http://t.co/ymY4W5RANw via @StandardKenya
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Ruto says Luhya leaders to blame over state jobs
GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER: Bungoma Governor Kenneth Lusaka, New Ford Kenya leader Eugene Wamalwa, Deputy President William Ruto and local leaders at Mangore Primary School in Bungoma county on Saturday. Photo/DPPS
DEPUTY President William Ruto has said leaders from Western Kenya should not blame the Jubilee government over state government appointments. He said elected leaders failed to whip residents to support the Jubilee coalition during the March 4 general elections.
“Shida ya huku kwenu nikulialia na ikifika wakati ya kujipanga kila mtu anaenda barabara yake,(The problem with you is that you are never strategic when it comes to times require your unity everybody goes on his own), Ruto said.
He was speaking during the homecoming ceremony of Bumula MP Boniface Ostiula at Mungore Girls High School on Saturday. Present were Malulu Injendi (Malava), Ayub Savula (Lugari) and Chris Wamalwa (Kiminini).
Ruto said politicians from the region are fond of crying foul to seek favours after failing to offer political support. He said the government has alot of job opportunities. Ruto was reacting to complains by Savula and Ostiula that the government has neglected the region from appointments.
Savula said the Jubilee government has sidelined the Luhya community. He said the skewed government appointments continue to polarise the country. Savula said the recent Bungoma by-election results portrayed the Luhya community as quiet unhappy with government.
“Bwana Deputy President, you are my frined but I must tell you the truth, this community is not with you because of sideling them, and you should start making your name,” he said.
Monday, December 30, 2013
Develop Nyanza, Don't Fight Kidero - MIGUNA
WHO'S TALLER NOW? Kisumu Central MP Ken Obura with Cord leader Raila Odinga and Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero at Shauri Moyo Primary School in Kisumu town on December 15. Photo/JUSTUS OCHIENG
Apparently, an artificial political storm has erupted over Nairobi governor Evans Kidero’s recent political activities in Luo Nyanza. Newspaper reports indicate that former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and 35 Luo MPs are incensed at the amount of money Kidero has raised in Nyanza in the past few months. Their worries might be justified given reports that Kidero plans to intensify his ‘fundraising activities’ in 2014.
Confirming the meeting at Mr. Odinga’s Bondo home on Monday, December 23, 2013, Homa Bay Senator, Otieno Kajwang’ reportedly explained that Kidero’s events ‘were aimed at dividing the Luo community.’
Although it’s difficult to see how fundraising functions that have raised tens of millions of shillings for the construction of churches and secondary schools could divide Luos, sources disclose that Mr. Odinga is so worried about Mr. Kidero’s latest political forays that he was forced to call an emergency meeting of his leading Luo sycophants at his Bondo home last Monday.
“Yes it is true that the issue about harambees was raised but it was not the agenda. There are concerns that some individuals want to use these fundraisings to gain political support in the region,” Suba MP, John Mbadi, was quoted as saying.
In other words, engaging in development initiatives to gain political support isn’t allowed in Luo Nyanza. The only route to political power is through sycophancy.
Mbita MP, Millie Odhiambo, who also attended the Bondo meeting, said Mr. Odinga’s lieutenants ‘were only worried about the source of money being donated in harambees.’
“There was concern about where this people [sic] are getting the money from because we know their salaries cannot fund such multi-million projects,” she added. Why is it that ‘sources of funds’ only become an issue when Kidero tries to raise funds to build churches and schools for poor Luos?
It’s ironic that Mr. Odinga has institutionalized fear, sycophancy and poverty as the hallmarks of his leadership. Instead of his 35 lieutenants meeting before Christmas to strategize on how to uplift Luo Nyanza from economic degradation, they spend endless time scheming how to cut to size anyone who exhibits political ambition and offers visionary leadership. Mr Odinga and his cohorts are trying to criminalize political competition and economic initiative.
Unsurprisingly, these political rumblings come as a backdrop to Kidero’s alleged ‘mistreatment’ of Raila during the governor’s jubilee dinner at the KICC two weeks ago and his purported snubbing of Raila’s trips to the US with CORD governors and Raila’s recent inauguration of the Makadara Railway.
Before that, the Kenyan media had widely reported on Kidero’s trip to China with President Uhuru Kenyatta, his many private dinner luncheons with the President, and the President’s ‘impromptu’ visit to County Hall more than one month ago.
Keen political observers have noted the implications of the discreet and not so discreet political messages that these Uhuru-Kidero liaisons are intended to communicate to Mr. Odinga, specifically, and to the country at large.
In fact, so intense has the analysis and scrutiny of these sophisticated liaisons been among political observers and Luo intellectuals that some analysts have concluded that they definitely have larger, grander and more significant implications than either Kidero or Uhuru would like us to openly speculate on at the moment.
Yet, given the frequency and public nature of their ‘engagements’ – that aren’t all necessitated by their respective leadership positions – I believe that both President Uhuru Kenyatta and Governor Kidero are also keen to pass on subliminal messages to the country that something is afoot.
Inevitably, a few political analysts have viewed the Uhuru-Kidero schemes in the context of the 2017 general elections. They argue, convincingly, that in view of what appears like structural troubles in the Jubilee Coalition; President Uhuru might be exploring ‘options’ beyond William Ruto and the URP.
Although I believe any such schemes would be strategically miscalculated and would have tremendous political repercussions on both President Uhuru and his deputy, William Ruto, clearly, as a seasoned political schemer and operative, Raila has correctly sensed danger. He knows that having unsuccessfully contested three presidential elections – and in view of the results of the latest Synovate opinion poll – most Kenyans will not support him if he were to run for president again.
“It’s time for change,” many Luos have declared. “He has to give way for another able person. There is no monarchy in Kenya,” a majority of Kenyans (at least according to Synovate) seem to agree.
However, because he has no succession plan in Luo Nyanza, ODM or CORD – which are also Kidero’s core constituencies – and since he is determined to become president ‘even for one single day,’ as his late father Jaramogi used to say, Mr. Odinga has no ‘Plan B’.
His plan B, C and D are to ensure that nobody challenges his roost in Luo Nyanza and in ODM so that come 2017, he would be crowned – not democratically nominated – their presidential candidate.
And assuming that he is able to bury Kidero’s political ambitions before they crystalise, Mr. Odinga believes that he will ultimately be declared and sworn in as president of Kenya in 2018. This is especially the case because Mr. Odinga and his supporters believe that he was robbed of victory in both 2007 and in 2013.
But my unsolicited advice to Mr. Kidero is to pursue his political ambitions without unnecessary fear. Kenya is a constitutional democracy; not a monarchy. Leaders should be elected on the basis of their vision and integrity; not on the basis of primitive primordial inclinations.
Even if his intention is only to genuinely contribute towards the economic development of the Luo as a people, Kidero shouldn’t be scared or discouraged. Only courageous leaders realize their ambitions.
Instead of scaremongering and intimidation, Mr. Odinga and his sycophants should respond to Kidero’s fundraisers by initiating more and qualitatively better development projects as a way of winning and consolidating support.
Mr. Odinga should try to organize scholarship funds for poor children and development projects for the greater good of everyone rather than engage in petty, parochial and divisive politics.
Miguna Miguna is a lawyer and author of Peeling Back the Mask: A Quest for Justice in Kenya and Kidneys for the King: Deforming the Status Quo in Kenya.
Corridors of Power
Parliament building
A first time MP from Kisumu County recently publicly rebuked some of his campaigners for their 'unpleasant behavior." The MP was irked that despite all he had been doing to assist the youth, some of them were making impossible and irrelevant demands. One of his youth coordinators had demanded that he put up some rental houses for him while another has been liberally pocketing the money the MP has been sending him to present as his contribution to funerals in his constituency. The MP has threatened yet another of his youth coordinators that he will repossess several heads of cattle he had given him to pay dowry for his wife if the man does not toe the line.
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A private residence adjacent to the Kisumu State Lodge has for years been known as a the brewing place of one of the many unregistered alcoholic drinks which have proved to be lethal to consumers. Those living in the area say the man has been conducting his business for several years and seems to have pocketed the local police chiefs as well as the KEBs officials who turn a blind eye to his illegal 'manufacturing' enterprise. The man is also said to be producing fake Kenya Bureau of Standard stickers.
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A politician from Kwanza constituency is said to have threatened a former employee of the CDF committee after the employee led others in demanding for their dues. The politician called the former CDF committee employee and threatened him to stop making his demands or he will be dealt with accordingly.
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Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter who has been bashing the Jubilee government has gained quite a following not only in the Rift Vallet but across the country for the controversial positions he has been taking on some national issues.The first time youthful MP seems to be outshining the likes of Elgeyo Marakwet senator Kipchumba Murkomen and his Kericho counterpart Charles Keter, both close allies of Deputy President William Ruto. Several veteran and current politicians are reportedly organizing a series of rallies in Nandi county during which they will attempt to Keter down to size.
UHURU JOBS LIST CAUSES JUBILEE CHAOS
GOOD CHOICES: DP William Ruto with Maasai dancers during the homecoming party of Kilifi South MP Mstafa Iddi (extreme left) in Kilifi yesterday. Photo/Elkana Jacob
The appointment of new parastatal chiefs has caused a new crisis within the Jubilee government with many party insiders expressing discontent over the choices made by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The appointments were made in contradiction of the recommendations made by the recent report of the task force onparastatal reforms which Uhuru appointed.
Jubilee leaders and supporters criticized the appointments which one of the party's longtime party strategist described as "comical' and wondered whether they should cry or to laugh at the appointments.
“They are as tragic as they are comical. The Jubilee government was created out of the millions of young men and women who subscribed to the clarion calls of I BELIEVE and KUSEMA na KUTENDA. I believe tonight it will take a miracle to convince them the dream is still alive,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
MP Mohamed Shidiye (Ladgera, TNA) slammed the appointments for failing to reflect the national face as well for failing to live up to the youth agenda that the Jubilee government pledged to steer.
He said despite being the only TNA MP from the Northern Kenya, he had nothing to show for his support for the government: “We cannot hold the Jubilee cow for others to milk and leave us high and dry.”
The appointments were however defended by Deputy President William Ruto who criticized those complaining about former Cabinet Secretary Francis Muthaura's appointment as chairman of the LAPSSET Corridor Development Authority.
Ruto said old people who have served the country well needed to be taken care of. “Why do you have a problem with Muthaura? Has he wronged you? We do not discriminate against anybody. We appoint people from all walks of life,” said Ruto at the Vipongo Sports Ground in Kilifi during the homecoming ceremony for Kilif South MP Mustafa Idd where the leaders present criticized Muthaura's appointment saying it was an 'unnecessary political reward."
They said his appointment also discriminated against the people in the region and showed the government was not committed to devolving power to the county governments since someone from the region should have been appointed to head the authority. Kiliifi and Mombasa governors Amason Kingi and Hassan Joho asked Ruto to sit with President Uhuru and review the appointments.
In Western, Amani Coalition leader Musalia Mudavadi was advised by Lugari MP Ayub Savula to review his post-election agreement with Jubilee in view of the appointments.
“We as Luhya MPs feel that we were duped. It is surprising that none of the 22 names of professionals from Western region we presented to the President is on the list. We have been waiting but have now learnt that while the forest has changed the monkeys in there are still the same,” Savula said.
Over the weekend, Deputy President William Ruto told the Western region leaders that not all government positions had not been filled. He said another list will be released in mid January.
Outgoing Judicial Service Commission member Ahmedasir Abdullahi said calling some of the appointees deadwood would be more than a compliment. They could even throw a party, he wrote on twitter.
Munyori Buku, the director of public communication in the Presidency accused politicians were misleading the nation by focusing on their tribes yet the appointments were the firstof many to come.
"The 26 jobs of chairmen in parastatals is a very small number. There are hundreds of jobs on the way. The government is yet to appoint managing directors, board members and even deputy managing directors for the parastatals that have that position," he said in a telephone interview.
Those appointed were Francis Muthaura (LAPSSET), Lina Jebii (Anti Female Genital Mutilation Board), Agnes Ndetei (National Drought Management Authority), Philip Kaloki (Kenya Medical Training College), Matu Wamae (New KCC), Geoffrey Kang'ang'i (NCPB), Taraiya ole Kores (KMC), Benson Ateng (Consolidated Bank) and Mohamud Mohamed Ali (NHIF).
Others are Terry Ryan (bureau of statistics), Sam Kona (Kerio Valley Development Authority), Peter Kiilu (Water Resources Management Authority), Onyango Oloo (Lake Basin Development Authority), Julius Kones (National Water Conservation and Pipeline Corporation), Abdul Bahari (Tarda), Joseph Musebe (KBC), Kitambi Digore (Kenya Maritime) and Edwin Yinda (Kenya Information & Communication).
Oloo retains the post of TNA Secretary General because only state officers are barred, in Chapter Six, section 77 of the constitution, from holding a position in a political party. But as the chairman of the Lake Basin Development Authority, Oloo is a public officer.
The constitution spells out 16 jobs described as state officers starting with the President, his deputy, judges magistrates, MPs and a host of senior civil servants.
Also appointed was Sammy Tangus (Postal Corporation), Sam Nyageso (Kenya National Library Services), Sam Njonde (National Sports Fund), Peter Kinya (Kenya National Trading Corporation), Kenneth Sigilai (Kenya Electricity Transmission Company), Titus Ibui (Kenya Leather Development Council), Simon Gicharu (Geothermal development Company and Daniel Kiongo (Kenya Pipeline).
The task force on parastatal reforms had recommended that the government establish a Government Investment Corporation which would be responsible for appointing state corporation board chairs and members from a database of qualified and eligible persons.The president would only appoint the chair and board of GIC.
This was meant to depoliticize appointments to strategic parastatal jobs which has in the past resulted in ineptitude, inefficiency, corruption and loss of focus.
To ensure that board appointments were not political and comprised of people skilled in the proper stewardship of the parastatals, the task force also recommended that a criteria of appointment be established and only people eligible be considered.
The task force which sampled 98 parastatals found the appointments discriminated against women and the youth in the board leadership and membership.
“It is recommended that in future appointments to Boards, priority be given to women and youth, without compromising the need for skills to bring these in compliance with the constitutional requirements,” the taskforce said.
Of the 26 appointed, only two of them are women- Ndetei and Jebii. The others cannot be considered to be representing the youth either as they are older than 35 years.
Majority of the appointees are veteran public sub servants who are nudging their late sixties or early 70s. Others are politicians who have been unsuccessful in the past elections and were rejected yet again during the March 4 elections.
“All those who have been appointed are linked to Kanu in one way or the another. They are all TNA supporters. These are the same old style Kanu tactics where elections losers were recycled to mismanage parastatals,” Suna East MP Junet Mohamed said.
A tweet which went viral on social media and which took a jab at Muthaura's appointment said Muthaura had outlived ten US administrations since JF Kennedy while Wamae served as the CEO of ICDC in 1969.
Yesterday, Commission on Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) chair Charles Nyachae said it was not easy to criticize the President for flouting the gender and youth rule or rewarding political losers this was not in contravention of any law.
Nyachae however said the appointments were however not transparent and said those appointed should relinquish any political party positions they hold. Onyango Oloo is the secretary general of TNA.
Kiraitu defends Uhuru over appointments
Meru Senator Kiraitu Murungi (L) and Tharaka Nithi Senator Kithure Kindiki. PHOTOS | FILE NATION MEDIA GROUP
Meru Senator Kiraitu Murungi has praised President Kenyatta’s appointments of parastatal heads and in particular that of former head of Public Service Francis Muthaura.
Mr Murungi, an Alliance of Kenya Party senator dismissed criticism by a group of Meru politicians that the region was given a raw deal, saying on the contrary, President Kenyatta has been "very fair" to the area.
"I think it is a very wise and well thought-out appointments and we the people of Meru are very happy with the appointment of Mr Muthaura especially because we know the sacrifices that he has made for the country and his vast experience in government," Mr Murungi said on Monday. (READ: Leaders fault Uhuru on new State jobs)
Delving into the storm created by a group of politicians from the larger Meru that has especially greeted Mr Muthaura’s appointment to head LAPSSET, Mr Murungi, a former cabinet minister in President Kibaki’s government, also singled out for praise the picking of his party’s chairman, Titus Ibui, to chair the Kenya Leather Development Council’s board.
"To me, Uhuru’s government has done very well for Meru and those (from the region) criticising him are being unfair to him. We are also aware that he is still doing making more appointments in government and so the criticism is premature," he said.
On Sunday, Tharaka Nithi Senator Kithure Kindiki (TNA) asked the President to reconsider the appointments from the region saying they were skewed in favour of one small area in the larger Meru. (READ: Region got a raw deal, says senator)
Prof Kindiki, also the Senate Majority Leader, asked President Kenyatta to give priority to Tharaka Nithi county, Igembe and Nyambene areas saying doing otherwise would entrench a long standing problem of unequal opportunities and allocation of resources. "As leaders from the greater Meru, we express our concern with those appointments and are asking the President to urgently review them and give priority to Tharaka Nithi, Igembe and Nyambene areas," said Prof Kindiki on Sunday.
'NOT CORRECT'
But Mr Murungi argued that the critics were "not entirely correct" on their claims of unequal distribution of positions in President Kenyatta’s government.
In Tharaka Nithi for instance, he singled out Prof Kindiki as one of the high-fliers and influential appointees in government, as the Senate Majority Leader. "For Tharaka, Kindiki is the leader of the Majority and indeed he is the one of the people who talks to the President directly more than anyone else," said the former Energy minister.
Led by Igembe South MP Mithika Linturi, (TNA) a group of politicians from the region comprising MPs and county assembly representatives have planned a meeting on Tuesday morning in Meru to discuss the appointments which they term discriminative and divisive. (READ: State House backs new parastatal heads)
But on Monday, the former Energy minister asked them to instead focus on having more consultations "as a community instead of embarrassing ourselves in public with such misleading statements".
He described Mr Muthaura as the most suitable person to head the LAPSSET Corridor Development Authority having been key in formation of the National Economic and Social Council which developed Vision 2030 with LAPSSET as a flagship project.
"If Muthaura was not such a humble person, he would actually be out there saying that LAPSSET was his idea. I think it is very good that the President has appointed him to that project because he knows more about it than any other Kenyan," said Senator Murungi.
Ford People’s Tongi wins Nyaribari poll
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission officials check ballot materials on December 29, 2013 before dispatching them to polling stations ahead of the Nyaribari Chache parliamentary by-election. PHOTO | TOM OTIENO NATION MEDIA GROUP
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Ford People candidate Richard Tongi pulled a surprise in the Nyaribari Chache by-election when he trounced rival candidates from bigger parties.
Provisional results transmitted to the IEBC tallying centre at Keumbu showed the 40-year-old Mr Tongi had won 10,053 votes.
His closest challenger, Mr Chris Bichage of ODM, had 9,535 votes while TNA’s Robert Monda was third with 9,205. Mr Ben Mogaka of the Kenya Social Congress had 1,019.
The results were from 101 polling stations, with one remaining.
Mr Tongi quit the Wiper party a few weeks ago after the Cord coalition locked him out of the race.
Mr Bichage is the outgoing area MP.
Earlier, a woman MP was slapped as politicians accused each other of voter bribery.
MPs affiliated to TNA and Cord clashed in the Kisii OCPD’s office following the arrest of Jubilee agents who were allegedly found bribing voters.
A bitter exchange of words between Kitutu Chache MP Jimmy Angwenyi and Homa Bay County Women Representative Gladys Wanga ensued. She was then slapped.
Returning officer Robert Ng’eny said he had received reports that a woman and two men had been arrested on voter bribery allegations.
However, Kisii criminal investigations boss Paul Wambugu denied reports of violence, saying that no one had filed a report.
“I do not have any reports of violence save for the politicians who came to Kisii central police station to find out why some people were arrested,” Mr Wambugu said.
Residents said trouble started when Dagoretti North MP Simba Arati allegedly rounded up a group of TNA agents he accused of bribing voters at Jogoo Township.
Mr Angwenyi, who was in the company of former Kitutu Masaba MP Walter Nyambati then stormed the police station demanding that the two TNA agents arrested in connection with voter bribery claims be released.
This is the second time this year than a woman leader has been slapped.
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