Category Archives: Leo Odera Omolo

Somali piracy attacks on ships plying East African coastline sea trade routes have dropped to the lowest level in three years

Writes Leo Odera Omolo

PIRACY in the Indian sea route to Eat African coastline Ocean has dropped to the lowest level in three years.

According to the information released two weeks ago by the Colorado-based International Maritime Bureau – {IMB}- a specialized department of the International Chamber of Commerce-there were only 70 attacks on ships by Somali pirates in the first nine months of this year ,compared with 199 in the corresponding period last year.

The report adds, “As from July to September this year, Somali pirates attacked only one ship, compared with 36 incidents over the same period last year.”

This drop, says the report, brings the global figures for piracy and armed robbery at high sea down at to 233 incidents since 2008.

“It’s good news that hijackings have dropped, but there can be no room for complacency; these waters are still extremely high-risk and the naval presence must be maintained,” the Organization’s director Capt Makundan said.

Last year, maritime operators incurred approximately USD 635 million on war risk as well as kidnap and ransom insurance,USD1,06 and 1,16 billion on security equipment’s and guards and USD 486 -680 on re-routing, according to the IMB a trade research and advocacy group One Earth Future Foundation.

The operators also incurred loses of USD 160 million in ransom from 33 incidents, and costs the world economy between USD 6.6 billion last year. However, the Somali pirates are still holding 11 foreign vessels for ransom wit 167 crew members as hostages as of September 30,2012.

However, IMB warns seafarers to remain vigilant in the high risk waters around Somalia, the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, Indonesia, and the South East Asia.

The Colorado-based organization said piracy in the Gulf of Guinea is becoming increasingly dangerous {34 incidents from January to September 2012}, up from 30 last year and has pushed westward from Benin to neighboring Togo.

The attacks are often violent, planned and aimed at stealing refined oil products which can be casually sold in the open market.’ The report said, adding that the pirates often damage communication and navigation equipment to cover their tracks once the vessel is hijacked.

Globally, pirates have killed at least six crew and taken 446 seafarers hostage this year..IMB Piracy Reporting Center recorded that 125 vessels were boarded, 24 hijacked and 26 fired upon. In addition, 58 attempted attacks were reported.

The IMB has been monitoring global piracy since 1991.

At the same time it has been reported that 10 Somalis have been given jail sentence term of up to seven years in Germany for hijacking a cargo ship.

The pirates raided a German vessel MV Tipan, 530 miles of the Horn of Africa in April 2010,with the hope to extort ransom of about USD one million, Humburg state court Justice Bernd Seinmmetz said. A number of countries have also arrested and tried Somali pirates since last year.

The new development comes barely a month after the Kenya Defense Forces together with African Union soldiers and Somali army fighting Al-Shaabab captured Kismayu.

The Somali coastline is among the world most dangerous stretches of waters due to piracy.

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Kenya: Local farmers have rejected the Kshs 11 billion or the revival of the collapsed Miwani Sugar Company saying its suspicious and another Anglo Leasing scam

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Reports Leo Odera Omolo.

The deal which was recently entered into between the government an a South African firm for the revival of the closed down Miwani sugar Mills in Nyando district within the County of Kisumu is said by the stakeholders to be suspicious and faulty.

According to members of the cane farmer’s fraternity, the deal is sounding like another Anglo Leasing and Grand Regency Hotel scandals in the offing.

The farmers wants the deal be negotiated afresh and should involved all the stakeholders, including cane farmers within the Miwani zone, out-growers, primary co-operative societies and its terms simplified to the satisfaction of all the stakeholders before its implementation.

The controversial was negotiated and brokered by Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and co-operatives, which is led by the Naivasha MP John Mututho.

A statement put to the news media by the South African Company, which is also said to have a root in the Indian Ocean Island of Mauritius says in part, ”The revival of Miuwani Sugar Company in Western Kenya inched a step close after a committee of parliament approved the Kshs 11 billion investment plan by a south African-based Eaglefin Structure Finance Mauritius Limited.

The South African company has proposed to give 51 per cent of the revived sugar firm’s shares to cane farmers and out-grower societies got the nod of the Agriculture, Livestock and Co-Operatives parliamentary committee.

‘We can now confirm that we will be able to accommodate out-grower community at 51 per cent shareholding, ‘said the statement issued by the company’s managing director Helgaard Muller.

However, this would require the government to underwrite the farmer’s participation through promissory notes that would help the company raise funds externally.

The Sugar [Amendment0 Act stipulates that cane farmers and out-grower hold 51 per cent stake in all sugar companies which are set to be privatized.

The South African company also wants to be allocated extra land for either purchase or on a long term lease of at least 60 years.

The government of Kenya is undertaking the process of privatization of all state-run sugar millers including Muhoroni, Chemelil ,Sonysugar and Nzoia to raise efficiency ahead of the lapse of Comesa safeguard rules which restrict sugar imports into the country.

According to Eaglefin’s plan sugar cane farmers would not pay directly for the share holding, but would have their dividends used to pay the financiers cover a 10-year period.

The model aims to replicate that in the tea and coffee sectors where growers are allocated shares in new ventures and part of the proceeds used to clear their obligations.

In the Miwani case, however, farmers would get full payment for cane deliveries during the term of the loan, foregoing dividends until the debt is fully settled.

Muller said the company would put in place a private insurance that would guarantee the government and external funders of the discharge of the promissory notes and payment.

The company would put in place a private insurance that would guarantee the government and external funders of the discharge of the promissory notes and payment respectively. The South African government would put in place a private insurance provide commercial underwriting of us as minority shareholders of 49 per cent stake to secure 100 per cent external funding from a senior lender,” said Muller.

The firm is said it had made a commitment to its technology suppliers and ente5ed into fixed contracts to start the construction of the new factory as soon as governmen’s approval is granted.

“We are impressed wit the plan especially the modern technology that will be employed in sugar production said Hon John Mututho after the conclusion of the agreement.

According to the industry players, the deal sounded like that which is not very clear and honest, and need some amount of simplification so that the farmers could understand it. It is normally takes between 15 to 20 year for a newly established sugar mill to make profits worth dividends.

The clause that says the South African firm wants to purchase or lease extra land for 60 years also complicate the whole thing. ”Who will be there after 60 year from now? Asked one farmer in Kibos,adding. “It means by then all the present farmers who are expected to be the shareholders would be dead.

The locals wants the government to off-load its shares at the facility and offer it for outright purchase by a credible private firm with sufficient reputation to generate its own funds without involving the farmers in complicated huge debts..

The common and popular opinion is that the government should advertise all the state-run sugar factories in the local and foreign media so that they could attract bids from straightforward and honest buyers from oversea and locally that will go into the purchasing arrangement I a much more simplified deals which does not put the local farmers in many year of debts slavery.

Miwani Sugar Mill one of the oldest Sugar manufacturing firm was first established by an Australian farmer in the year 1927 It has since then changed hands to the various private and public companies after it went burst following the auctioning of most of its movable properties in 1970s. But about 12 years ago, the government became its minority shareholders with a cartel of local Asian businessmen-um-farmers went in went burst as it because apparent that the firm old not clear it debts to the suppliers, farmers, and the workers.

The receivership was meant to be protective one while its books of accounts were to be adjusted. The official receivers managers, however, have stayed for over 12 year dashing the hope of the revival of the facility. But the local community wants the factory to be disposed off in a transparent manner not through kangaroo deals.

All the previous attempt to offloaded Miwani under its privatization programme were thwarted by the cartel of wealthy local Asians who have had hands in its collapse and who frustrated the effort for its privatization perhaps hoping to have it as scraps and .

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KENYA: THE SCORECARDS OF SOME LUO MPS FROM NYANZA IS INDICATING THAT HALF OF THEM WILL BE SENT PACKING BY THE VOTERS ON MARCH 3, 2013.

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Writes Leo Odera Omolo In KisumuCity.

AS the clock is ticking much faster drawing the date for the next general elections closer by days, the heartbeat of the 21 legislators from Luo-Nyanza might also be ticking to fast following the fears that persist in many constituencies to the effect that more than half of these gentlemen would be sent packing come the March 4, 2013.

The Luo MPS are the most worried lot. Most of them seemed to be not sure whether they will make it to the next parliament or not.

Many voters in the region appeared to have coined the common biblical saying’ “You’ll harvest only the seeds that you had sowed when the harvesting time comes.

What is in the scorecards of the majority of the Luo MPs’ clearly pointing out the gloomy picture of leaders who have reached the crucial point of no return. The scorecard of most of them is pointing to the direction that hey had sowed the seeds of discord among the electorate and as such only deserved to be sent packing.

The MPs from Luo-Nyanza faces myriad of problems with accusation of failing to delver the goods, poor management of the government devolved development funds, vandalizing the CDF money and poor disbursement of the same.

In some areas the MPs are facing allegations of having formed or established their own construction companies with their spouses as the directors and managers of the firms specifically for the purpose of tapping all the CDF money through biased awarding tender and construction contracts involving CDF money to the phantom companies in which they had the economic interest in.

Other allegations goes that some of the MPs vandalized the CDF money by ensuring that their crones, most of them semi-illiterate and oldest people with no knowledge or experience in the government accounting system to mange the CDF. Other unconfirmed reports says tat prior to the 207 general elections, some of the MP had become heavily indebted to local traders, particularly those trading in hardware and wooing the voters by way of making hefty donations using such materials donating borrowed items like corrugated iron sheets, nails, roofing materials and timbers from the shops as they were canvassing for votes.

But immediately when they were sworn in as the new MPs they hatched plans devising the method of ensuring that the businessmen they owed thousands of shillings were the one awarded the tenders of supplying materials for the construction of CDF funded projects at very exorbitant prices so that the traders could recover the money owed to them by the MPs.

Our sources have informed us that such debts repayment arrangements between some MPs and the traders, immediately become the source of discontent and conflicts of interests between the MPs and government appointed CDF managers in various constituencies earning some of the CDF mangers who questioned the modalities of such arrangements to be transferred from one station to the other. Some of the disgusted CDF managers had to voluntarily request for their immediate transfers fearing about the consequences that would befall them when they books of account are finally audited by competent government auditors.

Following these conflict of interests, some constituencies remained without CDF managers for several months. Other MPs are suspected to have spent colossal amount of CDF monies in buying trucks and Lorries, which in the names of either their wives or companies which were later contracted for ferrying building materials for the construction of CDF funded projects at a higher prices above the market prices.

Some members of the Provincial Administration, especially D.Cs,D.0s and Chiefs appeared to have been compromised. In one constituency even it is even being alleged that even civic leader and chiefs as well s Dos were paid handsomely for having attended the CDF meeting, though they were doing so as members of the public service and as part of their duties as civil servant. Such sitting allowances were reported to be ranging from 4000/-.4000/- or even at the higher rate of 6000/- per person per day.

However, a number of MPs from this region are said to have used the government devolving funds, which include the CDF, School Bursary, Roads Maintenance and HIV/Aids controls fund efficiently with the seal of diligently.

It claimed that those MPS in whose constituencies the socio-economic projects which were funded by the CDF money have remained phantom and invisible are the ones who have switched and changed their status and declare they would not be defending their seats. And instead they will contest the forthcoming general elections in other elective positions in the County governance instead of their seats in parliament.

However, report emerging from various parliamentary constituencies in all the four Counties of Siaya, Kisumu, Homa-Bay and Migori reveals that some of the MPs have scored the highest marks, and all the indications are that they stands the better chances of being re-elected back to the next parliament.

In Migori County, the outspoken Nyatike MP Erick Omondi Anyanga is one person who is sue of recapturing his seat owing to his colorful track record of commitment to the socio-economic development of the area.

In Siaya County, the abrasive Gem MP Jakoyo Midiwo has the head-start against his challenger and is expected to perform well during the next general elections. Another MP who stand the best chance of being re-elected to parliament is the Lands Minister James Aggrey Orengo [Nytieng’]. However, the legislator has switched his stand and opted to contest the Siaya Senate seat instead of defending his Ugenya seat.

Also in Siaya, Eng. Nicholas Gumbo, the MP for Rarieda, is among those MPs who are expected to sail through in the next election and possibly retain his seat.

In the same Siaya County the Finance Assistant Minister Dr Oburu Odinga has also switched and instead of defending his parliamentary seat is challenging Orengo in a bitter and controversial contest for the County Senate seat.

Following the latest political dimension and scrambles for the Siaya Senate seat, it is now apparent that Bondo and Ugenya will have new MPs after the March 4, 2013.

The region could expect another greenhorn MP as the result of the newly created Ugunja parliamentary seat. The same could be said of the millionaire Alego-Usonga MP Edwin Ochieng Yinda whose performance at the constituency level is said to have been dismal and full of lackluster below the expectation of the voters. A new face of an MP could emerged in this particular electoral area of Alego-Usonga.

In Homa-Bay County, the Karachuonyo MP Eng. James K. Rege,who is the only MP in Luo-Nyanza who had allowed the local CDF disbursing committee to have the intellectuals and professionals to be members.

The CDF committee is headed by Prof Akeyo Omolo of Maseno University as its chairman and all members are people of colorful academic background and experience, making it the only constituency in the region which has had no complaints from the public about the misuse of vandalizing of the CDF funds.

Although Rege may face opposition, but his chances of recapturing y are in the highest on card.

In Homa-By bay County, the two neighboring constituencies in Rachuonyo South district that of Kasipul and Kabondo-Kasipul wile finitely post two new MPs at the next polls. The incumbent MP for the old Kasipul-Kabondo Joseph Oyugi Magwanga appear to be heading for the exist door.

The recent sub-division of the constituency into two with the creation of Kabondo-Kasipul appeared to have worked against Magwanga, who in earlier days in Parliament had started very well scoring the highest mark for his management of CDF and other devolving funds in style and personally supervising development activities.

The creation of the new constituency and the emergence of clans politics haves hit the MP the hardest and below the belt with other allegations that he has been promoting political thuggery in Oyugis and its environs.

In the same Homa-Bay County, the Rangwe MP Martin Otieno Ogindo is likely to be one of the causalities in the greater Southern Nyanza.Ogindo whose origins is being traced in Asembo in Rarieda is not an indignant of Rangwe. He has performed poorly and failed to repair feeder and access roads traversing the constituency.

The worse road being the Oyugis-Rangwe-Rodi-Kopany. He has failed to fit into the shoes of his predecessor Eng Philip Okoth Okundi who was a high performing MP and is still being remembered by the electorate for having initiated and even completed many projects using the CDF money.

The MP is only being credited for having been a regular contributor to the debates in the House, but is reported to be not good performer at the constituency level.Roads traversing Rangwe-Sinema{Asumbi}, Rangwe-Oboke and Miranga-Marindi remained pathetic state and impassable and so is the Ndiru junction which is branching off Oyugis-Rangwe.

The residents have accused the MP for having migrate with his entire family to live permanently in Nairobi with unsubstantiated claims that he is rarely seen around the constituency.

In the neighboring Ndhiwa constituency also within Homa-Bay County the leadership vacuum created by the untimely demise of the abrasive former MP Joshua Orwa Ojode is still being felt, though the a new young and energetic MP in the name of Augustino Neto Oyugi. It is, however, too early for anyone to conduct the proper assessment of the youthful mps performance within only one month after his election victory in the controversial by-election.

In Suba region, the recent elevation of the Gwassi MP John Mbadi to the cabinet position of an Assistant minister has enhanced the chances for the re-election, though the elections always attract a large number of aspirants in this particular constituency, the cans arithmetic is expected to be in play during the impending election and Mbadi could be in the next Parliament.

Also in the same Suba region, Mbita constituency, which has been deserted by the immigration and Registration of Person Minister Gerald Otieno Kajwang’ is expected to post a new face as the next MP for the area.

Kajwang’ who is the current ODM Homa-Bay County branch will now contest the Homa-Bay County Senate seat. He has never been a high performing mp, and his dismal performance in Mbita might continue to haunt him in quest to become the first County Senator in the region.

Un Kisumu County, all the six MPs are expect to be sent home for their lukewarm performance.They included NyakachMP Polyns Ochieng’ Daima, Muhoroni MP Patrick Ayiecho Olueny, Fred Ota [Nyando, Shakeel Ahmed Shabbir [Kisumu Town East, John Olago Aluoch {Kisumu Town West and Prof Peter Anyang’ Nyonng’o [Kisum Rural}

In Migori County, the Public Service Minister Dalmas Otieno could find himself in trouble if the youthful lawyer Gradus Oluoch could choose to challenge his re-election In Rongo constituency

Rongo was among the constituencies which were sub-divided into two due to it densely population with the creation of Awendo constituency.

At the same time reports emerging from Awendo indicating that the former Energy Minister George Ochillo-Ayacko has opted out of parliamentary contest. There are, however, the possibility of both Rongo and Awendo posting new faces of MPs .to parliament cannot be ruled out.

The position of the two MP from Migori remained unclear. They are the Uriri MP Cyprian Ojwang’ Omolo, and the incumbent Migori MP John Pesa. The possibility of two new faces of MPs face emerging fro thee constituencies cannot be ruled out as the incumbent are reported to be facing the stiffest challenge in their bid to be re-elected. Migori in particular will have two MP following the sub-division of the old Migori into two constituencies, namely Migori West and Migori East.

However, the coming weeks will see many changes in the campaign style, realignment of politician, aspirant for the various constituencies, in County governance and Senatorial as well as civic bodies. The ODM is the dominant party, but the orange party is known for its poor nominations system, which might end up disappointing some of the aspirants who are expected to perform well during the election proper.

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KENYA: VIOLENT DEMONSTRATIONS OFFER NO IMMEDIATE FEASIBLE SOLUTION TO THE LIFE THREATENING RATE OF CRIME WAVES IN KISUMU CITY.

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News Analysis By Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City

The latest, but unfortunate incident of shooting to death of a wealthy Kisumu businessman – cum – politician by gangsters was a pure case of thuggery and robbery with no political related angle attached to it.

However, the prevailing insecurity situation in this lakeside city and in some parts of Nyanza Province cannot be solved through violent protests and street demonstrations, lawlessness and destruction of properties.

And even blame games and the demand for the transfers of senior police officers in the region could offer any amicable solution to the insecurity problems in Kisumu.

The solution, however, lies on a joint concerted effort with city fathers, elected leaders, top security men the provincial administration, representatives of the business community and all stakeholders brainstorming together in close door top security meeting. Such a meeting should be organized and held in a soberly atmosphere in closed door top security meeting.

The reason why such a meeting is necessary is that insecurity situation has because the worsened security situation is most worrying aspect of life, considering that criminal thugs armed with sophisticated weapons are on the loose This lakeside city has become unsafe place to walk around. Kisumu requires urgent reinforcement of a strong police to man its streets.

The shooting and killing of the late Mr Shem Onyango [Kwega} or “onagi” is not the first incident in which criminal thugs have shot and fatally wounded or killed resident of this town and got away scots-free.

There have been other killing in the recent past, which just ended without the perpetrators being brought to book to answer serious criminal charges to the killing.

A few years ago a senior manager wit the Kenya Pipeline Company Limited Mr Chirchir was shot and fatally wounded as he sat on table having drinks with friends inside a popular public joint down town Kisumu .He was flown t Nairobi or an emergency specialized treatment. Unfortunately M Chirchir succumbed from his injuries and died. So far nobody has ever been arrested. The assailant had travelled t the pub using a saloon car parked outside by three other young men looking like policemen.

Later on a young India doctor working in Kisumu was shot dead at the doorstep of his clinic which was located near Mosque Estate. The gunman opened the door of the car and pumped bullets into the body of the doctor who was jut preparing to g home after duty. He was sitting in a car with his young son who was serious traumatized. In this particular incident n arrest has ever been made.

In another incident a prominent surgeon at the New Nyanza General Hospital Dr.Opondo was shot and killed last year in one of the bar located around the wayside area. Thugs burst into the bar as it was jut abut to close its door for business, and Dr.Opondo who was to days failed to respond to their instruction to revelers to lie down. He was shot fatally wounded and died on the sport. To – date no arrest has been made.

In the same Kibuye area of the town near the R.C.M Catholic church, a n entrepreneur and a prominent community leader Mr Abdul Ebrahim Dahya, who at one time was the Dept Mayor of Kisumu was shot an at a point blank range and seriously wounded as he drives his car from Kibuye towards the town by an idler who was standing by the roadside in wait as come over a road bump. Mr Dahya survived, but no arrest has ever been made by the Kisumu police.

The killer of the businessman Shem Onyango Kwega according to some account by the eye witness had big guns which looked either G3 or Ak47 riffles and looked very professionals. Although they carjacked another car and drover to the nearby Nyamasaria peri-urban a well known dens of criminal gangs immediately comb the area in search of the immediately.

However, there has been hue and cry from member of the public about the rationale of deploying so many policemen n traffic control duties while leaving the City unguarded.

In Nyanza police deployment of the few policemen on road-checkpoints instead of having some policemen policing the street of Kisumu. This is a city where one can walk for a long distance without meeting any policemen on patrol. But anyone driving from Kisumu towards Ahero Tow a distance which is less than 20 kilometers, one can encounter u to six police check-points, which normally manned by between three and four policemen and policewomen.

This is an area where the PPO, the OCPD, the PCIO stand the blame for complacency and laxity, and which the elected leaders and City fathers should tackle with the forces of law enforcement instead of leading poorly coordinated street demonstrations, which are only prone to looting and destruction of properties.

Our leaders must also look into the possibility of stamping out politically aligned gangs of goons, some of them who of late have styled themselves as the America Marine, China and Israel and making lives difficult for the residents.

Properly organized and well coordinated street demonstration by people to express their dissatisfaction with how thing are going are welcome. But let the hooliganism not take advantage of the protests to camouflage themselves for looting other people property.

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Kenya: The government should impose stringent regulations on MPESA operators to work within official working hours and not late in the evening to put robbers and criminals on check

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Commentary By Leo Odera Omolo.

It is arguably correct to say that the MPESA money transactions in this county has revolutionized and increased the quickest way of transacting businesses, especially in rural area, market places shopping and trading centers where there are no established commercial banks in operations.

The same could be said of urban centers, small town and even in big towns and cities. This business revolution, however, has brought the big risk along with. A day hardly passed smoothly without an incident of attacks involving robberies at these outlets where the ordinary Wananchi have been accessing money transacting their businesses with a lot of easiness.

These well coordinate attacks hatched by criminals elements have resulted in serious bodily injuries and loss of precious lives of the innocent Kenyans due to the current widespread insecurity being experienced all over the places..

It is therefore my contention that the licensing authorities tasked with the responsibility of regulating the MPESA operations in this country should introduce the stringent rule and regulation that would compel these, money outlet to operate within the normal working hours along with other commercial banks.

By this I meant, the should only be allowed to open for business at about 9 AM and close at 5.PM and not to extend working hours up to 8.M in the darkness. And strictly only those operating inside supermarkets shopping malls wand business hours.

However, it has been noted that in market places located in rural area, shopping and trading center MPESA outlet have become the easiest targets for people with heinous criminal intention, especially those who have been driven out of major town cities the hawk-eyed

Kenyan policemen.

Many suspicious characters have been sighted milling around and mingling with customers with members of the public outside MPESA outlets while making surveillance at the same time hatching secret plans for attacking the agents. And thereby depriving them f their daily earnings.

Even some of the criminal elements are known to have followed those who withdrew reasonable size of money at the outlets into their rural homes by the nightfall. The purpose of those night raids are obvious; To deprived the traders of their hard earned monies.

These night raids against MPESA agents and traders have resulted in the loss of lives. The loses could be avoided if the MPESA regulating authorities and the Safaricom and other phone service providing firms could work out a joint strategy and agreed on a working formula in which the time for business transactions at these money outlets could be regulated and strictly allowed to operate only within the official working hours, and not late in the evenings.

According to media reports from many parts of Kenya, the MPESA operators and agents are prone to attacks as they are targeted by the hardcore criminal elements using sophisticated weapons.. In Nyanza Province, Migori town is leading n the incidents of attacks at the MPESA outlets, perhaps this is due to the town’s proximity to the common borders between Kenya and Tanzania.

Othre towns ad small trading centers which are prone to such attacks include Awendo, Rongo, odi-Kopany, Homa-Bay, Oyugis, Siaya, Ugunja, Bondo, Yala, Ahero, Muhoroni, Ranen, Kendu-Bay, Sondu, Ahero..

Homa-Bay comes second after Migori in the increased crimes-wave, which has also seen many night watchmen deployed to guard the shops in the main street have reportedly been hacked t0 death by criminal gangs.

Similar incident have been reported from many towns in the Coast Province, Nyanza, Nakuru, and western Province. The statistics of the attacks are increasing by daily, and this is why there is urgent need to have the business hours of the MPESA operators.

These planned and well executed attack are putting nation’s economy into total ruin, and the time for such attacks to be put to an abrupt end..

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TO DEMONSTRATE ITS TOTAL COMMITMENT TO THE REGIONAL COOPERATION TANZANIA HAS ESTABLISHED THE EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY DESKS IN ALL KEY GOVERNMENT OFFICES.

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Writes Leo Odera Omolo

In order to demonstrate its total commitment to the regional economic cooperation, the Tanzania government has established an East African Community desk in all its 142 outlaying administrative districts across the country to inform its citizens on the existing opportunities in the regional bloc.

According to information emerging from Arusha based secretariat of the EAC, the desks will be manned by state officers an will have sufficient information about trade and investment, policies, immigration, taxation and regulatory frameworks I each of the five member country.

The Tanzanian Minister or the East African Community Affairs Samuel Sitta, the decision the decision was taken after the government learnt that the majority of citizens know very little about the bloc.

‘Each local council will have an EAC desk manned by competent people with crucial information on new developments in the regional bloc,” Minister Sitta said when this when met with member of the East African Business Community and local leaders at Halili border town last week.

The Minister said the campaign would be implemented by the government in collaboration with Trade Mark East Africa [TMEA} a non-profit making organization.

He explained that each desk officer will have a lap-top with all the necessary information that will meet the demand of opportunity seekers and queries by member of the public on various aspects of EAC integration including education and banks.

“The desks will also have newsletters, brochures and other documents with vital information about the operations and functions of the EAC,’ he said.

Lack of information on available business opportunity in the region has seen farmers incur loses on gains, which could have been sold in countries experiencing food deficit.

‘Farmers in the Southern Highland regions of Mbeya, Iringa, Njombe, Ruvuma and Rukwa often produce surplus food that could be sold to the EAC member countries, some o which are experiencing perennial acute shortage of food gains,” said the Minister.

He added, ” Very few Tanzanians know about the EAC and its potential for doing business’, lamented Allan Nswila at a consultant at a forum organized recently in Arusha by the business community.

It was noted that cross border traders consult the East African Business Council on opportunity in the region.

Sitta met with Kenyan counterpart Musa Sirma in Taveta Town which stands on the bored to Kenya and Tanzania to address the traders on trade barriers between the two the countries.

The Tanzanian Minister and his Kenyan colleague also discussed how to implement the Common Market Protocol and fast track the movement of goods,

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Kenya: Residents of Kisumu wants the MP’s bodyguard involving in shooting drama disarmed and prosecuted as the victim is operated in hospital and the bullet removed from his body

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Reports Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City

RESIDENTS of Kisumu Town East constituency have appealed to the government through the police authorities to conduct a thorough investigation over the shooting drama involving the bodyguards of the area MP during a funeral church service in which a youth was shot and fatally wounded.

The victim of the shooting Julius Asero Aloo was operated at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Referral Hospital in Kisumu [formerly New Nyanza General Hospital by Dr Otieno Obondo who removed the bullet from his body.

The residents want the MP’ body disarmed and the weapon taken to ballistic experts’ together with bullet recovered from the victim’s body for trough examination by experts. This is because the MP Shakeel Ahmed Shabbir has vehemently denied that any shooting incident took place.

Residents say this was the third time the security detail of this particular MP involved in reckless shooting at a public gathering following commotions.

Similar incidents have been reported before in the same constituency, but with no report of any accidental shooting. The Resdents of Kolwa East Wad who have witnessed the past incidents, during which the MP-s bodyguards had to shoot in the air to scare the rowdy youths, have a feeling that this MP is fond of going to funeral homes accompanied by heavily armed body guards not for the purpose of condolencesing the bereaved families, but specifically with aims of intimidating his would be opponent during the forthcoming general elections and that it is time he be stopped by the Provincial and police authorities in Nyanza to stop these acts of excessive provocations

Before his accidental death in a helicopter crash on June 10th,the former Internal Security Assistant Minister the late Joshua Orwa Ojode had suggested that in future the bereaved families would be required to apply for police licenses for any funeral gathering.

The Minister suggestion came in the wake of several incidents in which mourners wee forced to fled as fighting rags between rowdy youth supporting different political camps fought each other with stones and crude weapons at times inflicting injuries to innocent funeral goers.

The resident say they would also petition the ODM leadership not to accept M Shakeel Shabbir candidature for the same seat as the MP has proved to be not fit for political leadership and is thriving on politics of gangsters and thuggery. ”The MP should be thoroughly investigated and stopped from holding any public office,” they said.

The latest shooting drama incident occurred on October 19 during the funeral church service of the late Archbishop Musa Ogana Omolo of the Adundo Hollyghost Chuchin Kolwa East Ward within Kisumu municipality. THE mp visited the church, and the locals were angered by his presence because they have made numerous appeals to the MP to help the deceased Bishop get medical treatment in Nairobi, which he said to have declined, but made to the funeral service carrying gift of sugar and maize flour meals to be used in feeding the mourners.

Outside the church the M met some rowdy youths who asked him why he had failed to fulfilled some of his election ledges of 2007.Bitter argument ensued. At this juncture the Councilor f rte area Robert Oruko Otuge, who is an aspirant for the same seat came out and asked the MP to leave the venue due to high tension and that he could come the next day during the actual burial of the Bishop.

THE man stood his ground and remained standing outside the church. His two bodyguards cocked their guns, and one called Musa menacingly pointed the gun at Con Otuge threatening to shoot.

The civic leader fearing for his life grabbed the bodyguard’s hand and the two were involved in the scuffle which drew one the bodyguards. Musa is said to have fired three times in the air to scare the youth away from possible attack on the MP. As the bodyguards and supporters tried to separate the MP and ushering him into his car where the driver had remained n the wheel, a gun rung out from suspected to have come from Musa’s weapon wounding the youth fatally in the leg.

The residents believed that the guns assigned to the M by the government were being misused and appealed to the government to withdraw such guns before the worse come, especially during this time hen the genera elections are around the corner.

Previously, the government used to withdraw licensed guns from MPs and candidates contesting in various constituencies after the shooting and killing of Mr Uhuru Nege a youth in Kitutu Chache constituency in Kisii district. In 1997.

The Kisumu resident wants the government to with draw the errand bodyguards and guns issued to candidates withdrawn during the election campaign period.

Ends

KENYA: THE POLITICAL GIANT OF NYANDO WHO FOR DECADES WAS OPERATING CLANDESTINELY AS THE KINGMAKER HAS FINALLY COME TO THE OPEN TO CLAIM KISUMU COUNTY SENATE SEAT.

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Writes Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City.

For close to the three decades he was operating covertly and clandestinely behind the scene while using his massive wealth by sponsoring parliamentary and civic candidates vying for the various elective positions in Nyando constituency.

However, the Nyando kingmaker this time around has decided to plunge himself into senatorial contest in Kisumu County Senate seat in an election has promised to be the most bruising battle ever seen in the region.

Eng. Maxwell Otieno Odongo a structural engineer-cum-lawyer by profession is the man to watch in the battle for the Kisumu County Senate seat.

The business magnate is the Managing Director of COOPA Africa Consulting Engineering, a company with its head office in Nairobi. This firm is also operating in other African countries with business contacts and operations in other parts of the world.

While operating in the same capacity with defunct Otieno Odongo and Partners Engineering, the engineer-cum-layer was for many years used his enormous resources and successful sponsored a number of candidates who clinched the Nyando parliamentary seat in the early 1970s and 1980s.

He once served as the Kisumu district branch secretary of the ruling KANU party during Mi’s era. He is believed to have been the mentor of the former Nyando M Tom Ogalo Ogada who late served as an Assistant Minister in the KANU regime. He had a helping hand in the election victory of the later peter Anyumba and the immediate former Nyando MP Eng Eric Opon Nyamunga and finally assisted the incumbent MP Fred Outa to an easy victory in the same constituency.

Otieno Odongo is also credited for having helped the late Paul Omanga win the Kenya Union of Sugar Plantation Workers. Omanga died while serving as member of COTU[K} executive board and a top unionist.

The three aspirants in the contest of Kisumu County Senate seat are men of different in characters .Prof Nyong’o is a staunch supporters of the Prime Minister Raila , to be a men of class, thrift and means.

Eng Otieno Odongo is a flamboyant and outgoing man who is fond of mixing with friend and excessively generous person. He has spent millions of his money lending hands of assistance to bright students from poor families no only in Nyando home turf, but in other district and regions. He said to have single handedly sponsored some of the student in the public universities an even in overseas institutions of higher learning in foreign counties.

Eng. Otieno Odongo is credited for having established businesses and firms, which ha employed close to 500 people within the localities. He owns a large scale sugar cane arm in the Kibos/Miwani area of the Nyanza sugar belt, as well as rice milling factory in Ahero Town. Posho Mills in Ahero and MuhoroniTowns.

The business magnate is also running the Homa-Bay Tourist Hotel, which he had acquired from the KTDC some year ago together with Kisumu based prestigious Sunset Hotel, but abandon this after the deal went sour on technicality only settling the Homa-Bay facility which he has improved to a tourist class.

The engineer is also a landlord in Kisumu, Nair9obi and elsewhere. He is the proprietor of Lake Market in the middle of Kisumu City’s Central Business District {CBD] with consortium of dozens of shopping stalls and kiosks.

Having come the populous Kano clan reputed with well over 200,000registered voters well spread within three administrative districts in Kisumu County such as Nyando Muhoroni and Kisumu East districts,Otieno Odongo is expected to make an easy sail through and grab the Kisumu Senate seat.

Ocholla Ogoda is originally from Gem Rae are of lower Nyakach, but settled in the Muhoroni Settlement Scheme. He is being credited for his public oratory and excellent ability to mobilize.

He can still marshal support from his Nyakach community which is also another vote rich region within Kisumu County and members of the Nakach community living in Muhoroni district.

Prof.Nyong’o has represented Kisumu Rural constituency for close to 15 consecutive years. However, his lackluster and dismal performance both at the constituency level and at the ministerial could work to his disadvantage. Consider the poor medical supplies, lack of drugs at the government hospitals would give his rivals the best ammunition to shoot down his candidature.

A the three aspirants for the Kisumu Senate seat are resourceful men who could easily sustain the heat of the election campaign for the next five months before the polling day which is slated for Mach 4.2013.

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Kenya: RAILA must change tactics and empower his trusted troop soldiers on the ground in order to regain foothold in the South Rift regions

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FOR RAILA ODINGA TO REGAIN A STRONG FOOTHOLD IN THE SOUTH RIFT THE ODM MUST CHANGE ITS TACTICS AND STEWARDSHIP INCLUDING EMPOWERING RUTO’S KNOWN POLITICAL ENEMIES IN THE REGION.

News Analysis By Leo Odera Omolo In Bomet Town.

He recent series of quiet political maneuvers by the Prime Miniister Odinga such as making an overture by way of engaging the URP leader William Samoei Arap Rutoin late night behind the scene meetings could be arguably said to bear nothing significantly important like any added value to his precarious position and fast waning popularity in the South Rift and in some parts of the expansive Rift Valley Province.

Instead of such unworkable maneuvers and holding night dialogue meetings Rail Odinga should take a bold step and empower certain individual political personalities, particularly anti-Ruto elements within the vote rich Kipisigis regions covering Kericho and Bomet counties.

The ODM also must extend its wing and network into the neighboring Trans-Mara East and West districts where the Kalenjin population almost equals those of the indignant Maasais. The ODM candidate in Kiligoris constituency John Ng”eno who gave the incumbent MP Gideon Konchellah a run for his money in the 2007 general elections.

The supporters of the Eldoret North MP William Samoei Ruto in the South Rift region are viewing thee Raila Odinga’s maneuvers as portraying the picture of some one who is embroiled in a great panicking of loosing the impeding presidential election.

At the same time the few Kalenjin MPs who are still firmly in the ODM apart from the Tinderet MP Henry Kosgey and the Aldai Mp Dr Sally Kosgey they lacked the ammunition and power with which they could puncture a hole in the URP euphoria which is currently sweeping the Kalenjin region like the torrential rains.

The three ODM MPs in the region include the Roads Minister Franklin Bett {Buret},Home Affairs Assistant Minister Beatrice Kones {Bomet} and Energy Assistant Minister Magerere Lang’at {Kipkellion} These MPs are so scared and afraid of challenging Ruto, hence they are branded by their electorate as {traitors] therefore nursing the fear of loosing their parliamentary seats to the URP candidates come the March 4,2013 polls.

The only sensible option open to Raila Odinga to regain a foothold in Kipsigis inhabited region is to empower anti-Ruto elements operating from within Kericho and Bomet Counties and outside Parliament.
The men lie Donald Ng’eny, former cabinet Minister John Arap Koech, former Sotik MP Antony Kimeto{Sotet} and the UDM leader Lt.Gen
[rtd} John Koech are capable of taming Ruto’s enormous influence in the region. What Raila Odinga and the ODM should do is to empower these people by way of providing them with ammunition with which the cold use to inflict punctures in Ruto’s popular vehicle traversing the region.
Raila’s close advisers who are arguably the few MPs fro the region that still cling to the ODM obviously lacked political dynamism and magnanimity and their steam to drive Ruto out of the South Rift, though they are aware that the entire population are not comfortable with the Eldoret North MP’s closeness to Uhuru Kenyatta.

The entire population in the South Rift believes Raila Odinga stands for the genuine reforms and his anti-impunity crusade is well taken by the voters, they are sometimes getting confused with sweet tongue deployed by URP agents, MPS and many political hirelings engaged by the party in a protracted propaganda war against Raila Odinga in the region with nobody countering such pack of dreadful lies being spread like bush fire.

The ODM must engaged the UDM on serious discussions and facilitate its activities by providing the party leaders with quick travelling means.UDM influence is well spread into the neighboring Narok North and Narok West as well as Kiligoris constituencies with the Narok County.In these areas, Raila Odinga is sill the darling of the electorate, but he only lacked the well coordinate foot solders to carry on the party flame into the heart of the population. People are left to occasionally hear the ODM gospel on how best to save this nation when Raila himself visited the region.

Raila’s other party MPs, especially those from Luo-Nyanza and KJsii regions bare buy locked in parochial issues and internally political squabbling within their localities thereby preventing them from visiting regions outside their home Province to conduct effective campaign to popularize the party and its presidential candidate.

It could be remembered that it was the Kipsigis political kingpin the late Kipkalya Kones and the Lt Gen {rtd} John koech who facilitated Rala Oding triumphant into Kipsigis region in 2007 when they defiantly hosted “Agwambo” in Kapkatet against the odds including the vehement opposition from KANU and the retired President Daniel Arap Moi. Raila entry into Kapkatet where he addressed the mammoth of crowd was the turn point.

It shifted the Kipsigis politics from KANU to the ODM. This is because Kapkatet Center fro where the late Ex-Senior Chief Cheborge Arap Tengecha had ruled the region with an iron fist for decades during the colonial era up to the early part of Kenya’s ‘s attainment of political independence in 1963 is considered s the heart of Kipsigis politics.

During Raila’s visit he was made an elder of the Kipsigis community and given the name of AraP Mibei an honour, which is specifically bestowed to the most revered to persons.

The next thing if Raila’s presidential votes had not been messed b the disbanded former Electoral Commission of Kenya”Agwambo” would have taken to a special prayer at the Tiluet Ab Kipsigis, the holy shrine in a small hill standing on the right and opposite Kericho Nakuru highway to be installed as the Laitoriat Ap Kipsigisiek [King of the Kipsigis people}. Unfortunately this did not work as planned.

The kipsigis a sub-tribe of the large Kalenjin ethnic group is the most populous community among the dozen or so Kalenjin sub-clans. The community is endowed by the most arable and fertile highland with sufficient annual rainfall making the area to be the favorite region for tea growing. This has made member of this proud community slightly more wealthier than their cousins fro the North Rift due to the sale of green leaves tea crops to the multinational tea companies and KTDA managed eight tea processing factories located in Kericho and Bomet Counties.

The community has the best brains and highest numbers of intellectuals compared to other Kalenjin sub-tribes. Its members despite of high education are always prone to political manipulations by their semi-illiterate cousins from the North Rift who took the advantage of the Moi KANU regime.

During the Moi era member of the community were used and dumped by the self-proclaimed professor of Kenya politics, particularly those who were considered to be potential for accession to the national political outlook and those who won parliamentary seat were technically forced to serve for only one parliamentary term, before being replaced by others greenhorns who were groomed by the government.

This had negative impact to the community and systematically denied its member the accession to the national politic. Level minded member of this community believes and maintained that William Ruto who is also a product and disciples of the Moi regime had the same ambition to ensure that the Kipsigis people are kept in the periphery of the mainstream of Kenya’s politics.

The majority of the Kipsigis people believes that Ruto and URP euphoria would fizzled out fast be fore the ext general election, which only five moths away, and many people would return to the ODM. This is the one single community which had fought in close to three or four tribal clashes with its neighboring communities,

The fears that persist about Ruto style of leadership is given credence by his actions while he was the Deputy leader of the ODM, which allegedly saw him deploying the Moi tactics in locking out of parliamentary race in various constituencies of those who m him he did not favor. The majority of them were rigged out during the primary nominations, which only saw his favorite aspirants winning the preliminaries
The community has lost man of its loved one and property and would like to see peace and tranquility prevailing and the time and inter-communal feuds become the matter of the past and consigned to the dustbins of history.

The vote-rich South Rift regions could raise up to 2 million votes and of course each and every presidential aspirant would like to outshine his rivals in the region so as to benefit from the he number of votes.

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Uganda plans to screen and vet foreign workers seeking jobs in the oil and gas sector

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Writes Leo Odera Omolo.

The Uganda government has envisaged the plan for screening and vetting all foreigners seeking for jobs oil exploration and prospecting companies operating I the country.

The Daily Monitor has reported that the plans to have the expatriate workers vetted were disclosed to the member of Parliamentary Ad-Hoc committee investigating the oil sector.

The revelation was made by the Commissioner for Petroleum Exploration and Production in the Ministry of Energy, Mr Ernest Rubondo whose department is tasked with the responsibility on the running and management of the oil sector.

He stated that the aim was to ensure that Ugandans do not lose out on jobs to the expatriates. Rubondo was responding to the member of the committee who had questioned the government commitment to ensuring that Ugandans and local fully benefited from the oil sector.

“If a company does not find suitably qualified Ugandan, it will be allowed to have an expatriate to fill the job. But the firm will be compelled to employ a Ugandan on the same job to understudy the foreigner and gain the necessary experience and eventually take over from the expatriate so that more foreigners do not come here,”he said.

Rubondo, however, told the committee members that the biggest challenge for Ugandan companies was lack of capacity to provide goods and services due to lack of funds to enable them compete effectively with foreign firms.

Rubondo further stated,” I believe the companies we have here are improving.”There are 77 wells so far. But all the wells pads were constructed by local firms “There is also a consultancy firm we hired to design a strategy plan on how best to achieve local contents.”

The MPs have been complaining about the lack of local employment in the oil sector, arguing that most of the foreign employees earn higher salaries than the Ugandans on the same job specification.

But Tullouw Oil Company’s president and the chairperson of the Uganda Chamber of Mines and petroleum Mr Elly Karuhanga commented, “This has been the practice because the government has an agreement with foreign firms of hiring specific foreigners with specific expertise.

Karuhanga added,”it is good that the Ugandan are employed to understudy the foreigners, “There are many foreigners whose applications for work permits are still pending.’

He disclosed that Tullouw Oil Company has employed between 15 and 20 per cent foreigners out of it workforce of about 200. Some oil companies are too technical and they are always under pressure to fulfill the immigration requirement to complete heir jobs.

Ends

Kenya & USA: Obama’s family members and relatives back home in Kenya expresses confidence that he will emerge the winner in the US presidential race

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Writes Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City.

The on going USA election fever appeared to has hit family members and relatives of the US President Barrack Obama back in their rural native home in Alego Kogelo,Siaya County in Western Kenya.

Family members and relatives last weekend gathered in the homestead around Malik Abong’o Obama, the US President elder brother who told newsmen that the family has been following the American presidential debate keenly I the count-down to November 6 elections.

“We have been watching how debate has been unfolding and we are sure Obama will emerge the winner in the elections,” he said during the press briefing at his Kogelo home.

Abong’o expressed confidence that his brother will emerge victorious” because his four year leadership has helped to transform America,” he said adding that the majority of US citizens supports Obama’s candidature.

Malik disclosed that the family will host a major party in their home if Obama gets re-elected for a second term.

Another close relative of the Obama, the Siaya nominated Councilor Nicholas Rajula said the once sleepy and dusty Kogelo village will be transformed into the economic hub of Siaya County if Obama wins,

IT was Nicholas Rajula who led the delegation of family members to Washington D.C during President Obama inauguration in 2009, and ever since then Kogelo Nyang’oma village and market place has witnessed rapid development activities which included two medium size hotels, an ultra modern guest house for tourists accommodations, the construction of the community center and many modern shopping premises have sprung up, water and electricity supplies, construction of new road and many other economic activities.

Rajula further disclosed that plans are underway to mount a giant TV screen in Kogelo to enable Obama relatives, supporters and admirers back home in the village to follow the US elections.

However, there was a small hitch when it was learnt that members of the press were not allowed to access the home of President Obama step grand mother Mama Sarah Obama’s home.

Her security details said a directive to barring the press from entering into the home had come fro the US Embassy in Nairobi. It bars the media interviewing the 90 year old granny.

Rajula said,”I have asked her daughter if she can allow to interview Mama Sarah.but she said there is a sanctions from the US Embassy in Nairobi.

A US Embassy official had visited the Obama homestead four days earlier on a private mission for a meeting in which the press and local security officers were also locked out.

The new men and media fraternity viewed this action of barring the pres from access the grand old granny’s home as an exercise of excessive arrogance.

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KENYA: ANOTHER HIGH PROFILE ASPIRANT HAS JOINED THE RACE FOR MUHORONI PARLIAMENTARY SEAT THREATENING TO UNSEAT THE EDUCATION ASSISTANT MINISTER PROF AYIECHO OLUENY

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Reports Leo Odera Omolo In Kismu City.

The Muhoroni parliamentary contest in the next general election has received another high profile aspirant whose candidature seemed to have jolted the incumbent mp like thunderbolt.

The new entrant into Muhoroni political derby is Agwenge Mbech, the 41 year-old former IT manager with the BP Shell Oil firm in Houston Texas in the US for many years. He is the holder of a BA and Maters degrees in IT engineering technology majoring in business management discipline.

photo of Mr Agwenge Mbeche who is the latest entrant into contest for the Muhoron parliamentary seat whose incumbent is Prof/ Ayicheo Olueny. The 41 year old IT engineer has lived and worked in the USA for 17 years;

Mbeche who is commonly known in Muhoroni constituency as “Nyarombo Maler’ {meaning the cleanest sacrificing lamp} untainted with any scandals and scams, which have been bedeviling the rich sugar producing constituency one after the other for decades.

Muhoroni constituency is the home of the four white sugar factories in a district within Kisumu County in an area classified as the Nyanza Sugar Belt. Mbeche has lived and worked I the US for close to 17 years during each period of time, he used to return home in Kenya almost every year for a total of 15.He owns a large scale sugar cane in Koru within Muhoroni district where his family lived, though the family is originally hails from Kamagaga sub-clan in the North East Kano location near Ahero Rice Scheme.

What has sent shock-waves to the spine of the other contestants in the same constituency is the fact that Mbeche has been a strong supporter of the ODM in the diaspora, particularly in the US where he is known to have previously hosted the party leader and the Prime Minister of Kenya Raila Amolo Odinga during his numerous tours of the US.

Mbeche is also believed to have been the instrumental tool for the ODM fundraising in the US amongst the Kenyan living there.

Apart fro the incumbent MP Prof Ayiecho Olueny, Mbeche would be facing another equally populist aspirant in the name of the flamboyant Nairobi based businessman James Onyango K’oyoo who according to reports emerging fro the agriculturally rich constituency. This time around K’oyoo is said to have already made major inroad into the area and is expected to give the other aspirants the run for their money.

The soft-spoken and well mannered technocrat is the so of the late Mr Aloys Mbeche Oyuko who had served the City Council of Nairobi as its Deputy Treasurer for many years.

The four sugar milling factories, which re located within the Muhoroni constituency including the Miwani Sugar Mills {which is currently under the official receivership and closed down}. The Muhoroni Sugar Mills Company, which is still in operating, but also has been under the protective joint official receivership management for close to a decade.

The Chemelil Sugar Company, which is reported to be on his death-bed and on the verge of collapsing and could be the next to go burst unless the government through the Kenya Sugar Board come to its rescue.

Speaking during an exclusive, but brief interview with this writer in Kisumu City, Mbeche said that pat of his mission and desired to be the next Muhoron MP is that he wanted to empower both the youth and the women.

Mbeche said he was shocked to learn that despite the Kenyan parliament having discussed and approved the payment of the elderly people, the elders in Muhoron have yet to benefited from such payment. The same parliament has deliberated on payment to the widow whose family were marooned by the scourge of HIV/Aids deaths in the region where the epidemic is so rampant, leaving them to fend for their siblings. The widows in Muhoroni have yet to benefit from the funds, though in other areas have enjoyed he same. All these happening are due to the indebtedness and neglect of the political leadership in the area.

He said the residents of the constituency have quite often been heard saying,”We are faced with leadership crisis cross-cutting many sectors be it in corporate institutions political ,community and even religion .

He went on, “It is widely acknowledged fact that the effectiveness of the institutions of governance depend largely on the said political leadership,’ said Mbeche.

The aspirant said that he believes in good leadership that is influenced by vision, principles, beliefs and deeds as opposed to what “we normally see in our Muhoroni constituency today that a whole baggage of filth from selfishness, dishonesty, intransigence, deception, aloofness to lack ideology, hence political thuggery and vindictiveness sold to the people for a vote.

He went on, “This is what ha become of our good and rich constituency which he people must decide to vote out for progressive change. The result is for everyone to see, increase in poverty in rich constituency, high index of poverty. High index of school drop outs yet we have devolved funds from people’s taxes in the form of CDF and school bursary scheme and increased drop on socio-economic fabric that hold out families together making Muhoroni a poor shadow of itself.”

Mbeche said it is for this reasons why he s offering his candidature for Muhoroni by asking the electorate to bring in the meaningful change, adding that lack of political accountability in the utility of the public resources in Muhoroni constituency has adversely affected the socio-economic development in the area,

The aspirant said this has to increased poverty and entitlement without focus on the needs of the constituents. He said if elected the next MP fore Muhoroni he will be committed to offer the difference of leadership the constituency had been lacking for several decades.

My tenure of office an MP will adhere to fiscal discipline in the utility that greatly include the 18 devolved funds at constituency level. This means therefore that the next elected MP should offer leadership and accountability on;LATIF, CDF, Bursary,Roads Levy Fund, HIV/Aids Fund, Water Fund, Women Fund Youth Fund and man others which currently the public has seen a lot of wastage, ostentatious spending and mismanagement by the officials and the committee members put to facilitate equitable use of the fund.

Mbeche is married with three children. He has produced a wonderful personal manifesto showing how he will tackles the myriads of problems facing Muhoroni district which he said is the bastion of major food production apart from the sugar factories and sugar cane farming. But he then regretted that youth in the area have suffered the worse of unemployment due to mismanagement in the sugar mills.

Ends

KENYA: AWENDO D.C WAS RIGHT WITH CLAIMS OF RAMPANT CANE POACHING AND CUT-THROAT SCRAMBLING FOR RAW MATERIALS BY THE THREE SUGAR MILLS IN THE REGION.

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Writes Leo Odera Omolo in Awendo Town.

The Awendo D.C was very right when he made a claim that the Ndhiwa based Sukari Industries was involved in excessive cane poaching from Sony Sugar Company cane growing zones.

The concern of the Awendo D.C. Arthur Mugira is a matter of utmost urgency concern of all the stakeholders in the region because the “poaching of cane has become the source of insecurity in the region.

First of all, it is the sole responsibility of the D.C of a given area of his or her administrative jurisdiction as the chairman of the District Security Committee to ensure that peace and tranquility is prevailing and a matter of paramount importance. And law and order is maintained at all costs.

The D.C. had accused the Ndhiwa based Sukari Industries Limited that the company is poaching and harvesting cane crops from farmers contracted by SonySugar company during night times.

The relevant facts, which must be taken into account in order to crown up this argument , is the fact that the Sukari Industries went to into operations and productions late last year after the completion of its establishment, installations of its crushing machineries, stores and administrative bocks and all other facilities and accessories.

The Mill, which is located near Oria market right on the border of Ndhiwa an Uriri districts has continue harvesting cane and milling despite the fact that it had no nucleus estate farm of its own on which it could grow its own cane for the raw materials and maintained continuous steady supplies for its mill

It is therefore depending entirely on harvesting raw cane crops from out growers inside both Ndhiwa and Awendo, Rongo and Uriri district, which it has no material/financial inputs on, but which were developed with the resources of SonySugar company with impunity.

So far the Sukari Industries has not seen it fit to develop its own cane by way for financing the out growers within its own cane growing zones. And it has continue milling using cane harvested at night from the out growers farms which were developed with funds made available to the farmers through land preparation loans and cane development programs by SonySugar, running into millions of shillings.

Prior to the establishment of the Sukari Industries, the Awendo based SonySugar had contracted close to 27,000 small scale cane farmers within its sugar cane growing zones and similar number of non-contracted farmers. But even these non-contracted out growers farmers had benefited from some kind of farm input from Sony Sugar such a cane seedlings, fertilizers and transportation costs. The only sensible way for the SonySugar to recover its money that it had used in loans to the farmers for the company to be allowed to harvest, crush and sell the made sugar to the consumers. If the same cane is harvested and taken into another mill, which had not played part in its development, then SonySugar would not be in legal position to recover its money through the deductions of the proceeds from the cane bills so that it could replenish its books of accounts and the money could be consider as well as lost.

The argument, therefore require the simplest and most elementary arithmetic. In this context, the concerns expressed by the Awendo D.C. Arthur Mugira are genuine and represented the true picture of the happenings on the ground.

To be more honest, both Sukari Industries and the nearby Trans-Mara Sugar mills were established in total defiance and flagrant violation of the rule and regulations set by the Kenya Sugar Board, which is tasked with the responsibility of regulating the industry in this country. It explicitly stipulates that any investor or investors intending to establish a new white sugar processing mill must ensure that such a factory is established in area which is not less than 40 kilometers apart from the existing sugar mill.

The potential investor is also required to disclose its source of cane supplies to keep the mill running and strictly not to encroach into another mill’s cane growing zone.

Due to allegedly corruptive deals, the two mills were established against the entire existing rule governing the industry and sugar production in this country, and hence the current cut-throat competition in scrambling for raw cane being witnessed in this region.

Mr Lalji Divecha, the general manager of the Sukari Industries must accept these facts as presented above and should not fly out of the truth. His remarks that the D.C.’s complaints were baseless only amounted to “excessive arrogance on his part.”

I have been informed that the KSB is just about to disburse close to Khs 300 million plus to the

Sukari Industries for the company to advance its out growers farmers with advance loan for land preparation, cultivation and development of cane crops in its own zones. I hope the money will be utilized to the letters and that there will be no repetition of the old Madhvani case in Kwale District some years ago. In Kwale, the money which was given to the company as an advance for the resuscitation of the then run-down Ramisi Sugar Company had gone to the dogs an the investors disappeared in the thin air not to be heard off up to-date.

One thing which the Sukari Industries must come out clean is the question of its importation of close to 35 unqualified workers from India and Pakistani, though this is the common practices in this country where the investor happens to be Asians. In all the sugar mills owned by Asians, the indignant Kenyan workers are getting row deals.

Kenyans are only used for the manual work as laborers, whereas all the staff jobs goes to Indian and Pakistanis workers imported from foreign countries. In the case of African workers, they are only engaged as casual workers, and never issued with the letters of employment by the employers. Mandatory deductions such as PAYE, NSSF and NHIF are things of the past. The employees have no workmen’s compensation arrangement.

Tax-evasion is some of the normal features in the sugar mills. Both the Labor Ministry inspectorate teams and the sugar workers unions appeared to have been compromised and only singing and dancing to the tones of the employers, who appeared to have taken the government for ransom immigration ministry include. Most of the Indian and Pakistani workers imported into this country to work in the sugar mills are not sufficiently qualified to hold the jobs they are engaged on.

Whereas the SonySugarhas employed close to 2500 Kenyans in its establishment who are making important contributions to this country’s economy through the mandatory salary deductions for NSSF, NHIF, PAYE and other important national funds and KRA. Moreover, the SonySugar is using its money and grades repairing the roads and building bridges within its sugar cane producing zones, the Sukari Industries and Trans-Mara Sugar Companies are making good use of these roads at the expense of SonySugar.

Ends

Kenya: Joe Donde is headed for a big victory in the contest of the Siaya County governor

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Reports Leo Odera Omolo In Say Town.

JOE Donde the former Gem MP who is considered as one of the most articulate and highly polished politicians inside Luo-Nyanza is the man moist favored to clinch the powerful position of Siaya County governor come March 4th,2013.

The signs of Donde’s impending victory in the contest for the powerful position of Siaya County governor were visibly witnessed during the last Sunday ODM campaign rally held in Siaya Town and which was attended by a huge crowd of ODM supporters.

The campaign rally was called by the Lands Minister James Aggrey Orengo. The Ugenya MP also used the meeting for officially launching his campaign for the Siaya County Senate seat. The contest for the Siaya County Senate seat has become so controversial due to the fact that it pitted the two regional political power base.

It pitted Orengo and the Finance Assistant Minister Dr. Oburu Odinga, who is the MP for Bondo and the elder brother of the Prime Minister Raila Odinga. So far there are no signs that the PM will come to the aid of his brother. Both Orengo and Dr Oburu Odinga are considered as the closest political advisers of Raila Odnga.

The last Sunday meeting came in the wake of another controversial rally held at the same venue the previous week. The controversial rally was convened by Dr. Oburu Odinga and his supporters. The Finance Assistant Minister also used the rally to launch his campaign for the Siaya County Senate seat.

It turned chaotic when a group of people suspected to the hired goons storm the venue and causing those in attendance to dispersed in disarray after a man carrying a panga {machete} was spotted mingling with the crowd and moving menacingly towards the direction of the dais. Dr Odinga’s security detail and supporters wrestled the man to the ground and beat up u mercilessly before the man was frog-matched to the nearby Siaya Police station where the man was locked up in police custody.

Within minutes the accomplices of the man had regrouped and matched to the police station and storm it with the demand that the man be released forthwith, they too were overpowered and nine of them were apprehended and taken into police custody.

Addressing the mammoth crowd, Orengo said that he had offered his candidature and wanted to serve the Siaya people as their Senate representative, therefore it was jp to the residents of the region to decide. He had come forward and wanted to conduct his campaign in a peaceful manner, adding that he had no feeling of enmity to Dr. Oburu Odinga, it was therefore up to the electorate to decide as to who should be their Senate after the polls slated for March 4, 2013., In attendance were the Sports Minister Dr.Paul Otuoma, Rangwe MP Martin Otieno Ogindo, Alego Usonga MP Edwin Ochieng’ Yinda and the Gem MP Jakoyo Midiwo- who is also the government Chief Whip Jakoyo Midiwo who is also the government Chief Wip and a maternal cousin of Dr.Oburu Odinga., civic leaders from all over Siaya County representing six constituencies.

It emerged that behind the scene reconciliation meetings have been going on for sometime, but these meeting had produce no amicable solution as the two D Odinga and Orengo instead that they will go full length to the ballot boxes.

Jakoyo Midiwo whose mentor is arguably Dr. Oburu Odnga launched the most scathing criticism of the Finance Assistant Minister charging that instead o working for an amicable solution to the issue, he was issuing threats. Leaders in Siaya County had agreed that all the elective positions either in the County governance, national assembly, senate or governorship would be shared proportionately.

In the previous week’s rally convened by Dr.Oburu Odinga which was held in at the same venue, ony one MP ha attended the meeting. He was eng. Nicholas Gumbo the MP for Rarieda who is the only one supporting Dr. Odinga. It has since emerged that the rest of Siaya ODM leadership are firm in their support for Orengo.

In the case of Joe Donde, he will square it with his fellow man from Gem constituency Julius Okinda

Born I the house of a former senior journalist Isau Donde Odinga who retired shortly before his demise in the late 1970 after serving the government in various capacities and finally as the Provincial Information Officer, Nyanza

Soft-spoken and well mannered Joe Donde is also the brother of the former career diplomat at one time Kenya’s Ambassador to Egypt ms Mary Donde who retired after heading many of the country’s diplomatic missions abroad, Joe Donde lost his Gem seat to Jakoyo Midiwo in 1997 and has since kept a low profile preferring to work quietly as an international consultant.

Siaya County has six parliamentary constituencies, namely Raried, Bondo, Gem, Alego-Usonga, Ugenya and the newly created Ukwala which was curve out of Ugenya by the IEBC as part of the newly created addition 80 seats.

Judging from the utterances of the people I the huge crowd which had attended the campaign rally called by Orengo the governorship will definitely go to Joe Donde who is headed for a landside election victory an will be the next Siaya County representative in the Senate.

ENDS

Kenya: The relevant ministries should lunch full scale investigation of faulty weighbridges and weighing machines in shops where Kenyan are being fleeced of millions

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News Analysis By Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City
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PRIOR to Kenya attaining its political independence and thereafter during the post-independence, there used be the department of Weight and Measures within the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

The responsibility of this department was to send its highly qualified technicians and staff to carry out regular checks on weighing machine shops butcheries and even in bakeries and confectioneries outlets.

It used to detect the activities of unscrupulous traders and businessmen involved in cheating members of the pubic by selling underweight breads or sugar and meat and even maize-flour meals on sales in shops.

The staff of this department kept the traders on their toes, and those who were caught red-handed in the act of cheating customers while using defective or tempered weighing machines were promptly arraigned in courts and if found guilty heavy penalties and fines were meted out.

The technicians used to make regular to all market places and shopping centers visiting butcheries and all the businesses where weighing machines were kept in use as tools of the trade and thereafter inspecting such machines used to stamp them with the government seal certifying the correctness and validity of such machines to be the correct one.

However, for some unknown reason and for some years now, Kenyans do hear no cases of readers being charged with cheating by way of using tempered with weighing machines. What went wrong? Did this important department ceased from existence?

There is public outcry about the rampant cheating through tempered with weighing machines. It is affecting meat eaters, sugar consumers, wheat flours, baked beads, and even maize flour meals selling in shops appeared to be underweight.

The area which appears to have been totally neglected and the hardest hit being those machines used by meat shops and butcheries. Nearly all the weighing machine are tempered with or the purpose of cheating the customers.

It is even much worse in the sugar sub-sector of the economy. There are reports indicating that sugar cane farmers are losing millions of shillings for their raw materials to the sugar mills for crushing. The deliveries are made via weighbridge, which are allegedly tempered with an have remained un-inspected for years as the farmers continue incurring losses running into millions 0f shillings.

The worse scandals being witnessed n the sugar factories owned by Asian investors and under the top management of expatriate managers recruited from India and Pakistan.

The issue of tempered with weighbridge was detected about 15 years ago by the government auditors sent to the government owned SonySugar Company based at Awendo Town in the Migori County. The external auditing team which was sent to the facility by the department of Inspectorate of parastatals in the Office of the President carried to a thorough forensic audit and discovered that sugar cane farmers within the Awendo cane growing zone had suffered the heaviest losses in term of money which was abut Kshs 210 millions within a period of ten year through the faulty or deliberately tempered with weighbridge.

The team made a confidential report, which was seen by this writer. The company took stern disciplinary action, resulting n several weighbridge clerks being fired while some were prosecuted

The grieved cane farmers, however, were not compensated for the losses incurred, and the majority of them even weren’t told of the scam and remained unaware of it to-date. It later emerged that this was an inside work of some of unpatriotic managers at the facility, some of them have since left the services of the company, especially those who were suspected to have benefited from this scandal.

The scam began immediately after the hired foreign management team led by a British consortium multinational company Booker Tate Agricultural International had left Awendo in huff after the expiry of the their managerial contract.

About three years ago a prominent sugarcane farmer in Nandi South district operating around Miwani Chemelil area drove his own tractor loaded with cane which he had harvested in his own farm. He took the cane one of the sugar factories, which are located within the Nyanza sugar belt region.

The farmer had thought the heavy load of raw cane he was ferrying to the factory could be weighing approximately about ten tones. When he drove his tractor through the weighbridge at the facility he was shocked when he was told the load of cane he was carrying could only measure about seven and half tons.

And not satisfied with what had come out of the weighbridge, the farmer drove his tractor to another nearby next sugar factory. There he was told that his cane had weighed ten ton. After this the farmer had realized that he would have lost two half tons had he delivered his cane to the first mil. This particular incident was widely published by nearly all the local dailies, but such adverse publicity has never deterred the sugar millers who continued with their cheats with impunity.

Sugar mills owned by Asians include Sukari Industries in Ndhiwa district, West Kenya Sugar Company in Kakamega County, Butali in Kakamega County, Kibos Sugar and Allied Industries in Kisumu County and Trans-Mara sugar Company in Narok County.

In all the five sugar mils, all senior managerial staff jobs positions are excusively held by Indian and Pakistanis
The issue of the tempered weighbridge at the sugar mills was rekindled last week by the striking cane cutters employed by the Mumias Sugar Company in Western Province.

The chairman of the cane cutters at the Mumias Sugar Company Mr Julius Makanda while making his argument on behalf of the striking cane cutters, was quoted as saying that the workers have rejected the offer of extra 20/-.

He further stated that the employer is currently paying them Kshs 223/ per tone harvested I a day. However, it has been difficult for the cane cutter to hit the target set of 7.5 tones per day because of the weighbridge at the factory had been tempered with.

Such claims as the one made by workers representative is worth investigation by competent team of experts formed by the government’s relevant ministry. Most of the harvesting work at Mumias sugar Company and in the mils are carried out in the farms owed by the small scale out growers who might be losing millions of shillings through the tempered with weighbridges.

It is high time the government take the issue of cane farmers being fleeced of millions of their hard earned money through this kin of shameless scam.

Five sugar mills located at the various locations in Western Kenya are owned by Indian investors. The workers in these facilities are reportedly being exploited to the maximum. They are not issued with the letters of appointment and eve those who have served the mills for over ten year remained on casual master -rolls. Mandatory salary deduction such NSSF or NHIF are things the past.

The Kenya Union of Sugar Plantation Workers appeared to have been compromised or its officials re sleeping on the job. This particular union seemed to have ceased to exist. It has never raised its voice abut hired of foreign worker being recruited from India and Pakistan who have flooded the job market with the sugar industries thereby depriving the indignant Kenyans of the scarce employment opportunities.

The expatriate workers some of who are not even properly qualified are the ones holding important jobs such as account clerks, engineers, mechanics, electrical mechanics, fitters, welders, time-keepers, cane yard clerks, weighbridge clerks.

This is done despite Kenya having trained thousands of workers in these categories even in excess of it is industrial output. Some of the Indians and Pakistanis are even working as tractor driver and cooks and as lowly laced job such as sweepers, office messengers etc.

These unqualified expatiate workers should pack and go home and create job opportunities for hundreds of unemployed Kenya youth shoo-leavers.

The fitters who were temporarily imported into the country for the purpose of helping during the installation of new cane milling machines and have stayed on jobs should be made to vacate and ordered out.

Members of the current parliament representing sugar cane growing regions also stand blamed for not effectively articulating for the farmer problem. The majority of them it is being alleged to have succumbed to mega bribery, which appeared to have put them into total silence.

Rumors are also rampant that some of them MPs have benefited by way of having the materials used in building and construction of their palatial houses in their rural homes were corruptively sourced or supplied by the sugar mills barons to silent them.

The time, therefore is ripe for the electorate in the sugar cane growing regions to the a serious note about the conduct of their MPs ad ensure that such people are voted out during the impeding general election a replaced by energetic and those committed to assist the excessively exploited sugar cane farmers and cane cutters.

Both the immigration and Labor Ministries also stand to be scathingly criticized for not effecting and properly implementing the government laid down policy on the employment of expatriates in this country.

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Kenya: Dr.Ouru Odinga ambition for Siaya Senate seat facing total rejection by local MPs, civic leaders and the electorate

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UNLESS THE GOVERNMENT TAKES STRINGENT SECURITY PRECAUTION MEASURES SOME PARTS OF WESTERN KENYA COULD TURN TO BE CHAOTIC DURING THE NEXT GENERAL ELECTIONS.

News Analysis By Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City

ALTHOUGH the usually volatile violence prone Counties in Southern Nyanza and Kisii regions are still quiet with no major ugly incident so far as the county is only five months away from the impeding general elections, reports emerging from Siaya and Kisumu Counties are all painting gloomy future.

Within last week lone the two regions witnessed ugly incidents which should be the matter of grave concern for those responsible for the security and safety of Kenyan citizens. All these incidents are pointing to the direction of shape of things to come during the next general elections which is only five months away.

Two senior politicians in Siaya and Kisumu were forced to flee the venues where they were conducting functions at different venue for their dear lives following the invasion of the venues by marauding, drunken and heavily drugged hired goons.

The two politicians were the Finance Assistant Minister Dr. Oburu Odinga who is also the MP for Bondo. The other one is the Education Assistant Minister Prof. P Ayiecho Olueny who is also the Muhoroni MP.

Olueny was forced out of funeral home in Kaumswa in North East Kano, Nyando district within is Muhoroni constituency in Kisumu County. Prof Olueny was among the hundreds of mourners who had attended the burial of the brother of the Nyando County Council Samuel Onyango Ong’ou..

Scores of people sustained bodily injuries during the commotion with unconfirmed reports that two people were stabbed with knives and sustain serious injuries.

While the funeral program was in progress Prof Olueny’s arrival in Muhoroni political derby James Onyango Koyoo, a Nairobi business man triumphantly stormed the funeral home accompanied by close to 300 rowdy youths sparking off a chaotic and ugly incidents.

The Assistant Minister’s plea for calm and orderly hit the rock. Olueny’s youth and supporters appeared to have been shocked and scared as they were also outnumbered by K’Oyoo’s rowdy goons. Fighting ensued and the mourners took to their heels. It was during the commotion that several people especially elderly men and women were run-over by the fleeing mourners in th4e stampede that followed.

The MP also vanished in the crowd and left the venue.

Prior to his death in a helicopter crash on June 10th the former Assistant Minister for Internal Security the late Joshua Orwa Ojode had suggested that all the funeral gatherings inside Luo-Nyanza would in the future require public meeting s licenses from the police so that the security men could be presence and monitor the proceeding an also to protect the lives and property of the bereaved families an funeral goers.

Unfortunately Ojode died accidentally before putting his suggestion into place. The Minister was reacting to an incident in Kaspul-Kabondo where MPs, ministers, and Councilors were forced out and had to be escorted to safety by the police when the fighting erupted.

During the same weekends the Finance Assistant Minster Dr. Oburu Odinga was forced to cut-short his speech at a campaign public rally in Siaya Tow after a man was spotted among the crowd brandishing a panga {machete} apparently suspected of planning to attack the Assistant Minister wit the weapon.

The man whose name was given only as Otieno was cornered, subdued by the Minister’s security details and supporters who beat him savagely before frog-matching the suspect to the nearby police station where he was take into custody. Within minutes, the suspect’s nine accomplices who had attempted to storm the police station while demanding that the suspect be released from the police custody were also arrested and take into custody.

It later emerged that the group were part of the to of the hired goons to cause mayhem and to intimidate Dr Oburu Odinga who is involve in the cut-throat sot of the campaign for the Siaya County Senate seat which the Lands Minister James Aggrey Orengo is his arch-rival.

What has emerged is that all the Siaya MPs have ganged agaist Dr. Oburu Odinga bid for the Senate seat. They are all favoring his arch-rival the Lands Minister James Aggrey Orengo who is the Ugenya MP. Orengo is also favored by the electorate who feels Dr Odinga candidature is not viable considering that fact the same electorate are being asked to vote for his younger brother the Prime Minister Raila Odinga who all seemed to have agreed to vote for in his presidential bid.

However, one MP has remained neutral over the issue. He is the Alego-Usonga MP Edwin Ochieng Yinda. But the MP has since lost hi patency then he discovered that Dr Oburu Odinga has appointed his formidable challenger in Alego-Usonga parliamentary seat contest Charles Odunga Mamba a wealthy Kisumu hotelier to be one of his campaign manager. MP Yinda has since feel provoked changed his mind and lost his patience and has joined hands with his other parliamentarian colleagues in Siaya in opposing Dr Odinga candidature for the senate seat

Dr Oburu Odinga made an error in drafting Mr Odunga Mamba into his campaign team, and MP Yinda has since read mischief arguing that Dr. Odinga was grooming Mr Odunga Mmba to grab is Alego Usonga seat. Mp Yinda who is arguably one of the wealthiest Luo MP and businessmen

And representing a constituency which covered Siaya Town, things seemed to work against .Oburu Oginga, who at later date might find himself confined strictly to conduct his campaign inside his Bondo consttuency.

All the Siaya MPs including Dr Oburu Ognga’s own cousin Jakoyo Midiwo {Gem} Nicholas Gumbo {Rarieda and Edwin Ochieng’ Yinda Alego Usonga are vehemently opposed to Dr.Odinga candidature I the Senate contesting. They have been joined by civic leaders from all the six constituencies of Alego-Usonga, Rarieda, Bondo, Gem, Ugenya and the newly created Ukwala.

They consider Dr. Oburu Odinga ambition to grab the Siaya Senate seat as part of the excessive arrogance on the part of members of the Odinga family. Dr.Odinga younger sister Ruth Adhiambo Odinga is vying for Kismu County governor position to the chagrins of the local people.

The popular saying now is that members of the Odinga family who wished to contest any elective seat should do so in side their Bondo district which their home turf and not elsewhere, but all agreed to support Raila’s presidential ambition.

Ends

Kenya: ODM is urged to postpone its primary nomination date from 4/5 December to another date as the exercise will coincides with KCE national exam dates

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Writes Leo Odera Omolo IN Kisumu CITY.

A prominent politician in Homa-bay County has called upon the ODM board of election to reconsider the possibility of postponing the party’s primary nomination dates from December 4/5 to another suitable date towards the end of the same month.

Dr Mark Matunga, who is also an aspirant for the Homa-Bay County governor position cited the KCE national examination, which would be taking pace at the same, adding this could have an adverse implication on the performance of students.

“Most schools classrooms will be used as polling stations, counting halls, wile candidates will be traversing the villages while making a lot of noisy through signings and blowing loudspeakers and aujas, vuvusellas and drums. The campaign noises in villages which are located next school could have negative effect on the performance of students sitting for national exam.

Moreover many teachers would be engaged as counting clerks, supervisors, returning officers and counting clerks at the time when they would be required to invigilate and supervise the exam to ensure that their student performed ell at the exam.

D Matunga has suggested that the ODM primary nomination dates be pushed forward to after December 20th . This will be after the schools re closed and the student gone hoe for the end of the year school holidays so the campaign noises will have no negative effect on the student’s performance.

He said his calls for the postponement of the ODM primary nominations must not be construed as meaning he is opposed to the party tentative nominate program, but feels that the logic must prevail, because Kenya valued education of their children highly.

Meanwhile the information emerging from the Suba region of the greater southern Nyanza says that Dr. Matunga is currently the leading contender for the Homa-Bay County governor position is under heavy pressure to switch his candidature fro that of the County governor and contest the Mbita parliamentary seat.

The aspirant who hails from Mfangano Island in Mbita district has yet to respond to the voters demand nor could he be reached for his reaction and comments on the latest demand could not could be reached through mobile phone.

Mbita constituency which was originally part of the Lambwe constituency which was established in 1961 has had half a doze of MPS previously, but none has ever come from Mfangano Island.

The first MP for Lambwe Valley constituency was Dr Joseph Gordo Odero-Jowi from Karungu in what is today Nyatike constituency. This was during the Lancaster Constitution, which had a tri-cameral parliamentary system with the National Assembly.

The late Senator Sellemiah Mbeo-Onyango from Mfangano was elected to represent the entire larger South Nyanza district I the Senate. But when the tri-cameral parliamentary system together with regional assemblies were abolished following the constitutional changes of 1965/1966 which were effected by an ct of Parliament, a new Mbita constituency was created after Lambwe constituency was sub-divided into two with the creation of Mbita constituency specifically to accommodate the South Nyanza district Senator. The late Mbeo Onyango therefore become the first MP for Mbita.

Under this new arrangement Dr. Oero-Jowi switched his political cmp to the newly created Ndhiwa prliamentary seat.

In the 1969 general election, the Late Mbeo-Onyango defended his seat, but he was trounced by a fellow islander George Osingo Migure from Rusinga Island. Migure, however, lasted for only five year one terms, and the seat was gabbed by the late Aphonce Okuku , the younger brother of the late Tom Mboya

Alphonce Okuku hails from Rusinga Island. He successfully defended his seat in 1974, but lost badly to Peter Clever Otieno Nyakiamo in 1983.BOTH Okuku and Nyakiamo served in the cabinet of President Moi as an Assistant Minister and full cabinet minister respectively.

Nyakiamo was from Kaksingiri in what is now Suba South, although he had a family root in Wakula sb-clan who are his uncles and who lives in Mfangano Island whose Wasiambi sub-clan lives in Kakasingiri, he was defeated was won by the former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Works Dr. Valentie Omolo–Opere who whose time as Mbita MP saw the constituency being splinted into two with the creation of Gwassi constituency into two with the creation of Gwassi constituency, and the late Dr. Valentine Omolo Opere, another person from the mainland. Omolo Opere lost the seat to Felix Nyauchi a Nairobi lawyer who who the seat during the euphoria of Ford-Kenya in the 1992 first multiparty elections.

It was during Nyauchi time when the constituency was splinted into two with creation of Gwassi. Nyauchi as trounced by a Nairobi businessman Zadock Syong’o in1997 while during the same period of time Gerald OtenKajwang.won the Mbita seat and successfully defended it n2002 an 2007. Kajwang’ hail from Waondo in Gembe location in Lambwe Division. Looking deeply at the background of Mbita constituency, one could easily see that it is the residents of Mfangano Island who have yet to produce a parliamentary representative in Mbita ever since the inception of the constituency, though their voting strength is almost equal to those of the registered voters in the twin-Rusinga Island.

All the previous representatives have either come for the mainland or the neighboring Rusinga Ind, hence a strong demand by the residents of Mfangano that this time they be given a chance to produce one of their own as the next MP.

The Islanders have picked on Dr Matunga. However,Dr Matunga’s candidature, however, would complicate things for the Nominated MP Millie Odhiambo who hails from their neighboring Rusinga Island and who is so popular in Mbita at the moment an expected to sail through easily. This is because Dr.Mutunga is arguably the mentor of Milie Odhiambo.

The two have had a good rapport and cordial working relationship on friendly term, and people in the region expect Dr. Matunga to lend a hand of support by backing Ms Odhiambo in her bid to be elected as the next Mbita MP and she is equally expected to campaign for Dr.Matunga bid for the Homa-Bay County governor position.

Although she could be termed as a young firebrand legislator, Millie has performed very well in parliament even above the average of men and women sitting in the current 10th parliament. She has been an effective contributor to almost every local and international issue when such issues comes up for debate in the house to the house for debate. She has proved to be so eloquent an effective and formidable debater and one whose leadership has been tasted as a leader.

Since both Matunga and Odhiambo had one background of being the indignant Suba, and belonging to the two Islands whose inhabitants have the same background voters in the Sub region would like to see both Odhiambo an Matunga serving in senior positions in the next government an parliament.

Both Odhiambo an Matunga are wit armed with proper educational background and working experience.

This writer could not reach either the two, Odhiambo and Matunga to clarify these rumors, though the rumor about heavy pressure being put on Matunga to switch from contesting the governorship to that of Mbita parliament is so rampant in Mbita town and its environs.

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Kenya & USA: President Obama Kenyan half-brother arraigned in court for trying to sneak a three year old boy out of the country and send him to the US without his mother’s consent

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Writes Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City

A family member of the US President Barrack Obama based in Kenya is embroiled in a controversial legal tussle before a Nairobi court where his girl friend has accused him of forcefully snatching her three year old child.

The court heard that George Obama who is a half-brother of the US President Barrack Obama had planned to take the child to the US without the consent of his mother.

George Obama the 30 year –old step-brother of the US President Barack Obama is facing a legal suit filed in a Nairobi court by his girl friend Anne Nyawira who is the mother of the three year old boy.

Anne Nyawira claimed in suit papers filed in the court that on October 6,2012 forcefully snatched and took away the child from her custody without her consent from Huruma Estate, a suburb of the Kenyan capital City, Nairobi where they were celebrating the child’s third year birth day.

Nyawira alleged that Obama wanted to sneak the boy out of Kenya and take him to the US. Obama was ordered by the court to present the boy to the court on October 31st,2012.

The court also issued an order legally stopping Obama from unlawfully removing the boy out of the country {Kenya}

Nyawira is unmarried woman moved to court after failing to trace her child since last weekend when Obama allegedly took the boy away pretending he was gong to buy him birthday present.

According to court papers the two got into a “come-we stay‘ kind of union temporary marriage arrangement in 2008 without celebrating any formal marriage

Nyawira’s lawyer John Chigiti told the court that Obama planned to take the boy to the US where his mother lives. The defendant [Obama} had informed Nyawira that he wanted to take the child to the US his mother where education is free . The suit come at the time when Obama was reportedly busy processing the child’s travelling documents for the US trip and unless he was stopped by the court, he was likely to execute his plans which will work against the “best interests of the child,” Nyawira states in the plaint filed in the court.

The lawyer said the whereabouts of the child at the moment was unknown.

The complainant says George Obama went to her rented house in Huruma Estate on October 6, in taxi cab and insisted that he wanted to buy the child a birthday present.,

She,however, reluctantly allowed him to go with the boy but on strict condition that the child was to be accompanied by his grandmother and her sister that he was to return the child to her to her house the same day. But when they got into the taxi, Obama violently and forcefully threw the child’s grandmother and his ant out and speed away in the car with the child inside. And drove to an unknown destination with the boy.

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Kenya: The only woman aspirant for Nyakach parliamentary seat urged the government to stamp out of the menace of rampant cattle rustling in the area

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Reports Leo Odera Omolo

A PARLIAMENTARY aspirant for the Nyakach seat in Kisumu County has decried the rampant cattle rustling in the area saying the practice was repugnant, primitive and retrogressive to peaceful development of the region.

Grace Atieno Akumu who is the only woman among the 13 aspirants vying for the Nyakach seat called upon the government through the Provincial Administration and police authorities to step up the effort of stamping out the menace.

Akumu is the wife of the veteran trade unionist James Danish Akumu made these remarks while addressing a group of students from Nyakach at the Kisumu Polytechnic over the weekend. Her ailing husband J.D.Akmu was once a two terms MP for Nyakach in the early 1970s and in the 1990s

She said cattle rustling in Nyakach district is not only a real menace to peaceful development activities in the area, but is also the source of insecurity in the area thereby retarding progress and development activities. Many people have lost their precious lives in the hands of mercy less rustlers.

Akumu urged the students to place high value on their education so that when they come out at the completion of their studies they could form enterprising contracting companies, which in turn could offer employment opportunities to other school leavers in their home regions.

She decried the misuse of the government devolving funds such as CDF, schools bursary fund and roads maintenance funds arguing that the development projects in which the money is budgeted and channeled for have refused to take ff the ground everywhere in the constituency making the residents to be suspicious that these funds were not being put into proper use.

She appealed to the government to ensure that now that Nyakach has been identified by experts as having sufficient oil deposits for commercial exploration and prospecting, Nyakach people must be given a better deal and shareholding in the international oil companies once the drilling and prospecting began.

She pledged that if elected the next MP for the area, she would press the government hard to build new dams in the upstream of Sondu-Miriu river so that its water could be utilized in irrigation in the lower Nyakach which is semi-arid area for production of more food. The lower Nyakach is constantly prone to perennial floods menace and yet the flood water could be tapped and stored in dams for later use in irrigation of farms to ensure food security in the region.

She said that her other priorities as an MP will be to organize a series of peace meetings between her people and residents of the Neighboring constituencies, such as Sigowet, Belgut, Ainamoi, Mugirango West and Kabondo-Kasipul for the purpose of creating understanding between the diverse communities living in those areas with the view to sensitize them to the danger of allowing criminal elements involve in cattle rustling and other anti-socio-economic activities, which are so detrimental to peaceful co-existence of the communities..

She promised to revive the cotton growing in Nyakach which has been on the cline for years and to fight had for the reduction o poverty indexes in the area by demanding for better return in the prices of agricultural products and food crops for the local farmers, and good access and feeder roads for transport their farm produces to the market places.

She said she will fight for economic empowerment of women and youth in Nyakach as one way of poverty eradication of the support for her bid for the area parliamentary seat.

Members of the Nyakach Students Association at the Kisumu Poytechnics assured Mrs Akumu of their support in her bid for the Nyakach parliamentary seat.

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Kenya: Reports say William Ruto was barred from addressing high profile funeral gathering in his own constituency

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Writes Leo Odera Omolo

It has been established that the Eldoret North MP William Ruto for some unknown reasons was technically barred from addressing thousands of mourners in his own constituency forcing the outspoken politician to leave the venue prematurely.

The incident took place during the high profile burial of the former Assistant Minister Elijah Sumbeiywo at his home in Sergoit on the Eldoret Iten road.

The funeral which had attracted the huge crowd was also attended by among other mourners, the retired President Daniel Arap Moi, the Vice President Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka, and the Industrialization Minister Henry Kosgey who read the Prime Minister Raila Odinga condolence message to the bereaved family.

It has been confirmed from the multiple sources in Eldoret that Ruto who is the presidential candidate on the United Republican Party of Kenya {URP}was in attendance with a large number of Kalenjin politicians and MPs, but looked restless and unsettled during the ceremony, which had attracted many Kalenjin luminaries and leaders from other regions of Kenya.

The URP leader according to the same sources was in pensive mode and left the venue abruptly while the ceremony was still going on.

The report further revealed that the bereaved family of the late Sumbeiywo who was at one time the head of the presidential Security Escort for the retired President Moi had requested the mourners tat here be no political speeches in keeping up with the norms of Kalenjin culture and tradition.Sumbeiywo briefly represented the Keiyo North constituency in parliament after his retirement fro the police force upon reaching the mandatory retirement age. He left the force while serving in the rank of Senior Deputy Commissioner of Police and the venture into parliamentary politics.

Local political pundits were quick in interpreting the incident as meaning rejection of Ruto’s political leadership by a section of the larger Kalenjin community, an issue which could have negative repercussion on his presidential bid.

Ends

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Category Archives: Leo Odera Omolo

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