Category Archives: Crime

An Integrated Response to Justice and Reconciliation in South Sudan

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From: Sudan Press

By David Deng and Elizabeth Deng*

January 8, 2014 (SSNA) — As representatives of Salva Kiir and Riek Machar meet in Addis Ababa to negotiate a ceasefire to the conflict that has engulfed South Sudan in past weeks, the question of what a mediated outcome might look like is at the forefront of everyone’s mind. Judging from public statements made by the two sides, there does not appear to be much common ground between them. Kiir maintains that Machar has tried to claim power through violence and as such cannot be rewarded with a power-sharing arrangement. Machar asserts that Kiir is responsible for the mass killings that took place in Juba in mid-December 2013 and is no longer fit to lead the country.

In the face of increasingly vocal calls for accountability from international leaders and South Sudanese civil society, the two parties have begun to acknowledge the need to investigate crimes committed in Juba and elsewhere in the country. Taban Deng Gai, head of Machar’s delegation in the Addis talks, has called for free access for humanitarian organizations and United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate atrocities and human rights abuses. On its part, the Government has announced the creation of two committees: one to investigate the killing of innocent civilians and the other to examine the causes of the divisions within the presidential guard. These public statements are a welcome first step, but specific and binding commitments to accountability must be detailed in any negotiated settlement in order to ensure that investigations and prosecutions actually take place.

Peace processes in South Sudan have a long track record of prioritizing reconciliation at all costs and failing to secure remedies for people affected by conflict. The 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which brought an end to the 22-year north-south civil war in Sudan, included only a vague reference to national reconciliation and neglected to mention the issue of accountability for past human rights violations. The ongoing efforts of the church-led Committee for National Healing, Peace and Reconciliation, established by presidential decree in April 2013, has so far been silent on the question of accountability. Past efforts to neutralize rebel groups in Jonglei, Unity and Upper Nile states have been initiated with offers of blanket amnesties and attractive political and military appointments; truth and justice have never figured in to the negotiations.

Sidelining justice in peace negotiations may help to expedite political settlements in the short-term, but it fails to adequately address the question of impunity that lies at the heart of internal conflicts in South Sudan. Attempts to bury the past also give rise to contested and obscured histories, sowing the seeds for continued abuses by political and military actors in the years to come.

To avoid repeating past mistakes, an integrated process of truth-telling, justice and reconciliation should be included in any mediated agreement between Kiir and Machar. The two parties should be compelled to submit themselves and their supporters to an independent investigation into the crimes committed. Those that are found to be responsible should be punished through fair and public judicial mechanisms. Handshakes, smiles and a mere political settlement between the two parties will not set South Sudan on a path towards truth, sustainable peace, democracy and rule of law.

The Need for a Hybrid Court

If the parties can agree to the principle of justice, the next question is how best to provide it in the context of South Sudan’s weak justice system. Past efforts to secure justice for crimes committed in the course of large-scale violence have all been hampered by the poor investigation capacity of police and prosecutors and the limited geographical reach of civilian courts. In Jonglei state, for example, thousands of people, including women and children, have been killed, tortured or abducted in the context of inter-communal violence, forced disarmament programs and government counter-insurgency campaigns in recent years. Yet, those responsible for the crimes, be they civilians, soldiers or politicians, have enjoyed almost total impunity.

Given the lack of capacity, credibility and independence of the justice system, it is clear that without international support, impartial investigations and prosecutions cannot take place. Such international support could best be provided within the framework of a hybrid court established within South Sudan’s judiciary. Hybrid courts have been deployed to address the legacy of large-scale conflict in countries such as Sierra Leone, East Timor, Kosovo and Cambodia. Senegal recently established a hybrid court to prepare a case against former Chadian president Hissène Habré. The defining feature of a hybrid court is that it is administered by a combination of national and international staff. By recruiting highly qualified judges, investigators, prosecutors and defense attorneys to work alongside their South Sudanese counterparts, a hybrid court can provide the support that is necessary for the fair adjudication of serious crimes, while helping to strengthen national accountability mechanisms and rule of law in the longer-term.

Due to the high cost of hybrid courts, the court’s focus would be limited to those who bear primary responsibility for planning, organizing or carrying out the most egregious crimes. In order to extend justice beyond cases tried by the hybrid court, prosecutions should also be brought before other South Sudanese courts. The judiciary could consider using its power to establish special courts with limited temporal and thematic jurisdiction to try crimes that have occurred since December 2013. In order to adequately address the crimes that have been committed, South Sudan must also ensure that its legal framework provides for the punishment of international crimes, including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. As the penal code does not define these crimes, new legislation would be necessary.

Prosecutions in the hybrid court and formal judiciary could be linked to the customary court system to extend truth, justice and reconciliation processes to the grassroots level. South Sudan’s customary court system has a strong emphasis on restorative justice, in that chiefs and traditional authorities encourage disputing parties to talk through their differences and finding a solution that is acceptable to both parties. While customary courts are not legally empowered to adjudicate criminal responsibility, they are well positioned to promote reconciliation in circumstances where the line between perpetrator and victim is blurred. Customary courts could also play an important role in negotiating compensation awards and other civil remedies.

An Integrated Response to Truth, Justice and Reconciliation

Justice is only one part of a solution to the conflict in South Sudan. In order to heal the wounds caused by the recent violence, South Sudan must adopt an integrated response that incorporates truth-telling and meaningful reconciliation and ultimately seeks to transform South Sudan’s abusive and corrupt governance systems.

In 2013, the Government began trying to address South Sudan’s history of conflict through the establishment of a Committee for National Healing, Peace and Reconciliation. The Committee could make a valuable contribution to an integrated approach to truth, justice and reconciliation, but to do so, it would need to expand its mandate to include a truth-telling component. By providing a public platform for victims to tell their stories and perpetrators to confess to their wrongs and seek forgiveness, the Committee could help South Sudanese to build a national narrative of their troubled past.

There are other actions that the Government could take to build a culture of human rights in South Sudan. South Sudan has not yet ratified the core human rights treaties that prescribe the minimum standards by which a state must treat its citizens. The Government has acceded to the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols and has ratified the Convention Against Torture, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention Governing Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, but it has not ratified the other core treaties, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights or African Charter on Human and People’s Rights. In order to make clear the Government’s commitment to human rights and give victims and their representatives recourse to regional and international treaty monitoring bodies and complaint mechanisms, the Government should immediately ratify these treaties and domesticate them into national law. It should also sign on to the Rome Statute as a demonstration of its commitment to justice for international crimes.

Conclusion

South Sudan stands on a precipice. Viewing the crisis as a problem that can be solved by political and military class alone would repeat the same mistake that has been made in past negotiations. Hybrid courts require a great deal of political will, diplomatic effort and material resources to establish. Even if the parties were to agree, it would take many months to establish a hybrid court in South Sudan. Nonetheless, if South Sudan is to come to terms with the violent events of the past few weeks, it is vitally important that the issue of accountability be addressed in any negotiated agreement between Kiir and Machar. If the parties fail to agree on or to implement a mechanism for holding perpetrators of the violence accountable, the Security Council could consider referring the matter to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Until South Sudan’s leaders are made accountable to the people they serve and punished for the wrongs they commit, South Sudan will continue to experience violence like what we have seen in the past weeks and the dream of a peaceful and prosperous nation will never be realized.

*David Deng is the Research Director for the South Sudan Law Society (SSLS), a civil society organization based in South Sudan. Elizabeth Deng is a human rights lawyer based in Nairobi.

USA: This is none of the IRS’s business

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From: Nita and Shaunna, UltraViolet

They’re at it again. Now Tea Party conservatives want to force sexual violence survivors to recount their experience to IRS agents. Click here to stop them!

Click here
http://act.weareultraviolet.org/go/1427?t=2&akid=738.6000.VxrwPa

Dear Readers,

This morning, the House Judiciary Committee is debating legislation that could force survivors of sexual violence to tell their horrifying stories to…wait for it…Internal Revenue Service agents.1

That’s because the bill sponsored by extremely anti-choice Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) requires women who needed abortion care and are also survivors of sexual violence to prove to IRS auditors that the assault occurred.2 What?!

As you read this, House Judiciary Committee members are considering the legislation. If we act now and collect enough signatures to show House leadership that this is not only offensive but also a huge waste of time, we can stop the legislation in its tracks–just like a grassroots outcry stopped efforts to redefine rape in 2011.3 If we speak out loudly now, we can send a message to politicians that bills like this won’t win over women voters, and we can stop this outrageous law in its tracks.

Click here to tell Congress: Sexual assault is none of the IRS’s business.
http://act.weareultraviolet.org/go/1427?t=3&akid=738.6000.VxrwPa

When will Tea Party conservatives get how degrading it is to force women to have ultrasounds, go through waiting periods, drive hours and hours to find reproductive care, and now describe their sexual assault to an IRS bureaucrat? In a country where 1 in 5 women have been sexually assaulted and 1 in 3 women will have an abortion, it is incredibly cruel to subject millions of women to this invasive and traumatizing line of questioning.4

In the 2012 election, Tea Party conservatives failed to gain control of the Senate due in part to their offensive and extreme comments about pregnancy resulting from rape.5 Together, thousands of us helped shine a spotlight on that, and our fellow Americans were as horrified as we were at what they saw. If we act now, we can win this new chapter in the War on Women.

Click here to tell your members of Congress: Keep the IRS out of women’s private medical records.
http://act.weareultraviolet.org/go/1427?t=4&akid=738.6000.VxrwPa

Thanks for taking action,

Nita, Shaunna, Kat, Karin, Malinda, Adam, and Gabriela, the UltraViolet team

Sources:

1. House Republicans Kick Off 2014 With Renewed Focus On Abortion, Birth Control, The Huffington Post, January 8, 2013

2. Text of H.R. 7, Congress.gov, January 8, 2013

3. How Todd Akin And Paul Ryan Partnered To Redefine Rape, ThinkProgress.org, August 19, 2012

4. Nearly 1 in 5 Women in U.S. Survey Say They Have Been Sexually Assaulted, New York Times, December 14, 2011

Students aim to change tone of abortion debate, USA Today, October 30, 2013

5. Team Rape Lost Big Last Night, Jezebel.com, November 7, 2012

KENYA: MUHORONI VILLAGE IN SHOCK AS 68 YEAR OLD GRANNY IS BEHEADED BY HIRED THUGS

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Reports Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City

RESIDENTS of Kanjuro village in Sidho East Location within Muhoroni sub-county, KISUMU County woke up last Thursday to a rude shock when they discovered that a 68 year old grand mother had been killed in a grisly murder and beheaded and some parts of the body missing.

The lifeless and mutilated body of Mrs Doris Amolo 68 year old grand mother Matete was placed on a plastic chair, while the head was kept besides it. Her both arms, particularly the little fingers were also severed off altogether with her lip.

Her 78 year old husband was in the house and they house door was locked from outside. The husband William Matete a retired employee of the Kenya breweries Limited had gonr blind, and the two were living alone in the house. Villagers became suspicious that something fishy had gone wrong when the deceased family house door remain locked from morning to noon hours. They later forced the door open when they discovered the body. The blind husband was still struggling to open the door locked from outside in vain.

POLICE IN Kisumu immediately swung into action and arrested three people. The suspect included a former civic Councilor in the defunct County Council of Nyando representing MSOGO Ward.

The police visited the home of a family relative and recovered several items suspected to have been stolen by the old woman’s killers. The items included a gas cooker, 50 corrugated iron sheets, several kilograms of roofing nails, 12 bags of cement. The police are holding the three who are likely to appear before a court in Kisumu to answer murder charges.

The deceased was the mother an unsuccessful aspirant for the Muhorooni parliamentary constituency in 2007 and now a director director of Algiers, East African Air Condition Limited in Kisumu.

After a thorough interrogation by the police, the two youths readly admitted that they were paid Kshs 20,000 by the ex-Councilor and were to be paid a balance of Kshs 30,000 to add it up to a total Kshs 50,000 upon the completion of the job. The youth told relatives and the police that they had taken the missing parts of the body to the e-civic leader to justify the payment of the balance money.

A local source confided to this writer that there has been a long standing enmity within the larger MATETE family arising from unresolved old land dispute,. The Ex-Councilor, it was further alleged is fond of issuing death threats to members of this family., Most of these threats were reported to the police. Last year his son by the name Okoth attacked the deceased and assaulted her causing her bodily harm when the old grand mother cautioned him to stop grazing hers of cattle in her home compound. The deceased reported the matter to the police. She was issued with a P3 form, which was duly filled by a competent medic who had assessed her injuries as grievous harm. The P3was handed to the Police at Chemelil Police, but for the whole year the police did not act on it until the deceased met her death last Thursday.

The grisly murder come within only a month after the parents of Nyakach MP Aduma Owuor were killed and their house partly burnt in Kabete, Upper Nyakach region.

Muhoroni MP James Oyango Koyoo strongly condemned the cowardice killing of Mrs Matete and appealed to the police to step up surveillance in the area with the view to wedding out criminal thugs who are making the lives of fellow citizens difficult.

Koyoo at the same time appealed to his constituents to co-cooperate with the forces of law reinforcement in eradicating The alarming increased in criMe waves in Muhoroni.

At the time of writing this report, residents were still wondering why the neighbor of the deceased in whoise house the stolen items were discovered, and who is a school teacher living only 600 meters from thre victim”s house had yet to be arrested and charged with the offense of hadling stolen goods or items he had reasons to believe were had been stolen. The man is still moving around scots free.

The Ex-Councilor, according to residents who requested for their anonymity is a man who is fond of bragging off saying he had a lot of money and can hire thugs to eliminate anybody who crosses his path and bails himself out free.

Ends

Hackers Used Infected USBs to Make ATMs Spit Out Cash

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From: Yona Msuya

BY SAMANTHA MURPHY KELLY
Hackers reportedly used USB sticks to install malware on ATMs in Europe, eventually controlling them to dispense cash.

According to the BBC, German researchers revealed during the Chaos Computing Congress on Dec. 28 in Hamburg, Germany, that criminals used USB drives during a ATM robbing spree last summer. Although ATMs have been the target of attacks for decades, they often run older software, making it easier for criminals to hack the systems.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25550512

SEE ALSO: Use This Tool to Check if Your Snapchat Account Was Compromised
http://mashable.com/2014/01/01/tool-snapchat-compromised/

The ATMs were running Windows XP. The bank discovered hackers were installing malware and then patching up the security holes as an attempt to go unnoticed. This allowed several machines to be hacked the same way several times.

To dispense money, the hackers used a 12-digit code that revealed how much money — and the denomination of each bill — was housed inside the machine. The interface then displayed menu options to dispense the notes they wanted, most likely those of the highest value. To prevent hackers from going solo, the interface prompted a second login code; the answer would require the hacker to call another person involved in the ring.

If the code wasn’t entered in three minutes, the machine would return to its previous normal screen. This step indicates there may have been some mistrust among the group, the researchers said.

It was not revealed which banks or countries were affected by the attacks.

KENYA: THE POLICE SHOULD CARRY A THOROUGH INVESTIGATION ABOUT THE SEVEN ACRES NYATIKE BHANG PLANTATION FARM

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Reports Leo Odera Omolo

Once again police in Migori have impounded a bhang haul with a street value of Ksh. 1.6 million near Sori Bay town in Nyatike district. The discovery of the drug comes only three days following last weeks discovery of a seven acres of bhang plantation farm on top of Kimaye Hill near Wath Ong’er in North Kadem location, Nyatike District.

In the first discovery forced the police to call up 100 officers’ reinforcement from nearby station. The officers also sought for the lorry. Lord of prison inmates from Migori. GK prison to associate them in uproading the bhang which an eye witness were planted were planted on 7 acres of land on top of Kimaye hills in central Kadem.

Rumors making the round allege that the six suspects who were taken into police custody to face the full force of the law were merely the employees of a senior politician in Migori County who is suspected to be the owner of the plantation.

The uprooted plants were packed in vehicles which took them to Nyatike District headquarters where the drugs was burnt and destroyed. Six men who looked like the workers in the farm were taken into custody and would appear in court in due course.

In the latest incident Nyatike OCPD, Richard Makwata confrimed the incident. He said the police also arrested two suspects who were transporting the bhang to a house within Sori town centre.

He said the police got a tip off from members of the public who saw the suspect move. He added that when the police visited the house they found the bhang heavily packaged in under containers and full bags ready to go into the market.

The police also impounded the three boda boda motorcycles which were used on ferrying the drugs were also impounded at the riders taken into custody.

This later incident comes only three days after police in the area destroyed seven tones of bhang plantation worth Ksh 50 million during the raid on secret bhang farm in Ngatiu sub-location of Mrori county .

More than 100 policemen were drawn from the various Police Administration and Police Ground Investigation departments.

The vast on the term which it is they alleged belonged to a pronounced politician this was only after the police tip was led by Midori Police county commission Clement Gitongo who said the police that reveled information of the existence of bhang farms along the banks of River Keja.

Consignments of bhang from Migori County have always found a way into the cities and towns.

Several motorist have been nabbed at the police road checks and road blocks far away in places like molo, Nakuru and Naivasha after finding their ways from Migori ,kisii Kericho, but only land intrusion far busy in the region . This is a clear indication the lucrative bhang trade involved some powerful politician in Migori who have been operating claimleely with help of local policemen.

The bhang trafficking business has been thriving in the region in for a long time. Most isolated hill-tops are known to be the hideout of bhang farms not only in Nyatike su-county, but also in the neighboring Mbita and Suba regions.

The drug-lords are said to be stinking in wealth and would therefore go into full length to ensure that vehicles transporting the products to the big Cities like Nairobi and Mombasa passes through the police road blocks unnoticed.

Ends

HIGH COST OF LIVING IS TO BLAME FOR SUICIDE IN KENYA, SAYS FR WASONGA

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From: Ouko joachim omolo
The News Dispatch with Omolo Beste
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2013

The parish priest of Blessed Sacrament, Oriang Catholic Church in Homa Bay Diocese said on Sunday that the high cost of living in Kenya is to blame for rise of suicides cases. Delivering his homily based on the feast of holy family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Rev Fr Christopher Wasonga said urgent action is needed to address the situation.

Father Wasonga was referring to recent media reports where a husband went berserk in Mai Mahiu, Naivasha killing his wife before taking his life as his children watched. The man in his late 50s committed suicide by hanging himself in his bedroom, hours after strangling his wife.

The man was said to be a sand harvester had earlier quarreled with the mother of four resulting in a fight. In the bizarre incident, the man was rescued by his two children after he tried to hang himself only to later on lock himself and take his life.

The Father also referred to an incident in Homa Bay where a man killed his family members and then committed suicide in Rodi Kopany Township of Homa Bay County. John Otieno, 40, killed his wife Linda Ochieng, 25, and two children before hanging himself at their rental house.

Otieno, whose original home is in Lela village, Migori County, was living in Rodi Kopany, where he sold clothes for a living. According to the Otieno’s mother, Consolata Otieno, her son and daughter-in-law had not quarrelled and she could not tell what prompted the killings.

He also mentioned the case where a woman, 27, killed her three children, seriously injured a fourth one and then took her own life at Matulo village in Siritanyi on the outskirts of Bungoma town.

Also in Vihiga where a 38-year-old man hanged himself in his sitting room and his wife hospitalised at Mukumu Mission hospital with grave injuries.

The deceased, Kevin Bunali, had four children both orphaned now as their two mothers had passed on earlier. He worked as a carpenter.

The wife, 25-year-old Judith Deizo, who is hospitalised, was his third wife and has no child with him. Since they got married earlier last year (2012), there has been no peace in that house as they have been fighting each other often.

Father Wasonga also referred to a case in a village in Uasin Gishu County where a man went berserk and killed his two children before committing suicide over a domestic dispute.

Julius Yego, 36, killed his two sons Franklin Cheruyiot, and Eliud Kipkoech aged 4 and 2 years respectively after a fight with his wife Damaris Yego. Confirming the incident, Eldoret West OCPD Ndung’u wa Ikonya said man after the heinous act hanged himself while the wife managed to escape.

During the mass attended by all Oriang family members from all outstations, Father Wasona also introduced Rev Sr Janet Owuor of Camilian missionary sisters from Oriang, Nyasore center who was celebrating her thanks giving mass after her final vows which took place on December 7, 2013 in Karen, presided over by Homa Bay Diocese, Bishop Philip Anyolo.

Just as Father Wasonga was deeply concerned, majority of Kenyans are optimistic that 2014 will be a lot better than 2013. According to a new survey, 21 per cent of Kenyans say 2013 was a “generally bad year”, with 7 per cent describing it as a “terrible year”.

Overall, this year was most disappointing to residents of Nairobi County, with 17 per cent of those polled describing 2013 as “terrible”. This assessment is partly attributable to the high cost of living in the city, which residents list at the top of their issues of concern.

Economically, there were disappointments too, owing to strikes involving teachers and doctors. And the fire at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in August which destroyed investments and lives of many families as did the terror attack at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, a month later.

Meanwhile, the question of unemployment remains a source of headache more to residents of Coast and Western regions at 60 and 58 per cent, with their counterparts in Central (39 per cent) least concerned with the challenge.

Jubilee said it would create jobs for young generations, but to the surprise Present Uhuru Kenyatta shocked Kenyans by recycling old losers in politics by recent appointments. This is indeed a political suicide.

Jubilee is on the process of retrenching civil servants. When this happens many children will not be able to go to school because their retrenched parents will not be able to cater for their school fees and basic needs.

Unless the amendments to the Finance Act of 2012, which introduced a 10 per cent excise duty on transaction fees for financial as well money transfer services are not made, many Kenyans are going to suffer a great deal.

Most young people graduate from school and there is no immediate system to accommodate them, this result into hopelessness and at times misery resulting in suicides.

Yet suicide in Kenya is not openly discussed, one it is treated as a criminal offence. The survivors of a suicide attempt end up in jail instead of a correctional mental facility. Where the individual managed to kill him or others too, the people close to the victim may refuse to report the case to government agencies for fear of being victimised or charged.

Yet still, suicide has taken a new trend in Kenya where teenagers between 13-15 years have increasingly resorted to it following what they term as failure in the national exams. This leaves them feeling worthless, depressed and incompetent.

For example, when the 2011 KCPE results were announced, the media reported several incidences of candidates who resorted to suicide when they did not perform as anticipated.

Family dysfunction such as divorce and separation also affects young people’s response to issues in life. Most of the young people who commit suicide do it with the mindset that they are punishing their parents.

Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
E-mail omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Facebook-omolo beste
Twitter-@8000accomole

Real change must come from ordinary people who refuse to be taken hostage by the weapons of politicians in the face of inequality, racism and oppression, but march together towards a clear and unambiguous goal.
-Anne Montgomery, RSCJ
UN Disarmament
Conference, 2002

KENYA: KISUMU INDIAN BUSINESS PEOPLE ARE LIVING IN FEAR OF BEING TARGETED BY CRIMINAL THUGS

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By Special Correspondent

Members of the Asian business community are living in fear that they are being targeted by gun toting criminal gangs which has been terrorizing them.

The lakeside city which hitherto has been the haven of peace and security has of late been experiencing the alarming upsurge of crime waves which includes armed robberies, thugging and other petty crimes like pick pocketing.

A young Asian who recently graduated with a degree from one of the public universities was shot dead inside his parents shop down town. His killers have yet to be apprehended.

Ramal Kotak was just about to close his parents shop which is located in Accra street when two men, one of them armed with a pistol, walked in while pretending to be customers. They accused him, demanding money. He resisted. One of them opened fire and shot him at close range killing him instantly. The men ransacked the shop and took all the day’s collection, an unspecified amount of money, and walked away.

The killing of the young Kotak sparked off the day long boycott by the Indian dukawaka. The ships in the Central Business District remained closed for the whole of last Tuesday making Kisumu working like a shock town. The Asian merchants were protesting against insecurity which they claim has reached an alarming proportion.

A month ago an elderly European volunteer had his home in the posh Milimani Estate raided by a gang of armed men who strangled him to death.

In Kibuye area criminal thugs raided Midway Hotel, which is owned by Gem MP Jakoyo Midiwo and robbed revellere money, mobile phones and valuables. One of the customers had a licensed gun .

In the same Kibuye area, a prominent surgeon, Mr. Opande, was shot and killed when a gang of criminals raided Wayside Bar. His killers are still at large.

In the same area a prominent businessman cum-politician Shem Onyango “Kwega” was way laid as he drove to the bank to deposit weekend collection at his kondele based fuel station. His wife who was with him in the vehicle sustained gun shot injury in her arm, but she survived and was hospitalized.

The thugs escaped in a stolen car with more than Kshs one million, which the deceased was taking to the bank at the time of the incident, which his believed to have been the day collection at his fuel station business. N all these nobody has been convicted to the for this serious crime offence

The town is full of thugs and petty offences such as mugging, pick pocketing sre the order of the day. At the Kisumu main bus terminal it is being estimate that close to 200 thieves are operating there targeting unsuspecting travelers who they rob with complete impunity..

Ends

‘They Came to Kill’ – Escalating Atrocities in the Central African Republic

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From: Yona Maro

Christian militias responding to rampant abuses by Muslim armed groups have committed atrocities against Muslim communities in northern Central African Republic, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Concerned countries should immediately bolster the African Union peacekeeping force in the country and support efforts by France to protect civilians, Human Rights Watch said.

http://allafrica.com/download/resource/main/main/idatcs/00080102:0758cc44a6196326ea3abee7c476f37c.pdf

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THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT SHOULD GIVE THE PROSECUTOR A CHANCE TO USE ANOTHER PART B

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From: Nyambok, Thomas
To: “jaluo@jaluo.com”

The witnesses have been compromised by an exchange with money, threats, and by killing them in order to shield the truth.

Ms. Bensouda will now use the outcome from the recommends from Commission chapter contains the Commission’s recommendations that relate to the State of Security Agencies and to issues of impunity. The discussion, findings, and conclusion that the recommendations are based upon are fully laid out in the preceeding chapters.

[ . . . ]

Read or d/l more; (.docx file, 25KB)

KENYA IS BLEEDING TO DEATH FROM AL-QAEDA SUPPORTED AL-SHABAAB TERRORISTS ATTACKS

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News Analysis By Leo \Odera Omolo

As millions of Kenyans celebrated the 50th Independence aniversarry marking December 12th the date in which the country gained its political independence from Great Britain in 1963, residents of Moyale District located in the far North and bordering Ethiopia and Somalia had nothing to celebrate.

The residents of this region did not celebrate the century’s 50th birthday with the rest of the country. Thousands of the residents were displaced during last week’s six days of gun battle that claimed more than 10 lives and led to loss of property worth millions of shilllings.

It was sad that some residents were not even aware that 12th December was a special day for Kenyans across the country and the world. Women and children were still camping in different refugee camps in Kenya and in Ethiopia. 90% of locals sought refuge in neighbouring Ethiopia following the attack Islamic terrorists.

The insecurity situation is now posing this threat to the country’s thriving tourism industry. This is because the Somali terrorists appeared to have infiltrated their agents deep inside Kenya, and making the country to bleed to death.

In the Coastal Kenyan city of Mombasa two British tourists narrowly escaped death early this week when a hand grenade was hurled at their vehicle. But the grenade failed to explode.

The two tourists who were traveling to the popular tourist destination of Amboseli National Game Park under the attack at 7.30 a.m (local time) in the Likoni area of Mombasa.

According to some words of the eye witness who spoke to the news men on strict condition of anonymity, the lone man who hurled the grenade at the vehicle carrying the British tourists, a land cruiser as the driver slowed down to negotiate a sharp corner near Mtongwe junction had been loitering around by the roadside at about 6 a.m.

The device hit the vehicle side window and rolled off. Luckily for the tourists, the device dropped onto the road without exploding. The attacker then escaped and fled from the scene. He disappeared in the sprawling village. He had earlier been observed loitering in the busy road as early as 6 a.m.

Meanwhile the police in Mombasa are holding a Kenyan woman who they are questioning in connection with the mysterious death of a British tourist.

The tourist whose age was assessed to be around 70 years tied under the most mysterious circumstance inside his one room rented house. The victim who is said to have been a regular visitor to the coastal city was found dead by the caretaker of the apartment. His mouth was sealed with plastic tape.

The local police chief Julius Wanjohi confirmed the incident and said the ralus were pursuing vital leads that could unravel the truth. The suspect who is said to have seen a girl friend of the deceased is now in police custody. The killing has angered the residents of Nyali neighbourhood who complained of the uprising insecurity in the area.

KENYA: MUHORONI MP ARRESTED OVER HIS ATTEMPT TO KILL KENYA’S NGO’s BOSS.

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By Our Investigative Reporter

Muhoroni Member of Parliament James Onyango K’oyoo finally appeared before Kisumu County Criminal Investigations Department Officers to answer to allegations of being involved in an attempt to kill Non Governmental Organizations (NGO’s) Co-ordination Board Chief Executive Officer Dr.Hezron Mc’Obewa.

K’oyoo who appeared shaken and sweating profusely was grilled by the Criminal Investigations Officers for nearly six hours before being released and emerging out of the office of the County Criminal Investigations boss David Cheruiyot stating that he was from Nairobi and was “just passing by to greet” the detective boss.

Pressed further by journalists if he was not summoned after a suspect had mentioned him of having given them money to kill Dr.Mc’Obewa , K’oyoo admitted of having recorded a statement but denied ever hiring the said suspect.

“Mc’Obewa is my relative and the suspect has denied that he has never met me,” K’oyoo added

But Mr.Cheruiyot maintained that K’oyoo was summoned by his office to clear his name over the said allegations and he had indeed recorded a statement.

“Dr.Mc’Obewa received a death threat and reported the matter to the police and police managed to arrest a suspect who mentioned K’oyoo as the one who had given them money to kill him and that’s why we summoned him to record a statement which he has done and I have allowed him to go as we continue with our investigations”Cheruiyot said

He added that should there be any need for further clarification on the issue from the MP then they will not hesitate to summon him again.

There has been bad working relationship between Mc’Obewa and K’oyoo as the former has showed interest in becoming Muhoroni Sugar Company Receiver Manager which the latter who is the area MP has vehemently opposed saying such will happened over his dead body.

Contacted ,Mc’Obewa on his part called on the security agencies to speed up their investigations and bring any culprits found to book saying issues of life and death threats should be given attention they deserve.

However he maintained that despite the incident, it will not deter him from his set goals and agenda in helping the people of Muhoroni where he was born and brought up saying he is not nursing any ambition of being the area MP and told K’oyoo not to panic.

“If I am to go to any elective post then I might go for the Gubernatorial seat, Senate seat or the Presidency, I am not interested in being Muhoroni MP” he added

Meanwhile, Dr. Mc’Obewa has warned NGO’s against failing to make their financial returns as stipulated within the law.

Speaking in a Kisumu Hotel during the Kisumu County Government and NGO’s forum in which over two hundred NGO’s drawn within the county attended Mc’Obewa added that the NGO’s working within the County contributed to nearly kshs 200 billion during the last financial year.

“You NGO’s know of the requirement to declare our bank details in your annual reports and to report any changes in addresse or changes in officers as well as submitting an audited returns to the NGO’s Co-ordination board by every 31st March of every year failure of which you will be breaching the 1990 NGO’s act” he told the forum

CATHOLIC CHURCHES IN NETHERLANDS WOULD BE SOLD BY 2015

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From: Ouko joachim omolo
The News Dispatch with Omolo Beste
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2013

Dutch bishops visiting Rome this week told Pope Francis that about two-thirds of all Roman Catholic churches in the Netherlands would have to be shut or sold by 2025. In the Netherlands, churches have been closing at a rate of one or two a week.

Although the bishops five-yearly report blamed a “drastic secularization” of society, a critical group of Dutch lay Catholics said the scandal of sexual abuse of minors by priests, which has afflicted many Catholic dioceses around the world, had also driven many people away, as had the closures themselves.

According to independent inquiry, tens of thousands of children were abused by priests over decades, a scandal that has not only forced the church in Netherlands to apologize but also have paid large sums of money in damages.

This has resulted to more than 23,000 Catholics quit the Dutch Church in 2010, the peak of an exodus in which an average 18,000 have left each year since 2006. This year alone about 7,500 had left by October.

Despite sex scandals, Netherlands is one of the most secular countries in Western Europe. This has affected both the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant church in the Netherlands.

However, not all religious groups are affected by decreasing church attendance. Evangelical groups in particular are enjoying an increase in interest. Since the 60’s, this growth has been due to a faith directed towards person and experience, modern views and a business orientated mode of practice.

Muslims are also not affected. Since the mid 1970’s, Islam has seen a growing emergence in the public domain and it is spreading steadily.

Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
E-mail omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Facebook-omolo beste
Twitter-@8000accomole

Real change must come from ordinary people who refuse to be taken hostage by the weapons of politicians in the face of inequality, racism and oppression, but march together towards a clear and unambiguous goal.

-Anne Montgomery, RSCJ
UN Disarmament
Conference, 2002

Dirty Money, Murky Deals: Europe’s Role Facilitating Corruption

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From: Yona Maro

Strengthening transparency and accountability within EU borders is not just about increasing revenue for European treasuries. It has a significant impact on the populations of non-EU countries as well as the credibility and effectiveness of the EU’s own foreign policies. It is not only Europe’s elites who exploit the loopholes and poor enforcement of EU banking regulation. Europe’s banks also serve as a haven for public funds stolen by the political and business leaders of some of the world’s poorest countries. This undermines the EU’s aid and development policies, and conflicts with the principles of good governance that the EU attempts to promote abroad.

In 2000 the Swiss authorities opened an investigation into the debt deal but this was later abandoned. Angolan civil society organizations have recently reopened a criminal case with the Swiss federal prosecutor against Falcone and Gaydamak, Angolan politicians, as well as senior employees from UBS responsible for the Abalone account. The claim includes allegations of bribery, breach of trust, criminal conspiracy and money laundering.

The diversion of public funds is not to be taken lightly in any context, and much less in a country such as Angola. First, funds systematically diverted from the national treasury diminish public spending on education, health, sanitation, electricity, and housing that could (in this case) have benefited both the Angolan and Russian populations. Second, the scandal is fuelling a vicious circle that prevents democratic progress by maintaining a system of corruption among high ranking government officials who have been in power for decades. The list of names included in the allegations is striking. Not only is President Dos Santos himself involved, but so, allegedly, are Elisio De Figueiredo, former ambassador to France, Joaquim David, Minister of Industry and former Director General of Sonangol, José Paiva da Costa Castro, former Director General of Sonangol UK, and José Leitão da Costa, Minister in the Office of the Angolan Presidency.

Link:
http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/dirty-money-murky-deals-europes-role-facilitating-corruption

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“White Mischief”, the 1987 movie

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From: Jeremy Kinyanjui
Subject: “White Mischief”, the 1987 movie on promiscuity amongst a sizable number of Whites in colonial Kenya (Download it at dropbox.com)

“White Mischief”, the 1987 movie on promiscuity amongst a sizable number of Whites in colonial Kenya. It focuses on the illicit happenings in the then “White Highlands”, and what was then specifically known as “Happy Valley” (mainly Naivasha & Nanyuki).

“White Mischief” in particular, focuses on the murder of Lord Errol (Josslyn Victor Hay, 22nd Earl of Errol). Lord Errol was an aristocratic philandering playboy in colonial Kenya, who met his death on 24th January 1941, as a result of a steamy affair he was having with Diana Lady Broughton. Lord Errol’s body was found the following morning i.e. 25th January 1941, in Karen, Nairobi, near where St. Francis Church now stands.

The prime suspect in the murder was Lady Diana’s then husband, Sir Henry “Jock” Broughton. Sir Henry was acquitted of the murder, but later revealed (while drunk at either Karen Country Club or Muthaiga Country Club), that he had “fixed” Lord Errol for having an affair with his wife.

The good looking Lord Errol made many enemies with his extensive womanising in the then Kenya colony, and there was therefore little love lost following his murder. Diana Broughton became Lady Delamere when she got married to her fourth husband, Thomas Pitt Hamilton Cholmondeley, 4th Baron Delamere, on 26th March 1955.

Thomas Pitt Hamilton Cholmondeley is the grandfather of Thomas Patrick Gilbert Cholmondeley i.e. the Delamere who shot dead Kenya Wildlife Service game ranger Samson ole Sisina on 19th April 2005 and also later shot dead stonemason, Robert Njoya Mbugua on 10 May 2006. Lady Delamere is therefore Thomas Patrick Gilbert Cholmondeley’s step-grandmother. Lady Diana promised to make startling revelations on the 1941 Lord Errol murder, but she passed away before do so.

The movie has interesting scenes e.g. at Nairobi’s then mortuary, after Lord Errol’s murder, where Alice de Janze (Sarah Miles), rubs her vagina with her right hand, and then proceeds to rub her said right hand on the face of the deceased Lord Errol (Charles Dance), with the accompanying words “Forever Josh.” This particular scene is between the 58th & 60th minutes of the movie, approximately. “White Mischief” showed to packed movie theatres in Kenya in the early 1990s.

Download the movie “White Mischief”, One hour & 43 minutes (a 33MB file), at the following dropbox.com link i.e.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0drg6vnyf558pb0/White%20Mischief%20-%20YouTube.zip

KENYA: POLICE ARE PRAISED FOR IMPROVING SECURITY ALONG LUO-NANDI BORDERS

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Reports Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City

The insecurity situation along the Luo – Nandi border that has been escalating in recent months is likely to improve following the gunning down of an armed thug by policemen in Nandi Hills town this week.

Jack Kispang who is suspected to have been ex-security personnel was on Monday this week trailed by detectives more than 10 hours from Cheptiret to Nandi hills town where he and his accomplices plans to stage a robbery of a supermarket were botched.

Detectives confronted the suspected robbers when they drew a pistol and threatened to shoot the workers at the supermarket and ordered them to surrender. Kipsang was armed with a Ceska pistol. The officers shot him several times at a close range. His companions fled and were still being hotly pursued by policemen.

A police source in Nandi County said the deceased is suspected to have been the leader of a heavily armed gang who were behind a spate of night attacks and killings in Nandi Hills Sub-County.

So far the gang has killed two senior managers in the tea estates within a period of two months.

The same gang, last Saturday, killed 70-year-old tea farmer Paul Malakwe Arap Rop. The wealthy farmer was attacked at his home, located at Chepotik village several kilometers outside Nandi hills town.

Police Chief in the area Jacinta Wesonga confirmed the incident. Seven people have been shot dead in the area in the last two months.

The police believe the culprits are behind six other murders and have appealed to members aware of the problem to volunteer information on those behind the worrisome and alarming killings.

Two weeks ago, the security Minister Joseph Ole Lenku in the company of the inspector general of police David kimaiyo toured the volatile Nandi-Luo and order and urged the two communities to maintain peace

The two top security officials assured tea and sugar cane farmers of the governments intention to improve security.

The first tea estate manager to die was was David Bivech of Chemartin Tea Estate who was attacked by the group armed with AK47 assault riffle in his house. Five other people who included Bivech’s wife, two administration police officers, a clerk and a night watchman were also injured in the attack on the manager’s house and were hospitalised for gun wounds which they sustained during the raid.

In the second raid incident William Nyongai an estate manager at Kapchoring Tea Estate received a gun shot wound and died while being treated at the nandi Hills Sub – District Hospital. Nyongai ‘s assailants escaped by cutting the barbed wire fence.

Three other deaths in the recent weeks were reported in the Muhoroni site of the border. They included 3 teachers, a retired teacher and a farmer. In the Nyanza incident, the three victims were shot to death by the assailants using poisoned arrows.

At the same time large scale sugar acne farmers in Kibos area near Kisumu and around Miwani, Chepsweka areas along the Nandi Escarpment have raised complaints about the want on destruction of their cane fields by herds men who are defiantly grazing herds of cattle in their farms thereby destroying young cane land.

Each time farmers who are members of the Indian community send watchmen to drive animals out of their farms, the herdsmen threatened them by shooting at them with arrows. The farmers have appealed to the government to bring the situation to an end and save their crops.

ENDS

KENYA: AWENDO RESIDENTS WANTS THE AUTHORITY TO STAMP OUT MOTORBIKE ACCIDENTS

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Reports Leo Odera Omolo In Awendo TOWN

RESIDENTS of Awendo Town in Migori County have raised complaints against the increased number of Motorcyclists boda Boda operating in the area which have become the source of insecurity and many accidental deaths. They are demanding for the quick intervention of the Prov9ncial Administration and the police authorities because the numbers of deaths caused by these machines have reached the most alarming proportion.

Many deaths in the recent months have occurred in the recent months. These deaths have become the source of worries as a day hardly passed without someone loosing his or her precious lives. Some of the deaths are are caused due to business competition. A number of riders have been killed by their own passengers and their motorbikes stolen by passenger – turned thug.

The residents have also appealed to the government to ensure that the boda boda riders operates only during working hours and strictly not after darkness. Two riders had their throats sit open and killed within a week after the smartly dressed passengers who hired them after darkness turned thugs and killed them in grisly and cold blooded murder.

The two incident took places within SAKWA central. In the first incident, a motorbike rider was hired by a passenger art Dede Market and who wanted to be taken to Ranjira area. But the rider never saw the next light of the day. He was found dead the next day by the roadside with hid motorbike missing.

Two prominent sugar farmers and business have died as the result of motorbike accidents. The first who died was Mzee Nahashon Nyandiga Aloo of Ng’ong’a village in Sakwa South who met his end while traveling from his home to Awendo town.

Mzee Washington Ogweno Otata, a retired medic from Rinya village in Waware sub-location Sakwa East, was killed by a motorbike rider a month ago. Gun toting criminal thugs have also been reported as being ferried into the villages at night by boda boda motor cyclists with intention of committing a felonies..Quite often the motorbike riders whose numbers have tripled in the recent months.

In most cases these riders have no driving licenses and not qualified to ride their machines on the highway. Police traffic manning the feeder and access roads from the rural locations into the town normally allows the riders to ferry extra passengers so that they could earn 100 ij bribes money. Most of the boda boda who are licensed to carry only one passenger do carry between town and three passengers, putting their lives to a great risk. The riders overload their bike, and even some times carrying up two or three passengers instead of one while traffic police only demand 100 for their bribe money.

There are several access and feeder roads which are linking Awendo town with the surrounding rural locations and villages. They included Awendo-Rapogi-Road, Awendo-Mariwa-road, Awendo Kanyimach-road and the Kisii-Migori highway which passes through.On Market days, the traffic policemen mount road barriers and road blocks on these roads as early as 7.30 A.M ,but all these for the purpose of collection but no traffic offenders are booked.

It has been confirmed that close to 500 motorcyclists are operating inside this small farming town and this has become the source of insecurity

Ends

KENYA: WHY GOVERNMENT WON’T PUNISH CULPRITS OF GOLDENBERG SCANDALS

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From: Ouko joachim omolo
The News Dispatch with Omolo Beste
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2013

Adede Omondi writes via email: “I read one of your blogs on corruption and I would wish you share your ideas with me on these questions: one-is parliament now immune from manipulations of transactions like Goldenberg International limited? Two- compare the parliament that existed before the 2010 constitution and the parliament after the 2010 constitution. I would be grateful for your help”.

Yes, you are absolutely right Adede Omondi and the reason why parliament is immune from manipulations of transactions like Goldenberg International Limited is because Goldenberg refers to a series of monumental financial scandal involving chains of very important and influential officials in the government.

The firm, according to testimony during the Goldenberg Commission of Inquiry (2004 – 2005) was co-owned by Pattni, former President Daniel arap Moi and the chief of intelligence at the time, the late James Kanyottu.

When Goldenberg money corrupted the political system during the 1992 General Elections, involving the launch of a new currency note to deal with unprecedented inflation in its aftermath, there was a youthful movement known as Kanu for youth 92 (YK92) to campaign for Moi come back.

One of the members in the movement was William Ruto who is currently the deputy president for the Republic of Kenya. In its wake Goldenberg caused the collapse of dozens of banks precipitating a banking crisis.

The careers of civil servants who helped expose Goldenberg were ruined. Journalists who exposed the story disappeared into oblivion. Chief executives of companies doing business with Goldenberg either fled into exile or died quietly.

During the scandal, former minister for Internal Security, Prof George Saitoti was Finance Minister. Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi was appointed to the Finance Ministry in 1993 while payments to Goldenberg continued.

Kalonzo Musyoka was a minister in the Moi government while this was happening at that time and he knows very well about the scandals. Raila’s father, the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, confessed in 1993 that his political party received Goldenberg money.

Because it involves untouchables, is why the 2004 Commission of Inquiry into Goldenberg set by Mwai kibaki has since been accused of ignoring evidence in order to protect powerful personalities such as ex-President Moi and his cronies.

According to evidence presented before the Goldenberg Inquiry, Mr Pattni formed Goldenberg International with Moi and Kanyottu for the purpose of making money from gold and diamonds smuggled from the Congo (at the time called Zaire).

When Kibaki came under pressure from the opposition party to form yet another commission in July 2008 to investigate the sale of Grand Regency Hotel, the Commission comprising of five members led by Justice (rtd) Majid Cockar, Charles Kirui and Kathurima M’ Inoti as commissioners while Messrs Anthony Oteng’o Ombwayo and Wilfred Nyamu Mati as the secretary and counsel to the Commission, Kibaki was accused by the opposition party leaders that he formed his team to cover up.

The Commission was mandated to recommend any legal and administrative measures that it may deem necessary with regard to the case and hold the inquiry in public or conduct private hearings where necessary.

The hotel was allegedly sold for about $45 million instead of its recorded valued of $115 million. This took place shortly Kibaki had signed an exclusive trade pact with the Libyan government, which gave its companies a head start over other investors when competing for lucrative government contracts.

The trade pact was signed after a meeting between President Mwai Kibaki and his host Muammar Gadaffi. The Grand Regency was recovered from Kamlesh Pattni, the man behind the Goldenberg scandal, in which the government compensated him millions of dollars in a fake gold export scheme.

Recently The Kenyan Daily Post reported that Laico Regency (originally Grand regency Hotel) was reportedly bought by Mwai Kibaki at a throw away price. The hotel which was initially owned by Kamlesh Paul Pattni, was taken by Central Bank of Kenya after Pattni negotiated immunity from prosecution for his role in Golden berg in exchange for the transfer of the Grand regency to the Central Bank of Kenya.

It is said Amos Kimunya colluded with Central Bank Governor, Njuguna Ndungu, in selling the hotel to alleged “foreign investors” who will be later established to be Kibaki’s proxies.

Goldenberg cost the country over Ksh 158 billion according to a Judicial Commission of Inquiry appointed by President Kibaki in 2003. Although George Saitoti was named as one of the beneficiaries, instead of asking his aside from his ministry pending investigation, in 2008 he was promoted from the Ministry of Education to take over as Minister for Internal Security. He was in the same PNU party with Kibaki.

This can answer your second question whether there is different from 2010 parliament and current one when it comes to corruption and impunity. They are the same people who were there since Moi was removed from power in 2002- So what next?

Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
E-mail omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Facebook-omolo beste
Twitter-@8000accomole

Real change must come from ordinary people who refuse to be taken hostage by the weapons of politicians in the face of inequality, racism and oppression, but march together towards a clear and unambiguous goal.

-Anne Montgomery, RSCJ
UN Disarmament
Conference, 2002

ITALIAN MAFIAS ARE WELL ORGANIZED CRIMINAL MOB GROUPS

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From: Ouko joachim omolo
The News Dispatch with Omolo Beste
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2013

Bony from USA has read with great shock my dispatch of last night about Pope Francis being at risk from Italian mafias who are not happy with his call to cleaning up the mess at the Vatican Bank.

What Bony should know is that Italian mafias are the most well organized criminal mob groups in the world. As such it is almost impossible group to clean up. The mob has thwarted law enforcement from cracking down on human rights violations, including kidnappings, assassinations, drug dealings, fraudulent thefts, money laundering and organized crimes. Because of their criminal activity, they are worth over $100 billion dollars.

Another thing Bony should know is that the Mafia have settled nicely into the US where she is, bringing with them murder and mayhem. Tagged in one umbrella as the Sicilian Mafia, the mob is considered to be the second largest organization of any kind in Italy. This makes them the most powerful mob in the world.

The mob includes devout Catholics, priests, bishops and cardinals. They are prayerful, humble and committed to their pastoral activities. That is why they are able to hide behind the Vatican shrouds, hoping to validate their criminal behavior as being in line with Biblical teachings.

The mob’s power began long ago in 1860, when a new, unified Italy took over the Papal States. Many Popes were outraged. They encouraged citizens to revolt against lawmakers and law enforcers. They convinced many citizens at that time that the government was against Catholicism.

It is tagged Sicilian mafia because the mob is a criminal organization originating in Sicily, Italy. Should you interfere with their movement, is the reason why they threaten to kill. Just in August this year a priest in southern Italy was threaten by the mafia members that should he continue to preach against them he would be killed.

The members were believed to be behind a recent attack on his parish after he preached critically about them and called them to conversion.

According to the Italian daily Avvenire, Father Stefano Giaquinto – pastor of Saint Mary of the Victory in Casagiove – was surprised on the night of Aug. 15 by a fire at the “Nazarene” parish center, a clinic for drug rehabilitation which he founded and directs.

The fire took place days after the priest had denounced the mafia of the region from the altar, describing them as “the cancer of our land.” The priest is regularly the target of threats as mafia members always entered his church with weapons.

Like Pope Francis, Pope John Paul I had expressed the wish to clean up the mess at the Vatican, only to be found dead in his bedroom after serving for only 33 days. Archbishop Paul Marcinkus, former head of the Vatican Bank. Marcinkus was at the heart of the Bank scandal and the death of Roberto Calvi, nicknamed God’s Banker.

When Italian police recently arrested Salvatore Lo Piccolo, the suspected head of the Sicilian Mafia, they also found a list of ten commandments that served as a guide for the behavior of Mafia members.

1. No-one can present himself directly to another of our friends. There must be a third person to do it.

2. Never look at the wives of friends.

3. Never be seen with cops.

4. Don’t go to pubs and clubs.

5. Always being available for Cosa Nostra is a duty – even if your wife’s about to give birth.

6. Appointments must absolutely be respected.

7. Wives must be treated with respect.

8. When asked for any information, the answer must be the truth.

9. Money cannot be appropriated if it belongs to others or to other families.

10. People who can’t be part of Cosa Nostra: anyone who has a close relative in the police, anyone with a two-timing relative in the family, anyone who behaves badly and doesn’t hold to moral values.

Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
E-mail omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Facebook-omolo beste
Twitter-@8000accomole

Real change must come from ordinary people who refuse to be taken hostage by the weapons of politicians in the face of inequality, racism and oppression, but march together towards a clear and unambiguous goal.

-Anne Montgomery, RSCJ
UN Disarmament
Conference, 2002

KENYA: HOW URIRI D.C. PLACED HIS LIFE AT RISK OF DEATH IN THE LINE OF DUTY

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From: LEO ODERA

AFTER receiving a tip from good citizens that a wanted notorious criminal thug was planning to stage a night robbery in his district, the D.C., George Lagat in the company of two armed AP decided to lay an ambush to the heavily armed thug.

The D.C and his team drove from his residence at Rapogi Centre in the evening and stopped by toad side on the Awendo-Migori road. And at around 8.30 PM the notorious criminal thug while armed with an AK47 assault rifle pulled up from Migori direction. He was riding a motorbike and carrying two of his companions. UPON SEEING THE GK vehicle parked by the roadside, the notorious criminal thug made a sharp about-turn and rode back towards Migori town. Upon seeing the D.C. and his team getting closer to him while he run on foot, the thug opened fire aimed at the group. The policemen returned the fire hitting hitting him in the abdomen. The gangster fell down in the bush and threw his gun away. He also dropped a mobile phone handset, which the police took with them for further analysis to assist them in their investigation to unearth and establish the identities the thug’s contacts and accomplices.

The notorious thug died in a hails of bullets and his two companion fled on foot an disappeared inside sugar plantation.

It was later discovered that the firearm this thug was carrying is the same which had been used in killing a police officer in Awendo town a couple of months ago. As it was in darkness the D.C. sent for reinforcement of more policemen from the nearby Awendo, Rongo and Migori police stations.

It was policemen from Migori who arrived at the scene and recognized the felled criminal as Otieno, a notorious an wanted criminal thug, who has been terrorizing business people in Migori Town and its environs where he conducted day and night raids against businessmen.

It was established that Otieno hails from Ka-min-Olewe area in Central Kanyamkago location, Uriri district in Migori County. After staging a series of night robberies in the district he relocated to Migori town when he realized that the police were looking for him.

Otieno is said to have been the leader of a gang of notorious criminals in Migori which for the past four to five years gave the police sleepless nights. His body was taken to Ma Mortuary in Migori district hospital while the police were still pursuing his two companions who had escaped.

The shootout occurred only a kilometer from Urirri Centre and the market. It was not immediately established as the destination of the slained criminal thugs. It could have been Awendo, Ranen ,Mariwa or Rapogi trading centers,

Ends

Chinese Embassy Requests its Citizens in Tanzania to Strictly Abide by Chinese and Tanzanian Laws on Ivory or Other Smugglings.

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From: Abdalah Hamis

On November 3, 2013, The Guardian Newspaper reported that Dar es Salaam City police arrested 3 Chinese citizens in the city, and confiscated large amount of tusks on the spot.

The Embassy of People’s Republic of China in the United Republic of Tanzania felt shocked at this report that 3 Chinese citizens suspected of smuggling ivory were arrested by the police and is now in contact with the Tanzania side on this issue. The Chinese government has always attached great importance to the protection of wildlife, promulgated a series of laws and regulations, and set up a National Inter-Agency CITES Enforcement Collaboration Group (NICECG) mechanism.

Chinese State Forestry Administration has set up a special armed anti-poaching team. China leads the world on severe punishment in cases of wild animal protection violation including ivory smuggling and its products. It has also actively participated in international law enforcement cooperation to crack down criminal activities on smuggling and trade of ivory and its products. In February this year, the Chinese government carried out successfully Operation COBRA, a cross-continent joint special operation to combat illegal wildlife trade together with 22 countries in Asia and Africa.

H.E. LU Youqing, Chinese Ambassador to Tanzania, and the Chinese Embassy strongly condemn criminal acts of killing elephants and smuggling ivory, firmly support the Tanzania government action to fight ivory smuggling by law, and are willing to actively provide help. The Chinese government and police are ready to work together with their Tanzania counterparts to crack down on criminals according to law.

Majority Chinese citizens are able to abide by local laws in Tanzania and take part in legitimate businesses. China’s national image has been severely undermined by illegal or bad behavior of quite few Chinese. Chinese Embassy in Tanzania will, as always, require all Chinese in Tanzania, and those coming to Tanzania either for tourism or on business, to strictly abide by local laws and regulations, never involve themselves in illegal activities like the ivory smuggling, make joint efforts to safeguard the good image of Chinese in Tanzania and promote the China-Tanzania friendship and cooperation.