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Kenya: Corrupt Presidents’ vacating their Comfort Zone Create Buffer for Cushion which later live to haunt them

From: Judy Miriga

My fellow Friends,

It has been observed that, corrupt outgoing Presidents leaving after the end of their term of Office, in most cases, would make outrageous appointments to secure both their immediate and future interests. It is because of fear of unknown when they have to leave their comfort zones being authority. This was clearly noted where in a show-case, President Kibaki unscrupulously used the current loopholes in the Judicial Service Commission, inclusively he did the same with the Electoral Commission, where he rushed to fill the vacancies in the High Court as well as the Court of Appeal, with his friends?

It must be noted that Public Opinion is fundamentally important for the success of any Democratic Society.

The fact remain that the Reform Accord Agenda was therefore not complied according to Oath of Office. In which case, the Coalition Leadership did not uphold their Oath of Office. The New constitution has been made toothless and inactive and it is the reason why there are extreme insecurity, mushrooming of explosive corruption with extreme poverty eating away the fabric of the society. In the absence of proper Legislative Bills for Land Reform, Devolution Reform Bill, The Finance Reform Bill, The Police Reform Bill and the Civil Society Bill which are the core value for the Reform Accord Agenda, little has been achieved in the Kibaki’s Regime. Kibaki is therefore leaving Kenya Government dysfunctional with the excesses and failures of why Kenya disintegrated to Civil Clashes of 2007/8 with an exception of the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Willy Mutunga who was nominated according to the Reform Accord.

Although the Judicial under Chief Justice Willy Mutunga was formed according to the Reform Accord Agenda, there are evidence that the Legislature with the Executives continuously intimidated and manipulated Judicial operations sending fears in the Judicial leadership from acting independently as it should, for which it has failed to assert its independence as a result.

Engaging in Free Business Trading

Trading in a Free Business Trading without bordering regulation in actual sense is robbing and infringing the public off from Revenues, Wealth and Resources and is unfair way to balance the economy. In reality it is a way to bankrupt the Country’s economy to favor the rich who avoid paying their fair share in Taxes that supplement Revenues for Government Budgeting. It is a wrong notion to think that Business can provides a trickle down for people’s livelihood and survival without a Government. If this is allowed to continue, then the unscrupulous business community takes advantage to create private organized security that they expect to protect their Special Interest but which eventually turn to become a terror gang when it gets out of control from growing interests superseding those who engage them and forcing them to break away from the business control to become independent. This Private Security in time grow in size and interest, proceed to connect with other international organized security companies with mercenaries, organized terror rebel groups and finally joins with drug and money exchange laundering with traffickers and pirates.

Organized Terror Gangs (The Notorious Educated and Professional Terrorist Grouping Networking for Special Interest Power Control)

Organized Terror Gang are successful in their Mission because they are Politically Correct aided Group by Politicians in collaboration with the Unscrupulous Free Trading Business Enterprises with NGOs both local and International but who collaborate to do business without complying with business Rules and Regulations as well as avoid paying Tax Revenues that support Government Function-ability to sustain Public mandated welfare. This is a conspiracy to fail the reliable Government facility system from delivering public services effectively and efficiently so they are able to frustrate, assume and command the Authority of Government activities through Terrorism, manipulating, meandering and by intimidation, making the Government weaker from being able to be active in what it is suppose to facilitate.

Show-Case Creating Jobs the Wrong Way – Special Interest Idiology that Expound Corruption and Poverty

It has become a common knowledge and information is all around the villages that the educated terror gangs of politically correct special interest aided by the Local Government Administration Representatives are targeting the local village community; stealing their cows and loading them into Government police Lorries who are given police escort to Kenya Meat Commission in Athi River. The Villagers Land are grabbed by force and Agricultural food are loaded into lorries and taken to Nairobi. Woods are cut and taken to Nairobi. I am a victim of circumstance and both my father’s home and my home is a target where my mother’s life with that of my brother is in serious danger as I speak.

Creating jobs the wrong way is unacceptable. The Elite Terror group come in shapes and design and are approaching victims as Civil Rights Groups or as volunteer NGOs providing free services. When cornered they claim they have created job opportunities and are hiring jobless people to earn a living. This idea in real sense is robbing public Wealth and Resources sinking the economy into serious economic instability and are advancing poverty to a dangerous level.

Creating jobs the wrong way in the guest of Free Trading is definitely not balancing the economy in any way. There is no GDP recorded in this manner nor the Tax Revenue is paid to the Government to be able to facilitate public programs. In return it sinks the community and the general public into deeper poverty, joblessness and no record is left behind to track their wrong doings. It is hurting the economy because there is no balance nor regulating legal procedure that moderates business activities. Law subjects have also joined the frey and they act as legal advisors to the educated, organized and informed elite terror groups. They are sophisticated with the International connection with whom they engage and collaborate their business. To curb this theory of conspiracy, there must be a Consumer Welfare Commission that must investigate these groupings, Kenya Meat Commission in Athi River to ascertain their source of Cow supply including their market of supply.

Bad method of job creation have resulted in Government aided or Government shielded thieving from the Community which in addition involves organized stealing of cows from the local community assisted by Chiefs in the local community; forcing the community in an awkward way to release of their land to be used by these Politically Correct Special Agents to Trade with Communities local land for their special interest and this is forcing the Community into extreme poverty.

Private and Government lorries found carrying cows with Agricultural commodities from the villages used by these organized gangs must be eliminated and charged. Proper Cooperative Organizations must be established to create genuine jobs for the local peasant agricultural local farmers, where there will be a balance to provide food left over to eliminate poverty and sustain livelihood from falling down to poverty situation. There must be laws protecting tree cutting and anyone found cutting trees without proper authorization must be charged.

Extreme poverty is more imminent from activities of organized groups of Special Interest who are politically correct educated gangsters who network to rob the community off meaningful and dignified livelihood and as a result, we have lost many prominent straight forward business men including many fishermen from Migingo and this behavior must be put to a stop. This collaboration involved Uganda political networking with Rwanda and is expanding from the COMESA to other UN NGOs from North to South of Africa.

This is unacceptable commercial terrorism that should face common law legal justice against Human Rights as they have committed crime of driving people off their homes and making them homeless, they intimidate, obstruct and terrorize the local community from living a decent dignified livelihood and survival and are manipulating, oppressing, intimidating and terrorizing local from advancing development agenda for progressive development. This is the reason why Millennium Development Agenda for meaningful survival and livelihood has failed to take off. These groups are in collaboration networking with organized securities of mercinaries, rebels from the bushes spreading from the North of Africa, East, Central and South of Africa. This behavior must end now……

Kindly connect the dots to understand what is at stake……….

Why it is wrong to commercialize Public Infrastructure (Non-Profit Making undertaking for Public Service) transferred to Commercial Business for Profit-Making

This idea goes towards a defeatist philosophy of the Unscrupulous Special Interest selfishness for Greed which does not provide the needed fair balance for Public Utility and Facility sharing platform……and is therefore failing the original purpose meant for progressive expansion of PPP i.e. (Public-Private Partnership). There is need to restructure and regulate the PPP program to provide sustained feasibility for public service mandate without conflicting destructive interest from the Unscrupulous Special Interest networking with Organized Terror Gangs which is now tearing apart well meaning fabric for Political, Social and Economic establishment and is failing and contradicting public mandated needs for Reform where Millennium Development Goals program is able eradicate corruption and poverty.

I am a victim of these sad and sorry soaring landscaping circumstances and with other voiceless who fear for dear life, it is our joint desire that we bring these terrorist behaviors that are dangerously expounding corruption and poverty to end. These behaviors’ are unacceptable and cannot be tolerated; they must be put to a stop. These activities from Special Interest collaborative Networking of International connection are engaged in Crimes, Violation and Abuse of Human Rights; they are killing human livelihood and survival and are terrorizing peaceful community from enjoying Peace, Unity and Love……..They force everyone to bend and give in to serve their way of interest with oppressive pressure instead of working towards Reforming for progressive development agenda.

These groupings must be investigated and prosecuted in the Just Rule of Law in a Functioning Government establishment or under a Transitional Caretaker Committee set up to prepare road for an improved Government Establishment.

Structures that support Progressive Development Agenda in a society include good roads, Clean water supply, well functioning sewers, Electricity energy and telecommunications. They can be defined as "physical systems providing commodities and services that are fundamentally essential to enable, sustain, or enhance societal living conditions.

The private sector is playing increasingly important roles in producing goods and providing services that were once considered “public” and therefore exclusively the responsibility of governments.

Public-private partnerships (PPPs) and other forms of business cooperation between the Public & private sector and local and national governments have now common amongs people in business around the world. It is clear the business community engage in the scrambling to own Welfare Community Program & Public Corporations including Public Infrastructure and instead of being independently creative or engage in building their own business from ground up, they involve in monopolizing and controlling Government facilities, utilities and operations for Special Interest. Their purpose is to diversify through Organized Terror Groups to protect and expand their business to International ties amongst the illicit Unscrupulous NGOs of Special business interests for the control of Public-Private Partnerships Initiatives. This is ultimately failing the purpose of PPP intended to improve efficiency to Government service delivery in all sectors of Government Departments including energy, Water, Environmental, Health, School,
Police Security, Public Community Land Ownership and also, including Public utility for Financial services, improve telecommunications and transportation systems, construct and operate water, sewer, and waste treatment facilities, and provide health service needed effectively within a minimum time-frame.

The True Civil Society must embrace and protect Public Mandate to Reform

Justified and True Civil Society groups must conform to Reform Accord reality and those whose dealings are contrary and are against public mandate, the reality to Reform Accord must face people’s threshold and rejection.

Responsibility with Integrity through Accountability with Transparency

Good people, connect the Dots and let us stand together to demand for leadership of Responsibility with Integrity and all contenders who are vying for public office must pass the test of Accountability with Transparency. This is the only way we can reform and achieve the Reform we struggled to bring this far.

Casualties of judiciary reforms

Kenya's top judges fail vetting and were forced back to serve the Status Quo of Special Interest and this is worrisome as conspiracy wheel to excel Corruption and expound poverty will get a ticket to dangerous incorrigible level. This is unacceptable.

Four sacked judges fought hard and appealed ruling that allowed them to keep their jobs after failing the vetting test. The same judges will protect interests of the outgoing president Kibaki with its collaborative network terrorist gang of unscrupulous Special Business Interest while on the other side, Kenyans will continue to brave for a tag of war to put things right before the next Government is formed.

Casualties from Crime Against Human Rights, Abuse and Violation that affect People’s Dignity, Livelihood and Survival by the Elite Well Informed Organized Thugs

Over 40 Police were brutally killed and bodies left to rot. Extrajudicial killings of innocent people from Tana River, Isiolo, Madera, Garrisa, Turkana, Rift Valley, The Greater Nyanza, Migori and Siaya District; Trans Nzoia, fisher men from Lake Victoria and the Migingo island; Thuggery from Organized gangs; land grabbing by force with other sneaky illegal maneuvers from evicting people off their land and destroying hopes to their livelihood and survival; the destruction and pollution of the environment; push to excessive poverty with destruction of social fabric to responsible livelihood and survival has become a sore in everyone’s mind except those connected in the corrupt deals of the selfish and greedy leaders.

Lesson Leaned

The election gone wrong in 2007/8 taught us a big lesson and we are not about to take any political chances or situation that will challenge and destroy our Reform gains for granted. We must stand for our rights and Embracing Common Law advocacy for Human Rights with Chief Justice Willy Mugunga and as a Show-Case, will help Transform our Legislative policies requirement for Reform we have struggled for this far.

There is a sense of urgency to put Leaders to task and to account for Mandated Responsibilities with Integrity; in checks and balances, determine their participation on corruption, poverty with efforts they engaged to improve Environmental pollution.

Judy Miriga
Diaspora Spokesperson
Executive Director
Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
USA

http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com

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Attachments

Kenya’s Corruption breading Economic looming Crisis with extreme poverty

Corruption can refer to many different types of illegal acts, though they will usually all involve a person abusing their authority for their own benefit, or for the benefit of family and (political) friends. This can be government officials using public money for their own personal use, or corporate executives improperly awarding contracts or taking other decisions in exchange for bribes.

Incidents of corruption in Kenya are not limited to large corporations or government agencies. Bribe-taking is common among many lower-level officials, with the average city-dwelling Kenyan having to pay as many as 16 bribes each month just in the course of everyday life.

Africa’s development agenda remained a high priority business interest in the world. The group of Twenty (G20) reporting on African Development Bank (AfDB) does not present African Financial situation as is on the Ground. Action plan intended for consultations by African leadership benefit their politically correct network of the selfish greedy the benefit that does not fizzle down to the grassroots; instead the urban poor with grassroots community are robbed through tax evasion by the unscrupulous Special Interest collaborative networks to extreme poverty and extermination.; thereby failing and handicapping advancements of Africa’s progressive development Agenda.

African Development Bank initiatives, Equity etc., have gained and benefited from public funding through NEPAD the results to improve Millennium Development Agenda of people have not been realized because of the growing sophisticated corruption by the educated agents of the politically correct networking groups. The Infrastructure Consortium for Africa, through the PPP program (the Public-Private Partnership) will not succeed as intended from United Nations facilitation funds to replenishment Infrastructure for the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), which involves Sokoni interactive platform for financing African infrastructure projects.

Africa’s Showcased at the G20 as exemplary are secretly under-cover by politically correct and the information have not been made available as International Policy demands or put to public information to inform people of Africa the going ons. One such of these was the Inga dam hydropower project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Hela Cheikhrouhou, the African Development Bank’s director for energy, the environment and climate change, which outlined what the AfDB is doing in helping to prepare this project.

With wrong ways to creating job opportunities fostering employment and social protection, building a more stable resilient international monetary system, in order to address food price and shortage instead is increasing Poverty, joblessness with organized terrorism and assassinations. This is not a legalized way to fostering green growth and sustain development. This is not the success story to open Free Trade for Africa in the Globalisation Free Trading Market for Africa people of Africa want for their Development Agenda.

In the absence of fair and just global Regulations and Rules, globalisation for Free Trading will cause worst-case-scenario the world will live to regret.

The major multilateral institutions, the UN Agenda for Democracy and Millenium development to eradicate poverty, extra judicial killings with corruption will never realize its goals and heavy casualties of economic collapse will follow. The World Bank, IMF and the WTO, have become major objects of attack by Reformist with other concerned International public interest Civil Society groups. They have instead perpetuation high rise of corruption with poverty on an unprecedented scale and they must begin to re-structure their activities to conform with the majority public mandate and needs.

The Seattle meeting of the WTO was disrupted in December 1999, followed by that of Quebec in Canada, Gotenborg in Sweden, and the latest was the mass rally, organized against a World Bank conference in Oslo, Norway, in June 2002. What ordinarily was an academic gathering of development experts to an annual development conference of the World Bank attracted the wrath of the Norwegian and other European civil society groups. A coalition group by the name ATTAC organized an unprecedented rally of twelve thousand people in the city of Oslo against the World Bank conference. In addition, ATTAC also organised a counter or alternative conference at the University of Oslo on the theme, “The World Bank: Reform, Revolution or Cosmetic Change?”

Growing anger against the World Bank with partners continue to build unfavorable disagreement and concerns with the World Bank, IMF, UN NGO Agencies because Economic crisis affecting the world is fueled by these International World Financial Institutions putting Africa on cross-roads and Africa’s livelihood and survival are on the verge of extinction with regard to unregulated Free Trading initiative for global development; more specifically considering specific areas of Free trade, unscrupulous investment, Equity Banking in finance trading, Hedge Funding etc., affecting Africa’s agenda to Millennium Development progress.

We have observed dismal performance of the African continent progressive development and we must engage to resolve the problems.

African leaders have put forward various development agendas in the last four decades of the continent’s post-colonial history with no good results and things must begin to change for better. The latest of it is the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) we must urgently resolve.

People, what this paper seeks to do is to underscore unscrupulous corrupt politics of the international Free trading that evade paying Tax Revenues as element to progress globalization trading with is unfair and has put Europe to economic collapse. It unravels the linkage collaborative special business interest network between the international Free trading but avoid paying Tax Revenues at any form of regulating institutions (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)/ the WTO). This must be put to end because this political science killing the Third World countries development agenda as the invasion of scramble to Africa by the illicit unregulated and unscrupulous special interest is crazy for Africa’s shoddy investments.

In conjuction to economic instability, political special interest and socio-cultural erosion, it has been realized that Africa’s dignity, value and virtue is under threat and the conspiracy is destroying Africa cultural values including Africa’s survival and livelihood and things must begin to be done differently to protect ways we know will work favorably in the right direction engaging public interest since peoples priorities have gone far out of order and we must engage Reform and be able to make this world a better place than we found it .…….which is why, things must change for the better.

Political class who are real to public mandate and peoples needs to balance must stand with us to protect the Reform Accord agenda. The reform will give us the change we have been struggling for. It is time that we join hands to improve our livelihood and survival to make life worth living with Responsibility and Dignity for the sake of Peace to thrive again under unity for common good of all which will be preserved under the generated Trust in love.

Before Kenya goes for election, let us make it our concern and make sure elections will be made free and fair, that the Reform Accord Agenda is complied with and that we must embrace ethics that underline reality for checks and balances that offer and determine threshold for Responsibility and integrity to those who wish to undertake public office service delivery.

Corruption and Kenya's Presidents

Unfortunately, corruption played a role with all 3 Kenyan presidents up to now.

•Jomo Kenyatta

He was the first president of Kenya after independence in 1963. During colonialism, the European colonizers had stolen fertile lands from, among others, the Kalenjin tribe. After the independence (in 1963), Kenyatta did not return those lands to the former owners, but handed it over to members of his own clan and tribe (the Kikuyu). Kenyatta himself became one of the largest private land owners in the country.

•Daniel arap Moi

During Daniel arap Moi's presidency – Kenya’s second president – corruption was widespread and involved Moi himself on many occasions. In the 1990s, he was part of the Goldenberg scandal, where smuggled gold was exported out of Kenya in exchange for high government subsidies. It's one of the largest corruption scandals to date in Kenya, which involved nearly the entire Moi government. Many officials from the Central Bank, and more than 20 senior judges have also been implicated. As of 2008, only a small handful small people have been charged with related criminal offense leaving out the masters who financed, organized and engineered the crime, which some see as an example of the continuing problem of corruption and favoritism that has carried on till today.

•Mwai Kibaki

The third president, Mwai Kibaki, was elected in 2002 mainly on the promise to end corruption in Kenya once and for all. Admittedly, there have been quite some improvements in the country (among them press freedom, return of elections and introduction of free and compulsory primary education for all) but corruption had remained a big issue. To start with, his administration consists largely of Kikuyu, while this tribe is only 22 percent of the Kenyan population. From 2003 to 2006, Kibaki’s cabinet spent 14 million dollars on new Mercedes cars for themselves. In late 2008, several members of Kibaki's parliament were found to have taken large "allowances", which were not legally part of their official compensation. Kibaki is believed and suspected to have falsified the results of the 2007 election, leading to riots organized crimes who performed heinous act of extra-judicial killings.

The Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission

Though legislation against corruption in Kenya has existed since 1956, with the Prevention of Corruption Act, the current anti-corruption agency has only been operating since 2003.

Under the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes act, the KACC is mandated to fight and prevent corruption though all levels of government and industry. They publish a number of regular reports and newsletters, with the aim of promoting fair business practices and to expose those who engage in questionable operations.

Causes Of Poverty In Kenya

Despite some positive developments, poverty in Kenya has continued to be a huge problem. Even hunger in Kenya continues to rear it’s head from time to time. This page looks at the facts, the causes and the remedies.

Extent of Poverty in Kenya

The dry poverty statistics in Kenya sum it all up. Somewhere between one quarter and half of the population earn less than $1 US each day (the annual GDP per capita is around $360 US). It was estimated in 1992 that half of all rural Kenyans were living below the poverty line. That represents approximately 9 million people. The situation is not quite as bad in the urban centers, where such poverty only effects a third of the population.

Kenya's World Ranking Regarding Poverty

A 2005 report by the United Nations ranked Kenya as 154th out of a list of 177 countries, in terms of life expectancy, literacy levels and overall gross domestic product. Just three years earlier, the country had ranked 134th. For comparison, Uganda was ranked at 144th, and Tanzania was 164th. Both are immediate neighbors of Kenya.

There are several factors contributing to the ongoing problem of poverty in Kenya, though the issue of Kenya's economic state is far more complex than a simple list of causes.

Limited Economic Diversity

Around three quarters of Kenya's population is dependent on the agriculture industry, but with its erratic weather patterns and vast regions of arid desert, it is a very unstable sector. Periods of drought can be crippling, not only in terms of food supply, but in jobs as well.

Even when crops have been sufficient, poor government policies and international trade terms hampered agricultural growth, leading to further declines in the industry through the 70s and 80s. Starting in 1991, further serious problems in the country's GDP became evident, leading to extended government action which has not proven to be successful at stemming the tide of poverty in Kenya.

Lack of Opportunity

Weak overall infrastructure for the country means that nearly all the rural population are forced to rely on their own subsistence farming for their own food as well as monetary income. Jobs are scarce, leaving people with little opportunity for employment. There are considerable obstacles for starting a small business yourself in Kenya as well. Micro credits may be one way to foster small entrepeneurs. They will be important when eradicating poverty in Kenya.

Another factor is education. School fees are often out of reach for poor families, leaving each generation to continue trying to find work while lacking the education to advance. Cultural biases towards women create further limitations for the growing number of female-led households.

Government Corruption

According to Transparency International, Kenya is one of the most corrupt nations in the world. It is difficult for the majority of the population to escape the poverty in Kenya, when government money is used improperly.

Bribes, fraud and tribal favoritism are common within the all levels of government, which hampers any attempt to improve conditions across the country. In the early 2000s, the Kenyan government began taking steps to reduce the rampant corruption. These reforms have inspired some confidence, and brought additional foreign investment back to Kenya, but at the core of the system corruption remains.

Unfair Tariff Walls By Rich Countries

Protection of their own economies through tariff walls poses another problem. An increase of international trade has proven beneficial for many developing countries – look at China, India and countries in South America. But often, it’s useless for developing countries to export to rich countries because the latter have installed tariff walls. This way, products from developing countries are artificially made expensive for Western buyers. Rich countries (actually their governments) want to protect their own industries against competition this way.

For example, Kenya has a blossoming flower industry that’s exporting to Europe, but recently a number of European countries have installed high new tariffs. It’s obvious that they want to protect their own industries. Their citizens pay the price.

Often, progressive groups don’t mention this as a cause of Kenyan poverty, because they are ideologically opposed to free trade and free markets.

Kenya’s Notable Corruption

The longest-running is the Goldenberg scandal [2], where the Kenyan government subsidized exports of gold, paying exporters in Kenyan Shillings (Sh) 35% over their foreign currency earnings. In this case, the gold was smuggled from Congo. The Goldenberg scandal cost Kenya the equivalent of more than 10% of the country's annual GDP.

In 1998, political scientist Mutahi Ngunyi's NGO - Series for Alternative Research in East Africa (SAREAT) engaged John Githongo to edit a regional political economy magazine, East African Alternatives[3]. The magazine folded after an audit instigated by the lead donor Ford Foundation found suspected misappropriation and collusion on the part of Ngunyi, who was executive director of SAREAT and Dr Jonathan Moyo, who was the programme officer at the Ford Foundation in charge of disbursing the resources to the NGO. They have both been sued and the matter is still in court. It is known that the Ford Foundation has accepted Githongo's offer to be a prosecution witness in the case.

A Sh360 million helicopter servicing contract in South Africa[4]. Military officers had argued that the contract was too extravagant and servicing the helicopters could be done locally. Kenya Air Force (KAF) went ahead to spend Sh108 million as a down payment for servicing the Puma helicopters, whose tail number is logged as 418 at Denel Aviation, a South African firm.

In 2003, the military was split over plans to buy new Czech fighter jets[4]. The plan to buy the jet fighters would have cost taxpayers Sh12.3 billion.

A Sh4.1 billion Navy ship deal [4]. A Navy project was given to Euromarine, a company associated with Anura Pereira, the tender awarded in a process that has been criticised as irregular. The tender was worth Sh4.1 billion. Military analysts say a similar vessel could have been built for Sh1.8 billion.

Chamanlal Kamani had been involved in a supply contract, as Kamsons Motors. [5] Kampsons tendered for the supply of Mahindra Jeeps to the Police Department in the mid 1990s for close to Sh1 million (US$13,000) each, at a time when showrooms would have charged customers a sixth of the price. Moreover, the vehicles were being bought for a government department and were therefore imported duty free. Few of the more than 1,000 units that were imported over several years are in service today.

The Kamanis were also involved in a deal to build a CID forensic laboratory. On June 7, 2004 an amount of $4.7 million was wired back. The payment was a refund against the money paid for the Criminal Investigations Department forensic laboratory. [6]. Another euro 5.2 million was paid back in respect of the E-cop project, which involved computerisation of the police force and the installation of spy cameras in Nairobi by Infotalent Systems Private Limited. [6]

The Prisons department lost $3 million after contracting Hallmark International, a company associated with Deepak Kamani of Kamsons Motors, for the supply of 30 boilers. [5] Only half of the boilers were delivered – from India and not the United States as had been agreed.

The construction of Nexus, a secret military communication centre in Karen, Nairobi [4]. The Government spent Sh2.6 billion (US$36.9 million) to construct the complex. Three years later, military personnel have not moved into the centre. A phantom company, Nedermar BV Technologies, which is said to have its headquarters in Holland, implemented the secret project situated along Karen South Road. Nedermar is linked to businessman Anura Pereira. However, Pereira has denied this. The tendering process for the Nexus project was circumvented as DoD's Departmental Tender Committee. Funding for the project was made through the Ministry of Transport and Communications. The complex is currently headed by Colonel Philip Kameru. Nexus was first meant to be an ammunition dumpsite before it was turned into a military communication and operations centre. Construction continued without any site visits by either the DoD staff or Ministry of Public Works officials. The Nexus project was implemented during the tenure of General Joseph Kibwana.

In 2005 plans to buy a sophisticated £20 million passport equipment system from France [7] [8]. Here government wanted to replace its passport printing system. The transaction was originally quoted at 6 million euros from François Charles Oberthur of Paris - the world's leading supplier of Visa and MasterCards, but was awarded to a British firm, the Anglo-Leasing and Finance Company Limited, at 30 million euros, who would have sub-contracted the same French firm to do the work. Despite the lack of competitive tendering Anglo Leasing was paid a "commitment fee" of more than £600,000. Anglo Leasing's agent is a Liverpool-based firm, Saagar Associates, owned by a woman whose family has enjoyed close links with senior officials in the Moi regime. Company records show Saagar Associates is owned by Mrs Sudha Ruparell, a 47-year-old Kenyan woman. Ruparell is the daughter of Chamanlal Kamani, the multimillionaire patriarch of a business family that enjoyed close links with senior officials in the Moi regime. Anglo Leasing made a repayment of euro 956,700 through a telegraphic transfer from Schroeder & Co Bank AG, Switzerland on May 17, 2004.[6]

The local chapter of Transparency International and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), a government body released a report in February, 2006, stating that between January 2003 and September 2004, the National Rainbow Coalition government spent about $12-million on cars that were mostly for the personal use of senior government officials.[9] The vehicles included 57 Mercedes-Benz, as well as Land Cruisers, Mitsubishi Pajeros, Range Rovers, Nissan Terranos and Nissan Patrols. The $12-million substantially exceeded what the government spent over the 2003/04 financial year on controlling malaria -- "the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Kenya", says the report.

In late February 2006, the leading newspaper The Standard ran a story claiming that president Mwai Kibaki and senior opposition figure Kalonzo Musyoka had been holding secret meetings. On March 2 at 1:00am local time (2200 UTC on the 1st), masked gunmen carrying AK-47s raided multiple editorial offices of The Standard, and of its television station KTN. They kicked and beat staff members, forcibly took computers and transmission equipment, burned all the copies of the March 2nd edition of the newspaper, and damaged the presses. At KTN, they shut down the power, putting the station off the air. Initially, the Kenyan information minister claimed no knowledge of the raid, but it has since revealed that Kenyan police were responsible. The Ministry of the Internal Security later stated that the incident was to safeguard state security. "If you rattle a snake you must be prepared to be bitten by it," John Michuki said. Three journalists at The Standard, arrested after the critical story was printed, are still being held without charge. [10] [11] The story now also features the bizarre case of two Armenian businessmen, mocked in the press for their taste for heavy gold chains, watches and rings, referred to as Mercenaries, who the opposition says led the raid and had shady dealings with Kibaki's government.[12] [13][14]

In November 2006, the government was accused of failing to act on a banking fraud scam worth $1.5bn involving money laundering and tax evasion, reported by whistle-blowers as early as 2004. Investigators believe sums worth 10% of Kenya's national income are involved. A recent auditor's report says the scale of the operations "threatens the stability of the Kenyan economy".[15]

In November 2006, British Foreign Office minister Kim Howells warned, that corruption in Kenya is increasing the UK's exposure to drug trafficking and terrorism. "People can be bought, right from the person who works at the docks in Mombasa up to the government. (...) This weakness has been recognised by drug-traffickers and probably by terrorists too." Said Howells for the BBC.[16]

On 31 August 2007, The Guardian newspaper featured on its front page a story about more than GBP 1 billion transferred out of Kenya by the family and associates of former Kenyan leader Daniel arap Moi. The Guardian sourced the information from the Wikileaks article The looting of Kenya under President Moi and its analysis of a leaked investigative document ("the Kroll report") prepared for the Kibaki government in 2004 in order to try to recover money stolen during Moi's rule.[17]

On 2007-09-06 parliament passed the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill, restricting investigations by the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission to offenses committed prior to May 2003, excluding the Goldenberg and Anglo-Leasing scandals and other major cases. The move was condemned by anti-corruption campaigners; Mwalimu Mati, former chief executive of the Transparency International Kenya Chapter, declared that "grand corruption has swallowed the government and parliament that Kenyans elected to fight it in 2002". [18]. In response to public outrage generated by the move, President Kibaki announced that he would veto the bill.

In September 2007, Wikileaks released documents exposing a 500 million Kenyan shilling payroll fraud at Egerton University] and subsequent cover up, now the subject of ongoing legal dispute in the High Court.[citation needed]

On the 28th of September 2007, Wikileaks released 28 investigative documents] exposing a US$1.5 billion dollar money laundering fraud by Charter House Bank Ltd. Re-reported in the Kenyan Standard newspaper.[citation needed]

In June 2008, the Grand Regency Scandal broke, wherein the Central Bank of Kenya is alleged to have secretly sold a luxury hotel in Nairobi to an unidentified group of Libyan investors for more than 4 billion Kenyan Shillings (approx US $60 million) below the appraised market value. Finance Minister Amos Kimunya negotiated the sale, and was censured in a near-unanimous motion by the Kenyan Parliament, though he vehemently denies the charges. This follows on the heels of the Safaricom IPO, overseen by Kimunya, which has been alternatively praised and questioned for possible corruption in the execution of the sale. Safaricom is the largest mobile phone service provider in Kenya, having operated with a near-government monopoly for many years. The government of Kenya sold its 50% stake in Safaricom in the IPO.

Kenya’s Wealth in a Conspiracy Threat

Most Counties to the west of the Rift Valley fall under an expansive Gold Belt that stretches from Turkana to Kuria. In most of these areas, medieval mining methods, especially along river beds, have been going on for decades.

Most of these efforts are, however, exploited by middlemen who snap up the gold at throwaway prices and end up making super profits in the international market.

The global decline of stock markets has pushed the price of gold to record levels as investors turn to the precious stone to hedge their wealth.

An ounce of gold is presently retailing at $1,586 (about Sh134,000) up from $972 (Sh82,000) in 2009. Financial analyst Aly Khan Satchu says the price of gold has been on an 11-year rally, turning the commodity into an international currency.

And with neighbouring Tanzania continuing to rake in billions of shillings by commercialising its gold resources, Nandi, Siaya, Kakamega, Vihiga, Migori, Trans-Mara, Turkana, Kuria and Bondo are among the areas that await a major economic transformation when the government moves to create a framework for such activity to thrive locally.

Coal

Only a few years ago, a 500 square kilometre region cutting through Kitui and Mutito called the Mui Basin was declared one of Africa’s most coal-rich areas.

Coal is a key component for the smelting of other minerals and is also used for generating power in most countries. Already, the Chinese have set base in Kitui, ready to extract the mineral whose quality has been passed as excellent.

As coal is a mass mineral, logistical arrangements are being sought to transport the product either to local ports or to areas where it can be used either in the mining of other minerals or for local power production.

While concerns have been raised over its environmental impact, coal remains a relatively very cheap power generation option, with countries like South Africa and China still heavily reliant on it.

Billions of tonnes lie buried in Eastern province, waiting to transform a largely laid back region into a vibrant economic zone.

Iron Ore

Iron ore is used in the manufacture of steel products and significant deposits have been discovered in Taita Taveta, Kitui, Meru, Kilifi and Samia.

In Taita Taveta District, extraction of the mineral has already commenced, while a local industrialist has declared intention to mine in the Mutomo area of Kitui.

With Kenya spending hundreds of billions of shillings every year to import steel for manufacturing, domestic as well as construction industries, exploitation of this local wealth would hugely boost the economy.

Conveniently, the discovery of coal, a major input in the mining of iron ore, in Kitui means a major industry is in the offing, with investors circling with intent.

Soda Ash

Kenya exports close to one million tonnes of soda ash, mined predominantly in the Lake Magadi area of Kajiado. But the potential to multiply that, according to the government, is massive.

The Magadi Soda Company is a perfect example of how minerals can be used as a major economic driver. The company employs about 500 people directly and is a major consumer of local production in the Lake Magadi area.

The company also drives development in the area with the awarding of scholarships and provision of water and other services to the local community.

Soda ash is used in the manufacture of glass, salt, preservatives, and dyes, among many other applications. The sad thing, however, is that most of the mined soda ash is exported raw, denying this country value added benefits.

Sad, also, is the fact that most of Kenya’s glassware is imported from countries like China that import their soda ash from Kenya.

Flourspar

Found in abundance in the Kerio Valley, this is one mineral whose immense value has never been capitalised.

Fluorspar, or fluorite, is an industrial mineral largely used in the manufacture of lenses for microscopes and telescopes, fluorescent bulbs and for smelting.

The mineral also has aesthetic uses as ornaments are carved out of it. With average prices of pure fluorite at a minimum of $1.2 a gramme (about Sh150), Kenya could be sitting on at least a trillion shillings of this very valuable rock.

Limestone

This is perhaps the one mineral that Kenya is synonymous with. Virtually every corner of the country has limestone whose uses touch every day life.

From the manufacture of portland cement, chalk, paper and glass to medicines, floorings and farm conditioners, this is one mineral that can earn this country a lot of foreign exchange if the capacity of its exploitation is greatly enhanced.

Demand for cement, for instance, has over the last few years of a burgeoning construction boom exposed the lack of capacity at cement manufacturing plants.

Kenya only produces below 5 million tonnes of cement compared to the between 66 to 150 million tonnes done by China, India, the United States and Turkey — by that order the four leading cement producers.

Most countries are net importers of cement, led by China, India and the United States. Evans Osano, an industry analyst, says Middle Eastern countries are leading consumers of cement, as are some African countries like Rwanda, Djibouti, Burundi, Gabon, Congo and Botswana. Osano says cement has the potential to become a leading foreign exchange earner for Kenya.

Titanium

In 2011, Tiomin finally set base to start extracting titanium from mines in Kwale. The mineral is widely used as a base compound. Aircrafts, space ships and missiles’ bodies are built with alloys that include titanium for corrosion resistance and tensile strength at low weight.

Most of titanium extracts, though, are used in the production of titanium oxide, which is used in the manufacture of cement, toothpaste, paper and plastics, among many other products.

Surgical equipment and body piercings are made with titanium as it is rust proof, while hip joints, ball joints and other human body internal bone interventions are done with titanium, which needs no replacement for 20 years.

Dental implants are also done with titanium, as are guns. If your laptop has a shiny top, or your phone, or car centre console, that is titanium as well. There are significant deposits of titanium in Malindi and Lamu as well.

Oil and Gas

Several months ago, Energy minister Kiraitu Murungi confidently claimed that oil would be struck in Isiolo in no time.

But later, miners hit a high-potential hydo-carbon belt, a drawback that nonetheless further confirmed the presence of oil in the area.

Energy specialist Eng Patrick Obath says all the ingredients for a major oil find are present in Kenya, adding that the presence of oil in western India shows that oil is available in plenty in Lamu, going by the similarity of the regions’ tectonic plates.

The southern coastal area most likely has natural gas, and with Tanzania making one big discovery after another in its coastal regions, Obath is convinced Kenya is most likely sitting on immense oil and gas wealth.

source: http://www.nation.co.ke/Features/DN2/Kenyas+trillions+of+buried+wealth+/-/957860/1299662/-/item/0/-/60twclz/-/index.html

Kenya: Fast-Growing Kenya Facing Ground Water Depletion
17 December 2012

As demand for water rises and rainfall becomes less dependable, fewer Kenyans can rely only on rivers, springs or - for the lucky minority - a piped water supply. Many instead are turning to borehole water.

But increasing urbanisation, combined with the effects of climate change and the growing popularity of tapping into underground aquifers, is proving an unsustainable combination, experts say.

Kenya's traditional water sources are rapidly dwindling in volume due to overexploitation, erratic rains and the degradation of catchment areas. In response, the use of underground water is becoming widespread across this water-stressed east African country, whose population of 41 million has access to an annual renewable fresh water supply of only 647 cubic metres per person, according to government figures.

But some areas are already experiencing depletion of underground water as well. Kenya's capital city, Nairobi, has a rapidly growing population of around three million, and several satellite towns emerging on its outskirts. With no piped water, many residents of these new communities have turned to borehole water, resulting in increasing pressure on groundwater resources.

Daniel Juma, of Joska Township on Nairobi's outskirts, has dug a 30-metre (100-foot) borehole to supply his household with water. Already he worries about how long it will last.

"It was costly digging the borehole, yet many more are being (dug) in the neighbourhood and it might dry up in a few years," he says.

LACK OF PIPED WATER

Boreholes are widely used in Nairobi, given that 40 percent of the city's population is not directly supplied with piped water. Agatha Thuita, an official of the government's Water Resources Management Authority (WRMA), said that even those with access to piped water often supplement their supply with borehole water or harvested rainwater because the piped supply is unreliable.

The Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company is among those drilling boreholes to improve the water supply to Nairobi residents and supplement the supply of water from dams on the outskirts of the city, Thuita said. Residents without piped water or a borehole buy water from the company's water tankers.

The problem is not confined to Kenya. Groundwater reservoirs are rapidly being depleted around the world. In August 2012, researchers in Canada and the Netherlands found that 80 percent of the world's aquifers were not being used sustainably, with heavy exploitation of water threatening livelihoods and lives of millions of people.

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Some 430 km (270 miles) west of Nairobi, in the Mundika area of Busia County, near Kenya's border with Uganda, people already have seen their boreholes dry up. Jackline Ajiambo is one of many residents who dug a borehole to ensure reliable access to clean water because of lower water levels in rivers and the drying up of springs and streams.

"This borehole was initially 28 feet (deep) and drawing water was much easier, but the water level has grown low, compelling us to dig it deeper," Ajiambo said.

DRYING BOREHOLES

Because drilling boreholes with machines is costly, the majority of borehole users rely on hand-dug holes, but they are not always reliable. Milton Onyango's borehole is 50 feet (15 metres) deep and was once a source of water for both domestic use and the watering of livestock. But it dried up two years ago, and with no source of running water, he now relies on the Sio river, 7 km (4 miles) away.

In a culture where fetching water is a woman's role, Onyango's wife and two teenage daughters must endure the regular long trek.

Officials point to several factors leading to the depletion of traditional water supplies. According to Musembi Munyao, an official with the water ministry in Nairobi, pollution of rivers is partly to blame for the increasing switch to groundwater in Kenya.

"If the Nairobi River (had not) been polluted, its water would still be fit for consumption thus reducing the need for drilling boreholes in the city and its environs," Munyao, a geologist, says.

Munyao also criticises the damage done to water catchment areas, such as the destruction of vegetation on mountains and hills. According to the WRMA's Thuita, rapid urbanisation also increases the amount of land covered in impermeable surfaces such as roads, while deforestation can also lead to more surface-water runoff during the rainy seasons. These factors make it difficult for water to percolate into the ground and recharge aquifers.

Although the government has not undertaken detailed monitoring, Thuita believes that two further factors contributing to increasing water stress are low precipitation linked to climate change, and overexploitation of groundwater.

"At the coast, heavy extraction of groundwater has led to seawater intrusion causing salinity in borehole water," she said.

Munyao notes that the country's exact groundwater availability is unknown, making it hard to determine which areas have enough water to tolerate increased exploitation.

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SOLUTIONS?

Addressing the problem, experts say, will require a range of changes, including more harvesting of rainwater to boost supplies and recharge aquifers, and rules to prevent housing estates being developed in water catchment areas where aquifer recharge takes place.

What Kenya needs is "an integrated water resources management system," Thuita says. "We need to develop wisely by not undoing what nature has provided us."

Demand for water, however, is driving action. Speaking at the opening of a recent workshop on developing a master plan for Nairobi's water resources, Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga said the government intended to meet the needs of the capital and its 13 satellite communities one way or another.

"The water available currently meets a mere 60 percent of the demands of the city and its satellite towns," said Odinga. In response - for better or for worse - the government plans to sink more boreholes.

Justus Bahati Wanzala is a writer based in Nairobi.

Read more at AlertNet Climate, the Thomson Reuters Foundation's daily news website on the human impacts of climate change.