Category Archives: Human Rights

World: Sustainable Mining: Unearthing human rights challenges and opportunities

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From: Yona Maro

Without adherence to human rights standards, mining can cause loss of land and livelihoods, degradation of land and waterways, and increased violence and conflict. The most marginalised members of communities – such as women, children and Indigenous Peoples – tend to both be excluded from the economic benefits of mining, and tend to bear the brunt of any negative social and environmental impacts.

Australian mining companies operating overseas face significant challenges in relation to human rights, especially those that operate in conflict and post – conflict zones, and where governance is weak. With so many Australian companies operating in the countries of Africa, and throughout the Asia-pacific region, a rights-based approach to managing business decisions and practice is necessary.

Putting human rights information in the public domain sends a very strong signal to all company staff that human rights is an issue of fundamental concern to the company. In doing so it can drive increased employee engagement on the issue and assist in delivering on human rights priorities. Despite the high cost of assurance, some participants explained that their Boards demanded this as it provides the best guarantee that sustainability reports are based on fact.

Sustainability reports without independent assurance were also noted as lacking credibility with investors. Increasingly businesses are demanding assurance from other businesses in their supply chains.

More http://www.mwanabidii.com/forumdisplay.php?56-Mining

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Karibu Jukwaa la www.mwanabidii.com
Pata nafasi mpya za Kazi www.kazibongo.blogspot.com
Blogu ya Habari na Picha www.patahabari.blogspot.com

Global State of Human Rights Report 2012

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From: Yona Maro

The Amnesty International Report 2012 documents the state of human rights during 2011. In five regional overviews and a country-by-country survey of 155 individual countries and territories, the report shows how the demand for human rights continued to resound in every corner of the globe.
http://files.amnesty.org/air12/air_2012_full_en.pdf

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Karibu Jukwaa la www.mwanabidii.com
Pata nafasi mpya za Kazi www.kazibongo.blogspot.com
Blogu ya Habari na Picha www.patahabari.blogspot.com

Kenya: PRESS STATEMENT: Fraud by Political Parties

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From: Okiya Omtatah Okoiti

JOINT PRESS STATEMENT BY CIVIL SOCIETY GROUPS

A good number of Kenyans, who have carried out searches on the IEBC Website portal at www.iiec.or.ke/rpp, have been shocked to find out that they are members of political parties they never joined or did not even know existed. Apparently, their names were fraudulently used by these political parties to comply with the requirement of the Political Parties Act, 2011, that they recruit “as members, not fewer than one thousand registered voters from each of more than half of the counties.”

Clearly, the Acting Registrar of Political Parties never verified, prior to registering the parties and issuing them with compliance certificates, that each one of the at least 24,000 people, whose names the parties presented as their members, were real members of those parties and that they willingly and freely gave their consent to be so registered, and that the information about them was accurate.

The least the Registrar was supposed to do was to verify with each one of the at least 24,000 founder members presented by political parties that each had consented to be a member of the said party. Apart from protecting the constitutionally secured fundamental rights of individuals, such verification would also prevent mischievous individuals from registering themselves or others in parties they oppose and later claiming that they were fraudulently registered so that those parties can suffer sanctions.

By failing to do that which the law requires or expects of her, the Registrar created a loophole which made it possible for unethical characters, out to register political parties or to harm other parties, to fraudulently use other people’s identities without those people’s prior knowledge or consent.

Under the Constitution, registering anybody as a member of an association of any kind without their prior knowledge and consent infringes on their right to privacy (Article 31). It also amounts to forcing or compelling a person to join an association in contravention of Article 36(2), which categorically states: “Any person shall not be compelled to join an association of any kind.”

It is also improper for the Registrar to publish names of registered party members in a website or in a publicly available register as the same can be used to victimise civil servants and other vulnerable individuals for their political preferences. In fact, it makes no sense to burden citizens by asking them to inspect and validate information that she has already used to certify parties as being compliant with the Political Parties Act, 2011. To make matters worse, not everybody will have the means to check the register and, therefore, many are likely to remain fraudulently listed without both their knowledge and consent. And this could also cause conflict when such a listed person wishes to run as an independent candidate, only to be barred for belonging to a party.

Even if some people check and remove themselves from the register, it will be too little too late since their constitutional right to privacy and the right not to be compelled to join an association of any kind will already have been contravened. All the same we call on all registered voters to verify from the website that their said rights are not being violated.

Ideally, it is the duty of the Registrar to ensure that everybody’s privacy is protected. No person should be compelled, by fraud or whatever means, to be a member of a political party. The Registrar cannot shift the burden of protecting Kenyans from herself to the public. And the duty is not on individuals to cure the injury by removing themselves from parties; the duty belongs to the State to prevent any injury. And this can only be done before, and not after the registration and resultant violation of fundamental rights.

According to Article 47(1) of the Constitution, Kenyans are entitled to administrative action that is expeditious, efficient, lawful, reasonable and procedurally fair. In Article 19(3)(a), the Constitution declares that, the rights and fundamental freedoms in the Bill of Rights belong to each individual.

Hence, we call on Ms. Lucy Ndung’u, the Acting Registrar of Political Parties, to resign immediately for having demonstrated gross incompetence that has facilitated the said violations of the constitutionally secured fundamental rights of Kenyans. And the authorities must stop dilly-dallying and move with speed to appoint a substantive Registrar as required by the law.

Further, we also demand that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) asks the Police to thoroughly investigate the violations and immediately de-register all political parties found to have forged even a single name. Fining them Kshs. one million is inadequate and unacceptable if we desire to destroy immunity. In fact, the officials and political patrons of the parties that will be de-registered should be prosecuted and also be barred from being candidates at the coming general elections for having failed the integrity requirements of the new Kenya.

Finally, if Ms. Ndung’u does not resign and/or the IEBC does not deregister the offending political parties, we shall amend our Constitutional Petition against certain provisions of the Political Parties Act, which is pending in the High Court, for orders to that effect. We will also seek orders compelling the IEBC and the offending political parties to compensate victims to vindicate the violation of their constitutional rights by being compelled to be members of political parties.

We will spare no efforts because a river does not flow higher than its source. If we really crave integrity to our politics, then political parties, the Registrar, and the IEBC, who together are the foundation of our electoral process, must be above reproach. If we allow them to get away with the outrage, we will have planted the cancerous seeds of impunity that will kill the new democratic dispensation.

Signed on behalf of all by:
Okiya Omtatah Okoiti – 0722684777
Date: Thursday, May 31, 2012.

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Karibu Jukwaa la www.mwanabidii.com
Pata nafasi mpya za Kazi www.kazibongo.blogspot.com
Blogu ya Habari na Picha www.patahabari.blogspot.com

WHY THE WAR ON DRUGS ISN’T AN EASY MISSION

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From: Ouko joachim omolo
Colleagues Home & Abroad Regional News

BY FR JOACHIM OMOLO OUKO, AJ
NAIROBI-KENYA
WEDNESDAY, MAY 30, 2012

It is hardly twenty four hours ago I reported how Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko will not be able to implement the recommendations made by the Parliamentary Committee on the controversial issue of the 1.2 tones cocaine haul seized in 2004 that it is back in Parliament again.

That was then, now the MPs are still demanding a full disclosure of investigations into the matter. Ikolomani MP Boni Khalwale is accusing Attorney-General Githu Muigai for keeping a safe distance on the matter when the House was looking for him to answer what he knows on the impounded cocaine.

It is not that Prof Muigai is refusing to answer questions, only that he needs more time to consult the DPP on the queries of how sensitive the issue is and what implication it would entail should they make it public. AG cannot answer the questions on whether names of MPs implicated in the report have a hand or not.

Internal Security Minister George Saitoti had earlier informed the House that MPs Ali Hassan Joho (Kisauni), William Kabogo (Juja), Harun Mwau (Kilome) and Gideon Mbuvi alias Mike Sonko (Makadara) and Mombasa tycoon Ali Punjani are being investigated for alleged drug trafficking.

The names are in a US embassy dossier which former ambassador Michael Ranneberger gave to the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (Kacc) some months ago. Mr Kabogo had a dossier of his own, which he claimed also named Saboti MP Eugene Wamalwa and Kamukunji MP Simon Mbugua. He also said it implicates the wife of “a very senior person in the country”.

Mr Kabogo and Mr Joho did not only deny all links to drug dealing and insisted that those who had mentioned them be investigated for “peddling falsehoods, Mr Joho demanded unsuccessfully that his name be removed from the list until investigations are concluded, saying the allegations against him were scandalous and meant ‘to kill him politically.’

Mr Mbuvi on the other hand described the report “as full of false allegations”, claiming that that three senior police officers who had forced their way into his parliamentary office at Continental House linking him to drug trafficking did that falsely.

US President Barack Obama did not only list Mr Mwau and businesswoman Naima Mohamed Nyakinywa as drug traffickers, slapping harsh economic sanctions against them but also US citizens who do business with Mwau risk going to jail for 30 years or being fined as much as Sh400 million.

Those listed as drug traffickers stand to lose all their property in the US, or any business in which they have an interest. This is because many international financial transfers are processed in the US. The Kingpin Act, signed into law on December 3, 1999, gives the US government power to seize property belonging to people the president believes are drug dealers.

It also gives the government authority to block the property of any person or company “materially assisting in, or providing financial or technological support for or to, or providing goods or services in support of, the international narcotics trafficking activities of a person”. It is the same law that prohibits US citizens from doing business with listed suspects.

Others whose properties have been seized under this law are Manuel Torres Felix (Mexico), Gonzalo Inzunza Inzunza (Mexico), Haji Lal Jan Ishaqzai (Afghanistan), Kamchybek Asanbekovich Kolbayev (Kyrgyzstan) and Javier Antonio Calle Serna (Colombia).

US have to be hard on drug dealers following an urban legend which states that most US banknotes have traces of cocaine on them. This is in fact accurate according to 1994 when the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals determined that in Los Angeles, out of every four banknotes, on average more than three are tainted by cocaine or another illicit drug.

Since 2006, some 22,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence in US. Thousands more have been wounded, countless others “disappeared or tortured.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODOC) estimate that profits derived from narcotics rackets amount to some $600 billion annually and that up to $1.5 trillion dollars in drug money is laundered through seemingly legitimate enterprises.

In most cases drug dealers have a wide connection that is why it is very difficult to fight against it. In Afghanistan for instance, Ahmed Wali Karzi, the brother of the Afghan president and a suspected player in the country’s booming illegal opium trade, instead of being arrested gets regular payments from the Central Intelligence Agency, and has for much of the past eight years, according to current and former American officials.

The agency pays Mr. Karzai for a variety of services, including helping to recruit an Afghan paramilitary force that operates at the C.I.A.’s direction in and around the southern city of Kandahar, Mr. Karzai’s home.

Mr. Karzai is also paid for allowing the C.I.A. and American Special Operations troops to rent a large compound outside the city — the former home of Mullah Mohammed Omar, the Taliban’s founder.

This is despite the fact that the Obama administration has repeatedly vowed to crack down on the drug lords who are believed to permeate the highest levels of President Karzai’s administration.

Even the Roman Catholic Church in Mexico is not safe either. In July 2009 the spokesman for the Archdiocese of Mexico City, Father Hugo Valdemar, told reporters that three bishops in Michoacan have received death threats from drug trafficking gangs.

The bishops were not only to be killed for preaching against the illicit drugs but because one of the churches in Mexico received money from drug traffickers to build the church.

Mexican officials estimate that over 34,000 have been killed in the country due to drug-related violence since 2006. Corrupt officials are allying with criminals to skim drug profits and using the military to murder criminals who might reveal any collusion.

Some churches have benefited from the criminal underworld, receiving hefty donations from members who sit in their pews on Sundays but work as traffickers during the week. That is why most priests are not preaching against the trafficking.

Some priests of course, do not preach against it because they have also been the target of violence. Masses have been interrupted by gunfire, and some priests have been shot dead when they attempt to preach against the trafficking.

It explains why when Pope Benedict XVI at a huge outdoor Mass on Sunday in March this year condemned drug trafficking and corruption in Mexico, urging people to renounce violence in the country where a brutal war between cartels has killed tens of thousands of people, he did that under a tight security.

People for Peace in Africa (PPA)
P O Box 14877
Nairobi
00800, Westlands
Kenya

Tel +254-7350-14559/+254-722-623-578
E-mail- ppa@africaonline.co.ke
omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Website: www.peopleforpeaceafrica.org

News from Congressman Mike Turner

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from: Chuck Watts
to: Congressman Michael Turner
subject: Re: News from Congressman Mike Turner

Dear Congressman Turner,

Thanks for the update. If we are to make all Americans stronger, it’s important to protect and expand human rights, click on The Treaty and its fundamental values and principles. But you already know this.

Concerning HR 4310, I was ashamed you voted for a bill that does not protect the basic human rights of Americans and allows:
Indefinite detention of Americans [http://www.restore-habeas.org/]
Continues to discriminate against LGBT Americans in the military [http://www.outandaboutnewspaper.com/article/5445#.T8P7QZlYtKo]
Those whom we remember today, Memorial Day, did not die for what the bill promotes for which you seem to have voted. What has to happen for human rights to become the law of the land?

Chuck Watts
Wilmington, OH
http://empathysurplus.com

On Mon, May 28, 2012 at 10:20 AM, Congressman Michael Turner wrote:

News Brief

Honoring those Who Gave the Ultimate Sacrifice this Memorial Day
Each year on Memorial Day, we honor the men and women of our military who fought and paid the ultimate price for our Nation’s defense. As Americans, we often take our freedom for granted, but we should never forget those whose sacrifice made our freedom possible. As we pay tribute to those who served, I want to reaffirm my commitment to upholding the promises our Nation has made to its active duty service personnel, military veterans, and their families.

This month, the House passed the annual National Defense Authorization Act (HR 4310). As a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, I worked closely with members of the Committee to craft a bipartisan bill that advances our national security objectives, establishes a robust national missile defense, and ensures that veterans and their families maintain access to the care and benefits they have earned through their service. This bill protects veterans and military families from a proposal by the Obama administration to increase most TRICARE enrollment fees and co-pays, and prevents the Administration from implementing new fees.

Under the Budget Control Act of 2011, across-the-board cuts known as a “sequester,” are scheduled to take effect next January, due to the failure of the bipartisan “super committee” to agree on a plan to cut federal spending. I voted against this law, which raised the federal debt ceiling and created the so-called “super committee,” because these cuts would place our national security at risk and have a detrimental effect on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and our regional economy. Funding for the Department of Defense will be slashed by $500 billion, and certain domestic programs face an automatic eight percent across-the-board cut. The federal government must learn to live within its means and balance its budget, but our servicemen and women and their families need not shoulder the burden for Washington’s failure to budget responsibly.

Missing In American Project: WHIO-TV

On May 10, 2012, the House passed, with my support, legislation that protects veterans programs from the sequestration and prevents these catastrophic cuts to our military (HR 5652). I have also cosponsored legislation (HR 1297) that prioritizes spending to ensure that our service members continue to receive their paychecks in the event of a government shutdown or if the debt ceiling is reached. Our troops risk their lives each day to serve our country and protect our national interests. The last thing they need to worry about is whether or not their paychecks will come home to their families on time.

The Veterans Retraining Assistance Program (VRAP) is now accepting applications from unemployed veterans aged 35-60, who may qualify for up to twelve months of training to learn a new skill or trade under the Montgomery GI Bill-Active Duty program. The VRAP is part of a new law, the VOW to Hire Heroes Act, which I cosponsored to help move unemployed veterans out of the unemployment lines and into the workforce. To learn more about the VRAP program, call 1-800-827-1000, or visit: http://www.benefits.va.gov/vow.

This Memorial Day, let us honor the millions who answered their country’s call to duty, especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice—the men and women of our armed forces who have made America the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Sincerely,
Michael R. Turner
Member of Congress

MEDIA VIOLATIONS IN MALI.

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By Agwanda Saye in Bamako Mali

Amid continuing political instability following a rebel takeover in the north and a military coup in the capital in March, Reporters Without Borders has compiled the following summary of media freedom violations in Mali during the past three weeks.

“Chaos has reigned in the north since March, but the persistence of media freedom violations in the south, especially the capital, Bamako, is intolerable,” Reporters Without Borders said. “It shows that the 22 March coup has overturned Mali’s status as a regional model of respect for freedom of information. The authorities can no longer be counted on to let the media operate freely. The list of violations of journalists’ rights keeps on growing.”

Journalist’s unexplained disappearance

Babi Ahbi, the editor of the Bamako-based periodical Agora, has been missing since 12 May. His family, friends and colleagues are all very concerned by his sudden disappearance at a time of threats to media personnel. No one has so far ventured any theory to explain how he vanished.

“The police must shed light on this journalist’s disturbing disappearance and they must not rule out the possibility that it is linked to his work,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Whether he has been kidnapped, imprisoned or killed, his family and colleagues have a right to know the facts.”

Some sources told Reporters Without Borders that Ahbi supported “the people in the north of Mali,” where an armed group has proclaimed a breakaway state.

Intelligence officers after journalists’ sources

State Security officers arrested Birama Fall, the editor of the bi-weekly Le Prétoire, at his newspaper at around midday on 12 May, and questioned him at State Security headquarters for four hours before letting him go.

They interrogated him about a phone conversation with a former government minister who had told him that the bodies of many “Red Beret” participants in a failed counter-coup on 30 April were buried in a mass grave in Diago, a few kilometres outside Bamako. The former minister gave Fall its alleged location but Fall had refused to publish the information because he could not confirm it.

Saouti Haïdara, the editor of the privately-owned daily L’Indépendant, was briefly arrested by three State Security officers on 16 May and was given the same treatment as his colleague from Le Prétoire.

Haïdara was interrogated about a “leaflet-style” article he had published the previous week advising Malians to stay at home or to avoid public and military buildings because of the threat of bombings or armed attacks by “a certain Captain Touré.” The intelligence officers wanted to know who his source was.

“These two arrests show that phones are being tapped, which is a serious violation of journalists’ rights,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Illegal phone tapping combined with interrogation endangers journalists and their sources and can seriously impact the media’s ability to provide the public with news and information.”

Attack on radio station

Members of the Association of Malian Pupils and Students (AEEM) attacked Radio Kayira in the central city of Koutiala on 30 April, damaging its premises and stealing equipment but failing in a bid to set it on fire because the police intervened. The station’s owner, parliamentarian Oumar Mariko, put the losses at 3.2 million euros.

The students carried out the attack because they suspect that Mariko was behind an attempt to murder AEEM leader Hamadoun Traoré on the night of 22 April, and they are still threatening to attack the Radio Kayira branches in Bamako and Niolo.

“Without getting into political disputes, we urge the two parties to open a dialogue so that media premises can be spared this kind of violence,” Reporters Without Borders said. “At this time of political unrest, it is vital that the media should be able to do their job of reporting the news in a professional and impartial manner.”

Kenya: The government is asked to issue speakers at funeral gatherings in Nyanza with police licences

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Writes Leo Odera Omolo In Oyugis Town.

The popular making the round in many parts of Luo-Nyanza, especially in the greater Southern Nyanza is that the government should consider the possibility of introducing stringent rule that would require speakers at funeral gatherings to be subjected to the police licensing.

The proponent of this school of thought maintains that owing to the fact that the general election is around the corner, such a move would be most appropriate for the maintenance of law and order and would ensure that the peace and tranquility prevails during he electioneering campaign in the entire region.

The recent incidents where funeral goers were forced to scamper for their safety are testimony. Some politicians have shameless turned funeral gatherings into political platform.

Such commotions have resulted in innocent peace-loving citizens sustaining bodily injuries and such must come to an immediate end.

Unpopular aspirants vying or the various elective position are known to have been using funeral gatherings for making reckless and provocative pronouncements against their perceived opponents either real or imagined.

At the same time two senior ODM politicians in Southern Nyanza region have been warned to desist from making slanderous utterances in public gatherings which are meant to discredit the reputation and image of their perceived political enemies either real or imagined.

The two unnamed ODM leaders in the region are all candidates aspiring for the various positions of Senate, Parliament and County governorship.

The warning came as the result of numerous accusations and allegations against the two disgruntled ODM politicians in the region whose chance of winning any seat are said to be too “slim’. The two have been quoted in certain quarters as having engaged themselves in utterances considered to be provocative and bordering on character assassination.

All the aspirants vying for the various elective positions either in the County governance, parliament, senate and location Wards in the Council should guard against making sweeping and unfounded allegations against their opponent. The party should move fast and instill discipline that would require aspirants to engage themselves on the issues-based campaign as opposed to threats intimidation and uncalled for personal attacks, which are the recipe for chaos.

The kind of public gathering guidelines being asked for would compel the bereaved families to have the names of their earmarked speakers’ submitted to the police in advance. This would also require the speakers at such gatherings to account for all kinds of allegations and insinuations whenever required by police to account or heir utterances.

One of he ODM operatives in Rachuonyo South district said it had become evidence that some politicians were now roaming the entire region in search of places where there are expected huge crowds of people to the burial ceremony. Burial ceremonies should be the solemn peaceful sending off of the departing loved ones, and therefore should not be turned into political platform for electioneering campaign speeches.

One of the unnamed politician who is being accused for bad mouthing his rivals, it is being alleged to have recently branded some of the populist youthful aspirants, particularly the Nairobi businessmen, accusing them of being “drug dealers’.

The politician who is said to be eyeing the position of the County governor, is said to be too old and worn out and as such cannot offer any effective leadership to the community.

A group of youths allied to one of the contenders for the County senate seat have advised the bad mouthing politician to take a rest as he is time bar for any elective position and should vacate the field for the young and energetic aspirants for the position.

Meanwhile reports emerging from Homa-Bay say the contest for the position of Senate representative ha kicked off in earnest.

The Senate seat ha s attracted the youthful Nairobi based businessman Hilary Ochieng’ Alila who is likely to face two senior ODM politicians I the region. The two include the Immigration and Registration of Persons Minister Otieno Kajwang’ and the Internal Security Assistant Minister Joshua Orua Ojode.

Kajwang’ is the ODM Homa-Bay County branch chairman and the MP for Mbita constituency in Suba South district while Ojode is the MP for Ndhiwa.

Minister Kajwang’ has already declared his interest in the seat, while Ojode has yet to make his intention publicly known.

Both Ministers are seasoned politician who are well known to the voters in the entire Homa-Bay County, while Alila who had started his campaign as an underdog has taken the early lead owing to his effective campaign which has endeared him to the youth and women groups.

Alila has made major inroad into all the eight parliamentary constituencies, which include Kasipul-Kabondo, Kasipul, Karachuonyo, Rangwe, Homa-Bay Town, Ndhiwa, Gwassi and Mbita.

Ends

KENYAN DIASPORA RIGHT TO VOTE

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From: Doc Odotte

Greetings,

I would like to bring to your attention, the most recent effort by the Independent Electroral and Boundarie Commission (IEBC) which is charged with handling the upcoming elections in Kenya. As many of you might already be aware, Kenyans living abroad will now be allowed to vote for their preferred candidates as provided for in the new constitution and election Act of 2011.

However, IEBC Chairman, Mr. Isaack Hassan recently announced that polling will only be done in the Kenyan embassies and consulates. That means, here in the US, we can only vote in DC, New York, and Los Angeles.

What about our many friends in Georgia, Florida, Texas, Ohio, Indiana? Will they be complelled to travel 10 hours to register, then another 10 hours to vote? (possibly twice in the event of a run-off)

We have expressed our desire to have alternate voting methods such as mail-in, or electronic voting or having voting locations reasonably close to regions where Kenyan populations are concentrated, and that is not too much to ask for.

Some of the leaders are slowly but surely heeding to our demands, but not the IEBC.

PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION ON THE LINK BELOW SO OUR VOICES CAN BE HEARD

I encourage you to also send this to your friends across the diaspora fraternity so that we can collect as many signatures as we can

THIS IS YOUR RIGHT TO VOTE,

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/kenya-diaspora-right-to-vote.html

Doc Odotte

USA: The Constitution is broken

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From: Robin Beck, MoveOn.org Political Action

Dear Reader:

Corporations already have so much power. But what happens to our democracy when ExxonMobil, the oil baron Koch brothers, Bank of America, and all of Wall Street can spend unlimited amounts to influence a presidential election?

We’re about to find out in our first presidential election year since Citizens United. And because the limitless spending has been protected by the Supreme Court, the only way we can stop it is by amending the Constitution to reverse Citizens United and get big money out of politics for good.

Passing an amendment isn’t easy—we need to get overwhelming support at both the state and federal levels. But we have a powerful opportunity right now, in an election year, to flex our political muscle as MoveOn members. We can use the election to help convince politicians up and down the ballot to get on board if they want to earn our votes.

So we’re starting today by launching a new petition asking every state legislator, governor, and member of Congress who hasn’t yet declared their support for a constitutional amendment to undo Citizens United and permanently get big money out of politics.

Will you add your name?

Yes, I want my state and federal lawmakers to take a stand.

The plan is to deliver the petitions to state capitols and governors’ mansions in all 50 states and to the local offices of every member of Congress who hasn’t yet joined the call for an amendment.

And we aren’t, by any means, starting from scratch. MoveOn members and our allies have been working hard ever since Citizens United to build a movement for an amendment—and there’s already a lot of grassroots momentum.

President Obama is on board, along with more than 25 U.S. senators, at least 80 members of the U.S. House, and hundreds of state-level lawmakers.1

It’s an impressive start, and this year, we have the opportunity to help massively increase those numbers. Polling shows that Americans are fed up with the 1% flooding our political system with cash and getting get lax regulation, rollbacks of workers’ rights, huge bailouts, and tax giveaways in return.2

Nearly all of the economic impacts that the 99% movement has mobilized around are tied to the overwhelming influence of big money in our democracy. So once we know who’s with us, we’re going make the issue personal, confront politicians who won’t take a stand with stories of the real-world consequences of a system run by corporations and the 1%, and demand that every last one of them chooses a side.

When President Obama announced his support for marriage equality last week, we all saw how powerful it can be when our political leaders stand behind an idea that—just a short time ago—seemed “unrealistic” or “politically impossible.”

It’s time, again, to change what’s “politically possible” in America.

Will you sign the petition and ask every one of your state and federal lawmakers who isn’t on board yet to declare their support for a constitutional amendment to reverse Citizens United and get big money out of our democracy?

Click here to sign: http://pol.moveon.org/amend/?id=41692-21095459-pPGgg7x&t=4

Thanks for all you do.

–Robin, Elena, Victoria, Emily, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. “Endorsing Public Officials” list, United for the People, accessed May 17, 2012
http://www.united4thepeople.org/endorsers.html

2. “Survey: Money in Politics Can Drive Voters to Polls,” National Journal, May 9, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=275603&id=41692-21095459-pPGgg7x&t=5

Want to support our work? We’re entirely funded by our 7 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

– – –

Sent BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee

Ethopia & USA: An Open Letter to President Obama About Ethiopia’s Land Lease Project

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From: Anuradha Mittal

An Open Letter to President Obama on the Eve of Talks with Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi at Camp David

http://www.oaklandinstitute.org/sites/oaklandinstitute.org/files/Obama_open_letter_ethiopia.pdf

Large-Scale Land Investments are Violating Human Rights and Undermine Food Security in Ethiopia

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May 17, 2012, Oakland, CA: On the eve of upcoming meeting at Camp David on May 19, 2012, with four African leaders to discuss food security, including Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, the Oakland Institute and the Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia (SMNE), call upon President Obama to address what may be the single largest man-made contributor to food insecurity on the continent today: large-scale land investments by foreign investors.

In an Open Letter to President Obama, the Oakland Institute and SMNE are delivering a petition signed by over 8,000 supporters of the indigenous and local communities of Gambella, Ethiopia – 70,000 people in all – who are being forcibly relocated to make land available for investment in agriculture. There are plans to relocate an additional 150,000 people, most of whom are subsistence farmers who have been able, until now, to feed their families without receiving government or foreign aid over the last twenty years.

The letter points out that in addition to the many problems surrounding forced relocations and human rights abuses, the loss of ancestral lands where people farm equals the loss of their ability to feed themselves. Farmers and pastoralists are being turned into plantation workers with false promises that result in menial seasonal jobs that do not put food on the table or provide for their basic needs.

The Oakland Institute’s field research in Ethiopia revealed a grim picture of violence, coercion, and unrealized benefits by relocated communities. These findings are confirmed by Human Rights Watch’s independent study involving 100 interviews and sixteen site visits this year.

The burden of the Ethiopian government’s objective of economic growth is being borne by the indigenous and local people of Gambella and the Lower Omo Valley, where a half million will lose their lands. This is too great a cost. As Ethiopia is one of the largest recipients of US aid (more than $1 billion a year since 2007), the US bears responsibility on matters of such grave consequence. The letter cautions that something has to be done to ensure that the United States is not an unwitting partner in this current tragedy.

The Oakland Institute and Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia are urging President Obama to look beyond the charade of so-called responsible investment that will supposedly benefit all in the long run, and instead, calls for the US to reassess the terms of its support to the Ethiopian regime.

Our hope is that President Obama will take leadership in responding to an international call asking him to put the brakes on this impending and present-day catastrophe.

Download a copy of the letter at http://www.oaklandinstitute.org/sites/oaklandinstitute.org/files/Obama_open_letter_ethiopia.pdf

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KENYA: WHEN IT COMES TO IMPUNITY MUDAVADI IS NOT ALONE

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From: People For Peace
Colleagues Home & Abroad Regional News

BY FR JOACHIM OMOLO OUKO, AJ
NAIROBI-KENYA
TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

The rivalry between Raila Odinga and his deputy Musalia Mudavadi on Monday with the Prime Minister’s campaign secretariat asking the Sabatia MP to explain his role in a series of scandals that have rocked the country is indeed very absurd.

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His rivals will first challenge him on the role of some of his pentagon’s series of corruptions. He went ahead accommodating them even when he knew very well they were corrupt.

In early 2009 when a national scandal erupted when a number of prominent politicians, including one of the pentagon teams and former Minister of Agriculture William Ruto, were accused of over a KSh3.6 billion maize scam, Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s family featured with a parliamentary committee recommending that his son Fidel Castro and associates (including his personal assistant) be investigated over the deal.

Some political analysts argued that Ruto’s problem over the maize issue was not of his own making but a calculated move by enemies of the ODM to bring about a rift in the party. One of the reasons is that publicly like Mudavadi Ruto divorced with Raila.

Ruto’s problem with the party began when a group of ODM MPs asked him to stop criticising Prime Minister Raila Odinga after he said he would lead the party’s supporters in Rift Valley to decamp from the party.

Similar game is going to be applied to Mudavadi. ODM want to invite Mudavdi to explain a lot of things, among them his role as the confluence of Anglo Leasing and Goldenberg affairs and the mystery of Sh16 billion.

Other areas include malfeasance in the Metrological Department; procurement in Posta Corporation; mysterious shares in a cellphone service providing company; questions at the Kenya Ports Authority and the failed privatization of the Postal Corporation.

The other scandals include financial dealings at National Social Security Fund and in the Communications Commission of Kenya and as well as “what is commonly known as the DT Dobie Affair,” unveiling his scandal from August 1982, when he was a student at the University of Nairobi, to date”, including the cemetery scandal in which the government irregularly purchased a piece of land valued at Sh20M for a Sh283M.

Ruto was not pleased with Raila and the manner in which he was handling the Waki Report and the planned eviction of families from the Mau forest water catchment. Among politicians who wanted to quit with Ruto included Franklin Bett.

Bett was seeking an explanation as to why it had taken this long to resettle the evictees even as Prime Minister Raila Odinga maintains that the finance ministry had been reluctant to release the 4 million shillings set aside to purchase land to resettle the victims.

Bett was silence and became one of the strongest supporters of Raila when he was given the Ministry of Roads. William Ruto, Franklin Bett, and assistant minister Jebii Kilimo (Cooperative Development) accused Mr Raila Odinga of seeking international recognition over the Mau at the expense of settlers in the forest.

One of the politicians who is still with Raila and nothing has been said about him is Henry Kosgey. He has been accused that when serving as Minister of Culture and Social Services, Kosgey was part of the team that brought in American marketing consultant Dick Berg to assist Kenya in organizing and hosting the fourth All-Africa Games in 1987.

Berg’s task was to assist the Government of Kenya in raising funds to support the games; he is accused of fleeing the country with roughly $2.6 million before the games began. Kosgey is also alleged to have participated in the looting of the assets of the Games’ organizing committee by misappropriating funds designated for costs associated with the Games for his personal use.

Kosgey is also accused of looting the real estate assets of former parastatal Kenya National Assurance Company (KNAC) when he served as its director from 1989 to 1992. Under his management, KNAC is also alleged to have made illegal loans and paid out fradulent claims to politically connected individuals.

By illegally appropriating KNAC’s most valuable assets, Kosgey reduced the company to an undercapitalized shell that ultimately collapsed and failed to meet its financial obligations to pension and life insurance policy holders. At the time the KNAC went into receivership, it held more than $13 million in life insurance policies.

As a result of the collapse of KNAC, 900 employees lost their jobs and thousands of Kenyans from all walks of life lost their pensions or did not receive insurance payments upon the deaths of beneficiaries. The former employees also allege that the company owes them an estimated $655,000 in pension benefits.

Kosgey (along with fellow minister Sally Kosgei) is also named in the Ndung’u report as the improper recipient of more than 300 hectares of the South Nandi forest in 1999.

According to local anti-corruption NGO Mars Group Kenya, the illegal carving out of a total of 1,170 hectares of forest land was supposed to be part of a land swap in which Kosgey and two other politicians would exchange the forest land for farmland held by local farmers and the minority Ngerek community.

When the exchange took place, many of the intended beneficiaries were excluded and rendered landless. In 1995, Kosgey was serving on the board of directors of Kakuzi Tea Company, which is still in existence and is publicly traded on the Nairobi and London stock exchanges.

He is also accused of colluding with other corrupt directors in stripping Kakuzi of some of its prime assets by illegally transferring 97 hectares of Siret Farm (a tea plantation) to the Tinderet Development Trust Company, a shell company co-owned by Kosgey and his son Allan. In the face of declining global tea prices and burdened by debt of more than $8.5 million, Kakuzi put the remainder of Siret Farm up for public sale in 2007.

In July 2009, Kosgey was publicly accused by his Assistant Minister Nderiti Mureithi (a member of Kibaki’s Party of National Unity) of improperly firing three heads of parastatals (the Industrial Development Bank, the Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute, and the Kenya Industrial Estates) without following proper procedures and without consulting the boards of directors of those companies.

In an interview with national TV outlet NTV, Mureithi called Kosgey “a throwback to the dark days of the Moi era” and alleged that the three directors were unilaterally fired by Kosgey without any consultation and replacements selected by him without a transparent or competitive recruitment process as required by Kenyan law.

According to Human Rights report, the economic crimes, that include land grabbing and the 2007/08 post-election violence, are part of the violations that the named individuals allegedly committed. The report is titled: Lest we forget; the faces of impunity in Kenya.

Among those named are Cabinet ministers William Ntimama (ODM), Yusuf Haji (PNU), Sally Kosgei (ODM), John Michuki (PNU), Najib Balala (immediate ODM and one of the pentagon teams), Franklin Bett (ODM), Uhuru Kenyatta (PNU), Musa Sirma (ODM), Margret Kamar (ODM) and George Saitoti (PNU).

Kamar and Sirma were named into the cabinet the same day the impunity report was released. Uhuru is linked with the ongoing case at the ICC over violation of human rights during the 2007/08 election violence.

Ntimama’s name is linked to tribal clashes through the Akiwumi report. The report associates Haji with his failure to deal with the 1990s tribal clashes in Nakuru when he was the PC. He is also linked to sections of the land report (Ndung’u) which accused him of irregularly acquiring of public land.

Sally, Saitoti and Bett are linked to land issues while Michuki appears because of the raid on the Standard newspapers when he was Internal Security minister. The list also contains six assistant ministers. They are Ramadhan Kajembe, Elizabeth Ongoro, Simeon Lesirma, Francis Baya and Kabando wa Kabando.

There are also permanent secretaries and former head of public service Francis Muthaura, Francis Kimemia (security by then- now head of public service), Mohammed Isahakia (Prime Minister’s office) Romano Kiome (agriculture), Mark Bor (Public Health), Edward Sambili (Planning) and Joseph Kinyua (Finance).

Isahakia and senior administrator in the PM’s office Caroli Omondi are mentioned because of the alleged role of price variation in the maize scandal report. MPs named are Boaz Kaino, Onyango Anyanga, Peter Kiilu, John Pesa, Peter Mwathi, Fred Kapondi, William Ruto, Henry Kosgei, Stanley Githunguri, Chris Okemo, Wilson Litole and Zakayo Cheruiyot.

As you can see practically no one is safe in this government when it comes to impunity. It is against the background that my Kenya has not yet come. It is very unfortunate that I will not live to see my Kenya because it will come fifty years plus from now when all these recycles corrupt politicians would have left for real and true Kenyans.

People for Peace in Africa (PPA)
P O Box 14877
Nairobi
00800, Westlands
Kenya

Tel +254-7350-14559/+254-722-623-578
E-mail- ppa@africaonline.co.ke
omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Website: www.peopleforpeaceafrica.org

Kenyan Police and Military Abuses against Ethnic Somalis

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From: Yona Maro

This report provides detailed documentation of human rights abuses by the Kenya Defence Forces and the Kenyan police in apparent response to a series of grenade and improvised explosive device [IED] attacks that targeted both the security forces and civilians in North Eastern province. Rather than conducting investigations to identify and apprehend the perpetrators, both the police and army responded with violent reprisals against Kenyan citizens and Somali refugees.

http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/kenya0512webwcover.pdf

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Karibu Jukwaa la www.mwanabidii.com
Pata nafasi mpya za Kazi www.kazibongo.blogspot.com

Kenya: NCIC must wake up and monitor hate oriented programmes by FM radio stations broadcasting in tribal vernacular languaes

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IS DR. MZALENDO KIBUNJA AND HIS NCIC IS SLEEPING ON THE JOBS AS VERNACULAR FM RADIO STATIONS POLLUTES THE AIRWAVES WITH INSULTIVE AND SUB-STANDARDS NEWS AND HATE COMMENTS

Commentary By Bob Ndira-Uradi.

The National Commission for Integrity and Cohesion {NCIC} as a matter of utmost urgency look into the possibility of assigning and posting its bilingual experts to monitor some of the politically sponsored talk shows aired to the public audiences by FM Radio Station in vernacular tribal languages.

There is ample evident that some of these FM Station have been infiltrated by political operatives and the so-called “power brokers” who are misusing them for political expediency by ways of maligning their perceived rivals either real or imagined.

The NCIC should also urgently consider posting it’s by bilingual investigators to monitor hate speeches at all important meetings including funeral gatherings, particularly inside Luo-Nyanza.

These FM Stations weld a lo of influence over their audiences, therefore it is upon the NCIC to work closely with the Media Council of Kenya {MCK} and the Communication Commission of Kenya n{CCK} and other players in the industry to ensure that they instill strictest professional values in their Radio presenters.

He team of linguistic experts which I have in mind should monitor all the political talk shows including those baptized as “breakfast talks shows, to ensure the airwaves in the country is polarized and polluted with seditious broadcasting materials that could be detrimental to peaceful co-existence of all the Kenyan communities.

Of late there appeared to be some sponsored talk shows being aired by some of the FM Stations, broadcasting in Dho-Luo vernacular which tend to be malicious and mischievous aimed at discrediting individuals. These include stage-managed talks shows in which individual questioners are tipped in advance with what they should phone the station and ask the persons being interviewed.

The region hit the hardest is Homa-Bay County where one unnamed politician is always in the air talking bull-shit and rubbish. The politician who has been heard bragging in private to be a member of the inner circle close to the ODM Prime Minister Raila Odinga has been roaming the entire County making uncoordinated speeches full of threats to candidates aspiring for the various elective positions in within the County, parliament and senate as well as County representatives.

The said politician is allegedly sending SMS text messages warning those who do not toe the line that they would not be allowed not to contest the forthcoming general election on the ODM tickets.

This are kind of leaders are the one who have been frequenting the FM Radio Stations with a lot of vitriol’s purporting to be speaking on behalf of the party. Entrepreneurs and employers who have invested millions of shillings on the se facilities should also be prevailed upon to ensure they employ better qualified Radio presenters with experience and journalistic prowess and “ Not Jua Kali” presenters.

The NCIC has the responsibility to ensure the peace prevails in the country and at the same time ensure that information which is likely to stir up chaos similar to those witnessed in this country during the 2007-2008 post election violence.

Peace must prevail all the time, especially during this year when the next general elections are around the corner. All the level minded Kenyans must ensure that anything which could be recipe to chaos is stopped at al costs.

Radio presenters must be trained to be enlightened people and be equipped with the knowledge of preventing the repeat of chaos and who understand the need for peace to prevail all the times.

The management of those stations seemed to have allowed their junior staff free hands of conducting their work while filling the air with political messages that don’t add any value to the desired peace and tranquility and promotion of good and harmonious co-existence with the community itself.

The sponsors of top shows are full of antagonistic and despising other credible leaders within the community and even discriminating a far as the political party they claim to represent is concern.

If the ODM in Nyanza and its regional leadership has the chosen ones to protect their interest, this kind of politics should not find its way to the FM Radio stations, but the leaders are free to keep their policy within themselves.

What ha been going on, is making me to believe very slowly with the contentions previously made by the retired President Daniel Arap Moi that allowing the airwaves for every Tom, Dick and Harry could be a recipe to chaos. The recent liberalization of the airwaves has brought to the surface FM Radio Stations, some of which are so irresponsible and manned by not unqualified but unpatriotic personnel hell-bent in reaping the fruits where they never sowed any seeds.

This must be stopped and curtailed with immediate effect before the worse come. By saying this I really don’t meant they should be gagged and stopped out of business, but some stringent control and responsible policy regulating the broadcasting must be in place to weed out those presenters whose lust for cheap money has made it possible for them to be manipulated by politicians, who have turned their stations as political platforms. Here is where the MCK, CCK and NICC come in. I hope Dr. Mzalendo Kibunja is not sitting on his job.

The NICC should always not forget the kind of damages caused in terms of human lives in Rwanda in 1994 and its Commissioners should not si thee only to earn fat salary from the taxpayers, but do nothing. They must work and they will be rewarded at the long last.

Ends

Kenya: President Obama’s brother ordered to remove the US and Kenyan national flags from flying on the rooftop of a private business building

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Writes Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City

For defiantly ignoring the advice of the authorities and illegally hoisting both Unite States of America and Kenyan national flags on the rooftop of a private business premises.

Malik Abong’o Obama, the Kenyan based eldest step-brother of the US President Barack Obama has now found himself in big trouble with the Kenyan police.

The Kenyan police in Siaya County were earlier this week alarmed when they saw the two national flags of the United States of America and that of Kenya flying high side by side on the rooftop of a private business premises.

The incident took place at Nyang’oma Trading Center in Alego Kogelo village in Siaya County about 80 kilometers west of Kisumu City.

The flags were flying high at Barack Hussein Obama Recreation and Rest House. This was so despite the fact that the laws in Kenya forbade the hoisting of the Kenyan national flag on private premises, business building or private homes. But the flags can only be hoisted on top of a public facility such as schools, government offices, colleges, chief’s camps and other public institutions.

Malik Abong’o Obama shared one father with the US President Barack Obama, and their Recreation and Rest {Guest} House he has established near he Obama village home is named in the memory of their late father Barak Hussein Obama. Malik is the eldest or first born of the late Obama with his Kenyan wife Kezia Grace Obama.

The tough talking Malim Obama is being rumored to be eyeing the Alego / Usonga parliamentary seat in Siaya district in the forthcoming general election in Kenya. He ha world wide connection with international Muslim Organizations in the Arab world which said to be funding some of his NGOs development projects and activities within the locality and has constructed a Muslim Mosque right in the middle of the Nyang’oma village whose majority of inhabitant are Christians.

A local police boss Stephen Cheteka reiterated that it was illegal for Malik Obama to fly the two nation’s national flags on a private enterprise.

“We have politely asked him to remove the flags, but he I defiant an adamant forcing the police to take a stern measure against him,”said the police chief.

Malik Obama, however, claimed the order from the police was aimed at harassing him and infringing on his constitutional rights “ as a patriotic Kenyan who is at liberty to poses a Kenyan flag.

He threatened to write a protest letter to the Office of the President of Kenya over what he termed “protracted war’ with the law enforcers in Siaya County.”Is it not my right top fly the flag on the premises? He posed, adding this is a new Kenya under a new constitution.’

The hoisting and flying of the US national flag on the premises has elicited mixed reaction from many American citizens visiting the area as tourists.

In Kenya both US and Kenya national flags are at time being subjected to abuse with the two flags at time being recklessly flown over Boda Boda motorbikes and bicycle taxis with impunity

Ends

Kenya: Some the vernacular FM Radio Stations are broadcasting programs which could be a recipe to chaos and so must be stopped before the general elections

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Commentary By Arrum Tidi Ogonglo.

The time is ripe when the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting through the Communications Council of Kenya {CCK} which is regulating media houses and broadcasting station to monitor all the programs aired for public consumption by the numerous vernacular radio stations.

This is the easiest way of avoiding those stations whose programs could be recipe to chaos similar to those of 2007-2008 post election violence.

Kenyans do not want to see a situation in which some of our broadcasters would fall prey to the ICC.

Eng Philip Okundi, the chairman of the CCK and his team must pull his sacks up and ensure that the vernacular FM Radio Station are not m98used by way of airing provocative programs.

It has been established without any doubt that some of the FM< Radio stations broadcasting in their programs in Dho-Luo vernacular are being used as political platform in Luo-Nyanza in veiled vilification of their perceived competitors or rivals.

So they say, ”prevention if better the cure ”Kenyans should not wait an see the air in this country being polluted and polarized by individuals seeking political offices through short-cut and the expenses of their opponents.

Listening to some of the vernacular FM Radio Stations especially those broadcasting in Dho-Luo, one could easily get convinced that some of the politicians are believed to be bribing their way to these FM Stations via unscrupulous and corruptible staff who allegedly being paid handsomely to facilitate the talk shows or interviews.

Radio Ramogi, which is arguably one the most powerful with the largest listeners country-wide is leading the pack among the stations currently being misused by politicians. The station programmes is particularly allocating more times for and air-waves as a political Radio station.

Some of those regularly interviewed have been heard airing their views through this station even as many times as five times within a week.

The practices has made their views look rather monotonous and so notorious that some people have resorted to switching off their radio sets, once such persons come into the air.They talks about nothing else, but applied politics in Luo-Nyanza making some of us to believed that the station is up for something sinister.

It is imperative that the owners and senior management o this station be reminded of what has since befallen Kass FM Station whose head of programmes Joshua Sang is currently facing criminal charges at the ICC on suspicion that he had committed the offence related to crimes against humanity.

The Kass FM station predicament should serve as deterrent warning against the erratic and corruptive operators of the various vernacular stations. They must not use such station for personal egos and vilification of innocent people either directly or indirectly. The operators of these stations must be made to understand that such excesses could be subjected to curtailment because the freedom of the press which is enshrined within our constitutions is not immune. If deemed to be not furthering mutual cohesion and peaceful co-existence of Kenyans such freedom could be curtailed.

The CCK, which is the regulator of all sort of communications and broadcasting, appeared to be sleeping on its job. This institution must work in consultation with the proprietor of the FM Radio Station broadcasting tribal languages and give them some direction on how to go about their work and ensure that programmes aired are good enough for the promotion of cohesion of all Kenyans.

Candidates aspiring for elective positions in various arts of Nyanza are using the radio stations for not constructive engagement, but destructive engagement vilifying their opponent indirectly.

One woman aspirant is always in the air commenting on various political issues in the region, and yet this particular lady has no elective position, but using the station for insulting or discrediting other leaders. It is time this is stop forthwith.

Alternatively all the programmes containing political views on contentious issues must be sufficiently translated to a language, which is understood by all including top managers and proprietors of these FM Radio Stations before such programs are put to the air for the public consumption.

The proprietors of these FM Stations must strictly adhere to the doctrines and principle of journalism that is to inform educate and entertain. What the people of Nyanza region and those understand Dho-Luo language contain nothing, but malice.

Those Kenyan entrepreneurs who have sacrificed their pockets and invested millions of shillings into the FM Radio Station must insist they are put into the picture of what kind of programs their junior employees are involved. They at the same time must employ qualified workers and not ”Jua Kali”

The liberalization of the airwaves is not the certificate for mischievous. Programs coming out of some of the vernacular station broadcasting in ho-Luo are not even anything worth being put into the air for public consumption. Those sponsoring the talk shows whoever they are in most cases are semi-illiterates and engaged in discussion of some of the issues they are not conversant with. Some of the issues are so trivial and fall sort of intellectual debates over the air.

Ends

USA: Governing a Freedom Expanding Public Public Agenda For All Americans

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From Chuck Watts
on site, empathysurplus dot com,

Is my current moral worldview limiting my success at working together with my neighbors to make public government more effective?

Progressive / Conservative values
http://empathysurplus.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/freedom-expanding-agenda1.jpg

Read Posted on April 21, 2012 post & comments
http://empathysurplus.com/2012/04/21/governing-a-freedom-expanding-public-agenda-for-all-americans/

Kenya: Police Stopping The Limuru 2B Meeting Is Impunity

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From: Samuel Omwenga

In The Police Stopping the Limuru 2B Meeting Is Impunity Per Se and Abuse of Law Enforcement, I point out the irony of the police taking this action when they did nothing when Gema and Kamatusa held their meetings which were, in fact, the ideal candidates for banning because of their divisiveness and harm they portend for the country. I conclude those hoping to use state instruments to shove down our throats a president of their choice instead of letting Kenyans chose one of their liking in an open and transparent elections shall be in for a rude awakening to the reality Kenyans are determined to break from the old corrupt ways of doing things as well as ending impunity.

Peace, Unity and Truth

BEYOND SOVEREIGNTY ISSUE FOR GLOBAL AGENDA

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From: People For Peace
Colleagues Home & Abroad Regional News

REVIEWED BY JOSEPH ADERO NGALA
AUTHOR-MARYANN CUSIMANO LOVE
NAIROBI-KENYA
TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012

The years 2002 has been something of a revival of interest in Africa, at least in official circles in Britain. After roughly two decades during which Africa fate-the odd famine or natural disaster aside-was largely relegated to the bottom of white halls in tray, the issue has now found itself towards the top.

As a journalist who has covered Africa for three decades l do understand the implications and my role of reporting human tragedies- without rhetoric or rancor. Beyond Sovereignty issue for Global agenda has mixed political insight with personal testimony to create a powerful book-compelling.

In Africa politicians like to talk vaguely about global village, but if foreign policy is to be ethical as well as effective, it will have to recognize that conflict resolution entails more than getting two sides around a table in Africa, there has to be an acknowledgment that although African are primarily to blame for the decrepit state of their continent, the rich world has to shoulder its share of the blame.

In the decades since decolonization, Africa has been ill-served by those who claimed to be friends- too often policy has been driven by a competition between various powerful nations over the continents vast resources. We have argued for free trade what we really meant was that to restrict their export to us.

Instead of extending the ideas of social justice that we take for granted, we have all too often, allowed our companies to deny Africans those very standards; how fair is it that a cocoa farmer in Ghana should get less than one penny from the proceeds of a bar of chocolate that sells for 90pence in Britain? Why did it take a court battle in South Africa in 2001 to pursue, the great pharmaceutical business that some people simply couldn’t afford their AIDS drugs

In the aftermath of September 11 people were fond of saying that the ’world has changed’ that life would never be the same again. What they meant, of course, was that life in the rich world, and especially in America, had changed.

In the poor world nothing much had changed at all-except that many more of their citizens seen as potential terrorists. Very quickly, Somali found itself on the list of those deemed to pose a threat to Americans security-this is the country that USA backed in the cold war and then tried to save from famine in 1992.

The point is this; the world should change after September 11, but not simply in the way people suggested at the time of the attacks. if leaders like from UK prime minister remain true to their words, then over the next forty years Africa might well look very different from the way l have had to portray it during the last fifty years.

My intention was to review a well documented book by Maryann Cusimano Love Beyond Sovereignty issues for Global Agenda is a book that one must have it well written it articulates views from different scholars and its has also paid special attention to the works of Jesuits refugees and its has many ideas.

She addressed heavy issues on the global economic meltdown, terrorist attacks, environmental problems, disease pandemics, refugee flows, drug and human trafficking, resurgent religion, cyberattacks, weapons of mass destruction-the news headlines and policy makers are consumed these pressing global concerns.

But none of these she writers is important global issues are captured by the traditional view of international relations as the activities of state. People are dying, but states cannot save them. She also maintains in the book that the strongest states in the system cannot solve these failed these problems alone; their institutions are not wired for it, and they are scrambling to come up with effective responses.

Maryann Cusimano Love maintains in the book that a third of the people on the planet live in the weakest states in the system. These failed and falling states as she puts it cannot provide roads and drinking water, basic law, order, and governance.

The citizens are the most vulnerable, yet these states are what she calls kleptrocract leaders that treat the government as ATM Machines used for personal enrichment. Half the people in the planet live without freedoms (in both “strong and ‘week “states) their governments deny them the abilities to hold their government accountable for the activities undertaken in their name.

The worst of these states are predatory, deliberately killing the very citizens they are supposed to protect. Sovereignty-the ideas that governance aligns with territory, and that those outside the geographic boundaries have no authority to meddle in internal affairs-is not neutral or theoretical or theoretical or helpful for most of the people on the planet.

For example, nearly 6 million people have died in the Congo, as many Jews as died in the holocaust, in a conflict driven by failed sovereignty, the quest to control natural resources to sell to the lucrative global market.

Dr. Maryann Cusimano Love is a tenured Associate Professor of International Relations in the Politics Department of The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. She is on the Core Group for the Department of State’s working group on Religion and Foreign Policy, charged with making recommendations to the Secretary of State and the Federal Advisory Commission on how the US government can better engage with civil society and religious actors in foreign policy.

She served as a Fellow at the Commission on International Religious Freedom, where she is working with the Foreign Service Institute in creating new training and education materials on religion and foreign policy. ,

She teaches graduate and undergraduate International Relations courses at Catholic University and the Pentagon, such as Security, Peace Studies, Just Peace, U.S. Foreign Policy, Terrorism, Globalization, and The Problem of Sovereignty.

Her recent International Relations books include Beyond Sovereignty: Issues for a Global Agenda (4th Edition, 2011), Morality Matters: Ethics and the War on Terrorism (forthcoming at Cornell University Press), “What Kind of Peace Do We Seek?” a book chapter on Peacebuilding, in Notre Dame University’s volume on The Ethics and Theology of Peacebuilding (Orbis 2011), “The Church and Global Governance” chapter for a Vatican book volume on Pacem in Terris, and “Women, Religion, and Peace” chapter for a U.S. Institute of Peace book Exploring the Invisible.

She serves on: the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ International Justice and Peace Committee, where she advises the bishops on international affairs and U.S. foreign policy, and engages in advocacy with the U.S. government; the Advisory Board of the Catholic Peacebuilding Network, a network of practitioners, academics, clergy, and laity from around the world in the field of Catholic Peacebuilding; the board and Communications Committee of Jesuit Refugee Services, an international refugee relief and advocacy group active in over 60 countries.

An alumna of the Johns Hopkins University (PhD), the University of Texas at Austin (MA), and St. Joseph’s University in Philadelpha (BA), Dr Cusimano Love is a frequent speaker on international affairs issues, as when she spoke on Religious Peacebuilding at the Vatican and at the United Nations.

She is a columnist for America magazine and a recipient of the 2009 Best Columnist Catholic Press Award. As a former Pew Faculty Fellow and a current consultant for Georgetown’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Dr. Love regularly gives faculty development workshops on religion and world politics, and case and participatory teaching techniques.

Dr. Maryann Cusimano Love lives on the Chesapeake Bay outside of Washington, DC, with her husband Richard and three young children, Maria, Ricky, and Ava, who inspired her New York Times best-selling children’s books, You Are My I Love You, You Are My Miracle, You Are My Wish, You Are My Wonders, and Sleep, Baby, Sleep.

People for Peace in Africa (PPA)
P O Box 14877
Nairobi
00800, Westlands
Kenya

Tel +254-7350-14559/+254-722-623-578
E-mail- ppa@africaonline.co.ke
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Website: www.peopleforpeaceafrica.org

KENYA: THE NYANZA COUNCIL OF CHURCH LEADERS FORUM.

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From: Bishop Dr. Washington Ogonyo Ngede
PRESS RELEASE.
12TH APRIL 2012.

WE the Nyanza Clergy appeal to Peace Loving Kenyans and Bishops from various Churches and different Faiths to pray for Peace and Unity for the whole Country of Kenya.

We also condemn a section of the Clergy who collude with some Politicians to preach tribal alliances as this will never take this Country anywhere but will only divide Peace Loving Citizens with an aim of hating one another.

WE are also condemning in the strongest terms possible the ill motive plan by a section of politicians in the country who are allegedly plotting to assassinate Prime Minister Raila Amollo Odinga.We are therefore appealing to the various organs of the Government to fully investigate the alleged conspiracy to eliminate the country’s Prime Minister, as Kenyans want to know the whole truth about the saga.

We are kindly asking the police to give the matter the uttermost attention it deserves. In the previous years, such kinds of rumors were said about JM Kariuki, Tom Mboya, Robert Ouko, Bishop Alexander Muge among others. These rumors later became realities when these mentioned prominent personalities were eventually murdered under mysterious circumstances and their cases are still unresolved to date.We further appeal to the peace loving Kenyans and the Bishops from various churches and different faiths to pray for peace and unity for the whole country.

We also condemn those people who are preaching tribal alliances as this will never take this country anywhere but will only divide peace loving citizens with an aim of hating one another. Politicians should instead embark on a mission to see that the country remain united especially at this time in which we are approaching General Elections.“We do not like seeing our country going back to the darkness of the 2007/08 post election Violence,”

Lastly, we are advising our fellow church leaders who are turning into disciples of politicians by presiding over prayer rallies to leave the politicians a lone as clergy should instead wait for the politicians in the churches.“The action of some of our brothers betrays Christian faith and let men of God not be consumed by Politics.

In Christian teaching, love your brother as you love yourself not for church ministers to pray and open the doors for abusing each other in political rallies. Finally, we are appealing to the Government to beef up security for the Prime Minister God Bless Kenya.

1. ARCHBISHOP DR. WASHINGTON OGONYO NGEDE –
CHAIRMAN NYANZA COUNCIL OF CHURCH LEADERS.

2. ARCHBISHOP JULIUS OTIENO

3. ARCHBISHOP HESBON NJERA

4. BISHOP FRANCIS MWAYI ABIERO

5. BISHOP JASPER OGELLO.

6. BISHOP JOHN ONYANGO OBER

7. BISHOP OWUOR MENA

8. REV BARACK AGALO

9. BISHOP EVANS OOKO

10. BISHOP ALEX OWUOTH

11. BISHOP JAMES OPIYO ONYANGO

CHAIRMAN – SIAYA PASTORS

Austerity In US And UK – Ranks Of Working Poor Grow Despite Social Safety Nets

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From: Yona F Maro

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Karibu Jukwaa la www.mwanabidii.com
Pata nafasi mpya za Kazi www.kazibongo.blogspot.com

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The IMF president, a French national recently went to Nigeria to tell them what to do with their economic situation as it relates to fuel subsidy. Of course, one could have said, a ‘Daniel Come to Justice’, a machination of Nigeria Finance Minister Ms Okonjo-Iweala, who believes into to in the virtues of the World Bank and IMF. To her, except these institutions endorse her often whacky economic solutions, it has no merit even when such runs counter to reality on the ground.

It baffles one that whenever Nigeria faces any struggles, their default wish is to run abroad for some solution. A dangerous dependent approach that makes the most populous black nation in the world, a patient of all kinds of doctors, willing and ready to swallow prescriptions that often leaves her marooned and comatose.

Given the structural challenges in Europe and Madam IMF president is a French nation, I like to know whether she has gone home to tell France and EU member nations what solutions they need to pursue.

It is amazing as UK, US and EU are challenged by their own situations, institutions like the World Bank and IMF, are still seen as relevant in addressing the challenges of developing nations mostly African ones. They case of doctor cure/heal thyself, is now more evident and yet, doctor is getting sicker. I wonder what ‘patient’ nations in Africa are left to do. I suppose remain hapless and wish the doctor cures thyself well enough to prescribe yet another potion for the patient.

A different world whereby what we have all known to be true, are looking more like voodoo prescriptions only suited for unsuspecting nations. If we are one global village, how come we are not trading in one currency? Maybe we eliminate all the barriers that choke the world. It is good to see the ‘master’ struggle maybe it is time the ‘servant’ stood up and defy what the master has made them to believe is gospel truth. We never know. Do we?

As the height of the European debt crisis deepens and tensions abound, European Union struggle to what is likely to be a slow and painful recovery. The pain caused by deficit-reducing austerity measures will likely be much more significant than many realize: contraction of government services will hit Europe’s poor hard, worsening an already- desperate situation, says the New York Times.

The poor of EU nations will face significant obstacles on the road to recovery, and the pain will not be isolated to those countries that are most in debt — even France and Germany are discovering striking amount of desperation among their working poor.

In 2010, 8.2 percent of workers in the 17 EU countries that use the euro were living under the region’s average poverty threshold of 10,240 Euros, or about $13,500 annual income.

The situation is nearly twice as bad in Spain and Greece.

This is up from only 7.3 percent in 2006, according to Eurostat.

As a point of comparison, the Labor Department estimated that 7 percent of single adult workers in the United States earned less than the poverty threshold of $10,830 in 2009.

France, which is second only to Germany in its aggregate level of prosperity, has seen a fundamental failure of its own generous social safety nets to protect the poor.

Slightly lower than the European Union average, France still faces a below-poverty rate of 6.6 percent for single workers.

Furthermore, half the nation’s workers earn less than $25,000.

Even though the country’s workers make more than most other workers in the European Union, they also face higher prices that diminish this advantage.

For example, the lack of affordable housing (home prices have surged 110 percent in the last decade) have left many homeless.

One of the obstacles that the EU’s workers face is that traditional jobs, which include benefits and comprehensive compensation packages, are largely being replaced by inconsistent contract work. In 2011, temporary contracts accounted for 50 percent of all new hires in the European Union, according to Eurostat. The growing needs of the poor place greater pressure on government services just when EU governments are cutting back on those same services. Source: Liz Alderman, New York Times, April 1, 2012.

Funny money and credit instruments, laced with creative financing and fuzzy math models, have left America wounded, putting the entire economy in structural shock; teetering and tethering.

Extension of credits by instruments, a model developed and preached by the West, using future income models to finance current needs, makes one wonder, are we not living way above our means? The ratio of revenue to current budget needs fueled by undue dependency placing weight on future incomes while the economy is in dire strait is not sustainable.

Two deficit nations US and UK, are getting to understand that beyond the 6 functions of money, and undue carry forwards, it is time for austerity measures. It’s time to tighten spending and really cutting one’s coat according to their size.

The ‘crazy-like-fox’ class of operators and manipulators on Wall Street, will always assure the rest of us they have the answers. Well, how is that? We have unduly become a laboratory controlled by weird and wired minds, who prescribe ‘whatever’ financial vehicle when simple approach very well could have delivered the needed answers. It is amazing!

I get hearty laugh when I hear the word ‘austerity’ used in US and UK, because those of us coming from foreign countries, very well understood what that means given the often failed financial and economic prescriptions hoisted on unsuspecting nations by World Bank and IMF; the principal command and control arms of US and its European allies on developing nations.

It’s now time for the doctor to test and use their prescription. I guess what ‘Thou Has recommended, Thou often shy from using’, more like, do as I say but never as I do’. Any country serious about developing should see what US and UK have done, and never repeat those especially on spending versus revenue. We are choking at our prescriptions and no solutions appear in the horizon. The world is no longer naive.

Now, the doctor is facing their own prescription but they want Kool- Aid. One in denial always ends up confused more.

We must embrace ‘Back to the Basics’ with applied common sense economics, but common sense is a luxury in our good ole US America. I guess, we are waiting for ‘What the Doctor Ordered’, but what doctor? I pass.

What goes up comes down, and the Sun never rises from the West. Does it?

E E OKPA, II

eokpa@post.harvard.edu

Written by Ejike E. Okpa 11