KENYA: MUROHONI MP FLEES A FUNERAL IN HIS CONSTITUENCY
By Our Correspondent
Drama was witnessed within Muhoroni Constituency when the area MP Professor Ayiecho Olweny was forced to leave a funeral ceremony in Nyando county council in a huff after his political archrival James Onyango K‘Oyoo arrived triumphantly at the same function in Nyando.
K’Oyoo arrived in the company of his supporters forcing Olweny to protest bitterly before leaving the place in a huff as two of his bodyguards shot in the air as angry mourners bayed for his blood.
Olweny whose political fortunes have been dwindling very fast protested over the scenario
He equated himself to a river which can not be stopped on its course saying that he is pragmatic leader.
A number of youths were injured during the stampede.
Olweny said that he was grateful that some youths were stabbed as a result of the incident.
"That is what those who are opposing me will get in Muhoroni knife stab" he said in a shrill voice
Both the leaders were attending the burial of the brother of the Nyando County council chairman Samuel Onyango.
Among those present were medical services minister Peter Nyongo and Nyando Mp Fred Out who left the venue amidst tension.
The Muhoroni parliamentary aspirant equated himself to running streams which cannot be prevented at all costs.
Olweny blamed K’Oyoo for the chaos where several people were injured after Ayiecho told his hirelings who were high on drugs to charge "and discipline"Koyoo's followers.
Nyongo who was also present took to his heels
Among those present were former Muhoroni town council chairman Billy Adero and Nyando aspirant Lumumba Ouya.
KENYA’S ANTI-DRUGS AND ALCOHOL BODY SUPPORTS BILL,
By Agwanda Saye,
NACADA the Kenya’s agency tasked with fighting drugs and alcohol is supporting the proposed amendment to the Alcoholic Drinks Control Act of 2010 which initially criminalised those who were selling alcohol to the underage and now wants [parents enjoined and committed to jail.
The agency’s Chief Executive Officer DR.William Okedi says that they as an agency welcomes the said amendment which will criminalise parents who are primary caretakers of the underage to be held responsible or be fined kshs 10,000 or three months in prison or both.
He however lamented that its no secret that substance abuse is a major global problem with serious ramifications to the society adding that though previously viewed as a criminal problem, alcohol and drug abuse has in recent years become a threat to the socio economic development of the country and Kenya risk loosing the nation’s hard earned gains.
He added that drug abuse is observed to not only affect the individual drinker but the society at as its usage goes beyond the physical and psychological health of the drinker.
“Diminished academic performance, insecurity, hooliganism and motor vehicle accidents are some of the social effects of alcohol consumption , others include, infertility, reduced work performance as well as wide range of social ills such as child abuse, rape ,domestic violence and murder” he added he added that after the government acknowledged the negative impact of alcohol and drug abuse, it responded to the alcohol and drug abuse challenge by requiring that all public institutions mainstream alcohol and drug abuse prevention in their programmes.
KENYA: CENTRAL PROVINCE ALCOHOL ABUSE DEBATE
From: Ouko joachim omolo
Voices of Justice for Peace
Regional News
BY FR JOACHIM OMOLO OUKO, AJ
NAIROBI-KENYA
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2012
Concerns raised by Catholic Auxiliary Bishop David Kamau of Nairobi Archdiocese Sunday over heavy alcohol drinking culture among the residents of Central Province leading to most young people in the region not interested in marriage life is not something new.
While the habit is making young people not to marry, it is already causing a lot of problems in the family unit where most men have become sexually inactive. As a result women in the Central divorce or look for other men out of the region who can sire children with them.
Besides Niavasha Member of Parliament, John Mututho lobbying for alcohol law aiming at minimising drinking habit with view to save the families from the region, this has not done any impact at all.
Murang’a County is among the areas in Central Province worst affected by alcohol abuse especially among the youth. This has extended to Dagoreti constituency in Nairobi where pupils in various schools have the highest rate of alcohol consumption despite Ministry of Youth and Sports’ effort to introduce an age-group football tournament in Dagoretti and Lang’ata constituencies to raise awareness on drug and substance abuse among the youth.
While boys were found to generally take more alcohol in their lifetime, girls are reported to be taking more than the males in one sitting. The study identified several factors that could make a student turn to drugs: being male; living with a grandparent; professing the Christian faith and residing in Dagoretti among others.
Statistics from national census indicate that population growth in Central Kenya had declined from 1.8 percent in 1999 to 1.6 percent in the latest census in 2009. Enrollment in schools also on a downward trend due to reduced birth rate.
According to Central provincial Commissioner Kiplima Rugut, even though the number of bars in the province has significantly been reduced from 9,000 in 2007 to 4,950 by the liquor licencing committee he chairs, alcohol consumption in the region is still high.
Although the consumption of drugs and other related substances was practiced in African traditional societies, this was done within the set rules and regulations that governed the production and supply of these substances and also determined who was to use them.
Recent study found out that this controlled consumption of drugs was undermined by the coming of colonization in Kenya through the setting up of new social, political and economical structures. These structures commercialized the production and supply of some of these drugs such as alcohol and tobacco.
This study has established that drugs of abuse to be easily accessible to most of the adolescents in our learning institutions. The objectives of this study were to find out; the extent of drug abuse in teachers training colleges, sources of these drugs and to identify the factors that influence students to abuse drugs. The study was carried out in primary teacher colleges in Central Province of Kenya.
Although according to National Agency for Campaign Against Drug Abuse (NACADA) the Province leads in abuse of drugs in schools, with 68 per cent of students being exposed, this is not the first time drugs abuse related issues is being highlighted in the province.
Since May 2001 the alarming incidents of drugs abuse in the province have been hindering education programme in the area. The increase is also the main cause of unrest in schools.
According to preliminary findings, one of the reasons for this lawlessness according the then Education Permanent Prof Japheth Kiptoon is that a number of students do not see themselves as having any future that is why they ended up abusing drugs which led to unrest in schools.
Although in most communities in Africa, cultural traditions prohibit women from using drugs, today most girls in schools smoke and drink alcohol.
Findings of the National Baseline Survey, a research conducted by NACADA in 2001 show that on a national scale, 60 per cent of Kenyan students aged between 10-24 abuse alcohol, 57 per cent abuse tobacco, 22 per cent bhang and miraa while 6 per cent abuse inhalants.
Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
People for Peace in Africa
Tel +254-7350-14559/+254-722-623-578
E-mail omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Peaceful world is the greatest heritage
That this generation can give to the generations
To come- All of us have a role.
Kenya & Somalia: Three Somali journalists killed in suicide bomb attack
Forwarded by Agwanda Saye
- - - - - - - - - - -
Nairobi, September 20, 2012--Three Somali journalists were killed and at least four were injured in a suicide bomb attack in a Mogadishu café today, according to news reports and local journalists. The attack took place across the street from the National Theater, where a bomb blast in April wounded at least 10 journalists, news reports said.
Two unidentified men entered "The Village" café at around 5:30 p.m. and detonated bombs, killing a total of 14 people and injuring 20, according to news reports and local journalists. Ali Mohamud Rage, a spokesman for the militant insurgent group Al-Shabaab, said the bombing was carried out by supporters of the group, according to Agence France-Presse. "We did not directly order the attacks, but there are lots of angry people in Somalia who support our fight," AFP reported Rage as saying.
[ . . . ]
http://cpj.org/2012/09/three-somali-journalists-killed-in-suicide-bomb-at.php
WHY THE WAR ON DRUGS ISN’T AN EASY MISSION
From: Ouko joachim omolo
Colleagues Home & Abroad Regional News
BY FR JOACHIM OMOLO OUKO, AJ
NAIROBI-KENYA
WEDNESDAY, MAY 30, 2012
It is hardly twenty four hours ago I reported how Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko will not be able to implement the recommendations made by the Parliamentary Committee on the controversial issue of the 1.2 tones cocaine haul seized in 2004 that it is back in Parliament again.
That was then, now the MPs are still demanding a full disclosure of investigations into the matter. Ikolomani MP Boni Khalwale is accusing Attorney-General Githu Muigai for keeping a safe distance on the matter when the House was looking for him to answer what he knows on the impounded cocaine.
It is not that Prof Muigai is refusing to answer questions, only that he needs more time to consult the DPP on the queries of how sensitive the issue is and what implication it would entail should they make it public. AG cannot answer the questions on whether names of MPs implicated in the report have a hand or not.
Internal Security Minister George Saitoti had earlier informed the House that MPs Ali Hassan Joho (Kisauni), William Kabogo (Juja), Harun Mwau (Kilome) and Gideon Mbuvi alias Mike Sonko (Makadara) and Mombasa tycoon Ali Punjani are being investigated for alleged drug trafficking.
The names are in a US embassy dossier which former ambassador Michael Ranneberger gave to the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (Kacc) some months ago. Mr Kabogo had a dossier of his own, which he claimed also named Saboti MP Eugene Wamalwa and Kamukunji MP Simon Mbugua. He also said it implicates the wife of “a very senior person in the country”.
Mr Kabogo and Mr Joho did not only deny all links to drug dealing and insisted that those who had mentioned them be investigated for “peddling falsehoods, Mr Joho demanded unsuccessfully that his name be removed from the list until investigations are concluded, saying the allegations against him were scandalous and meant ‘to kill him politically.’
Mr Mbuvi on the other hand described the report “as full of false allegations”, claiming that that three senior police officers who had forced their way into his parliamentary office at Continental House linking him to drug trafficking did that falsely.
US President Barack Obama did not only list Mr Mwau and businesswoman Naima Mohamed Nyakinywa as drug traffickers, slapping harsh economic sanctions against them but also US citizens who do business with Mwau risk going to jail for 30 years or being fined as much as Sh400 million.
Those listed as drug traffickers stand to lose all their property in the US, or any business in which they have an interest. This is because many international financial transfers are processed in the US. The Kingpin Act, signed into law on December 3, 1999, gives the US government power to seize property belonging to people the president believes are drug dealers.
It also gives the government authority to block the property of any person or company “materially assisting in, or providing financial or technological support for or to, or providing goods or services in support of, the international narcotics trafficking activities of a person”. It is the same law that prohibits US citizens from doing business with listed suspects.
Others whose properties have been seized under this law are Manuel Torres Felix (Mexico), Gonzalo Inzunza Inzunza (Mexico), Haji Lal Jan Ishaqzai (Afghanistan), Kamchybek Asanbekovich Kolbayev (Kyrgyzstan) and Javier Antonio Calle Serna (Colombia).
US have to be hard on drug dealers following an urban legend which states that most US banknotes have traces of cocaine on them. This is in fact accurate according to 1994 when the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals determined that in Los Angeles, out of every four banknotes, on average more than three are tainted by cocaine or another illicit drug.
Since 2006, some 22,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence in US. Thousands more have been wounded, countless others "disappeared or tortured.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODOC) estimate that profits derived from narcotics rackets amount to some $600 billion annually and that up to $1.5 trillion dollars in drug money is laundered through seemingly legitimate enterprises.
In most cases drug dealers have a wide connection that is why it is very difficult to fight against it. In Afghanistan for instance, Ahmed Wali Karzi, the brother of the Afghan president and a suspected player in the country’s booming illegal opium trade, instead of being arrested gets regular payments from the Central Intelligence Agency, and has for much of the past eight years, according to current and former American officials.
The agency pays Mr. Karzai for a variety of services, including helping to recruit an Afghan paramilitary force that operates at the C.I.A.’s direction in and around the southern city of Kandahar, Mr. Karzai’s home.
Mr. Karzai is also paid for allowing the C.I.A. and American Special Operations troops to rent a large compound outside the city — the former home of Mullah Mohammed Omar, the Taliban’s founder.
This is despite the fact that the Obama administration has repeatedly vowed to crack down on the drug lords who are believed to permeate the highest levels of President Karzai’s administration.
Even the Roman Catholic Church in Mexico is not safe either. In July 2009 the spokesman for the Archdiocese of Mexico City, Father Hugo Valdemar, told reporters that three bishops in Michoacan have received death threats from drug trafficking gangs.
The bishops were not only to be killed for preaching against the illicit drugs but because one of the churches in Mexico received money from drug traffickers to build the church.
Mexican officials estimate that over 34,000 have been killed in the country due to drug-related violence since 2006. Corrupt officials are allying with criminals to skim drug profits and using the military to murder criminals who might reveal any collusion.
Some churches have benefited from the criminal underworld, receiving hefty donations from members who sit in their pews on Sundays but work as traffickers during the week. That is why most priests are not preaching against the trafficking.
Some priests of course, do not preach against it because they have also been the target of violence. Masses have been interrupted by gunfire, and some priests have been shot dead when they attempt to preach against the trafficking.
It explains why when Pope Benedict XVI at a huge outdoor Mass on Sunday in March this year condemned drug trafficking and corruption in Mexico, urging people to renounce violence in the country where a brutal war between cartels has killed tens of thousands of people, he did that under a tight security.
People for Peace in Africa (PPA)
P O Box 14877
Nairobi
00800, Westlands
Kenya
Tel +254-7350-14559/+254-722-623-578
E-mail- ppa@africaonline.co.ke
omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Website: www.peopleforpeaceafrica.org
KENYA: ARCHBISHOP OSCAR ROMERO’S 32ND ASSASINATION ANNIVERSARY
From: Ouko joachim omolo
Colleagues Home & Abroad Regional News
BY FR JOACHIM OMOLO OUKO, AJ
NAIROBI-KENYA
SATURDAY, MARCH 24, 2012
In India a special liturgy and a Way of the Cross was offered yesterday in commemoration of the 32nd anniversary of the martyrdom of Msgr. Oscar Romero, archbishop of San Salvador. He was assassinated by US-supported rightists on March 24, 1980 while celebrating mass.
Msgr. Vincent Concessao, Archbishop of New Delhi celebrated the liturgy. He pointed out that the prophetic ministry of truth and justice of Archbishop Romero is crucial for the Indian Church.” Today is also the 19th World Day of Prayer and Fasting for Missionary Martyrs. It is also World TB Day.
Archbishop Oscar Romero was a man of great faith-the man who loved justice. He was quoted telling the reporters of El Salvador, “Even if every prophet fighting against injustice is killed,” Romero prophesied, “New prophets will arise; for you are God’s microphone! “A bishop might die, but God’s people will never die.”
Romero died because of his outspoken condemnation of militarism and injustice. He had emerged as the highest-profile defender of impoverished campesinos and idealistic members of the Catholic clergy who were demanding an end to centuries of inequality and repression in El Salvador.
Romero became a Christ-like figure, who followed Jesus' example of unflinching anticipation of martyrdom. Romero also adopted the methods of Jesus, a strategy of active nonviolent resistance. He repeatedly called on the security forces to stop the repression.
Romero is not alone in the fight for justice. In January 2012 the Fides news agency published a list of pastoral workers who were killed during their missionary work, even though not all of them were martyrs in the strict sense.
In 2011, 26 pastoral care workers were killed: one more than the previous year: 18 priests, four religious sisters and four laypeople. For the third consecutive year, the place with the most deaths was the American continent, with the deaths of 13 priests and two laypersons.
Following was Africa, where six pastoral workers were killed: two priests, three religious sisters, and one layperson. In Asia two priests, one religious sister, and one layperson were killed. The least affected continent was Europe, where one priest was killed.
Many of them were killed in the course of attempted robbery or kidnapping. Others, the Fides report said, "were killed in the name of Christ by those opposing love with hatred, hope with despair, dialogue with violent opposition."
The Fides report cited the words spoken on Dec. 26 by Benedict XVI, during his Angelus message on the day of the liturgical feast of the martyr Stephen: "As in ancient times, today the sincere adherence to the Gospel may require the sacrifice of life and many Christians in various parts of the world are occasionally exposed to persecution and martyrdom. But, the Lord reminds us, 'he who endures to the end shall be saved' (Matthew 10:22)."
In America, the most violent country was Colombia with seven deaths out of the overall total of 15. Mexico was in second place with five. Brazil, Paraguay and Nicaragua each accounted for one death. Those killed were the following:
Colombia: Fr. Rafael Reátiga Rojas and Fr. Richard Armando Piffano Laguado killed by gunshot by a murderer who was traveling with the two priests: Fr. Luis Carlos Orozco Cardona killed by a young man who shot him among the crowd; Fr. Gustavo Garcia Eudista was murdered in the street by a man who wanted to steal his mobile phone. Fr. Jose Reinel Restrepo Idárraga, killed by unknown persons while he was riding his motorcycle, which was then stolen along with other objects belonging to the priest; Fr. Gualberto Oviedo Arrieta, found covered with wounds and knifed to death in the rectory of his parish.
A layperson, Luis Eduardo Garcia, a member of the social pastoral ministry, attacked by a group of guerrillas, kidnapped and then killed.
Mexico: Fr. Santos Sánchez Hernández, attacked by an intruder who entered his house, most likely to steal; Fr. Francisco Sánchez Duran, found in the church with wounds to the neck, perhaps in an attempt to stop a robbery in church; Fr. Salvador Ruiz Enciso, who was kidnapped and killed; Fr. Marco Antonio Duran Romero, killed in a gunfight between soldiers and an armed group. A laywoman, Mary Elizabeth Macías Castro, of the Scalabrinian Lay Movement, kidnapped by a group of drug dealers and brutally killed.
Brazil: Fr. Romeu Drago was killed in his home. His body was then brought to about 25 kilometers (15 miles) from his home, where he was burned. Paraguay: Monsignor Julio César Álvarez was killed. His body was found in his room, hand and foot bound, with injuries and scratches and strangled.
Nicaragua; Fr. Marlon Ernesto Pupiro García was kidnapped and killed. In Africa the killings took place in Burundi (2) and one each in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Southern Sudan, Tunisia, and Kenya. Tunisia: Fr. Marek Rybinsk was killed, a Salesian missionary, whose body was found dead in a local Salesian school of Manouba.
Kenya: Fr. Awuor Kisero was attacked in a suburb of the Kenyan capital.
Congo: Sister Jeanne Yegmane was killed in an ambush. South Sudan: Sister Angelina, while bringing medical aid to refugees. Burundi: during a robbery attempt Sister Lukrecija Mamica, of the "Sisters of Charity" and Francesco Bazzani, a volunteer. In Asia there were four deaths, three in India and one in the Philippines.
India: Fr. G. Amalan was killed in his room by a person who escaped with a few rupees found in the home; Sister Valsha John, who worked among the poor and tribal people, killed in her home, a catechist and lay activist Rabindra Parichha, kidnapped and killed.
Philippines: Fr. Fausto Tentorio, PIME missionary was killed, while on his way to a priests' meeting, two gunmen shot him in the head and back. The sole death in Europe was in Spain, Fr. Ricardo Muñoz Juarez was killed by thieves who broke into his According to information in Fides possession, during the decade 1980-1989- 115 missionaries were violently killed. The summary of the years 1990-2000 presents a total of 604 missionaries killed, according to their information. The number is significantly higher than the previous decade.
People for Peace in Africa (PPA)
P O Box 14877
Nairobi
00800, Westlands
Kenya
Tel +254-7350-14559/+254-722-623-578
E-mail- ppa@africaonline.co.ke
omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Website: www.peopleforpeaceafrica.org
WHY KENYA MUST PUT TO REST THE DARK AGES OF UNTOUCHABLES
From: ouko joachim omolo
Colleagues Home & Abroad Regional News
BY FR JOACHIM OMOLO OUKO, AJ
NAIROBI-KENYA
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2011
Being a Police Spokesman in Kenya today is one of the most difficult responsibilities. Eric Kiraithe spoke on behalf of Commissioner of Police Mathew Iteere to react to a report by KTN and The East African Standard that detailed how Sh6.4 billion-cocaine haul was seized, stored, investigated and disposed in 2004, the drama that revealed how General Service Unit (GSU) senior officer Erastus Chemorei was brutally killed by security officers.
Kiraithe was there to convince Kenyans that Iteere was innocent and at no time did Chemorei get access to the key to a room where the cocaine was kept and even if he did, he could not have gone with the keys to his home while on leave. This sentiment leaves a lot to be desired.
The big question that remains unanswered is that if Iteere has been falsely accused, who then planned for the killing of Chemorei and why? Will the opinion of the Attorney General on what action he intends to take against anyone who has made false accusations about the drugs help solve the brutal death?
The Police Commissioner intends to sue the Standard and KTN if Attorney General advises so. He wants to sue them not only because he claims he is innocent, but because the publicity on this haul has caused a huge damage on him. What about the trauma children and the widow Chemorei left behind are undergoing? Which is more damaging?
And if it is not true that as Iteere claims there was no way Chemorei would have gone with the key at home, to whom did he leave with the key with, and why was he given un usual leaves against his wish from time to time- which according to documents, he was told to proceed on leave in December 10, 2004, February 1, 2005, February 8, and February 17, a move which according to his family members and other people close to him at his Kitalale home made Chemorei to be disturbed man.
One fact remains for sure, that Chemorei was keeping custody of the key to the store where the Sh6.4-billion cocaine haul that was seized by police in a private villa in Malindi was kept. This fact according to the report was known in top security circles, including Iteere himself.
Thanks to Standard and KTN that shed the light that as Kenyans were made to believe Erastus Kirui Chemorei was killed because he was in the police most wanted list of the criminals and that he had been the architect of robberies and killings in Kitale can no longer be convincing.
What was not very clear and the Police Commissioner did not answer is why the death of Chemorei came just at the time when by then GSU commandant Lawrence Mwadime and Assistant commandant and current Police Commissioner, Mathew Iteere, were mandated to keep safe custody of the cocaine – the biggest ever netted locally in history of Kenya.
If Chemorei was among the most listed police criminals and that is why he was inhumanly killed, how come that he was not only entrusted with the key of such huge asset money wise but also an adjutant at the GSU Training School, Ruaraka. Simple logic is that he was picked because he was seen as honest, secretive, and trustworthy.
But even so, if Chemorei was a criminal as earlier alleged, why had the whole battalion of 70 police officers led by then area DCIO, Julius Sunkuli, OCPD Augustine Kimantheria, and DC Christopher Musumbu surround his house on February 19, and instead of arresting him he was to be killed like a dog as his son Elijah traumatically wondered.
Why again did they force Abubakar Latama who says he had just concluded a deal to buy a cow from Chemorei when they heard vehicles roaring near the gate of the deceased to drink his brain? According to Latama they had just finished taking tea and after h handed him Sh8,500 for the cow h had bought from him (he needed the money as his son had been sent home from school because he had not cleared his fees), he led him outside to where the cow was, when the police vehicles pulled up outside his gate.
This is not the first time police is killed in connection with drugs. The lead police officer investigating drug trafficking through the Port of Mombasa died mysteriously. Kenya Ports Authority District Criminal Investigations Officer (DCIO) Hassan Abdillahi was murdered on December 31, 2004.
Abdillahi was perceived by a number of Embassy personnel as being deeply committed to tackling fraud and drug trafficking at the Port of Mombasa. Although a number of suspects have been arrested for questioning about Abdillahi's death, among them Juja MP William Kabogo, who is also owner of a port container transshipment company, how come no conviction has been made?
Internal Security Minister George Saitoti named former assistant minister and Kilome MP Harun Mwau, Kisauni MP Hassan Joho, Makadara MP Gidion Mbuvi, Juja MP William Kabogo and prominent businessman Ali Punjani as those under investigation for alleged drug trafficking.
The sad story however, is that when such containers are seized by police or customs officials, the traffickers allegedly pay millions of shillings in bribes to have them released or silence the officials. One such incident is cited as having occurred in October 2008. The dossier says that one of the two containers of used clothes was held, but the importer paid a Sh1 million bribe to have the customs officer who had taken action replaced.
In July 2008, one of the suspected drug kingpins allegedly received “unspecified narcotics from Pakistan, Dubai and Tanzania which he stored in Gikomba, Mathare and Githurai.” The dossier alleges that the crew of his public transport vehicle fleet was used to distribute the drugs in Nairobi’s Buruburu estate and the CBD. The same suspect is said to have previously used a location near the Eastleigh Air Force base in Nairobi as a processing and packaging facility.
Heroin, the dossier claims, was brought into the base by couriers where it was packaged and shipped out in military vehicles to other distribution sites. Although Sources close to the Internal Security ministry say the United States wants Kenya to start the prosecution of drugs barons right away, this cannot be possible in Kenya as yet since the deal involve people who matter in this country called Kenya.
The largest ever haul of cocaine weighing 1.5 tonnes and worth Sh6.4 billion arrived at Kilindini, Mombasa, from Venezuela in December 2004. The documents on the drug network in Kenya show that those involved have been shipping in drugs hidden in containers said to carry used clothes or shoes.
For instance, they indicate that one of the key members of the drug syndicate shipped in cocaine from Latin America in December 2007 disguised as used computers. Another member of the cartel brought in heroin and cannabis from Pakistan, Dubai and Tanzania in July 2008.The dossier also says the suspected drug lords distribute the narcotics to several city estates.
When the Jicho Pevu and Inside Story expose titled ‘Paruwanja la Mihadarati’ and ‘The Untouchables’, it gave in inspiration that any officer who push for further investigation and arrest is at risk. That is why officers linked to drug cartels may have conspired to eliminate Erastus Chemorei after he allegedly refused to hand over keys to a store at the GSU headquarters where the Sh6.4 billion cocaine haul had been stored.
These were similar tactics used by Moi. He used it to say his government did not involved in Dr Robert Ouko’s assassination, even though according to Scotland Yard’s Superintendent John Troon who led a team of detectives to unravel the murder of Ouko revealed that Moi’s government was fully responsible.
Initial investigations zeroed in on two key suspects; the late Internal Security PS Hezekiah Oyugi and former Energy minister Nicholas Biwott. Ten government officials, including Biwott, were held in police custody for questioning for two weeks in November 1991 but a Kenyan Police investigation concluded that there was no 'evidence to support the allegations that Biwott was involved in the disappearance and subsequent death of the late minister Dr. Robert John Ouko'.
Instead a Nairobi court in November 2000 awarded Mr Biwott record damages of Sh30 million arising from a case in which he sued the British forensic expert Dr Ian West and others for linking him to the Ouko murder. Earlier Biwott won Sh10 million from Bookpoint, a popular Nairobi bookshop, for stocking copies of the book Dr Ian West’s Casebook.
Troon traced the circumstances leading to the murder to a Presidential trip to the United States in January 1990, where Moi led a strong delegation of government officials. During the Washington trip, according to Press reports, the American media "launched an ambush" on Moi by accusing him of running a dictatorship rife with human rights abuses.
Ouko, who was then the Foreign Affairs minister, was reportedly cast in positive light. Troon’s investigations centred on the alleged massive corruption at the Kisumu Molasses plant, and efforts to conceal the alleged perpetrators-It is claimed that Ouko had conducted thorough investigations into the malpractice at the plant, which allegedly touched on key Government officials close to Moi and who were opposed to the revitalisation of the plant.
On November 26, 1991, Moi disbanded the Ouko Commission of Inquiry, which was chaired by Justice Evan Gicheru, now Chief Justice. Moi later said the discontinuation of the commission was to enable further investigations to be carried out into the minister’s death and also into alleged obstruction and interference in Troon’s work.
Practically all those who knew about the death of Ouko also died mysteriously. Oyugi died in the United Kingdom where he was being treated.Two weeks later, Mr Obati also died. He was a former Interpol chief in Kenya, he died at the Nairobi Hospital where he had been hospitalised for three weeks. He allegedly developed liver complications.
Some of the people who knew the death and still alive include Mr Jonah Anguka, a former Nakuru District Commissioner who was charged with Ouko’s murder. He is in exile in USA. Anguka, who was a friend of the murdered minister, is alleged to have been spotted in a white saloon vehicle believed to have been central to the murder.
Former Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi who rejected calls to appear before the committee investigating the death of Foreign Minister Robert Ouko is also still alive. His lawyer, Mr Mutula Kilonzo, said the attempt by the team of Gor Sunguh’s commission to question the retired head of state was malicious because he (Moi) had nothing to reveal to the committee.
Mr Troon was among the experts Moi invited to examine the death. Report was vigorously disputed by the Moi government when it was ultimately handed in to the authorities.
When the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNHCR), an independent body set up by an act of Parliament, said it had evidence that almost 500 suspects were shot and their bodies dumped during the past five months, the story was the same. A police spokesman dismissed the allegations as nothing more than "rumors," even though according to then director of the KNHCR, Maina Kiai police were involved.
Maina challenged the police to explain how hundreds of bodies had been delivered by police vehicle to mortuaries, yet the force had denied any involvement in the deaths. Researchers had spent three months collecting the data from mortuaries as relatives came forward claiming that their loved ones had disappeared.
People for Peace in Africa (PPA)
P O Box 14877
Nairobi
00800, Westlands
Kenya
Kenya: KTN Kenya (Inside Story) – The Untouchables –
from Judy Miriga
Folks,
Kenya Government must be made and be forced to act against Drug peddlers, it is killing and destroying our youths and Kenya's larger society.
This is not how Kenya should prepare to go to election, with thugs and criminal networks taking control of Kenya's leadership. It is Evil and Wicked.
This coalition of Kibaki and Raila cannot manage or improve corruption, drug and human trafficking, they are the aiders of corruption, impunity and graft including drug and human trafficking. They must resign immediately. They both seem to give corruption a blank cheque to run wild in Kenya. This is why, police reform is far from being realized. Kenyans cannot keep living in fear and hopelessness.
We need help all over the world to stamp this drug network and improve security in Kenya. Coalition Government must resign now for order to take place in Kenya.
Judy Miriga
Diaspora Spokesperson
Executive Director
Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
USA
http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com
- - - - - - - - - -
KTN Kenya (Inside Story) - The Untouchables - Part 1/2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RleMpkbAko&feature=related
Uploaded by abelsez on Nov 7, 2011
http://www.scribd.com/doc/46410348/Drug-Dossier
^^ if you are not familiar with the alleged players,skim through that! The cop killers are known(page 34).The document is at least a year old.The 1st time I read that,it came off as some mindless drivel of an attention seeking loon but the parallels with this report just gives it credence.
Part 2 Jicho Pevu
other links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Mexican_Drug_War
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/08/28/f-mexico-drug-cartels.html
LEGAL DISCLAIMER:
This video is for purposes of launching a discussion on kenya's fight against drugs termed under "fair use".Viewers are authorised to watch the video "KTN Kenya -The Untouchables - Part 1/2" only for the puposes of launching a discussion on Kenya's fight against drugs.
KTN - Jicho Pevu Part 1 (The Untouchables) - Nov 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWLkQXoxIjE
KTN (Jicho Pevu) Paruwanja la mihadarati (The untouchables) - Part 2/2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbdLfWHFGjI
Uploaded by abelsez on Nov 8, 2011
http://www.scribd.com/doc/46410348/Drug-Dossier
^^ if you are not familiar with the alleged players,skim through that! The cop killers are known(page 34).The document is at least a year old.The 1st time I read that,it came off as some mindless drivel of an attention seeking loon,this now gives it some sort of credence.
other links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Mexican_Drug_War
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/08/28/f-mexico-drug-cartels.html
LEGAL DISCLAIMER:
This video is for purposes of launching a discussion on kenya's fight against drugs termed under "fair use".Viewers are authorised to watch the video KTN (Jicho Pevu) Paruwanja la mihadarati - Part 2/2" only for the puposes of launching a discussion on Kenya's fight against drugs.
Part 2
KTN - Jicho Pevu Part 2 (The Untouchables) - Nov 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFmJvRIdQBE
chris murungaru.... I can't even capitalize your name coz I don't have time for that. Senior government official my? foot. Nkt.
david kiragu be released immediately or because ignorancy is not an excuse in the court law his sentence should not be? more than 3 months nd a fine of ksh 1000. the only ignorance i see here is the stupid gov officials who think they are above the law
asenath89 47 minutes ago
These Kenyan top? dogs will die a bitter death!
twittqueen 1 hour ago
Part II PRONTO!!!!?
Head1Ngumu 5 hours ago
Everyone mention in this story should be? arrested
christophermbithi 10 hours ago
Dennis for Chief of? CID & Mohammed Ali for Police Commisioner!!!
walewaleable 10 hours ago
Please upload the rest of the videos, this is very shocking! Keep it up Dennis and Mohamed? Ali
Jicho Pevu 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=iv&v=fbdLfWHFGjI&annotation_id=annotation_646636&src_vid=GB2KXrTabKI
^^ if you are not familiar with the alleged players,skim through that! The cop killers are known(page 34).The document is at least a year old.The 1st time I read that,it came off as some mindless drivel of an attention seeking loon,this now gives it some sort of credence.
Uploaded by KenyaMOJAvideos on Nov 7, 2011
http://www.KenyaMOJA.com
part? 2 please
asenath89 2 minutes ago
i clearly remember when Chemorei was murdered in his home in kitale, not far from my home, hard to believe how far the story goes,? what an investigation, upto today Chemorei's family seeks justice, now i know why that justice is so far away!
MrSireed 1 hour ago
SHOWS THERES MO THAN? U MAY THINK
frankfiveable 1 hour ago
Shocking is an understatement how we let these people get away with somethings is beyond me. Saddest thing is they will run for elections and get back into govt and carry on ...... We should make? them an example for others so hiyo tabia ikome, they should be stripped off their positions and jailed ...... Those journalists are amazing please carry on the good work we need more people like you .....
ctaaka 1 hour ago
shame on you Govt of kenya. shame on? you
ShattyDiablo 5 hours ago
@langaxx2? make that two
ShattyDiablo 5 hours ago
good investigation MOHA?
fello2015 7 hours ago
good investigation MOHA
Pirates jicho pevu
?
Uploaded by jichopevu on Jul 17, 2009
no description available
Artur Brothers Report
Uploaded by kenyacitizentv on Nov 24, 2010
A report on the activities of the Artur brothers is out and Environment Minister John Michuki is among some of the high profile names mentioned as having been heavily involved in the activities of the infamous duo. The report made its way to the floor of the house. And differences between the Executive and Parliament over the latter's zealous fight against corruption played out in parliament when Prime Minister Raila Odinga cautioned Parliamentary Departmental Committees to allow relevant government bodies to conduct investigations into corruption allegations before pointing accusing fingers and demanding the resignation of ministers. Andrew Ochieng has been monitoring proceedings in the August house.
The Artur duo were conmen and traffickers
Uploaded by NTVKenya on Nov 24, 2010
A parliamentary committee that investigated the infamous Arturs brothers says the two brothers enjoyed protection from powerful people in government. They now want several top officials including cabinet minister John Michuki to
Prove that I am a drug dealer,Mwau insists
Uploaded by NTVKenya on Oct 31, 2011
http://www.ntv.co.ke
Suspended Assistant Minister for Trade Harun Mwau is once again challenging anybody with evidence linking him to drug trafficking to present it. Mwau who has kept a low profile for nearly four months now, spoke to NTV on a day of high drama at his offices, as police took into custody a foreigner suspected to have been spying on the Kilome legislator. Robert Nagila reports.
HARUN MWAU EXCLUSIVE ON K24
Uploaded by K24TV on Jun 3, 2011
no description available
John Harun Mwau's Profile
Uploaded by kenyacitizentv on Jun 2, 2011
Kilome mp john Harun Mwau is one man who has simply never managed to shake off controversy. For a man who is no doubt one of the wealthiest in the country, information is scanty about him or his businesses. A flamboyant lawmaker, who does not even bother with his parliamentary salary, Mwau has continuously been associated with the illicit trade of narcotics, an allegation he has persistently and vehemently denied. So just who is this man John Harun Mwau, and what business interests does he have? Francis Gachuri gives us this insight.
The Mwau's Sanctions Saga
Uploaded by kenyacitizentv on Jun 4, 2011
The government is confirming that no official extradition request has been received from the U.S. regarding Kilome MP John Harun Mwau, and businesswoman Naima Mohammed Nyakinyua, the two Kenyans U.S. President Barack Obama has sought sanctions against on drug dealing claims. Internal Security Minister Professor George Saitoti says that no action can be taken against the duo until the US government shares the evidence it has to prove that indeed the two are drug barons. Meanwhile, Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere says it will take the police time to piece together any evidence against Mwau and Nyakinyua on the drug dealing claims. Chris Thairu reports.
Fighting drug lords has deadly consequences
Uploaded by NTVKenya on Mar 29, 2011
Is it a war that can be won? This is the question that dominates debate as Kenyans watch the unfolding events in the wake of the capture of heroin worth millions in the coastal city of Mombasa.
Narcotics purge
Uploaded by NTVKenya on Mar 27, 2011
http://www.ntv.co.ke
The six suspects arrested in Mombasa with a consignment of heroin with a street value of nearly 400 million shillings will be back in court to take a plea on drug trafficking charges. The suspects were not able to take a plea last Friday, when they were first arraigned in court after the state failed to get an interpreter for one of them, who only communicates in Persian.
Pirates inside story
Police on Terror Suspects
Uploaded by kenyacitizentv on Mar 7, 2011
Onto security matters now and police released the names of nine most wanted Kenyan terror suspects alleged to have links with Somalia's al Shabaab militia group. Deputy police spokesman Charles Wahong'o said the nine were among a group of eleven Kenyan terror suspects on the loose but whose two members were later gunned down in a fire fight with the police after the slaying of two traffic police officers along Thika road last year. And as Abdi Osman reports, police have urged members of the public to offer any information they may have on the suspects to the nearest police station, pledging that this will be treated in utmost confidence.
AXIS OF DEATH PT 3
Uploaded by jjournals on Mar 20, 2009
Third part of a three part KTN Inside Story Series on Drugs, Porstitution and poverty in the coastal town of Mombasa.
Reporter: John-Allan Namu
Camera: Joseph Njagi
Kenya: Powerful Criminal Networks Hold the Nation Hostage
Rasna Warah
27 October 2011
analysis
Kenyans are seen to have a "business-as-usual" approach to corruption, but a new report published by the International Peace Institute shows that our extreme tolerance of impunity is having devastating consequences and is, in fact, undermining the State's legitimacy,' writes Rasna Warah.
Kenyans are seen to have a "business-as-usual" approach to corruption, but a new report published by the International Peace Institute shows that our extreme tolerance of impunity is having devastating consequences and is, in fact, undermining the State's legitimacy.
Endemic corruption and powerful transnational criminal networks are "white-anting" state institutions and public confidence in them, says the report. These "termites" are hollowing out State institutions, thereby rendering them impotent.
Peter Gastrow, the author of the report titled "Termites at Work: Transnational Organised Crime and State Erosion in Kenya" [PDF], says that rampant corruption within the Police Force, the Judiciary and other State institutions has allowed criminals to penetrate political institutions.
Powerful criminal networks with links to Parliament currently pose a big threat to the creation of laws, policies and regulations that could help curb money laundering and drug trafficking.
Governments that lack the capacity or the political will to counter such penetration, he says, run the risk of becoming "captured states" - that is, states whose government structures have become captives of uncontrolled corruption.
If this goes unchecked, he warns, the criminal networks could penetrate the East African Community and cause havoc in neighbouring countries.
This could result in the kind of lawlessness that has turned countries such as Mexico and Colombia into murderous, violent places where drug lords and criminals hold organs of the State hostage, a scenario that is just too horrific to imagine.
The following highlights from the report are most worrying:
- Increased volumes of heroin from Pakistan and Iran, and cocaine from Latin America, are being transmitted through Kenya. At least 10 major international drug trafficking networks, headed mainly by West Africans, but also involving Kenyans, are responsible for the bulk of the cocaine and heroin trafficked into and through the country.
- Drug money is increasingly being used to attain positions of influence, particularly in politics.
- Militia groups in Somalia have started to profit from drugs trafficked into Kenya. The port of Kismayu in southern Somalia is used to import drugs into Kenya.
- Kenya is the biggest market for counterfeit goods from India and China.
- A Kenyan cartel comprising current and former MPs, activists linked to politicians - including a prominent businesswoman - and customs personnel are working with a network of Chinese, Somali and Pakistani criminals to smuggle drugs, counterfeits and other illicit commodities through the port of Mombasa.
- During the first nine months of 2010, at least 10 small arms seizures were reported on Garissa road en route to Nairobi from Somalia. The UN's Dadaab refugee camp in northern Kenya is sometimes used as a storage facility by arms smugglers.
- Corrupt staff at the Dadaab refugee camp are involved in human trafficking and the sale of "slots" for refugees wishing to migrate to South Africa, Europe and the United States.
- Eastleigh in Nairobi is East Africa's hub for the smuggling of migrants and the trafficking of women and children. About 50 girls, mainly from Somalia are trafficked every week from north-eastern Kenya to Nairobi.
- In 2010, a staggering $2.1 billion found its way into the economy without the government being able to explain its source.
- Funds laundered from Kenya sometimes end up with al Shabaab in Somalia.
If no action is taken, there is a huge risk that Kenya's State institutions will be eaten up from the inside by criminal elements. As a result, the legitimacy of the State will be undermined.
Kenya will crumble as criminals will be at the helm, making laws to suit themselves and bribing their way through murder, drug and human trafficking, sale of illicit arms and a whole range of criminal activities.
The report recognises that the current reforms in the Judiciary could restore the public's confidence in government institutions.
However, these reforms must be accompanied by far-reaching steps to counter crime, corruption and impunity, including the appointment of special police taskforces to investigate these crimes and taking drastic action against those involved in corruption.
Unfortunately, the government appears unwilling - for whatever reason - to take these steps.
Rasna Warah is a columnist with the Daily Nation.
Nairobi Star (Nairobi)
Kenya: Iteere Blames Drug Barons for Heroin Haul Controversy
Maxwell Masava
1 April 2011
POLICE Commissioner Mathew Iteere yesterday blamed unnamed drug traffickers for the fiasco over the actual weight of the heroin impounded by police in Mombasa last week.
Iteere said the drug traffickers and cartels in the country were trying to manipulate the investigations by compromising some of the junior and senior officers at Vigilance House.
In a statement issued by Iteere and read on his behalf by police spokesman Erick Kiraithe, the commissioner accused the drug traffickers of mounting a "media campaign" to discredit the detectives working on the case. He cited the weight discrepancies as one of the areas being used by the drug traffickers to manipulate the investigations.
Civil as well as religious leaders have been raising queries about the discrepancies in the weight of the drug police announced when it was impounded.
There have been growing claims that 94 kilos of the seized heroin went missing, a claim police deny. The original haul was said to be 196 kilos packed in 98 sachets. However, police amended the haul to102 kilos after weighing it claiming the original figure of 196 kilos was just an estimate.
On Tuesday, detectives assigned to investigate the seizure were summoned to CID headquarters to explain the discrepancy in the weight of the heroin recovered and the actual weight of the drug presented before the courts. Kiraithe explained the detectives had earlier relied on initial estimates of 98 sachets each weighing 2 kilos to give the total of 196 kilos.
But subsequent weighing before the consignment was taken to court as exhibit revealed it weighed only 102 kilos. The drug produced in court was said to be worth Sh392 million as opposed to an earlier estimate of Sh500 million."Since the Commissioner took concrete measures to break the drug cartels operating in the country, the beneficiaries of this evil trade have been on the war path," said Iteere."Their ultimate aim is to compromise these diligent officers and force out those who cannot be compromised including those in the top echelons of Kenya Police," he added in his statement.
He said that "well known individuals", whom he did not name, had vowed to influence changes within the police department, especially at the Coast over the latest crackdown on drugs trade."We are aware they have vowed to use every means possible to frustrate the current onslaught. After failing to use bribery, they have now embarked on a campaign to discredit, intimidate and demoralize the dedicated officers," he added.
The statement was issued as Nairobi Chief Magistrate Gilbert Mutembei remanded the six suspects accused of trafficking in the heroin valued at Sh204million until he delivers a ruling on their application for bail.
Mutembei remanded the suspects for a week after the prosecution sought more time to complete investigations. The prosecution said these investigations would be jeopardised if the suspects were released from jail.
Three Kenyans - Yusuf Hassan Ibrahim, Hasan Ibrahim and Joash Omondi, two Iranians, Abdolbaset Ali and Ali Bafkin and the Pakistani Khan Haider have denied having the drugs, two pistols and ammunition. The three foreigners are further charged with being in the country unlawfully.
Defence lawyers Cliff Ombeta and Kiraithe Wandungi opposed the prosecution's request to have the suspects remanded in custody claiming the police should have completed their investigations after holding them at Kileleshwa Police Station for three days.
Claiming that personal liberty should not be compromised at the behest of the authorities, the lawyers said the six would abide by any rules imposed by the court when it granted them bail.
Mutembei remanded the suspects in custody until April 4 when he will decide whether to grant them bail.
The two lawyers complained that they had received more threatening text messages even as they argued their clients' cases in court. Mutembei told them they had two options - report the matter to the police or withdraw from defending the suspects.
The suspects have denied trafficking by storing 102 kilogrammes of heroin valued at Sh204 million on March 24 at Shanzu area in Kisauni District within Mombasa County.
Iteere on Drug-lords
Uploaded by kenyacitizentv on Dec 1, 2010
Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere says the police will make public the names of the suspected high profile drug dealers in two weeks' time. Addressing journalists in his office Iteere said detectives have been piecing together the final bits of a probe into Kenya's powerful drug cartels and will release the names should the investigation gather evidence that can sustain a prosecution. And in parliament, Prime Minister Raila Odinga was hard pressed to table the names of the high profile government officials involved in drug trafficking. Tony Sanya has the details.
The narcotics' trail
Uploaded by NTVKenya on Jun 29, 2011
http://www.ntv. co.ke
Despite the U.S branding Kilome MP Harun Mwau a drug dealer, police insist he's a clean man. Police Commissioner Matthew Iteere says they are yet to get any evidence linking Mwau to drugs. However, Mwau finds himself in trouble after police announced they might charge his aides with giving false information over an alleged shooting incident last Thursday. According to Iteere, investigations have established that the incident was stage-managed. Jane Kiyo reports.
The Mwau's Sanctions Saga
Uploaded by kenyacitizentv on Jun 4, 2011
The government is confirming that no official extradition request has been received from the U.S. regarding Kilome MP John Harun Mwau, and businesswoman Naima Mohammed Nyakinyua, the two Kenyans U.S. President Barack Obama has sought sanctions against on drug dealing claims. Internal Security Minister Professor George Saitoti says that no action can be taken against the duo until the US government shares the evidence it has to prove that indeed the two are drug barons. Meanwhile, Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere says it will take the police time to piece together any evidence against Mwau and Nyakinyua on the drug dealing claims. Chris Thairu reports.
Kenya: Name Drug Barons, Muslims Tell Iteere
16 December 2010
Nairobi — Muslims have petitioned Commissioner of Police Mathew Iteere to name the drug barons barred from visiting the US.
Speaking during a press conference at Nidhamia Women Hall in Malindi yesterday, officials of the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya (CIPK) urged the police boss to follow the example of International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Moreno Ocampo and name the barons.
"Mr Iteere promised Kenyans he would name the suspected five barons within two weeks. That period elapsed yesterday and we have not heard a word from him. He should not take Kenyans for a ride," said Sheikh Famau Mohamed Famau.
A Malindi Muslim women's representative, Ms Mariam Jeneby said the issue of drugs should not be taken lightly as many youths had been affected and turned into zombies.
"The society is under real threat from drugs and the barons must be named and shamed, arrested and prosecuted and their property confiscated," she said.
CIPK Organising Secretary Sheikh Khalifa Mohamed said the drug problem should be declared a national disaster.
Mr Famau, the chairman of Maaruf Anti-drugs and Aids Project, and Mr Abdalla Ali Mbwana Alaus, the Community Policing chairman said senior police officers were in Malindi last week, where they received names of suspected drug lords.
In Mombasa, Municipal Council employee Ali Mchemi alias Shee Lako, was on Thursday charged with six counts of disguising proceeds of drug trafficking.
Mr Mchemi was accused of disguising four parcels of land acquired in Mombasa between 2008 and 2010, all valued at Sh25.5 million and two vehicles worth Sh1.4 million, which directly or indirectly represented the proceeds of drug trafficking, to avoid prosecution.
He denied the charges and was remanded in custody until next week when the court will give a ruling on whether to grant or deny him bond.
Institute for Security Studies (Tshwane/Pretoria)
Kenya: Police Reforms Crucial to Restore Public Confidence
Irene Ndungu
20 October 2011
analysis
Public confidence in Kenya's police force has been eroded due to accusations of impunity, excessive use of force and brutality, disregard for human rights, abuse of due process and malignant corruption. The promulgation of a new Constitution in August 2010 was designed to changed all that. It provided the bedrock for instituting extensive security sector reforms in Kenya after decades of demand for political and socio-economic transformation. Most notably affected by the reforms are the police.
Public outcry for transformation in the police sector in particular have been driven by the ills in the police force whose nefarious reputation has eroded public trust. Those feelings continue to persist but the on-going reforms have brought some hope that the 'force' will transform into a 'service' that is accountable, professional, transparent and possessing a human rights sensitive approach;, as well as the operational capacity to deliver on its obligations to the Kenyan public.
Prior to the passing of the new Kenyan Constitution, the Commission of Inquiry into the Post Election Violence in Kenya submitted an indicting report in 2008 regarding police conduct, as did a subsequent report by the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions. Both reports offered recommendations for the overhaul of the existing policing system. In pursuit of these recommendations, the government set up the National Task Force on Police Reforms in May 2009 headed by Judge (Rtd) Philip Ransley, to recommend proposals for police reforms in the country. Afterwards, the Police Reform Implementation Committee (PRIC) was set up by the President to fast-track and coordinate the implementation of the 200 recommendations of the Ransley Task Force in line with the new Constitution. The PRIC has since prepared five Bills that provide a framework for the implementation of the reforms and if properly enacted as stipulated in the Bills, the reforms should effectively transform the previous policing system. The Bills are the National Police Service Bill, the National Police Service Commission Bill, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) Bill, the National Coroners Bill and the Private Security Industry Regulation Bill.
Civilian oversight is critical to the democratic control and governance of the security sector, and the creation of the Independent Police Oversight Authority, stipulated in the IPOA Bill is as such crucial as it will provide much needed accountability and monitoring functions over the Police Service. Part of the IPOA mandate will be to receive public complaints regarding police conduct and will also have powers to conduct its own independent investigations. If faithful to its responsibilities, this civilian oversight body will contribute in restoring public confidence in the police and in stemming political interference, which has been a major hindrance to police performance. Those mandated to run the body should as such be of impeccable character, vetted by the public and possess the will and ability to carry out their responsibilities without fear or favour.
Another significant reform affects the management of the Police Service, through the introduction of a single police command structure. The National Police Service and the Administration Police, previously run separately, will now be headed by an independent Inspector-General of Police, who will be appointed under the advise of the Police Service Commission. The police, effectively transformed from a 'force' into a 'service' is also another important reform aspect expected to reverse decades of a police culture characterized by impunity, secrecy and brutality into one that is more transparent, humane, responsive and proactive rather than reactive. To support these efforts, the Police Code of Conduct should be revamped in order to transform general police behaviour and end years of unethical conduct.
Other reforms address issues of capacity within the police service. Gaps in terms of manpower and training fostered by years of malignant corruption, nepotism and lack of resources have also contributed to poor service delivery by the police. Police morale as a result of poor pay, deplorable living and working conditions and an unsympathetic public, (which finds it hard to appreciate some of the good work of the police), are also challenges to efficient and effective police performance. The reforms which the ministry of internal security estimates will cost over 80 billion Kenya shillings over a three year period will be used to address these capacity gaps through proper remuneration and housing, refurbishment of police stations, new equipment and vehicles, upgrading communication equipment and skills training. Community policing strategies introduced almost a decade ago to enhance public confidence but which have produced little success are also set to become more effective once the reforms take hold. In order to properly address these capacity issues, government should therefore ensure that budgets and funding for the various projects are adequate, released on time and that reforms remain sensitive to gender and minority concerns.
Granted, local ownership of the reform process will be fundamental to effective police reforms in Kenya. However, critical to the reforms will be continued engagement with the international community, because their involvement has contributed significantly in filling critical gaps through provision of technical expertise and funding along the reforms journey. Sweden, the United Kingdom, the US, Japan and the UN are some of the key partners and donors supporting the reform efforts and to the extent necessary their continued participation should be encouraged.
In order to effect comprehensive systemic change, coordination with other parts of the security sector and its actors will also become critical in achieving desired reform outcomes. This is because owing to their function, the police are inextricably intertwined with the criminal justice system and their performance inevitably impacts on its effectiveness. It is therefore significant that the judiciary and other security sector actors such as the Criminal Investigations Service and the National Security Intelligence Services are undergoing similar reforms. However, these efforts should be well coordinated in order to achieve a properly functioning and efficient criminal justice system, able to deliver with fairness and justice.
Successful implementation of the police reforms in Kenya will serve as a good model for SSR in Africa. Also, with the next general elections set for 2012 and considering police conduct during the last elections, the reforms have been widely welcomed by the public. The political will displayed thus far by the government to the reform process is as such commendable and will be imperative for sustaining the reforms and delivering meaningful institutional change within the Police Service and also across the security sector in general. In this respect, outstanding Bills that have yet to be passed in parliament and signed into law by the President should be expedited. Also, civil society actors, who indeed play an invaluable and active role in the reforms process, should continue to raise awareness, advocate and monitor performance in the reform process, conduct research and provide information and expertise relevant to achieving sustained and successful police reforms in Kenya.
Irene Ndungu, Consultant Researcher, Peace Missions Programme, ISS Pretoria Office
Kenya: WHO WILL SAVE OUR CHILDREN FROM SINS OF THE FLESH AND DRUG ABUSE?
Colleagues Home & Abroad Regional News
from ouko joachim omolo
BY FR JOACHIM OMOLO OUKO, AJ
NAKURU-KENYA
THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2011
NAKURU WORKSHOP TAKE-4
Rev Fr Richard Quinn, MM, Blessed John Paul II Evangelizing Parish Teams Spiritual Director is hosting more than fifty participants in a workshop which begins today through Sunday at Nakuru St Mary’s Catholic Pastoral Center.
The workshop whose aim is to promote and protect African family values will attract married couples, youth, University and College students with Kenyatta University representing the majority.
As Regional News already reported, this year the focus is going to be mainly on our youth and children-how parents, teachers, churches and mentors can assist them maintain and embrace these values-how they can desist from dangers that negate these values among others.
In Europe, US and developed countries the secularism has taken over the family values-that is why they prefer to marry same sex-youths in these countries are confused, they do not know who turn to for help and guidance.
In Spain some Roman Catholic priests are using the youth to protest against Pope Benedict XVI visit-a chemistry student working as a volunteer for the pope's visit to Madrid was arrested on suspicion of planning a gas attack targeting protesters opposed to the pontiff's stay.
Pope Benedict XVI is due to arrive today for a nearly four-day visit to celebrate World Youth Day. Thousands of protesters railing against his visit marched Wednesday through central Madrid to the central Sol plaza, where they have held months of demonstrations against the government's anti-austerity policies.
The workshop is coming at the time fear is spreading in Tanzania that some six religious leaders are recruiting youth in drug trafficking deals. According to Inspector General of Police Mr Mwema, legal action awaits the six religious leaders who confessed to being involved in drug trafficking. The clerics made the confession before the Ethics Committee for Religious Leaders and Community Privileges last month.
Mr Mwema according to media report made the remarks in answer to a question by a journalist who sought to know the position of the police on the clerics who have admitted being involved in the trade in illicit drugs and are involving youth. The clerics report says made the surprise confession after they were interrogated by the police, pleading for protection for fear of losing face before their followers.
Existing laws and systems provide for stringent punitive measures against all those involved in illicit drugs, regardless of whether the suspects are religious leaders, journalists, doctors, political party leaders or police officers.
Roman Catholic Cardinal Polycarp Pengo on Sunday demanded that the government name religious leaders it said were involved in drug trafficking, referring to President Jakaya Kikwete’s allegations that some religious leaders were involved in the illicit trade.
President Kikwete who was speaking at the ordination of Mbinga Catholic Bishop John Ndimbo, said some clerics had been involving young Tanzanians in the business, by helping them to acquire passports to facilitate their travels during drugs peddling.
Although this is the third time the cardinal has publicly challenged the authorities to reveal the names of the drug culprits, in 2009 the Vatican removed from office Bishop Jakob Koda of Same Catholic Diocese in Kilimanjaro region for alleged violation of church moral teachings.
While the Vatican did not elaborate on what type of violation of moral teachings of the church, local press reported quoted bishop Koda to have accused another unnamed bishop of engineering his ouster, alleging that he was a Freemason member whose movement is identified with drugs and were involving young people in the deal.
The Vatican Apostolic Nuncio to Tanzania Archbishop Joseph Chennoth was quoted to have told the ‘Daily News’ in Dar es Salaam that Bishop Koda has now been ‘advised to take time for rest, reflection and personal study.
The committee’s Chairman, Rev William Mwamalanga of the Pentecostal Church of Tanzania was reported to have said that the full list includes 18 prominent business people and politicians “but all names will be submitted to the anti-narcotics unit”.
It is easier for young people to peddle on the drugs given that Tanzania is still being used as a transit route for illicit drugs despite the ongoing international campaign to stop the spread of narcotics.
A Kenyan woman has been arrested in Dar es Salaam just few months ago for possession of three kilogrammes of heroin worth millions of shillings. Rebecca Wanjiku, 48 was apprehended at the Ubungo upcountry bus terminal in the city allegedly in the process of trying to transport the narcotics to South Africa.
Last year controversial Jamaican Muslim cleric Sheikh Abdullah al-Faisal sneaked to Kenya via Tanzania border. It demonstrates how easy it is to pass Tanzanian border without being noticed. Kenyan officials said al-Faisal travelled from Nigeria through Angola, Malawi, Swaziland, Mozambique and Tanzania by road before entering Kenya.
According to a report made available to The Express Newspaper by the International Narcotics Board, illicit drugs for abuse have been passing through Tanzanian entry points unabated. The report said that Tanzania was a good centre for drugs in transit to other African and world countries where consumption is much higher. It said other African nations notable for drug trafficking are Mozambique, Kenya and South Africa.
While delivering homily during the AMECEA meeting in Nairobi, Kenya last month, Cardinal Pengo admitted that devil worship had taken root in the Catholic Church, wondering why this could take place in the holy church of Christ.
When devil worshipping was very rampant in Kenya in the 1990s, it was reported that young people were involved for sexual orgies. The report said they drunk human blood, used sex as spiritual climax. Young people were asked to strip naked at night in dark rooms so that adults could have sexual orgies with them.
The report further alleged that they were introducing the worship in boarding schools where students were promised to be assisted financially if they accepted to join the practice and introduce it to other students.
Daily Nation reported on June 6, 2010 that when Philip Onyancha was a Form One student at Kenyatta Mahiga High School in Nyeri, then President Daniel arap Moi appointed a commission to inquire into devil worship in Kenya.
At that time, the country was throbbing with claims of widespread devil worship with some reports linking the practice to people in high places. The commission headed by Archbishop Nicodemus Kirima, was appointed in March 1995 when Onyancha was in his first term in secondary school. Onyancha claimed to have killed 17 people.
The team had been established to investigate whether there were devil worship cults in Kenya and whether they were linked to drug abuse and other anti-social activities. The report was not made public until 1999 when the Nation published parts of the findings that had been selectively released to religious organizations.
“Devil worshippers are usually wealthy and prominent people who drive expensive cars. Some of them own large commercial enterprises,” the report claimed in parts.
The report said devil worshippers use their wealth to attract new members and gave graphic details of initiation rites including eating human flesh and licking blood.
In the case of Onyancha, his former teachers at Kenyatta Mahiga said he was a bright student for the first two years, but his performance declined in the final two. It is not clear if the school made any effort to investigate the cause. The report said some satanists had even infiltrated the Kenya Students Christian Fellowship to recruit members.
Some of the devil worship rituals in the commission’s report include: human sacrifice, drinking human blood, eating human flesh, nudity of the participants in the ritual, incantations in unintelligible language, sexual abuse, especially of children; black magic, narcotic drugs and presence of snakes. Body parts such as tongues, eyes and limbs are also used in the rituals.
In Tanzania 25 people with albinism have been reportedly murdered since March. Albinos are targeted for body parts that are used in witchcraft. The latest victim was a seven-month-old baby. He was mutilated on the orders of a witchdoctor peddling the belief that potions made from an albino's legs, hair, hands, and blood can make a person rich. There are estimated to be about 17,000 albino people living in Tanzania. They lack pigment in their skin and appear pale.
It is very unfortunate that all the abuses are targeted on youth and children. Today for example, the sex abuse cases which were initially a problem only for national bishops' conferences, particularly in the United States, Ireland and Germany, have merged into a crisis for the entire Catholic Church, Africa included.
People for Peace in Africa (PPA)
P O Box 14877
Nairobi
00800, Westlands
Kenya
Tel +254-7350-14559/+254-722-623-578
E-mail- ppa@africaonline.co.ke
omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Website: www.peopleforpeaceafrica.org
Japan : Scientists find first superbug strain of gonorrhea
From: Barnabas
By Kate Kelland
LONDON | Mon Jul 11, 2011 9:35am BST
(Reuters) - Scientists have found a "superbug" strain of gonorrhea in Japan that is resistant to all recommended antibiotics and say it could transform a once easily treatable infection into a global public health threat.
The new strain of the sexually transmitted disease -- called H041 -- cannot be killed by any currently recommended treatments for gonorrhea, leaving doctors with no other option than to try medicines so far untested against the disease.
Magnus Unemo of the Swedish Reference Laboratory for Pathogenic Neisseria, who discovered the strain with colleagues from Japan in samples from Kyoto, described it as both "alarming" and "predictable."
"Since antibiotics became the standard treatment for gonorrhea in the 1940s, this bacterium has shown a remarkable capacity to develop resistance mechanisms to all drugs introduced to control it," he said.
In a telephone interview Unemo, who will present details of the finding at a conference of the International Society for Sexually Transmitted Disease Research (ISSTDR) in Quebec, Canada on Monday, said the fact that the strain had been found first in Japan also followed an alarming pattern.
"Japan has historically been the place for the first emergence and subsequent global spread of different types of resistance in gonorrhea," he said.
The team's analysis of the strain found it was extremely resistant to all cephalosporin-class antibiotics -- the last remaining drugs still effective in treating gonorrhea.
Gonorrhea is a bacterial sexually transmitted infection and if left untreated can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy and infertility in women.
It is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases in the world and is most prevalent in south and southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. In the United States alone, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of cases is estimated at around 700,000 a year.
British scientists said last year that there was a real risk of gonorrhea becoming a superbug -- a bacteria that has mutated and become resistant to multiple classes of antibiotics -- after increasing reports of gonorrhea drug resistance emerged in Hong Kong, China, Australia and other parts of Asia.
Experts say the best way to reduce the risk of even greater resistance developing -- beyond the urgent need to develop effective new drugs -- is to treat gonorrhea with combinations of two or more types of antibiotic at the same time.
This technique is used in the treatment of some other diseases like tuberculosis in an attempt to make it more difficult for the bacteria to learn how to conquer the drugs.
Unemo said however that experience from previous degrees of resistance acquired by gonorrhea suggested this new multi-drug resistant strain could spread around the world within decades.
"Based on the historical data ... resistance has emerged and spread internationally within 10 to 20 years," he said.
Asked whether a class of drugs called carbapenems -- known as the most powerful antibiotics yet devised -- might be a last ditch option for treating this new gonorrhea strain, Unemo said there would first need to be trials to assess their potential.
"Carbapenems have never been used for the treatment of gonorrhea so we cannot interpret the data in any reliable or quality-assured way at the moment," he said.
The World Health Organization estimates there are at least 340 million new cases of curable sexually transmitted infections -- including syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia and trichomoniasis -- every year among people aged 15 to 49.
(Editing by Tim Pearce)
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/07/11/us-gonorrhoea-superbug-idUKTRE76A0YO20110711?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
-- Barnabas Mbogo
"Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood."-Helen Keller
--
Kwa Nafasi za Kazi kila siku www.kazibongo.blogspot.com
http://worldngojobs.blogspot.com/ Nafasi za Kazi Kimataifa
USA: Rethinking Addiction’s Roots, and Its Treatment
From: Kuria-Mwangi
This is an interesting turn in the treatment of addictions. The treatment of the physical or medical aspect of addiction as opposed to psychiatric or therapeutic approach. There will be need to also focus on the genes because there seem to be a correlation between addiction and genes. Why some people can drink for ever yet they dont get addicted or why addictions seems to run in families which may suggests that it has been passed through genes from mother/father to son/daughter, question of whether medication would be effective tools for the treatment or a combination of medical and therapeutic interventions, the pharmacological and therapeutic approach:
Kuria
- - - - - - - - - - -
Rethinking Addiction’s Roots, and Its Treatment
There is an age-old debate over alcoholism: is the problem in the sufferer’s head — something that can be overcome through willpower, spirituality or talk therapy, perhaps — or is it a physical disease, one that needs continuing medical treatment in much the same way as, say, diabetes or epilepsy?
Increasingly, the medical establishment is putting its weight behind the physical diagnosis. In the latest evidence, 10 medical institutions have just introduced the first accredited residency programs in addiction medicine, where doctors who have completed medical school and a primary residency will be able to spend a year studying the relationship between addiction and brain chemistry.
“This is a first step toward bringing recognition, respectability and rigor to addiction medicine,” said David Withers, who oversees the new residency program at the Marworth Alcohol and Chemical Dependency Treatment Center in Waverly, Penn.
The goal of the residency programs, which started July 1 with 20 students at the various institutions, is to establish addiction medicine as a standard specialty along the lines of pediatrics, oncology or dermatology. The residents will treat patients with a range of addictions — to alcohol, drugs, prescription medicines, nicotine and more — and study the brain chemistry involved, as well as the role of heredity.
“In the past, the specialty was very much targeted toward psychiatrists,” said Nora D. Volkow, the neuroscientist in charge of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. “It’s a gap in our training program.” She called the lack of substance-abuse education among general practitioners “a very serious problem.”
Institutions offering the one-year residency include St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in New York, the University of Maryland Medical System, the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Boston University Medical Center. Some, like Marworth, have been offering programs in addiction medicine for years, simply without accreditation.
The new accreditation comes courtesy of the American Board of Addiction Medicine, or ABAM, which was founded in 2007 to help promote the medical treatment of addiction.
The board aims to also get the program accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, a step that requires, among other things, establishing the program at a minimum of 20 institutions. The recognition would mean that the addictions specialty would qualify as a “primary” residency, one that a newly minted doctor could enter right out of school.
Richard Blondell, the chairman of the training committee at ABAM, said the group expected to accredit an additional 10 to 15 institutions this year.
The rethinking of addiction as a medical disease rather than a strictly psychological one began about 15 years ago, when researchers discovered through high-resonance imaging that drug addiction resulted in actual physical changes to the brain.
Armed with that understanding, “the management of folks with addiction becomes very much like the management of other chronic diseases, such as asthma, hypertension or diabetes,” said Dr. Daniel Alford, who oversees the program at Boston University Medical Center. “It’s hard necessarily to cure people, but you can certainly manage the problem to the point where they are able to function” through a combination of pharmaceuticals and therapy.
Central to the understanding of addiction as a physical ailment is the belief that treatment must be continuing in order to avoid relapse. Just as no one expects a diabetes patient to be cured after six weeks of healthy diet and insulin management, Dr. Alford said, it is unrealistic to expect most drug addicts to be cured after 28 days in a detoxification facility.
“It’s not surprising to us now that when you stop the treatment, people relapse,” Dr. Alford said. “It doesn’t mean that the treatment doesn’t work, it just means that you need to continue treatment.” Those physical changes in the brain could also explain why some smokers will still crave a cigarette 30 years after quitting, Dr. Alford said.
If the idea of addiction as a chronic disease has been slow to take hold in medical circles, it could be because doctors sometime struggle to grasp brain function, Dr. Volkow said. “While it is very simple to understand a disease of the heart — the heart is very simple, it’s just a muscle — it’s much more complex to understand the brain,” she said.
Increasing interest in addiction medicine is a handful of promising new pharmaceuticals, most notably buprenorphine (sold under brand names like Suboxone), which has proved to ease withdrawal symptoms in heroin addicts and subsequently block cravings, though it causes side effects of its own. Other drugs for treating opioid or alcohol dependence have shown promise as well.
Few addiction medicine specialists advocate a path to recovery that depends solely on pharmacology, however. “The more we learn about the treatment of addiction, the more we realize that one size does not fit all,” said Petros Levounis, who is in charge of the residency at the Addiction Institute of New York at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital.
Equally maligned is the idea that psychiatry or 12-step programs are adequate for curing a disease with physical roots in the brain. Many people who abuse drugs or alcohol do not have psychiatric problems, Dr. Alford noted, being quick to add, “I think there’s absolutely a role for addiction psychiatrists.”
While each institution has developed its own curriculum, the basic competencies each seeks to impart are the same. Residents will learn to recognize and diagnose substance abuse in patients, conduct brief interventions that spell out the treatment options and prescribe medications to help with withdrawal and recovery. The doctors will also be expected to understand the legal and practical implications of substance abuse.
Christine Pace, a 31-year-old graduate of Harvard Medical School, is the first addiction resident at Boston University Medical Center. She got interested in the subject as a teenager, when she volunteered at an AIDS organization and overheard heroin addicts complaining about doctors who could not — or would not — help them.
This year, when she became the in-house doctor at a methadone clinic in Boston, she was dismayed to find that the complaints had not changed. “I saw physicians over and over again pushing it aside, just calling a social-work consult to deal with a patient who is struggling with addiction,” Dr. Pace said.
One of her patients is Derek Anderson, 53, who credits Suboxone — as well as a general practitioner who six years ago recognized his signs of addiction — with helping him kick his 35-year heroin habit.
“I used to go to detoxes and go back and forth and back and forth,” he said. But the Suboxone “got me to where I don’t have the dependency every day, consuming you, swallowing you like a fish in water. I’m able to work now, I’m able to take care of my daughter, I’m able to pay rent — all the things I couldn’t do when I was using.”
--
http://www.kuria-mwangi.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/kjmwangi
Kenya: Police and Drug Rings
From: Judy Miriga
Folks,
This is Sooo painful my head goes round and round I am not able to put myself together reading this brutal drug baron acts......
Kenya Police with the Government need thorough clean up......any mother or father will be sick reading this heartless and unthinkable brutality metted on your baby, the loved ones......I cant imagine, it doesnt seem to me like a true story.....
All these are happening because of bad compromised leadership......Any responsible leader, a parent or a manager would not let such happen before their very eyes without putting a stop to it.
Judy Miriga
Diaspora Spokesperson
Executive Director
Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
USA
http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com
- - - - - - - - - - -
Saturday, 02 July 2011 00:01 BY MIGUNA MIGUNA
I have a confession to make. When I read about the grisly murder of the University of Nairobi student Merci Keino, I cringed and cried so loud those near me might have thought I had gone crazy. I was. I am a proud father of four lovely young girls aged between fifteen and seven. I could only think of my girls when the news about Mercy’s death broke. So, readers should forgive me if I take her death personally. I do.
And for that reason, I am extremely upset with the ever fumbling and incompetent Kenya Police. I have read with more anger Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere’s plea that ‘Mwau aides should be charged.’ Gracious Lord; that’s the institution Kenyans expect to conduct investigations and apprehend Mercy’s killers?
By law, only the police have the mandate to conduct criminal investigations and apprehend criminals. But on that newspaper report Iteere is pleading with God-knows-who to arrest people that had staged a shooting and then lied to the police about it. Hallo? Why has it taken more than one week to lock up those scumbags?
Everyone who saw Harun Mwau’s vehicle after the alleged shooting knows that the damn thing was staged. It was staged so poorly that even the two actors couldn’t perform the skit. Everyone could see the driver’s smirk when questioned how the six bullets could have struck very close to the car handle, with some bullets exiting on the passenger side door without touching either the driver or the body guard. They had no answers on how the driver’s window could be completely shattered with glass falling onto the seat where he sat during the ‘shooting’, yet he emerged unscathed.
Moreover, Iteere himself had declared that the way the shooting was supposed have occurred defies all laws of velocity (or was it ‘the law of munition’?).
The police only need ‘probable and reasonable basis’ to believe that a crime has been committed for them to arrest and charge a suspect. In the Mwau incident, there were a zillion ‘reasonable and probable cause’ to believe that the two actors had manufactured the story and lied to the police. Those are two charges right there. A third charge is the illegal use of firearm. A fourth one is ‘conspiracy to defeat the course of justice.’ Others would naturally follow after their arrests.
This brings me to the unforgivable cold-blooded murder of Mercy Keino. Why do I insist it was a cold-blooded murder? The story, as narrated by the local media, is pretty straight forward. A beautiful young female university student is invited out by her cousin. They arrive in Westlands late evening and are ‘welcomed’ by two studs who, by all accounts are either pimps or drug enforcers. They meticulously interview the two young women, taking their personal details and identity documents. That’s clue number one.
At that point, a cautious, streets smarts girl would have started being suspicious. But Mercy is a rambunctious, naïve beauty who is eager to have a good time on a Friday evening. So, the two pimps or enforcers flag a taxi (a second clue) and take the girls to a ‘private’ party.
The party is warming up when they arrive. Curiously, the women outnumber men one to three. That’s clue number three. Clue number four is the age-bracket of the ‘girls’; all range between nineteen and twenty five.
But there is ‘business’ to discuss with the middle-aged to elderly ‘business suits’ already seated and others arriving (clue number five). Alcohol is flowing like the great Nile. Clue number six. The only wrinkle is that Mercy is a teetotaler, yet alcohol is integral to the execution of the ‘business’ at hand. Clue seven.
Although the women outnumber men, the place is clearly swarming with heavily built security; armed and unarmed. This is the eighth clue.
Discussions veer towards the delicate and murky details of ‘transatlantic shipments of precious cargo.’ Whispers and codes used. Mercy is completely lost and starts getting restless. She wants to leave, NOW! That is the ninth clue.
But there is a problem; the ‘boss’, who has just arrived, cannot allow Mercy to leave. He thinks Mercy is dangerous. She has seen and heard too much. She is a risk the ‘business’ cannot take. He commands her to resume her seat and politely reminds her that she has two choices: ‘you either cooperate or you will become past tense.’ Mercy – naïve and boisterous – dares the ‘boss’ and attempts to leave. A scuffle ensues and Mercy is forcibly confined. She pretends to relax and engages in small talk. A few minutes later, she suddenly runs towards the exit.
The muscle men quickly grab her and force her back inside. Mercy has become a captive. By this time, she has resolved not to cooperate. Flashing before her is her fiancé and the wedding they had planned for December this year. ‘I can’t do this!’ she kept screaming. She took furtive glances at her cousin who was herself too scared to come to Mercy’s aid. Mercy is all alone now. The ‘bss’ has had enough. He orders his men to ‘feed her.’ She is forced to drink a cocktail of alcohol and other substances. This is clue number ten.
The effect was instant. The ‘boss’ gives a secret signal to his men. The exit suddenly opens for Mercy and she lunges at it. On reaching outside, the men tell her that they will call a taxi and ‘escort’ her home. She refuses but at this point, she has no options.
A sleek Mercedes ‘taxi’ dutifully arrives within minutes and Mercy is forced inside. What follows after this is well known to the underworld: rape, torture, strangulation and death. A few minutes later, the body is dumped on the busy Waiyaki Way. Clue number eleven.
Shortly thereafter, the ‘taxi’ is slowly driven into a hidden warehouse and its number plate removed. It is thoroughly vacuumed inside out and repainted. The number plate is transferred to another sleek Mercedes. Clue twelve.
A cover-up story is quickly manufactured and disseminated to senior editors in various media houses. Senior police officers are quickly roped in. Mercy is depicted as having been drunk, rowdy and reckless. A motor vehicle accident story has been carefully circulated. The media frenzy sets in. 'It was an accident!' they scream. The pathologist can’t tell the cause of death. That's predictable. The story is latched onto by the inept and corrupt police and press. The police officer that witnessed the autopsy has been transferred. Clue thirteen.
This was supposed to be an open and shut case. Yet the police haven’t arrested anybody for aggravated assault, forcible confinement, unlawful detention, battery and torture. These are crimes disclosed by various newspaper reports. Additionally, the police should charge somebody with murder. But the witnesses are scared shitless. They are only repeating the cover-up stories they were fed by the agents of the ‘boss’.
Why haven’t the police searched and examined all homes, offices, apartments, rooms, hotels, motels, vehicles, warehouses, depots – anything connected with everyone who was at the party? What about the Nyoyo Stadium where that Okello guy supposedly delivered a ‘bag’ after midnight on the day Mercy was murdered? Has it been combed? If not, why? With their criminal negligence of the Samuel Kamau Wanjiru murder case, the Police Commissioner is proving to Kenyans that he cannot deliver. Let truth be told: Mercy refused to be a drug mule and for that she had to die. It’s as simple as that. There you are: I’ve done it for my girls!
From: Cosmos Omondi
Subject: NOSE BLEEDING & Death, kenyan detective??
Date: Saturday, June 25, 2011, 5:37 PM
Oduor,
Presently, to be sincere, the war on drugs can only be successfully won in a few democracies like the US soil. But in places like Kenya the drug network is so complex that if we genuinely commence fighting it today it will take us a generation. 99% of the current crop of leaders will have go out of the scene.
Why do I say this? Remember when Sonko threatened to spill the beans in parliament, everyone in the house shivered - that could only happen where the high and mighty are touched.
Drug affair is so bloody so that for us to successfully manage it (near the stage where the US is) then we'll have to agree as a country on many issues. If not then many of those trying to unearth anything related to it will continue dropping dead mysteriously!
Omosh.
On Sat, Jun 25, 2011 at 11:08 PM, maurice oduor wrote:
Cosmos,
Heheheheheeee !!!!
You don't want us bringing up the Wanjiru case? I understand your vested interests here. Good luck pursuing Njeri. Have you even made an initial contact? That's the most difficult part right now.
Talk to people like Mheshimiwa to help you out.
About that cop: he was ailing? Did they say what ailment? In North America his body would have been treated as a radioactive substance, for example. His family and people who had come in contact with him would have been quarantined. Remember Ebola?
Courage
From: Cosmos Omondi
Date: Sat, 25 Jun 2011 22:50:59 +0300
Nyandoto,
Report according to 7.00pm news are that the police officer was ailing.
Oduor,
When bringing in Wanjiru's case as an example be careful coz am watching you.
On Sat, Jun 25, 2011 at 8:32 PM, maurice oduor wrote:
Daktari,
You are very right. There's almost no care at all in the way crime is investigated in Kenya. Investigators don't wear gloves or masks; the crime scene is not secured and evidence is contaminated left and right.
From what I've seen of Kenya's investigative techniques, they're still where Canada and the US were in the 40s and 50s. Take the Wanjiru case. There are rumours that he might have been killed in the house and then the body thrown out over the balcony. If that rumour is true and someone cleaned all the blood droplets in the house, Luminol, a chemical used by the FBI and Police in the US, would have detected this in seconds. Luminol will detect blood even if you clean it off with bleach/Jik.
Our investigative skills are pathetic and that's why a lot of crimes and murders go unsolved.
Courage,
Oduor Maurice
From: paul nyandoto
Date: Sat, 25 Jun 2011 17:13:57 +0000
Humans,
This detective`s death in Kenya is a mystery. Have the press been told all the symptoms or the press has just released outline they collected from relatives, but not doctors. If this samaritan was healthy and never was sick then he must have been killed: So if he was killed then how?. Where did he eat that day, has he been sick. Kenyan policemen are also known to be doing work without gloves, neither do they put on mask etc.
Biological war fare substances like smallpox, plague, tularemia have been cultivated and even modified in laboratories to kill very fast if needed. The three I have mentioned can be aerosolized and through respiratory droplets can easily enter your breathing system and cause death. But according to the daily nation reporter today the symptoms given and the time it took to death I personally do rule out smallpox and tularemia, it is impossible for them cause such a quick reaction unless modified.
BUT; BUT: PLAGUE (septic plague) fits the symptoms almost 100%, unless all are not told on the report by the daily nation or some highly virulent virus (ebola). Other alternatives are radioactive substances. I think much will be released later incase they do a good investigation on his life, path and finally on his body. Some kenyans have also been extraordinary rich within a very short limited time that nobody can account for their wealth. They must have been involved in some extra activity business which have very high risk if not drugs. I hear some have been probed for drug trafficking but nothing found. Then we are left with: illegal biological cultivation, transporting illegal radioactive materials to Iran etc. There are evidences that some radioactive substances are being taken to Iran through Kenya etc.
Paul Nyandoto
World Drug Report 2011
from Yona Maro
The World Drug Report documents developments in global drug markets and tries to explain the factors that drive them. Its analysis of trends and emerging challenges informs national and international drug and crime priorities and policies, and provides a solid foundation of evidence for counternarcotics interventions. Drug markets and drug use patterns change rapidly, so measures to stop them must also be quick to adapt. Thus the more comprehensive the drug data we collect and the stronger our capacity to analyse the problem, the better prepared the international community will be to respond to new challenges.
http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/WDR2011/World_Drug_Report_2011_ebook.pdf
--
Kwa Nafasi za Kazi kila siku www.kazibongo.blogspot.com
http://worldngojobs.blogspot.com/ Nafasi za Kazi Kimataifa
Kujiondoa Tuma Email kwenda
wanabidii+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com Utapata Email ya kudhibitisha ukishatuma
Government and Societal Effort To Address Vulnerability Leading To Risks Related To Drug And Substance Abuse Among Female Youth in Kenya
From: Yona Maro
The objective of the study was to investigate what is the government of Kenya and Makindu society are doing about the problem of female youth’s indulgence in drugs and substance abuse. The major finding of the study was that the government was working against vulnerability to drug and substance abuse through it agents such as the police, probation and after care services department, the courts, the ministry of youth affairs and sports.
http://www.ijhssnet.com/journals/Vol._1_No._7_%5BSpecial_Issue_June_2011%5D/24.pdf
--
Kwa Nafasi za Kazi kila siku www.kazibongo.blogspot.com
http://worldngojobs.blogspot.com/ Nafasi za Kazi Kimataifa
Kujiondoa Tuma Email kwenda
wanabidii+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com Utapata Email ya kudhibitisha ukishatuma
Kenya: VETS Taking livestock industry for a ride.
From: pius abori
Kenyon's livestock industry were it not for Livestock production department and veterinary technicians would be a dead sector.The vets are actually happy when its not functional as this gives them space to import and manufacture substandard drugs and salt licks.They are notorious for employing technicians at low very low salaries and arrogating themselves on how they know about diseases.Others don,t know even how to write a simple technical report.there must be something wrong with there training or what gives
KENYA: HIV DRUG TRIAL FAILS IN KENYA AND THREE OTHER AFRICAN NATIONS
By Dickens Wasonga.
A large HIV prevention study involving over 3000 women in Kenya and three other African other has suffered a huge set back after it was ordered stopped by an independent body which review trial data to ensure that participants are not being adversely affected by a daily dose of the study pill.
The revelation that has surprised the scientists involved in the trials was taken by the Independent Data Monitoring Committee which directed the researchers to bring to an early closure, the clinical trials of Truvada, an ARV which was under investigation to see whether it could be given to prevent HIV infections on HIV negative women who are at higher risk of getting virus.
scientists showing journalists around the clinical trial site offices in Bondo
According to the scientists, the trials had to end prematurely after preliminary review indicated the study pill was unlikely to prevent HIV infections amongst women as earlier expected even though huge amounts of money could have gone to waste.
The Female pre-exposure prophylaxis study whose preparation began in 2007 in Bondo district, the only study site in Kenya was scheduled to end in June next year and was designed to study whether HIV negative women of between the ages of 18 to 35 and at the higher risk of infection by the virus could safely use a daily dose of the pill called Truvada to prevent infection.
The study was underway in two other African countries namely Tanzania and South Africa. In Harare Zimbabwe, a site was to be established in collaboration with the University of Zimbabwe and it was scheduled to begin FEM-PrEP trials in mid 2011 but the site could not be initiated due to the premature closure and no participant was enrolled.
But the trials were on going in Bondo and Rarieda of Nyanza province where screening for the would be eligible participants started in 2009. A total of 1495 women in the targeted group were screened and 739 of them were enrolled into the clinical trial that had initially given hope to the researchers involved.
Out of the number that was screened 992 failed the tests and were excluded from the study. By the end of last month, 331 women enrolled had been in the study taking the trial pills for one year.
The study whose fate now appears to hang in the balance at least until the committee that monitors similar trials all over the world gives its verdict was being implemented by the Family Health Internationla in partnership with the Impact Research and Development Organization and other research centers in Africa and had intended to enroll 3900 women in all the study sites in the four African nations when completed..
It was being funded by the United States Agency for International Development [USAID], with early funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and if it proceeded to its logical conclusion , the Kenyan site alone would have gobbled an estimated 4 million US dollars.
So what went wrong?
Dr. Kawango Agot, the director of Impact-RDO and FEM-PrEP site investigator for the Bondo study area said this preliminary result from the study does not eliminate Truvada as a potential HIV prevention method for women.'' what we can say is that, at this time, it cannot be determined whether this drug works to prevent HIV infection in women in the FEM-PrEP trial.Other ongoing HIV prevention studies may be able to shed further light on the effectiveness of Truvada among women'' she said.
HIV scientists in Kenya and other countries were surprised and disappointed by the interim results, especially because another recent study called iPrEx, found that the same drug, Truvada, could prevent HIV infections among men who have sex men at risk of the virus.
According to the Kenyan team, the reason for the surprising findings among women in the FEM-PrEP study is not clear at this time. They believe it could be the women who were on the study were not taking the study pill consistently very day and that the drug works differently in men and women.
The scientists have not yet finished analyzing all the FEM-PrEP data and they are currently investigating a number of possibilities. But Dr. Agot said the study will now be closed over the next few months as study participants complete their final study visits to the Bondo clinic. She said the preliminary results have already been shared with most of the participants ,the local communities are also being informed at this i moment . ''Once the final results are known, they will be shared with everyone'' She added.
Is it possible then that the participants may have failed to adhere to the drug?
According to the researchers, socio behavioral information plays an important complementary role in HIV prevention clinical trials. The behavior of the participants , such as their regular attendance at the scheduled clinic visits and their adherence to the study pill is fundamental to success of clinical trials.
As part of FEM-PrEP, the study team said they developed and monitored procedures for reaching women who were at higher risk , implemented strategies to promote adherence to the study pill, examined aspects of clinical trial that were difficult for participants to understand and promoted community engagement in research. Data were also gathered on adherence to the study pill and on participants sexual behaviors while taking the study pill.
So who did not do what and why ?
Documents relating to the study confirms that during trial implementation , the study teams monitored and provided on going feedback about recruitment strategies, comprehension of the informed consent process, and counseling to improve adherence to the study pill, risk reduction and contraceptive counseling , as well as community education and outreach.
Data was also gathered to understand general issues of adherence and sexual behavior in the context of the clinical trial and they systematically engaged community stakeholders in the research process.
The claim therefore that participants failure to adhere to the drug stand very slim chances of raising a debate amongst observers. This is because in their own findings, 90 per cent of the participants in all the study sites in the participating countries made a come back for the follow up visits every month and were retained in the trials.
As at the 18th of February this year, preliminary findings indicated that 95 per cent of the study participants had adhere to the study product. 5 per cent of new HIV infections were noticed on participants although the scientists at the Bondo site had expected 4 per cent and 56 new infections occurred in all the sites.
The primary goal of the study in addition to assessing the effectiveness of Truvada in preventing HIV infection in women is to evaluate its safety when used daily by women who are not infected with the virus.
It is licensed as an HIV treatment by the drug regulatory agencies in a number of countries , including Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Zimbabwe and the United States. It has shown to be safe if taken by HIV positive people for the treatment of HIV.
Because the drug had not been assessed as a drug to prevent HIV, a primary goal of PrEP clinical trial is to evaluate its safety amongst its HIV negative people. The iPrEx clinical trial, which released its results in November 2010, found no substantial safety concerns when Truvada was taken by men who have sex with men to prevent HIV.
But following a scheduled interim review of the FEM-PrEP study data, the Independent Data monitoring Committee advised that the study will be highly unlikely to be able to demonstrate the drug's effectiveness in preventing the HIV in the study population even if it continued to its originally planned conclusion.
And with that verdict of the committee the entire team in the trials were thrown into abrupt halt of the project that has gobbled millions of shillings from the sponsoring organizations.
ENDS.