Category Archives: Leo Odera Omolo

Kenya: The Inter-clan clashes in Kuria is all about politics and not because of cattle rustling as claimed in certain quarters

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News Analysis By Leo Odera Omolo In Migori Town.

He latest flare up between the two rival sub-clans in Kuria district within Migori County in which thee people have lost their precious lives and close to 70 houses torched leaving more than 570 people displaced did not come about as the result of the traditional cattle rustling, but has some political connotation which need to be investigated thoroughly by the government.

There is something in the skirmishes more than meet the eye. The Kurias are protesting against a political party which is trying to impose an unpopular candidate, who has also long been suspected to be foreign, to represent them in the Senate.

The former Kuria |MP Dr Wilfred Machage is the official ODM candidate for Migori County Senate seat. The latte,r who is also an Assistant Minister for Public Works, has represented the community ever since 2002. He has served as an MP leaning on the PNU side of the ruling grand coalition and was also the deputy PNU party leader.

However, early this year Dr. Machage successfully persuaded the ODM leader Raila Amolo Odinga to accept him with a promise that this new arrangement would give “Agwambo” political mileage over his rivals by harvesting 100 per cent of all the votes within the two Kuria districts of Kuria East and Kuria West.

The Kuria constituency which was created in 1962 has since been splinted into Kuria East and Kuria West. Dr Machage had demanded that he be given a direct nomination as his prerequisite and conditions of rejoining the ODM.

Raila Odinga following intensive persuasion by his front man in Migori County, who is Dalmas Otieno, the Minister for Public Service hastily and readily accepted Dr. Machage’s plan as viable.

Dalmas Oteno while working in cohorts with some Luo MPs from the Migori County who included Edick Omondi Anyanga {Nyatike}, Cyprian Ojwang’ Omolo {Uriri]. John Pesa {Migori} followed the arrangement with a series of night meetings held behind the closed door of the various posh Nairobi hotels.The group later tried in vain to sell the idea to the electorate, but they prove to be so adamant, forcing Raila Odinga himself to make a series of unscheduled visits to Migori in order to bulldoze and coerce the voters to accept that the Kuria community is one of the marginalized minority communities in Kenya and as such need pr0tection by way of reserving certain elective seats with the Migori County governance exclusively for the Kurias.

At the same time, Raila had assured the voters that nobody would be given direct nomination by the ODM and that all the interested aspirants would have to compete in the open for votes.

However, what might have been known to Raila is that Dr.Machage is not a popular leader of all the Kuria people. The former Kuria MP is not a member of any of the four major Kuria sub-clans livng in Kenya. He is a member of Abakenye, a small Kuria sub-clan living in the North Mara in Tanzania and neighboring Jo-Sakwa Kowak and Rieny Kowuoyo.

The major Kuria sub-clans living in Kenya comprises of Abanyabansi, Abairege, Bugumbe and Abakiria. Dr Machage is not a member of any of the four sub-clans and as such he is being treated by the Kuria people as a immigrant and a foreigner and specifically a Tanzanian.living among them.

Another Tanzanian Kuria who in the past has succeeded in sitting inside Kenyan parliament for two parliamentary terms of five years is Eng Shadrack Mangawho was elected an MP between 1992 and 1997 and has served in the defunct MOi KANU government as an Assistant Minister.

Manga is a member of another smaller Kuria sub-clan living across the common Kenya-Tanzania borders which is known as Ntimbaru. After his election, some Kuria intellectuals and politicians made a concerted efforts and even moved to court to have him {Manga} out of Kenyan parliament on claims that he was a Tanzanian and therefore a foreign an ineligible to sit in Kenya in vain. The case was thrown out by the court.

Kuria parliament seat was created in 1962 by the British appointed Boundaries omission, which was led by Prof. Mackenzie in 1962.Its first MP was Benjamin Maisori -Itumbo who was appointed to the post-independence cabinet as an Assistant Minister for Social Services. He had also served as a member of the defunct colonial Legislative Coucil in which he was nominated by the governor Sir.Patrick Renson in 1961.

Maisori-tumbo hails from Bugumbe sub-clan and had dominated Kuria politics for close to three decades. He was later replaced by Samson Marwa Mwita, and later by Walter Mwita.Al the three past MPs were the indignant Kenyan Kuria people.

By the time the ODM made the disastrous decision to have the the Migori County Senate seat reserved for the Kuria, several political – personalities had already hit the peak with their campaign for the same seat. Tey included John Magaiywa , the ODM MIGORI County branch chairman,

The result of the ODM nomination was most disappointing. Raila’s preferred candidate Dr Machage garnered paltry 51,000 votes against Magaiywa’s 72,000 votes. Strangely enough the ODM headquarters issued Dr.Machage with nomination certificate and denied Magaiywa his hard won election victory.

Those privy to information about Kuria politics have confided to us that the latest inter-clans clashes had just come about as the protest by the voters against the ODM decision of supporting the nomination loser while leaving out the winner. He skirmishes cannot be dismissed as caused by cattle rustling, but as the result of bad politics.

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Kenya: Raila’s convoy almost ran into tear gas as the police battle with rowdy youths in Ahero Town

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By Leo Odera Omolo in Kisumu City

POLICE in Ahero town, Nyando district within the Kisumu County were at the weekend forced to lob tear gas canister against a section of unruly crowd that turned up to welcome the Prime Minister Raila Odinga and his entourage.

Two former MPs for Nyando and Muhoroni constituencies were the new targets for booing and heckling. These were the Muhoroni MP Prof.Patrick Ayiecho Olueny, who is also an assistant Minister for education and Fred Outa the former Nyando MP.

Raila travelling with a team of cabinet Ministers and MPs were on their way to Kisumu after addressing a series of campaign rallies in Kipkellion and Nandi Hills which the incident occurred. During his brief stop at the Chemelil roundabout, the residents booed and heckled Prof.

Accompanying the Prime Minister were the Lands Minister James Orengo, Local Government Minister Fred Gumo, Industrialization Minister Henry Kosgey, Health Services Minister Prof.Anyang’ Nyong’o, Energy Assistat Minister Magarer Lang’at Prof.

The crowd became highly agitated after the Prime Minister tried to introduced the two local MP and told the audience that they should vote on six piece voting pattern, saying that he needed to win the presidency with a strong and experienced team.

The situation remained the same at Awasi, but it developed into very noisy when the group reached Ahero town.The crowd disapproved the candidature of both Ayiecho Oluenya {Muhoroni}, and Fred Outa {Nyando} arguing loudly that the two did not win the elections during the recently concluded, but much flawed ODM primary nomination.

During the violence confrontation between the police and the crowd which fought the running battles into the nearby villages, Ahero-Oyugis-Kisii and Ahero-Kisumu road was blocked from 5.30 P.M. to 8 P.M. Motorists stopped and parked their vehicles by the roadside. They included Matatus,tracks and buses. their vehicles voluntarily while fearing the worse and having them damaged by flying stones.

It became apparently clear that the six piece voting system would not work inside Luo-Nyanza,though the Prime Minister has been crusading for this system aggressively wherever he goes.

The bone of contention everywhere is that the majority of the aspirants for the various elective positions who were sanction by the ODM and cleared by the IEBC to contest the election were not adequately elected by the popular votes, and therefore lacked the blessing of the electorate. The electorate as result are insisting that they should be allowed to cast votes on individual personality cult and not on party line due to the flopped ODM nominations.

Prof Ayiecho Olueny is facing the populist Nairobi businessman James Onyango K’Oyoo who had won the rim\ry in Muhoroni with landslide, but who the ODM party big-wigs had rigged and denied victory, which was corruptively handed over to Prof. Olueny.

In Nyando J.Okello a youthful aspirant had trounced Fred Outa, but the ODM headquarters issued Outa with the nomination certificate to the chagrins of the voters.

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Kenya: Prof Nyong’o is to face the stiffest opposition for his Senatorial bid in Kisumu County

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Writes Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City.

The Minister for Medical Services Prof.Peter Anyang Nyong’o who is the ODM’s Secretary General and who had sailed through the last month’s flawed nomination may not find it that much easier to take his seat in the Senate without a fight.

The man who he defeated in the contest for Kisumu Rural constituency contest two decades ago is upon his feet and ready for another bruising election battle with the Minister.

The aspirant is Winston Ochoro Ayoki who represented Kisumu Rural constituency between 1992 and 2002 has declared that he would challenge Prof.Nyong’o in his bid to become the first Senator for Kisumu County.

An American trained graduate, Ayoki has served the government in the Ministry of Education at first as an Education Officer for the then Migori sub-district before he was promoted and made the Principal the Ramogi Institute of Advanced Science and technology.

Ayoki retired from the civil service and contested the Kisumu Rural parliamentary seat during the first multi-party elections of 1992 and won the election on Ford-Kenya ticket. He was sent packing by Nyong’o in 1997 and there after engage himself in business and farming.

At one time Ochoro-Ayoki was the regional manager for the American-Peace Corps in Kenya. He is also the younger brother of the late Wycliffe Onyango Ayoki who was the Managing Commission of the Kenya Meat Commission in the late 1960s.

Onyango-Ayoki had also served as the KANU MP for Kisumu Rural constituency in the late 1970s.This constituency has since been realigned and separated from the parts of Kisumu with the new constituency which s known as Seme.

Ayoki told this writer that his had an eight point vision for the Kisumu County.If elected he would thrive to promote health care program, promote the delivery of clean water for heath to the rural population, launch very aggressive food production program to make the area self-sufficiency in food and work for food security.

He said he would improve the environment of the area as well of conservations, further improve educational facilities and technology and build good infrastructure such as feeder and access roads to facilitate easy communications between the farming rural folks and market places.

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Kenya & EU: The NCIC is sleeping on the jobs while Minister Ongeribri’s reaction to EU and US statements was a big diplomatic goof.

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News Analysis By Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City

The casual way and manner with which the Kenyan Minister for Foreign Affairs Sam Ongeri had handled the sensitive diplomatic exchanges between Kenyan leaders and the EU countries ambassadors to Kenya on the need to have fair and free elections was a big diplomatic goof.

And the said could be said of the recent brotherly caution and advice by the US President Barrack Obama was a big diplomatic blunder if not an act of miscalculation and underestimation of facts.

Ongeri’s reaction had reduced the sensitive diplomatic issue to be of a simple and petty local political party affair between the competing Jubilee and Cord alliances.

The Minister’s utterances did not measure up to the international diplomatic standards. He down played the important role the EU envoys are playing to Kenya and the important part their countries contributions to or national budgetary system and development activities.

The Minister further displayed his total ignorance about the pivotal role the EU member states are playing as key development and economic partners of Kenya. He ought to have been well briefed and knew that the EU states are state parties to the Rome Statue and are its members bound by its legal obligation as much as is Kenya.

In the same context I am tempted to ask a question about the cardinal role played by the NCIC, which appeared to be ineffective and looked like a simple talking shop. The NCIC is like a toothless bull-dog, therefore its members and the executive director Dr. Mzalendo Kibunja were simply milking the public coffers. The commission should be dissolved with immediate effect, because it has failed to live to the expectation of the peace –loving Kenyans.

Kenyans from all walks of life are increasingly getting worried about the casual manner with which, the politicians, particularly those vying for the presidency have defiantly ignored NCIC repeated warning about the hate speeches.

In this context, I have in mind the speeches made by the Jubilee presidential candidate Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta and his running –mate William Samoei Ruto during the letters recent tour of the Nandi County.

Many people were shocked and taken aback when the two made reckless statements at their campaign rally in Nandi County. Without any provocation fro any quarters the two principals leaders of the Jubilee Alliance, made unfounded allegations attacking the EU countries and the United States of America saying the two institutions were issuing threats and intimidation to scare their Kenyan supporters.

‘These nations must stop playing about issues they should come out openly and tell Kenyans that they are supporting the Prime Minister Raila Odinga.”We will not have a problem with that,” said Ruto.What an unfortunate statement?

Ruto was further quoted by all the dailies as saying that a number of Western nations including the US and Great Britain have already warned Kenyans of the consequences should they the elect the two ICC suspect

Ruto further alleged that what America and the UK had done was tantamount to violence tom intimidate KENYA VOTERS. Perhaps Kenyatta an Ruto were playing local politic s of provoking tribal emotions

Ruto’s frequent mentioning of Raila Odinga’s name in a derogatory manner and negatively whenever he opens up his public addresses, an action that carries risk wiping out the emotions of Raila supporters.

What were the NCIC agents doing. Did such remarks not amounting to hate speeches? Or the NCIC would like to wait until the supporters of the two camps get embroiled into physical confrontation.

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KENYA: KARACHUONYO CONSTITUENCY MIGHT NOT BE THE FERTILE GROUND FOR NON-ODM ASPIRANT TO WIN THE PARLIAMENTARY SEAT DESPITE THE INTRODUCTION OF CLANS POLITICS

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Writes Leo Odera Omolo In Kendu-Bay Town.

REPORTS emerging from Rachuonyo South district within Homa-By County say clans politics is raising its ugly head ahead of the March 4, 2013 general election.

However, sources in this most populous and expansive rural farming constituency have confided to us that it would be an uphill task for an aspirant contesting the election on another party ticket outside the ODM to clinch the east.

The residents have vowed to follow the six piece voting pattern in the area to the latter despite of the concerted effort by one of the parliamentary aspirant to introduce the inter clans rivalry kind of politics which is pitting the east and the west side of the expansive constituency.

According to impeccable sources, the architect of the inter-clans rivalry politic in
Karachuonyo is Adipo Okuome, a perennial parliamentary election loser in the area ever since the late1980s. This time around, he was beaten hands down by the immediate former MP for the area Eng. James K Rege.

Disgruntled after losing in the ODM primary nomination, Adipo Okuome it is being alleged had mobilized drunken and heavily intoxicated youths who staged violence protest by way of blocking he main Kendu-Bay-Homa-Bay with logs and burning tires.

The youths stoned motorists, while singing derogatory songs against the ODM leader Raila Odinga shouting ‘no Adipo Okuome no Raila Odinga. They tore up and burnt Raila Odinga‘s election posters. The gangs of hired political goons had earlier attacked the motorcade of Eng. Rege when he toured Nyakongo area in Central Karchuonyo where the former MPs made a narrow escaped amid hails of stones.

Adipo Okuome had since ditched the ODM and took the ticket of the Wiper party and he is still in the race. Another ODM primary nomination loser David Ngala joined the UDF on whose ticket; he is still in the race for the election proper, which is slated for March 4, 2013.

Following the ODM nomination fiasco, the inter-clans politics has raised its ugly head with unconfirmed allegation claims that the Wiper candidate has been preaching for the partition of Karachuonyo constituency into to the east-West confrontation.

In Karachuonyo, the family tree is evenly distributed into sub-clans based on the clans named after the five wives of the community’s great grand father, Rachuonyo son of Jok. The descendants of the polygamous grand father are named after their grand-mothers, namely, Joka-Achieng’. Jo-Kanyipir, Jo-Kauma, Joka-Nyaluo and Joka-Adwet.

Rachuonyo’s wives were Achieng’, Nyipir, Nyaluo, Auma and Adwet.

The Kadwet group, which is the most populous sub-clan occupied the central and the eastern parts of the constituency including the Kendu-Bay town which is the nerves center of the region .politics.

The intriguing history of Karachuonyo politics rotates around the two major clans which live in the East and West. The east had the advantage accessing modern education owing to the fact that it was the homes of colonial chieftains, who dominated the area administration from 1906 to the time when Kenya attained its political independence in 1963. The old colonial chiefs who were from one sub-clan, joka-Adwet might have committed some act of injustices against members of other sub-clans, which were considered to be inferior due to lack of exposure to modern education and civilization, and from the look of things, it appears as if these sub-clans which were previously marginalized and suppressed by the colonial chiefs have yet to forgiven the Joka-Adwet sub-clan.

Despite of its population numeracy, the Joka-Adwet has yet to produce an MP ever since the inception of Karachuonyo constituency in 1962.

The first MP for Karachuonyo was the lat Elijah Omolo Agar who win the election as an independent KANU candidate the late Joseph Gogo Ochok who was the KANU official candidate during the 1963 independence general elections.

Omolo Agar met the fatal road accident in 1966 and died before completing his five year terms. At the time of his death he was serving in the post independence cabinet as an Assistant Minister for home-Affairs.

The election contest between the late Omolo Agar and the late Gogo Ochok was full of political intrigues and controversies in that Jaramogi Oginga Odinga who was the then KANU Vice President threw his weight behind the late Gogo Ochok the official KANU candidate while the late Tom Mboya who was then the KANU Secretary-General backed the candidacy of Omolo Agar.

Omolo Agar hails fro the Kanyipir sub-clan in the West .After Agar’s death, the former area member of the defunct Nyanza regional Assembly David Okiki Amayo was voted in to become the second Karachuonyo MP, Okiki Amayo, was to dominate the area politics for the next two decades until the until spoken women leader Mrs Phoebe Muga Asiyo dethroned him in another controversial and bruising election battle.

Asiiyo retired from active politic after representing thezrea for three five years term, ad was replaced by his former chief campaigner Dr. Paul Adhu Awiti.

Awiti lost to Rege in 2007 and has since been engaged by the prime minister Raila Odinga as his political adviser on Luo politic.

What is expected to come out of the election in Karachuonyo is the fact that those aspirants contesting the election in the Luo-Nyanza outside the ODM stand no chance of wining the election after the Luo political kingpin Raila Odinga had toured the area and questioned the voters not to elected “Madodoa” candidates. He warned that electing such a candidates would reduced the party majority in the next parliament.

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Raila witnessed the election violence as missiles and shoes flew over the dignitary dais in Homa-Bay CORD accompany rally

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Reports Leo Odera Omolo In Homa-Bay Town.

SECURITY details of the Prime Minister Raila Amolo Odinga ON Wednesday this week.and shielded the CORD presidential candidate from being hit when the mayhem broke loose during the ODM campaign rally at Homa-Bay Town

The Prime Minister was on the last leg of his three days campaign mission in his native home region of Luo-Nyanza.The trouble started when CORD leader made futile attempt to disown the ODM aspirants who have crossed over into other parties and got cleared by the IEBC to contest the March 4, 2013 general elections.

These were the same aspirants who had contested the election on ODM tickets, but felt aggrieved and deliberately rigged out after the much flawed ODM primary nomination.

Most of the rebel aspirants crossed to parties in partnership with the ODM under the enlarged CORD alliance.

The biggest crowd had turned out at the Homa-Bay campaign rally which was attended by the Prime Minister and several cabinet Ministers. The crowd was splinted into smaller groups of supporters carrying the portraits and electi0on posters of their favorite candidates, most of them those who had ditched ODM and crossed over t other parties.

The Gwassi MP John Mbadi, who was the master of ceremony pleaded with the crowd to drop the posters as this was an embarrassment to the Prime Minister, but the crowd defiantly displayed the posters while bursting into songs of praise for their favorite candidates. The MP’s voice was swallowed into shouting match by the huge crowd.

A heated argument ensued between the crowd and the Ministers followed by flying shoes and stones, some which hit the podium but kissed the dignitaries. The protesters appeared to have targeted the Immigration and Registration of Persons Minister Gerald Otieno Kajwang’

At one point a shoe thrown from the crowd hit the Minister and several others, while the Prime Minister was shielded by his security details and the Lands Minister James Orengo. The Minister had earlier tried to calm down the enraged crowd but was heckled and shouted down.

The security personnel moved in and charged on the crowd and even making the matters worse. It was the youthful Sports Minister Ababu Namwamba who successfully pleaded with the crowd to calm down before Raila made his address after the order and calm had been restored.

During the melee that followed the crowd run helter scalter leaving behind hundreds of shoes which were used as missiles.

Insults were hurled at Kajwang’, who prior to the ODM nomination was the chairman of the party in Homa-Bay County and who the crowd blamed for having messed u the nomination. They called the Ministers names such as “Traitor” “Andhoga’.

Other voices coming from the crowd defiantly praised and approved the candidature of Hilary Ochieng; Alila, who is Kajwang’s only rival in the Homa-Bay Senatorial contest in the Homa-Bay Senatorial contest, though Alila was nowhere to be seen.

Alila is still on the race on the ticket of Omingo Magara led Democratic Party of Kenya and the populist aspirant is expected to give Kajwang’ a run for his money come the March 4, 2013,

Raila faced similar problem when he toured Migori County the previous day. All the problems emanating from the flawed ODM nomination

In Migori, the former Nyatike M Edick Omondi Anyanga, whose wife Anne Omondi Anyanga was among those whose election were questionable had been made the deputy governor, whose nomination is also questionable. Insiders say no nomination took place in the took place in the entire Nyatike constitu4ndfy. although the IEBC had cleared the former MP and sever County representatives plus his wife.The same problems occurred in Migiori East constituency where a Somali Juneet Mohamed who is believed to be a believed to aver won the primary nomination. There were unconfirmed allegation of bribery both at the ODM headquarter and also at the IEBC.

In his address Raila Odinga urged the electorate to vote for ODM candidates only in a six pieces pattern to ensure that his party secure majority MPs.. He said this would give the ODM the majority seats in the August House, but if they voted for those aspiring for the election using other parties tickets, the ODM parliamentary strength could be reduced into minority. But a section of the crowd could not hear of this, though ‘Agwambo” spoke in vernacular telling them’yawa kik ukuod wiya [please do not shame me}

Raila, however, made political blunder when he described those seeking elective position in the region using tickets from other parties including those in partnership with the ODM under CORD umbrella as “Madoadoa”This remark provoked further murmuring among the crowd.

When the former Rangwe MP Eng Phillip Okoth Okundi turned out at the venue of the rally then broke loose as if the heaves had come down on the earth. Okundi is believed by many people within the locality to have won the position of the co. Awiti..

The ODM candidate for the Homa-Bay County women rep 5esentatiuve Mrs Gladys Wanga was subjected to a lot of insult and called name with some of the unprintable insults and insinuations. She is believed not to have won the primary fairly, but was rigged in on instruction of the Immigration Minister Otieno Kajwang’.

Wanga is believed to have polled close to 31,00 votes against the winner Mrs Roselyn Onyuka, the former Nyanza PDE who polled 47,000 and above, but her names was cancelled at the ODM headquarters where she was replaced by Mrs Wanga. These were some of the issues which had angered and enraged the Homa-Bay crowd,and provoked them to act violently

From the looking of things,the majority of voters in Luoi-Nyanza appeared ti be hell-bent on voting for non-ODM candidates.

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KENYA & USA: US PRESIDENT OBAMA GOODWILL MESSAGE TO KENYAN VOTERS MOST WELCOME BY ALL PLAYERS WITHIN THE COUNTRY’S POLITICAL DIVIDES

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News Analysis By Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City

The US President Barrack Obama’s goodwill message to Kenyans people urging them to conduct peaceful election and at the same appealing to the electorate to reject intimidation and violence to allow free and fair general election was well received last night.

President Obama ‘s message which was beamed over the country via all the television stations appeared to be neutral and impartial and did not favor any particular party of individual presidential aspirant.

The message conveyed in a video posted on the US Embassy website opened up with the President Obama speaking in Kiswahili “Habari” a local dialect which is the joint official language with the English. In the message President Obama urged the candidates to resolved disputes through the courts, rather that on the streets.

While not speaking directly on how the US government would interpret the choice of Kenyan

Make on March 4, 2013, Obama said if the election were credible” you Kenyans will continue to have a strong partners in the US.”.

“Above all the people of Kenya must come together before and after the election to carry on work of building your country,”he said.

President Obama made explicitly clear that the United States of America had not endorsed any candidate and would instead support free and fair elections work of building your country,’ he said, adding,” you can show the world that you are not just a member of a tribe or ethnic group, but citizens and great and proud people nation.

“I cannot imagine a better way to mark the 50th anniversary of Kenya’s independence.”

President Obama message is viewed by the local political pundits and observers as representing positive neutrality and impartiality on the part of the US administration, and a country which has maintained economic and military ties with Kenya ever since it achieved its political independence in 1963.

Obama cited his personal commitment to Kenya saying, he was grateful; for the welcome Kenyans had given him and his family in their beautiful country.”

President Barrack Obama has a family root in Western Kenya where his late father Barrack Hussein Obama hails from. His elder step brother Malik Abong’o Obana is in the race contesting the elective position of regional governor for Siaya County as an independent candidate.

The US President family and relatives lives in Nyang’oma village, Alego Kogelo in Siaya County, about 80 kilometer northwest of Kisumu City.

Many Kenyan had expected President Obama to throw his weight behind the Prime Minister Raila Amolo Odinga, who is one of the leading contenders for the presidency, and who had a blood relationships with the Obama family family, but the perception did not materialize. The US President steered clear of the local politics, and this is viewed as a diplomatic coup and score.

Perhaps this was in realization that the slightest mentioning of Mr Odinga’s name could have given the Prime Minister undeserved political mileage over his seven other rivals.

Meanwhile both the US and the UK, the two principal economic partners of Kenya have separately assured the Kenyan voters for the impartiality and non commitment..

Kenyans will to the polls to elect the 4th President on March 4, 2013, and eleventh parliament, This time round there will be a tri-cameral legislative bodies which include the Senate and regional assemblies in all 47 counties governance.

The two Western powers have stressed their neutrality ahead of the historic general election and allayed fears of endorsing any of the eight presidential candidates.

They have also assured the Kenyans that the outcome of the presidential votes will not affect trades ties with Kenya and sanction would not be imposed no matter who become the next President.

President Obama’s message come in the background of some European countries hgave recently said it would not be business as usual if Kenyans elected the candidates with criminal, tugs on their heads, particularly the ICC suspects Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta and the former Eldoret North M William Ruto.

Kenyatta is the Deputy Prime Minister and the son of the post-Independence President the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta.Ruto is Kenyatta’s presidential running-mate. Both the two men had criminal cases of committing crimes against humanity. Their cases are pending before the Hague based International Court of Criminal Justices {ICC}.The candidature of the two has elicited a lot of discontents and criticism by many Kenyans who felt there was no need electing the pair while they have serious criminal cases hanging on their heads before an international court.

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KENYA: THE ZONING OF EXCLUSIVE KALENJIN DISTRICT BY URP LEADERSHIP MIGHT BOOMERANG AND HAS RESULTED IN NOT EVEN ONE SINGLE PARTY PARLIAMENTARY ASPIRANT GETTING ELECTED UNOPPOSED.

From: Arrum Tidi
Date: Mon, Feb 4, 2013 at 8:10 AM
Subject: Ruto URP could come out of the South Rift empty handed without a parliamentary seat after March 4, 2013.
To: “jaluo@jaluo.com” , “Sally H. Jacobs” , “citnewspaper@yahoo.com” , “editor@truthnewspaper.com” , “news@bbc.co.uk” , “oped@nytimes.com” , “opinion@nairobistar.com” , “InsideAfrica@CNN.com” , “news@ugandacorrespondnet.com”

THE ZONING OF EXCLUSIVE KALENJIN DISTRICT BY URP LEADERSHIP MIGHT BOOMERANG AND HAS RESULTED IN NOT EVEN ONE SINGLE PARTY PARLIAMENTARY ASPIRANT GETTING ELECTED UNOPPOSED.

News Analysis By Leo Odera Omolo

IF the former Eldoret North MP William Ruto had a dream that by partitioning several Kalenjin districts in the South and North Rift to be his party’s exclusive votes zone would result in several of URP party candidates getting elected to parliament and senate seat unopposed, the exercise has since turned out to be a pipe dream, because not one aspirant had sailed through to parliament and other legislative bodies without strong opposition.

The strategy had even sealed off aspirants who wanted to contest the election in various constituencies on the TNA ticket, though this particular party is a senior partner within the Jubilee Alliance.. Balkanized together were districts like Nandi North, Nandi South in Nandi County, Uasin Gishu County, Elkeyo County, Baringo County,Kericho and Bomet Counties.

It is even worse in the South Rift region covering Kericho and Bomet Counties. Ruto’s original plan was to shelve his party’s loyalists so that some of them could sail through to the official nomination exercise without much opposition from candidates armed with tickets of other parties. It didn’t work that way.

In Kericho County alone, most of its seven parliamentary constituencies are so crowded by aspirants from other political parties. In the newly created Sigowet constituency, which is located in the lower part of the old Belgut, the URP candidate Justice Kemei, a former director with the Chemelil Sugar Company is facing five other aspirants. In the neighboring Ainamoi, the URP candidate Benjamin Lang’at the former area MP is facing six other candidates, all sponsored by other parties.

Justice Kemei is facing his fellow former Chemelil Sugar Company manager Eng. Richard Koech. All the other parties like KANU, UDF, ODM,, KNC,SAFINA, Kenya Labour Party and others have produced candidates who are giving William Ruto’s men sleepless nights.

The South Rift region who’s inhabitants are member of the industrious Kipsigis sub-tribe of the larger Kalenjin ethnic groups is a votes-rich region.

William Ruto, the self-styled king-ping of the Kalenjin community, according to the locals had made a technical errors by accepting to play the second fiddle to the Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta as his presidential running-mate within the Jubillee Alliance, something which the members of the populous Kipsigis community seemed not to have approved.

Had Ruto contested the presidency on his own, he would have galvanized the majority of votes in this region very comfortably. But for close to three years, Ruto had traversed the region telling the voters that his name will definitely be on the presidential ballot papers before making an abrupt about turn. Ruto’s waves in these two region was so strong, and when he succumbed to a lesser position than the presidency, the voters have since viewed him as someone who is pursuing selfish interests and politics of deceits.

A section of the Kalenjin now blames Ruto for having mortgaged the community for personal aggrandizement, and this will definitely have an adverse repercussion and even affect the whole of the jubilee Alliance.

Waiting in the wings to benefit and harvest more parliamentary seats in the two regions is the 60 year old party of independence, KANU, which is campaigning under the umbrella, of the Amani Alliance led by the Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi.

Parliamentary constituencies at stake in the South Rift regions included Chepalungu, Bomet West, Bomet Eastm Konoin, Soitiki, Buret, Belgut, Sigowet, Ainamoi, Kipkellion West and Kipkellion East.

Two of William Ruto’s most loyal supporters in the two regions, namely Charles Keter {Belgut} and Isaac Ruto {Chepalungu} are not defending their parliamentary seats. The two have switched to Senate contest. Ruto is contesting the Bomet County Senate seat, while Keter is in the race for the Kericho County Senate seat.

The other party which stand to gain by way of harvesting several parliamentary seat at the expense of Ruto’s URP and its Jubillee alliance is the Orange Democratic Movement {ODM}, which is led by the Prime Minister Raila Odinga. The party has planted its candidates in early every constituency, and the local believes and maintains that Raila Odinga is a true reformist despite of concerted effort by the William Ruto and his cronies campaign to discredit him as someone who hates the Kipsigis people due to his role in the controversial mass eviction n of members of the community from the Mau Forest water catchment area.

Some of Raila’s supporters in the 10th parliament from the two regions had deserted him and run into the URP, hoping they would find an easy nomination to parliament and other legislative bodies with little opposition. But things have since turned in the opposite direction.

ODM has only one of its former MPs in the region who is defending his seat. He is Magerer Lang’at the former Mp for Kipkellion. The other former Mp Franklin Bett has since declined to defend his seat and is now playing a different role as the ODM election board chairman.

The last of the former ODM MPs in the region to ditch the party was Mrs Beatrice Kones, who is an Assistant Minister for |Home-Affairs. He has since lost her bid to be nominated the URP candidate for the Bomet seat, which she had inherited from her late husband the late Kipkalia Kones.

Urp’s other headache is the emergence MOI’S new waves of support among the Kipsigis people which appeared to be heading to cutting William Ruto’s influence and political clout in the region into size.

The retired President Daniel Moi is a man who no sane person can underrate his influence among the Kalenjin people; The community believes and maintains that Moi is the true professor of Kenya’s politics. He has since thrown his weight behind Musalia Mudavadi‘s Amani alliance which is using his old political slogan during the Nyayo era of of Peace Love and Unity.

The contest of political supremacy in the South Rift cannot be accurately be predicted at the moment, but from the looks of things, William Ruto will be the loser, due to the fact that the majority of the Kipsigis voters will not vote for Uhuru Kenyatta under all the circumstances.

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Kenya: What has happened to the Kenya National Language Board? Has it been abolished ?

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SINCE WHEN DID THE ICEBC ABOLISH THE ENGLISH / KISWAHILI LANGUAGE TEST FOR PARLIAMENTARY AND SENATORIAL ASPIRANTS IN KENYA?

Commentary by Leo Odera Omolo

The concerted effort recently made by the Independent Electoral and boundary Commission{IEBC} to ensure that the candidates aspiring for the elective positions of County governorship have obtained university degrees from the recognized institutions of higher leaning and universities is commendable.

However, we have so far not been told of what happened to the National Language Board, that has always been tasked with the responsibility of conducting tests and interview for the purposes of assessing the communication skills of all those aspiring to be elected into our legislators system.

Have only heard and witnesses candidates aspiring for the parliamentary and senatorial seat being cleared by the IEBC officials to contest the election minus the compulsory certificates of proficiency in both English and Kiswahili languages.

What has happened to the National Language Board. It been abolished? Long before independence in 1963 these language boards were always constituted at the Provincial {PEOs} levels under the supervision of the Provincial Education Officers, whose duties were recently changed and transformed to be the Provincial Directors of Education {PDE}

The Provincial language boards were later replaced by the National Language Board. There were categories of candidates who were automatically exempted from sitting before the board, particularly those armed and equipped diplomas from learning institutions and colleges.

The idea behind these tests were mainly to ensure that those who seek for elections into our legislative bodies were people capable of fo0llowing the proceedings and debates in those bodies.

I have gone through the new constitution, but failed to locate any clause within the sacred document that speaks about the abolition of the National Language Board. And now that under the new constitutional dispensation, Kenya has returned to the tri-cameral parliamentary system, it would be prudent for the IEBC to ensure that those elected to the next parliament and the Senate, should be men and women of high integrity and communication skills.

There are special cases when our legislators are sent to represent Kenyan in the regional and international forums at which communication skills are most essential and compulsorily required to enable our delegates to actively participate in the deliberations of such forums.

In this context, am aware of the |Nyayo eras, during which politically correct individuals were exempted and nominated to serve in parliament and in other bodies irrespective when they were able to follow the proceeding or not. This were the period when the likes of Mulu Mutisya, Ezekiel Bargetuny, Joseph Leitich and other were made MPs by KANU big-wigs.

I happen to be privy and regular attendance at the various regional and international forums including ministerial councils of the African Union or other regional bodies. Kenya had became the laughing stocks attracting derogatory comments by delegates from our neighboring countries, who were wondering why a country like Kenya which is reputed for having excelled in producing more intellectuals and technocrats could send team of mediocre to represent her I n such important forums.

The way I see things happen and in the absence of a competent National Language Board I can accurately predict that the next [parliament could be filled by MPs with half-baked education, academically dwarfs and semi-illiterate legislators. The same could be said of the Senate.

It is only the IEBC which can rescue our country from the impending bug shame. I have heard some of the parliamentary and Senatorial aspirants speaking while arguing their individual cases in connection with the recently flawed political parties preliminary nominations exercises, and I have come into conclusions if these are the same people expected to be voted into our legislators system on March 4, 2013

I am sure for certain that the likes of Mike Mbuvi {Sonko] of Makadara, Mary Wambui of Othaya constituencies just top mention a few example are not sufficiently qualified to sit in the August House.

The 10th parliament had its share of semi-illiterate MPs who sat there fir five years and left without even framing one single question or the supplementary question, leave alone making their maiden speeches in the House owing to language handicaps.

In this age of the dot-com generation we need to move a high notch and deviate from the couture of electing to our supreme legislative bodies people with questionable academic background.

In the 10th parliament we Kenyan should be grateful and thankful to the Speaker of the National Assembly Kenneth Otiato Marende whose skills got us where we are today, because the last parliament faced myriad of constitutional problems during the constitutional dispensations and debates of hundreds of most complicated and important bills related to constitutional advancement.

The former Emuhaya had succeeded in guiding the House to the higher scale of debates despite of the intrigues of the coalition government. I wish the next MPs would be compelled to re-consider Mr.Marende to be given a second chance to serve Kenyans in the same capacity

There only a few regular contributors to these constitutional debates, with good numbers of MPs who sat there and earned millions of shillings from the public coffers without making any meaningful contributions to the debates and deliberations in the House. We should therefore not allow similar situation to arise again. Kenya is not short of the technocrats therefore the voters should be sensitize to cast their votes for only the mature and

The time is also ripe for Kenyans to desist from the political culture voting for heavily moneyed aspirants. It has became evidence that in this country anybody who come u with ill-gotten drugs money makes it easy to Parliament even if such a person have no leadership quality. This makes it clear that Kenyans have become money worshippers.

Let us go for men and women whose integrity and performance would portray our country as the land of dissent men and women. We should know that communication skills is power Anyone who cannot communicate well in any of the two official languages, namely English and Kiswahili has no business seeking to be elected an Mp or a Senator.

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THE PLANNED MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR SODA ASH PLANT INVESTMENT IN LAKE NATRON HAS SPARKED OFF VEHEMENT OPPOSITION FROM LOCALS, ENVIRONMENTALISTS AND CONSERVATIONISTS IN TANZANIA.

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Reports Leo Odera Omolo

INFORMATION emerging out of the Northern Tanzanian city of Arusha says the battle line is drawn between the environmentalists and conservationists vehemently opposed to the establishment of a multi-million dollar soda ash plant inside Lake Natron.

It says the move is against the background of the report that six foreign firms, which have placed bids to set up a controversial soda ash plant on the shores of Lake Natron.

According to the same source, the National Development Corporation (NDC}, a quasi-government organization, these firms are seeking to set up the USD 500 million factory to exploit a million metric tones of soda ash annually.

Lake Natron a volcanic lake near Engaruka area nearly 220 kilometers from Arusha town have reserves of at least 4.7 billion cubic liters of soda ash.

However, the plan to mine the deposits has been strongly opposed by residents and conservationist who have expressed fears that such a project would adversely affect the lesser flamingos’ population in the area.

The mine is to be set up in the middle of a nesting ground for the one third of the world’s population of lesser flamingos.

A 2010 report compiled by the Wild birds International and Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania had revealed widespread opposition among residents to the planned soda ash mine.

But another report seen in Arusha last week by a team of journalists shows the government of Tanzania is determined to kick-start the project on Lake Natron. The Wetland Management plan and environmental assessment study for the proposed project are set to be completed in June this year.

An August 2012 costs benefit analysis report showed that 75 per cent of local residents were vehemently opposed to the construction of the plant.

The report projected a loss on investment of between USD 44 million and USD 492 million over the next 50 years should the plan proceed. It predicted earnings of between USD 1.28 billion and USD 1.57 billion n over the same period if the government were to instead invest in local tourism and environmental protection in the area.

It is anticipated that the environmental assessment studies will also propose that environmental friendly technology be used to extract and process the soda ash for export, as the government f Tanzania seeks to sidestep the growing environmental concerns.

“This time, the director General of the NDC Gideon Nassari was quoted last week as having said this./me, the government will do all it can to ensure the project is realized as planned,”.

He, however,. Decided to divulge the names of the six foreign multinational companies interested in the project. But said the NDC was still scrutinizing them for the purpose of identifying the most suitable one for a joint venture with the government.

Earlier plan for mining Lake Natron involved Indian firm Tata Chemical and the NDC, but the deal flopped and collapsed.

Soda ash, known chemically as sodium carbonate, is key raw materials for glasses, chemicals, soaps and detergents.

The NDCX says the proposed plant could earn the country up to USD 300 million a year and create more than 500 jobs.

The government will hold a 46 per cent take in the project through the NDC, once it reaches a consensus with any of the investors in on-going negotiations.

For the past six years, the project has been facing vehement opposition from environmentalists and conservationists who argued that setting up the factory near Lake Natron would wipe out the breeding grounds of the lesser flamingo, thus putting at risk 75 per cent of the global population of this near threatened birds species.

“Experience elsewhere shows that the excavation can be done without any harm to the ecosystem,’ said President Jakaya Kikwete while dismissing the fears that the plant will wipe out the flamingos population.

“What matters is the application of environmentally friendly technology to avoid disrupting the flamingos breeding sites. Sometime those who are oppose to the project did not know what it entails. Those opposed to the plant are really patriotic because it seems as if they are agents of some people we do not know. He added,

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Kenya: A Big Showdown between Otienmo Kajwang and Hilary Alila in Homa-Bay town

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Reports Leo Odera Omolo.

The presentation by the two aspirants contesting the Homa-Bay County Senate seat was so dramatic in that the Immigration and Registration of Persons Minister Otieno Kajwang’presented his nomination certificate to the IEBC officials in Homa-Bay in the company of a small crowd of followers.Kajwang’ is the ODM official candidate.

The Minister rival the 38 year old Nairobi-based businessman Hilary Ochieng” Alila who is contesting the seat on the People Democratic Party which is led by the former South Mugirango MP Omingo Magara pulled the largest crowd of supporters who escorted him to Homa-Bay town in Matatus. Boda Boda motorbikes and traditional dancers.

Immediately his papers were accepted by the IEBC officials, Kajwang’ quietly slipped off the town and drove away accompany by members of the GSU and the security personnel and drove to unknown destination, while Alila supporters continued singing and dancing around the town.

Kajwang was handed the ODM nomination certificate in a discredited and much flawed nomination exercise, which many people in the region believes had been won by Alila with a big margin of votes.

Kajwang’ previously represented Mbita constituency in Suba region ever since 1997, but recently shifted his political camp from Mbita to Homa-Bay and switched to the contest of Senate seat instead of defending his Mbita, the move which political pundits and observers saw as a” a blunder and political suicide.”

Fears persists that the Minister would not be able to garnered enough support from the residents of Mbita in his previous parliamentary constituency because he had burned the bridge between him and the Suba people and would be in the race for the Homa-Bay County Senate seat without their blessing and goodwill.

The flamboyant Nairobi businessman Alila appeared to have attracted more support in all the seven parliamentary constituencies including Ndhiwa, Gwasi, Mbita, Homa-Bay Town, Rangwe, Karachuonyo, Kasipul and Kabondo Kasipul, mainly youths and woen.

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Kenya: Trouble is brewing inside President Barrack Obama’s Kenyan family over the recent trip to Washington D.C by a self-styled spokesman

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Reports Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City.

Trouble is brewing within the Kenyan based family of the US President Barrack Obama following claims that the person who had traveled to Washington D.C early this month to witness the second inauguration and swearing o President Barrack Obama had no mandate of doing so, but was an impostor.

It has emerged that a former Siaya County civic leader Nicholas Rajula had travelled to Washington D.C to attend President Obama second swearing in on behalf of the family while masquerading as the family spokesman.

Rajula’s trip to the US has since elicited a harsh reaction from Malik Abong’o Obama, the elder step-brother of President Obama who disowned Rajula as an impostor and impersonator with no blood relations with the Obama family in Kenya.

Addressing newsmen in Siaya town during the launching of his campaign for the lucrative and powerful elective position of Siaya County governor, Malik distanced the family from the so-called spokesman, adding that he is a self-styled person who had no blood relation with the Obamas, though he hails from the Alego Kogelo sub-clan. He added that he {Malik} was the defacto spokesman of the Obama family in Alego Kogelo .Siaya.

Malik is contesting the position of the Siaya County governor as an independent candidate. Observers and local political pundits, however, were quick in pointing out that he stands very little chance of winning the seat a region where the Orange Democratic Movement {ODM} is the party of choice.

Ex-Councilor Rajula, who is a businessman running chains of hotels included Kogelo Luxury Resort, which is allocated only a few meters from the Obama rural home in Nang’oma Kogelo in Siaya County could not be reached immediately for his comment.

This writer made a frantic effort to reach President Obama’s 90 year-old step grand-mother Mama Sarah Obama for her comment over the ex=Councilor alleged trip to the US on behalf of the family in vain. However, none of the Obama relatives in Kenya had travelled to the US to witness his second swearing in his second term of five years.

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KENYA: THREE CHINESE FOREIGN WORKERS WHO WERE CAUGHT RED-HANDED WHILE COOKING STEW OF PYTHON SNAKE HAVE BEEN ARRESTED AND TAKEN INTO POLICE CUSTODY

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Writes Leo Odera Omolo

Three Chinese foreign construction workers were last night arrested and placed in police custody pending their appearance in court.

The three Chinese and their Kenyan aide were arrested by scouts and rangers of the Kenya Wildlife Services {KWS}.The incident took place at the Olkaria Geothermal power station project, which is currently under construction about 90 kilometer south west of the capital, Nairobi.

The four were arrested only a few hours after they killing the python. According to the police sources in Naivasha town , the four skinned the snake before cutting it into small pieces to make a stew meat.

The Chinese foreign workers are engaged on the construction site. They are said to have been making big influx into the nearby Hell-Gate National Game Park an area which is poplar with foreign tourists.

The local Maasai pastoralist’s herdsmen had tipped the KWS rangers deployed by the KWS to guard the game park and protect tourist sceneries within the area.

Naivasha Police Chief Paul Korir confirmed the arrest of the three foreign workers and their Kenyan accomplices, adding that they have been released on police bail and would be taken to court within two or three days to answer the charges of being in illegal possession of game trophy, namely python skin and meat.

The Kenya Wildlife Services officers acting on a tip-off visited the camp site where they Chinese were being housed and found them cooking a snake meat. A large number of Chinese foreign workers later flocked the local police station to inquire about the fate of the colleagues.

Koriri said it was against Kenyan laws for any unauthorized person to kill mammals and wildlife that is “why we have arrested them”

There has been hue and cry ever since the great influx of Chinese foreign workers and businessmen into Kenya. Moist of these Chinese are engaged in construction of roads and other projects previous undertaken by international construction firms from the European Union and other Western countries.

The arrival of thousands of Chinese in Kenya is also said to be related to the increases and alarming cases of poachers who have been killing elephants at large to the near extinction of the Jumbos.

A lot of consignments of illegal export of elephant tusks have been discovered while on transit in far places like Hong Kong, Bankok in Thailand, and other foreign capitals. The tusks are believed to have been originating in Kenya, though the country has placed a total ban on elephant tusks trade.

Elephant and both white and black rhinos are classified in Kenya as endangered animals species and are under twenty four hour protection by the government through the KWS. But the poachers armed with deadly and sophisticated weapons are said to be coming from the ungovernable Somalia neighbor, and the Chinese merchants are believed to be working in cohort with the poachers from Somalia.

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Kenya: The aspirant who incited his supporters to burn Raila Odinga posters and block the roads with logs and burning tires is rejected by Karachuonyo residents

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Reports Leo Odera Omolo In Kendu-Bay Town

A parliamentary aspirant in Karachuonyo constituency had lost the race during the recently concluded ODM nominations. He then ditched the party for the Wiper Orange Movement after mobilizing his supporters to stage the violent street demonstration during which Raila Odinga election posters were burnt down and the Prime Minister effigy also set alight. He now faces a total rejection by the voters.

The demonstrators, comprised mainly of drunken youth, had blocked the main Kendu-Bay – Homa-Bay road at Kanyadhiang’ bridge near the home of the aspirant Adipo Okoume. They used heavy logs, burned tires and, torched Raila Odinga’s campaign posters. The demonstrators menacingly threatened motorists while singing derogatory songs against the Prime Minister,saying “no Adipo Okuome no Raila Odinga”

The close to violent demonstration began in earnest after the word went round that the former Karachuonyo MP Eng had clinched the nomination with landslide voters.

Other aspirants included Dr Ofafa Adede, Anderson Ojwang’, Donny Opar, David Ngala. The other aspirants did not take part in the demonstrations and kept away, while the supporters of Adipo Okuome also hurled stones at the former MP’s convoy of vehicles near Nyakongo causing mechanical damage to some of the vehicles.

The former MP Eng James K.Rege returned home at the weekend to a rousing welcome by a huge enthusiastic crowd. The former MP arrived at Kendu – Bay in the convoy of vehicles numbering about 60 and openly displayed to the crowd his ODM nomination certificate. He later took to road show going around the entire Karachuonyo constituency before winding u at his Kanjira village home in West Karachuonyo.

During the rally at Kendu Bay it was disclosed that three of the ODM nomination losers have moved and secured nomination of other parties outside ODM. Adipo was reported to have moved to the Wiper Party, while David Ngala will be vying for the election in the UDF part and Donny Opar to contest on the Wiper Party tickets.

It was after this revelation that a group of elders in Karachuonyo made an impromptu announcement saying that the constituency will not be the fertile ground for votes hunting by those who have lost in the ODM nomination.

The elders’ spokesman who requested for his anonymity singled out the name of Adipo Okuome saying that although the Wiper party is in partnership with the ODM under the main umbrella of CORD alliance this particular candidate owed the Karachuonyo people an apology for having allowed his supporter to engage themselves in acts of violence, thuggery and lawlessness and for having publicly insulted the Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

The elders called for peaceful election campaign and asked the aspirants to respect the right of each other and at the same time not to incite their supporters to violence.

One of the elders Ex-Assistant Chief Nyandiko heaped a lot of praise on the former MP saying he had changed the face of Karachuonyo politics from the violence prone constituency to an area of peaceful co-existence and massive development. He appealed to the voters to cats their votes to Eng Rege in their thousands so that he could continue implementing his impressive development agenda.

The elders made it clear that they would not entertain any “Madoadoa” politics or let the people vote for an aspirant whose loyalty to the Prime Minister Raila Odinga is questionable. Karachuonyo is an ODM stronghold and we should like to see all the votes goes to “Agwambo”.

THE Karachuony0 elders advised the former MP Eng.Rege not to relax because the real election battle is still ahead until after March 4, 2013. They urged those who have won the elections as County Representatives in both Karachuonyo South and Karachuonyo North districts to join hands with the rest of the population to ensure massive votes for Raila Odinga’s presidential victory.

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Kenya: Tension has gripped the South Rift regions following the zoning of the area as the exclusive URP electoral zone

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Writes Leo Odera Omolo.In Kericho Town

Political temperatures has arisen up followed by tension in the South Rift region of the expansive Rift Valley Province after several districts were Cannibalized together and declared the exclusive voting zone outside the jubilee Alliance.

The issue came to the surface immediately soon after the recently concluded Jubilee Alliance primary nominations. In the nomination exercise, TNA, which is the principal alliance and partner of the URP had its members barred from contesting the elective positions in areas which were classified as the URP electoral zones.

The districts which were grouped together and declared as the exclusive electoral zone of the URP included several Counties of Kericho, Bomet, Nandi, Baringo, Keiyo, Baringo, Trans-Mara, Molo, Nakuru Kuresoi and other places.

An aspirant who was vying the election in the newly created Sigowet constituency in the lower Belgut region of Kericho County said that those who turned up ready to contest the elections on TNA were turned away and told that they cannot contest any seat in those areas which had already been classified as the URP electoral zone.

A good number of aspirants have since sought for accommodation in other parties, and the fear persist that those who won in the URP primaries in the region might not make it to the next parliament after March 4, 2013.

In the same context, the jubilee Alliance is also risking being rejected by the electorate in the region due to its discriminative policy, which has Balkanized the communities on tribal line.

TNA members were denied the right of contesting the election on Jubilee ticket and told they can only do so on URP ticket. But not on TNA which is the umbrella of the Jubilee Aliance

Members of the Kipsigis sub-tribe of the larger Kalenjin ethnic group who form the bulk of the majority of the resident of the South Rift region are known not to be comfortable with the jubilee Alliance that has in the face of it brought together the Kipisigis and the kikuyu community.

This particular community has yet to e wholeheartedly in the Jubilee Alliance, and view the URPO leader William Ruto who has secured the powerful position in the alliance of being the running – mate for the Jubilee Alliance Presidential candidate as someone who has mortgaged the community for his selfish interests.

The Sigowet aspirant who requested for his anonymity has since moved to another political party outside the Jubilee Alliance and has appealed to other who felt grieved to do likewise.

The zoning of these electoral areas is illegal and was made deliberately to have William Ruto’s political surrogates and sycophants get political mileage over their opponents during the much flawed primary nominations. He also blamed the former Belgut MP Charls Keter for being the architect of the political zonng of the South Rift region, and warned that the former legislator who is now vying for Kericho County senate seat will pay dearly for his part in ill-advising the URP to create the tribal zoning.

The zoning of several districts had disarmed many would be aspirant for the various elective positions in these area. It has also raised political temperature in the region which could see the majority of the voters drifting back to ODM and CORD.

The common talks making the round in Kericho and its environs is that William Ruto the URP leader had miscalculated and underestimated the intelligence of the voters in the region in is plan to convince his Jubilee partners that he had the political clout over the voters in the zoned districts, something which he will pay dearly for his mistakes.

The zoning of the vote’s rich districts into URP exclusive electoral zones, might also have a serious repercussion on Uhuru Kenyatta presidential voting system.

“Our people are not for sale, and Ruto seemed to be hell-bent in auctioning the Kalenjin voters for his selfish interest, but we shall teach him a lesson that he will live to regret for years to come, let him just wait for the March 4, 2013,” retored Mr Josephat Lang’at a Litein politican.

The Kipsigis sub-tribe, the most populous among th Kalenjin ethnic group has about 12 parliamentary constituencies in Kericho, Bomet, Molo and Rongai. Some of its members live in Nandi, Cheranganyi, Nakuru, Narok South, Kilgoris,Trans-Nzoia and Subukio.

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Canadian gold mining firm is closing its operations in Mozambique to concentrate its activities of gold prospecting in Western Kenya

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Reports Leo Odera Omolo

A Canadian owned gold prospecting firm, African Queen Mines Ltd is reported to be in the process of quitting Mozambique to focus on its gold exploration activities in Western Kenya after reviewing its portfolio of exploration properties in South West and East Africa.

The move is expected to reduce the company’s operational costs and prioritize projects for development in 2013.

The firm’s Chief Executive Irwin Olian was recently quoted as saying that African Queen Mines Limited will halt development of King Solomon project in Mozambique to concentrate its activities in Western Kenya regions of Rongo and Ugunja gold fields in Kenya and Noyem and Nyadonam in Ghana.

The discovery of large deposits of gold reserves in Western Kenya in the past five years continues to attract foreign interests with several international mining firms taking acreage.

Statistic show that in 2010, Kenya earned Kshs 6’3 billion {USD 72.9 million) from the sale of five tones of gold – three times mote than the year before, indicating how rapidly the commodity is growing down as the most important export product in the country. and especially focusing on the Western Kenyan regions.

More gold exploration companies such as Africa Barrixck,Linear Metals, Red Rocks Resopurves and Gold Plat are narrowing down on Kenya and especially focusing on the country’s Western regions.

Last November, London based African Barrick Gold plc acquired mineral prospecting area in Western Kenya from Aviva mining Limited,a firm which is wholly owned Cubstation of the Monorovia Stock Exchange quotes Aviva.

Recent survey by the government and private companies have revealed gold deposits around Migori and \Kakamega Counties in Western Kenya.

However, the gold prospecting ground in many parts of Western Kenya might not be the fertile ground for business following the recent rising in concerted agitation by the local miners, particularly the indignant Kenya, who felt that foreign companies were out to exploit the country’s minerals while not making any meaningful return to the |Kenya | Treasury.

There is discontent by local small scale miners in Migori area, which has recently led to the revocation of one company’s prospecting license. the firm, Mid Migori gold mines Limited, has been in conflict of interests between the local miners and politicians, who have been accusing them of dishonesty.

There were accusation that Mid-Migori, a firm which has been in exploration work in the area for the last ten years, was actually prospecting gold and exporting its product by road via the neighboring Tanzania without having gone through the country taxation system under the Kenya Revenue Authority. The conflict also is with the local Member of parliament Edick Omondi Anyanga, and in September last year a team of Parliamentary Select Committee on minerals and natural resources visited Migori area and held talks with the local and foreign miners. He committee had recommended the revocation of Mid-Migori Gold Mines, though one of its manager later wrote from London suggesting the change of names and accused the former area MP of under mining its activities in the area.

The local miners through the managing director of Migori Mining Company limited, a self-help group comprising local and small scale miners Mr Timon Oliewo Sure, a Kenyan mine engineer with the vast experience in gold mining gained after long service in South African gold mines came out in full support of the local MP insisting that the MP had their mandate to speak on behalf of the much exploited local miners.

Kenya is not benefiting from its abundant minerals because of illicit dealing and rackets of exporting the commodity secretly.

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THE FIASCO OF ODM PRIMARY NOMINATION IN NYANZA HAS EXPOSED THE PARTY LEADERSHIP AS NOT BEING SERIOUS WHILE CRUSADING FOR REFORM AND DEMOCRACY IN KENYA.

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News Analysis By Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City.

.It is like as if the ODM leadership is preaching water while they drink wines. The outcome of the last week’s flawed ODM primary nomination should place the party leadership into a very shameful position which needs a lot of concentrate and more energy in public relations work.

This mismanaged nomination has obviously given and equipped Raila Odinga rivals in the presidential race with ammunition with which they could use to discredit his crusading for reforms and democracy.

Despite of the strong of massive rebellion against the Prime Minister by his Luo supporters in his home backyard in Nyanza, the corruption ridden and much flawed ODM preliminary nomination exercises has left “Agwambo” like a wounded bull of buffalo.

What has since emerged like selection and not election will see Mr Odinga sitting in the eleventh parliament with not very credible MPs who can be said to be enjoying the public confidence, but a bunch of selected group rigged into the August House. And because the Prime Minister is facing an up-hill task of overcoming his opponents in the presidential race, he really needed a solid support and backing from his Luo home backyard in a similar fashion which he enjoyed in the 2007 general election.

This is so important because of Kenya’s politics is based on ethnicity strength and numbers, it appears here as if the Prime Minister had taken his tribesmen for granted and made no effort of sensitizing the on the importance of maintaining high standard of discipline in their undertakings, especially on matters related to the competitive politics.

Here are the list of the number of parliamentary constituencies where no genuine voting took place, and people purported to have won the nomination and those who are purported to have won the primaries in these constituencies were only handed the nomination certificates by the ODM in silver platter.

In Homa-Bay County, there were no elections which took place in Kabondo-Kasipul, Kasipul, Rangwe, Homa-Bay Town, Ndhiwa, Mbita and Gwassi..It was a big miss because the election materials either arrived in those places twenty four later after the expiry of the dateline and deadline set by the ICEBC.

The valid reason for the apathy shown by the voters in those places could as well be attributed to non-arrival or late arrival of election materials from the ODM headquarters in Nairobi, massive corruption practiced openly by those who were appointed and sent into those rural constituencies either as presiding or returning officers as well as polling stations clerks.

These personnel who were supposed to be responsible in supervising the nomination exercises went into bribery spree accepting money from the competing aspirants and then declaring those who had performed dismally at the polls as the winners to the chagrins of the electorate. After accepting bribes the returning officer later faked stories of kidnapping, some said they were intimidated and that their lives were placed in great danger. and yet some of the were known to have laughed all the way to the banks after receiving fat bribe money.

Still in Homa-Bay county, here no voting took place in places like Mbita, Homa-Bay, Town, Rangwe, Kabondo Kasipul, Kasipul Gwassi and Ndhiwa. Thee only place where members of the public had the slightest chances of casting their votes was in Karachuonyo constituency. Bribery is said to have not been confined within the constituencies, but had also started all the way from the party head office where some ballot boxes were poorly packed and sent out in insecure condition which were prone to interferences while the documents were still in transit

Some places receiving ballot boxes and ballot papers without bearing the names of some candidates or some candidates had their names missing from the ballot papers. This was the case of Kabondo-Kasipul. .In Migori County, genuine voting exercises only took places in two constituencies, namely Migori East and Migori West. It was only in Rongo constituency where the actual voting exercise took place, though there were inadequate election materials.

In the newly created Awendo cons politician with contact and influence at the ODM headquarters is believed to have prevailed upon the party’s election board members to have his political surrogate and sycophant declared the winner in a place which had not received even one single ballot box.

Rumors were also rampant that a vehicle loaded with panga Machetes] had ferried the consignment from Kisumu to Awendo. The machetes are said to have been distributed to the youths, for the purpose of committing a felony during the primaries and thereafter during the election proper.

He residents have appealed to the police to launch a thorough investigation with the view to unearth the whereabouts of the huge consignment of machetes. The same could be used on March 4, 2013 for the purpose of causing mayhem.

Hired political goons were deployed everywhere, including inside polling booths. In places where the goons perceived that their master was on the losing end, they moved, invaded the polling stations,seized ballot papers and destroyed election materials including the votes which had already been casted. To-date nobody had appeared before a court of law charged with the offences causing willful damages to property.

It was in Uriri constituency within Migori district where the voters were able to vote, though in a small scale. And they sent the former MP Cyprian Ojwang’ Omolo packing and replace him with the populist Eng Kobado, a former Principal of the Kenya Railways Training School, the only man in greater Southern Nyanza who is believed to have won his primary nomination genuinely.

The former Luo-Nyanza MPs who lost the nomination, though some of them later found their way after their names had been submitted to the ICEBC include Ayiecho Olueny [uhotoni} Otieno Ogindo{Rangwe} Oyugi Magwanga {Kasipul], Edick Omondfi Anyanga [Nyatike}, Fred Outa {Nyando}, Pollyins Ochieng’ Daima, {Nyakach, Jakoyo Midiwo {Gem{, Olago Aluoch {Kisumu Town West[.

Hose who had defended their seats successfully included Eng. Nicholas Gumbo [Rarieda],Shakeel Ahmed |Shabbir {Kisumu Town East, Dalmas Otieno,{Rongo}John Pesa [Migori East}Eng James Rege [Karachuonyo} and John Mbadi {Gwassi}.

EAC community is working on single tourist passport and visa for people visiting the region

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Reports Leo Odera Omolo

The East African Community {EAC} secretariat based in the northern Tanzanian city at Arusha has singled out tourist visa and common passport as its top priority projects to be implemented this year as the bloc battles to reverse credibility crisis over failed projects.

The EAC Secretary General Dr Richard Sozibera was last week quoted as saying that the EAC passport, the single tourist visa and liberalization of the airspace will boost free movement of people across the region, a promise that the bloc has fallen behind in achieving three years after signing the Common Market convention on people movement across the region.

“Frustration is growing among business executives from the member states over delays in pushing through key projects like opening up the region’s airspace, rolling out a single passport and visa and the elimination of the non-tariff tariff barriers {NTBs}, saying this was slowing trade and business envisaged by the protocol.

The implementation of the monetary union is among the 77 articles needed for the creation.

Observers, however, say the EAC technocrats will be judged by how they handle the integration process in 2013 after the delays experienced last year.

“While the five EAC partner states of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi had in principle agreed to remove NtbS BY November 2012 in the absence of a legally binding framework, little action was taken. The latest report from the EAC secretariat shows that while 35 NTBs were reported as unresolved, ten new NTBs emerged in 2012 alone.” said Dr Sozibera.

A source at the Arusha based secretariat of the EAC said the bloc has set a deadline of between March and June 2013 for the commencement of printing the new EAC passport.

On the single tariff visa, the EAC Principal Tourist Officer Shedrqack Mshauri was recently quoted by the local media as saying the delay were being caused by lack of consensus over visa for collection and revenue sharing model among the EAX partner states.

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EAC: Food experts and analysts are meeting in Nairobi to deliberate on food security in East African region

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Writes Leo Odera Omolo

FOOD experts and analysts drawn from Europe, Asia and the entire Eastern African region to deliberate on strategies that can be used to enhance food security in the region.

The Workshop organized and sponsored by the European Union and the East African Community {EAC} under the joint EU-Africa’s Strategies- will seek ways of strengthening the harmonization of the food hygiene management through training.

The four days workshop dubbed Regional workshop on harmonization of food security in Africa will take place between January 22-25.

The Arusha based secretariat of the EAC has stated that food safety can only be achieved through the application of reference framework and introduction of guidelines that will harmonize the management of food hygiene and enhance inter-regional trade and integration in Africa.

The delegates to the four days workshop will also deliberate on how to secure fertilizers with the AU Commission and other regional economic blocs such as the Comesa, Ecowas in order to demonstrate and apply the reference guidelines for harmonization food hygiene in Africa.

The EAC is currently in the process of implementing its food security action plan [2012 – 2015} and preparing to implement the regional SPS Protocols, which was recently approved the Community’s Council of Ministers and the EAC Summit.

The SPS measures will focus on plytosanitary measure and procedures for mammals, birds and bees.

Food security analysts in the region said last week that food security in Eastern Africa countries has improved as the number of people at risk of starvation declined by over one million.

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KENYA: SCIENTISTS AND CONSERVATIONISTS HAVE SOUNDED WARNING ABOUT EXCESSIVE POISONING OF RARE MIGRATORY BIRDS SPECIES IN AREAS AROUND LAKE VICTORIA.

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Reports Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City

SCIENTIST, conservationists and environmentalists have sounded a stern warning and the alarm over wanton poisoning of rare migratory birds species along the shorelines of the Lake Victoria by illegal hunters.

The experts say the move is threatening tourism in the region and increasing gains made in controlling common diseases in the area.

Illegal hunters are said to have taken the advantage of the fact that thousands of immigrant and wetland birds species appear on rice plantation every year, some having flown from far away as Northern Europe and Asia to spend the winter months in the Southern hemisphere.

During the rain season, especially when it is also the time for planting water foods in the fields and attract a variety of wetland birds.

Another issue of urgent and great concern around Lake Victoria is the reported increase in cases of excessive chemical fishing, which is posing threat to have the fish from Lake Victoria boycotted by importers in foreign countries, and at the same which could endanger the lives of the local consumers of the fish commodity.

The department concern, which is part of the \ministry of Fisheries and Natural Resources seemed to be sleeping on the job and very little is being done to protect the fishing industry around the lake, paving the way for the unscrupulous fishermen to engaged on illegal and crude method of fishing by using chemicals which kills the fish in their thousands including fingerlings, immature and destroying the breeding grounds.

IN Luanda Kotieno beaches in Uyoma West Location within Rarieda District in Siaya county fishermen recently cornered one unscrupulous fisherman who was caught red handed while using unorthodox method by way of spraying substance of poisonous insecticide in the lake at night. The fishermen beat up the suspect to death.

It was after this incident when the police moved in and arrested score of youths suspected to have lynched the illegal fishermen. The youth and members of the fishing fraternity in the region have complained bitterly that the have been reporting to the higher authorities the presence of chemical fishing along the lake, but their reports have always been ignored by

The incident resulted in scores of people living around Luanda Kotieno being rounded up by the police and taken into custody. Dozens of them have appeared before a Kisumu court on suspicion of illegal killing of the fisherman, who was reported to have travelled into the area along way from Seme in Kisumu West district.

Once highly poisonous chemical is sprayed in the surface of lake waters it kills fish in their thousands and the fishermen business is only to collect the dead fish and thereafter sell them to unsuspecting consumers.

Fear persist that bad publicity about chemical fishing in Lake Victoria could jeopardize the fish export, which is fetching Kenya millions of shillings in foreign exchange from European Union countries, Japan, Middle East and the United States.

Poachers interested in catching and selling the birds meat as food. The poachers then wait till the birds have consumed the baits move very quickly and clobbered the birds before killing and taking the poisoned birds for selling in the villages.

Up to 50 per cent of large flock of wetland birds are killed in single session which amount to some 6,000 being killed per one month.

“Bush meat is more often associated with the mammals said one expert Mr Martin Odino who is himself a conservationist in the area.

Birds, he added that the birds too do attract more visitors to the region, particularly the lover and bird watchers.

Other crude methods are used by poachers is killing the birds including rainy snails with caboturan on the ground another highly poisonous.Insecticides. The bait is then left in the field for the yellow billed stocks. After eating poisoned snails the large birds are clubbed to death and the meat of the . . .

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