Man charged in Sonko Sh5m case

WEDNESDAY, 31 AUGUST 2011 00:04 BY SERAH MWIKALI

A man who had implicated Makadara MP Gideon ‘Sonko’ Mbuvi in a land case involving Sh5 million was yesterday arraigned in a Mombasa court where he denied conning a woman. Ruwa Mwaruwe Kurera who faced four counts of forgery, denied obtaining Sh5 million from Jane Wanjiku Githere. He had allegedly cheated the woman that he was in position to sell her a beach plot in Diani, South Coast.

The accused is said to have forged a certificate of lease for the plot Kwale/Diani Beach Block/825 on March 2, 1999. Kurera adversely mentioned Sonko, Kwale Lands Registrar Alex Mutua, Rongai Butchery Proprietor Michael Waweru and a Ms Imelda Kasiaka, in a written confession read in court earlier this year.

In the statement, he had admitted having received the money which was banked in his Equity account, but only ended up taking a total of Sh350,000 in two instances. He later withdrew the written confession prompting Sonko to demand that the court drop all criminal charges against him.

Yesterday, the prosecution told the court that Kurera colluded with others who did not appear before the court and faked signatures belonging to the Kwale district land registrar.

The accused is said to have sold the forged certificate of lease of the plot to Githere, the proprietor of the lavish Moffat Court apartments in Nyali, between April 17 and 20, 2010 before receiving the amount. He was arrested on August 28, the court heard.

He denied the charges before senior resident magistrate James Ombura. Kurera also denied presenting the fake certificate of lease to a Muturi Gakuo at Muturi Gakuo and Kibara Advocates in Mombasa.

Kurera was released on a Sh1 million bond with a similar surety. Ombura rejected his request for a bond transfer. The case will be heard on October 12.

Kenyan leaders face war crimes court hearings

Posted by AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE on August 31, 2011

Share

THE HAGUE, Aug 31 – A former Kenyan minister faces a war crimes court hearing Thursday to determine whether he and other officials should stand trial for masterminding his country’s deadly post-election violence in 2007-08.

A potential presidential candidate in 2012, William Ruto is due to appear at the International Criminal Court with two other officials, two days after the court denied Kenya’s appeal to have the cases declared inadmissable.

Ruto, who served as agriculture and then as higher education minister, faces charges of crimes against humanity along with former industrialisation minister Henry Kosgey and radio executive Joshua arap Sang in the dock.

All three men supported then opposition candidate Raila Odinga, now Kenya’s prime minister, in the disputed December 2007 polls. While free, they are currently subjected to subpoenas.

The hearings, during which prosecutors will try to convince the court they have enough evidence to go to trial, are scheduled to run until September 12.

Defence lawyers have presented a list of 48 witnesses.

A second set of hearings will begin on September 21 for three other former officials, including Uhuru Kenyatta, son of Kenya’s founding president and the country’s finance minister.

Kenyatta was long seen as likely to run in next year’s presidential election but he has refused to give up his ministerial post although his chances of running a campaign from the ICC dock look dim.

Ruto, for his part, was suspended from his ministry on unrelated graft charges last year and eventually dropped from the ministerial line-up altogether in August.

Kenyatta will appear before ICC judges along with two other allies of Odinga’s rival in the 2007 elections — Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki — public service head Francis Muthaura and former police chief Mohammed Hussein Ali.

The charges against the six men include murder, deportation, rape, inhumane acts, persecution and torture.

Kenya was plunged into violence after the December 27, 2007, general elections in which then opposition chief Odinga accused Kibaki of having rigged his way to re-election.

What began as political riots soon turned into ethnic killings targeting Kibaki’s Kikuyu tribe.

They launched reprisal attacks in which homes were torched and people hacked to death in the country’s worst violence since independence in 1963.

Prosecutors said some 1,200 people were killed during the post-election unrest and more than 300,000 were displaced.

MPs allow State to spend Sh374b

Posted by WAMBUI NDONGA on August 30, 2011

Share

The entrance to Parliament's chamber/FILE

NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 30 – Members of Parliament on Tuesday approved Sh374.34 billion for recurrent and development expenditure of 66 state institutions for the period ending June 30 2012.

While issuing his directive on whether or not MPs would vote on the estimates, House Speaker Kenneth Marende warned the Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta against tabling the estimates behind schedule again.

He noted that the estimates were supposed to be tabled two months before the actual Budget reading in accordance with Article 222 of the Constitution, although they were submitted to Parliament on June 8, two months past the deadline.

Mr Marende however took cognisance of the fact that the delays could be attributed to the fact that the country was still in a transitional period. He therefore ruled that the estimates be guillotined to beat the August 31 deadline.

Article 221 of the Constitution directs that the estimates be submitted before Parliament two months before the end of the fiscal year.

“The House is alive to the discussion between the Budget committee and the Finance Minister over this matter but I wish to re-state that the minister will be required to submit the estimates for 2012/2013 two months before the end of the year,” said Mr Marende.

Medical Services Minister Anyang Nyong’o tabled the estimates on behalf of Mr Kenyatta during the afternoon session which saw the expenditure proposals voted on rather than debated, as laid out in Standing Order 153 to 155.

The MPs could only debate the estimates of the Ministry of Medical Services.

Mr Kenyatta also introduced the Appropriations Bill 2011, after the Committee of Supply disposed of debate on the estimates, to give legal effect to the resolutions made by the legislators.

However MPs Bonny Khalwale (Ikolomani) and John Mbadi (Gwasi) felt that it would be unconstitutional to pass the estimates without subjecting them to debate. Mr Mbadi particularly took issue with the wording of the motion on the estimates, as read by Medical Service Minister Anyang’ Nyong’o, saying it created ambiguity.

“The way the motion is framed is unconstitutional and can be abused because of the use of the word about in the estimates,” he argued.

Sotik MP Lorna Laboso who took over the Speaker’s role when the MPs started voting on the estimates, however refused to give Mr Mbadi the forum to cite his concerns. She argued that the matter and questions surrounding the estimates had already been closed as directed by Mr Marende.

Mr Mbadi later rose on a point of order citing his concerns over the lack of quorum in Parliament. And although Ms Laboso ordered that the quorum bell be rung to summon MPs, debate that’s before the Committee of Supply does not require quorum. It cannot be interrupted under any standing order.

The estimates will be issued from the Consolidated Fund.

When MPs were debating the estimates for the ministry of Medical Services, Danson Mungatana (Garsen) and Joseph Nkaissery (Kajiado Central) asked the government to put more focus on the purchase of cancer machines and also increase its overall budgetary allocation to facilitate proper medical care.

The Kajiado Central MP argued that the Millennium Development Goals would remain a mirage if the country failed to put more focus on the provision of health care.

“It is inhuman to retain dead bodies in hospitals because of non-payment of money. I would like the ministry to come up with a policy that can sustain such hospitals,” he said.

Quest for oil to start in Kenyan Coast

An Australian oil company will start a search for oil at Kenya’s coastline late this year.Australia's Pancontinental Oil and Gas will begin seismic surveys on two blocks off the Kenyan coastline.

Kenya has no proven oil reserves but interest in the hydrocarbon potential of the East African region has shot up in recent years after gas discoveries in Tanzania and Mozambique and billions of barrels of oil in Uganda.

Pancontinental and partners holds exploration licenses for four blocks off Lamu.

The company said 3D and 2D marine seismic surveys will commence late this year on blocks L10A and L10B and the exercise will be completed by mid-2012.

"The aim of the surveys is to identify the most prospective prospects for drilling. Two wells are required under the licenses in the second exploration period commencing in August 2013," Pancontinental said in a statement.

The Australian firm's joint partners in the two blocks include BG Group Plc, Premier Oil Investment and Cove Energy Plc.

"We have been surprised by the diversity and size of the leads and plays identified in the operator's initial review of L10A and L10B," Barry Rushworth, Pancontinental's chief executive said, referring to analysis of past data gathered from the blocks.

-Reuters

Kenyan Muslims end Ramadhan with prayers and celebration

By Athman Amran

View related video clip Eid Celebrations in Pictures

Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (Supkem) has called for unity and generosity as Muslims marked Eid-Ul-Fitr with prayers in various mosques and open grounds all over the country Wednesday.

Muslims thronged the Sir Ali Muslim grounds in Pangani, Nairobi and various mosques in Kibera, South B, Eastleigh and other mosques in Nairobi.

A Muslim boy distributes dates during eid ul fitri prayers at Ziwani Primary School grounds in Mombasa, Wednesday. PHOTO: Maarufu Mohamed/ Standard.

In Mombasa almost all the mosques conducted Eid prayers and most people congregated at Tononoka grounds and Ziwani Primary School, under the organisation of the Shariff Nasssir Foundation.

Muslims could not pray at the Mombasa Municipal Stadium this year because the facility is under renovation.

Most faithful wore the Muslim male robe (kanzu) and head cover (kofia) and women wore buibuis and lessos as they joined others in the East African region to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadhan.

Muslims also thronged market places to buy goats to slaughter to celebrate the day.

Supkem national organising secretary Sheikh Shariff Hussein however said the Muslim umbrella body was concerned that some Muslims broke the fast on Tuesday instead of Wednesday.

"However majority of Muslims prayed today (Wednesday), after the announcement by Chief Kadhi Sheikh Ahmad Shariff Hussein Muhdhar.

Sheikh Hussein said it has also been the question of who informs the chief kadhi and Supkem on the sighting of the crescent moon.

"The informant has to be trustworthy and the information has to be corroborated," Hussein said.

The Supkem official said Supkem would soon call for a meeting between all Muslim leaders and organisations from all over the country, to solve the problem of moon sighting, especially to mark the beginning and end of Ramadhan.

The chairman of the National Muslim Leaders Forum (Namlef) Sheikh Abdillahi Abdi however said the issue is not all that divisive arguing that Muslims have always been united.

Muslim faithful follow proceedings during eid ul fitri prayers at Ziwani Primary School grounds in Mombasa, Wednesday. PHOTO: Maarufu Mohamed/ Standard.

He said soon the Chief Kadhi, Namlef, Supkem, Majlisil Ulamaa, the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya and other Muslim leaders and organisation would have a meeting to ensure the issue is settled once and for all.

The imam of the South B Mosque, Sheikh Qari Hussein, who led Eid prayers called on Muslims to have respect for the chief kadhi and wait for his announcement as to when Ramadhan begins and ends to mark Eid-Ul-Fitr.

He also called Muslims in all regions to cooperate where the sighting of the new moon for Ramadhan and Eid-Ul-Fitr are concerned.