Dear Annah,

I have some exciting news.

Starting this Saturday, March 1st, Obama supporters are launching a One Million for Change canvass across Ohio — an opportunity to put our amazing grassroots energy to work in support of Barack in the final days before the Ohio primary on March 4th.

We’ve set a goal of knocking on one million doors between now and Primary Day — and you can help make it happen.

This canvass will be a great opportunity to reach out to voters face-to-face and help Get Out The Vote for Barack.

Make a commitment to talk to your friends and neighbors about our movement — sign up for the One Million for Change canvass now:

http://oh.barackobama.com/onemillionforchange

Across the country, we’ve seen the amazing things that happen when people work together, united behind a common purpose.

Now, we’re heading into the March 4th Ohio primary with the most states, the most delegates, and having won the last 11 contests in a row.

This election in Ohio will play an important role in determining the Democratic nominee, and now’s the time to make sure as many Ohio voters as possible hear about the kind of change that Barack will bring to Washington.

Be a part of the One Million for Change canvass that is happening in your neighborhood and throughout the state.

No prior experience is required, and I promise this will be an experience of a lifetime. Come out and meet your fellow supporters and talk to people in your community about why you are a part of this movement.

Learn more and sign up to canvass now:

http://oh.barackobama.com/onemillionforchange

Together, we can change America.

See you this weekend,

Paul

Paul Tewes
Ohio State Director
Obama for America

P.S. — Early voting is happening at your County Board of Elections office every weekday between now and March 3rd and on the Saturday before the  election. Use our online tool to find your early voting location:

http://oh.barackobama.com/OHearlylookup

Here are some things to remember when you go to early vote:

* All registered voters in Ohio can vote in the Democratic primary.

* Bring one of the following forms of ID: the last 4 digits of your Social Security number, your Ohio driver’s license, a state-issued photo ID, or one of these documents showing your current address — a utility bill, pay stub, bank statement, or government document.

* If you have any questions about voting early, call our Ohio hotline at (866) 675-2008 and press 4.

Sent by Annah.

Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 07:53:36
Re: Vs. The Kenya We Want

Charles,

I do understand your point. But please just listen for a second. Kenya has been building democracy, and that is what have given even the voters hope of going in abundance to the voting box last year to express their views and mind. But what have they got, just a middle finger.

Mark me well I am not now talking about Kibaki or Raila. What I am saying is this: the president can come from any party since presidents are being elected by all voters. But the party which should form a government in any democratic state is the party with the majority of MPs in the parliament. Because it is the party expressing majority of voters. All over the world any government or state claimimg or actually understanding what democracy means, do things like that, that is what is called democracy. People should not keep on shouting this word called DEMOCRACY without knowing or understanding what it means. And even up to now I do not know where CHIEF JUSTICE WAKO is? WHERE ARE THE COURTS HE USED TO SHOUT FOR US TO GO TO? WHY CAN HE NOW TELL KIBAKI TO GO TO COURT IF HE KIBAKI AND PNU WANTS TO FORM THE GOVERNMENT AND THEY ARE NOT THE MAJORITY IN PARLIAMENT? Law should be followed and Kibaki plus PNU have broken the laws more than thieves or murderers in our Kenyan prisons today. Why should they be allowed to go free and spend tax payers’ money?

These people have been in the government now for over 5 years and claiming that they have developed Kenya to a good direction, while when they are sick or any member of their family is sick they fly them to be treated in England, Germany, USA, etc., while the common man can not even get a malaria tablet in a dispensary in Kenya. Don`t you see how they shake when Europeans or USA tells them that they will not get visas to Europe or USA? Why are they shaking? It is because all the money they have been stealing is invested in Europe or USA. These people are not investing all the tax payers money that they steal in Kenya. In fact, they are not patriotic at all, they are just some thieves, gangs, or robbers stealing Kenyan’s wealth. Who are these people? And should even Kikuyus support Kibaki, Karua, and Saitoti when Kikuyus are refugees in Uganda or living in tents in Kenya?

A president can be any Kenyan whom Kenyans want, and a goverment should be formed by a party with majority of MPs. If there is no majority party, then alliances are formed after the election. But on 27th. Dec. 2008, the Majority of Kenyans gave ODM party the mandate to rule and form a government and the so-called chief justice is not even talking about this. Why is he now silent. Things can be solved in a lot of ways. The most important point is to get to the goal, but I am afraid we Kenyans are getting nowhere this time.

Paul Nyandoto.

———————-

Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2008 21:30:23 
Subject: Re: The Kenya We Want

Nkuraya,

Kenya can have both president and a prime minister if the constitution is amended and they both follow the same law and same policy. What is happening in Kenya today is; there is no set law and non of our leaders follow the law. For example police should NOT tell any body that he/she is following orders from above. Nobody should order police to perform an illegal act on his/her favor. There has to be a stipulated law that is followed regardless of who is involved. I was in Kenya in 2006, there were no hawkers in Nairobi.  Go to Nairobi today. Hawkers are all over because Kibaki allowed them to come back during elections, are we going back wards or forward? Meanwhile, the shop owners are expected to pay tax and vat while somebody who is not paying taxes is selling their goods in front of the shops!!!
 
You cannot compare Al Gore and George Bush saga with the Kenyan one. Bush had to wait for supreme court to declare him the winner after which he was sworn in. Kibaki was sworn in even before Kivuitu announced the winner. Chief justice who is the custodian of Kenyan law already took sides by circumventing the law by swearing in Kibaki. Look what Uhuru did with councilors nominations by nominating more councilors than what he is allowed to nominate, is this the Kenya that we really want? Kenya is heading in to a big hole and it will take a long time to come out of that hole.
 
Ja Katweng’a
 

———————-

Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:51:27
Subject: Re: Vs The Kenya We Want  

Paul, I understand what you are saying. What I am trying to look is 20 years from now when there will be no Kibakis and no Railas. When we will have healed our wounds and the controversial election is long gone. Then the question arises do we want Kenya which moves in one direction with one leader one voice or Kenya which have many leaders many voices and therefore divided?

Paul, politicians being what they are they will never have the same view on anything.  Now imagine we have a President and a Prime Minister. The President is a Teso and the Prime Minister is a Oromo.  The President have a certain view and a certain policy at the same time the Prime Minister has different views and different policies. Now the Teso people decide to support the President and views and policies while the Oromo people decide to support the Prime Minister with his views and policies. Of course there would be violence. This violence would be so serious since the government will be split into two. The security forces would be split into two. It would be an internal war.

So, basically we would have a good election but still have total war within the government. You have to bear in mind the fact that Kenya has stayed stable and united for this long not because we had angels as leaders before but because we had one government, one leader one voice whether it was Moi or Kenyatta.

Another good example was US in 2000 when Al Gore emerged with more votes than Bush but fewer electoral college votes.  Nobody came forward and said for the sake of stability and nation reputation let share power. Let Al Gore be Prime Minister and Bush the President so that it can be a win win situation.  I think we ought to look at that and borrow a leaf from one of the oldest democracies we have.

Paul, remember the adage many cooks spoil the food.  I rest my case.

Nkuraya  

———————-

Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2008 19:49:16  
Subject: Re: Vs The Kenya We Want  

Charles what are you talking about?

A term for the president, even if he is a nightmare president, you want him to go on until his term is over or what? Any Kenyan doing poorly on any job is kicked out before his agreement time is finished whether he likes it or not. President Moi also did it for 24 years and he could have still do it if he was Kibaki, so do not cheat people. Again, all you have mentioned from no. 2 to 7 are directly or indirectly connected with the president you have already given the time he can steal people’s money until his time ends and after that you still can do nothing to him. Charles, do not think this forum is full with stupid people. This same Kibaki has given alot of things to the Chinese. We thought that when he was neglecting the west, we were going somewhere where we Kenyans can decide our future ourselves, we never knew he was just switching us from one master to another.

Kibaki and his party PNU have only 43 Mps, while ODM has 101.  So who should be the opposition according to you?

Please, if you do not want to build a better Kenya, just keep silent. You will soon see American army men patrollling streets of Nyeri and that is when you will realise that things are not that simple as you think.

Paul Nyandoto.

———————-

Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2008 09:29:12
Subject: The Kenya We Want  

The changes we need for a stable Kenya not only for the present but also for the future are few which are important:

1. A term limit for the Presidency(we already have that)
2. An independent electoral commission.
3. An independent Judiciary system.
4.  An independent parliament.
5.  A land Commission with implementation power.
6. A tribal clashes commission with power to punish.
7. Vetting of senior government position by parliament.

What we don’t need:

1. Power sharing ( what is the purpose of an election)
2. Prime Minister (a   position to divide people and waste money with little benefit to the common man)
3. A coalition government(what is democracy without  opposition)

All the above can be achieved by constitution amendments or by agreement by all stake holders.

Charles Nkuraya

KOLers,

Taking the cue from the lamentations of Mw Edari as to how Kenyatta and Co messed up with Kenya’s constitution to serve personal ends, I  searched for, located and have read Kenya’s Indpendence (1963) Constitution, and I recommend that you too read it! 
 
I find that it has all that Kenyans wanted (even at the Bomas Constitutional Review Conference) in a pro-people constitution.

Why then do we need to ‘reinvent the wheel’? 

Some of us were not yet born when Kenyans held protracted negotiations over this document, which was finally agreed unanimously, paving the way for Independence. 

It was subsequently adulterated at whim by the first president of Kenya to suit his, dare I say, PERSONAL interests!
 
Recognising the people’s need for an accountable and responsive governance within an accountable and democratic institutional framework, the Independence constitution provided for the following:
  
1. Bicameral parliament (Senate and House of Reps);

2. Regional Assemblies (1 in every province);

3. Executive PM as Head of Government, appointed by Parliament and answerable to the Kenyan people on a daily basis through parliament;

4. Ceremonial president as head of state (like Israel; Germany; Italy; etc);

5. District Education Boards;

6. District Medical Boards;

7. District Agricultural Boards;

8. 100% empowered and locally accountable local authorities/local government (County Councils, etc).

Aren’t these the stuff Kenyans are looking for in the new constitutional dispensation as attested by the views at BOMAS and throughout the country?
 
Why then do we need to go so far to give ourselves a brand-new constitution when all we can do is CALL the very same Parliament that has interfered with the contents of the FIRST CONSTITION to sit down and ANNUL / REPEAL all such previous alterations/amendments so as to let Kenyans REVERT to the very same document we had on DAY ONE of our Independence?
 
No more referendums, no more wastage of money, and we get back what we already agreed unanimously to guide our national collective?
 
As I said before, let Martha Karua and her PNU thieves not tell us about ‘constitutionality’ when Kibaki and her likes have failed to deliver a contitution responsive to the needs of Kenyans!
For, deeply burried in the very same current constitution, is the document that we all need: … all that we have to do is FAST-REWIND to the document before any change was made to it, and BINGO – we are home and dry!
 
Here is the document for all of you to download, digest and promote!
 
http://www.4cskenyatuitakayo.org/downloads/1963Constitution.pdf
 
It is the kind of constitution Martha Karua would demand to have in place were Raila to be the Executive President and Head of State under the current constitution! That is how good the document is, and certainly a very long way from “the Kilifi Draft”; “The Wako Draft”, or the “Naivasha Consensus”, whatever!
 
HOW DO YOU DISAGREE?
  
Blessings.
  
  
+Fr.

I am amazed. For the first time PNU and their commentator have an outstanding proposal to move Kenyans forward. GOOD JOB Mr. Kibaki. The test is “Can you stand to it?”

This is an extract from yesterdays Standard:

Kibaki said that despite the challenges the country has faced recently, the broader Kenyan leadership should have the capacity and the will to arrive at a political settlement, which galvanizes the citizenry.

Should the deal be reached, it would herald a new Kenya, where Parliament, and not the President, as is the case now, will create ministries and assign them functions.

That could mean death to or even expansion of some of the existing ministries and creation of new ones.

This was ODM’s answer coming from their school of thought:

The Orange Democratic Movement wants all the issues agreed turned into law through a constitutional amendment.

ODM’s position was that gentlemen’s agreements like the Inter-Parties Parliamentary Group Package of 1997 and the Memorandum of Understanding of 2002, have failed to work because they had no legal force.

Therefore, Mr. Kibaki we will keep you in check, so that you don’t take Kenyans for a ride.

Thanks!

William P. Odhiambo Okello

BEN:
  
  According to International Crisis Group 35 page report entitled Kenya In Crisis (Africa Report No. 137), soon after Kibaki was “hurriedly sworn in at State House”, he was “flown to a coastal military facility” and “the internal security minister suspended all media broadcasts”(p8). In simple terms the military was part of the rigging process.This is quite probable given the fact that Kibaki promoted Kikuyus to senior positions in the army soon after winning 2002 election.
  
  My own view of the election rigging reveals elaborate plan that was oblivious of the repercussions.
  
  PNU is now a step ahead of ODM. It is are preparing to sabotage mayoral elections by nominating PNU moles in ODM and supporting them for key positions in the councils.We are at war with PNU and no matter what mediation comes up with, PNU is out for an overkill. They are now buying time for the next assault and  have now had enough time for another battle.
  
  PNU is modern day colonial power. It has to be fought and defeated. It is faithless and untrustworthy unlike ODM. PNU is simply positioning itself to obliterate ODM and incarcerate its leaders. Kibor is victim number one. By arresting Kibor, PNU is testing waters and depending on our reactions we are soon witnessing mass arrests and fabricated judges that will be characterized by false witnesses prepared by the state. The idea is to destroy ODM and its leadership before 2012.
  
  Brace yourself for more from PNU!
  
  
  J.K. LELEITTO SANG
   
   
  ——————————————

“Ben” wrote:
            Why should the army resign when they are in a position to take over. Resign and come home to defend the community with pangas and Kotiek?
  Ben
——————————————

Dick wrote:
      I could not agree more! However, the name should not be “East Africa Republic”. Instead, we can call it, ” Western Kenya” or some other appropriate name. It is hard to imagine that kifaki and traitor Kalonzo will voluntarily leave State Hse before 2012. Thief Saitoti will use maximum force to torture ODM MPs and its supporters.  Why has the army kept so quiet as if they are not part of Kenyans? Why can all army officers from ODM strongholds resign in mass numbers and paralyze the government? Next week is the last week for meaningful talks. Thereafter it will be unpredictable. I think the US and other Western Countries will support ODM’s declaration of independence.

DJ
 

——————————————

Kipkemboi wrote:      

  This PNU people are playing around.  ODM should just take the BOMAS draft and declare it as the new constitution for the East Africa Republic comprising the the following provinces, Rift Valley, Coast, North Eastern, Western, Nyanza and half of Nairobi.
  
  The capital city of the Republic of East Africa will be temporarily in Eldoret, where there is already a State House, an international airport and military barracks. The issue of the permanent capital city will be ratified at a later date.
  
  We better leave PNU  people in peace,  because the rate they are provoking their fellow countrymen, the will soon be in pieces.
  
  So future residents of the Republic of East Africa, let us take a bold step and unitedly declare Hon. Raila Amollo Odinga as the First President of the East Africa Republic. The East Africa Republic shall be governed according to the Bomas Constitution of 2005, without reference to the landmass and people of Central and Eastern Provinces.

For more, please see http://blog.jaluo.com/?p=188  

Published on February 20, 2008, 12:00 am
East African Standard

By Prof Henry Mwanzi

  EXCERPT:

  The Presidency is the problem that has been ravaging us since 1964. Kenyans realised this and came together to cure this disease in 2004 in the Bomas draft constitution. That draft contained proposals to establish a just system, where power and resources are devolved. It is those who subverted democracy who sabotaged the Bomas Draft implementation, because, as they said, one of their own had become president.
  Now is the time to implement that draft constitution to bring justice and peace. It is this draft that was the true change that the majority of Kenyans voted for last year. Seven provinces out of eight voted for change. Status quo will not bring peace, because there will be no justice.

  When young people say there will be no peace without justice, they mean it. And they do not mean Raila Odinga. They mean an agent of change.

  The international community, especially the US, Britain, Australia, Norway, Canada and France should help implement the Bomas Draft Constitution – a local initiative, which contains a homegrown solution to the crisis.

For the full article, please see http://www.eastandard.net/news/?id=1143982109

Sent by Iqbal