KENYA: THE IRON LADY LOCKED OUT OF THE ODM GRASSROOT ELECTIONS THE BIG NAMES AND SEASONED POLITICIANS IN KISUMU FROM THE SUB LOCATIONS TO THE COUNTY LEVEL
Reports Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City
The just concluded Orange Democratic Movement {ODM} grass rots election in Kisumu County produced shocking and surprising results in some places while it also created happiness in other places.
From Nyakach constituency, also within the Kisumu County one iron lady did the impossible. She sent several big names within the region’s political circles tumbling to the ground locking the men from the sub-locations, locations, and district to the finish at the County level.
Grace Adhiambo Akumu had joined the election race as an underdog. There were big names who include former Minister, the sitting MP and former Chairman of Gor Mahia Football Club in the race.
She is the wife of a veteran trade unionist and former CXOTU {K} Secretary General J.D.Akumu, who was a two time MP for Nyakach. She managed to lock out of the party election the former MP for Nyakach and one time an Assistant Minister Peter Odoyo, the sitting MP Polyins Ochieng’ Daima and Eng. Evans Kodera who hails with her from the same Koguta sub-location in Nyakach.
MRS Akumu who has already declared her interest in vying for the Nyakach parliamentary seat in the forthcoming genera election won the position of the Women Orange Democratic at the Kisumu County ODM branch in the violence marred elections held at the Tom Mboya Labour College in Kisumu which saw some of the ugliest incidents.
During the violence orgies, the Nyakach MP Ochieng Daima was assaulted and punched by a civic leader from Nyakach and scores of people were injured in a knife attacks & fist attacks. Mrs Rosa Buyu from Kisumu West constituency won the chairperson of the ODM Women Democrat wing.
In Homa-Bay County, the branch chair was clinched by the Immigration and Registration of Persons Minister Otieno Kajwang’ in a controversial election carried out by consensus after delegates had sharply disagreed with the mode of the election. The Rangwe MP Martin Otieno Ogindo who had earlier been rescued from the attacks by rowdy youths forcing his personal bodyguard to fire in the air was named the vice chairman; while Karachuonyo MP Eng James K Rege was named the branch Secretary and the position of the branch treasurer went to Mrs Monica Amolo from Ndhiwa.
Mrs Benedater Yambo aka Nyaseme from Gwassi became the County Women representative while Mrs Patricia Ouma from Kasipul-Kabondo and another person Mourice Aguko Mayora Jamumbo was named the Assistant branch secretary.
The outspoken Gwassi MP John Mbadi was locked out of the race all along from the sub-locations level as was his Kasipul-Kabondo counter part Jseph Oyugi Magwanga.
Looking jovial, Mrs Akumu thanked the ODM members in Nyakach and also within Kisumu County and promised to deliver. She said she was grateful for that she had had come all along from the sub-location to the County level an indication that party members both men and women have confidence in her.
photo of Mrs Akumu
She said that while campaigning in her rural Nyakach, she had come to realize that most women folks do not understand what the meaning of the new constitution commonly dubbed “Women Katiba” due to the extensive inclusion of the gender issues therein the new document.
Mrs Akumu made a pledge that she would be consulting with the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and some NGOs with the view to seeking funds for the translation of the new Constitution into various vernacular languages so that ordinary men and women could under stand what it says.
Akumu said she will thrive to work hard toward the empowerment of women economically and look for market outlets for the primary farm products.
Ends
Sudan & Kenya: Rights groups welcome arrest order against Bashir
from Judy Miriga
Folks,
Al-Bashir is the problem why Kenya's Devolution Counties are not taking effect. He was the key financier of Al-Qaeda and Al-Shabaab in Kenya…….the reason why the head of Al-Shabaab is in Kenya and the tail in Somali. He is the key financier for Somali Pirates and Co-network of Museveni with Menes Zenawi President of Ethiopia. Al-Bashir is the reason for conflicts in North, East and Central African Nations where there are destruction of lives, pain and long sufferings of the poor and destruction of youth stability and the middle class, drug and human traffickings, the reason for instability in Somali and Congo with genocide of millions of deaths in South Sudan.
Yes, Al-Bashir must be taken to ICC Hague…….and the Court is independent to delivering legal justice. Wetangula has no powers to stop the Law from taking its Judicial execution of service. Let the whole world unite with the Judicial freternity to save this sorry situation……..It is the right thing to do……..and Wetangula MUST be investigated without fail.....he could be knowing who is who in the Pirate masterminder in Indian Ocean, Migingo and River Nile.....
Foreign Ministry with leadership of Wetangula is already questionable and cannot be taken serious. Wetangula needs to be investigated first before anything coming from him or from his leadership can be trusted. Wetangula is the reason Al-Bashir cum Al-Shabaab and is the reason for Al-Bashir having hold and control in Kenya. Wetangula is the reason why Migingo was given to Museveni and the reason for Lake Victoria Fishing Industry was faked to Kakamega without proper trading agreement, and water from Lake Victoria and Migingo is being bottled in Uganda factories for export in Arab Countries without accountability and transparency as to who are the beneficiaries and stakeholders in these trading profits, yet the Kenyan Public pay taxes to the business community on top of their huge unscrupulous trading profits. Wetangula is the reason why Foreign Embassy's money is being misappropriated and some was transferred to personal property, paying college fees to foreign students who as lobbyist, transact and facilitate such shoddy deals under unclear program, he is the reason why The South Sudan Oil Wells with River Nile have been surrounded for special interest ........and now, we DEMAND that Wetangula be investigated urgently and expeditiously. .....It is because Wetangula might make an interesting witness at ICC Hague........for violation, Abuse and Crime Against Humanity.......including matters that touches on shoddy illegal and unconstitutional deals, pain and long suffering of humanity, drugs, pirating, human trafficking and organ trafficking.
Judy Miriga
Diaspora Spokesperson
Executive Director
Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
USA
http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com
- - - - - - - - - - -
Rights groups welcome arrest order against Bashir
By Beauttah Omanga
Human rights organisations and lawyers welcomed court ruling on Sudan President Omar Bashir, and termed expulsion of Kenyan envoy an "over-reaction".
Lawyer James Mwamu and the chair of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights Florence Jaoko described the ruling as historic, but demanded that the Government makes a commitment to comply.
Mwamu said Bashir should not react as if it was the Government that gave the arrest orders.
"The onus is now on the Government to effect the order," said the vice-president of the East Africa Law Society.
Jaoko, George Kegoro of the International Commission of Jurists and Senior Counsel Paul Muite termed Sudan’s reaction "very unfortunate", as it did not take into account separation of powers, saying local Judiciary was independent.
respect
Muite said the ruling was a milestone in restoring Kenyans’ faith the Judiciary. Mr Kegoro said the Sudan leader’s move to end ties with Kenya were geared at pre-empting similar moves by civil societies in other African countries.
"President Bashir has overreacted. We went to court as citizens in respect to our Constitution," said Kegoro.
Kenya to challenge warrant for Sudanese President
Monday 28th 2011
The Kenyan government will contest a warrant issued by a domestic court for Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir after failing to arrest him on a visit last year, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.
A Kenyan judge issued a warrant for the Sudanese leader on Monday after the government failed to execute an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant when Bashir visited Nairobi last August.
Bashir is wanted in The Hague-based ICC for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed in Sudan's Darfur region, where the UN says at least 300,000 people have been killed in the eight-year conflict.
Kenya has ratified the ICC's founding Rome statute, which theoretically obliges it to execute the court's warrants.
Judge Nicolas Ombija said the court ruling meant that Bashir's arrest "should be effected by the attorney general and the minister for internal security should he ever set foot in Kenya".
But Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula said in a statement on Tuesday: "Since our judicial system provides for right of appeal, we shall carefully look at the judgement with a view to requesting the attorney general to expeditiously prefer an appeal in the matter."
Bashir had attended a ceremony in Nairobi to mark the adoption of Kenya's new constitution.
After he left the country a free man, the Kenyan chapter of the International Commission of Jurists, an association of legal professionals that promotes human rights, approached the courts to issue a warrant.
Bashir is the subject of two arrest warrants issued by the ICC for atrocities committed in Darfur in western Sudan. The first was issued in March 2009 for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The second was issued in July 2010 on charges of genocide.
Kibaki to chair talks on Sudan plea
By Luke Anami in Bujumbura
Sudan’s application to join the East African Community (EAC) now hangs in the balance following the diplomatic row between Khartoum and Nairobi ahead of the bloc’s Heads of State Summit in Bujumbura.
Signs of a showdown were displayed on Tuesday when some ministers openly opposed Sudan’s inclusion ahead of Southern Sudan application.
Uganda’s First Prime Minister and Minister for East Africa Affairs Eriya Kategaya said it would be wrong to admit a country whose political leadership is under scrutiny for violations of human rights .
"Sudan does not share a border with any member of the EAC partner States. It will be wrong to admit it before that of South Sudan," Kategaya said.
"If you look at several issues like their democracy, the way they treat women and their religious politics we feel they don’t qualify."
Minutes after arrival
The seriousness of the matter was underlined when President Kibaki, minutes after arrival in Bujumbura, went into a briefing session with East African Community Minister Musa Sirma, his Foreign Affairs counterpart Moses Wetangula, and Attorney General Gitu Muigai.
"The AG and the EAC minister are briefing the President this afternoon before the meeting tomorrow. The issue of Sudan will form part of the agenda at the Heads of State summit," EAC PS David Nalo said in an interview with The Standard.
Interestingly, Kibaki will chair the summit that will determine Khartoum’s application after taking over leadership from Burundi’s Pierre Nkurunziza.
Prof Muigai was busy preparing a brief by the time we went to press.
Briefing the media last week, EAC Secretary General Richard Sezibera said Sudan President Omar al Bashir in June wrote to Nkurunziza expressing his country’s interest in joining the bloc.
South Sudan made its application this month. "We received South Sudan’s application some weeks ago,"Dr Sezibera said. "But the Heads of States will discuss Sudan’s application first, before agreeing on any move," he added.
Nairobi Star (Nairobi)
Kenya: Arrest Omar Al-Bashir If He Steps in Nation - Court
Jillo Kadida
29 November 2011
A judge yesterday obligated the Attorney-General and Security minister to arrest Sudan President Omar Bashir should he set foot in Kenya. In an order seen to shame government officials who feted Bashir as a state guest during the constitution promulgation on August 27, 2010, Judge Nicholas Ombija decreed he must be arrested and sent off to The Hague to answer to charges of crime against humanity in relation to the Darfur crisis.
And should the state fail to execute the warrant, the judge said, the International Commission of Jurists Kenyan Chapter - which sought the court order - should go back to court and seek another order to compel the state to perform its duty under the international laws. Bashir has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for genocide crimes committed in Sudan.
The court also issued two warrants of arrest which have never been enforced. The jurists' organisation said it was forced to move to court after the government invited Bashir to the ceremony on August 27, 2010.
Despite two warrants hanging over his head and two requests made by ICC to the Rome Statute member states to apprehend Bashir and hand him over so that he can face the law, the Sudanese President walked into the country and out without any trouble. The question of his arrest was never raised. Instead Kenyan officials gave excuses as to why they did not apprehend him.
Among the excuses given was that the African Union had requested for suspension of the warrant and Kenya being a member of the Union could not go against these wishes. The Kenya government cited strategic interest in the neighbouring country. Foreign Affairs assistant minister Richard Onyonka said arresting Bashir may have risked disrupting peace in Sudan. "Apart from being an immediate neighbour, Sudan's stability is vitally linked to Kenya's continued peace and well being," he said.
Onyonka said Kenya has an obligation, both as a neighbour and as a mediator in the peace agreement, to keep talking with the leadership of Sudan's power-sharing government to ensure that peace is sustained. He said the Kenya government also invited Salva Kiir, the Sudan vice-president who is now Southern Sudan's leader, to attend the promulgation.
Kiir could not attend because government protocol does not allow the president and vice-president to travel abroad at the same time, Onyonka said. "We must have a peaceful resolution to the issues of Sudan and Kenya is going to make sure that we achieve the results," he said. "If it means negotiating with both parties we shall."
Transport minister Amos Kimunya said at the time: "It is important, as Kenyans, for us to appreciate that Kenyan interests must come first, regional interests come second and international interests come third." Under the Rome Statute any member state is under obligation to arrest any individual accused of committing crimes against humanity irrespective of his or her state, where the crimes were committed or their social status.
Yesterday judge Ombija said having ratified the Rome Statute which created the ICC, Kenya is under duty to apprehend any war criminal. He said the international law forms part of Kenyan law and is recognised by the country's constitution. This means the government's failure to arrest Bashir amounts to violation of its duty. The ICJ Kenyan Chapter blamed the Kenya government for failing to arrest Bashir when he visited the country.
According to ICJ, the Kenya government, in utter disregard of its obligation under international law, failed to arrest Bashir despite the existence of two warrants of arrest issued by ICC. The government however opposed the case and issuance of warrant saying ICJ does not have powers to institute the case. It said the request for provisional warrant of arrest against Bashir ought to be made by ICC first.
In one of its letters, the ICJ called for arrest of Bashir in the event he turns up for the Igad Conference scheduled to be held in the country which was later moved to Ethiopia for fear that he will be arrested. A statement from the ICC Registrar, Silvana Arbia, had said: "The International Criminal Court requested the Republic of Kenya to inform the Chamber, no later than 29 October, about any problem which would impede or prevent the arrest and surrender of Omar al-Bashir in the event that he visits the country on 30 October, 2010."
--- On Tue, 11/29/11, Judy Miriga wrote:
From: Judy Miriga
Subject: This is Good News ...... Kenyan court issues arrest warrant for Sudan’s Bashir
Date: Tuesday, November 29, 2011, 10:37 AM
Folks,
This is good news. Let us watch how it plays........It is only those guided through wisdom who will provide the driving force towards constitutional justification to balance Human Rights......It is only those whose conscious uprightness, will guide them to do what is legally right, who will provide the Revolution needed for Human Rights Oppression and Realistic Justified Freedom to Liberty from hypocritical unscrupulous International Corporate business interest. It is only those whose uprightness to Reform the change we all need, who will be the true advocates for fair Socio/Economic and Political landscape challenges towards common Mutual progressive development agenda for sustainable stability in a level playing field.
It is of such actions of the likes of Justice Nicholas Ombijah who will provide Treasure for African Wealth and which will value, provide dignity, honor and virtue to security of life........A New Vision which is capable to generate Faith we can all believe in and Trust........
Our God will never leave or forsake us, He is an awesome God, He is true to his promises.....and to those who believe, .......God promised us life and good health, He did not promise us fear, pain, long suffering or despair and failure......we must all remain strong standing on God's Promises getting involved in our own special ways to bring the change we all want, so we can be United under Peace in Love and caring for one another........Let us all strive to see God answering our Prayers in each one of us in all our diverse situations........
Kudos to Justice Nicholas Ombija, and may God continue to protect you, give you strength and wisdom to overcome temptation that will come your way, so justice may finally be achieved by the oppressed black, people of African descent.......and more specifically to Kenya…….Thanks to God, wickedness and evil spirit does not come from God, it comes from Satan, and Satan is a liar..........
Justice Nicholas Ombija, you are the best, and you are the winner.........keep on keeping on and God in His Mercy, will see us all through.......This is the way to go people…….This is how we can bring change that we all want…….!!!
Cheers......!!!
Judy Miriga
Diaspora Spokesperson
Executive Director
Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
USA
http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com
Kenyan court issues arrest warrant for Sudan’s Bashir
By Judy Ogutu
Sudan President Omar al Bashir risks being arrested and handed over to the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague if he sets foot on Kenyan soil.
This follows an order by a High Court Judge sitting in Nairobi to have the Sudan leader arrested.
Justice Nicholas Ombijah issued a warrant for his arrest on Monday following an application lodged by the International Commission for Jurists (ICJ) Kenya Chapter.
"The court hereby issues a warrant of arrest against Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir as urged by the applicant. The order should be effected by the Attorney General (AG) and the Minister for Internal Security should he ever set foot in Kenya," he ruled.
ICJ Kenya Chapter had applied for the same on the basis of an order for his arrest by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The organization rushed to court soon after Bashir’s visit in Kenya on August 27, 2010 during the promulgation of the country’s new Constitution.
On Monday, the judge said: "Al Bashir came to Kenya on August 27 and the Kenyan authorities in utter disregard of their obligations under the international law and laws of Kenya failed to enforce the warrant of arrest."
Bashir was the first head of state to be indicted by the ICC, which is accusing him of genocide and war crimes in Darfur. He has denied the charges, saying they are politically motivated.
About 2.7 million people have fled their homes since the conflict began in Darfur in 2003, and the UN says about 300,000 have died - mostly from disease.
Sudan's government says the conflict has killed about 12,000 people and the number of dead has been exaggerated for political reasons.
In its application before court, ICJ Kenya had expressed fears that should he come to Kenya, the government will not effect the warrant of arrest which would be in total disregard of the law.
On Monday, the Judge ruled that according to the Constitution, any treaty or convention ratified by the government shall form part of the laws of Kenya.
On March 15, 2005, Kenya ratified the Rome Statute under which the International Criminal Court is established.
The Rome Statute, the Judge added, was in conformity with the Constitution of Kenya and the country was obligated to arrest him being a member state to the Rome Statute.
The State had opposed the application by ICJ Kenya chapter, saying it lacked locus standi (legal authority) to file the same. It was also its contention that the application was mute and moribund.
The judge overruled them saying it indeed had the locus standi.
"I am satisfied that the applicant (ICJ-Kenya) has the necessary locus standi. The application succeeds," he stated.
The International Centre for Policy and Conflict (ICPC) on Monday welcomed the decision.
In a statement signed by its Deputy Director and Programmes Director, Mwaura Nderi, it said if the government does not execute the order it would be failing in its obligations as set out in the Rome Statute.
Kenya: Education and Literacy 50 years of Uhuru: Reflections for Action
From: Yona F Maro
Dear Friends, Education and Literacy Advocates, Readers..
Let me remind you again that the long awaited public forum: 'Education
and Literacy 50 years of Uhuru: Reflections for Action' is taking
place today (Tuesday, 29th November, 2011) at Soma Book Cafe
Panelists: Elizabeth Missokia (HakiElimu), Richard Mabala (Tamasha), A
representative from Oxfam, Blooming Africa/Susan Mbise, Elieshi Lema
(E&D Vision Publishing), and Nyanda Shuli (Haki Elimu) as Moderator..
And..
Music and Literary Performances by: Rage, Mawio Arts, Lwitiko,
Nyandindi, Joseph Payne, etc
(Drinks and Cocktails from BLIND TIGER)
We start at 5pm
COME ONE, COME ALL, COME EVERYBODY... And make your voice heard!
See the attached map for directions to Soma Book Cafe
Click on the link below for the full Program
https://viewer.zoho.com/docs/kbcbWbg
--
East Africa Jobs www.kazibongo.blogspot.com
Jobs in Tanzania www.utumishitz.blogspot.com
China: Rogue aid? The determinants of China’s aid allocation
From: Yona Maro
Foreign aid from China is often characterized as ‘rogue aid’ that is not guided by recipient need but by China’s national interests alone. However, no econometric study so far confronts this claim with data. The study finds that political considerations are an important determinant of China’s allocation of aid. However, in comparison to other donors, China does not pay substantially more attention to politics. In contrast to widespread perceptions, the study finds no evidence that China’s aid allocation is dominated by natural resource endowments. Moreover, China’s allocation of aid seems to be widely independent of democracy and governance in recipient countries. Overall, denominating aid from China as ‘rogue aid’ seems unjustified.
According to the Financial Times, China outperformed the World Bank as the world’s largest provider of overseas loans to developing countries through its China Development Bank and China Export-Import Bank amounting to at least US$110 billion in 2009 and 2010. Tanzania was the single most important recipient of Chinese economic aid between 1956 and 1987. 62.0% of China’s economic aid between 1956 and 1987 has been provided to Africa, highlighting China’s aspirations to become the leading power in the Third World. 22.7% of China’s economic aid in this period were provided to Asia, with the intention of creating “friendly relations with its closest neighbours”.
https://ncgg.princeton.edu/IPES/2011/papers/F1120_rm3.pdf
--
East Africa Jobs www.kazibongo.blogspot.com
Jobs in Tanzania www.utumishitz.blogspot.com
USA, MN: Special Invitation
from DAVID ADAWO
The Pastor and Destiny Faith Ministries Family cordially invites you, your family and your friends to join them in a mega funds drive for the purchase of a house of worship (Church Building) to be held on Sunday the 12/4/2011 as from 12:30pm upto 2:00pm at 7377 Noble Avenue North, Brooklyn Park, MN, 55443.
for more information contact
Rev. James Maina 612-306-9859
Samuel Mwangi 763-647-9787
Kennedy Buge 612-598-0649
Catherine Irungu 612-245-9627
David Adawo 612-298-5763
Robby Ngany'wa 832-577-3781
God bless you.
DRC: UNDERSTANDING THE CONFLICT IN DRC AS ELECTIONS ARE UNDERWAY
From: ouko joachim omolo
Colleagues Home & Abroad Regional News
BY FR JOACHIM OMOLO OUKO, AJ
NAIROBI-KENYA
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2011
Voters in the Democratic Republic of Congo have begun casting ballots in presidential and legislative elections few hours a go. It is almost certain that Joseph Kabila is retaining the power despite reports of violence and accusations of fraud. At least three people were reported killed leading up to the election.
President Kabila has been in power since 2001, when he assumed the presidency after the assassination of his father, Laurent Kabila in mysterious circumstances. No one can say exactly why Laurent Kabiala was to be assassinated despite the fact that his son Joseph Kabila was the army general and in charge of the armed forces.
If it is true of what the Telegraph learnt, that the two men fell out dramatically during the last months of Kabila's capricious rule, to the extent that Joseph was even briefly detained on his father's orders following an attempted army mutiny at a barracks near the presidential palace in September, then this leaves a lot to be desired.
Only a week after Joseph Kabial was sworn in as president, George Bush invited him to visit Washington. Although the meeting is said to have focused on how to bring peace in Congo, the U.S. media are today blaming Kabila for failing to bring peace to the Congo.
To understand conflict in Congo and how to resolve it is complicated-we trace it back from Leopold II who was a very ambitious man and wanted to personally enrich himself and enhance his country’s prestige by annexing and colonizing lands in Africa.
When he succeeded his father, Leopold I in 1865, to the Belgian throne, and in 1876 when he commissioned Sir Henry Morton Stanley’s expedition to explore the Congo region, this was the beginning of the problem in DRC, especially when he proclaimed himself king-sovereign of Congo Free State at a time when France, Britain, Portugal, and Germany also had colonies in the area.
Even though in 1885 Leopold II secured U.S. recognition of his personal sovereignty over the Congo Free State, his rule was not only brutal that led to millions of Congolese death as a result, the problem intensified when Belgian state annexes Congo in 1908 amid protests over killings and atrocities carried out on a mass scale by Leopold's agents.
Worse still was in 1960 June when Congo became independent with Patrice Lumumba as prime minister and Joseph Kasavubu as president. It seemed as if the U.S. was not in favour of Lumumba that is why through their influence Kasavubu was forced to dismiss Lumumba as prime minister in September 1960 following his arrest in December 1960.
It explains why on January 17, 1961, the government of Moise Tshombe in Katanga, with the full support of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Lumumba was murdered and two of his associates in cold blood according to documents released by the United States government in July 2006.
Besides the cold war rivalry, the other main reason for killing Lumumba and supporting the secession in the provinces of Katanga and Kasai was for Belgians to secure controlling interests in the rich mineral resources of the Congo of which the U.S.- as beneficiary.
Even after the assassination of Lumumba there was no peace in Congo yet. Thereafter many governments ruled Congo in rapid succession: Évariste Kimba, Joseph Ileo, Cyrille Adoula, and Moise Tshombe-although in 1965, after ruling from behind the scenes for four years, Mobutu Sese Seko finally overthrew Kasavubu in 1965 in a coup widely believed to be sponsored by the same CIA who were also behind the assassination of Lumumba.
Mobutu ruled for thirty-one years until he was forced out of power by Laurent Kabila in 1997 who accused him and his supporters as so corrupt and stole so much money from the Congolese people that his government was described as a kleptocracy, or government by thieves. When Kabila drove him from power, Mobutu’s wealth deposited in foreign banks was in excess of $4 billion.
Even with Laurent Kabila conflict in Congo continued and even now with his son, despite the fact that the new constitution has introduced president/prime minister power sharing and two-term presidential limit approved in December 2005 referendum, promulgated 18 February 2006.
In North Kivu, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, violent conflict persists between government forces and an array of military groups. The frontlines constantly shift, and local people are trapped in the middle – often cut off from medical care.
Government and rebel militias fight to control Congo’s mines, which are rich with natural resources. Profits from conflict minerals fund horrific violence. Since 1996, over 5.5 million have died from war-related causes. Countless women and children have been raped.
Congo is the world’s largest cobalt producer, third largest producer of industrial diamonds, fifth largest producer of copper, and is home to staggering reserves of uranium, oil, gold, tantalum, tungsten, niobium, and zinc. Beyond mineral resources, Congo contains vast amounts of other resources including the continent’s largest rainforests and ample amount of arable land.
Congo’s agriculture sector has the potential to feed 2 billion people—nearly a third of the world’s population—according to Jacques Diouf, former general director of the Food and Agriculture Organization in Congo.
Even though it could be argued that Congo’s wars ended in 2003 as Kabila claims, yet there are more than 2.5 million people live as refugees. Yet still, in conflict-prone North and South Kivu provinces, fear of a scenario in which Joseph Kabila is not reelected as president is growing is scaring.
Rumors abound that without Kabila as the head of state, the Tutsi-based National Congress for the Defense of the People, or CNDP, might attempt secession and declare independence for the two Kivu provinces.
Complaints have also arisen across North and South Kivu about incomplete voter registration lists. Civil society has reported that people in remote areas such as Idjwi Nord, an island in Lake Kivu, raised their voice when the names of about 20,000 eligible voters didn’t appear on the list at a polling station, when 42,500 people had registered to vote.
Similarly, in Pinga, in Walikale territory of North Kivu, civil society reported the disappearance of about 2,550 names from the voting list. Again apart from voters walking from far as 15 Kilometres to vote in bad whether, the presence of armed groups in the east of the country constitutes an obstacle to holding peaceful, free and fair elections in the country.
These groups are not only capable of destroying electoral materials to ensure that elections are not held in regions they control, they can do everything to ensure that they do not lose the privileges they currently enjoy, which include illegal exploitation and looting of the wealth in the east.
People for Peace in Africa (PPA)
P O Box 14877
Nairobi
00800, Westlands
Kenya
Tel +254-7350-14559/+254-722-623-578
E-mail- ppa@africaonline.co.ke
omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Website: www.peopleforpeaceafrica.org
Africa’s Development Agenda is in State of Emergency
from Judy Miriga
Folks,
Corruption through Conspiracy in a Planned Global Economic Recession is worse than cancer. It creeps in like a snake. It is an Economic Sabotage terrorism that are done through organized gangs, Genocide, Drug Abuse, Organ and Human Trafficking, and are Violation, Abuse and Crime Against Humanity that which is wholly and completely is unacceptable. They are illegal and unconstitutional, requiring urgent Legal Justice to take effect.
To those who feel their lives are threatened, before they are turned into meat and are consumed, they must run urgently to the nearest European Embassy for safety……….
Clearly, public taxpayer theft from public resources, facilities and equipments by politicians in the Ponzi Scheme and Hedge Funding at World Bank, IMF and wall street, is a serious crime and has escalated sorry situation of poverty in Africa transcending and affecting the whole world, through engineered selfish cartels by means of consuming public corporations' with other mineral Wealth, Crime against humanity in forms and shape by the cartels has caused world economic collapse. This is critical and require urgent fixing.........by combined force from good people of the world, before more lives are consumed.......We cannot be blinded, World Bank and IMF with other International financial institutions funding programs in Africa are all in a conspiracy to kill Africans and take over Africa in their Ponzi Scheme and Hedge Funding. They are already in bankruptcy and are in search of other ways and means to raise money to impoverish Diaspora from monies transferred to Kenya. Watch out people.....! It is the reason they are watching capital of total money transferred in remittances to Kenya by the Diaspora. World Bank and IMF are not trading in money worth, it cannot be acceptable that they possess public corporation and other National public wealth. Any change of constitution must be rejected as it is posing catastrophic menace and strangulation to Kenyans public wealth.
Economic Sabotage must not be given space in the present age of Democratic Governance or anywhere in the world. For example, how will Diaspora engage effectively in investments of vision 2030 in Africa when Government cannot be trusted and where there is no guarantee that their investment will be protected or compensated, considering cases like the recent Demolition of millions of dollars of houses that were pulled down in Nairobi ….???.....How can the Diaspora be convinced which papers issued by the Government officials to Diaspora investors are authentic……???......This is impoverishing and exploiting the third world from sustainable feasible economic development. This is why, vision 2030 of Raila and Kibaki must be rejected by all people of Diaspora. It is a wicked monster. In the recent event of Kazi kwa Vijana enquiry, If PM Raila was not able to effectively implement Kazi kwa Vijana funding according to the official reason for its request, and having been caught with hands dipped in the jar of honey, consuming it illegally, he sneakilly quickly ran to return the money back to World bank. This shows he did not value the joblessness of the youth program for the fund, he did not care that the country is falling apart from economic and development collapse, he did not regard that the youth are the engine of economic development and progress…..and consequently, he is co-joined with those who plan to create vacuum of joblessness of the youth to destroy the mind of youth through drug and gang recruitments. It is clear that when youth are not engaged, they can be easily used into gangs, so there could be no proper reasonable and meaningful job development program for the youth……This clearly confirms that, PM Raila cannot rule…….he has failed the test of leadership. "It is their time to Eat"
Normalizing the unthinkable behavior where Economic for survival is crashing livelihood is unacceptable…….and where technology is not improving and advancing society progressiveness, spells doom that something is not right…..that the disadvantaged are not living decent livelihood, that they are exposed from inaccessibility of basic normal things we all need in our day to day livelihood and survival, it explains the system of Governance is dysfunctioning, and change is urgently needed to normalize situation to human right perspectives. This is crucial to Africa and more specific Kenya.
Casualties of Economic Terrorism, shows that enormous amount of individuals are suffering, and families who are struggling are worse than they ever have been before. There are increasing number of middle class and poor people who are not able to find shelter or descent housing. Others, their houses are demolished and are made displaced squatters with heavy loans to be paid from the demolished house. In general, millions of people are struggling to find work or are just part of the story of abject poverty, driven by economic terrorism injustices of Crime Against Humanity.
Rise of the International Corporate Special Interest Cartels is taking place in the African Government Rulership. It is the prime factor reason why Devolution of Counties with date of election has become an uphill struggle because of their vested interest to control, acquire and own illegally and unconstitutionally, public wealth. They are the reason the World Bank and IMF with other financial institutions participate in Ponzi Schemes and Hedge Funding to rob unsuspecting innocent citizens off their public wealth…….they are the reason of Global Economic Collapse:
When people are struggling to get by and things are not working well for them because of lack of financial accessibility, when CEOs and Lobbyist of Large Corporations, International Foundations and International NGOs are experiencing record-breaking profits and bonuses, know that, things are not going well…….It is because there is stagnation somewhere which caused the balance to stall from effecting and harmonizing Socio/Economic and Political dispensation and eventually halted the efficiency for dispensation in providing the Economic balance necessary for Economic Stability. It is equally the reason why there is no meaningful effective reaction required to harmonize and trigger Socio/Economic and Political stimulant to take effect and provide for Progressive Development Agenda to reciprocate and sustain the economic distributive balance needed to maintain mutually shared common interest of all stakeholders.
Skyrocketing Costs of Living:
This state-of-affair is pathetic and unthinkable. It is a corrupt strategy to have cost of living skyrocketing so people would perish in the midst of it all…..It is a situation that was maneuvered and elevated primarily for special interest, driven by greed from corrupted fraudulent market which is controlled by the Special Corporate interest Cartels, who got the situation manipulated through conspiracies to consume Public Corporations and Resources illegally and take full control to drive up cost of livelihood and rise prices on top of the overburdened taxes imposed on public basic needs.
Life has therefore become too expensive for ordinary middle class and poor people of the world, where jobs and employment got reduced to fit their connected network, blocking every way for the general public to survive responsibly or access honorable means to survival. Small and peasant farmers have been pushed to the edge, middle class housing of the middle class are tampered with and are demolished to create despair. This is brutal because many people cannot afford or access basic needs presently, largely because collection of wealth and sharing of the same is controlled and managed by a few corrupt of the unscrupulous wealthiest cartels who are linked to their World of cartels. They are destined to destroy survival for the middle class and the poor of the world……while, the largest corrupt corporation network and cartels are experiencing record-breaking profits, do not want to pay taxes (except the poor pay taxes for their business and lifestyle) and their CEOs and lobbyists are receiving record-breaking bonuses, so the life of the middle class and the poor could be terminated from the face of earth. The middle class and the poor will soon not access even water to drink, because water is now being controlled by the wealthiest of the cartels network and their linkages. Public utilities cannot be accessed anymore as public beaches for example have been privately fenced and local fishermen cannot access water for their fishing, land is grabbed and houses are demolished if you do not belong to their class of network. This is just one example…….
If we take a look at the ever-increasing interest rates on credit cards, student loans, rising of prices for food, medical expenses, rent and cable costs for phone, cell-phone, internet, bank fees, etc., etc., etc…. We find that, we are being robbed and gouged in every way in all costs of living and in every aspect of our life. No wonder bankruptcies are skyrocketing, people are losing their homes and the number of people in pain and suffering from psychological depression has reached climax to an epidemic level. The circle is vicious and is spiraling in excessive burden of debts which has been put on us to struggle with for the rest of their lives, if possible, is expected to drive us to an early death bed.
We have been conquered into slavery and deepen into intense debt we have to pay by our blood and life……. from stage-managed organized Violation, Abuse and Crime Against Humanity: through looting of our private and public National Resources Corporation wealth, Human Organs and trafficking to slavery, minerals, land, water and are impoverished from clean air.
How could we sit, watch and look helplessly as our feet are drifted to hopelessness and in despair………this calls for each and every person of the world to wake up and get involved to change this world for the better…….We must ask ourselves, how did we get to this point, and how can we get out of this mess before the world is caught in consuming fire?
The cartels of the Economic International Corporate Special Interest have conspired to dominate our lives Globally, it is the reason we have Economic Crisis……we must peacefully unite to engage in Way Forward………We must expose them all………Yes, expose them and confront them with facts and we must all demand legal justice. Yes, we will win because we must Fight Back and win…….We all are grounded in shared common issues…….lack of basic means for meaningful livelihood for survival, lack of employment, lack of financial accessibility, lack of level playing field to democratic reform agenda, inaccessibility to fair legal justice and the right to public service mandate in a fair Democratic Governance, Planned Global Economic Recession through World Bank, IMF, Wall Street, IFAD, AfDB, etc.,
Judy Miriga
Diaspora Spokesperson
Executive Director
Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
USA
http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com
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--- On Wed, 11/23/11, charles oyaya wrote:
People
How come we are not asking questions about the Uungana, Mulolongo Brothers and company? Who are they? Under what circumstances did they acquire such huge chunks of lands? To whom are they or were they connected within the corridors of power, Mavoko Municipal Council, Ministry of Lands, Laws Courts, legal profession, Parliament and Kenya Airports authority? Are they holy of holies? I believe they are the ones who should compensate those who lost or are yet to lose their property. If you have been conned by such smart characters before, you will never doubt that they indeed sold innocent Kenyans what they knew and still know was not theirs. They should be held culpable instead of asking the people of Kenya (tax payers) to whom the land in question belongs to pay back for the sins of a few greedy criminals. They acquired allotment letters for the public lands in question for free(only paying registration and stamp duty fees) and then selling the same to desperate Kenyans as if the land belonged to them. Because of such characters Kenya has lost all public land that was reserved for development and investment. This in turn has made the cost of investment too high thereby discouraging creation of employment opportunities which the youth of this country desperately need.
The costs of correcting the wrong things that had gone on in this country for many decades will certainly be very high in the short run but in the long run, the benefits for the future generations will be immense. We cannot realize Vision 2030 if we remain sympathetic to lords of impunity, plunder, theivery and disorder. I am sure many of us are now enjoying the scenery of and the ride on Thika Road. For this to happen some past wrongs had to be corrected/righted.
Charles Oyaya
Kenya and UAE agree on protection of investments
By PPS
Kenya and the United Arab Emirates yesterday signed an agreement on the prevention of double taxation.
The two countries also made great strides towards finalising agreement on Customs Administrative Support and Promotion and protection of Investments.
In a statement during a meeting with members of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry at his hotel residence in Abu Dhabi, President Kibaki confirmed that Kenya’s largest source of imports is the United Arab Emirates.
The President appreciated that Kenya’s exports to the United Arab Emirates had increased by over 1,000 per cent in the last twenty years signalling a healthy trade relations between the two countries.
"However, there is room for improvement. As both countries strive for further improvements, I am certain that the business community will work towards complimenting the efforts of both Governments."
Head of State said that the government had for last ten years concentrated on creating a conducive investment climate, making Kenya one of the leading investment destinations of choice.
In this regard, President Kibaki affirmed that there existed lucrative investment opportunities in the country especially the promotion and encouragement of the private sector participation in infrastructure development and management.
He said, "Indeed, my Government has just approved a policy and statutory institutional Framework for Coordinating and Managing Public Private Sector Partnerships which opens an important window of opportunity for investors."
In the ICT sector, the Head of State assured that Kenya had so far installed three strategic linkages through undersea fibre optic cables.
Corruption, high cost of living deprive Kenyans of basic needs
Published on 05/11/2011
By Billow Kerrow
Ignore what the Government tells you about how well we are. The fact is most Kenyans are not satisfied with the quality of their lives. It is not about those elite or affluent folks in the cities but the ordinary Kenyans suffering deprivation of basic life requirements. The UN Human Development Index 2001 just published reveals how the lives of most Kenyans are getting more miserable. Our poverty levels are rising just when the global poverty population is declining.
The report that ranks Kenya at position 143 of 187 countries surveyed portrays a worsening quality of life for the citizens. Our people live a poorer quality of life than the citizens of the occupied Palestinian territories, Iraq or the Congo. In the region, we can only hold our heads high when talking to the poor little neighbours; not much to be proud of! Our per capita income of $1,492 is lower than that of many countries we look down upon, including Sudan, Djibouti and war-torn Yemen and below the mean for sub-Saharan region of $1,966.
It raises fundamental questions of access to better quality of life that all citizens expect from their governments. The UN index measures how a country provides basic needs to its citizens. These essentials then help the citizens to live a longer, healthy life, access education and live a decent life. Our life expectancy is 57 years; compared to 81 years for Norwegians who top the table.
An Ipsos-Synovate poll released this week confirms the UN reports. And 69 per cent of Kenyans polled last week indicated they are not satisfied with their lives and are worried about the high cost of living. In fact, 20 per cent say they are totally deprived of life’s essential requirements.
They have no access to food, shelter and live on handouts. The ravaging famine, unemployment and corruption top their list of worries. The high food and fuel prices have pushed inflation to more than over 20 per cent. And one does not need to read the UN report or poll results to assess the impact of poverty and deprivation in our midst. Ordinary Kenyans who do not find a meal a day can literary be seen in many towns, living one day at a time. Most are the youth who make up 30 per cent of the population and 75 per cent of the unemployed.
Yet, if we used our resources, our youth would not live in squalor or seek solace in militia adventure in other countries. The so-called Kazi Kwa Vijana programme is an apt example. In 2009, Sh3.4 billion was allocated for this programme, and a further Sh6.6 billion last year. Much of it was spent on poorly designed, unsustainable short-term projects with little or no impact on the lives of the youth.
Last year, World Bank chipped in with $60 million, with a focus on innovative projects and capacity building.
Parliament was treated to a circus that ridicules even the daftest in our society when the Government alleged World Bank concern was ‘ineligible expenses’ and that the Government would refund the same. The Treasury disclosed unashamedly that it refunded donors Sh2.6 billion this year arising from such ‘ineligible expenses’.
Ineligible expenses simply mean the money was misappropriated. The funds were used on wrong beneficiaries, or were spent on goods or services not intended for. In our common language, it was stolen; which is why the donors are diplomatically seeking a refund.
We have clearly demonstrated to our donors that the corrupt cannot be convicted. If you steal public funds, you can get away with a pat on the back. Corruption is a key factor in the poverty and deprivation that degrades our quality of life. If we do not express outrage on such plunder, socio-economic development will be an illusion.
—The writer is a former MP for Mandera Central and political economist
Nigeria: Firing of Anti-Corruption Czar Won’t Fix Agency
from Yona Maro
(Lagos) – The sudden dismissal of Nigeria’s controversial anti-corruption chairman will not fix the troubled agency she led, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should carry out broad institutional reforms if Nigeria is to make real progress against corruption.
On November 23, 2011, President Goodluck Jonathan dismissed Farida Waziri, chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The commission’s record in fighting high-level corruption has been consistently disappointing under both Waziri and her well-regarded predecessor, Nuhu Ribadu, Human Rights Watch said. Partly due to the commission’s own failures, it has been largely unable to secure convictions against senior government officials charged with corruption. As Human Rights Watch showed in a recent report on the institution’s problems, broader institutional failures – such as executive interference and judiciary inefficiency – will need to be addressed if the commission is to improve its anti-corruption record, Human Rights Watch said.
“The EFCC’s mandate is to fight corruption that the political system actually rewards, and to accomplish that by working through institutions that are either broken or compromised,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “That’s an almost impossible job no matter who is in charge.”
The commission, established in 2003, is the only government institution that has publicly challenged the longtime impunity of Nigeria’s ruling elite. It has arraigned 35 nationally prominent political figures on corruption charges, including 19 former state governors. But many of those cases have made little progress in the courts, and not a single politician is currently serving prison time for any of these alleged crimes. The commission has secured four convictions of senior political officials since 2003, but they have faced relatively little or no prison time.
The Jonathan administration should present legislative amendments granting tenure security to the commission chairman, Human Rights Watch said. The institution can never be truly independent if the president can dismiss its chairman at will. The government should also bolster Nigeria’s other key anti-corruption institutions, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission and the Code of Conduct Bureau.
Nigeria’s weak and overburdened judiciary has also been an obstacle to effective prosecutions. Most of the corruption cases against high-level political figures have been stalled in the courts for years, with their trials not even begun. In early November, Nigeria’s new Supreme Court chief justice, Dahiru Musdapher, took a long overdue initiative by instructing judges to expedite corruption cases, giving them a six-month deadline to complete these cases.
The government should build on this promising initiative by beginning the long-term process of repairing the battered federal court system, reforming federal criminal procedure, and examining ways consistent with due process rights to establish special courts or designating specific judges to hear only corruption cases, Human Rights Watch said.
Human Rights Watch has also called on Jonathan to pledge publicly not to interfere in the EFCC’s work and to support aggressive efforts to fight corruption no matter who is implicated. Past governments have openly interfered in key anti-corruption cases, discouraging the commission from acting as aggressively as it otherwise might.
“One of the EFCC’s greatest weaknesses has been its lack of independence and susceptibility to political pressure,” Bekele said. “President Jonathan’s sudden firing of Farida Waziri will only make that problem worse unless the government pushes through reforms to bolster both the EFCC and the other institutions it depends on.”
Waziri was appointed in 2008 in controversial circumstances after Nuhu Ribadu was forced from office in apparent reprisal for his attempted prosecution of a powerful former governor, James Ibori. Waziri has been widely criticized as ineffective and politically beholden, but in the months leading up to her sudden ouster she initiated a flurry of prosecutions against senior political figures. In October the commission arraigned four former state governors and a serving senator on corruption charges, and in June the agency filed corruption charges against the former speaker and deputy speaker of the House of Representatives – all of them members of the ruling People’s Democratic Party.
During Waziri’s three-and-a-half years in office, the agency arraigned 21 senior political figures on corruption charges but only secured two convictions in these cases. Her four-year term in office was due to expire in May 2012.
Endemic corruption at all levels has kept Nigerians mired in poverty despite the country’s considerable oil wealth. Human Rights Watch research has documented how political corruption in Nigeria fuels violence, police abuse and denial of basic health and education services.
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Tender and Consultancy http://mytenderzone.blogspot.com/
Riot police use tear gas on Congo protesters
From: Judy Miriga
Folks,
There is need to urgently reignforce poll observers from European Nations as well to boost confidence, free and fair participation of fearful citizens.
Let us also Pray for Congo people and God to step in in a special way to save the oppressed.
Judy Miriga
Diaspora Spokesperson
Executive Director
Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
USA
http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com
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Riot police use tear gas on Congo protesters
Riot police used tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters in the Congolese capital Kinshasa on Saturday November 26, as campaigning by rival groups drew to a close two days before presidential and parliamentary elections, Reuters reporters said.
There were bouts of rock-throwing between opposing supporters and brief bursts of gunfire, the reporters said. Citing local health and security officials, a United Nations source said at least one person had died but there was no official confirmation of the death or its circumstances.
President Joseph Kabila and two of his main challengers, Etienne Tshisekedi and Vital Kamerhe, were all due to hold campaign rallies within several hundred metres of each other later on Saturday.
The stand-off between riot police and protesters took place near the central Kinshasa stadium where Kabila was due to appear. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
It was the latest sign of tension in the run-up to Congo's second presidential election since a 1998-2003 war, a poll which has been marked by opposition allegations of irregularities and concerns that voting arrangements will not be in place in time.
Despite a logistics operation supported by helicopters from South Africa and Angola, it is not clear whether all the ballot slips will have reached the 60,000 voting stations in the thickly-jungled country two-thirds the size of the European Union.
Commission Head
Veteran opposition leader Tshisekedi said he could accept a delay but only if the head of the national election commission, who he accused of having political ties with Kabila and turning a blind eye to alleged irregularities, was sacked.
"I would agree (to a delay) if that meant a more credible, democratic and transparent process," the 78-year-old veteran opposition leader told French RFI radio.
"But one thing is clear: if we say there will be a delay, it is clear that the election commission cannot be led by Daniel Ngoy Mulunda," he said, accusing him of having been a founding member of Kabila's PPRD political party.
Mulunda, who will have the deciding vote if his commission is split on any election dispute, said this week he did not deny having been a member of the delegation that accompanies Kabila on foreign trips, but denied he was a founding PPRD member.
Tshisekedi alleged the existence on paper of fake polling stations to allow vote-rigging, an allegation which authorities have denied. His party also accuses Kabila of using state media and transport assets in the service of his campaign.
For many Congolese, there was a last-minute scramble to find out where they should be voting on Monday. Gervis Ilunga, a 44-year-old security guard, said he registered in one Kinshasa voting district but ultimately found his name elsewhere.
"In 2006, things were at least organised," he said of the first post-war poll largely organised under the auspices of the United Nations. "It is not like that this time ... There will be too many challenges this time."
Under constitutional amendments signed off by Kabila this year the presidential vote will be decided in a single round, meaning the winner can claim victory without securing an absolute majority. Analysts say that favours Kabila against the split opposition.
Blessed with lucrative resources of copper, cobalt and precious metals, Congo remains plagued by poverty and insecurity, especially in its rebel-infested east where a simmering low-level conflict persists.
-Reuters
Kenya: Politician Wants to Kills Me, Says Maina
From: Judy Miriga
Folks,
This matter should not be taken lightly. Maina Njenga needs to be given real security. His cry for threats are real and he truely need protection, otherwise, the powerful killers are in the offing .... woe unto the victims of poverty and the middle class whose lives are made miserable from lack of progressive opportunities for meaningful and responsible livelihood, as their lives are at risk in danger of execution, assassination and extermination. If Maina Njenga is left to be killed, we will never know the truth and justice will have flown through the window. We will never know or catch the real wicked brutal killers amongst us, those evil minded who
have schemed to reduce and wipe out our lives at the mercy of their blood sucking accumulative stolen public wealth......
The culture of use and dump, divide and rule must stop and we are the ones to put a stop to it. We must refuse to be used as door mat. We must stand together and protect each other and weed out the cancer in our midst for peace and unity's sake.
Let the law be respected. No one is above the law.......we will be grooming snakes under our own beds, and it is us the snake will bite......and so, we are the loosers if we cannot apply wisdom for survival...... We must therefore, unite and protect our lives people.......for it is our future we are preserving.......
We must stand together for justice..........The Truth Must Be Told, so that the poor and middle class can begin to have hope for the future through loving one another united under Peace. We need to progress and prosper…….and for this to success, we must create conducive environment that which will make this happen under security of Mutual Partnership for common good of all. ……..It is Teamwork people………we will remain to be controlled by thievers who stole our public wealth to control and rule us…….Yes, this must not happen………..Thievers must face justice and pay and compensate for their sins……….We must not give them opportunity to escape,………. if they do, it is us they are going to wipe out…..
Thank you all,
Judy Miriga
Diaspora Spokesperson
Executive Director
Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
USA
http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com
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--- On Sat, 11/26/11, Eric W. Mburi wrote:
People,
Sometimes we forget serious issues affecting us and matters that while we say they are for so and so will catch up with us.
Maina Njega has complained that his life is in danger.
Njenga also alleged that a vehicle with Government registration numbers had visited his Karen home on Sunday, with five occupants who were looking for him.
He gave the registration numbers as GK903U. Some of the occupants, according to Njenga were white men.
"Some claimed they were officers from Kwekwe squad and they wanted to talk to me. Another Nissan van visited my Kitengela residence and told my workers they want Sh2 million to pardon me over crimes I do not know," he said.
I have serious issues with the Kenyan police force.It has become a dumping site for some (not all)failures and people who do not appreciate professionalism in carrying out their duties.I would suggest in future anyone who wants to be a police man to sign the contract with the government at form 1 then by the time they graduate they automatically take to training at Kiganjo.We have ended up with a crap force because all the big bellied and foolish politicians call senior officers during recruitment to take their nieces,sons,daughters and nephews who in the first place never passed well at forth form.
Maina Njenga on his part is forgetting that immediately Njuguna,the late Mungiki spokesperson talked of his life being in danger they killed him in broad day light at the junction of Luthuli and Tom Mboya.What followed was Prof.Saitoti telling us that they will investigate,while Ali said that it was a disagreement within the ranks and file of Mungiki leadership.The same police who was to investigate ended up making conclusions.They can as well come for me But I put this straight,I hate the police force we have,its a bunch of foolish whitewashed shenanigans.
We are quick to forget that even as women in Kirinyaga wept and cried that their sons were being killed in broad daylight,the police were aloof.The Killings in Kirinyaga of young men disguised as mungiki killing fellow mungiki for betrayal has never convinced me at all.I read more to the killing of those young men even as Ali the former police boss watched with his men,then the government sent a security team to the area,,,,,,for what people? for what? this government can not mitigate maters of security or what.
They will kill Maina Njenga trust me.He has done himself s disservice by complaining to the police who are the ones likely to be sent to do the killing--am sorry but this is Kenya--the land of all ills
Ja'kamburi
Nairobi Star (Nairobi)
Kenya: Politician Wants to Kills Me, Says Maina
25 November 2011
FORMER Mungiki leader Maina Njenga has claimed a politician linked to an ICC suspect wants to kill him. Njenga was yesterday clarifying allegations that he made at a press conference at Karen shopping centre on Wednesday.
Njenga claimed the politician believes that he (Njenga) sent a prosecution witness to the Hague with information about the retaliatory attacks in Naivasha during the 2007-08 post-election violence.
Njenga, now a born-again Christian preacher, said he fears for his life after strangers claiming to be officers from a dreaded anti-Mungiki police unit visited his two homes over the weekend.
He said a vehicle with government registration numbers came to his Karen home last Sunday with five occupants. "They claimed they were officers from the Kwekwe Squad and they wanted to talk to me. Another Nissan van visited my Kitengela residence and told my workers they want Sh2 million to pardon me over crimes I do not know," Njenga said. "Some people are asking why I sent former Mungiki people to testify for Ocampo. I can truthfully tell you I do not know who is at the ICC as a witness," Njenga told reporters.
Njenga believes that the politician from Central Kenya became angry with him after he demanded that he honour his pledge to offset an outstanding mortuary bill for Njenga's wife Virginia Nyakio and her two bodyguards who were murdered in 2008, according to an inside source. The politician had pledged to give Sh7 million and initially paid Sh4 million.
The politician then allegedly told Njenga that he would not pay the Sh3 million balance at the Umash Funeral home. The bodies of Nyakio and her bodyguards remained there for two years because Mungiki said they would not bury them until Njenga was released from prison. The politician refused to pay the balance and told Njenga to find ways of raising the funds, according to the inside source.
Njenga felt threatened because the politician said that he would not see the ICC suspect being locked up at the Hague because the Mungiki had implicated him in crimes against humanity.
The Mungiki informer is now in hiding in Europe. He is expected to give testimony at The Hague against Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Civil Service Head Francis Muthaura and former police boss Maj Gen Hussein Ali who are accused of organising the Mungiki attacks in Naivasha and Nakuru. The politician close to the suspect apparently believes that the Ocampo witness was sent to the Hague by Njenga.
Njenga told journalists that suspicious cars have been tailing him since the exchange with the politician. Njenga said an assistant minister called to threaten him with dire consequences over his decision to support former Defence minister Njenga Karume as the spokesman of the Kikuyu community. He said he had recorded a statement with the Karen and Athi River police stations over the threats.
Njenga claimed the strangers had been calling him on his cell phone. "Some people are asking why I sent former Mungiki people to testify for Ocampo," Njenga said. Police spokesman Erick Kiraithe said police had received complaints by Njenga and they are investigating.
Virginia Nyakio was buried with three others in January 2010 at Njenga's home in Kitengela. Virginia was murdered with her driver and bodyguard in April 2008 in Ngong Forest, possibly by Kwekwe squad.
Njenga Karume and Embakasi MP Ferdinand Waititu were among the ranking individuals who contributed towards the Sh9 million burial expenses for Nyakio.
During the funeral, Njenga told mourners that Starehe MP Bishop Margaret Wanjiru and businessman Irshad Sumra had also contributed to the mortuary fee along with other people who paid through M-Pesa. The receipts were deposited in Njenga's Equity Bank account in Ongata Rongai branch.
Njenga Karume told the Star that he had helped Njenga. "It is normal African practice to help friends and relatives when they are bereaved. My friends and I helped Maina bury his wife and those other people," said Karume.
A group calling themselves "Nakuru businessmen" gave Sh900,000 while Mungiki coordinators from across Kenya gave 627,000. Lawyer Paul Muite confirmed donating Sh20,000. "My friends and I went to support Njenga in every way we could including financially. He needed money and other forms of help," Waititu told the Star by telephone.
Bishop Wanjiru of Jesus is Alive Ministries yesterday did not confirm or deny that she contributed Sh700,000 towards the funeral as recorded on the list. "That is a lot of money. Are you asking if I contributed that personally?" said Wanjiru without elaborating.
Africa: Digital Revolution Will Help Continent to Join Global Players in the Marketplace
James Shikwati
23 November 2011
opinion
The predicament of sub-Saharan Africa has hinged on global revolutionary episodes.
The Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries commoditised African people for export to drive up productivity on sugar and cotton plantations.
The onset of the Digital Revolution (information age) in the latter part of the 20th century offers Africans an opportunity to join global players at the market-place.
Broadly speaking, a revolution is a fundamental change in power or organisational structure that occurs in a relatively short time.
The Digital Revolution is also generally viewed as the revolution of the Information Age.
For the first time in human history, colossal amounts of information are available at the touch of the button. Will the Digital Revolution free Africa?
A glimpse at the African persona reveals an individual (hardware) with a corrupted political system (operating system) and thought process (software).
Other civilisations are falling over themselves to access the continent's wealth such as the sub-surface mineral resources and the 60 per cent uncultivated farmland.
The continent's political systems with its supporting cast see only poverty and push for beggar-aid as opposed to funds to drive up productivity.
Developed and emerging economies put a premium on their people and salivate at the news that close to 330 million Africans spend $2-$20 a day.
The African thought process views the one billion people on the continent as a burden.
The continent's competitors yearn for a youthful population. Africa, on the other hand, runs scared of its 65 per cent population aged below 30 years -- they are referred to as a "time-bomb!"
Instead of scaling up youthful activities to be competitive at the global stage, Kenya, and by extension Africa, is keen to mimic youth.
African leaders are keen to sustain youth in ignorance by adopting their mannerisms (speaking sheng; rap music and dressing in sagging trousers).
The tension generated by the ongoing Digital Revolution between individual Africans and traditional "gate-keepers" such as political elites, the media, non-governmental organisations and "experts" on African affairs offer hope to the continent.
The political elite watch in dismay as their citizen transform into "Netizens" free from the controls of space sovereigns.
The media which for a long time has "sanitised" and kept the status quo in place (be it at national or international level) is awed at the rate information crawls out on outlets such as short text messaging, Twitter, Facebook, Ushahidi, and WikiLeaks.
The role of NGOs as citadels of the suffering has been taken up by corporate bodies utilising data to drive up sales as they engage in corporate social responsibility initiatives.
On the political front, digitised information has driven masses onto the streets and yanked presidents from their thrones in North Africa at a speed never encountered before.
On the economic front, over half a billion Africans have been connected to the global system through cell phones and Internet.
Mobile telephony has increased access to banking services that were initially a preserve of few urbanised populations. Kenya, for example, boasts of 14 million M-Pesa users.
Distance learning has been made efficient away from postal mail correspondence.
The world of the arts (music and film production) has gained through low-budget movie productions as exhibited by the surge in "Nollywood".
Judiciously used as a tool, the Digital Revolution will free Africa.
Mzee Maruge Kimani Ng'ang'a, who has since died, offers a vital lesson.
He stunned the world when he joined lower primary school aged 87 as a pupil. His personal drive to kick out the "gatekeepers" and read the Bible for himself turned him into a celebrity.
The Digital Revolution has no intrinsic, autonomous power to free the African people.
Rather, it is the African people who must urgently and proactively use it as a strategic tool to free themselves socially, economically and politically.
Mr Shikwati is director, Inter-Region Economic Network (james@irenkenya.org)
IS AFRICA HEADING TOWARDS FAILED STATES?
From: omolo.ouko
Colleagues Home & Abroad Regional News
BY FR JOACHIM OMOLO OUKO, AJ
NAIROBI-KENYA
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2011
As tensions and spirits are running high in the Democratic Republic of Congo where 11 presidential candidates are struggling to lead the country with $24 trillion of known mineral deposits and 80 percent of all known coltan reserves required for every mobile phone, computer, games consol and TV, the big question we are asking is whether Africa is heading towards failed states.
In almost all African countries, addressing electoral fraud and violence is becoming a major problem on the continent. In many African countries most elections are not free and fair because they are rigged in favour of the incumbent president.
In Gambia President Yahya Jammeh has already proclaimed that neither an election nor a coup can shake his grip on power, meaning that it is certain he is going retain power by all means. Ecowas had predicted the poll would not be free and fair because of high levels of intimidation by the ruling party.
President Yahya Jammeh who seized power in a coup in 1994 and has won three widely criticised elections since then has been accused of intolerance to both criticism and dissent. Mr Jammeh, 46, was facing Ousainou Darboe, leader of the United Democratic Party (UDP), and Hamat Bah, who has being backed by a coalition of four opposition parties.
Similar case was with Uganda elections where President Yoweri Museveni who has been in power for 25 years vowed to stop any street protests and warned that Egyptian-style demonstrations could not happen in Uganda. It meant he would retain power by all means.
Museveni altered the constitution to allow him to run for another five-year term and his reason for running for another 5 years was on a platform of combating terrorism and extremism and maintaining stability in the key East African nation.
Museveni won despite the fact that African Union election observers said the polls suffered from severe shortcomings, and could not be described as free and fair. Other international observers also criticised the election process.
Opposition Forum for Democratic Change leader Dr Kizza Besigye who is currently in the United States of America to seek medical attention following days of reported ill health, claimed victory but was rigged out in favour of Museveni.
Besigye was clobbered and sprayed with irritant pepper spray to near blindness by police officers at the height of the walk-to-work demonstrations in April this year. This is the second time since May that Dr Besigye has flown to the US on medical grounds.
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He is being treated for injuries he sustained from that violent arrest after he was hauled unconscious onto the back of a police pick-up truck. He was treated at Nairobi Hospital where he spent at least one week before returning to Uganda.
Similar cases have been witnessed in Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Ivory Coast, leading to political unrest in these countries, and the forging of marriages that never were. In Ivory Coast about 3,000 people were killed and 500,000 displaced in the unrest after the November 2010 poll. Alassane Ouattara took power in April after a four-month stand-off with his predecessor, Laurent Gbagbo, who had refused to accept defeat.
Ivory Coast’s Constitutional Council had declared Laurent Gbagbo, president, the winner run-off elections, overturning earlier results that gave victory to Alassane Ouattara, the opposition candidate and a former prime minister.
Like Ivory Coast Kenya also suffered its worst electoral violence following the December 2007 results of a hotly-contested presidential election. Opposition leader Raila Odinga and his supporters rejected the declared victory of incumbent Mwai Kibaki, alleging it was the result of rampant rigging.
More than 1,200 people were killed and some 350,000 displaced into temporary camps, with an equal number seeking refuge with friends or relatives. Agricultural activity was seriously hampered as farmers moved away from their fields, posing long-terms risks for the country’s food security.
Similar story was also in Liberia where recent presidential election was thrown into deadly chaos after at least two people were shot dead. The violence broke out when at least 100 Liberian security forces and UN peacekeepers descended on the Congo Town area of Monrovia, where they secured the perimeter of the CDC headquarters, setting up roadblocks to redirect traffic.
Incidents of political related chaos and violence also continued to rock the Lake regions with two days before Tanzanians cast their votes. In one incident, the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) secretary in Burunga ward, Serengeti District, Mara Region, Mr Emmanuel Nyarata was attacked and badly wounded by his fellow party members on allegations of being a traitor.
In Nigeria the violence left at least 500 people dead and several thousand injured and displaced. In these countries, post election violence has destroyed the lives of many people, mostly the poor and vulnerable, taking away their wealth, health, livelihoods and in some cases their lives.
In Zimbabwe where President Robert Mugabe has vowed the next polls will take place before March next year, the Finance Minister, Mr Tendai Biti has been used to convince Zimbabweans to vote for Mogabe because if re-elected he will ensure the economy will grow by more than nine percent next year.
Although according to Biti the economic growth will be fueld by continued recovery and increased mining activity, Zimbabwe faced international opposition to sales of its alluvial diamonds because human rights activists say the military killed and beat many people while seizing control of the diamond fields in 2008.
The fact however remains, that even with increased revenue, Zimbabwe will still continue to face major economic problems. The country has a foreign debt of $7 billion and survives on tax revenues, as it cannot raise loans. More than half of the budget is for public service worker salaries.
Even in Zambia where elections have been described as free and fair, incidences of stone-throwing mobs smashed cars and blocking roads during voting were reported. This happened after opposition leader Michael Sata accused President Rupiah Banda’s rival camp of rigging the ballot.
Crowds of mainly young people set flaming tyres in the streets, smashed cars belonging to elections officials, set buses alight, and threw stones at police who tried to charge the mobs from their vehicles.
Sata won probably because the campaign for his Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) centred on growth and development. Nicknamed "King Cobra", Sata attacked Banda as soft on corruption and criticised him for failing to do more to spread the wealth in a country where 64 percent of people still live on less than $2 a day.
Even Benin where the Beninese citizens took to the polls on March 13, 2011 to re-elect President, Thomas Yayi Boni to serve a second term in office, elections were to be postponed twice after problems with voter registration, which according to the opposition leaders was one way to rig elections.
Despite the fact that the Republic of Benin is a small state in West Africa with a population of 8.5 million, since the first multi-party election which took place in 1991, Benin has had five Presidents. This leaves a lot to be desired.
Observers from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) declared the elections free and fair but shared concerns with the African Union (AU) about the late opening of voting stations.
And in Ghana where a movie on Ghana's 2008 General Elections has been released, featuring Nana Akufo-Addo, John Atta Mills, Jerry Rawlings, John Kufuor, Afari-Gyan, Kwesi Pratt, Hannah Tetteh, Rojo Mettle-Nunoo and Kwabena Agyepong, among others, and it has received great reviews across the globe, with the Los Angeles Times describing the documentary feature film as “the gripping examination of Ghana's 2008 presidential contest on display,” when it comes to elections similar problems arise.
The film which premiered in London this week is aptly titled, "An African Election". The 2008 presidential elections in Ghana serve as a backdrop for this feature documentary that looks behind the scenes at the complex political machinery of a third-world democracy struggling to legitimise itself.
The movie portrays how perilously close we got to unleashing electoral violence as it shows footage of young teenagers being trained as militias with wooden guns wearing NDC T-Shirts.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Assin North, Kennedy Agyepong has already issued a stern warning to the National Democratic Congress saying if the ruling party does not abandon plans to rig the 2012 elections, Ghana would be like Rwanda where an estimated 800,000 died in genocide.
Hon. Agyepong’s comments come in the wake of threats by Communications Director at the Presidency, Koku Anyidoho that the NDC would deal with the flagbearer of the NPP, Nana Akufo-Addo if he dares incite people ahead of the 2012 elections.
In DRC, even though in the ground Étienne Tshisekedi is very popular and liked by the vast majority of 71 million Congolese, it almost certain that Monday November 28, 2011 elections President Joseph Kabila will emerge the winner.
As one way to rig the election, Kabila was forced to use parliamentarians to amend the constitution, removing the “Presidential runoff vote to be with simple majority” in an attempt to make it easier for him to stay in power. Etienne campaign team have alleged that Kabila used $25,000 to his MPs, and more $50,000 for opposition parliamentarians earlier this year to pass the law.
Etienne is the most liked candidate due to his campaign strategy that give promise that when elected he will implement new anti-corruption laws governing public sector officials and create an effective judicial system to prosecute individuals accused of crimes on DRC home soil, a promise Kabila has never fulfilled. Currently judicial system is pathetic.
Etienne who boycotted the 2006 election, saying it had been rigged also aims at working with the International Criminal Court and international community to build a justice system that is capable of bringing sound and transparent justice to those who commit the most terrible crimes in Congo. He believes it is only this policy that will help bring peace to the Eastern provinces of the Congo.
He has also promised he will ensure that the Congolese Justice system must be strong enough to face down corruption in DRC. Currently corruption is said to be holding back economic growth in the country.
Another preferable candidate is former Kabila’s campaign manager, Vital Kamerhe- he is 52, making him to be one of the youngest candidates. He has not only been largely credited for Kabila’s election victory in 2006 but also breaking with Kabila’s PPRD party in 2009 after voicing his disapproval of an executive order that allowed Rwandan troops to operate within the country without parliament’s knowledge or approval. He was once the speaker of the National Assembly.
Kabila’s campaign strategy on creating employment and rural electrification if re-elected has been challenged-people are asking why he has not done this since 2001 when he took power from his father. Roads are in pathetic situation and are impassable.
His rapprochement with Rwandan President Paul Kagame in 2008 has also angered many Congolese who see their tiny neighbour as the cause of the continuing unrest in Congo's rebel-infested east, where rape and other abuses by gunmen remain common.
His resistance to reopen the unfinished investigation into the 2001 assassination of his father Laurent, for which 50 people remain behind bars has also made Congolese to lose trust in him.
Laurent Kabila was shot by a member of his own staff in his office at the presidential palace in Kinshasa in 2001 as part of a coup attempt. He died in Zimbabwe a week later.
The murderer, Rashidi Kasereka, was shot dead shortly after the attack and a small group of the presidential guard escaped the DRC. The real circumstances of President Kabila's death and who was responsible are still murky questions, with several conflicting explanations being circulated.
Continuous violence in the country including rape of women has also led to Kabila’s unpopularity. Women in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been raped at a rate 26 times higher than previously thought. The shockingly high number is equivalent to 1,152 women raped every day, 48 raped every hour, or four women raped every five minutes.
More than 400,000 women ages 15 to 49 were raped across all provinces of the DR Congo during a 12-month period in 2006 and 2007, according to a new study in the American Journal of Public Health.
The study, “Estimates and Determinants of Sexual Violence Against Women in the Democratic Republic of Congo,” represents the first-ever estimates of sexual violence in DRC based on rigorous examination of government-collected and nationally representative data.
Sexual violence occurred in all provinces, the study shows, while the number of women raped at least once in the eastern conflict area of North Kivu—67 per 1,000—is more than double the national average of 29 per 1,000. That means a woman in certain parts of the Congo is 134 times more likely to be raped. Rates of rape in other provinces show that Congo’s sexual violence pandemic is not limited to armed-conflict zones.
People for Peace in Africa (PPA)
P O Box 14877
Nairobi
00800, Westlands
Kenya
Tel +254-7350-14559/+254-722-623-578
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Website: www.peopleforpeaceafrica.org
Kenya: PNU claims new Nairobi constituencies favours ODM
By: Joseph Mwangi
Nairobi MPs allied to PNU have joined their counterparts from Central and Coast provinces in a fresh bid to reject the proposed creation of 80 new constituencies saying the boundaries in Nairobi were done to create "safe" constituencies for ODM and its presidential candidate Raila Odinga.
In Nairobi, the MPs claim only constituencies perceived to be ODM strongholds were split while those within PNU strongholds were not touched. They now demand that the Andrew Ligale Commission report be trashed and a fresh exercise taken by the Independent Elections and Boundaries Commission.
Dagoretti MP Beth Mugo claims that the commission must adhere to the formula recommended by the new Constitution on equal representation considering population sizes and a variance of geographical size.
The MPs argue that Dagoretti which is a PNU stronghold was only split into two constituencies namely Dagoretti and Karen / Langata.
His Makadara counterpart Mike Mbuvi Sonko had echoed her sentiments saying Ligale was sympathetic to Prime Minister Raila Odinga and ensured that PNU was shortchanged in Nairobi. Sonko claims Makadara was not split because Raila and ODM have given up in ever winning the seat and hence saw no need of splitting it.
When the matter of splitting Makadara was brought, some ODM strategists were overheard saying that if it is split, it will give PNU an additional seat and that Makadara should not be split.
In two consecutive elections, PNU had given ODM a devastating defeat first in 2007 through Dick Wathika and Sonko in a by-election. ODM’s candidate Reuben Ndolo is said to have given up on the seat and is likely to relocate to a newly created constituency in Lang’ata.
Sonko further argues that ODM and Raila have also given up on Kamukunji after a shocking defeat in a recent by-election. Again they argued splitting Kamukunji will be to PNU’s advantage.
To show that the new constituencies favored ODM, Raila’s own Lang’ata constituency split to create Kibera and Nairobi west constituencies. Westlands constituency under ODM is also split into two (Westlands and Parklands constituencies). Another ODM stronghold Kasarani constituency has also been split to create Roysambu, Kasarani, Ruaraka, Kariobangi constituencies.
PNU’s Ferdinand Waititu also cries foul as his Embakasi constituency which has the highest number of registered voters in Nairobi county was only split into Kayole, Embakasi and Mihango constituencies. Waititu claims Embakasi could have been split into five constituencies and Kasarani into just two constituencies.
Bishop Margaret Wanjiru’s Starehe constituency has also been split into Starehe and Mathare constituencies just to give ODM an additional seat.
DID SISTER BEATRICE GET MARRIED DUE TO FRUSTRATION IN RELIGIOUS LIFE?
From: ouko joachim omolo
Colleagues Home & Abroad Regional News
BY FR JOACHIM OMOLO OUKO, AJ
NAIROBI-KENYA
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2011
Since we reported about Sister Beatrice Magoka who left sisterhood and got married to American Tyrone Wright after being a sister for 16 years we have received a lot of queries of which I thought I should respond to even though I have began my personal prayers and reflections which ends on Friday as indicated to you earlier.
Thank you also for reminding me of the error on my December January diary- I meant January 2012 and not 2013. Concerning whether Sister Magoka left sisterhood due to frustrations in religious life is something difficult for me to answer.
However, while frustrations in religious life or in diocesan priesthood can lead to marriage or leave sisterhood or priesthood, in the case of Sr Magoka what we do know is that in an interview conducted through phone calls and emails by The East African Standard is that she talked of the great love she has for her man, whom she describes as caring, loving and the best that can be.
What is very clear also are some cases where sisters, nuns or priests have left their priestly and religious vocations citing frustrations from their superiors or bishops, particularly where an individual religious or priest may respond with rational problem-solving methods to overcome the barrier in vain.
Failing in this may lead to that particular individual become frustrated and behave irrationally towards his superior or bishop. An example of blockage of motivational energy would be the case of a religious or priest who wants certain work accomplished but his superiors or bishop denies him or her permission to do that.
Another example would be the religious or priest who wants fair treatment, which include financial support for his or her apostolate, or personal needs from his superiors or bishop, in these cases, an appeal to reason does not succeed in reducing the barrier or in developing some reasonable alternative approach, the frustrated individual may resort to less adaptive methods of trying to reach the goal by herself or himself.
The symptom would be that the individual religious or priest may talk ills of his bishop or her superior. By talking ills or criticising the superiors is one way of releasing frustrations-it is one way towards healing.
James 4: 1-3 spells out what can cause fights and quarrels among people is when you desire to have something done but do not have it done, so you can even kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. But some times when you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures and not for apostolate.
Very often religious or priests who are frustrated may experience a range of negative emotions such as anger, resentment, annoyance, jealousy, distrust, or envy. Some religious or priests may also experience personal frustration when they are dealing with their own weakness, insecurity and inabilities to do something.
It may also occur when you and your superiors or bishops are encountering a communication breakdown, in such a case frustration often sets in when both of you fail to connect with each other.
It is here when frustration is not dealt with effectively it can lead to more serious emotional issues which can lead to alcoholism, anxiety, depression, phobias, loneliness and loss of self worth.
This is not only on religious or priests but also children from single parents in formations houses such as seminaries, monasteries or seminaries. There is a great concern that today there are many seminarians and those trained as religious from single parents, especially single mothers than ever been before.
That is why it is very important those who are in charge of formation houses should include in their curriculum counselling sessions, and if possible be taught in class other than spiritual directions alone.
In most cases children from single parents, especially from divorce can make children get shock, and they will need help coping with the new changes to their lives. This is because single parenting after divorce can be stressful to children, even to their parents. One thing that has shown to be very helpful is making their lives as normal as possible as they grow.
Single parent is a term that is mostly used to suggest that one parent has most of the day to day responsibilities in the raising of the child or children, which would categorize them as the dominant caregiver. The dominant caregiver is the parent in which the children have residency with majority of the time.
Given that single mothers represent a dominant aspect of poverty levels in society as many single mothers who are the primary caregiver for their children lack the financial resources to support their children when the birth father does not provide helpful support to the mother, may also cause stress or frustrations in children.
In a state where frustrations can no longer hold, many religious sisters or nuns find it easily to quit than priests because nuns have many employment opportunities, and can get work easily-some of them are qualified teachers and registered with Teachers Service Commission (TSC), others are nurses or doctors.
Some frustrated priests would like to leave priesthood but cannot because they do not have qualification as religious women have-it explains why some of them opt for married priesthood where he is still being taken care of with his wife and children.
Of course, we do not rule out that some religious women, men or priests can leave if they have found out that being a religious or priest was not their vocation other than married life. This should of course not to be understood negatively or blame them given that sex can be a powerful experience of union and love as well.
Men and women do not join religious life or priesthood because they are asexual beings (asexuality) which in its broadest sense is the lack of sexual attraction or lack of interest in sex but because they are fully normal human beings.
People for Peace in Africa (PPA)
P O Box 14877
Nairobi
00800, Westlands
Kenya
Tel +254-7350-14559/+254-722-623-578
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omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Website: www.peopleforpeaceafrica.org