Category Archives: Independence

TRIBUTE TO THE SILENT VOICES OF SOUTH SUDAN HEROES

From: ouko joachim omolo

Colleagues Home & Abroad Regional News

BY JOSEPH ADERO NGALA
NAIROBI-KENYA
FRIDAY, JULY 15, 2011

As the world welcomed the birth of South Sudan, we should not forget people and heroes who played a critical role in bringing peace and stability between the north and south. In particular we want to pay tribute to some of the silent voices such as Father Carroll Houle MM, Renato Kizito, Comboni missionary, Michael Schultheise, Jesuit priest, emeritus Bishop Taban Paride, and late father Bill Knipe MM.

Others are Father Tom Tesconia MM, who spent a night in my house tying to negotiate with one war Lord from South Sudan, Rev Sam Kobia, former secretary General of World Council of Churches who was my co-chairman during the negations when the two faction split. We also pay tribute to Father Tom Mantica, MM.

As Father Carroll Houle once said “Peace is a process- it is something you cannot see its results immediately. It requires resources, commitment and cooperation between churches, religious communities and the government”.

Among Sudanese church personnel who contributed much to the liberation by shedding their blood include Father Lino Sebit from Torit Catholic Diocese. Lino was ordained priest on 20th April 1997,and just a little more than a year after being ordained to the priesthood, he was arrested in Khartoum along with Father Hillary Boma and 23 others, and falsely accused of having participated in series of bombing in the capital a month earlier.

He was held with Father Boma for a year, beaten and tortured before being released. The case was reported as clear violation of human rights by the UN, the US department both priests were taken to Germany for recuperation.

Father Hillary has never been able to return to Sudan. Lino returned 2000 to take on the role ass vocation director and Vice rector of Kocoa minor seminary, Prior to his appointment as Vice Rector he served at Narus in the parish of St Joseph the worker.

Although he was physically and psychologically health, he had been permanently affected by the experience of torture and imprisonment. He died on September 29, 2008, apparently from complications related to malaria from suffering he had experienced ten years earlier.

This makes his death a form of martyrdom, since his captivity and torture were motivated by the Khartoum government’s antipathy to the church and desire to silence her objections to its oppressive policies and activities.

Earlier in 1960 Father Santurino Lohure a diocesan priest of Torit diocese shed his blood for the liberation of the people of south Sudan. After his death Father Lepoldo Anyua took his place but was later killed and all their remains have been returned back to the diocese for formal burial. Father Saturino Lohure who was to be made bishop but he preferred to support the Sudanese rebels to assist them spiritually and give them courage and guidance, he later became a member of parliament of Khartoum before dictatorship and later escape in exile.

The journey to south Sudan war was long and treacherous one, one that saw millions of Sudanese loose their lives and properties. Organizations that worked tirelessly towards peace in South Sudan include People for Peace in Africa, a voluntary organization that does not have full time staff all staff but has good will.

Since Father Joachim Omolo Ouko, a member of the Apostles of Jesus joined People for Peace in Africa in June 2000-within that short period he has done a lot towards peace in South Sudan. His heart is more in South Sudan than his country Kenya. Many people have been confusing him as a Sudanese. He has reported about Sudan since then and participated in peace negotiations and healing, both in Kenya and inside Sudan.

The joy however, is that after decades of brutal and marginalization, the people of South Sudan have finally gained their independence. The historic event during the formal declaration of independence in Juba was culmination of bigger struggle saw-by some estimates-up to two million people consigned to early graves as thousands of others fled to exiles in neighboring countries including Uganda, Kenya Tanzania, Zaire, Ethiopia.

After People for peace in Africa started the process as other organization got involved, headed by Father Carroll Houle, native of Minnesota who felt that there was an need to star t organizing workshop for Sudanese Women and the youths, he felt at that time that the only way to have dialogue he influenced a number of religious congregations to start assisting both the wearing factions of Sudanese people liberation movements.

While Father Houle is one of the silence voices in our mist, we should not forget those people who contribute like Father Edward Dougherty MM, the current Maryknoll Superior general, Father Tom McDonald who inspired many Sudanese by giving trauma and healing workshop in Torit diocese on Palm Sunday together with Father Joachim Omolo Ouko AJ a courageous Kenyan priest who has ventured into many dangerous spots of Africa.

Father Ouko who gets his courage from Jesus Christ who suffered in liberating God’s people is convinced that such challenges are for the glory of God. Like Father Ouko, Father Ken Thesing MM, who worked with refugees in South Sudan after signing of the comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) courageously, prepared many for resettlement.

Also not to be forgotten is Ambassador Bethwel Kiplagat, a friend of People for Peace in Africa who actually approached us to start the faction negation a man many people hailed as a really ambassador for peace if there is anything to go with he is the man that could claim a lot mileage on Sudan. He brought the issue on Sudan to be known beyond the boundaries.

With prayers things became rather very easy tension was reducing as fate would have it, was here in Kenya that at last the war-wearing Sudanese people agreed to sign the CPA that finally brought about a semblance of peace to that war-ravage country, the political divorce that saw the birth of the 54th Africa country.

Despite Euphoria, security and the ‘Curse of oil’ will continue to hang over the worlds 193rd state like the Sword of Democle as it learns to take the first baby steps of nationhood.

A Kenya writer puts it that-a plethora of unfinished business will almost certainly continue to plague the new state. The difficulties birth of the new state following the inevitable split between the Arabanised and Islamist north and the largely Christian and animist south, was mixture of sadness and joy that the south was finally free from oppression and trauma of splitting Africans erstwhile largest nation. The midwives will certainly have to be wakeful to ensure they don’t throw away the baby with the bath water before giving it back to the mother.

In many meetings and interview with Dr John Garang in the bush and before he died l don’t believe he would like to see Sudan divided however he kept that as his personal weapon until he died. But the split come in because the south always had demanded for the separation even when l co chaired the factions split with Rev Sam Kobi already here were some sign in our negotiation that most of the factions were queued for separation.

During our negotiation with factions the history of the SPLA was brought on the table by both faction both main SPLA and the Nassir faction for us to understand the dynamics one of the them was to learn how the SPLA was formed- in 1972 when there was ceasefire after the President Gaffar Muhammed Numeriry agreed to grant conditional autonomy to the south.

Many of the current Minsters including President Salva Kiir was there when the agreement was repeatedly flouted, and war at Dr John Garang’s side when they told their people that time had come to go back to the bush to make one last heave for freedom.

The Commander of the south forces was passed from Major Kerubino Kuanyin Bol to Dr John Garang with the word uttered on May 13, 1983 that is well known to all member of the SPLA. ‘’Garang the son of my mother have you come?’” Major Kerubino posed.

“Take over the command from here Chagain my work is finished give me something to drink and let’s celebrate the start of the revolution. Kerubino was one of the war veterans whose fighting record stretches back to the 1950s were not fortunate enough to live to witness the achievement of the dream.

With my experiences of reporting Africa what Salva Kiir should now do is not to antagonize the north even as he builds bridges with other neighbors. He should be careful not to go the way of Eritrea after it split with Ethiopia, nor follow the example of East Timor.

South should use its independence to nurture mutual ties based on respect with the north as soon as possible. For starters, Kiir should not chase away northerners who wish to remain in the south and vise verse.

He should also borrow a leaf from Rwanda’s book and seriously consider joining the East African Community to create an even bigger trading bloc for the benefit of the entire region. No doubt the Sudanese have learnt their lesson and seen the futility of war. And, therefore, pending disputes like that of Nuba Mountains whose inhabitants fought a bush war alongside SPLA for secession but who are now remaining in the north, must be solved amicably.

South Kordofan, Darfur and Blue Nile conflict hotspots and oil rich enclave of Abyei must not be used by enemies of Sudan to re-ignite animosity and fresh fighting. North and south should exploit diversity for the common good.

Peace in Sudan will definitely benefit the entire region immensely. And to give the devil his due, US should consider lifting sanctions against Khartoum whose leader agreed to let go the south albeit unwillingly.

People for Peace in Africa (PPA)
P O Box 14877
Nairobi
00800, Westlands
Kenya
Tel 254-20-4441372
Website: www.peopleforpeaceafrica.org

CEPO Press Release on South Sudan Independence

from Yona Maro

Community Empowerment for Progress Organization CEPO hails the independence of South Sudan, congratulates the Government, civil society and the international community for their contributions, as well as the martyrs and wounded heroes who died in the struggle. Challenges now lie ahead. They are:

Political Development: It is high time for the South Sudan political parties to sit together around a table for consodilating their differences through any possible means such as South-South political parties dailogue for the sake of gaining political unity of purpose. Additionally, drawing constructive and genuine fighting over “marginalization, oppression, lack of rule of law, violation of human rights and instutional racism and discrimination”.

Remembering the independence of South Sudan from the rest of sudan is due to dictorship in its various forms, lweak constitutional goverance and lack of inclusive approach in leadership and development. CEPO is urging every poltical party in the Republic of South Sudan to prioritise upholding democracy and good goverance as a paramount goal to be achieved.

The hard questions before the Republic of South Sudan political parties are, how well are they prepared politically for upholding political popularity in governance and leadership? And secondly, how much committed are they as political parties to the principle of respect and fulfillment of democratic transformation, human rights and rule of law with full political will?

Our failure to learn from the mistakes of the previous governments of Sudan, will place the government in the new state of south Sudan eminently for repeating Khartoum mistakes.

Economic Development : How much are we ready to follow clear policy-guided-work for achieving better and balance development. It is logical that we in the new born state should be careful enough to learn from experiences of post-conflict and independent states in economical development in order for us to avoid the human mistakes committed during economical development in those countries. Our key possible challenges are fighting corruption in its various forms in all institutions both governmental and non-governmental and lack of or weak relevant financial resource mobilization strategies with poor institutional accountability. Following the current situation prior to our newly born state which is characterized by fragile statues. It is important for our government of the Republic of South Sudan to immediately start running the government on the principle of clear policy-guided work. The transition of the south Sudan development plans into action is the first milestone for confirming commitment for policy-guided-work.

Further, answering the question “what are the policies of the government per each service sector institutions for attracting support both financial and human resource for transition of those plans into actual tangible services?” Is a key aspect of economical development. The fighting against all forms of corruption, HIV/AIDS and promotion of gender mainstreaming should be intensified and also turn as citizens’ individual civic duties and responsibilities with genuine assistance from the state and the international community.

Security sector reform: The genuine transformation of the security sector institutions from being unprofessional to professional under the principle of security sector institution accountable to the public needs immediate attention right from the day one after the independence. Any instability in the security sector management is an immediate factor that may take us back to square one where we are coming from to the independence. Therefore, the transparency and accountability among the security sector institutions is necessary. For improvement of justice and accountability, there is a need to have citizens-security sector consultative interactions that are heading to achievement of peace, stability and protection of civilians lives and properties

Hence, it is of benefit for the new government of South Sudan to build the security sector on the concept of protecting the civilians lives and properties including creating suitable environment for popular or inclusive national building regards to all aspects of development

The communal/local clashes or any violence are well managed when the security sector is clearly structured and organize on the bases of transparency and accountability. Accountability and transparency principle of the security sector is easily realized, when the security institutions are not intervening into issues and challenges in irresponsble and unlawful manner. For instance, if the security sector institutions relation with the media and civil society is not based on culture or attitudes of dialogue and information sharing, it will hard for ensuring popular or inclusive national building.

Civil society: Finding ourselves in fragil eviroment, it makes us not to be able to escape being frageli. It will be of no meaning if we are not able to play our role for making our government accountability to the people and failed to make the voice of the people far from the government not being heard by the various governmental and non-governmental agencies.

Being a civil society in the fragil state, it will be better for us to focuse at the following thematic areas;

1. Promotion of rule of law for ensuring justice and accountability.

2. Focusing on developmental projects.

3. Democrtic goverance with inclusive political participation.

4. Enhancing capacity building among the rural community memebers for promoting self-relaince.

CEPO stands ready to assist the Government of Republic of South Sudan and the people of South Sudan to face these challenges head on in collaboration with other civil society organisations.


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Kenya: who is this killing Kenyans?

From: Paul Nyandoto

Humans,

In Kenya challenges to leadership are not new, nor are they unique even today as we move towards the 2012 elections. Kenyan leaders spent no time at all to deal or study anything about leadership, they are just undeveloped upstairs so much that we hardly move forward as a nation.

In Kenya politicians or people in very sensitives posts have been murdered since 1963 but no real revelations have come out as to who constantly commit those crimes. The new police boss is coming from the group I do hear according to Mr.Githea to be more qualified than others, so has he come out with solving those murders or he is just swallowing tusker instead of doing his job?.

We got independence in 1963 from the British and since that day; Government dogs constantly keep on eliminating very intelligent Kenyans who can help us make our country move forward. We cry when our fellow Kenyans are taken to the Hague, we pray for them in the park when they come back, the government even budget for their welfare, but at the same time we constantly repeat the mistake why those people are being taken to the Hague. Is this what is called imbecile or just a black African man/ woman underdeveloped brain compared to the white race or Asian?. Is this stupidity or impunity an African disease or what?. Should doctors include Kenyan impunity or stupidity in the classification of typical tropical diseases or what?.

This present elimination of Kalenjins is not going well to Kenyan society no matter what tribe you do come from. I still do not see why a government is now silent on these murders. I hope human rights organization will include these murders to be investigated by the international community since our government has proved to be incapable of solving or doing anything good for our country. It is a government over loaded by ministers, corruption , murders and above all thieves of all degrees.

In 1963 a young British said these words when Kenya got independence`He doubted if an African black man or woman would be able to rule Kenya to prosperity`. Guys here we are almost 50 years since independence just see even today how Kenyans are killed and nothing is done to their killers, start with Mboya, Ouko, Kariuki, now these innocent kalenjins etc.

Can we Kenyans import leaders if our land can not produce anybody capable or ruling Kenya?. Why are we kidding ourselves all the time that we can while we are just proving the opposite?. BIG HARD MOUTH DO NOT HELP, we need action.

Paul Nyandoto

Kenya: Kalonzo must weigh his public pronouncements and utterances in public rallies

THE KAMBA POLITICS EVER SINCE PRE-INDEPENDENCE DAYS IS THAT OF BETRAYAL, OPPORTUNISM AND CONFUSION.

Commentary By Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City

The modern political history in this country is painting the Kamba community negatively as a people whose politics has always been shrouded in numerous allegations of betrayal dishonest and opportunism.

Had the Vice President Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka stood firm and steadfast in ODM and worked side by side, the party could have won the 2007 general elections with an overwhelming majority of seats in the National Assembly and in all the elective bodies such as municipalities and counties.

It was Kalonzo Musyoka’s that saw him ditching ODM that led to confusion and suspicion leading to the hotly disputed presidential polls result. Although the election was much thawed, but with Kalonzoi Musyoka working side by side with Raila Odinga things could have been different.

This kind of ego-centric and self-serving interest has denied, is what has denied this proud community the chance to produce a politician with the national outlook who could capture the hearts of Kenyan electorate across the country.

To examine the Kamba community recent past political history dating back to 1960s,especially at the time of the country’s attained hr political independence in 1963,the Kambas were politically divided into small patches, one that is behind Paul Joseph Ngei, the other one supporting the founding father of the nation Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, another group particularly those from Machakos region were firm in the pockets of the late Tom Mboya while those in Kitui were firm in the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga camp of radicals or loosely the so called leftists pursuing scientific socialism based on borrowed foreign political ideologies..

The attitudes of the Kamba politicians of the old days, were just similar in comparison to the self-centered policies currently being pursued by the Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka.

In 1960, Paul Joseph Ngei {Kin-Kuu} wearing a black hut with inscription PG meaning prison graduate too the Kenyan nation with storm, He immediately earned the nick name Bwana Mashamba owing to his hard-line stance by demanding that all the white settlers in this country should immediately vacate their farms , pack and go even before independence.

Ngei had just been released from the colonial jail and detention camps in the remote Northern Kenya, therefore his claims to be a prison graduate was somehow justified. He became classified by the colonial administration as extremely radical politician, and was grouped and categorized with Jaramogi Oginga Odinga by the colonial intelligence unit of the Kenya police.

At the time KANU was led by another ex-detainee, but a teacher by profession but a moderate politician James Samuel Gichuru a Kikuyu from Kiambu, while Jaramogi Oginga Odinga was the party’s vice president and Tom Mboya also a Luo, but urbanized Nairobian was the party Secretary General and William Mbolu Malu a Kamba from Machakos was the KANU national Treasurer.

Kenyatta was release one year later in 1961.Ngei and Kenyatta together with Bildad Kaggia, Richard Achieng’Oneko, Kungu Karumba and Fred Kubai were the Famous Kapenguria Six accused of managing Mau Mau and were all sentenced to seven year hard labor. After the completion of their jail term which started in 1953, each was banished to a detention camp also in the northern region of Kenya as part of corporal punishment.

There were two major competing political parties, namely Kenya African Union {KANU} and the Kenya African Democratic Union {KADU}, which claims to have amalgamated minority communities. Kadu also had its affiliates like Mombasa African Democratic Union, Maasai United front and Kalenjin Political Alliance, while KANU had its smaller party affiliated to it such as Nairobi People Convention Party {NPCP}, Central Nyanza District Association {ADA},Nairobi African District Congress and South Nyanza District Political Association {SINDAPA}

The Mt Kenya region residents were not allowed under the emergency to form a party. The region groups the Kikuyu, Embu and Meru referred to as {KEM}.Political activities in this Mau Mau infested region was not allowed until late in 1960 when a countrywide African political party in the name of KANU was formed and registered.

Upon his release from detention camp, Ngei immediately identified himself with KANU and toured many parts of Kenya addressing mammoth of crowds, at time even shedding tear about the African land which had been forcefully grabbed by whites.

The late Kenyatta also came out of detention camp in Maralal, Samburu district and immediately identified himself with KANU, but emphasized the need for the two parties to form a united front so that they could expedite the achievement of Uhuru.

This was at the time when Kenya leaders were preparing themselves to travel to the second and final Lancaster house Round Table Constitution Conference in London, UK. Kenyatta had secured a seat in the colonial Legislative Council when the late Kariuki Njiri who a year earlier had won the Fort Hall {Murang’s} seat in the mini-general election of1961 voluntarily resigned paving the way for Kenyatta entry into the H8use. Ngei did not get a chance or anyone to vacate his or her set for him to enter Parliament and was very apprehensive about this.

Non-Legco members were not eligible to attend the London Constitutional Conference even as in observer status, but Ngei insisted that he must attend as pat of KANU delegation to the talks.

A wing of KANU led by Gichuru and Mboya was not comfortable with Ngei, though he forced his way to London. Upon his return, Ngei developed hostility incessantly attacking KANU leaders, Kenyatta included. And in the same year Kenyatta called for a delegate conference. The meeting was held at Kaloleni Hall, Nairobi and attended by close to 2400 representatives from district branches throughout Kenya.

On the first day, Ngei who by that time had teamed u Jaramogi Oginga Odinga launched scathing attack on Gichuru Mboya axis dismissing them as imperialist’s agents, and demanded that those who had not graduated from prison should be kicked out of KANU leadership so that those who had suffered imprisonment in the cause of liberation war should replace them.

ON kamba support of Ngei by the name Victor Kasimbih from Kitui insulted Kenyatta and dismissed him as too old to lead. Kasimbihi who seemed to be partly mentally deranged was thrown out of the halls window by muscled KANU youths with Kenyatta reaching his bakora {walking stick} and saying “Mwacheni akione cha mtema kuni.Thge matter, however, calmed down with Kenyatta defending Mboya to the hilt and no top KANU official lost his or her job demoted or dismissed.

This did not please Ngei who had declared himself he was going toi be the KANU SECRETARY-General. Therefore Ngei walked out of KANU and Kenyatta readily approved. He formed his own African People Party {APP} which was soon to become the third largest political party in the country.

Ngei claimed there was a “ Sungura Mjanja” loosely translated as the rascal hare!!. Mboya hit back the hardest by referring Ngei’s APP as Akamba Pickpockets Party . Kenyatta disowned Ngei wondering why he was jailed in Kapenguria whereas his role was theft of motor vehicles spare parts in Grogan Road in Nairobi {now Kirinyaga}. The exchange of insults by boh side went for the duration of the 1963 general election. App won only nine seats, two senate for kitui and Machakos and seven members in the National Assembly.

APP failed to attract the following from other communities outside Ukambani with exception of the late Elijah Omolo Agar a radical politician who had also come out of detention camp and temporarily disagree with Mboya and Oodinga. Agar served as the APP National Organizing Secretary, but on sensing that APP had no feature ditched it and return to KANU shortly before the 1963 general election and won became the first Karachuonyo MP, a seat which he won as an independent KANU candidate.

Kenyatta deliberately appointed Ngei’s arch-rival in Kamba political derby Eliud Ngala Mwenda to the post independence cabinet as the Minister for Labour, and Ngei after sensing that he was in the cold trooped back to KANU together with his seven MPs and two Senators and were welcomed by Kenyatta who immediately appointed him the chairman of the defunct Western Kenya Marketing Board based in Kisum

The hitherto vibrant Western Kenya Produce and marketing Board was immediately hit with the claims of massive financial scandals and theft of maize, which sent its general manager, J.P.Oyende, to prison and Ngei narrowly escaped Punishment by whisker in what many observers saw as due to Kenyatta’s personal intervention to save the skin of his fellow former prison colleagues at Lodwar..

Ngei was later welcomed back to the cabinet and serve as Ministries for Co-operative Development and Housing.

I have just summarized all these to justify my claims at the opening of this article that Kamba politics is always shrouded in betrayal opportunism and confusion. Ngei’s story is not far from what Kalono Musyoka has been conducting himself in Kenya politics.

Reading fro the borderline point of view the conduct of the Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, how he jumped the ship at the eleventh hours when the ODM, was heading for a landslide election victory, how he readily joined Kibaki during the dispute of the tallying of presidential votes in 2007, and how he has been involved in diplomatic shuttle in futile attempt to have the Ocampo Six cases at the ICC deferred by the UN for one year, one would rightly say the Kambas are still far away from producing a national leader with nationalistic command to the hearts of all Kenyans people.

What wikileaks had written about Kalonzo are not far from being the truth and nothing. Our Vice President seemed not to like the politics of consistency. Of late he has become the architect of sycophantic outbursts each time he opened his mouth. He therefore need to weigh his remarks in public rallies and newspaper statements

Ends

Kenya: Uhuru Kenyatta has nothing to offer to the Luos and he sould leave the peaceful community alone

Commentary By Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City.

Politics in Kenya has of late taken a new dimension near provocation and insult to other members of the society by those who have massed a lot of financial muscle through the ill-gotten wealth.

The last week’s luncheon at the posh Serena Hotel in Nairobi by a group of close to 100 so-called Luo professionals and businessmen speaks volumes, particularly the remarks attributed to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance in reference to the scourge of abject poverty in Luo-Nyanza.

Uhuru knew pretty well the source and how of tribulation and woes as well as economic and political marginalization of the Luo community had come about. And that his late father Jomo Kenyatta was the architect of all the problems that had reduced this proud community to a bunch of beggars. And as such he has nothing tangible to offer to this particular community to regain its lost glory and he should shut up.

He is just shedding crocodile tears when he says that the myriad of economic and political problems facing the people of Nyanza region has come about as result of bad political leadership.

And he shamelessly did this when he addressed a forum of street vendor’s masquerading as Luo leadr in Nairobi instead of coming to Nyanza and engaged the genuine comunity in a dialogue aimed at rescuing the community from further sinking and wallowing in abject poverty.

Apart from Hon Raphael Tuju, the former Foreign Affairs Minister, who is now a civil servant in the coalition government serving as the advicer to the president on media and cohesion matters, the rest of the so-called professionals caucus and businessmen in attendance at the luncheon were a bunch of political rejects and renegades. It was full of political hirelings and belly-begging lots with no support and backing back home in Luo-Nyanza.

This was a pure case of gross miscalculation and an underestimation of the intelligentsia of the Luos by the son of Jomo Kenyatta. And the outcome of such mischievous political engagement that should only be consigned to the political dustbins and treated with contempt it deserves.

In any case Mr Kenyatta, like anyone else, is free and most welcome in his desire to reach the Nyanza people for the purpose of canvassing and soliciting for support in his presidential ambition. He has a right to tour the region and talks to the electorate in the open air. But he seemed to have launched his campaign to win the Luos backing through the wrong footing by using political demagogues, some of them who could not even win a seat in a local primary school committee in their own villages.

Mr Kenyatta should realize that it pays to work with the community’s elected and recognized leader. He should not insult the Luo community by offering luncheon to a group of brief-case politicians and street dwellers of Nairobi. His mentor, the retired President Daniel Arap Moi, had squandered millions of shillings through using wrong strategies buying the support of Luo political rejects and miserably failed inn his concerted effort to reach the community by using unwanted political surrogates. And Kenyatta who worked closely with Moi ought to have known that this is an iron willed community, which is not an easy prey or political sellout.

The Luos, however, are peaceful and democratic minded people. They cherish the spirit love and co-existence of all Kenyans. It is a community which is not thriving vengeance and blood thirsty, but a democratic community that believes in justice for all.

Kenyatta’s new found political partner and presidential running-mate was the other day in Kisumu, though he arrived rather late in the evening, he was given an arousing welcome by a huge enthusiastic crowd which gathered at Kondele ground and also outside Moi’s Stadium in the heart of Kisumu City. Ruto can testify to this, though he has always persistently lost no chance without releasing his vitriol’s and polemics against the Luo political kingpin Raila Amolo Odinga.

The Luos did welcome Ruto in reciprocation of the tumultuous welcome that is always accorded to Raila by Ruto’s own Kalenjin people whenever “Agwambo” is tour of the Rift Valley. And this is the kind of new Kenya that we want.

I was glad that prior to Ruto;s much vaunted plan to visit the Lakeside City, Raila had made stopovers at the various spots in the City and told his fanatic and overzealous supporter to welcome and this was openly demonstrated that they were peaceful to all the prospective presidential candidates whenever they are on a tour of the region. This was pure act of political maturity and magnanimity, and the Kisumu youths followed his instructions to the letter and happily received Ruto and Eugine Wamalwa, though they were only in town briefly.

Kenyatta who holds a key ministerial docket, that of Finance in the coalition government, should have told his Luo friends what plans are a foot for the revival of the stalled government projects, the plans for the resuscitation of the all the closed won, but economically important manufacturing industries in Kisumu City and its environs.

The important large and medium sized industries in Kisumu, such as the multimillion Kicomi, Kenya Breweries, Kibos Industries and many others, closed down under the Moi regime. This spilled many youths to the streets as they become redundant and jobless, and since became the major source of insecurity in the whole of Nyanza region instead of veiled attack on Nyanza political leadership.

The Luo woes and tribulation started all the way back in 1962, immediately soon after the end of the second and the last Lancaster House Round Table constitutional conference in London that paved the way for the formation of the responsible government after the overwhelming KANU victory over KADU, in the pre-independence general election the following year in June 1963.

A cabal of Kiambu confidants and Kenyatta’s advisers moved in with snake’s speed and worked overnight burning their midnight oil to ensure that the hitherto neat close Luo-Kikuyu political alliance and working relations did not materialized anymore. It was purely for economic purpose, because a year later something unique emerged which was known as “Koinange Blueporint”.

The damning secret plan was not hatched by the late Mbiyu Koinange, then a key minister in the Kenyatta cabinet, but it was the covert work of the late Bruce Mackenzie and White Hall.They wanted to retain the British economic dominance of Kenya and came out with the “Koiange Blueprint, which was meant to ensure that all the major important means of production in this country remained in tight control of the Kikuyu elites in collaboration with British investors under the close watch of the White Hall. This is how the plan to frustrate and sideline the late Jaramnogi Oginga Odinga an his fellow Luo arch-rival the late Tom Mboya had come about.

The late Kenyatta held secret night meetings at his Gatundu home with Kukuyu elite during which plans were hatched how to make easy loans through banks controlled by Kikuyu to avail finances for Kikuyu businessmen and traders for funding their purchase of shares in most major productions. Means and this is how the Kukuyu accessed shareholding in big multinational companies such as BAT, Brooke Bond, and many others reducing the highly Luos and members of other Kenyan communities to mere workers while the Kukuyu partly with foreigners owned the industries including commercial banks.

Nearly all the Kikuyu merchants were accorded bank and ICDC loans. They included the charcoal sellers and kiosk traders who got unsecured loans which enabled them to purchase shares in big companies and acquire wealth for just this simple reason. Meaning the beginning of the economic strangulation and marginalization of the Luos and other non-Kikuyus.

Did all these secret schemes come about due to bad political leadership in Nyanza? Kenyatta sould have learned the political history of this country before he opened up his big mouth and threw the blames to innocent people. The same policy was later pursued to the letter by his father’s successor Daniel Moi. All these are in the history note books of Kenyan scholars and it won’t take long before this kind of information are blown off for the public consumption. Let Uhuru campaign in a clean note and tell the public what he intend to do for Kenyans and stop touching the old wounds.

Personally I have no grudge against the Kenyatta family as a whole and Uhuru in person, but my passionate advice to the Gatundu South MP is that h should not open the can of warm. He should be made to be aware that he is under scrutiny and close watchful eyes.

Uhuru should first of all, before he opens up against Luo leadership, think seriously about the reparation and compensation to the families of close to 40 Luos who was massacred by the trigger happy boys from Gatundu in Kisumu City in October 1969 and other hidden crimes against the community

We can all contribute immensely towards the preservation of unity of purpose and move our country forward if we all could be pursuing the constructive political engagement and not destructive politics of hatred and deceit.

Ends

Sadistic Reminder of PEV By Janet Feldman

from Judy Miriga

Folks,

This is a serious matter involving International public taxpayer money and Janet MUST be investigated by FBI and Interpol Police.

The truth must be known, as these matters are of public information and interest affecting public life and taxpayers.

I wonder, could this be where the Minister Esther Mutugi could have borrowed the idea that HIV/AIDs should be put into a concentration camp or do they have something in common with HIV/AIDs fund case scenario?…….

There are possibilities that HIV/AIDs fund has been gravely misused or misappropriated, and more or so, it was used for unsuspecting activities or short-changed. We therefore demand facts of the matter, check and balances, accountability and transparency.

I am therefore asking the Head of HIV/AIDs Mission, Presidents and Directors to through some light here, for the world to know …… all about the hidden mission behind the purpose and aims of HIV/AIDs Fund to Kenya and Africa and whether the Funds are meeting its obligations, or are as accounted for, go to the people and mission intended for or not…….and who are the masterminders behind under-cover deals ?……..

Thank you all,

Judy Miriga
Diaspora Spokesperson
Executive Director
Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
USA
http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com

– – – – – – – – – – –

From: mohamed warsama

Janet Feldman’s decision to ignore pleas by various Kenyans at home and abroad to release the results of the KAC Election – now suppressed for the fifth day running – is a contemptous disregard for the wananchi of this country and the traumatic feelings they are still recovering in the aftermath of PEV. This arrogant white woman has no respect for the intervention of the New Generation Leaders like Otieno Sungu whose courteous appeal to her to let him verify the election results she trashed dismissively.

As far as Janet is concerned, the opinions of Kenyans on their own organisation count for nothing; only her arrogant views matter. And she damn well does what she wants with KAC, and the hell with what Kenyans say about it.

She is a sadist bent on reminding us the botched December, 2007 elections. She doesnt care a damn about the stress we underwent over stolen and rigged elections. KAC is hers and hers alone to decide what to do with. Who are we to demand a say in the affairs of the KAC when that is hers alone to decide ?

We have been a free Kenyan Nation since 1963. We are not about to surrender our sovereignty to the White Martinet Lady of Rhode Island. You must show some respect when Otieno Sungu and others like him when they ask you the results.

As for your so-called AIDS programmes by KAIPPG in western Kenya, rest assured I will thoroughly investigate the veracity of your claims. Already, I am suspicious.

You claim on a turn-over of USD 110,000 KAIPPG is running an AIDS programme for 1,000,000 in 24 Western Kenya with a staff of only two – you in Rhode Island and James Onyango in Mumias ? How can Onyango single-handedly administer a programme for 1,000,000 ? How can a programme for 1,000,000 be run on a budget of USD 110,000 only ?

Mohamed Warsama

From: JM
sbj; WHY JANET FELDMAN CANNOT ANNOUNCE THE OFFICIAL KCA ELECTION RESULTS!/Otieno

Janet,

I would hate to respond to you in a different forum than KCA but I’m forced to do so because you are misleading the members of this forum from understanding the current quagmire in KCA.

As the outgoing president of KCA whose Executive team was dissolved through a “coup de tat” by a special interest group of 12 members using clandestine means, I am forced to respond and shed some light.

As soon as the “gang of 12” hijacked KCA from my executive using unorthodox and lame excuses, you took upon yourself to moderate some members including myself who differed with the “Gang of 12” members. If truth be told, KCA has been limited to a participation of 12 active members who engineered my dismissal because as the president, I refused to allow KCA to partner with a financial group that includes these 12 individuals.

My argument was that KCA is a non-profit registered organization and should NOT be involved in any financial venture schemes. I was overuled by the “gang of 12” who took upon themselves to dissolve my executive and conduct sham elections that were undemocratic.

The motive behind the “gang of 12” is financial gains from the newly formed Kenya Diapsora Investment Funds. Majority of KCA members who were displeased by the actions of the “gang of 12” are no longer active participants on the KCA forum and that’s why its only less than 2 dozen members participated in this elections. This group is not a representative sample of KCA or the diaspora, and as such, these elections should NOT be honored or recognised since they were not conducted in a democratic manner.

The “gang of 12” who appointed themselves interim executive members nominated each other as candidates for the executive seats while moderating the forum from “outside” interferance.
Janet, any house built on dubious foundation can never last.

And BTW, I am not interested in current or future KCA executive position.

John Maina

From: Henry Gichaba

Dear Kenyans,

Janet Feldman fears that if she announces that Abdul Yakub won the KCA elections, she will not be able to use Kenya’s name and KCA to raise funds.

As I informed you earlier, the un-announced winner of the KCA elections is Abdulsalam Yakub of New York. I also explained the reasons why Ms. Janet Feldman can’t announce the KCA results. It’s because she has far-reaching financial interests in Kenya. Through the rubber-stamp of KCA and the use of Kenya’s name, she is able to enrich her resume and get more money which she claims to use in helping Kenyans suffering from HIV/AIDS and other ailments.

When I pointed out this unfortunate development, Janet Feldman said she would “take other measures.” I must that Kenya’s name has been used wrongly by an American called Janet Feldman to collect funds whose use isn’t clearly explained as required by Federal Law. Both Feldman and Brodsky have registered non-profit organizations 501 3 (c) in the USA purporting to raise funds for work in Kenya but only feasible on paper.

One, according to US Federal Law, one must be account for the use of untaxed funds raised through legally registered non-profit organizations. Look at Janet’s Feldman’s fundraising for use in Kenya in 2008-2009.

http://www.kaippg.org/involved.html “Please contact Janet Feldman at kaippg@earthlink.net or James Onyango at kaippg@africaonline.co.ke if you would like to volunteer your time, or expertise, or to donate funds or other items. Many Top of the list is that we need program and core-funding to enable us meet our budgetary requirements. Our budget for 2008-2009 is US $200,000.”

I’ve taken the pain to find out the existence of the projects on Janet’s site but I’ve not been successful. First, in the Motor Vehicle Department, no vehicles are registered in the name of Janet’s KAIPPG.

Right on the ground in Kenya, I’ve interviewed people and there’s hardly any support for AIDS/HIP victims assisted by Janet Feldman’s organization. Janet, please give us the breakdown of people who benefitted from your 2008-2009 budget.

Janet has previously threatened me with “other measures will be taken” kind of stuff. Now I want Janet to come out clean on how she uses the money she raises helping needy people in Kenya.

I hope you have filed your taxes for that period and that the items you entered in every column are true to the best of your knowledge. Second, I suspect failed accountability in actual use of these funds according to US federal requirements. Based on the reports from the ground, Janet Feldman has not funded AIDS-related projects in Kenya in the magnitude of her 2008-2009 budget.

Now read for yourselves: http://www.kaippg.org/involved.html

Richard Brodsky is foxier than his countrywoman from Boston. It’s hard to nail Richard in terms of specifics. This New Yorker’s sin is that he uses KCA (see KCA membership and voting rights) to advertize his interests. However, his books with the feds seem to be well kept (at least on paper). However, we will also follow through to ascertain the exact nature of activities where he uses public funds. When the courts and the feds subpoena his use of funds which he collects – like use of credit cards billed to his organization – this man, I’ve been advised is a fox.

On the other hand, James Onyango shouldn’t allow his name to be used by Janet without actual work going on in Kenya. On the same note, KCA shouldn’t be used as a tool to collect funds whose use is not verifiable on the ground.

Source: http://www.richardmbrodsky.org/aboutfoundation.html

“The mission of the Foundation is to provide food, shelter and shoes for orphans living in Kenya, raise money for research for the cure or vaccine for AIDS, to help those already afflicted with AIDS, and to help those with brain cancer.” This man, at least, travels to Kenya to buy some dinner in Kisumu.

I am asking Janet Feldman: 1) leave KCA to Kenyans 2) stop using Kenya’s name to raise funds 3) stop threatening me and Chifu that “other measures will be taken” whener we ask legitimate questions. I am going to demand that the Federal Government explain to me why Janet Feldman should use Kenya’s name to raise funds whose destination is not well-accounted for.

Janet, do not forget that laws here in the USA do work. You may remain in the KCA, but I want to let you know I’ve a right to petition the Federal Government to account for why Kenya’s name is used to raise funds which you don’t fully account for.

Henry Gichaba, somewhere in the forests of North Carolina.

Kenya: Kenyatta / Ruto political marriage of convenience is bound to fail even long before the next general elections

Commentary By Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City

INTER-tribal political deals, peace and reconciliations built for political motives for the purpose of helping those individuals nursing presidential ambition, and for undercutting their perceived political enemies, will not last, but are bound to fail.

It is an alliance based on malicious intention to undercut Raila Odinga, the Prime Minister, the man who is truly the darling of every Kenyans with exception of those who have succeeded in enriching themselves from ill-gotten wealth after vandalizing the country’s resources with impunity in the past.

The modern political history of Kenya explains it explicitly clear that any inter-tribal political alliance formed between the Kikuyu politicians and leaders from other communities will always collapse before achieving its objectives and goals. Therefore the much highlighted political alliance between the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta and the MP for Eldoret North William Samoei Arap Ruto is just a temporary political marriage of convenience.

People should be bothered by such amorphous alliances, because it is just born out of panicking about the impending trials by the ICC at The Hague.

Dishonesty and non-commitment to any inter-tribal political alliances between the leaders from the Mount Kenya region and politicians from non-Kikuyu community could be well chronicled back from the days of the State of Emergency following its declaration by the then colonial governor Sir Evelyn Baring on the night of October 20th,1952.

The Kikuyu leaders hatched heinous schemes of killing individual personalities, particularly non-Kikuyus they then perceived to be the collaborator of the colonialists. This was the time when the likes of the late Tom Mbotela, the late Ambrose Ofafa were shot and killed by Mau Mau agents in Nairobi.

In 1958 the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga was then the Colonial Legislative Member for Central Nyanza and chairman of the African Elected Members Organization {AEMO}. He was believed to have been nursing presidential ambition himself. But had realized that his way up to the ladder, was being blocked by the presence of the much enlightened and urbanized Tom Mboya and Ronald Gideon Ngala. He shocked everyone by declaring that Jomo Kenyatta was the leader of this country.

Jaramogi did so in the same fashion as the Environmental Minister, John Michuki, who recently went public declaring that Uhuru Kenyatta, according to his opinion, would be the leader of the Kikuyu people {Not Kenya}.

Jaramoigi in a later statement referred Kenyatta as the second God of all Kenyan people, a statement that embarrassed and irked religious leaders in this country.

Those who knew Jaramogi well could still testify that Oginga Odinga was not genuine in his pronouncements, but all were due to guarded jealousy that Tom Mboya was increasingly becoming more popular and recognized both locally and internationally as the most suitable and preferable leader of Kenya at the material time. Jaramog’s objective was to undercut Mboya’s rising political star at the time.

The political difference at the time between Jaramogi and Mboya was based on the following factors. Mboya was more urbanized and had the upper hand in communication skills, whereas Jaramogi represented Central Nyanza, a rural constituency whose constituents were mainly Luos, and was not exposed to national and international political intricacies.

Mboya had won the Nairobi area seat reserved for an African on Kikuyu majority votes, a fete which he repeated in 1961 when Jaramogi ganged behind Dr. Munyua Wayaki and made the frantic effort to unseat him.

Following his outburst about the then still incarcerated Kenyatta, Jaramogi become an instant hero, and the darling of the Kikuyu people. to the chagrins of some Kikuyu up-coming leaders like the late Dr. Julius Gikonyo Kiano and others who had distanced themselves to his pronouncements.

Jaramogi’s outbursts temporarily endeared him to a close nit friendship with Kenyatta immediately when the latter came out of detention camp in the northern Kenya in 1961and this temporary friendship of convenience lasted between 1961 and 1964. The two leaders became so close that they even went into joint ventures in several businesses enterprises, both in Nairobi and Mombasa, before independence in 1963.

Kenyatta had taken over the mantle of KANU leadership as its President, a position which was previously been held by the late James Samuel Gichuru. Jaramogi remained the Vice President of KANU since the party’s inception at Kiambu in June 1960 and Kenyatta appointed him the Minister for home Affairs for only one year.

But it was not long before the matter took a dramatic change in December 1964 when Kenya attained her republican status and the Queen of England ceased to be the head of state replaced by President Jomo Kenyatta. Jaramogi was shocking and surprisingly relegated to the empty cell of Vice President and Minister without Portfolio.

Mboya, who had served in a powerful ministerial slot of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, was equally relegated to the hitherto unheard of Ministry of Planning and Development where he had to start from scratch. A cabal of close Kiambu advisers, from what was known as “Gatundu Parliament” acting on the advice of the former Director o the Security Intelligence, James Kanyotu, from Ndia, had launched a well orchestrated and elaborate plan to sideline both Odinga and Mboya. Their close friends among the Kikuyus who were in the cabinet were summarily summoned to Gatundu, home of Kenyatta, and reprimanded with a stern warning to keep away from the two who became virtually isolated, though they were still serving in the cabinet secret meetings, were switched from State House to Gatundu where important government decision were made.

Rumors and insinuations of all kinds rent the air, about the threat of the Kenyatta government being toppled, by either Jaramogi using the Communist forces from abroad or Mboya using American and British forces. And suspicion became the order the day forcing Jaramogi’s premature resignation after Kenyatta had used Mboya, a fellow Luo, to kick out of both government and KANU party, his hitherto friend Jaramogi and his supporters following the infamous Limuru Conference.

Immediately after this the political scenario in Kenya had changed drastically with the cabal of Kenyatta’s advisers now trained their guns and focus on Mboya’s elimination, which they did on July 5,1969.

At this point in time Daniel Ara Moi had become the closest political associate of Kenyatta. The alliance thrived and was aimed primarily and strategically to have no dissenting views from the Kalenjin leaders about Kenyatta scheme to settle thousands of his Kukuyu tribesmen to the former White Highland farms previously owned by the white settlers who had left the country for fear of chaos at the independence.

The only Kalenjin leader who voiced concern about unfolding event was the late Tinderet MP, Marie John Seroney, who reportedly and bravely launched what was known as Hand Hills Declaration, was immediately consigned to the detention camp. His supporter, the Eldoret North MP Saina, was arraigned in court and earned long term prison sentence on framed up and flimsy criminal charges.

But when it come to the turn of Moi to succeed Kenyatta, the same cabal of Kiambu politicians led by Kihika Kimani, Njoroge Mungai, james Gichuru,Julius Gikonyo Kiano, Mbiyu Koinange with the help of the colorless Kamba politician, Paul Joseph Ngei, ganged up and came up with chorus call for constitutional change which was meant to bar Moi from succeeding the ageing Kenyatta.

It was the then powerful Attorney General Charles Mugane Njonjo who saved Moi’s neck. Njonjo came out with a stern warning that the group action bordered on treason offence of plotting against the President, and the issue was abruptly abandoned. Its proponents beat the hasty retreat. This timely action by Njonjo paved the way for Daniel Moi’s accession to power following the death of Kenyatta on August 22,1978.

But Njonjo’s closeness to Moi did not last long. The same cabal of Kenyatta’s advisers, after realizing that Njonjo’s rising political star was growing much faster, moved at top speed and secretly advised Moi against Njonjo, under the pretext that the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs was involved in the conspiracy to have his government overthrown with the assistance of foreign mercenaries from South Africa and other Western countries.

The serious allegation led to Moi and Njonjo parting company. These people had not forgiven Njonjo for having stood firm against their heinous and futile plan, to block Moi from succeeding Kenyatta, and made it sure that they crate friction between Njonjo and his boss Moi.

Again the MOU reached between President Kibaki and Raila Odinga in 2002, under the auspices of Narc-Kenya, after Raila had vigorously campaigned for Kibaki to be elected the President despite of his ill-health following a fatal road accident, did not materialize for long forcing Raila out of the government following the first referendum victory over Kibaki in November 2005.

It would therefore be a miracle if the alliance between Ruto and Kenyatta will survive and sustain the heat of advices from the same Kikuyu cabals of advisers, particularly if Kenyatta wins and becames the president. Ruto could easily find himself in Kamiti Maximum Security prison for his alleged parts in mass eviction of Kiukuyu from their acquired farms in Molo, Elburgon, Uasin Gishu, Kuresoi, Londiani, Burn Forest, Likia, Subukia, Rongai and other places in the Central and South, North and South of the Rift Valley.

The history as told in the foregoing has told us that any MOU between the leaders fro Mt. Kenya region with those from other parts of Kenya is unworkable due to self-seated egoists. But if it could materialize and work if Ruto become the President, and not under Uhuru Kenyatta’s presidency. This is a hard fact which any level minded Kenyan must know.

It is indeed very interesting that anyone who wants to gain political fame in our Kenya today must open his ambition by invoking the Name of Raila Odinga, not as a hero, but as a villain. The Prime Minister has become the punching bag for amateurish political novices who at times openly display their political naivety by making irresponsible public pronouncements.

It is question of wait and see, if a party that is formed in the premises of numerous criminal cases, will stand the test of the day, and propel its leaders to the presidency!! In my view this is a big joke and my fellow Kenyans, I am sure, have been following the events very keenly. And I am sure they will make intelligent guesswork and arrive at a decision that would bring to an end all the hullaballoo and politics of deceits.

Ends

leooderaomolo@yahoo.com

Kenya: Nyanza people want the new Kisumu Airport be re-named Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Airport

Commentary By Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City

The people of the now defunct Nyanza Province, which has been split into four Counties, have unanimously of the opinion that the newly expanded and modernized airport be re-named as Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Airport.

Members of the Luo community have agreed in principle that this would be the most fitting facility in the memory of the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, for his immense contribution to this country, dating back to the early 1940s, especially during the struggle for independence by Kenyan people against the mighty of forces of the colonialists.

The communities are unanimous and want to see an important public facility, like the new Kisumu Airpot, named after the man who had championed the struggle for independence, and later led a protracted war of the second liberation of this country.

A prominent building contractor, Mr Gordon Kaoko, suggested that a tourist class hotel should also be established in Kisumu and named after Jaramogi Oginga Odinga. Businessmen, farmers, teachers and civic leader in all the four Counties of Siaya, Kisumu, Homa-Bay and Migori are unanimous that the facility be named after Jaramogi, to color his distinguish service to the mankind.

The airport, which has been modernized with billions of shillings, would soon be taking in bigger aircraft, including international passenger flights, that would make Kisumu to be the true gate-away City to East and Central Africa.

A cross section of people interviewed within Kisumu City and its environs were all unanimous that the new airport be named after the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, who had served this country as its first Vice President of the Republic of Kenya.

It is true that the Luos are the most democratic people, who are always very vocal and outspoken on issues of national importance. But when it come to the question of remembering their past heroes, who had made sterling performance and immense contribution in history, this particular community is well known to be people with short memory of past events. And particularly when it comes to the time of remembering heroes, this community is known to insensitive on this.

It is therefore my passionate appeal and suggestion that our leaders should make a representation to the government, particularly the relevant Ministry, to have the name of Kisumu Airport changed and be re-named after the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga. I am indeed, directing my appeal to the cabinet Ministers from Luo-land and our legislators in the 10th Parliament, to brainstorm together and initiate the talks with the relevant Ministry over this burning issue.

Alternatively, the new facility should be named after the pre-colonial Luo hero and Warrior, called Okore Kogonda, who had led the Jo-Kisumu sub- clans of Jokorando and Jokogony to overrun the forces of Nandis and Teriks, who were the first settlers in what is today called Kisumu. The Airport is just a few meters away from the grave of this hero who, was eventually ambushed and killed by the Nandis, after he had claimed the entire land in the area and settled his people at around 1820.

Okore Kogonda, the hero, is also said to have chased the Maragolis from the plains and land around Tieng’re and G.K Kodiaga Prison, to the Maragoli Hills, and chased away the small communities of Jo-Gem community and Jo-Kajulu, who later settled around Gem Rae in Nyakach and what is today called Kajulu along the Nandi Escarpment. He eventually kicked out the Kano groups, forcing them to make peace around Nyamasaria River, though the original boundary between the Jo-Kisumo and Jo-Kano was at Kisat River, which is located next to the Ksumu Golf Course and the Aiport.

It is even said that there are three major institutions of higher learning in Luo-Nyanza, but none is named after any Luo hero. These institutions include the Maseno University, Bondo Univesity College and Mit University College in Rongo district. These institutions should be renamed after some of the modern day Luo heroes for prosperity.

In other Kenyan communities (by saying this, I have the Kikuyus in mind) even the colonial chiefs, who collaborated well with the colonial administration during the Mau Mau War of independence, have had some ultra modern schools in Central Province named after them. An example is the late Senior Chief Njiri wa Karanja.

In the middle of 1953 at the height of the Mau Mau uprising, Chief Njiri wa Karanja boarded a Royal; Air Force plane and flew low over the villages, while armed with loud speakers, urging the Mau Mau fighters to lay down their arms and co-operate with the colonial government. He was one of the most distinguished collaborators with the colonialist. But today Niri High School stand magnificently in Central Province as one of the best schools.

Various institutions are named after Senior Chief Waruhiu, who was murdered in cold blood by the Mau Mau fighters, and also Chief Nderi of Nyeri and many other leaders who contributed towards development in kind. The same could be said of Chief Josiah Njonjo and Bishop Obadiah Kariuki of the Anglican Church who publicly denounced Mau Mau oaths and killing of innocent people.

In Kisii region of Nyanza Province, the late Ex-Chief Musa Nyandusi Ayacko {Manwar}, was the biggest example of collaboration with the colonialist. But today most secondary and high schools in Nyaribari had either dormitories or football field named after Senior Chief Nyandusi in recognition of his contribution to the regions immense development and education.

The same is so with Ex-Senior Chief Cheborge Arap Tengecha, of Location three in Kericho district He was well known for his draconian rule and collaboration with the white settlers and colonial administrators.
Tengecha’s name is applied to some of the best educational facilities is not only in Buret location where he ruled with an iron fist but in the entire Kipsigis region.

In the greater Southern Nyanza region, the late Mzee Paul Mboya, who had played the biggest role in shaping up the region’s development when he started from an humble location Chief of Karachuonyo, a pastor with the SDA church, and the first Secretary to the African Local Native Council {ALNC}, which was later transformed into the African District Council {ADC}, and eventually the County Council of South Nyanza, has not even a nursery school in his own native Karachuonyo named after him.

Again in the Southern Nyanza region, the late Ex-Senior Chief Gideon Magak of Kasipul-Kabondo, who served his people between 1927 and 1954, though with an iron fist, is still being remembered for having introduced forced education of both boys and girls. The chief, at times, is known to have paid school fees for students from his location using his own money, and consigned to jails big headed parents who refused to educate their children.

Against resistance from religions and churches, Magak initiated the District Education Board Schools, such as Agoro Sare High School, Oriang; Girsl Secondary School, Ober Secondary School Saye Secondary School, Nyang’iela Secondary School, and many others, which are today serving as some of the best educational facilities in the region. But the residents of the region have refused to have any of its schools named after him. There is not even one primary school in the region named after the man to serve as his legacy. Is this the case of jealousy?

In Siaya, a man of Ex-Senior Chief Amoth Owira’s stature should have by now have several schools and other public utilities named after him, in recognition of his immense contribution to the development of the area. But there is nothing on the ground in Siaya called Amoth Owira, leave alone a dispensary or a nursery school. Why not?.

In the neighboring location of Ugenya, the late Chief Miganda Opapo, who made the history. In 1941, a battalion, made of Kenyans fighting in the Second World War, under the auspices of King African Rifles {KAR} in the Indian Ocean Island of Madagascar, mainly Luos, mutinied, laid down their arms, and refused to obey their superiors’ orders.

At first, the Late Paul Mboya, was flown to the Island in an attempt to have him calm down the rebellious KAR soldiers. But the soldiers almost assaulted Mboya. It was then decided that Chief Miganda be flown in by the Royal Air force to Magascar. And because the majority of soldiers were from Ugenya, they obeyed their chief and agreed to resume fighting.

The late Sir Michael Blundell, a Kenya leader of the white settlers, who in his later years turned politician and served the colonial government as the Minister for Agriculture, who was then the commander of the Madagascar garrison under the name of Major Blundell, had confided to me before his death that the situation was so pathetic and hopeless. Imagine close to four soldiers laying down their weapons and even refusing to eat for a coupe of days. This, Blundell told me, was due to political agitation by the black African soldiers that they did not actually knew for whose interests they were engaged in fighting the Germans – – the British crown or black Kenyans,

Blundell, who was so influential in Dho-Luo vernacular, told me that Chief Miganda was a genius person.

In Central Nyanza in general, the late Mzee Joel Meshack Omino, who served the ADC Central Nyanza as its Secretary for close to 40 years, was the architect for the building of various schools and other facilities. But apart from a street road in Kisumu Municipality, nothing is on the ground bearing the name of Joel Omino.

Luo-Nyanza is well known as a fertile place for academic giants. Three members of the community who pioneered in university teaching, deserve to have named after them some local schools and other educational facilities.

These academician giants are Prof. David Wasawo, Prof. H Ominde and Prof. Alan Bethwell Ogot. Wasawo and Ominde became the first Kenyans to be engaged in teaching at the Makerere University in the early 1950s. This was at the time when Makerere was serving the East, Central and Southern Africa as the only full fledged University taking in students from far field like Nyasaland, Tanganyika, Rhodesia, and other countries. Ominde has since died, but Wasawo and Ogot who are relatively much younger, are still alive. Applying the Names of these people to some of the school would serve as incentive to the younger generation and inspire them to work hard.

Back to politicians, there are four important political names, that are closely associated with the development of politics in Nyanza between 1940s to early 1960s. These names incldude Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Tom Mboya, Ramogi Achieng’ Oneko, and Walter Fanuel Odede. And to a lessesr extent there is C.M.G.Argwings-Kodhek.

Jaramogi single-handedly built Nyamira Girls Secondary School, which is close to his rural Kang;o Ka-Jaramogi home in Central Sakwa in Bondo district. There is another adjacent School called Maranda High School which has taught so many people. The two schools should be named after him.

Tom Mboya single handedly established Homa-Bay High School in Homa-Bay Town and the neighboring Uganda Girls Secondary school before establishing Tom Mboya Secondary School Rusinga Island and also contributed immensely towards the construction of Mbita High School at the Mbita Point on the mainland.

Women leaders in Luo-Nyanza, who have played the leading role in shaping the country, also deserve a respectful place of history. And this could only be done if such woman have their names given to some important institutions and facilities.

In this context, I have in mind the likes of Mrs Grace Aketch Onyango, the first African Mayor of Kisumu, and the first African to be elected to Kenyan parliament with the majority and popular votes as the MP for KisumuTown in 1969. Mrs Phoebe Muga Asiyo, the former MP for Karachuonyo, Mrs Roselyn Onyuka , the first woman PEO in Nyanza, Mrs Damaris Ayodo, Mrs Grace Ogot, Nrs Esabella Abura and many others who had championed the cause of human rights and development.

Let the Luos learn how to respect their fallen heroes like any other communities in this country. We should make the history an incentive to the younger generation. Both men and women who have played a pivotal role in the development of this country, particularly in Nyanza, should be included in the roll call.

Ends

leooderaomolo@yahoo.com

Tanzania: Miaka 49 ya Uhuru Tanganyika.

Miaka 11 bila Sanduku la Agano.

Na Douglas Majwala.

Mnamo 9-12-2010 taifa lilifikia kilele cha maadhimisho ya miaka 49 ya uhuru ambao wengi wanautafsiri kuwa ni wa bendera tu kwa maana licha ya nchi hii kuonekana paradiso lakini bado raia wake zaidi ya 75% hawawezi kumudu milo 2 kwa siku hata kwa mboga ya kauzu wasiojaza hata kiganja na kupelekea kuupa umaarufu ule usemi kuwa “usicheze mbali unga robo” huku wengine wakihoji kwa ukali ni lini ndani ya kipindi cha miaka 49 watanzania waliwahi kuambiwa “haya sasa legezeni mkanda mle mnywe msaze maana kesho itajiju”.

Ni aibu ya millennia kwa taifa lililojaliwa wasomi na viongozi waelewa mpaka wengine tunadiriki kuwafungulia milango watokomee ugahibuni kwa njia ya brain drain ingawa wao wanasema hailipi kutumika Tanzania kama inavyolipa ukitumika nje ya mipaka yake, kupoteza dira ya maisha. Taifa limeshindwa kuelewa kiundani kabisa sababu za kitaalamu zinazopelekea lishindwe kutumia rasilimali ya wasomi wengi iliyonao kujiletea maendeleo ukilinganisha na wasomi waliokuwa hawazidi 7 tu hivi wakati nchi inapandisha bendera yake kuashiria kupatikana uhuru pale uwanja wa taifa siku ile ya 09-12-1961 ambao licha ya idadi yao ndogo iliyovunja rekodi Afrika, walitumika na kuweza kuliweka taifa katika mustakabali unaoeleweka ambao ndiyo uliweka misingi ya kuliwezesha kupumua pasina mpira wa oxygen mpaka pale alipoondoka Musa [Baba wa taifa] na sanduku la agano. Je, ingekuwa siku ile ya uhuru ndiyo taifa lingekuwa na idadi ya wasomi iliyo nao leo hii nafikiri hata Marekani wasingetufikia ki-maendeleo.

Kwa hiyo hapa hoja ni mmoja tu kuwa ni jinsi gani kiongozi ana uwezo wa kujipanga na idadi ya rasilimali aliyonayo kujipatia maendeleo kama Mwl. alivyoweza kuipa nchi maendeleo [elimu bure, afya bure, ajira bure, miradi ya maendeleo nk bila kukusanya kodi] akiwa na wasomi 6 tu akiwemo yeye wa 7, akaweza hata kuwapanga vizuri wazungu waliokuwepo kuziba mianya ya wasomi wazalendo waliokosekana. Wazungu waliokuwepo katika utumishi wa umma walipangwa vilivyo kulitumikia taifa, ambapo leo hii tunao katika sura ya magabacholi ambao wanalihujumu tu taifa kutokana na kwamba hakuna Nyerere wa kuwapanga vizuri.

Pamoja na idadi kubwa ya wasomi, siasa safi, uongozi bora, watu na ardhi kubwa yenye rutuba bado taifa limeshindwa kusimamia siyo tu rasilimali asilia iliyonazo bali hata miradi mingi ya maendeleo iliyoanzishiwa na mzungu. Hali hii inafanya nguzo hizo nne za maendeleo zilizoasisiwa na Mwl Nyerere leo zitumike kinyume na maana yake [watu duni, siasa za maji taka, uongozi wa kifisadi na ardhi isiyomilikiwa na raia bali na wawekezaji wasioitumia kwa manufaa ya taifa] ndiyo maana taifa limefika kikomo cha maisha kama tunavyoshuhudia hivi leo.

Warasimu wa kisiasa wameliingiza taifa katika mchezo haramu wa karata tatu pale walipopambana mithili ya simba mwenye njaa kali aliyejeruhiwa na aliyekosa mawindo sasa akijitahidi kulipiza kisasi, pale ambapo waliandaa mazingira ya mauti ya ujamaa wa Mwl kwa njia ya kubadili mfumo toka mmoja kwenda mwingine kwa kigezo cha mabadiliko ya dunia nzima ambapo ujamaa wa Mwl tunaoulilia leo ulianza kushuhudia ujenzi wa kaburi lake na uchongeshaji wa jeneza lake siku baada ya siku huku ubeberu wa mitaji ya kimataifa ukikaa mkao wa kula na kukaa eda katika tanga la ujamaa wa Mwl kusubiri mirathi ya mashirika ya umma yaliyofilisiwa kutangazwa na msimamizi wa mirathi hizo yaani tume za kurekebisha mashirika ya umma. Nasema ujamaa wa Mwl kwa sababu ujamaa wa Fidel Casto na ule wa Mao Tsetung [haijalishi ameishakufa] bado vimebaki kuwa mfupa ulioshinda ubeberu.

Hapa ndipo wenye mamlaka wakaanza kumili hisa katika makampuni wakisajili hisa hizo kwa jina la Paulo kumbe kwa ukweli wanaitwa Sauli tena wanafanana na Sauli mpaka na roho zao huku kanisa nalo likishindwa kukemea kwa vitendo mweleko ambao taifa limechukuwa. Kanisa limekuwa kama limebariki hali hii kwa sababu kanisa halisi ambalo limebeba kusudi la MUNGU ndani yake ni kama kanisa la nyakati za biblia ambapo lilikuwa kimbilio la wenye mahitaji kama akina Batimayo ambao walijipanga kila jumapili langoni mwa hekalu [kanisa] kusubiri neema na wakaja wakapokea mpaka na neema ya uponyaji pia, leo kanisa limekuwa ndiyo mkimbizi kwa watu hata mafisadi badala ya watu ndiyo waone kuwa kanisa ni kimbilio lao [hali imekuwa kinyume].

Tunapoadhimisha miaka 49 ya uhuru ndani ya njaa kali, uchi mkali, magonjwa sugu na milipuko mipya, siasa viza, ufisadi uliotamalaki, chuki, majigambo, uhasama, fitina, husuda, vita vya koo, vita vya wafugaji na wakulima, ukame, giza totoro ndani ya mito isiyokauka, maji kwa vibaba [mgawo] ndani ya mito iliyotapakaa kila mahali, mpasuko wa vyama vya siasa kutokana na siasa za mchafuko wa bahari, undugunaizesheni wa kupindukia nk, kanisa nalo linaadhimisha sambamba miaka 49 ya utumishi wake ndani ya uhuru huo wa taifa [japo kanisa lilianza kabla ya uhuru] ambalo kanisa likishirikiana na dini zingine zimezalisha makuhani wake toka ndani yao [miongoni mwa waumini wao] kwenda kuliongoza taifa.

Viongozi wamebatizwa kanisani na nyumba zingine za ibada za imani nyingine pia, wana vyeo makanisani na nyumba zingine za ibada mbadala na wamekulia ukristo na imani zingine pia kwa maongozi ya kanisa na dini zingine lakini wameshindwa kuubwaga mathalan kwa wakristo “U-Sauli na kutwaa U-Paulo”, kwa maneno mengine ni kuwa taifa linaanzia kanisani/misikitini. Makanisa na misikiti ndiyo hutengeza taifa na uongozi wake pia, lakini utashangaa makasisi wakipiga domo madhabahuni nyakati za sikukuu za kidini wakipamba vichwa vya vyombo vya habari kwa kuisema serikali kwa jazba wakati wanasahu kuwa wao ndiyo wamewaandaa toka makanisani/misikitini mumo humo!!??

Mbona mahala pengi tumeona makasisi wakilikomboa taifa e.g. Zimbabwe ambapo Askofu Pius Ncube alimtafsiria Mugabe maneno “Mene mene tekeli na peresi” na mwisho wa siku tukaona Zim ikibadilika kwa kuikubali serikali ya mseto, bado pia historia haitamsahau Mchg. Canaan Banana ambaye pamoja na ma-comrade wenzake waliiletea Zim uhuru, dunia pia haitamsahau Askofu Mkuu Desmond Tutu wa Afrika Kusini alivyoendesha mapambano ya kudai ukombozi kutoka ubaguzi wa rangi akitumia silaha ya biblia na kola ya uaskofu, pia Askofu Mkuu Okulu na Muge wa Eldoret waliofanyika mwiba mchungu kwa serikali babe ya Rais Mstaafu wa Jamhuri ya Kenya Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi.

Inashindikana nini Tanzania? Ni uongo mkubwa kutenganisha siasa na kanisa/msikiti, hizi taasisi mbili [kanisa/msikiti na serikali] zinaushirika wa toka enzi na enzi, hata Israel bila kanisa hakuna serikali [wanajeshi wake huenda vitani kwa imani ya kiroho zaidi ya silaha kali walizonazo na ndiyo maana wana jeshi linaloogopewa duniani mithili ya sisimizi na siafu wanavyoogopwa na tembo], Upalestina huwezitenganisha dini na serikali, Uingereza malkia ndiyo mkuu wa ngazi ya juu kabisa wa kanisa la Anglikana na pia ndiye mkuu wa ufalme, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Irak, Pakistan nk hali ni hiyo hiyo.

Sanduku la agano alilokabidhiwa Mwl Nyerere wakati wa uhuru liko wapi? Alimpa nani wakati anaenda St.Thomas London ambako alirudi akiwa ndani ya galadi? Miaka 11 bila Mwl na bila sanduku la agano imebadili kabisa sura na mwelekeo wa taifa mpaka watanzania leo wakiona jambo linaenda mrama basi utawasikia wakisema “ kama Mwl angekuwepo hili lisingekuwa hivi badala yake lingekuwa vile”, na sasa watanzania wamekuna vichwa kwa muda mrefu na hatimaye wakapata mafunuo kuwa mustakabali wa taifa umeshindikana kutokana na kutoweka kwa sanduku la agano na sasa wameanza kulitafuta kwa jasho hata la damu maana pasina sanduku hilo lazima maadui kama njaa kali, uchi mkali, magonjwa sugu na milipuko mipya, siasa viza, ufisadi uliotamalaki, chuki, majigambo, uhasama, fitina, husuda, vita vya koo, vita vya wafugaji na wakulima, ukame, giza totoro ndani ya mito isiyokauka, maji kwa vibaba [mgawo] ndani ya mito iliyotapakaa kila mahali, mpasuko wa vyama vya siasa kutokana na siasa za mchafuko wa bahari, undugunization wa kupindukia, demokrasia tete, uchumi dororo, pato hafifu la taifa, gharama za maisha kupaa, viwango vya maisha kushuka mpaka chini ya mstari wa umasikini, mparaganyiko wa utumishi wa umma unaoleta migomo na mitafaruku ya kazi, mikataba ya uwekezaji wa mitaji ya kimataifa iliyoliweka taifa njia panda na kulivua nguo bungeni na kwenye foramu za wanaharakati nk wataishambulia nchi yao!! Tusubiri miujiza ya kubadili jina kama ilivyokuwa kwa Abraham kwenda Ibrahim na Sarai kwenda Sara ndipo maisha yao yakabarikiwa na kupata Zawadi ya Isaka au hata Sauli kwenda Paulo ndipo agano jipya kwenye biblia likajipatia nyaraka nyingi kupitia mkono wa wokovu wa Paulo?

Tanzania inaingia miaka 50 ya uhuru [golden-jubilee] 09-12-2011 bila kupishana sana umri na Korea Kusini, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia na Thailand lkn nchi hizo zimewezakuja na Marshal Plan isiyo ya miujiza mikubwa sana kama ya Eliya, bali ambayo hata Tanzania pia inaweza ikaifanya lakini wao wameweza kujenga Tiger Economies huku sisi tukishindwa hata kuota ndoto za Mini-Tiger Economy badala yake wenzetu wa United Arab Emirates wameweza kuota ndoto hizo za Mini-Tiger. Mataifa hayo ya mashariki ya mbali yote yalikuwa kambi moja ya South-South na Tanzania, lakini leo Tanzania imejikuta imebaki pale ikijishika tama huku hawa wenzake wamejipatia sifa za kutowafanya waitwe tena nchi za South-South, labda tuwaite nchi za dunia ya pili. Zab. 58.

majwalaoriko@yahoo.co.uk

0782299399.

Kenya: Will Raila Odinga be our Gandalf?

Arrows and shields
BY FWAMBA NC FWAMBA

In the Prof J.R.R Tolkien’s fantasy trilogy; The Lord of the Rings, the role of one character Gandalf the grey, who later becomes Gandalf the white is very conspicuous. Gandalf belongs to the group of wizards, the wisest and most knowledgeable creatures in the middle earth.

Unlike Saruman; another wizard who attempts to get the ring of power for himself, Gandalf sticks to his mission of helping the middle earth rid itself of the ring of power by helping in assembling and leading the team to destroy the ring of power in the same chasm inside the crack of Mount Doom where the ring was forged. The ring of power has a history of bringing down great leaders and kings including Isildur; whose heir is Aragorn camouflaged as Strider carries the duty of reinstating Isildur’s lost glory. Gandalf’s efforts to inform Saruman about The whereabouts of the ring turns out to be a calamity for its later discovered that Saruman has defected and joined Sauron; the dark lord to claim the ring.

The ring is in the shire, the land of the Hobbits. Gandalf is faced with the challenge of ensuring that the ring is destroyed before his former ally Saruman or the main antagonist Sauron land their hands on it.

Kenya is a county at the crossroads now. The political challenges that face us to day are akin to the conflicts that bedeviled the middle earth. Kenyans have attempted for long to bring about change. All efforts have been futile because of the greed of the leaders that have hypocritically come together in the name of destroying the establishment of impunity and corruption have ended up being corrupt and unreliable. They have always instead just like Saruman been converted and become allies of impunity and subjects of the same ills they purported to oppose.

Kenya has gone through turbulent waters since the days of colonialism. Every political step in Kenya has been a make believe to the Kenyan masses that time for national redemption has finally come. The chronology of the Kenyan leadership starting from colonialism has always been a disappointment. In Kenya’s war for independence, the freedom fighters fought to return the land that had been taken away by the British colonialists. When freedom was finally granted, the country was optimistic that with an African leader all Kenyans were going to have better lives with equal opportunity to access education and resources compared to the previous regime which had been oppressive, racist and discriminatory against Africans.

It emerged that their celebrations were in vain for the new African establishment became no different from the practices of the British colonialists. Fertile lands that had previously been taken by the colonialist were then taken over and shared among the African leaders that had taken over the reigns of power.

The ordinary Kenyan who had fought so hard for independence became a disappointed person. It emerged that those who were landless during the colonial period remained landless; those who were lucky got small portions of land where they stayed as squatters. It was not forgotten that those who had taken power led by Jommo Kenyatta had claimed that they wanted change for an ordinary Kenyan African who was lacked opportunities because of racism and other forms of discrimination. It was evident that the African government substituted terms but continued with the oppressive ways of the colonialist.

It was not lost to Kenyans that terms like racism were replaced with tribalism. Settlers were replaced by African land grabbers. It’s known to Kenyans that it was under the African regime that those who spoke out their mind like Pio Gama Pinto, Tom Mboya, Argwings Kodhek and JM Kariuki had their lives cut short because of having alternative views on governance.

In 1978, Moi became president and people who had witnessed Kenyatta’s misuse of power and practices of tribalism thought that with change in the leadership, things were going to be different. It however turned out to be more disappointing that Moi declared that he was going to ‘fuata nyayo’(follow Kenyatta’s footsteps).Under the nyayo era, Moi perfected the art of tribalism, corruption and impunity. Under Moi’s leadership, democracy was crushed and detention without trial; a law that had been put in place under Kenyatta’s regime became more effective than ever.

It’s during the Moi era that many pro democracy activists and university student leaders like Tito Adungosi and Wafula Buke were jailed over trumped up charges. Many activists disappeared without trace. It’s during this same regime that saw Kenya’s first Vice President and doyen of opposition Jaramogi Oginga Odinga was put under house arrest. Under the same regime more political assassinations and mysterious deaths occurred. It was during this regime that Bishop Alexander Muge, Dr.Robert Ouko and many others died under suspect circumstances.

The atrocities committed under the Nyayo regime saw progressive politicians like Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Ahmed Salim Bahmariz, George Nthenge, Masinde Muliro, Philip Gachoka and Martin Shikuku to team up and form the Forum for the Restoration of Democracy (FORD).It was a new dawn for Kenya when after pressure from the international community Mr.Moi repealed section 2(a) of the then constitution of Kenya which ushered in multiparty politics.

Greed engulfed the country, for every politician saw an opportunity to ascend to power since Moi was very unpopular. Many opposition parties were formed. After the mysterious death of Masinde Muliro at the Jommo Kenyatta International Airport three months to the general election,

Ford split into two factions Ford Kenya which was led by Jaramogi with headquarters at Agip House and Ford Asili that was led by Kenneth Matiba that moved their headquarters to Muthithi House (now Occidental plaza), the Democratic Party (DP) and the Social Democratic Party were formed and registered. Young people like Ruto and Jirongo saw an opportunity to become politically relevant. They formed Youth for Kanu 92’ thereby saving Moi’s regime from extinction by mobilizing the youth vote.

The divided opposition driven by greed for power lost to Moi. The same situation was repeated in 1997.The opposition fielded many presidential candidates who included Mwai Kibaki of the Democratic Party, Michael Kijana Wamalwa of Ford Kenya,Raila Odinga of National Development Party and Charity Ngilu of the Social Democratic party. The opposition lost again and the country continued wallowing in the culture of impunity.

With new wisdom acquired from lessons in the past election losses, in 2002,the opposition united to defeat Moi and his ‘project Uhuru’.The optimism of Kenyans was renewed.Most Kenyans believed that with the exit of Moi, the country had been saved from all the ills that we had fought against.

That was never to be for after one year, the government was grappling with corruption allegations. A mega scandal akin to the Goldenberg that had occurred during kanu’s dark days happened; the Anglo Leasing. It dawned to Kenyans that the greed for power and wish to occupy Moi’s shoes was the driving force for the opposition unity. Kenyans discovered that it was greed for power and money and not good governance that had caused the opposition to unite to defeat Moi and ‘project Uhuru.

In 2007, it emerged that both the incumbent led by Mwai Kibaki and the opposition led by Raila Odinga had been in government. It was declared to be the mother of all battles. The tight race between the two presidential candidates led to a disputed result.

I contend that Kenyans didn’t know what the post election violence was all about. It was about greed for power. 2012 is beckoning and we face the same challenges that Kenyans don’t have a leader who wants to create a respectable state. Kenya needs a Gandalf like figure who will not get entangled into power struggles. Kenya needs someone with an opportunity to be president but because of being selfless will choose not to seek presidency, but will assemble a new generation of leaders who will ensure the country has a new beginning. Kenya needs someone to sacrifice, someone who is above temptations for power, someone with the interest of the nation at heart.

If Moi and old Kanu establishments represent Sauron and Kibaki is Saruman, is Raila going to sacrifice his presidential ambitions and be our Gandalf?

Nigeria: Building On The Foundations Of Unity And Progress

From: Leila Abdul

BEING AN ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN ON THE OCCASION OF THE NATION’S 50TH INDEPENDENCE ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS TODAY 1ST OF OCTOBER 2010.

Fellow Citizens.Today, 1st October, 2010 marks the 50th Anniversary of our independence from Britain. It is with a deep sense of humility and gratitude to the Almighty that I address you this morning. On this day in 1960, the heroes of the nationalist struggles and all Nigerians were full of hopes and dreams.

The citizens of the new country danced in colourful celebration of the newfound freedom. Nigerians were filled with expectations as the Union Jack was lowered and the green-white-green flag was raised in its place. A new country was born. A new journey had started on a road never taken before. The future was pregnant with promise.alt With patriotism and pragmatism, our founding fathers charted a course for the greatness of this country. While there were differences and disagreements, they did not waver in their desire to build a country that future generations would be proud of. They made compromises and sacrifices. They toiled night and day to build a viable country where progress and peace would reign supreme.

Our independence was gained by men and women who envisioned a land of freedom and one of opportunity.

Our founding fathers sought a government of character, that seeks justice to her citizens as our national anthem so eloquently describes: One Nation Bound in Freedom, Peace and Unity. However, today, the opinion of many Nigerians is that these dreams and expectations have not been fulfilled. Not only have people despaired about the slow pace of progress, some have in fact given up on the country. Some believe that if the colonial masters had stayed longer, Nigeria may have been the better for it.

All these postulations, we must admit, are borne out of a somewhat justifiable sense of frustration. Our troubles and failures are well catalogued. For a country that was, in terms of development, on a similar, if not better level with many countries at independence, it is discomforting that we are lagging behind as the economic indicators among nations now show.

In the midst of these challenges, it is easy to forget our unusual circumstances. We have actually been moving from one political instability to the other such that we have barely been able to plan long-term and implement policies on a fairly consistent basis.

This instability has also impacted negatively on institutional development, which is necessary for advancement. The structures of governance had barely been developed when we ran into a series of political obstacles shortly after Independence.

While we were at it, the military took over power and this fuelled a different kind of political instability which ultimately led to the unfortunate 30-month Civil War. This was certainly not the dream of our founding fathers who sacrificed so much to give us Nigeria. They did not dream of a country where brothers would be killing brothers and sisters killing sisters. They did not dream of a country where neighbours and friends would exchange bullets in place of handshakes.

Military rule and the Civil War were major setbacks for our nationhood. They produced a polluted national landscape. This did not offer the best atmosphere for national development. It impacted negatively on Nigeria socially, politically and economically, a situation which further undermined our aspiration as a stable nation. Without political stability, it has been very difficult to plan and build our institutions like other countries that were our peers.

Dear compatriots, despite the serious challenges that we have been living with; we cannot ignore the fact that we have cause to celebrate our nationhood and even a greater cause to look forward to a brighter future. This is a historic occasion when we need to pause and appreciate who we are, what we have, and to reflect on the encouraging possibilities ahead. There is certainly much to celebrate: our freedom, our strength, our unity and our resilience.

This is also a time for stock-taking, to consider our past so that it will inform our future. This is a time to look forward to the great opportunities and challenges that lie ahead for Nigeria. In fifty years, we have in several respects, attained heights that we should be very proud of as a nation.

In the fields of science and technology, education, the arts, entertainment, scholarship, and diplomacy, Nigerians have distinguished themselves in spite of the enormous hurdles they encounter everyday. If we could achieve so much under tough conditions, we are capable of achieving even much more in our journey to the Promised Land.

Our strides in medical science are hardly celebrated. Recently a team of Nigerian scientists led by Dauda Oladepo of the International Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) discovered CD4 Lymphocyte baseline for testing people living with HIV/ AIDS. The effort is all the more remarkable because it was funded by the Federal Ministry of Health and its findings are particularly useful to the Nigerian environment. The discovery is very vital to monitoring and managing the disease progression in infected people.

Also, a Nigerian scientist, Dr. Louis Nelson, has made significant progress in his research to find a permanent cure for diabetes, which afflicts over 123 million sufferers worldwide. The vaccine that has made Yellow Fever disease manageable was developed in our shores! While we may not have landed a spaceship on the moon or developed nuclear technology, our inventors and innovators have made globally acknowledged contributions. Clearly, these are indications that within us are potentials that can be harnessed for greatness.

Nigerian writers have won numerous awards on the global stage. Professor Wole Soyinka gave Africa its first Nobel Prize in Literature. Professor Chinua Achebe pioneered the most successful African novel in history. Ben Okri won the Booker prize. Helon Habila, Sefi Attah and Chimamanda Adichie, among several others, are internationally renowned.

In the movie industry, Nollywood is rated second biggest in the world. Nigerians have by themselves defied all that is negative around them to build a billion dollar film industry from the scratch. This is a major landmark worth celebrating.

Today our actors and artistes are household names in Africa and parts of the world. The future can only be brighter as competition in this sector breeds improved quality and better creativity. Our leading professionals – lawyers, scientists, economists, doctors, diplomats and academics are celebrated all over the world. They occupy prestigious positions in the leading institutions across the developed world. Most of them were born and bred in Nigeria. Most of them schooled here before they travelled abroad. This should tell us something: that daunting as our circumstances have been, we are still full of ability and capability. We are blessed with talented and patriotic Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora, many of whom are willing and ready to return home to be part of the drive to turn Nigeria around for good, so that the country can take its pride of place in the comity of nations.

My brothers and sisters, as we begin the journey to another fifty years of nationhood, we have two choices to make. We can choose to focus on the imperfections and problems that easily beset us as a nation or we choose to focus on the unlimited possibilities that we have. I urge us all to choose the latter. I prefer to see the silver lining in the dark cloud rather than the dark cloud in the silver lining.

Today, we need to celebrate the remarkable resilience of the Nigerian spirit. We need to appreciate, that even though the road has been bumpy; we have trudged on, in hope. We may not have overcome our challenges, but neither have our challenges overcome us. Whenever we are completely written off, we always bounce back from the edge to renew our national bond for the benefit of our progress. That is the Nigerian spirit. This is what has kept us together as a country even when other countries with far less challenges have fallen apart.

Our recovery from the scars of the Western Region Crisis, the Civil War, and the June 12, 1993 election annulment has convinced me more than anything else that Nigeria is destined for greatness. It has proved that in our differences, tough circumstances and diversity, what binds us together is far stronger more than what divides us. We have a glorious future awaiting us. I am convinced that North or South, East or West, Muslim, Christian or other faiths, majority or minority, we are all bound by our common humanity and mutual aspirations.

We are not sworn enemies. We are not irreconcilable foes. We are neighbours who sometimes offend each other but can always sit down to talk over our differences. We are one people and one family. There are clear examples across the country where, in one family, you have people of different faiths and convictions living peacefully under the same roof.

The father could be a Muslim, the mother a Christian and the children professing different faiths. Yet, they do not draw the sword against one another in the name of religion.

Fellow compatriots, one of the greatest achievements of our union this past fifty years is our togetherness. The late Sardauna of Sokoto, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello once said: “Let us understand our differences.” I identify fully with these words of wisdom. Our faith may be different. We may not speak the same language. We may not eat the same kind of food. But we are in a plural society where we have continued to accommodate one another and integrate without reservations. This we must build on! This we must strengthen! We have the opportunity of imitating our forefathers by envisioning a new society where our children and children’s children will live in peace and harmony and enjoy good quality of life comparable to the best the world can offer.

Today marks the dawn of a new era. It is in our hands to decide what we want to make of it. We must reawaken in ourselves the hunger and aspirations of our founding fathers for a strong, united and prosperous nation that shall be the pride of future generations. To do this, we must change the old ways of doing things. The core values of patriotism, hardwork, integrity and commitment to good governance must henceforth take precedence.

It seems to me that the consensus of most Nigerians is that the time has come for us to break from the past and progress into a better future. We should not allow Nigeria to be pulled back again by those who believe it is either they have their way or the country should fall to pieces. The new Nigeria ahead of us, the new Nigeria we have to build together, is a society where everybody must feel at home. It must be a place we can all be happy, comfortable and confident to call our country. It is not just enough for us to talk about how Nigeria can be great; it is our duty to make Nigeria great.

We can change Nigeria from our communities, cubicles and desks. The task to make Nigeria great is a task for everyone.

My fellow citizens, we stand at a cross road. Our forefathers did not achieve our freedom by doing what was easy or convenient. We have not sustained our independence and built our democracy by wishful thinking. We must not allow our future to pass us by. We must grasp it and shape it, drawing on the same spirit and vision that inspired our founding fathers fifty years ago.

On my part, I promise visionary and committed leadership. I promise to give my all, my best, to our great country. I am committed to ensuring public safety and security. Government is fully aware of the ugly security situation in Abia State. We are determined to confront it with even greater vigour. For our present and our future, I am committed to improving the quality of education and to give Nigeria the edge in human capital development. We will rebuild our economy by continuing the implementation of the reforms in the banking and other sectors to ensure economic progress.

I will fight corruption and demand transparency so that we can all take pride in our government. Through various policies, we shall continue to seek ways to grow the economy further, give our citizens greater opportunity so that we can compete better in the global market place.

I am committed to the implementation of a national fiscal policy that will encourage growth and development. We will give priority to wealth creation and employment generation. I am focused on addressing our infrastructure needs, especially power, as this is the biggest obstacle to our economic development and wealth creation.

I am determined to implement to the letter the recently launched power sector roadmap, and I am confident that we will soon be able to provide the power that we need today as well as the resources to meet the needs of tomorrow. All the issues bordering on peace, justice and stability in the Niger Delta are being addressed and will continue to receive attention as we consolidate on the Amnesty Programme.

When God gives you an opportunity, you must use it to His glory and to the glory of His creations. I promise to use the opportunity given to me by God and the Nigerian people to move Nigeria forward. We must therefore pay special attention to the advancement of our democracy through credible elections. I have said this and I will say it again,

with all the conviction in me: Our votes must count! One man, One Vote! One woman, one vote! One youth, one vote!

The future of Nigeria and generations yet unborn is at stake. We must start the journey to the next fifty years with credible elections, with a clean break from the past. We must show the whole world that we can do things the right and the equitable way. This is my pledge and I will never deviate from it.

The Nigeria of the next fifty years must be a land of delight. The signs are not difficult to see. We have a hardworking population, a growing sense of Nigerianness and a new generation of leaders with new ideas. We must have a new sense of purpose and a determination to make things work. WE MUST COLLECTIVELY TRANSFORM NIGERIA.

The ultimate result of all these, Fellow Citizens, is that a new Nigeria is in the making. The worst is over. Our latest democratic dispensation has defied all the odds. Since Independence, we have never had 11 years of unbroken civilian rule as we have today. This is a new experience for us. With this comes stability. With this comes the building of strong institutions. With this comes the ability to plan and pursue our plans.

The great people of Nigeria, I implore all to join in the renewed efforts to remake Nigeria. It is a task for everyone. Pray for our country; wish our country well; do things that will make our country great; see and tap into opportunities for greatness that are everywhere around you and take pride in Nigeria. These are the ideals that I embrace. These are the issues that I am committed to.

In conclusion, I will like to speak to Nigeria’s greatest resource: our young men and women. I say you have the greatest stake in transforming our nation. It is time for this generation of Nigerians to answer the call and contribute to Nigeria’s foundation of freedom.

That is how this generation will make its mark. That is how we will make the most of these opportunities. That is how we will ensure that five decades from now, as our children and grand children celebrate our nation’s independence centenary, we will be remembered as having contributed to the great history of Nigeria.

On my part I commit myself to doing my very best and to call on your intellect, wisdom and commitment to bring this dream to fruition.

May God Almighty bless you all!

May God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria!

Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria


Visit Our Home Page at www.wanabidii.net – Karibu Tujenge Nchi

Diaspora: Kenya’s Iron Pillars for the New Constitution.

from Fannuel Mugendi

“…I am the Master of my fate, I am the Captain of my soul.” – W.E. Henley 1875

Writer: Fannuel M. Murianki

The success of Kenya’s new constitution implementation depends on how much the government involves its Diaspora. Strong foundations for effective County governments will be the work of our sons and daughters who have travelled, lived and studied abroad. They are the fuel that will drive the new vehicle. Just like at the onset of independence, the Diaspora will be pivotal in laying strong pillars upon which new governing structures for the new constitution will be founded upon.

In 1963 when Kenya gained independence, the late President Kenyatta marshaled the Diaspora to assist his fledgling government. Some of the most effective government leaders have at one time lived and studied abroad. Kenya’s longest Member of Parliament H.E. President Kibaki, was mentored into governance after his studies at London School of Economics. Hon Michuki, late Tom Mboya, and Hon Raila Odinga just to name a few have studied abroad at one time. It was the Diaspora alongside expatriates that laid the foundations of our current government and its’ vital institutions of governance. The long road of development has the foot prints of Diaspora. The economy has their footprints everywhere. The immense contribution of the Diaspora cannot be under rated. After 46 years, a new Kenya has emerged with new American style constitution and the contribution of ideas and support from thousands of Kenyans living abroad or those who have studied abroad cannot come at a better time. Successful implementation of these new structures will largely depend on how much the Diaspora is involved. Ignore their input at Kenya’s peril!

The unforeseen challenges of establishing County governments will be easily countered and stronger foundations laid with the involvement of people who have travelled, studied or lived abroad. Kuishi kwingi kuona mengi! (He who has travelled has seen a lot).

The implementation of this new constitution requires an out-of -the box approach of thinking and management. Currently, corruption has permeated many sectors of Kenyan society that an infusion with fresh people of integrity is needed. No longer will Kenyans blame the central government for all the failures and inefficiencies of their systems. The success of their Counties will depend on whom they elect into office and in turn the management that will be entrusted with their resources. The animal on their plate is much bigger than the African elephant and will need new ways of skinning. They need to turn to their sons and daughter whom they sent abroad to study better ways of life.

While for over 46 years Kenyans depended on central government to frame policies for development, this is about to change. This responsibility will shift to the local leadership bringing challenges hitherto unforeseen by the framers of this new constitution. The new law calls for stringent oversight and integrity of leadership at all levels. With rampant corruption at every institution including the church, is there a crop of young leadership that can create a new culture upon which to carry the new laws? A new culture of leadership (conspicuously absent today) is needed. New thinkers, dreamers and visionaries are needed. The Diaspora has a lot of offer.

While the costs of running the new government structures and implementing laws are unknown, many Kenyans are concerned as to where to store this new wine. Whom can they entrust? The contaminated and old wineskin is too dangerous to risk this new wine. Failure in the midstream is unthinkable. The new structures will call for ingenuity and creativity from leaders with integrity who can raise revenues and control costs for the new County governments without stealing. This is where expertise from Kenyan Diaspora will tally given the exposure and experience. The government needs to sound the bell and invite Kenyan Diaspora to assist in laying the vital strong foundations for the new way of life. We cannot gamble with fate. It is in our hands. The singer wrote and sang “when He calls me, I will answer”, many are waiting for this call! Will President Kibaki and his team call?

The writer is an advocate for meaningful change to Africa’s ways of political & economic management.

Comments to: Fannuel M. Murianki

Email: mugendipress@gmail.com.

Cell: 011-254-678-438-0516, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Kenya will not be Independent unless POVERTY IS ELIMINATED.

Kenyans,

Fellow country men and ladies let us learn to see things as they really are. Even though other people may call a certain object a spade if it does not look like a spade nor perform the functions of a spade, can it really be a spade?. With the new constitution Kenya should now have a plan that can be easily varied to fit the circumstances expected to finish poverty. Some of our country men or women think of poverty only when they see Kibera slum dwellers, or a malnourished Kenyan in Turkana or some one who can not afford a meal. BUT the big poverty lies within our government, our leaders. The elite even in this forum sometimes amazes me when they count Chinese investments, Chinese building this and that in the country. Or USA giving scholarships, aid, UK giving that and that to NGO etc. Fellow country men do we really need independence in practice or we need it only in papers written that!!! Oho! Oho! Kenya got independence in 1963 BUT in real life we are not independent yet?.

People who delights in the pursuit of knowledge and who do not hesitate to learn from others are truly on the path of excellence. So are we those people ? NO. Today the only industrialised country located in the tropic is Singapore, So where is Kenya. A lot much below Singapore despite the true fact that our economy was better than Singapore when the British gave us our so called Independence in 1963. Kenyan government is classified as a begging government under any parameters you put your indicators. We know that beggars can not be independent whether you beat your loud big mouth every day. Our country is indirectly enslaving her citizens with loans, aid, money, etc. The country is promising outsiders a lot of goodies in the country so that they can help in building this and that. Something for your eyes to see, but which is not yours or does not belong to your future generations but only to your present and future masters. Look yourself if you do not believe at some parts in the coast or Nairobi.

With the launching of the new constitution we expect that the country should now embark on poverty eradication very quickly, the country can not be held backward by a few who already claim themselves to be rich. Kenya needs every one of us to stand up and do something for himself first before you do to your next door dweller. There are cultures which must be modified. For example: Let say in a family with 3 sons or 3 daughters who do have an equal opportunity for prosperity and all the 2 work hard and are doing well while one keeps on drinking despite the opportunity in the family. Then here come s the blamers who only blame the hard workers that you are doing well while your brother is just drinking?. Those cultures should be done away with. The approach should be on the drinker who should be reminded of his chances he is waisting. This is a primitive example but I have seen it a lot in this forum. Where a leader is being blamed of doing nothing for his constituents while the opportunity is all there placed for every one to do well.
It is high time we differentiate a good leader from a spoon feeder. The local voters sometimes are blind even in Nairobi area and think of a spoon feeder as a good leader. Mps are not supposed to be spoon feeders, they are not even supposed to use spoon feeding reason to increase their salary. Let then do their jobs and please do yours also. There is nobody in Kenya being given salary to help others. salary in given in Kenya according to the work you do perform: Period!!.

In conclusion: Kenyans should now wake up and do their jobs correctly take your own cross, even in voting, think first why you are voting?, What for? let it be no tribal thing any more. Wake up and till your own garden, deep the basket where you are. This is needed from the grassroot level up to the highest office in the land(president). The new constitution it self will not bring food on the table if you do not work to liberate the country.

Paul Nyandoto

KENYA: SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER

From: Afreeka Unite

Greetings,

We write to inform you that AAPRP, RAS Foundation, UPePO, The Liberators, Fahamu, Oxfam, UNMC and KHRC will be holding a celebration of the 52nd African Liberation Day on the 25th May, 2010 at the Nairobi Safari Club-Lilian towers from 2pm – 8pm.

In line with the unreserved call for the unification and emancipation of the African people, the event will run through various themes;

Speaking truth to Power
Celebrating Women’s contribution to African Liberation and Unity.
Afreeka for Afreekans
While commemorating the life and works of departed African revolutionaries, the event will also provide an open space for dialogue and expression on local and international issues affecting the African struggle towards self-determination.
Invited speakers will include Prof. Anyang’ Nyong’o, Wahu Kaara, Mwandawiro Mghanga, Wachira Mamluki & Keli Musyoka. There will be performances by Dr Dan, Sam Ondieki, Poet, freeMAN and Tempa Tella.

We therefore take this opportunity to seek your participation in this significant conference. Please confirm your attendance by 24th May, 2010.

For more info contact: 0720-662650 (Agwambo),email: agwambo8@yahoo.co.uk

AfreekaMOJA!

AFRICA: AFTER FIFTY YEARS OF FLAG INDEPENDENCE

AFTER FIFTY YEARS OF FLAG INDEPENDENCE.

By NAIWU OSAHON

Africa is the third largest continent with a surface area of 30,310,000 km2. Its population of 800 million in 2008 was less than one sixth of the world’s population of six billion. The population is 75% rural. Its population is set to double in about a quarter century because of a high fertility rate of 4.5 on average. Africa has a great diversity in physical, climatic, geographical and ecological landscape and also in human, cultural, linguistic, religious, intellectual and thought systems, which are all captured in its buoyant arts and literatures. Africa is spoiled by Mother Nature in its soil and subsoil with immense energy resources (cola, hydrocarbons etc) and abundant raw materials for industrialization. It has enormous rural land space and ideal weather for agriculture and yet, Africa is the least developed continent in the world.

After 50 years of independence, Africa remains plagued with abject poverty, diseases, civil wars, illiteracy, chronic famine and underdevelopment. Africa ranks lowest in the world of technology, commerce, international trade and suffers form severe food insecurity aggravated by disasters such as droughts, locust invasions and civil wars. Africa is ravaged by health care problems due to endemic diseases such as malaria, trypanosomiasis, small pox, leprosy, tuberculosis, AIDS, and recently avian flu, damming mortality rate and low life expectancy of about 50 years. In education, it has the highest illiteracy rate in the world and in social engineering, it parades extreme poverty due to weak institutions, poor infrastructure and lack of accountability in governance. We have been governed by mostly mentally ill or bankrupt, definitely in all cases stupid self-serving politicians, each aspiring to be the richest lazy fool in the world sitting like an over-fed baboon atop the tallest tree in our devastated and rotting vineyard, savouring their exploits amidst squalor, hunger and decaying corpses.

The Congolese writer, Sony Labou Tansi, agrees and says “we have been ruled by lazy kings with flabby paunches, empty heads, long arms latched onto their states tills and endowed with a gargantuan ability to cause maximum harm to their people.” The general feeling is that Africa is not moving forward, if anything, it seems to be marking time or stepping backwards from where it stood in 1960. Independence appears not to have been a blessing for Africa rather it has resulted in general disillusionment, regression and hopelessness of its citizens.

Politicians are not the only ones to blame for our mess as a people, intellectuals such as lawyers, economists, engineers, doctors, professors etc are accomplices because they are the ministers, the advisers, the civil servants in the parastatals and agencies of government, They write the speeches and largely formulate and implement the policies which the lazy and greedy politicians robber stamp to perpetrate our collective misfortune. In other words, we are where we are now because of the complacency and lack of courage of the governed to aggressively demand their rights.

The OAU and AU charades.

Although there are many well meaning groups in the USA and around the world pushing for a united African government right away, it is not possible even in twenty years time and cannot be forced. Not when AU member states are still battling with internal statehood contradictions and the Arabs in northern Africa do not consider themselves Africans and are marginalizing their native African populations. The process of unification would take time and until AU member states are each stable enough and their developmental parameters are largely uniform, coherent and progressive, one African government is a mirage. The European Union took decades to evolve, starting with cooperation in certain areas. Even at that, the European Union is limited to a common currency and trade policy and the European Court of human rights at the moment. Africa has made some progress in union matters.

NEPAD

The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), is the African Union’s development programme agency. The NEPAD team members went down on their knees at the 2002 G8 conference to beg the West for a $64 billion handout but instead got $6 billion spread over a period of perhaps 64 years, to make it thoroughly worthless. Obviously, that is where NEEEPAD comes from. The $6 billion bailout is to enable Africa continue to beg the West with loads of NEEEPADS bought from the West.
Alhaji Yahaya J. Jammeh, the president of the Gambia agrees with me in this adapted interview published in the April-June 2006, Goge Africa magazine and pleads with Africa to stop begging the West for aids and begin to look inwards.

Really there is a lot of distortion in history, like when Europeans claim that when they came to Africa, we were living on trees. Europe was able to enslave and colonize us because we were very tolerant. That tolerance is what is making them dictate to us now still. They took the cream of Africa, strong able-bodied Africans; stole our gold, diamonds and other mineral resources; even our dead bodies, our mummies were stolen, for them to find out how Africans were able to preserve dead bodies for 5000 years. We were more technologically advanced because even now, at their level of technological advancement, they cannot build the pyramid that will stand for 5000 years. The hieroglyphics is the oldest art of writing but they don’t want to accept that even the art of writing started in Africa. The African Egyptians educated the Greeks.

The West is shouting about democracy and human rights in Africa but they do not have democracy themselves. Was it democratic to colonize us for 400 years with all the atrocities they committed to subjugate us and develop themselves? Why does it have to take colonialism and slavery for the West to develop on Africa’s blood, sweat and tears? That is what I want Africans to understand. They have spent over 400 years exploiting Africa’s gold, diamonds and labour, is that democracy? What do they expect Africa to be after centuries of European marginalisation? Is democracy possible in a situation of abject poverty? If Africa produces 90% of the world’s raw materials, Africa should be the world’s richest continent but we are the poorest, why? It is because we are exploited. This is the reality. Globalisation is for multinationals to buy African industries and control our economies. It is worst than slavery and political colonization because, he who controls the economy controls the means of livelihood.

If I have stayed in your compound and exploited you for 400 years to the point where you live in abject poverty and I live in affluence, am I not duty bound to give back to you what I have taken from you? I challenge the West, if they are really interested in developing Africa, they should write off our debts, they should compensate us for slavery and colonialism. The other races are being compensated for what happened to them in a period of less than a 100 years. What about Africa that was exploited for 400 years. Loans and grants to Africa should be written off as partial compensation for years of exploitation. The West should give back to us what they have taken from us for over 400 years.
Look at the tsunami. I have sympathy for them, the West too, and they pumped in funds for the tsunami victims. They are even talking of writing off their debts. Also compare what the West has pledged and given countries like Afghanistan and Iraq in a span of a few years with the pittance they have pledged and grudgingly given to Africans in the last 40 years. It is scandalous. We Africans must believe in ourselves, come together and work together because our salvation will come principally from within us. Africa still has the potential to bounce back and regain her lost glory but the West would not leave us alone. They interfere, create wars here and there. Africa is the most conflict prone continent because of the West’s divide and rule tactics.

When we go to the West for assistance, they insist on the peer review mechanism as a condition for giving us one billion dollar loan. Even with that, we still do not get the loan. Any person who is genuinely sincere about bringing development to Africa should have concerns about wars and instability in Africa. Imagine that I make a negative peer review of another African country; will we have peace and stability? Imagine Rwanda making a negative review of DRC or Uganda making one of Rwanda, would that not escalate conflict in the region? Africans went a begging to the West and accepted this peer review thing and I said it is an insult, I won’t accept it. It would exacerbate our problems.

A lot of people are taking credit for the concept of NEPAD, but they didn’t even know where the idea came from. Four of us decided that OAU was not working and that the charter needed to be changed. The African Union (AU) was not supposed to replicate OAU. It was to be a charter that would allow say 4 states to begin with, to come together and form a government, which the rest could join in their own time as the European Union has done. The charter was supposed to put an end to wars in Africa because once we have peace, we can focus on development. The idea to set up a Rapid Social Economic Development Trust Fund came from me because when Chad wanted to build her ‘Oil Pipe line,’ there was so much super power rivalry, hostilities and politics.

The World Bank and the IMF would not give the money needed, and because it was too expensive, we had a meeting in Chad where I asked why we even have to depend on them. I said when you want a major development they won’t assist you and when you look at what the World Bank gives to Africa anyway, it is less than one billion dollars in a year. I suggested that if Nigeria, Algeria, Libya, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea were to put 10 percent of their oil revenue in a Trust Fund, it would be more than what the World bank gives African countries. We would then not need any funding from the World Bank for major projects in Africa. If this money is put in a Trust Fund, African countries could borrow from there to implement major projects rather than being obliged to resort to austerity measures such as SAP etc that have brought more suffering and social upheaval to Africa. The Rapid Social Economic Development Trust Fund was not supposed to go about begging anybody for money. If every country in Africa puts 10% of her export earnings in this Trust Fund, though we will still need IMF and World Bank, it will be in partnership. But the partnership will be on our terms not their terms and conditions. At a meeting in Switzerland, the West changed this initial idea, designed to liberate Africa from the stranglehold of the IMF and the World Bank, to the NEPAD lame dock concept that ties Africa’s fortunes perpetually to the apron string of the West as a beggar.

OAU / AU

The OAU was created in the post independence era in 1963. Its primary function was to complete the process of decolonization of the continent; lead the fight against apartheid and work for the economic, social and cultural development of Africa. The OAU concentrated largely on its political priority from inception and fulfilled that mission when apartheid came to an end in 1994.

What is known as the Lagos Action Plan and its final Act to bring African countries closer together was adopted in the 1980s but it lacked implementation mechanism. In 1991, the OAU rectified the anomaly with the Abuja Treaty with a long term plan to establish an African Common Market in six phases over a period of thirty-four years. At the Algiers Summit in July 1999, the Heads of States decided to accelerate the implementation of the Abuja Treaty and set in motion an extraordinary Summit held in Sirte, Libya on 9th September,1999 at the behest of Colonel Kadhafi. At the Sirte Summit, the OAU as an intergovernmental agency of co-operation was considered outmoded and its Commission was mandated to do everything possible to bring the Union of African States into being without delay.

The constitutive units of the Union, like the OAU charter, were actively debated among the OAU members at forums, conferences and workshops after the Sirte Summit, leading to fusing elements of the OAU Charter with elements of the Abuja Treaty. The most contentious issue was that of interference which was resolved by the compromise language of rights of non-indifference in situation where human rights were being violated i.e. war crimes, genocide and crime against humanity.
The African Union (AU) was launched in Durban, South Africa in July 2002. The four principal areas of activities of the AU are: (a) institutional transformation; (b) peace, security, good governance and humanitarian issues (democracy and human rights); (c) regional integration through economic, social and cultural structures; (d) shared vision. Even after the AU Maputo Summit of July 2003, structures of the AU Commission; rules of procedure and portfolios of the Commission, were still being debated and fine tuned. The Commission of the AU came into being in 2006. In fact, its office was opened in December, 2006 and it serves as the depository of the institutional memory of the AU apart from coordinating the relations between the various departments of the Commission and between the Commission and other organs of the AU.

At the Maputo Summit in July 2003, the Heads of States decided to give the Diaspora the status of Sixth African region. A meeting on the Diaspora was held at ministerial level in October 2007. A Summit called: “Towards a United Africa integration with its Diaspora” was held in Johannesburg, South Africa, in the autumn of 2008. The debates so far have been on what constitutes the Diaspora. Does it consist only of the descendants of African slaves who are now citizens of other continents (Caribbean, the United States of America, etc)? Can it consist of Africans who have chosen to emigrate from Africa or both? At the moment, the Diaspora works with ECOSOC of the AU, where it has 20 seats. The AU Commission intends to help the global African Diaspora elect its representatives to ECOSOC. This will require an organ in which civil society can fully participate in the life of the Union and consequently be able to raise issues with the deliberating organs of the AU; follow the implementation of the decisions, participate in clearly defined regional programmes, particularly through transfers of intellectual capacity in the context of centers of excellence or regional universities and to participate in the funding of the Union.

Senegal has suggested that a representative of the Diaspora should have observer status for two or three years and that a Head of State of a country in the Diaspora or an important Diaspora community leader should be able to come to represent the Diaspora in the internal deliberations of the AU, including the closed sessions, and that they should consider themselves as part of us, rather than as being guests like the other observers who have to leave the room at closed meetings.
These are some of the problems the AU has been trying to resolve as regards Diaspora involvement in its deliberations. Whatever way the problems are resolved, there is no way the entire Diaspora African family can fully participate in AU matters if a head of state from say a Caribbean country or an African American community leader represents the Diaspora at the AU. The only solution is an African People’s Union (APU), an umbrella body of the entire African race, with moral and temporal influence and authority over the AU particularly as its major financial backer and whose leaders function with equal clout with AU leaders in all the leading departments of the AU the same way the Jewish Congress and cabbalism influence the Jews as a people and the State of Israel.

Therefore, every African in the world and as a matter of urgency, every Diaspora African, whether from the Caribbean, USA or Europe, must join the African People’s Union now. Of course, some of us might want to continue expending time and energy on matters such as USA 4 United States of Africa, SADA, WADU and the thousands of other marginal tendencies that tend to divide us and dissipate our energies as a people. They have every right to their tendencies but if they truly love Africa and want our race to move forward, they and every one of us must from now on give 99% of our time and energy to the African People’s Union (APU) because it is our only hope for a better future for our race.

Every Black and African alive today or yet unborn must read the BLUE BOOK of the African race because it is the rallying document for our liberation. Copy of the document is attached. The BLUE BOOK of the African race is free and e-copies can be obtained from bakinkunama@gmail.com Let’s launch the ultimate revolt of the poor, marginalized and oppressed. Let’s get APU off the ground from our homes, hamlets, offices, streets, neighbourhoods and nations. This is a responsibility we individually owe our race, so, let’s stop moaning and hit the road as warriors and patriots of our race. If you want to be our leaders, you are welcome but do not forget that our titles only make us servant warriors of our race. Do not waste any more time, join APU now and let us take control of our world. We cannot do it without you.

NAIWU OSAHON Hon. Khu Mkuu (Leader) World Pan-African Movement); Ameer Spiritual (Spiritual Prince) of the African race; MSc. (Salford); Dip.M.S; G.I.P.M; Dip.I.A (Liv.); D. Inst. M; G. Inst. M; G.I.W.M; A.M.N.I.M. Poet, Author of the magnum opus: ‘The end of knowledge’. One of the world’s leading authors of children’s books; Awarded; key to the city of Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Honourary Councilmanship, Memphis City Council; Honourary Citizenship, County of Shelby; Honourary Commissionership, County of Shelby, Tennessee; and a silver shield trophy by Morehouse College, USA, for activities to unite and uplift the African race.

Naiwu Osahon renowned author, philosopher of science, mystique, leader of the world Pan-African Movement.