers privy to the new-look police service under the new Constitution told Capital News both the departments will maintain the current uniform which they have been using.

Chapter 14 of the new Constitution under Article 238 where the National Security organs falls states that “The national security shall be pursued in compliance with the law and with the utmost respect for the rule of law, democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

Essentially, it means police officers from the two services will now be required to ditch the culture of impunity in their operations and respect the people’s human rights.

Capital News has established that Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere has already sent dispatch to all provincial and formational commanders countrywide to ensure their officers familiarise themselves with the Bill of Rights in Chapter 4.

On Thursday, the police chief told participants who mainly included senior officers at a training workshop in Nairobi that “it is imperative to have a total culture change in the entire police department, to avoid breaching the new Constitution.”

“We are already struggling to change the negative perception the public has on the police, with the new Constitution, you must ensure it is fully respected. The public expects a lot from us, and there is no shortcut but to deliver,” Mr Iteere said.

Administration Police Commandant Kinuthia Mbugua said “all the officers have been encouraged to read and understand the new Constitution. Everyone must be ready for positive change because it is beneficial to us all.”

Unlike the previous Constitution which did not clearly define the structure of the police command, the new Constitution bars any state officer from giving instructions to the Inspector General or officers under him.

The holder of that office shall operate independently from any interference from any quarters, other than the Cabinet Secretary responsible for the services who will be allowed to lawfully give direction to the I-G with respect to any matter of policy for the National Police Service.

But even then, such instructions must be in writing and in line with the law.

“No person may give a direction to the I-G with respect to the investigation of any particular offence [s], enforcement of the law against any particular person [s] or the employment, assignment, promotion, suspension or dismissal of any member of the National Police Service,” article 245 [4] of the new law states in part.

Days where the President appointed a Police Commissioner for a period of three years subject to countless renewals are now gone.

The new Constitution states that “The Inspector General shall be appointed for a single four-year-term and is not eligible for re-appointment.

It also outlines situations where the holder of that office may be removed from office by the President.

Such situations include serious violation of the new constitution or any other law, including a contravention of Chapter Six which outlines issues Leadership and Integrity.

The I-G may also be hounded out of office for gross misconduct whether in the performance of the office holder’s functions or otherwise physical or mental incapacity to perform his official duties.

Others reasons of removal from office include incompetence, bankruptcy or any other just cause.

Under the new constitution, a National Police Service Commission will be established and will consist of a person qualified to be appointed as a High Curt Judge, two retired senior police officers and three persons of integrity who have served the public with distinction as well as the I-G and his/her two deputies.

“The commission shall be responsible for recruiting and appointing persons to hold or act in the offices in the service, confirm appointments and determine promotions ad transfers within the National Police Service as well as discipline matters.

The new law is also clear on the composition of the National Police Service.

“The composition of the National Police Service shall reflect the regional and ethnic diversity of the people of Kenya,” Article 246 [4] of the new law states.

Two Kenyans charged over Bashir demo

BY ROB JILLO

NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 30 - Two people were on Monday charged with taking part in an unlawful procession over Presidents Omar Al Bashir visit to Kenya last Friday.

Francis Kanyare and Peter Muli were charged before Nairobi Chief Magistrate Gilbert Mutembei with committing the offense along Muindi Mbingu Street with others not before the court in a manner likely to commit breach of the peace.

Senior counsel Paul Muite who represented the accused persons urged the magistrate to dismiss the charges arguing it was not sustainable under the new Constitution.

Mr Muite contended that Article 37 of the new Supreme Law gives a person the right to demonstrate as long as they are unarmed unlike the past Constitution.

He told the court that the accused had the right to demonstrate as the coming the Sudanese President was kept as a secret.

“To give life to article 37, I urge this court to discharge the accused,'' Mr Muite submitted.

The prosecution urged the court to remand the accused as it needs more time to read the article and consult with relevant authorities.

The matter will be mentioned on Friday .