Category Archives: Kenyan Election Crisis: Negotiations

Mzee Orinda Ndege

10 Replies

23rd November 2009

Mzee Orinda Ndege

On 18th December 2009, in the company of Mr. Ben Ochoko, Mr. Nick Ochoko, Mr. Albert Sine [Moi] and myself, we will visit Mzee Orinda Ndege at his home at 10.00am.

Mr. Nick Ochoke, Mr. Odhiambo T Oketch [carrying Mzee Orinda’s
child], Mr. Orinda Ndege, Mrs Orinda Ndege, Area Chief Mr. James
Odungu, during our visit on 22nd March 2009.

We will visit in the company of the area Chief Mr. James Odungu, and we will have some presentation to make to Mzee Orinda Ndege. A few Friends of Orinda Ndege had made some efforts early this year, in March, and made some contributions of Kshs 46,000.00 in his support, the money of which I
have. This is the team;

  • Dr. George Omburo

  • Mr. Jorum Odus

  • Mr. Jairus
    K’Onyiego

  • Mr. Dave Ndolo

  • Dr. Paul Nyandoto

  • Mr. Oduor Ong’wen

  • Dr. Barrack Abonyo

  • Mr. William Oduor

  • Mr. Patrick Opondi

  • Dr. Peter Okoth,

  • Mr. Jack Ayim,

  • Mr. Jairus Onyiego

  • Mr. Oloo Janak,

  • Mr. Washington
    Raburu

  • Mr. Odhiambo T
    Oketch [Team Leader]

We want to top it up so that on that day, we can all come together and make a Christmas present to Mzee. He suffered the most during our darkest hour in 2008. If you truly believe that you had some feelings for Mzee Orinda
at his darkest hour, kindly join us and let us make a Christmas visit the kind of feeling we have.

Kindly send in your support to me, and on 18th December 2009, in the company of our local and international media, we will all empathize with Mzee Orinda.

Mzee Orinda, Ben Ochoko, Oto, Chief Odungu, and Mrs Orinda on 22nd
March 2009

I am looking to your support to make 18th December 2009, Mzee Orinda Ndege Day.
We want to see how many of our people and politicians care. Together with Ben, Nick and Albert, we will pay for our 3 day out to Kendu Bay, but if you want to supplement our effort, you are welcome.

Peace and blessings.

Odhiambo T Oketch,

Tel; 0724 365 557, 0724
365 557,

Email;
komarockswatch@yahoo.com,
friendofkcdn@gmail.com,

Blogspot;
http://kcdnkomarockswatch.blogspot.com

what else does Kibaki want Raila to do

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An argument ensued between me and my brother on the question on whether

1. Raila made the right move to sign the coalition agreement
2. he was right on his move to meet Kibaki’s son. Martha Karua and Kimunya
3. Conceding the fifty fifty ministerial portfolios

Although my argument was that accepting all the demands of your opponent in the absence of a counter demand was a maximum display of weakness, I have now changed my mind. I have changed my mind because strength is not in an adamant neglect of humanity needs at the expense of an individual’s. Raila for once beat me to the punch. For the first time  I heard a voice of reason. A voice that argued for life rather than death. Raila at first said, let the presidency die but kenyan people live while Kibaki chose the opposite by inaugurating himself after six pm against the law. Raila went a head and accepted a prime minister position while he was supposed to  demand his democratic win. Indeed Raila went beyond the protocol to meet none entities like Kibaki’s son and even Martha Karua to paint a picture of a reconciliatory mood in Kenya. Here is a question I have for all Kenyans, what more do want the son of Odinga to do. How low can Raila go.

What ever you suggest that he does, you must put yourself in his shoes. Raila won the election no doubt. Why is he still negotiating with Kibaki. Can Kibaki rule Kenya if Raila says no? I highly doubt it. Can otherwise happen? I believe it will. Based on this hypothesis , Raila should not give anymore ground. Dictators like Kibaki are so drunk with power to an extent that they do not realize their limitations. I see their limitation though. The public have had enough of this crap. If Raila hold his guns, Kibaki will soon be exiled. If Kibaki wants to be a kenyan he must act now for the einterest of Kenya just like Raila has.

Barack

___
Date:  Sat, 12 Apr 2008 07:49:06 +0000
From:  barack abonyo
Subject:  what else does Kibaki want Raila to do

ODM be cautious!

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From: “Prof. Joe Kodhek Ko’Bondo”

ODM should not be tricked to going in for bones in the coalition government while PNU takes the fleshy meats. ODM is an equal partner in the coalition and must be seen and act as one. Although all cabinet positions are on equal terms in salary and allowances, it is obvious that some are more prestigious than others, and it’s why these plum ones must be shared almost equally depending on their clustering. ODM must ensure it fronts adequately qualified nominees for each of these positions if it hopes to win the argument. It is not wise and weighty to front Prof. Anya’ng Nyong’ for a Finance docket when it is obvious he can not match the criteria. As a political science and socialogy scholar, he will fair poorly when compared to Kimunya, etc. Why not plunge Magara’s name for the Finance job since he is better qualified than Nyong’ if ODM really wish to take that position?

I also feel professionalizing the coalition cabinet will be in the best interest of the country, and ODM should be in the front line in bringing meaningful change in governance. I would therefore not recommend Charity Ngilu for the Health and Sanitation docket. That needs a public health professional and not a mare office secretary. Equally, William Ole Ntimama and Fred Gumo etc are only fit for the ‘bones’ and not the ‘flesh’ given their dubious academic background. We have many well qualified professionals in ODM, and we must put the best brains among them into the front line if at all we are here for a real change and show case. The pentagon must in this regard re-think its strategy and let go its pride and drive for selfishness. There is no reason why Bishop Wanjiru can not be assigned to assist in the ministry of Religious and Gender Affairs.

It is also very dangerous to push too much for a sharing top positions in the Public Service, Judiciary and what have you. Politisizing the core magnum of government technocrats is an ill advised approach. Prof. Nyong’ should not drive ODM to an oblique destination that has a very high probability of failure. On this score, PNU is right and we must learn to reason on facts and logic. Political expediency must not be allowed to ride on our backs. My proposal is that, we should be pushing for regional and geographic balance in top notch public appointments through a competitive due process. That is the only sure way of showing ODM is different from former KANU and NARC governments. Jobs at all levels must be based on merit first and then geo-profile next and gender last.

Finally, if agreement on how to make a coalition government fails, that should not surprise us. It’s not unusual and world over, coalitions are always very fragile and short lived. For US, UK and EU etc to have pushed for a coalition solution to our crisis it’s because it was the only short term best way out. We mustn’t however take too much solace and comfort in this interim arrangement. We must be ready for a fresh election as well if that is the option 2 many are thinking about. We must also be fully aware of our expectations. It is obvious there would be less enthusiasm, hence voter apathy will manifest in the outcome. There others who will not vote neither for ODM nor for PNU and they will seek an third option.

—-
Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2008 08:46:46 -0400
Subject: ODM be cautious!

Portfolio balance PNU style

5 Replies

Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2008 23:07:14 -0700 (PDT)
From: odhiambo okecth

The current impasse between PNU and ODM on portfolio balance can best be looked at from the PNU point of view, what portfolio balance means to them even in their current government.

We must start by acknowledging that PNU got 43 seats only. They hence conned KANU, the desperate ODM-K and other small parties to join them in the power greed against ODM who had 106 MPs.

With the support of the two desperate parties, they called the police to the roads, and had Kibaki sworn in at dusk as the president of Kenya. Thereafter, Kibaki formed what they called half cabinet of 17 people.

In the half cabinet, which is supposed to serve the interest of all Kenyans, Kibaki took for himself the 7 big ministries that matter. In the edition of Showdown, a popular talk show at NTV, Hon James Orengo brought this out more candidly.

Even in PNU government, Portfolio balance is skewed in favour of Kibaki and Central Province. Kenyans, even those in PNU government must now also call the Kibaki bluff.

Look at this portfolio balance;
1] President of Kenya; Mwai Kibaki from Central Province
2] Minister for Finance; Amos Kimunya from Central Province
3] Minister for Internal Security; George Saitoti from Central Province
4] Minister for Justice; Martha Karua from Central Province
5] Minister for Local Government; Uhuru Kenyatta from Central Province
6] Minister for Energy; Kiraitu Murungi from Central Province
7] Minister for Roads and Public Works; John Michuki from Central Province

In a cabinet of 17 people, the rest must be having some impairment that clouds their systems into reality. Why can the people in PNU also call for portfolio balance in their half cabinet?

Then, we must also look at other arms of that PNU half government and confirm if it is balanced;
1] Head of Public Service and Secretary to the cabinet; Francis Muthaura from Central Province.
2] PS Internal Security; Cyrus Gituai from Central Province
3] PS Defence; James Mwaura from Central Province
4] PS Energy; James Nyoike from Central Province
5] PS Education; Karega Mutahi from Central Province
6] PS Finance; Joseph Kinyua from Central Province
7] PS Roads and Public Works; Mwaura from Central Province
8] Chief Justice; Evans Gicheru from Central Province
9] Director KACC; Aaron Ringera from Central Province
10] Chief Whip; George Thuo from Central Province
11] PPO Nairobi; Njagi Njue from Cental Province
12] Governor Central Bank; Njoroge Ndungu from Central Province
13] Cardinal; John Njue from Central Province etc etc

This is what PNU knows as sharing power with other Kenyans.

Even in PNU itself, where is the love for the rest of Kenya in distribution of power.

This is all the more reason ODM must insist that a new government is formed, with clear distribution of power to all the regions. It is not enough just being in cabinet being a minister for Nairobi Metropolitan and Citi Hoppa Services.

Odhiambo T Oketch
Koamrock Nairobi

___
Subject: Portfolio balance PNU style

RAILA – KIBAKI LETTERS.

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Date:  Wed, 9 Apr 2008 13:02:33 -0700 (PDT)
From:  Kiambu Kengeru
Subject:  RAILA – KIBAKI LETTERS.

— On Wed, 4/9/08, Kiambu Kengeru wrote:

From: Kiambu Kengeru
Subject: MARTHA KARUA AND MUTULA KILONZO REMARKS;
Date: Wednesday, April 9, 2008, 7:56 PM
Kibaki / Raila Letters
7th April 2008

His Excellency Mwai Kibaki, CGH, MP

President of the Republic of Kenya

Office of the President,

P.O. Box 30510,

NAIROBI

Your Excellency,

RE: FORMATION OF THE GRAND COALITION GOVERNMENT

The meeting yesterday adjourned to allow for consultations
until this afternoon, after you declined further
discussions on portfolio balance and instead insisted on
your proposed allocation of ministries.

Our party is deeply concerned that the stalemate over the
formation of the Grand Coalition Government is increasing
uncertainty and anxiety in the country. It is also
escalating the mistrust that we as leaders were expected to
eliminate by the establishment of the Grand Coalition.

The National Accord and Reconciliation Act is already in
force. It must be understood that ODM and PNU are equal
partners in the Grand Coalition. The failure to form the
Grand Coalition Government is in fact a continuing breach
of the Act and the Constitution.

We have always acted in good faith and conveyed to Your
Excellency that the Grand Coalition would be one
government. The positions PNU is staking claim to imply
that we are forming a government with two cabinets. On the
contrary, this is a Grand Coalition of two equal partners
sharing executive power on a 50-50 basis.

It is becoming clear to our party that your side is
reluctant to honour the spirit and principles of the
National Accord and Reconciliation Act. I therefore wish to
let you know that the following issues must be resolved in
the course of our further consultations on the formation of
the Government:

1. The Current Cabinet

The current cabinet should be dissolved to allow for the
formation of a fresh Cabinet in accordance with the Act.

2. Portfolio Balance

Although we reluctantly conceded to an enlarged cabinet
against the wishes of Kenyans, our party now maintains that
the Grand Coalition Cabinet should not exceed 34 ministries.
Allocations of portfolios must be based on the agreement of
3rd April 2008 in which we agreed that the PNU side
nominates appointments in the Finance and Security
portfolios and in return, ODM would nominate Ministers to
the following portfolios:

· Local Government

· Foreign Affairs

· Transport

· Energy

· Cabinet Affairs

It is important I reiterate that the above represents and
remains our Party’s irreducible minimum position. We
attach hereto, for your ease of reference, the full ODM
Portfolio Balance List, which was delivered to you last
Friday.

3. Structure and Organization of Government

The following must also be agreed upon in advance:

· An acceptable classification of ministries;

· A clear definition of the roles and responsibilities of
the Office of the Prime Minister;

· The structure and organization of government, including
the rationalisation of the roles of the Head of the Public
Service and Secretary to the Cabinet;

· Appointment of the Permanent Secretaries;

· Appointment of Ambassadors and High Commissioners; and
the

· Appointment of the Chairpersons, Directors and Chief
Executives of parastatals, and constitutional offices.

I propose that a Joint Team of four members, two from each
side, be constituted to build consensus on these issues
within the next three days.

Please confirm your acceptance of the above before the
meeting this afternoon.

Yours truly,

Hon Raila Odinga, EGH, MP

Prime Minister-Designate

Encl.

88888888888888888000000000000000011111111111111111

STATEMENT BY HON. RAILA ODINGA, PRIME MINISTER-DESIGNATE,
ON THE CURRENT STATUS OF NEGOTIATIONS ON FORMING THE GRAND
COALITION GOVERNMENT

7 April 08

With cries of jubilation and Happy New Years, Kenyans on
28th February began to breathe freely again as the National
Accord brokered by Mr. Kofi Annan was signed by President
Kibaki and myself. The terror and fear they had been living
under at the hands of mobs, militias and government forces
was finally over. A few weeks later, Parliament unanimously
entrenched the Accord into the Constitution and Laws of
Kenya.

But since then, Kenyans have observed with growing dismay
and anxiety that not a single concrete agreement has been
achieved on any aspect of the new coalition government. Our
nation is adrift and without direction, and with each
passing day, our problems are mounting.

To overcome this terrible impasse and another looming
crisis, our side has gone many extra miles and made an
extraordinary number of concessions. Against the strong
wishes of our supporters and indeed of all Kenyans, we
accepted PNU’s insistence on a bloated 40 member
Cabinet. I agreed also to cede some of the most crucial
ministries – – such as Finance, Defense, Internal Security
and Justice and Constitutional Affairs.

-+In exchange, we obtained infrastructural ministries such
as Energy, Transport and Roads – which are instrumental in
the building of rapid economic growth – as well as Local
Government and Foreign Affairs. But in agreeing to this, I
indicated that we had reached our irreducible minimum. The
response to our magnanimity from the other side has been to
retract every agreement we have finalized!

This latest crisis in portfolio balance captures the
astonishing lengths PNU is willing to go to ensure that it
continues to monopolize power.

On 1st April, President Kibaki’s emissary, Hon George
Saitoti, gave me a proposed list of 40 ministries and how
they should be divided. The next day, we wrote to the
President’s Office rejecting the proposal.

The following day, 3rd April, President Kibaki and I met
for two hours and made numerous concrete agreements on
portfolio balance that I have just mentioned, which enabled
both of us to say publicly that the Cabinet would be
announced yesterday (Sunday).

On Saturday, I received from Ambassador Muthaura a letter
unilaterally indicating that the Cabinet to be announced
would be formed on the basis of an enclosed list of
ministries and their allocations that we had rejected on
2nd April! The agreements we reached in our 3rd April
meeting were nowhere to be seen.

We were therefore unable to reach any agreement in the six
hours of talks yesterday.

Today, in response to a letter I had written to President
Kibaki, we received a reply from Ambassador Muthaura side
reneging on our previous agreements, as well as the spirit
and the letter of the Accord. In PNU’s interpretation,
the Constitution grants the President exclusive executive
power to run this country on his own, and that these powers
supersede all the provisions of the Accord.

The President and I promised the nation yesterday that we
would finalize arrangements for the Grand Coalition
government, including the naming of the Cabinet. However,
PNU’s misconception of the Accord and the principles of
democratic governance mean that there was no point in
meeting today to conclude discussions on Cabinet formation
and the constitution of the government.

We hereby provide correspondence between our two sides
which gives details of the issues at stake and our
proposals on the way forward. Let me state once again that
we are committed to the full and speedy implementation of
the National Accord to resolve the crisis gripping our
country.

88888888888888888000000000000000011111111111111111

7 April 2008

His Excellency Mwai Kibaki, CGH, MP,

President of the Republic of Kenya,

State House,

NAIROBI

Your Excellency,

FORMATION OF THE GRAND COALITION GOVERNMENT

I have been directed by the Prime Minister-Designate to
reply to your letter as follows:

1. We note PNU’s expressed commitment to the
implementation of National Accord and Reconciliation Act.
However, the tone and content of your letter completely
negates the spirit and the letter of the Accord.

2. As you may appreciate, this arrangement is about a Grand
Coalition Government arrived at after protracted
consultations that saved this country from total collapse.

3. To facilitate the formation of the Grand Coalition
Government, the National Accord and Reconciliation Act,
2008 and the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Act, 2008
were enacted.

4. Your reference to Sections 23, 17, 18 and 111 of the
Constitution, with respect to executive authority of
government, assigning of portfolios to ministers and
appointment to Secretary to the Cabinet, Permanent
Secretaries and High Commissioners is misleading.

5. A Grand Coalition Government as envisaged by the
National Accord can only be managed under the provisions of
the Act. The other sections of the Constitution did not
envisage the Grand Coalition Government.

6. The Constitution as amended, in Section 4 (3) of the
National Accord and Reconciliation Act (2008) provides that
“the composition of the coalition Government shall at
all times reflect the relative parliamentary strength of
the respective parties and shall at all times take into
account the principle of portfolio balance”. That is
the Constitution as it stands today.

7. Your reference to Sections 23, 17, 18 and 111 are
overridden by the proviso to Section 3 and Section 15A (5)
and (6) of the Constitution which states respectively as
follows:

“Provided that the provisions of this section as to
consistency with this Constitution shall not apply in
respect of an Act made pursuant to section 15A(3)”,
and

“Nothing contained in or done under the authority of
an Act of Parliament made pursuant to subsection (3)
immediately following the commencement of this section
shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention
of any provisions of this Constitution”.

Therefore, the references to the above sections of the
Constitution and all other provisions relating to the
exercise of the executive authority, appointments and
assignments of responsibility by the President, in this
coalition arrangement, MUST be exercised in strict
conformity and complete compliance with full provisions and
requirements of the Accord.

8. We look forward to the full and speedy implementation of
the Accord and will avail ourselves at the earliest
opportunity to discuss portfolio balance, structure and
organization of government, the appointments of Secretary
to the Cabinet, Permanent Secretaries, Ambassadors and High
Commissioners in our joint pursuit to constitute the
coalition Government as envisaged in Section 4(3) of the
National Accord and Reconciliation Act, 2008.

9. The basic framework and structure of the Government of
Kenya must be in accordance with the Constitution of Kenya
(Amendment) Act, 2008 and National Accord and
Reconciliation Act (2008) which is founded on
power-sharing. Any departure from the Constitution and the
Accord is an abrogation of the supreme law of the land and
any government otherwise established is illegal and
unconstitutional.

Yours truly

Dr. Mohamed Isahakia

ODM Secretariat

__._,_.___
Subject:  RAILA – KIBAKI LETTERS.

Kenya opposition halts talks as protests flare

1 Reply

N’yongo’s highlighted statement below may be too little too late. This is the kind of stance that ODM/Raila should have taken as I stated yesterday. They must not continue to waver between two opinions. This is not a game. Precious lives are at stake.

There is another chance now to make the cabinet even smaller than 34. Why should it be 34? We have a window of opportunity for a better approach as we have enough proof now that PNU/Kibaki cannot be trusted.

I hope that ODM/Raila is going to capitalize on this.

The sad part of all these is that blood has started to flow again! What a shame!

Keen Nyamwange (Obama’s Illions for Raila — OIFR)

Kenya opposition halts talks as protests flare
Tue Apr 8, 2008 12:15pm EDT
By Katie Nguyen and Daniel Wallis

NAIROBI (Reuters) –

Kenya’s opposition suspended talks with President Mwai Kibaki’s party on Tuesday and police fired tear gas to scatter opposition supporters protesting against deepening deadlock over a power-sharing cabinet.

Kibaki and rival Raila Odinga delayed naming a cabinet on Monday after disagreeing over how to share out ministries and traded blame over who was responsible for the deadlock.

The cabinet is central to a deal on ending Kenya’s post-election crisis.

Anyang’ Nyong’o, secretary-general of Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), said talks would be suspended until Kibaki’s party “fully recognizes the 50/50 power-sharing arrangement and the principle of portfolio balance”.

Government spokesman Alfred Mutua condemned the walkout and accused ODM of playing games.

“They are the ones who do not want the coalition. How can they walk out of talks and make demands? Demands are made at the negotiating table,” he said.

Nairobi’s sprawling Kibera slum was convulsed by the biggest protests since both sides signed a power-sharing deal in February to end turmoil that killed at least 1,200 people after Kibaki’s disputed re-election in December.

In a sign of mounting international concern, development partners including Britain, the United States, the World Bank and the United Nations said genuine power sharing was required to restore Kenyans’ faith in the government.

“These politics can do real harm to our economy,” said Friday Mwafuga, head of trading at Cooperative Bank. “Until this problem is solved, we are in for a rough ride ahead.”

“SUFFERED ENOUGH”

Kenya, east Africa’s biggest economy and an important regional trade, transport and tourism hub, suffered heavily from the post-election riots and ethnic violence — the worst turmoil since independence in 1963.

N’yongo said the opposition was demanding a partial cabinet already named by Kibaki be dissolved before any more talks took place. He said the opposition would no longer respect an earlier agreement to a 40-member cabinet and wanted it to have 34 posts.

But some analysts believe that while Odinga’s party is clearly stepping up the pressure to get what it wants, it has little room for maneuver.

“They can accept the offices offered, withdraw from the coalition or resort to mass action,” said Kenyan political analyst Mutahi Ngunyi.

If they withdrew that would hand all power back to Kibaki, he said, but “mass action does not make sense at this time” because of the bloodshed it provoked in January.

Most of the recent disagreement centers on a handful of ministries that Odinga, the prime minister-designate, says Kibaki’s Party of National Unity (PNU) had promised to give up.

PNU denies that, and Kibaki said on Monday he was ready to conclude the process of forming the cabinet as soon as possible.

“They can accept the offices offered, withdraw from the coalition or resort to mass action,” said Kenyan political analyst Mutahi Ngunyi.

If they withdrew that would hand all power back to Kibaki, he said, but “mass action does not make sense at this time” because of the bloodshed it provoked in January.

Most of the recent disagreement centers on a handful of ministries that Odinga, the prime minister-designate, says Kibaki’s Party of National Unity (PNU) had promised to give up.

PNU denies that, and Kibaki said on Monday he was ready to conclude the process of forming the cabinet as soon as possible.

One post not in dispute is finance, which means Finance Minister Amos Kimunya is almost certain to keep his job.

Duncan Kimani, a senior currency trader at Bank of Africa Kenya Ltd., hoped the dispute would not degenerate further.

“Already the country has suffered enough in terms of tourism and the supply chain being cut off,” he told Reuters. “So a prolonged deadlock would mean that even the 4 or 5 percent growth target we’re looking at might not be achievable.”

(Additional reporting by Duncan Miriri, Wangui Kanina and Hereward Holland; Writing by Daniel Wallis; Editing by Katie Nguyen and Catherine Evans)

(For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: africa.reuters.com/)

Keen Nyamwange

Kenya opposition halts talks as protests flare

40 Ministers!:Cabinet to be named on Sunday – INSANE!!!!!!!!!!!

1 Reply

Folks,
This is the more reasons why ODM has failed the MWANANCHI. In addition ADD the ACCUMULATIVE FUNDING from OVERSEAS Governments which is a PAYBACK and will be paid from TAXPAYERS the ordinary MWANAINCHI – which in ESSENSE the IOU MONEY is supposed to SERVICE the FALLEN & REVAMP ECONOMY to its feet.
You know what, I HATE TO SAY THIS but – it will be necessary for someone from ODM – to take over from RAILA the AGWAMBO than put Kenyans to a MESS. This is the same style his father did after winning with the majority opposition elected members in 1992. As people rightly says RAILA was TINGA TINGA. Well the saying goes without MUCH ADO that he was just a GOOD POLITICAL CAMPAIGN SKEWED MOBILIZER and a SCHEMER – BUT NOT an ASTITUDE POLITICAL LEADER. At this point he needs to PAVE way for some serious LEADERS who will lead Kenya to the fulfilment MILLENIUM PLAN OF ACTION by the year 2020.
Thanks,
Judy Miriga
USA

CMW nassehw@… wrote:
Hudson,
PNU in this case behaved the way we expected it to behave. Now, for ODM this is the beginning of a disaster. As good a politician as Raila is, his greatest failing has always been impatience. Already the pressure was beginning to mount on Kibaki and the PNU from the international community and from NGO’s. All ODM had to do was sit and wait.
Wafula

—–Original Message—–
From: obed nyaribo
Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2008 12:24 PM
Subject: Re: 40 Ministers!:Cabinet to be named on Sunday

Kenyan politicians are not role models to follow. They have no stand on anything ,they can be bought and sold anytime. It not a surprise that Raila was duped to accept 40 cabinet arrangement so that the other side would say that RAILA was in agreement with it. It is a joke to have 40 cabinet positions in country where people cannot afford one meal a day and we have IDPS suffering in camps without food. It is a big disappointment for the Kenyans people because politicians never takes instructions from them after they are elected.

fred O aboge wrote: I am dissapointed by the “BREAKTHROUGH” if this means the taxpayer is to be saddled by some 40 ministries, complete with assistant ministers and permanent secretaries! ODM should have rejected this and instead pushed for ha! lf this number even if it meant loosing some political support.Raila should walk the talk and be consistent on this. Yes, the election was stolen and everybody knows it but throwing tax payer’s money is hardly a solution! This flies in the face of ODM’s blueprint for cleaning the mess politicians have created in the country. Raila has support across the country and should reject this so called “breakthrough”

On 4/3/08, Kuria-Mwangi wrote:What made Raila change tune? Wish he stood by the Kenyans.
Cabinet to be named on SundayWritten By:Emmanuel Kola ,

Posted: Thu, Apr 03, 2008

President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Designate Raila Odinga will name the grand coalition government this Sunday.
The development emerged after the two principals Thursday held talks for over two hours on the formation of the new coalition cabinet at Harambee House in Nairobi.
The two leaders agreed on the appointment of a cabinet comprising of forty Ministries. The cabinet is scheduled to be sworn in on Saturday April 12.
Thursday’s meeting at Harambee house by the two principals eventually ended the anxious wait by Kenyans on the naming of the grand coalition cabinet.
Both parties said they were pleased with the outcome of the discussions in the spirit of give and take and expressed their appreciation to Kenyans for their patience during the period of consultations.
Briefing the media after the meeting Raila noted that the long consultations were necessary to ensure an agreement that is amicable and good for the country.
Meanwhile the government spokesman Dr. Alfred Mutua says the breakthrough in the naming of the new cabinet will now pave way for the government to focus on other issues such as resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons.
Addressing t! he press during his weekly briefly briefing Dr.Mutua said most of the displaced people have been sent back home and are rebuilding their lives.
At the same time Mutua dispelled fears over the alleged distribution of leaflets in Burnt Forest area warning IDPs from the area not to return saying that the government is investigating the issue.

Written By:Emmanuel Kola , Posted: Thu, Apr 03, 2008

President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Designate Raila Odinga will name the grand coalition government this Sunday.
The development emerged after the two principals Thursday held talks for over two hours on the formation of the new coalition cabinet at Harambee House in Nairobi.
The two leaders agreed on the appointment ! of a cabinet comprising of forty Ministries. The cabinet is scheduled to be sworn in on Saturday April 12.
Thursday’s meeting at Harambee house by the two principals eventually ended the anxious wait by Kenyans on the naming of the grand coalition cabinet.
Both parties said they were pleased with the outcome of the discussions in the spirit of give and take and expressed their appreciation to Kenyans for their patience during the period of consultations.
Briefing the media after the meeting Raila noted that the long consultations were necessary to ensure an agreement that is amicable and good for the country.
Meanwhile the government spokesman Dr. Alfred Mutua says the breakthrough in the naming of the new cabinet will now pave way for the government to focus on other issues such as resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons.
Addressing the press during his weekly briefly bri! efing Dr.Mutua said most of the displaced people have been sent back home and are rebuilding their lives.
At the same time Mutua dispelled fears over the alleged distribution of leaflets in Burnt Forest area warning IDPs from the area not to return saying that the government is investigating the issue.

——-
40 Ministers!:Cabinet to be named on Sunday – INSANE!!!!!!!!!!!

Cabinet Size a total Disappointment

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Date:  Thu, 3 Apr 2008 10:15:01 -0700 (PDT)
From:  Keen Nyamwange

I have believed that free and unfettered straight talk is the basis of a free society.  I am a stanch ODM supporter and have not wavered the least bit from the beginning.  However, my thoughts and opinions have been strangely provoked because of the cabinet selection wrangling.
 
  I believe that if ODM/Raila is to be an agent of change then we must see consistence and persistence with the goal always in focus.  The goal is to bring real lasting change to the government machinery in our beloved Kenya to effect real change from the grassroots.  If the just agreed number of cabinet ministers is any indication of things to come, than I am VERY DISAPPOINTED.  This coalition is going to see a whole lot of turbulence in the coming weeks, months and years (if it makes it that far).
 
  I said before that ODM/Raila must stick to their guns and ask for that which be for the people’s interest.
 
  I feel that it is time for all Kenyans to speak out against this misguided trend.  Left unchecked, then we are in for more bad news.  I hope that is not the case.
 
  ODM was pushing for 34,  PNU was pushing for 44 that is a delta of 10.  The people of Kenya were hoping for a “mean”, lean and clean cabinet of not more than say 24.   How come the agreed number was not in this case a max of 39?   Is this true power sharing?  If anything for the sake of even numbers why not 38 then?  PNU just wanted to show that they have the upper hand.
 
  I expect to hear disappointment from ODM/Raila supporters.
 
  I call for civil disobedience against PNU/ODM cabinet selection.
 
  I expected ODM/Raila to send out a strong message against the needless and shameful teargas attack on honorable Dr. Wangari Muta Maathai.  I was left dissatisfied and quit frankly discouraged on this matter.
 
  The BIG question now is this:  What else is ODM/Raila is going to compromise on?
 
  To PM designate Raila Amolo Odinga (RAO):  Please be careful not to let us down.  We have come too far to sink!
 
  Keen Nyamwange (Obama’s Illinois for Raila – OIFR)

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Subject:  Cabinet Size a total Disappointment

ODM Should Stick to the Demands it has Put Forward

1 Reply

Kenyans,

ODM has made a lot of concessions. Every Kenyan up to today knows very well that the ECK (Electoral Commision of Kenya) chairman said that he does not know who won the presidential election. But here we have somebody called KIbaki who is still claiming that he is the person who won and who got himself sworn in immediately. The international body checking the election irregularities made it very clear that there were many irregularities in the presidential election and that the election completely failed and was not up to international standards. In fact, they even wanted the presdential election to be repeated.

ODM and PNU were given yet another chance to show Kenyans whether they are really capable of being leaders and to, despite all of those sins they have commited, share power fifty-fifty. But what have we Kenyans gotten out of it? Nothing, except the opportunity to pay taxes for the politicians to consume.

IDPs are still in the rain suffering, eating money from international donations, etc. Some are still in Uganda. Kibaki has sent an army to Mount Elgon to kill Kenyans. In fact, at the time when even all of the international bodies wanted an army to be deployed in Kenya, Kibaki gave an umbrella to mungiki to kill and burn Luos and Kalenjins in Naivasha and Nakuru, yet he never deployed the army. So can this Kibaki be trusted with Kenyans’ lives again? The answer is simply NO, NO, NO! NAY!!! NAY!!!

ODM is now showing us the right path. Let Kibaki desolve all the cabinet ministries he nominated before the deal was signed and nominate a new cabinet. Let them start from the day they signed the power sharing deal (fifty-fifty). And ODM should not change its mind again as they have done before. They should be sure to really balance those high portfolio ministries this time and should also say NO to forty, but stick to thirty-four. There is no point overburdening the tax payers.

Paul Nyandoto

Lord, Where Is The Bottom? How Low Can Kenya Sink?

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Dear Majestic People Of Kenya,

I am sure you are all aware of the genesis of Kenya’s problem.

My 10th great grandfather Ragem, implores me to speak on his behalf. Kenya is not newly on the edge again, she just never took a leap out of this dangerous place and must not be removed from the genocide watch.

Who believed Kibaki would honor another MOU? The worse part is that the West did, to gave diplomacy a chance. In doing this Kibaki has proved that his word is worth nothing. He has however succeeded in buying time, stumping his authority and spreading his roots. He has been busy building his stolen presidency on land surrendered temporarily buy the ocean.

Now, Kenya is poised get deeper into the thicket of this crisis. Lord, where is the bottom? Lord, how much lower can it get?

Should Kenyans be more patient or brace for tougher times ahead? My 10th great grandfather, Ragem indicates that differences between the two parties cannot be bridged, and that trust will forever be illusive. It’s going to get messy again and we in the diaspora will not be able to prevent it again. Indeed, only the West can and if they dare to.

The common man, not the politician nor the soldier, will bear the larger share of the burden to liberate Kenya. Yet, it is the common man, who will least enjoy the fruits of liberation from our politicians.

Yes, we are destined to disagree big time, before we ever agree again, and if at all.

Is civil war inevitable? My 10th great grandfather Ragem has no answer. I am scared but strong for what has to be. I trust in Were.

Kenya is ours as Kenyans. It is the land of our ancestors. We must share it equally.

Joram

Commentary: Will Two Cabinets Work in this Tribal Society?

1 Reply

Can someone smarter than I am please explain how the 40 cabinet ministers will be serving in this coalition government? I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to Kenyan politics. All along I have thought that all cabinet members and their ministries would be serving Kenya’s government and the public. If what Kenyan newspapers are reporting is accurate, it seems like the PNU and ODM cabinets will only be reporting to their respective leaders and parties.

I am taken aback when I hear that some current ministers in the administration have refused to relinquish their assigned cabinet posts and have threatened to quit the current government if these posts are assigned to ODM party in the 50/50 power sharing formula. Are these politicians working for the interest of the public, for their own personal interests or do these ministries belong to them as private property?

The cynicism in me tells me that this country does not even need these cabinet members and their ministries, but that thought is not realistic. I don’t believe there is enough urgency from Kenyan leaders and their followers to find a solution to have a functional government in this country. In the private sector, if you don’t work or produce you don’t get paid and your company may go out of business. In Kenya’s government it does not matter whether these politicians produce for the public. When they were sworn in their salaries and benefits, which are astronomical by any standards, keep on coming. At Ksh. 1 million+ for ministers and at least Ksh. 850,000 for regular MPS, when was the last time these people went without food or money for their children? When was the last time they stopped at refugee camps and bought their fellow Kenyans a loaf of bread, sukuma wiki or aspirin?

Maybe the country should be thankful that so long as the cabinet games are going on, the cease-fire will hold. The leaders are holding press conferences and parliament is not meeting, so politicians cannot vote themselves a pay raise. Life is good for the public.

The big question Kenyans must ask themselves is, once these cabinet posts are formed will these ministries serve all Kenyans regardless of their party affiliations, tribal loyalty or other regional considerations?

If two cabinets in the 50/50 formula are only going to serve and be loyal to their respective parties, then I suggest a decentralized system of government. Move ODM-controlled ministries and their cabinets to Rift Valley and Nyanza in their strongholds and move PNU ministries and their cabinets to Central province, their stronghold. In the centralized system, Nairobi will be a businesses center for the international and the domestic markets. I think this approach is much better than having another election in an attempt to solve the cabinet selection impasse. If these ministries belonged to people who occupy them, then what does it matter whether they are run from villages in the country? Taking these ministries out of Nairobi may be the best solution to solve the city’s traffic congestion.

I wish that this pending coalition government was entrenched on political party affiliations, but it is, unfortunately, not. Our country is a tribal society no matter how we want to think about our politics. The cabinet will be selected, a coalition government will run for three months, another election will be held, people will die on the streets, another ceasefire will take place and may be Kofi Annan will come back again to negotiate the mother of all grand coalitions.

Dan M.Orao

Michigan

Commentary: PNU/ODM Coalition Prescription a Death Trap to Kenyans

1 Reply

Folks,

Since matters are left on Raila and Kibaki’s hands, in my understanding, the circumstances are viewing the two at par. From what we now see, I am wondering, who is the Supervisor and who is the subordinate? Reading from the list of PNU, I see ODM leadership and its Representation as that which should be INSUBORDINATED. ODM, having the lead in the majority numbers of the elected members, should not succumb to the dictates of KIBAKI AND CRONIES. In my understanding, PNU CABINET ceased to exist immediately after the PACT was signed – since this was a BUNCH OF THUGS WHO TOOK THE COUNTRY HOSTAGE A FLIGHT GROUP WHO ENTHRONED THEMSELVES LEADERSHIP in A THIEVING AND UNSCRUPULOUS WAY and under WANTING circumtances.

My concern from the ONLOOK is ODM and RAILA are behaving like beggers without PRINCIPLES. They are at the MERCY of PNU and KIBAKI.

Why do ODM leaders behave like WOMEN WHO ARE BEING WOOED BY MEN?

I have NEVER SEEN men COILING their TAILS and running away like beaten dogs when it comes to making a lifetime decision for Mwanainchi. ODM doesn’t seem to get it even when the tidings are good. What’s wrong? Is it the JUJU or VUDU?

Mwanainchi cannot be convinced – there has to be some explaination to this.

I see all ministries having been taken by PNU while the PNU HOOLIGAN CABINET is also controlling the country left, right and center. Even the stupidest Kenyan does not recognize or have faith in this CABINET. Why is ODM shying away like an INNOCENT VIRGIN who has just been married and is sent to meet with her HUSBAND? Like one writer said, ODM leadership behaves like a SISSY.

If ODM wants to be TRUSTED by KENYANS come next election, then they must show ABILITY to protect the INTERESTS of WANAINCHI VOTERS. But if they are scared to argue their CASE OUT and stand for KENYANS who gave them MANDATE with the lead representation, then they should do something about this situation.

This undersigned list is JUST PATHETIC. Can someone throw some light?

Judy Miriga
USA

______________________________________________________________________________

PNU’s List

PRESIDENT KIBAKI AWAITING LIST OF NAMES FOR CABINET APPOINTMENT FROM HON. ODINGA
Today, President Mwai Kibaki requested Hon. Raila Odinga to submit his proposals for appointments into the Cabinet. The President is yet to receive the list.
Even though consultations as per the National Accord and Reconciliation Act, 2008, are important, they cannot go on indefinitely. In situations where there is sharing, neither party can be satisfied 100 percent, because of the spirit of give and take. The consultations for the formation of cabinet have gone on for over a month and have to end at one point.
President Mwai Kibaki has invited Hon Raila Odinga to a meeting, tomorrow, Sunday, April 6th, 2008, at 10 am, at Harambee House. The President is looking forward to meeting Hon. Raila Odinga to finalize the consultations on the new Cabinet.
Below is the final list of 40 ministries compiled by the President after extensive consultations with Hon. Raila Odinga:
GOVERNMENT COALITION
1. Local Government
2. Foreign Affairs
3. Finance
4. Justice and Constitutional
5. Nairobi Metropolitan Development
6. Transport
7. Information and Communications
8. Energy
9. Environment and Mineral resources
10. Trade
11. Livestock Development
12. Defence
13. Internal Security and Provincial Administration
14. Home affairs
15. Special Programmes
16. Housing
17. Women and Children Development
18. Education
19. Labour
20. Public Health and Sanitation

ODM
1. Immigration and Registration of persons
2. East African Community
3. Planning and Vision 2030
4. Public Service
5. Regional Development Authorities
6. Roads
7. Public Works
8. Water and Irrigation
9. Lands
10. Tourism
11. Agriculture
12. Fisheries Development
13. Industrialization
14. Development of Northern Kenya and other Arid lands
15. Medical services
16. National Heritage and Culture
17. Youth and Sports
18. Higher Education, Science and Technology
19. Cooperative Development
20. Forestry and Wildlife

Dr. Alfred N. Mutua
Public Communications Secretary &
Government Spokesperson
April 5th, 2008
19:00 Hrs

President Habyarimana Stalled Power-sharing Government – Precusor to Rwanda Genocide

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Rwanda Genocide Timeline

1918:

Under the Treaty of Versailles the former German colony of Rwanda-Urundi is made a U.N. protectorate to be governed by Belgium. The two territories (later to become Rwanda and Burundi) are administered separately under two different Tutsi monarchs.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

Both Germany and Belgium turned the traditional Hutu-Tutsi relationship into a class system. The minority Tutsi (14%) are favored over the Hutus (85%) and given privileges and western-style education. The Belgians used the Tutsi minority to enforce their rule.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

1926:

Belgians introduce a system of ethnic identity cards differentiating Hutus from Tutsis. [1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

Post-1945:

After World War II, the king and the rest of the Tutsi elite demand independence. The call is resisted by Belgium and the White Fathers, who instead back Hutus who demand Hutu liberation from Tutsi oppression.
[5]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#5>

1957:

PARMEHUTU (Party for the Emancipation of the Hutus) is formed while Rwanda is still under Belgian rule.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

1959:

The main Hutu political party is the Mouvement Democratique Republicain (MDR) led by Gregoire Kayibanda, who, in the name of “social revolution” orchestrates the first of many pogroms against Tutsis, with Belgian connivance. Thousands are killed, and many more flee as refugees.
[5]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#5>

1960:

Hutus win municipal elections organized by Belgian colonial rulers.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

1961-62:

Belgians withdraw. Rwanda and Burundi become two separate and independent countries. [1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

A Hutu revolution in Rwanda installs a new president, Gregoire Kayibanda; fighting continues and thousands of Tutsis are forced to flee. In Burundi, Tutsis retain power.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

1963:

Further massacre of Tutsis, this time in response to military attack by exiled Tutsis in Burundi. Again more refugees leave the country. It is estimated that by the mid-1960s half of the Tutsi population is living outside Rwanda.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

1967:

Renewed massacres of Tutsis.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

1973:

Purge of Tutsis from universities. Fresh outbreak of killings, again directed at Tutsi community.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

The army chief of staff, General Juvenal Habyarimana, seizes power, pledging to restore order. He sets up a one-party state. A policy of ethnic quotas is entrenched in all public service employment. Tutsis are restricted to nine percent of available jobs.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

1975:

Habyarimana’s political party, the National Revolutionary Movement for Development (Mouvement Revolutionnaire National pour le Developpement, or MRND) is formed. Hutus from the president’s home area of northern Rwanda are given overwhelming preference in public service and military jobs. This pattern of exclusion of the Tutsis continues throughout the ’70s and ’80s.
[1] <http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

All Rwandans, regardless of age, are automatically made members of the MRND. Real power however lies not with formal party structures but with Habyarimana and his presidential guard, together with a small coterie of people close to him called the akazu (little house).
[5]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#5>

Habyarimana retains ties with Belgium but cultivates closer links with France, which was happy to welcome another francophone state into “the family”. [5]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#5>

Habyarimana’s Hutu regime becomes a formal military ally of France.
[6]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#6>

1980’s:

Under the presidency of François Mitteran, France becomes Rwanda’s biggest bilateral donor, and the two countries sign a military co-operation agreement which guarantees Habyarimana the assistance of French troops should his power become threatened.
[5]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#5>

1986:

In Uganda, Rwandan exiles are among the victorious troops of Yoweri Museveni’s National Resistance Army who take power, overthrowing the dictator Milton Obote. The exiles then form the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a Tutsi-dominated organization.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

1989:

Coffee prices collapse, causing severe economic hardship in Rwanda.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

1990:

July – Under pressure from Western aid donors, Habyarimana concedes the principle of multi-party democracy.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

October – RPF guerillas invade Rwanda from Uganda. After fierce fighting in which French and Zairean troops are called in to assist the government, a cease-fire is signed on March 29, 1991.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>
[5] <http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#5>

The result is a stalemate, with the RPF holding Rwanda’s northern Byumba province and the government unable to capture it, but the RPF equally unable to advance on Kigali.
[5]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#5>

1990-91:

The Rwandan army begins to train and arm civilian militias known as interahamwe (“Those who stand together”) For the next three years Habyarimana stalls on the establishment of a genuine multi-party system with power-sharing. Throughout this period thousands of Tutsis are killed in separate massacres around the country. Opposition politicians and newspapers
are persecuted.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

1991:

Under French pressure, Habyarimana instituted long-delayed political reforms, including an end to the one party state.
[5]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#5>

1992:

A multiparty government is formed and immediately begins negotiations with the RPF, despite hostility to the process from within the akazu.
[5]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#5>

November – Prominent Hutu activist Dr. Leon Mugusera appeals to Hutus to send the Tutsis “back to Ethiopia” via the rivers.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

1993:

February – RPF launches a fresh offensive and the guerillas reach the outskirts of Kigali. French forces are again called in to help the government side. Fighting continues for several months.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

August – Following months of negotiations, Habyarimana and the RPF sign a peace accord that allows for the return of refugees and a coalition Hutu-RPF government. 2,500 U.N. troops are deployed in Kigali to oversee the implementation of the accord.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

Representatives of all the non-French Western diplomatic missions in Kigali say that France sought a clear victory for President Habyarimana and the Little House. [6]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#6>

November – French troops leave.
[5]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#5>

September 1993 to March 1994 – President Habyarimana stalls on setting up of power-sharing government. Training of militias intensifies. Extremist radio station, Radio Mille Collines, begins broadcasting exhortations to attack the Tutsis. Human rights groups warn the international community of impending calamity.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

Throughout this period Belgian intelligence and the UNAMIR report of the activities preparing for violence. General Dallaire repeatedly requests that the UN allow him to seize illegal arms, but his requests are refused. Propoganda encouraging violence against the Tutsi is open; many killings and attacks occur; informants give information on killings which subsequently
occur; the UNAMIR blocks arms shipments, including from the Mil-Tec Corporation of the United Kingdom and the Society Dyl-Invest of France. Despite all this the UN does not act. Boutros-Ghali refuses to push the Security Council to strengthen the mandate believing it is futile to propose a change that the U.S. and U.K. are sure to oppose.
[2]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#2>

As the foreign governments most involved with Rwanda, France, the U.S., and Belgium follow the deteriorating situation and cooperate with the U.N. and with each other in trying to speed implementation of the Arusha Accords. Despite the clear signs of imminent violence, both France and the U.S. fail to respond with any new initiatives and continue to operate within the same constraints that have shaped their policy towards Rwanda for some time.
Belgium, spurred by the added responsibility of having troops on the ground, seeks a greater international commitment to prevent the disaster, but fails to invest the energy needed to make the other powers respond.
[2]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#2>

1994:

March – Many Rwandan human rights activists evacuate their families from Kigali believing massacres are imminent.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

6th April – President Habyarimana and the president of Burundi, Cyprien Ntaryamira, are killed when Habyarimana’s plane is shot down near Kigali Airport. Extremists, suspecting that the president is finally about to implement the Arusha Peace Accords, are believed to be behind the attack. That night the killing begins.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

7th April – The Rwandan Armed Forces (FAR) and the interahamwe set up roadblocks and go from house to house killing Tutsis and moderate Hutu politicians. Thousands die on the first day. U.N. forces stand by while the slaughter goes on. They are forbidden to intervene, as this would breach their “monitoring” mandate.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

8th April – The RPF launches a major offensive to end the genocide and rescue 600 of its troops surrounded in Kigali. The troops had been based in the city as part of the Arusha Accords.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

12th April – France closes its embassy in Kigali and its military assistance mission.
[6]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#6>

21st April – The U.N. cuts its forces from 2,500 to 250 following the murder of ten Belgian soldiers assigned to guard the moderate Hutu prime minister, Agathe Uwiliyingimana. The prime minister is killed and the Belgians are disarmed, tortured, and shot and hacked to death. They had been told not to resist violently by the U.N. force commander, as this would have
breached their mandate.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

30th April – The U.N. Security Council spends eight hours discussing the Rwandan crisis. The resolution condemning the killing omits the word “genocide.” Had the term been used, the U.N. would have been legally obliged to act to “prevent and punish” the perpetrators.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of refugees flee into Tanzania, Burundi and Zaire. In one day
250,000 Rwandans, mainly Hutus fleeing the advance of the RPF, cross the border into Tanzania.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

Britain effectively aids the slaughter by helping to reduce UN force that could have prevented the killings, in helping to delay other plans for intervention and in resisting use of the term ‘genocide’ which would have obligated the international community to act.
[3]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#3>

17th May – As the slaughter of the Tutsis continues the U.N. agrees to send 6,800 troops and policemen to Rwanda with powers to defend civilians. A Security Council resolution says “acts of genocide may have been committed.” Deployment of the mainly African U.N. forces is delayed because of arguments over who will pay the bill and provide the equipment. The United States argues with the U.N. over the cost of providing heavy armoured vehicles for
the peacekeeping forces.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

22nd June – With still no sign of U.N. deployment, the Security Council authorizes the deployment of French forces in south-west Rwanda. They create a “safe area” in territory controlled by the government. Killings of Tutsis continue in the safe area, although some are protected by the French. The United States government eventually uses the word “genocide.”
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

July – The RPF captures Kigali. The Hutu government flees to Zaire, followed by a tide of refugees. The French end their mission and are replaced by Ethiopian U.N. troops. The RPF sets up an interim government of national unity in Kigali. A cholera epidemic sweeps the refugee camps in Zaire, killing thousands. Different U.N. agencies clash over reports that
RPF troops have carried out a series of reprisal killings in Rwanda. Several hundred civilians are said to have been executed. Meanwhile the killing of Tutsis continues in refugee camps.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

August – New Rwandan government agrees to trials before an international tribunal established by the U.N. Security Council.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

November – U.N. Security Council establishes an international tribunal that will oversee prosecution of suspects involved in genocide.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

1995:

5th-10th January – U.N. begins process towards finalizing plans with Zaire and Tanzania that will lead to the return of one and a half million Hutus to Rwanda over the next five months. U.N. Security Council refuses to dispatch an international force to police refugee camps.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

19th February – Western governments, including the U.S. ($60 million), pledge $600 million in aid to Rwanda.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

27th February – U.N. Security Council urges all states to arrest people suspected of involvement in the Rwandan genocide.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

Mid May – Tensions increase between the United Nations and the Rwandan government; the government growing resentful of the lack of international financial aid. [1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

10th June – U.N. Security Council unanimously agrees to cut by more than half the number of U.N. troops in Rwanda after a direct request from the Rwandan government to withdraw U.N. forces.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

July – More than 720,000 Hutu refugees around Goma refuse to return to Rwanda. [1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

August – U.N. Security Council lifts arms embargo until September 1, 1996.
[1] <http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

20th September – At a Mass in Nairobi, Pope John Paul II urges an end to the bloodshed in Rwanda and Burundi.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

12th December – United Nations Tribunal for Rwanda announces first indictments against eight suspects; charges them with genocide and crimes against humanity.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

13th December – U.N. Security Council extends its peacekeeping mission for three more months and agrees to reduce the number of troops.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

1996:

Rwandan troops invade and attack Hutu militia-dominated camps in Zaire in order to drive home the refugees.
[4]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#4>

November – Mass repatriation from Zaire begins; the Rwandan government orders a moratorium on arrests of suspected genocide perpetrators.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

December – Trials begin for Hutus involved in 1994 genocide.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

Mid December – Tanzania closes refugee camps and repatriates Rwandans, bringing the total to over one million.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

1997:

10th January – First case in the Rwandan genocide trials comes before the International Criminal Tribunal in Arusha, Tanzania. The case is against Jean Paul Akayesu, a local government official accused of ordering mass killings in his area.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

17th January – In a Rwanda court, Francois Bizimutima becomes the third Hutu convicted and sentenced to death for his role in genocide.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

A woman who testified against Jean Paul Akayesu is murdered along with her husband and seven children by Hutu extremists.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

22nd January – Over 300 are killed in an attempt by the Rwandan army to capture Hutu insurgents responsible for killings in Northwestern Rwanda, including the murder of the three Spanish aid workers. U.N. officials state many victims are recently returned refugees who witnessed the 1994 genocide and are potential trial witnesses.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

2nd February – In Gikongoro, Rwanda, Venuste Niyonzima is the first man tried locally for crimes against humanity in his own village. A U.N. Human Rights official in Rwanda expresses “serious concern” over the lack of lawyers and adequate defense for those accused of participation in the 1994 genocide. Canadian priest, Guy Pinard, a witness to the 1994 genocide, is murdered by Hutu terrorists while saying mass.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

4th February – Five human rights observers are killed in an ambush in Cyangugu, Rwanda. The murders are viewed as an effort by Hutu terrorists to get foreign observers out of the country. All human rights observers in Cyangugu, Kibuye, and Gisenyi are withdrawn by the U.N. to Kigali.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

12th February – United Nations watchdog agency criticizes the management of the Rwandan genocide trials.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

14th February – United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan asks the five permanent security council members to look into reports that the Zairean army is providing arms to Rwandan Hutus in an Eastern Zaire refugee camp.
[1] <http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

Vincent Nkezazaganwa, a Rwandan Supreme Court Justice, is gunned down by uniformed gunmen at his house. Frodouald Karamina, leader of a Hutu extremist political movement, is sentenced to death for his involvement in the genocide. Karamina is believed to be one of the leaders and organizers of the genocide, having coined the slogan “Hutu Power” and made many racist radio broadcasts urging mass murder. Karamina expressed no remorse for the
part he had played in the genocide. Karamina was born a Tutsi and assimilated himself as a Hutu only later in life.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

*19th-20th February – *Four prominent Rwandans accused of genocide appear in court for the first time.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

*23rd February – *Israel Nemeyimana is the first defendant in the genocide trials to be found not guilty. Authorities state there was a lack of evidence and witnesses.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

*26th February – *Citing mismanagement and inefficiency, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan fires the chief administrator Andronico Adede, and deputy prosecutor Honore Rakoromoanana in the Rwanda criminal trials. Agwu Okali of Nigeria is appointed new chief minister. By this date, the court has indicted 21 suspects.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

28th February – Virginia Mukankusi is sentenced to death for her participation in the genocide.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

Rwandan- and Ugandan-backed rebels depose President Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire; Laurent Kabila becomes president of Zaire, which is renamed the Democratic Republic of Congo.
[4]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#4>

1998:

Rwanda switches allegiance to support rebel forces trying to depose Kabila in the wake of the Congolese president’s failure to expel extremist Hutu
militias. [4]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#4>

1999:

December – A leader of a Hutu militia that helped lead the genocide, businessman Georges Rutaganda, is found guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity, and sentenced to life in prison. He is the sixth person found guilty since the tribunal began hearings in Arusha, Tanzania.
[1]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#1>

2000:

March – Rwandan President Pasteur Bizimungu, a Hutu, resigns over differences regarding the composition of a new cabinet and after accusing parliament of targeting Hutu politicians in anti-corruption investigations.
[4] <http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#4>

April – Ministers and members of parliament elect Vice-President Paul Kagame as Rwanda’s new president.
[4]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#4>

2001:

October – Voting to elect members of traditional “gacaca” courts begins. The courts – in which ordinary Rwandans judge their peers – aim to clear the backlog of 1994 genocide cases.
[4]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#4>

December – A new flag and national anthem are unveiled to try to promote national unity and reconciliation.
[4]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#4>

2002:

April – Former president Pasteur Bizimungu is arrested and faces trial on charges of illegal political activity and threats to state security.
[4]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#4>

July – Rwanda, DR Congo sign peace deal under which Rwanda will pull troops out of DR Congo and DR Congo will help disarm Rwandan Hutu gunmen blamed for killing Tutsi minority in 1994 genocide.
[4]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#4>

October – Rwanda says it has pulled the last of its troops out of DR Congo, four years after they went in to support Congolese rebels against the Kabila government.
[4]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#4>

2003:

May – Voters back a draft constitution designed to prevent another genocide. The document bans the incitement of ethnic hatred.
[4]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#4>

August – Paul Kagame claims a landslide victory in the first presidential elections since the 1994 genocide.
[4]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#4>

October – First multi-party parliamentary elections; President Kagame’s Rwandan Patriotic Front wins absolute majority. EU observers say poll was marred by irregularities and fraud.
[4]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#4>

December – Three former media directors found guilty of inciting Hutus to kill Tutsis during 1994 genocide and receive lengthy jail sentences.
[4]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#4>

2004:

March – President Kagame rejects conclusion of French report which says he ordered 1994 attack on president’s plane, which sparked genocide.
[4]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#4>

June – Former president, Pasteur Bizimungu, is sentenced to 15 years in jail for embezzlement, inciting violence and associating with criminals.
[4]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#4>

October – Nearly 400 Rwandan troops deploy as part of a peacekeeping mission in Sudan’s Darfur region.
[4]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#4>

2005:

March – Main Hutu rebel group, FDLR, says it is ending its armed struggle. FDLR is one of several groups accused of creating instability in DR Congo; many of its members are accused of taking part in 1994 genocide
[4]<http://www.us-uk-interventions.org/biblios/biblio_rwanda.html#4>

Sent by Lucia.

Does ODM Need a Ministry or Ministries?

1 Reply

 Dear Countrymen,

Uhuru Kenyatta should not talk as if the Ministry of Local Government is his father’s property. He has too much already and we will be addressing this as we consider the case for allocating land to the Internally Displaced Persons. We have issues with this guy.

There is no way ODM will enter that coalition without the Ministry of Local Government. It would be the biggest blunder.

We can cede all the ministries as it were and only keep Local Government and the PM’s office and you will be surprised by how well ODM can perform as a SYSTEM, not a party.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT is key. Don’t you compromise on that.
And there are good reasons why but that is an analysis for another day.

Does ODM need a Ministry? Forget ministries, I mean Ministry. Local Governmment is that MINISTRY. Forget Finance and the Presidency.

Agwambo kaza kamba mzee, usicheke na watu.
Kama si wewe baba tungekuwa wapi! usiogope, roho zetu tumeweka kwa mkono yako – usitetemeke.

‘WANG’NI!!’

And of course if Kenya is marwa..? Eh? Who can tunya you?

Hallo?!

Sande
HR Activist
VIHIGA

Commentary: Bloated Cabinet and the ‘Boda Boda’ Rides

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Honorable politician, kindly permit me to break into the residence or your current expensive chore vis-à-vis the person of your ethics as some ‘mheshimiwa’.

May I also indulge you as I trouble your duty for your constituents with a few borrowed reflections that previously that tainted some of your colleagues and the house that ordinary Kenyans put you in.

As I avoid other collateral political subjects of criticizing you and your office I wish to enquire that position of your mundane ethics as a constituent that voted for you.

Certainly, many still revere the memory of the past parliament that failed Kenyans. Though I respect and honor your elective abilities, I still find it hard to determine the species in you as a politician.

Maybe my acute understanding of your political position would not be sufficient, alone, without your walking the talk as expressed during campaigns and the last minute pleads at the ballot box. Yes! A more moral one than an elective one in the eyes of Kenyan voters. This, then, should allow us to enumerate you where you belong or make us complete the ‘catalogue’ of corrupt leaders in you even as you remain in high regard in parliament as a honourable politician. But then, how honourable are you?

On the other hand, history seems to be defining Kenya as a brothel with citizens as prostitutes of their own politicians. The elite have chosen to play lose with rigor and with a coalition in a vacuum.

During the December 2007 electoral campaigns, ordinary Kenyans were seduced, lied to, offered promises and later indulged in bloody post-election copulation with their politicians. Unfortunately, ordinary Kenyans never used any logical contraception against their politicians who in turn had tribalism and ethnic hatred in their blood. We chose to sleep with them as they sought for elusive votes. That was the same period in which ordinary Kenyans were strapped and were stooping so low for handouts in exchange for their voting rights. Now that we have onerstuffed the cabinet, Kenyans would rather ODM-PNU unwraps the cabinet of national ethics.

With the recent mutually zombifying high-rise chess played by PNU/ODM-K and ODM teams, ODM politicians have since become mutated outsiders that are now insiders.

This proves that politicians are nevertheless similar to the malfeasant Anopheles Mosquitoes of Kenyapulation. Their naked and corrupt political proboscis only drain the cents of the ordinary taxpayers without sense while venomously vomiting sectarian elite capitalism, class, segregation, tribal hatred, social disintegration and literally legalizing misappropriation trends into our weak veins. This has even made our dogs to howl and chickens to flap their wings with this type of old corrupto-democracy.

Even with the now infamous Kibaki-Raila coated tablet of grand coalition in place, the butter on Kibaki’s bread and jam on Raila’s cake seems to be a short-time juicified illusion to silence the voice of change, reason and democracy at the grassroots. It is unfortunate that the lake is being traded for some mountain with no ownership.

Some time ago Clarence Page, a columnist for the Chicago Tribune, wrote that, ‘If your only tool is a hammer, everything (else) looks like a nail’. Between Kibaki and Raila who seems to be the nail and/or hammer?

For the ordinary Kenyan, what we yearn to have are more sophisticated tools to bring back socio-economic, constitutional and political sanity to our nation and not machetes and spears.

Seemingly ordinary Kenyans are now voiceless and are barely ready to be pounced on again and again, until 2012 when the political mischief shall be eyeing the ballot. In fact, with a loose and overbloated grand cabinet, ordinary citizens are left desperate, poor and disoriented as politicians pull the strings from all corners of the nation.

Politicians and the business class have no interest in bringing real change to the grassroots but only have a high affinity for bloated cheeks and stomachs, gout, prostitution and exacerbating death for the locals.

Kenyans are eager to know who bats for their side even as the spell of power is squarely in their hands. We need not have political crusaders and their abundant ministry of selfishness. Or is your politician averse to your social and economic independence!

As we circumvent varied immoralities by our politicians, may we remind ourselves that weeks ago some of your colleagues were seen baby-sitting young teenage girls at some hotel in Kampala, Uganda . This was when the UK-based reggae band UB 40 had come to perform in that city. Maybe your colleagues brought pomp and color by massaging the egos of these Ugandan call girls. I do not want to be politically correct to state that all that was part of electoro-political support advanced to them to congratulate them for winning again against the opposition, that political seat. What your colleagues did was to help carry Nairobi ’s Koinange Street and some private residential brothels that portend to be massage parlors to Kampala and its environs.

Surprisingly, they forgot to have with them the local call girls whom they chose to leave in the streets of Nairobi , to misadventure themselves with spicy foreign brunettes. With their titles worn all over their chests as badges, they took with them Kenyan shillings and left behind real sense.

They left behind their perceived morals honourable politicians back in parliament and they forgot their constituents. They became more neighbourly to the little call girls than when they were with the family and in the house of business.

This last sentiment hurriedly takes me to the corridors of New York and its ‘Times’ newspaper to remind you about a story on the hounding out of office and recent ablation of the forty-eight year old former state Attorney General (AG) and New York governor, Eliot Spitzer.

Again, history reminds us that the ninth parliament had been composed of some very corrupt, incompetent and unethical groups of cartels whose members disguised themselves as honourable and who pretended to serve their constituents and the nation, only for them to service their bellies and groins.

It is sorry to note that some of them ate the fireman’s bullet as they sought fleshy affairs away from home with someone’s sweetheart. I call this a short stint with the boda boda that they courageously rode at the expense of their metallic Mercedes Benz and Prado, combined.

Back in the streets of New York, the twenty-two year old Ashley Alexanda Dupre nicknamed ‘Kristen’ and referred by the FBI as a ‘pretty petite brunette’, was having a ‘fleshy-pizza-fling’ as a call girl with the governor in his hotel room while it was under surveillance.

Unfortunately, cameras don’t lie. They simply leaked the sexual escapade to the media.

The now famous ‘Spitzer for Pizza’ experience is what sent the governor packing on the 17th of March this year for gross misconduct, a charge he accepted without argument.

According to the ‘very expensive’ call girl, she had been paid about Ksh. 288,100 that night. If the governor was paying the girl Ksh. 65,000 an hour for sex, a massage and company, what can make a Kenyan politician and MP not pay even more, for they earn a lot more than their foreign counterparts?! This should indicate that our politicians have been consulting very expensive’ call girls for commercial intimacy even in the streets.

Besides that the governor’s former paramour has now offered to ‘scale up’ her acts by offering to pose nude in a magazine for $1 million (Ksh. 67 million).

Consequently, the governor apologized for his ‘private failings.’ Ironically, he had previously been accused of ‘presenting himself as the epitome of moral virtue by day and recklessly hunted in the gutter of society by night’.

Spitzer had a good name for prosecuting the corrupt, including prostitutes when he was the state AG. Unfortunately, he was felled by the same ‘bullet’ he used to bring down his victims.
This came in handy for those who alleged that the former governor was involved in money laundering to a suspected prostitution ring.

Wait a jiffy. The world will always be small and mothers, as envious protectors of their daughter’s welfare would be partisan.

Ashley-the-call-girl’s mother told the press that many had thought that her daughter was between forty-two and thirty-two years old due to her ability and maturity in handling a promising and prominent governor. What a candid confession!

Back to our soil. Many local call girls, including students in secondary schools and those from universities, polytechnics and local colleges in Nairobi and other urban centers are believed to be handling high profile personalities including politicians and businessmen for money and other incentives like fees and pocket money.

This reminds me of a conversation that I had with a friend years back at Simmers restaurant in Nairobi. He informed me that he was once told by a call girl how her colleagues would entice politicians to sleep with them for money, which they accepted. She could be picked up and taken to a hotel, office and sometimes to a private residence for commercial sex and some ‘pizza bites’, whatever that meant. She even admitted to having lost monthly financial benefits and weekly incentives that had helped her rent a house after her ‘boyfriend’ lost massive property as investment during the post-election crisis. She bragged that she had quite a number of private personal contacts including cell-phone numbers and other confidential details of prominent personalities.

A cold shocker came when she informed us that one of her friends had confessed to her that she was HIV positive and that she had been sleeping with high profile personalities without any contraceptives or protection. She did this by deceivingly convincing them that she preferred unprotected sex for she appeared ‘very safe’, young, beautiful and caring before them though her intention was to revenge ‘softly’ after being infected by one of them, a man who is now deceased. Painfully, her mission is still on and many are still on her list though she is on anti-retrovirals (ARV) and appears to be healthy.

This then should remind our politicians of the ‘boda boda’ affairs that they have been having at the expense of ethical work and commitments that Kenyans expect from them even with hefty salaries in their pockets and lest they leave office sooner than later. Ask the former New York governor.

Mundia Mundia Jnr.

Commentary: Kenya Grand Coalition Cabinet Size is Inconsequential

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Press Release

The recent settlement of the Kenya Grand Coalition cabinet by His Excellency Mwai Kibaki and PM Designated Hon Raila Odinga is a great gesture of political breakthrough from the post-election violence trauma in Kenya’s history. In fact, it has raised hope that the two leaders are willing to transform and restore Kenya’s political, economical and social development traits.

Kenyans and the international community vested hope and trust in Hon Mwai Kibaki and Hon Raila Odinga to pilot the country to a safe landing after imminent African persons, led by Dr Kofi Annan, brokered the signing of a significant and historical peace deal between the two leaders. Therefore, the cabinet settlement is great achievement and should be backed by every concerned citizen.

Kenya is still bleeding and is in intensive care unit. Therefore, any political prescription that could lead to rapid healing is necessary, no matter how expensive it may be.

The entire world’s focus is on Kenya and people are keenly watching how amicably the PNU-ODM government will embark on a radical political, social and economic transition without declining back to crisis.

Kenya’s recent political crisis can develop to serve as a role model in solving the political and humanitarian crisis tearing apart our continent.

The Christian Democratic Movement of Kenya (CDMK) hereby urges all Kenyans and the international community to attend the swearing in of the Grand Coalition cabinet on April 12, 2008 to legitimate the Kenyan government and to enable us start the second facet of our demand for a Majimbo system of government as the safety net for Internal Displaced Persons and refugees currently living without dignity in camps.

The critics of the cabinet size should not compare the outdated Kenyan Unitarian government system with Federal Systems of governments such as Canada, Germany, the USA or any other, since they are being governed in the three autonomous federation assemblies (Federal, Regional “Majimbo” and Local Governments) .

In essence, the regional governments offer direct services to their residents without discrimination and as long as they are registered in their respective regions, it is the mandate of the regional government to protect their tax payers.

Rev Okoth Otura,
President/Founder,
Christian Democratic Movement of Kenya-(CDMK) &
East Africa Christians Transformation Mission Fellowship-(EACTMF)
CANADA
www.cdmk.org
www.eactmf.org

FEATURE: Where Will the Money to Pay 40 Cabinet Ministers Come From?

2 Replies

“Numbers don’t lie.” To all concerned voters in this country, please help me fill out the missing numbers for salary and expenses for the long-awaited forty Cabinet posts.

* 40 Ministers each earning Sh.1.087 million @ month = Sh.43.48 mil @ year
* 40 Assistant Min. 987,500 @ month 39.5 mil @ year
* 40 PS? 423,280 @ month 16.9 mil @ year
** PM ?????? ?????
** DPM ????? ????
** DPM ????? ????
** VP 1.1 mill 13.2
** President ????? ????

OTHER KNOWN EXPENSES:

3 vehicles per Minister = 120 vehicles
1 vehicle per Assit. Min = 40 vehicles
3- 12 body guard per Minister = ????????

Note: The salaries and expenses for the remaining 130 MPs who don’t hold any Cabinet post in this administration are NOT included in the above figures. You must also remember that at the end of this current five-year term, the same forty-plus Cabinet ministers will be entitled to lumpsum severance payments and monthly pension payments for life. By creating forty Cabinet posts, the long-term payment to these MPs will go beyond the grand coalition government.

Before Kenyans can celebrate the appointment of these cabinet ministers, they should ask themselves the following questions: Where will the country get this money? Where will the money for economic infrastructure come from? Where will the money to resettle displaced people come from? Will public service delivery systems improve because of the 80 cabinet
posts, or Will donors pay for the salaries of these Cabinet ministers or pay for economic development projects?

The Cabinet selection politics are over. The ruling class has won by awarding themselves the spoils from the general election of 2007. Out of this election the country got internal refugees, death, a Prime Minister’s office and now forty Cabinet ministers. What more can we ask of leaders? Maybe civic groups, civil society organizations and public voters should ask these Cabinet Ministers to take a pay cut from these salaries to help displaced persons, health care services and other economic projects that the country needs most in the aftermath of this election. What if these MPs forgo their salary for one month and give this money to resettle the displaced people in Kenya? This can be a good example of truly lending a hand to the needy of our country. Instead it will not be too long before we see Kenya’s government begging for aid from foreign governments while politicians rake in millions of shillings from the treasury and their fellow Kenyans die in refugee camps.

Yes, PNU, ODM and Tribal leaders will be bragging about the forty-plus Cabinet ministries. Who is the Minister for a given ministry? Which party got the key ministries? Which tribe got the most ministries? Which region got the most ministries and most of all Who won and Who lost in the cabinet sweepstakes?! What political leaders and the public will NOT realize is that by creating these bloated cabinet posts they have just mortgaged the future of this country into perpetual debt. If anybody in this country thinks or expects improvement of public services from the expanded cabinet ministries, I have a bridge to sell you. I urge Kenyan
people, after knowing what the MPs are earning, to ask them if they can give some money back to help poor people in their villages who will never earn a penny in their lives. Election and Cabinet selection politics are over, the public should now ask for a pay cut from our MPs
if they truly care for this country or for their personal interests!

Dan M. Orao
Michigan, USA

Kenyans React to 40-Member Cabinet Deal

5 Replies

Folks,

True, this is PURE REDUNDANCY and a big JOKE of its time. What I can say to the people is – it will be ONLY 6 months to election TIME.

How sensible is SENSE for a THIEF having STOLEN takes the THRONE of ALLOCATING MINISTRIES and DISTRIBUTION OF CONSTITUTED GOVERNANCE DELIBERATELY at OWN DISCHARGE without the ELECTORATE raising CONCERNS.

Democratic Governance is PEOPLE DRIVEN DEMANDS met by PEOPLEs VOTE to elect LEADERS who can be TRUSTed to REPRESENT the majority interests and together VOICE THEIR LEGISLATIVE CONCERNS as well as MAKE POLICIES for other local and international business, security & trade concerns. The ELECTED MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT are the PEOPLES REPRESENTATIVES. Ministries are the SERVICE ORIENTED DEPARTMENT where PUBLICs needs are met – projects FUNDED, CONTRACTS requests made/awarded, agricultural supplement received, Job creation & skills are innitiated, Faith Based and NGOs are Funded to provide extension service to public. This is where the PUBLICs Day to Day effective communication, activities and participation is. Here is where Wananchi MUST RECEIVE FAIR deal for their VOTES, an ACTION PACKED DEMANDS attended to – so their VOICES MUST BE HEARD.

A LEAN Government would have therefore been REPRESENTED by the majority ELECTED members with strong offices taken by ODM not PNU . A people oriented Governance WILL restructure and Overhaul Internal Security Police Force AND its leadership with NEW FRESH BLOOD to curb against MADNESS of SHOOT TO KILL “Extermination Mode”; eliminate Government Offices control by INDIVIDUAL self-syled Mt. Kenya Mafia BLACKMAIL beaurocracy. ODM then get the control of the GOVERNMENT SYSTEM so the society have a sense of DIGNITY. BUILD a SYSTEM where PUBLIC can CONTROL their own DESTINY. Provide conducive atmosphere ROOM for Self-employment and CRIATIVE thinking. Which Kibaki is an IMPOSITOR who failed to DELIVER. A democratic Government must be able to DELIVER and be able to CREATE JOBS evenly not sectionally and provide other services too. Incase they take these strong offices then we will not have the CONSTITUTION FULLY FLEDGED, SECURITY OF THE PUBLIC COMPROMISED AND CORRUPTION ELEVETED IN EXTENSION.

However, the PURPOSE for ELECTION is and was to be able to make the availability of CHANGE THE CONSTITUTION so to be IMPLEMENTED AND OPERATIONAL so to serve a FAIR CONSTITUTED DEMOCRATIZATION process FREE from CORRUPTION, TERRORISM, HOOLIGANISM AND KILLINGS OF INNOCENT CITIZENS and to stop NEPOTISM and DISCRIMINATION OF ALL FORMS AND OTHER ILL VICES

If PNU has Finance, Justice and constitutional affairs, Defence, Home affairs, Internal security, provincial administration, Education, information and communication, the president and perhaps vice president and 1 deputy prime minister; all these are very strategic important to any new election or controlling public anxiety like the one kenya had during post election violence.

Where is the LOGISTICS that will guide people to COME close to SAFE ELECTION come the next 6 months NATIONAL ELECTION. Come on PEOPLE if RAILA is WRONG then he MUST be TOLD that he is and he must KNOW that he is doing a DESERVICE to KENYANS. He must NOT ACCEPT BRIBERY – he will be CONDEMED FOR EVER. What is MONEY it is like FLOWER which weathers and flies away.

Finance Ministry is a CLEARING HOUSE for RECEIVING AND DISTRIBUTING FUNDS channelled through respective Ministries for SPENDING. At these spending FUNCTIONAL Ministries are the OPEN ENDED POCKETS where MONEY GETS IN AND DISSAPEARS to individual Mt. Kenya MAFFIA POCKETS. How can THE PEOPLE of Kenya sit to watch STUFF like that.

Like I said earlier, Political Strategist is a SCHEMER, sometimes CANNOT BE TRUSTED WITH constructive negotiantions onbehalf of the GENERAL PUBLIC. My Proposal Therefore is that, other ODM Leaders and Mr. Ruto should take this LEADERSHIP seriously and together make RESPONSIBLE LEADERSHIP consultations along with PARLIAMENTARIANS – VOICING CONCERNS the DEMANDS OF THE GENERAL MAJORITY KENYAN PUBLICS and that RAILA MUST BE FORCED TO OBLIGE.

My Appeal to Kenyan People is not to ACCEPT the CABINET as will be read when their INTEREST is not PROTECTED well in PNU STATEMENT.

Good Luck.

Judy Miriga
USA

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Paul Nyandoto <paul.nyandoto@phsotey.fi> wrote:

Judy and the rest,

I just read how the ministries are distributed and I am very surprised to see a lot of redundancy: take, for example, the Ministry of Planning and National development and the Minister of Development of northern Kenya and semi-arid lands, both of which are held by ODM. But the Ministry of Nairobi Metropolitan Development, Minister of Regional Development Authoritative, Minister of Cooperative Development, and Minister of Livestock Development are held by PNU. You see that ministry of Development is having six ministers and perhaps a lot of assistant ministers.

Let us see the Ministry of Labour and Human Resources Development (ODM) and the Ministry of Public Works (PNU).

Ministry of Agriculture (ODM), but Minister of Lands and Settlement (PNU). Minister of Roads (ODM), Water and Irrigation(ODM)… What the hell is the Minister of Agriculture doing if water and irrigation has its own ministry? ODM is given Ministry of Housing but Lands and Settlement is PNU. You do not built houses on air but on land. Do you get it?

The Ministry of Energy is ODM’s, but I do not know what paradox is behind this since the Ministry of Science and Technology has been given to PNU.

All the ministries of basic education and higher education are given to PNU. What is wrong with these people?

PNU has Finance, Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Defence, Home Affairs, Internal Security, Provincial Administration, Education, Information and Communication, the President and, perhaps, Vice President and one Deputy Prime Minister. All these are very strategic and important to any new election or controlling public anxiety like the one Kenya had during post election violence.

ODM is like a social worker in this government: Their only portfolio ministries are Foreign Affairs, which does not generate money, Local Government, Immigration and Registration, which 100% needs the Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal Security and sometimes needs Justice and Constitution as well.

Health and Agriculture have been very badly divided.

Anyway, let us wish them success.

Paul Nyandoto.

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>>> Judy Miriga 04.04.08 18:43 >>>

Folks,

This is the more reasons why ODM has failed the MWANANCHI. In addition ADD the ACCUMULATIVE FUNDING from OVERSEAS Governments which is a PAYBACK and will be paid from TAXPAYERS the ordinary MWANAINCHI – which in ESSENSE the IOU MONEY is supposed to SERVICE the FALLEN & REVAMP ECONOMY to its feet.

You know what, I HATE TO SAY THIS but – it will be necessary for someone from ODM – to take over from RAILA the AGWAMBO than put Kenyans to a MESS. This is the same style his father did after winning with the majority opposition elected members in 1992. As people rightly says RAILA was TINGA TINGA. Well the saying goes without MUCH ADO that he was just a GOOD POLITICAL CAMPAIGN SKEWED MOBILIZER and a SCHEMER – BUT NOT an ASTITUDE POLITICAL LEADER. At this point he needs to PAVE way for some serious LEADERS who will lead Kenya to the fulfilment MILLENIUM PLAN OF ACTION by the year 2020.

Thanks,

Judy Miriga
USA

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CMW wrote:

Hudson,

PNU in this case behaved the way we expected it to behave. Now, for ODM this is the beginning of a disaster. As good a politician as Raila is, his greatest failing has always been impatience. Already the pressure was beginning to mount on Kibaki and the PNU from the international community and from NGO’s. All ODM had to do was sit and wait.

Wafula

_____________________________________________________________________________

From: obed
Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2008 12:24 PM
Subject: Re: [africa-oped] 40 Ministers!:Cabinet to be named on Sunday

Kenyan politicians are not role models to follow. They have no stand on anything ,they can be bought and sold anytime. It not a surprise that Raila was duped to accept 40 cabinet arrangement so that the other side would say that RAILA was in agreement with it. It is a joke to have 40 cabinet positions in country where people cannot afford one meal a day and we have IDPS suffering in camps without food. It is a big disappointment for the Kenyans people because politicians never takes instructions from them after they are elected.

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fred wrote:

I am dissapointed by the “BREAKTHROUGH” if this means the taxpayer is to be saddled by
some 40 ministries, complete with assistant ministers and permanent secretaries! ODM should have rejected this and instead pushed for ha! lf this number even if it meant loosing some political support.

Raila should walk the talk and be consistent on this. Yes, the election was stolen and everybody knows it but throwing tax payer’s money is hardly a solution! This flies in the face of ODM’s blueprint for cleaning the mess politicians have created in the country. Raila has support across the country and should reject this so called “breakthrough.”

______________________________________________________________________________

On 4/3/08, Kuria-Mwangi wrote:

What made Raila change tune? Wish he stood by the Kenyans.

Cabinet to be named on Sunday
Written By:Emmanuel Kola
Posted: Thu, Apr 03, 2008

President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Designate Raila Odinga will name the grand coalition government this Sunday.

The development emerged after the two principals Thursday held talks for over two hours on the formation of the new coalition cabinet at Harambee House in Nairobi.

The two leaders agreed on the appointment of a cabinet comprising of forty Ministries. The cabinet is scheduled to be sworn in on Saturday April 12.

Thursday’s meeting at Harambee house by the two principals eventually ended the anxious wait by Kenyans on the naming of the grand coalition cabinet.

Both parties said they were pleased with the outcome of the discussions in the spirit of give and take and expressed their appreciation to Kenyans for their patience during the period of consultations.

Briefing the media after the meeting Raila noted that the long consultations were necessary to ensure an agreement that is amicable and good for the country.

Meanwhile the government spokesman Dr. Alfred Mutua says the breakthrough in the naming of the new cabinet will now pave way for the government to focus on other issues such as resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons.

Addressing the press during his weekly briefly briefing Dr.Mutua said most of the displaced people have been sent back home and are rebuilding their lives.

At the same time Mutua dispelled fears over the alleged distribution of leaflets in Burnt Forest area warning IDPs from the area not to return saying that the government is investigating the issue.

Cabinet Size a Total Disappointment

8 Replies

Keen,
In spite of your total trust in an individual politician and his current makeshift political outfit, if you open the Kenyan political page back 15 years you will find that what just happened is a repetition of the same pattern. History is a good teacher.

Thanks.

Michoma Moenga

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Keen Nyamwange wrote:

I have believed that free and unfettered straight talk is the basis of a free society. I am a stanch ODM supporter and have not wavered the least bit from the beginning. However, my thoughts and opinions have been strangely provoked because of the cabinet selection wrangling.

I believe that if ODM/Raila is to be an agent of change then we must see consistence and persistence with the goal always in focus. The goal is to bring real lasting change to the government machinery in our beloved Kenya to effect real change from the grassroots. If the just agreed number of cabinet ministers is any indication of things to come, than I am VERY DISAPPOINTED. This coalition is going to see a whole lot of turbulence in the coming weeks, months and years (if it makes it that far).

I said before that ODM/Raila must stick to their guns and ask for that which be for the people’s interest.

I feel that it is time for all Kenyans to speak out against this misguided trend. Left unchecked, then we are in for more bad news. I hope that is not the case.
ODM was pushing for 34, PNU was pushing for 44 that is a delta of 10. The people of Kenya were hoping for a “mean”, lean and clean cabinet of not more than say 24. How come the agreed number was not in this case a max of 39? Is this true power sharing? If anything for the sake of even numbers why not 38 then? PNU just wanted to show that they have the upper hand.

I expect to hear disappointment from ODM/Raila supporters.

I call for civil disobedience against PNU/ODM cabinet selection.

I expected ODM/Raila to send out a strong message against the needless and shameful teargas attack on honorable Dr. Wangari Muta Maathai. I was left dissadisfied and quit frankly discouraged on this matter.

The BIG question now is this: What else is ODM/Raila is going to compromise on?
To PM designate Raila Amolo Odinga (RAO): Please be careful not to let us down. We have come too far to sink!

Keen Nyamwange (Obama’s Illinois for Raila – OIFR)

IS IT TIME TO SAY ENOUGH IS ENOUGH?

2 Replies

ate: Wed, 2 Apr 2008 22:37:33 -0700 (PDT)
From: odhiambo okecth

You have got it right, and true, Kenyans are watching how Kibaki and his PNU team are behaving.

Hon Najib Balala got it right yesterday when, in a press statement, he said that the position of ODM is such that Hon William Ruto, will be a member of cabinet from the ODM side.

That was clear enough.

He again told that that the power sharing deal has been entrenched in the constitution, and to that extent, the principle of portfolio balance is such that if PNU takes Defence, ODM takes Internal Security.

If they take Foreign Affairs, we take Finance, and so on. ODM should also demand the vice presidency, given that PNU has the presidency.

Lets not leave anything to chance. The accord is between ODM and PNU, and the shared governance must start from the top, to the cleaner.

For this, ODM must not relent.

Oto

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samokello wrote:

Ladies and gentlemen,

It’s beginning to look like the two-month exercise Kenyans engaged in under the watchful eye of the international community and the capable guidance of Dr. Kofi Annan was an exercise in futility. After the depressing electoral fraud and impunity the Kenyan people were subjected to by the coterie of selfish officials around President Kibaki, Kenyans witnessed death and destruction on a scale never seen since the days of the Mau Mau. The result was that we drew a collective breath, looked down an abyss and stepped back to let the Hon. Odinga and President Kbaki pull us back from a potentially devastating plunge.

Three months on, what we are witnessing is just why negotiating with people without any common sense is always a waste of time. The troubling thing is that we’ve set a precedence…a precedence where conceited, selfish leaders surrounded by tribal buffoons will in the future refuse to turn over power when they are beaten at the polls. So, though Kenyans have supported the tireless efforts of the Hon. Odinga and President kibaki to find an amicable way forward,we must realize that there comes a time when recognition must be made of the fact that Kenya has it’s share of goons who don’t give a damn whether the nation burns or not.

By deciding to negotiate with people like these goons, what we did was to essentially tell them that their stupid behavior has its reward. Is it any wonder that they now want to dictate who gets into the cabinet? And is it any wonder that they can’t understand they lost the election? Let it be made clear to the ODM that Kenyans will not tolerate a move to sacrifice the Hon William Ruto. The PNU side must understand that Kenya exploded in violence because Samuel Kivuitu declared Mwai Kibaki president illegally, then the Chief Justice hurriedly and illegally swore him in in a ceremony even the heavens didn’t bless. You want to know who committed a crime? It was Kivuitu, Kibaki, Michuki, Gicheru and all those who acted to kill and maim Kenyans after the election theft. I especially wonder why Grace Kahindi hasn’t been charged with murder and use of excessive force on innocent Kenyans. Why is she free to laugh at our sense of decency?

The Hon. Odinga and those who support him have climbed down for the sake of peace and accepted to work with the thieves and architects of the mayhem visited on Kenyans. But now that those hardliners are hell bent on holding all of us hostage, aren’t we justified to say enough is enough? At what point do we say we’ve given it our best shot, guys? It’s my humble opinion that if the Kibaki side does not move quickly to move the nation forward, we have to act to save Kenya. We need a lean and sensible Cabinet, and men who love Kenya like the Hon. Ruto must be part of it. Period. We can’t accept a situation where the likes of Michuki and Karua tell us who is clean? Just how clean can thieves be?

The time is now, President Kibaki, do what you promised to do or you’ll soon realize that there are ideals and principles for which our freedom fighters and founding fathers gave their lives…and we are willing to follow in their footsteps if push comes to shove.

For Love of Country,

Sam Okello
President & CEO
Sahel Books Inc.
P.o. Box 6451
South Bend IN, 46660-6451
USA
Phone: Toll Free: 1.877.297.2435
samokello@sahelpublishing.net
www.sahelpublishing.net

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Subject: Re: IS IT TIME TO SAY ENOUGH IS ENOUGH