Monthly Archives: April 2008

Commentary: Will Two Cabinets Work in this Tribal Society?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dan M.Orao

Michigan

Lessons from a wedge cutter machine!

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About a month ago, something sad happened to a little wedge cutter machine- its usefulness came to an end before my eyes. So that you can understand, this wedge cutter little machine, located at the self-service area at my place of work, is one important machine to our esteemed customers. Whenever they come to our store and have time, they can use the cutter as long as they want to cut their stuff to the size and shape that they desire.

But about a month ago, this particular cutter stated misbehaving. It refused to do its work. It just sat there with the obvious message “My time is up. I am no longer useful!”

To avoid losing customers, management bought a new one and, therefore, had no option but to let the old, useless cutter go away.

After the cutter left, I started seriously thinking about what all this meant. I realized then that there was a time when this machine that had now become useless was new and liked. Then, everyone was in praise of it. This was the same feeling several months later until the day it was determined that its usefulness had come to an end. What a sad ending!

What had happened to this little machine is what happens every day to many people! How so? Reflect on the following.

1. We all know too well that there is a time when we are young and beautiful/handsome. Then comes a time when no one cares any more and we find ourselves angry.

2. There are times when followers/citizens like their leader. They sing praises to him/her. Then come a time when no one cares any more and they feel isolated.

3. Whenever people start working, they kind of think that they will keep the job until retirement or at least for a long time. At the time they feel that their job is secure. But, later, something happens and so they are asked to pack up and leave.

I can go on and on, but the message from the cutter is this: know that the time comes when unfortunately your usefulness comes to an end. Therefore, my dear friend, there is need for you and I to always read the writing on the wall and to hit the road running. You and I must
always have plan B. Which one?

That will be my next posting.

Pr Birai-612-386-4608
www.themaranathasdachurch.org

The untouchable or unrebuked weakness!

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Some of us find it much easier to pass over some good news to our loved ones, especially when it has to do with ones promotion, winning a lottery and any such like. Such do not need a second thought or any kind of practice on when/how and why to share.

However, the story is quite different when it comes to the weaknesses of those we love–friends, spouses, children, parents, brothers, sisters, neighbors, colleagues, and church members.

It’s a known factor that no one wants to tell anyone anything negative or that which does not please our ears. And because of fear to annoy, we leave loved ones to continue with weaknesses that are known to us very well until it finally destroys them.

Oftentimes, I have heard it asked, “How come no one told him/her?” The saddest thing though, is that then, it’s too late!

My question/appeal to each one of us is this:

1. Do you know of a loved one with some kind of weakness that unless checked will finally destroy them?

2. Do you love such a person so much that you will not want anything bad to happen to them?

If your answer is yes, then please do one of the following:

1. Pray over the issue. Ask the good Lord to give you wisdom and understanding on how to proceed. You need to know how,when and why you must share the information.

2. Let your loved one know the consequences of such a weakness as you understand them.

3. Even after you have informed him/her, please continue to pray for your loved one to see some light.

And, finally, you and I need to remember that covering the weakness of he/she whom you love will only make things worse. Better take care of it today than wait for the impending destruction. Do you see my point?

Just a thought.

Pr Birai 612-386-4608
www.themaranathasdachurch.org

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

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Folks,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Judy Miriga
USA

______________________________________________________________________________

PNU’s List

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

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

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

FEATURE: The Creation of Ethnic and Tribal Hatred in Africa

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THE CAUSES OF TRIBAL HATRED, WHO BENEFITS THIS HATRED? WHY ARE AFRICANS SO COMMITTED TO IT? COULD THIS BE WHAT IS CALLED BLIND AMBITION?

_______________________________________________________________

THOU SHALT KILL

First the colonialists took a united nation with a common culture and language and split
it down the middle on the basis of a mythical racial divide.

Then post-independence regimes converted this legacy into an institutionalised ideology of hatred. As Rwanda marks the eighth anniversary of the 1994 genocide, NDAHIRO TOM of the National Human Rights Commission names the demons who paved the way to that cruel April *

There are no more devils left in Hell; they are all in Rwanda,” a priest told one of the many foreign journalists who were in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide.

The orgy of murder in Rwanda remains profoundly unfathomable to most journalists and their readers around the world as if the gates of Hell had literally opened and for 100 horrible days unleashed a howling mob of pitiless demons on a helpless world.

In ancient Mesopotamia too, disastrous events were attributed to the evil influence of the demons, whose number was almost without limit. The only defence against them was sorcery. But to exorcise such a demon, the sorcerer had first to name it.

The causes of the Rwanda genocide are not difficult to identify. The names of the demons are the country’s post independence rulers who, with foreign support, perpetuated a colonial legacy.

But where were the angels? Who invited the devils into Rwanda and locked up the angels in heaven? Why did the world ignore the cries for help from the more than a million people victimised for over 35 years by the racist policies that culminated in the genocide?

Millennia of migration and cultural interaction had made Rwanda a nation hundreds of years before the advent of colonialism. As in all societies, there were divisions and differences based on modes of existence, which were in constant flux, but not on any notion of inferiority or superiority of any of the groups. Rwandans shared a national language, lived in the same
villages, intermarried, and believed in the same “Imana y’I Rwanda,” the national God.

After the Berlin Conference in 1884, Rwanda, like most of the rest of Africa, came under colonial rule. Missionaries and explorers, most of whom subscribed to 19th century notions of racist superiority that justified slavery and Christian evangelisation, flooded into Rwanda.

They developed myths that altered the national identity. Tutsis, whose occupation was said
to have been cattle keeping, were labelled descendants of the Aryan or Caucasoid race; and Hutus as cultivators were designated a Negroid or Bantu race. The colonialists decided, without of course bothering to consult them, that the former were “foreigners” from somewhere in the north of Africa and the latter the original inhabitants of the area.

Initially, the emphasis was on group differences based on physical appearance, accompanied by notions of superiority and inferiority. According to the establishment, heredity biology determined the two predominant Rwandan groups. It was taken for granted that behaviour, habits, attitudes and beliefs are determined before one is born. In the colonial schools and
administrative system, Hutus were excluded in favour of a few Tutsis. These discriminatory policies furthered the colonialists’ exploitative interests to the detriment of the future Rwanda.

Nor was colonial racism in Rwanda just a Hutu/Tutsi affair. The Islamic faith was systematically suppressed. The Islamophobia of the establishment comes out vividly in the letter Bishop Joseph Hirth wrote to the Superior General of the Congregation of White Fathers on January 25, 1910, justifying a plan to establish a missionary post in the would-be capital of Rwanda, Kigali. He stated that he did not want people there he considered to be the “worst elements”. According to his successor, Bishop Leon Classe, the “worst elements” were none other than Muslims. In his letter to the Superior General of April 28, 1911, he described Muslims as “immoral, and a source of misery and instability to inhabitants of commercial and administrative centres.” [P. Rutayisire, La Christianisation du Rwanda (1900-1945). Edition
Universitaires Fribourg, 1987 p. 24]

In the early 1930s, depending on the number of cows one had, new “ethnic” groups were introduced. If a man had less than 10 cows on census day, he became “Hutu,” and if he had more, he automatically was taken to be a “Tutsi.” This was the first invitation to the devils.

In 1959 a new definition of Rwandans emerged. In a pastoral letter “in the name of love,” Catholic Bishop Andr Perraudin grouped Rwandans into “races.”

Nazism, stamped out in Europe, had arrived in the tropics. Tropical Nazism was officially implemented in identity cards, entrenched in schools and offices through quotas, and later glorified as a shining example of Western democracy and order. Rwanda’s identity was thus transmuted, and as a direct result, the country was divided, ruined and destroyed.

By now, the establishment had done a cynical flip-flop and Hutus were in favour. The Catholic Centre at Kabgayi, the residence of Bishop Perraudin, was used to spread Hutu propaganda. [African Newsletter, Research Centre on Socio-Political Information in Brussels, February 5,1960.] The report of the international commission of inquiry on the November 1959 unrest in Rwanda also clearly noted: “The Belgian authorities exercised a decisive impact on the evolution of unrest in certain chiefdoms, in the north of Rwanda, practically no Tutsi household was saved. The resistance organised by the Tutsi leadership was quickly suppressed by military action undertaken by the Belgian government.” The revolutionaries’ slogan at that time was “Long live Belgium,” and as of 1960 they declared they wanted 25 years more under colonial rule.

The racist mayhem perpetrated in the so-called Hutu revolution, assisted by missionaries, Belgian administrators and the army, saw the first wave of African refugees in their thousands streaming from Rwanda into neighbouring countries themselves still under colonial rule. Throughout the early 1960s, while Tutsis were being massacred and expelled, the “international community” maintained a studious silence, despite its physical presence in
Rwanda in the form of the United Nations observers.

After independence, Rwandans continued to be schooled to be submissive. They went along with the colonial definition of who they should be, how they should behave and what they should think of themselves. Through schools, institutes of higher learning, churches and the media, “intellectual” ideologues (including priests) developed and multiplied all sorts of pejorative stereotypes inherited from the colonialists to describe the Hutu and Tutsi.

So a Hutu was, according to where you stood, a Bantu, a good Christian, pro-white, an aborigine, an authentic Negro, a docile worker, a simplistic small-Negro, a victim of oppression, a slave, vulgar/lowly, indigenous, a serf, a cultivator, a peasant and a beast of burden.”

On the other hand, a Tutsi was branded a Hamite, a Communist, anti-white men, the white man’s rival, the white man’s cousin, lazy, a cockroach, intelligent/cunning, a giant, an oppressor, a noble lord, an invader, feudal, a cattle-keeper, an aristocrat born to rule.”

This is how post-independence governments continued the colonial legacy of racism and division in Rwanda. Their first priority was the consolidation of hate and methods of eliminating their “enemies.” The false theory promulgated by the missionaries and colonial administration that the Tutsi had grossly exploited the Hutu for centuries continued to mould Hutu comprehension of Rwandan history and eventually became the primary ideological justification for genocide.

The former president of Rwanda, Pasteur Bizimungu, says: “Quite interestingly, since 1959, when the cover-up strategy relegated the Tutsis to underclass status, some Hutus have developed an aristocratic mentality. It is in this connection that some leaders today consider co-operation with Tutsis a form of abasement since the Tutsis are perceived as the underdogs. Since 1959, the theory developed is that the Hutus are born to rule. All these stereotypes, which are still being repeated and which have had an unprecedented impact on the people of Rwanda, are rubbish” [opening speech at a seminar on Joint Evaluation of Emergency Assistance to Rwanda, September 10, 1996].

Indeed, the hate-schemes had become regular and systemic. It had become a virtue to make them public, as for example in the “10 Hutu commandments” published in Kangura magazine No. 6 of December 10, 1990:

“One, every Muhutu should know that a Mututsi woman, wherever she is, works for the interest of the Tutsi ethnic group. As a result, we shall consider a traitor any Muhutu who marries a Tutsi woman; befriends a Tutsi woman; employs a Tutsi woman as a secretary or a concubine.

“Two, every Muhutu should know that our Hutu daughters are more suitable and conscientious in their role as woman, wife and mother of the family. Are they not beautiful, good secretaries and more honest?”

The third commandment exhorted the Bahutu women to be vigilant and try to bring their husbands, brothers and sons back to reason; and the fourth reminded every Muhutu, “Know that every Mututsi is dishonest in business” his only aim is the supremacy of his ethnic group. As a result, any Muhutu who does the following is a traitor: makes a partnership with Batutsi in business; invests his money or the government’s money in a Tutsi enterprise; lends or borrows money from a Mututsi; and, gives favours to Batutsi in business (obtaining import licenses, bank loans, construction sites, public markets, etc.)”

The fifth, sixth and seventh commandments respectively advocated that: All strategic positions, political, administrative, economic, military and security, be entrusted to Bahutu; that the education sector (school pupils, students, teachers) must be majority Hutu; and the Rwandans Armed Forces should be exclusively Hutu.

The eighth expounded on the “lessons” of the October 1990 war, which were that no member of the military should marry a Tutsi; and that the Bahutu should stop having mercy on the Batutsi.

The ninth commandment compelled the Bahutu, wherever they were, to be concerned with the fate of their Hutu brothers. And for that matter, the Bahutu inside and outside Rwanda must constantly look for friends and allies for the Hutu cause, starting with their Bantu brothers; must constantly counteract the Tutsi propaganda; and, must be firm and vigilant against their common Tutsi enemy.

The tenth decree, affirmed that the “social revolution of 1959, the Referendum of 1961, and the Hutu Ideology, must be taught to every Muhutu at every level. Every Hutu must spread this ideology widely. Any Muhutu who persecutes his brother Muhutu for having read, spread and taught this ideology is a traitor.”

This commandment was the inspiration for Bikindi Simon’s abhorrent song, “nanga abahutu batibuka” (I hate Hutus who do not remember). This song dominated the airwaves of Radio T l vision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM), which was instrumental in inciting hatred before and during the genocide (See story on page 3). The composer was recently indicted by the
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

The language of the “Ten Commandments” was intended to prepare the grounds for genocide in a predominantly “Christian” country. Such articles of faith-cum-instructions reflected an ethnocentric theory made public. Many were official policies for decades.

From then, various state-sponsored news media overtly called for the killing of Tutsis. There are many areas in Rwanda today where you find few or no survivors, because individuals killed their husbands/wives and children for lack of “required purity.” Others were involved or conspired in the killing of their parents, brothers, sisters and other close relatives thought to
have betrayed some of the “Hutu Commandments.”

In his letter dated September 21, 1992, the Army Commander, Colonel Deogratias Nsabimana, was forwarding a document prepared and signed by a committee of 10 officers giving a “contemporary” definition of the term “enemy.” According to this document, which was intended for the widest possible dissemination, the enemy fell into two categories, namely, “the primary enemy” and the “enemy supporter.” The primary enemy was defined as “the extremist Tutsi within the country or abroad who are nostalgic for power and who have never acknowledged and still do not acknowledge the realities of the Social Revolution of 1959, and who wish to regain power in Rwanda by all possible means, including the use of weapons.”

On the other hand, the document clarified that the enemy supporter was “anyone who lent support in whatever form to the primary enemy.” It also stated that the primary enemy and their supporters came mostly from social groups comprising, in particular, “Tutsi refugees,” “Tutsi within the country,” “Hutus dissatisfied with the current regime,” “Foreigners married to Tutsi women” and the “Nilotic-Hamitic tribes in the region.”

This identification of “primary enemy” and “enemy supporter” led to yet another way of categorising an individual as a Tutsi. This time, the Interahamwe militia were the ones deciding who was a Tutsi. As Prof William Schabas says, “In Rwanda, the Belgian colonisers had defined ethnic Tutsis as those possessing a certain number of cattle. The determinations were made 60 or 70 years ago, then inscribed on identity cards, and passed from parents to children according to customary rules. In 1994, individuals were Tutsis if the interahamwe militia said they were.” [W. Schabas, The Genocide Convention at Fifty, Special Lecture, International Institute of Human Rights-Strasbourg, July 9, 1999].

Ordinary persons accepted the army’s definition of the enemy. A prosecution witness, who has confessed his participation in the genocide, last year told the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) that they killed Tutsis because it was “a period of war,” and that they were fighting against the Tutsi who were their “enemies.” “We were fighting the Tutsi and also their accomplices. Civilians were the ones targeted but even Tutsi soldiers were killed,” he said. [Internews, Cyangugu Trial, September 17, 2001]

On the November 22, 1992, Dr Mugesera Leon, now a fugitive from justice, in Canada, made a speech in which he was equally unambiguous about the targeted group in the 1994 genocide. He publicly urged the Hutu to destroy the Tutsi and return them to their mythical ancestral home “via the short cut of the Nyabarongo River,” which feeds into the rivers of the Nile watershed. In that speech, Mugesera, a PhD graduate from Canada who worked with the ruling party MRND and the Ministry for the Family and Promotion of Women, mobilised the business community “to finance operations aiming to eliminate the (Tutsi) people.” And, he remarked, “The fatal error of 1959 was in letting them get away.” He sounded like the Nazi Marshal von Rundstedt who regretted that one of the “great mistakes of 1918 was to spare the civil life of the enemy countries.” The aim of this annihilator was “to always keep the number of Germans at least double the numbers of the peoples of the contiguous countries!”

ENDS

Sent by Lucia

http://www.gov.rw/government/07_11_01_genocideweek2.htm

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

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Rwanda Genocide Timeline

1918:

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

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

1926:

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

Post-1945:

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

1957:

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

1959:

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

1960:

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

1961-62:

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

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

1963:

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

1967:

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

1973:

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

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

1975:

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

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

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

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

1980’s:

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

1986:

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

1989:

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

1990:

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

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

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

1990-91:

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

1991:

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

1992:

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

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

1993:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1994:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1995:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1996:

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

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

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

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

1997:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1998:

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

1999:

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

2000:

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

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

2001:

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

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

2002:

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

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

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

2003:

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

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

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

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

2004:

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

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

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

2005:

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

Sent by Lucia.

Africa Band Aid Fundraiser on Friday, April 11 in Portland, Oregon

Leave a reply

Africa Band Aid, an Oregon nonprofit organization (501c3), is having a book/media sale on Friday, April 11, 10 am to 3 pm, at the River Place Commuity Room, 1730 SW Harbor Way, Portland, 97201.

Travel, cooking, novels, biographies, many titles… talking books, movies (DVDs and VCR), music CDs….

All items; $1, $2,and $3!

Book seller limits ($50)

Help us support the Luo people of SW Kenya through health care and education.

Directions: Market Street east from Naito Parkway, toward I-5 South, stay in the left lane, at the light (Montgomery) take a left, then take a quick left on to Harbor Way, just past the mailbox there is a driveway/circle, enter there. Community room on the right. 20 minute parking available in the circle.

Questions?? Call Karen (503-775-7582) or email (kzwickert@msn.com)

Thank you for your support!

Sent by Adam. 

Does ODM Need a Ministry or Ministries?

1 Reply

 Dear Countrymen,

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

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

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

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

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

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

‘WANG’NI!!’

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

Hallo?!

Sande
HR Activist
VIHIGA

Death Announcement: Paul Ramogi Onyango

2 Replies

It is with great sorrow that we announce the death of Paul Ramogi Onyango. Ramogi was the son of the late Onyango Baridi and former Kisumu MP Mrs. Grace Onyango.

He was husband to Melissa and brother to Lynn Akwacha, Jean Onyango of Kisumu, the late Josephine Migadde, Mary Onyango of Bethlehem, PA, and Xandae Baridi of New Jersey.

He was beloved uncle to Donna and Velma Akwacha, Gracie Hargrove of Bethlehem PA, Tyler, Christian, and Sean Baridi of New Jersey.

He was brother in law to Grace Ogot Baridi of New Jersey, Wilson Akwacha of Kisumu, and Mwanya Migadde of Nairobi.

He leaves behind daughters Lani, Gracie and Jossie.

Family, friends and well wishers will be meeting daily at Mary Onyango’s residence 1416 Primrose Lane #6, Bethlehem, PA 18018 to discuss funeral arrangements and fundraising to help transport Ramogi’s body back to Kenya for his final resting place.

Service and viewing will be held on Saturday April 12, 2008 from 2 PM to 5 PM at Jesse Johnson Funeral Home, 426 Hanover Avenue, Allentown, PA 18103 followed by a fundraiser at 6 PM at 1101 West Hamilton Street, 5th Floor in Allentown, PA.

For those who are unable to attend, please mail your donation to Mary Onyango, 1416 Primrose Lane #6, Bethlehem, PA 18018.

You can also deposit your donation at

Wachovia Bank
Account # 1010192437693

For wire transfer, use ABA Routing 031201467 and then the account number above.

DIRECTIONS TO FUNERAL HOME (Please use MapQuest www.mapquest.com, or these directions below):

426 Hanover Avenue,
Allentown, PA 18103

Directions To Funeral Home – From New YorkTake 287 South. At Exit 21B, take Exit 78W. Then
follow the NJ directions below.

Directions To Funeral Home – From New Jersey

Take 78W Merge onto US-22 W toward BETHLEHEM. 8.7 miles
Take the exit toward AIRPORT ROAD SOUTH.0.2 miles
Merge onto AIRPORT RD.1.5 miles
Cross over UNION BLVD at Light to Irving road
Turn RIGHT onto HANOVER AVE. 0.4 miles
End at 426 Hanover Ave
Allentown, PA 18109-2150

Directions To Funeral Home – From Maryland, Delaware

From 95North, Merge to PA Turnpike 476 North
Merge to 22E
Take the exit toward AIRPORT ROAD SOUTH. 0.2 Miles
Merge onto AIRPORT RD.1.5 miles
Cross over UNION BLVD at Light to Irving road
Turn RIGHT onto HANOVER AVE. 0.4 miles
End at 426 Hanover Ave
Allentown, PA 18109-2150

DIRECTIONS TO FUNDRAISING VENUE:

1101 West Hamilton
Street, 5th Floor in Allentown PA.
(LOCATED BETWEEN 11TH & 12TH – HAMILTON
BUSINESS CENTER)

Directions to Fundraising Venue – From the Funeral Home

Make Left on to Hanover avenue
Keep straight, at fork bear right, then keep straight
HANOVER AVE becomes E HAMILTON ST.
Turn Right onto 6th Avenue
At light, turn Right on Linden Street
Turn LEFT onto 12TH ST.
Turn LEFT onto W HAMILTON ST.
End at 1101 W Hamilton St
Allentown, PA 18101-1043, US

Directions to Fundraising Venue – From New York

Take 287 South, to Exit 21B
Take 78W Merge onto US-22 W toward BETHLEHEM
Take the exit toward AIRPORT ROAD SOUTH.0.2 miles
Merge onto AIRPORT RD.1.5 miles
Cross over UNION BLVD at Light to Irving road
Turn RIGHT onto HANOVER AVE
Keep straight, at fork bear right, then keep straight
HANOVER AVE becomes E HAMILTON ST.
Turn Right onto 6th Avenue
At light, turn Right on Linden Street
Turn LEFT onto 12TH ST.
Turn LEFT onto W HAMILTON ST.
End at 1101 W Hamilton St
Allentown, PA 18101-1043, US

Directions to Fundraising Venue – From Maryland, Delaware area

From 95North, Merge to PA Turnpike 476 North
Merge to 22E
Take the exit toward AIRPORT ROAD SOUTH.0.2 miles
Merge onto AIRPORT RD.1.5 miles
Cross over UNION BLVD at Light to Irving road
Turn RIGHT onto HANOVER AVE
Keep straight, at fork bear right, then keep straight
HANOVER AVE becomes E HAMILTON ST.
Turn Right onto 6th Avenue
At light, turn Right on Linden Street
Turn LEFT onto 12TH ST.
Turn LEFT onto W HAMILTON ST.
End at 1101 W Hamilton St
Allentown, PA 18101-1043, US

Contacts

Mary Onyango 484 274 3134
Grace or Xandae Baridi 732 319 8611
Donna Akwacha 610 392 4314
Velma Akwacha 484 767 5876
Charlie Ochang 845 566 3061
Emily Nyidondo 610 570 7365
Benard Otieno Oguche (Benbo) 631 398 7133
Lawrence Obiero 610 554 3251
Beatrice Odotte Omollo 484 951 2412
Elizabeth Otieno 631 645 1451
Doc Odotte 732 213 9699
Ben Odotte 732 421 7233
Augustine Onditi 973 432 8212
Joshua Obel 609 516 5497
Tim Ochido 551 998 8458/732 743 1951
Alex Aluoch 732 207 3836
Duncan Ojiem 732 819 7971

Sent by Odotte. 

ISSUES AT DOMINION FARMS LTD. ( YALA SWAMP)

18 Replies

Jaluo.com,

What do you say on this?

It is interesting that Dominion Foods Ltd, has given notice to quit. This is to whoever signed lease with them their terms of acquring Yala Swamp.

It is equally shocking that this company was awarded 3,700 hectares of wetland around the tributary of River Yala at a price of Kshs.1,254,782=( one million, two hundred and fifty four, seven hunred and eighty two only) per annum for 25 (twenty five year) with effect from 25-5-2004.

The agreement was signed between County councils of Siaya and Bondo on one part and Dominion Farms Ltd. on the other.

They got the land at a price of Kshs.339/15 per hectare per year or Kshs.137= per acre per year for 25 years.

This is the chapest cost of land in Kenya. Even deserts do not go for all that low.

In a country where land is very valuabe and we kill one another daily for it, why would we give our land freely to foreigners?

This land was given out at a price of USD 2 per acre! fper year or twenty five years a whole generation. This is ridiculous. They must pack up at ealiest and go.Why threaten us on our land?

There are many pepole from that area who have been displaced by internal conflict and this the time to settle them on such prime land.

Presently there is no tangible benefit from this company to the locals. There is no job creation, no infrastucture improvement nor any techniocal capacity transfer.

One wonders who negotiated such prices and for whose benefit.

This is the time for us to be sensitive to our poor by settling them on this land. We fore fathers died for independence to get our land not to give it to foreigners.

Ministry of lands and settlement should investigate such anomalies with a view to settle the internally displaced people from that area on this 3,700 hectares of land.

Felix Owaga Okatch
tel; 254-721-735489

Unedited by Jaluo Press.

KDFC as an Intermediary Between Kenyan Businesses and Florida Enterprises

5 Replies

Kenya Development Fund Corporation (KDFC) officials and members are grateful to announce the successful launching and achievements that their dream concerning Kenya and her future. Non believers became instant converts and have now become crusaders all over United States. One milestone made was an agreement bewteen KDFC and Florida Enterprises.

E-Florida has now assigned to KDFC the responsibility of connecting the businesses in our land and those here in Florida and other regions where E-Florida is operational. Setting this up will be pretty easy. First the businesses and manufacturing companies, informal or otherwise will register with KDFC. Registration fees will be communicated through the KDFC website. Next they will fill in forms that will be avalaible to KDFC member organizations only.

The lead forms will be forwarded to E-Florida that will emphasize our products to their members which is basically 90% of industries and businesses in Florida. We have also set up to start a microfinance investment through Relief and Enviromental Care Africa (RECA) which is now headed by Peter Odhengo. This project is working very well with individual donors that were originally simply giving donations to the needy in Kenya. We have worked it out such that these individuals and KDFC members interested in this venture will advance money to small scale traders, teachers, businessmen and farmers through RECA at attractive rates with minnimal obstacles. We believe this will improve lives.

KDFC is also in the process of initiating a perticipation of its members in reinstalling lolwe FM that is currently under the ownership of RECA. RECA has equipment for this initiative. Interested KDFC members will soon be asked to buy shares so that the station can own its own frequency The station will be on air as soon as enough members buy the frequency. You needed a voice, KDFC provided it. The rest is on your table.

Lastly, we have on board a member who is connected with hedge funds and is offering an opportunity for us to participate in a mega finance investment. This may be complicated but can be properly explained to interested KDFC members. It is upon these important strides made that I urge you and your friends to register as members of KDFC. I strongly believe that KDFC is the future for improvement of lives in our region. It is also an opportunity to make a modest income.

Yours Sincerely,
Barack Otieno Abonyo PhD
President, Kenya Development Fund Corporation (KDFC)
656 Dent StreetTallahassee, FL 32304
Tel: 1-850-339-4806

Commentary: Bloated Cabinet and the ‘Boda Boda’ Rides

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mundia Mundia Jnr.

The sound of a fax machine!

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I can’t quite recall all the details. What I do recall, though, is that when I was in Dallas, there was this Christian radio program that gave out as much as $ 5,000 to anyone who was able to identify the sound of a chosen machine.

I was not all that interested with the sounds of any machine until I relocated to the Twin Cities and started working at FedEx-Kinkos. In helping customers send fax to different destinations, I have slowly but surely come to identify tree types of sounds/noises:

1. A sound that indicates that the line is busy.

2. A sound that tells you that you have used the wrong fax number.

3. A sound that tells you that the fax is going outside of the USA.

4. The sound that I refer to as “good noise.” This is the sound that tells you that the fax has gone through and that you should, therefore, wait as the process completes.

It is the fourth noise that always makes people excited. Every time I say “that is a good
noise,” I see a smile on a customer’s face with the remark “a good noise!” Sounds like
a contradiction of terms.

This mastering of the various fax machine sounds/noises has helped me to understand,
appreciate, and apply God’s concern as found in the book of Isaiah 1:3. It reads:

“The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner’s manger,but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.”

It was Pastor Maturi, back in Kenya, Africa, who presented a message based on this text many years back that hit me real hard. Just think about this. It’s a known factor that even an animal knows the sound/noise of its master. If such be the case, how about us?!

All these have led to the following questions/observations:

1. What kind of noise/sound do you send out daily to your family members, church members, fellow students, students, community? Is it a good one or an irritating one?

2. Do you know/understand God’s sound? If not, why?

Just a thought.

Pr Bari 612-386-4608
www.themaranathasdachurch.org

Commentary: Kenya Grand Coalition Cabinet Size is Inconsequential

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Press Release

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2 Replies

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

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

OTHER KNOWN EXPENSES:

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

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

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

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

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

Dan M. Orao
Michigan, USA

Kenyans React to 40-Member Cabinet Deal

5 Replies

Folks,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Good Luck.

Judy Miriga
USA

______________________________________________________________________________

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

Judy and the rest,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Health and Agriculture have been very badly divided.

Anyway, let us wish them success.

Paul Nyandoto.

______________________________________________________________________________

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

Folks,

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

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

Thanks,

Judy Miriga
USA

______________________________________________________________________________

CMW wrote:

Hudson,

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

Wafula

_____________________________________________________________________________

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

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

______________________________________________________________________________

fred wrote:

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

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

______________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Your voice can make the difference

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movement is all about.

From the beginning,
Barack has set out to bring more people and more voices into the political
process. And if we can reach more people in Indiana, we can make a lasting
impact and win victories for the Democratic Party up and down the ballot
in November.

All across the country,
volunteers will be making calls into Indiana to tell potential supporters
about the deadline and encourage them to register.

No previous
experience is necessary.
All you need is a hunger for change and a willingness to turn your enthusiasm
into action.

Our team has put together
a list of the most important calls you can make into Indiana right now:


http://my.barackobama.com/call

Here’s how it works:

  1. Log into

    My.BarackObama.com
     and
    get a list of 20 names that only you will receive. (If you don’t have a
    My.BarackObama account, creating one is fast and easy.)

  2. Click on
    a name    , and
    you’ll be led through a simple script, question by question.

  3. Start making
    calls.

Personal contact is
the best way to grow this movement, and you can make these connections right
from your own home.

It’s easy — start by
making five calls, and I know you’ll want to make five more:


http://my.barackobama.com/call

Thank you for making
this happen,

David

David Plouffe
Campaign Manager
Obama for America

Donate

This email was sent to: Susan

from “Obama for America”

Date: Sat, 5 Apr 2008 13:12:33 -0400
subject: Your voice can make the difference

It is sad Dominion must leave

6 Replies

Date: Fri, 4 Apr 2008 10:23:27 -0700 (PDT)
From: odhiambo okecth

I watched Calvin Burgess on TV saying that Dominion was closing down, and I could not believe it. I asked myself, what went wrong?

I was privileged to have met the said Calvin Burgess, sometimes in 2006, and I liked his ideas. I was taken on a tour around the firm, and I made a report that was compelling, and in support of what Dominion was doing at Yala Swamp.

I went back into history to look at what Yala Swamp was like before. We had what we used to call Lake Basin Development Authourity, and we all know that it failed to harness Yala Swamp to her full potential.

LBDA was a complete failure, and this was a government body. So it means that the government failed to harness Yala Swamp, or rather, the government failed the Luo people.

Then a Mzungu came all the way from Oklahoma, and indeed made Yala Swamp to be the pride of our region. I toured the firm before having a one on one with Calvin, and I thought, at long last, we were on the right course.

I was taken round the rice plane, a plant that was going to process 8000 tonnes of rice on a daily basis! What economic potential for Kenya?

I also knew that there were some teething problems that had to be addressed. The issue of compensation was paramount. The issue of Environmental Impact Assessment was of grave concern to some journeymen, and Calvin did not read the mood correctly.

I knew that these were small things that could be addressed. But Calvin surrounded himself with journey men, people who could not give him the correct advice that was needed.

I drew parallels with what we have in Central Propvince, and the fact that nobody in Central Province was making the kind of noise journey men were doing with Dominion in Nyanza, and apparently, nobody took notice.

I said that in Central Province, we had Kakuzi, Sasini and Del Monte doing exactly what Dominion was doing in Nyanza, and yet, the people of Central were all the more happy with those concerns.

I said, pray, what is all this noise about? Can we not address the concerns in a more civilized way, without making too much noise. Calvin did not listen, and his handlers did not listen as well.

Dominion did to us what Kakuzi, Sasini, Del Monte and others have done to the people of Cental Province; it brought sure food on the tables of many.

But, our own people, journeymen, have at long last succeeded. They have driven Dominion away. And they are all the more happy to have been paid the kind of 30 pieces of silver that condemned Jesus.

I will not comment on my feelings about Dominion, because, Dominion itself also took to thick skin, and could not listen to advice that could remedy the situation.

It is sad now that people who had been used to doing honest work for a living, must now go back to crime, drug abuse, prostitution and all the other social evils, to eke out a living.

Odhiambo T Oketch
PO Box 11204
00100 Nairobi Kenya
Tel; 0735 529 126, 0724 365 557
Email; komarockswatch@yahoo.com

NB, Can someone send to me Calvin’s email so that I send him this text.

—–
Subject: It is sad Dominion must leave

Yes, they can

Leave a reply
Obama for America

David – –

Today is the 40th anniversary of the tragic assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and I want to share a video that reveals how far we’ve come and how much this campaign owes to Dr. King’s legacy.

Students at a high school in the Bronx, who had no real interest in their government, have found new hope. They were surprised by their own excitement and engagement, but to me, they embody so many reasons why Barack and I decided to get into this campaign.

It’s truly moving to see young people inspired by a political leader — someone who gives them hope and reminds them that they can be anything they want to be if they work hard.

Watch what these kids have to say about politics and race in this country:

Yes, they can


http://my.barackobama.com/yestheycan

Much has changed in this country since Dr. King’s death, and thanks to his life and work we have taken critical strides towards racial equality.

The simple fact that Barack is running a competitive campaign for President is a direct result of Dr. King’s legacy — and this movement for change would be impossible without the support of people of all races, ages, and backgrounds.

I remember back in December of 2006, a group of us were discussing the possibility of Barack running for President. And as you might have read, I was hesitant about the idea.

But then Barack started talking about why he really wanted to do this — to bring people together and to change the tone of the way we talk to each other in this country. He talked about the need for people to be inspired by their leaders, and the importance of leadership to chart a different course. He talked about Dr. King and Bobby Kennedy, and their passion to challenge a new generation and provide them with role models.

Barack promised that as a candidate and as President he would do everything he could to bring new people to the table. He shared his desire to reach out to our neglected inner cities, to strive to be a role model for young people, and to connect with people who are not involved in politics — those who feel their voices haven’t been heard, those who have been left behind, and those who have been turned off by all the petty bickering in recent years.

We can change that, by standing on the shoulders of folks like Dr. King who came before us.

Watching these students who are excited about their own role in politics for the first time, and watching Barack as he strives to live up to the challenges Dr. King made possible, I am truly touched.

I hope you’ll watch this video and share that feeling with your friends and family:


http://my.barackobama.com/yestheycan

Thank you,

Michelle Obama

Donate

This email was sent to: David

from “Obama for America”

Date: Fri, 4 Apr 2008 10:52:35 -0400
subject: Yes, they can

Vodafone’s mystery partner in Kenya – Mobitelea

7 Replies

Ladies & Gentlemen
See Vodafone response below.

Be blessed

Joram Odus
Chairman-Kenya Forum for Peace & Democracy
LONDON
_______________________________________________________________
Subject: FW: Vodafone’s mystery partner in Kenya – Mobitelea
Date: Fri, 4 Apr 2008 10:11:57 +0000

—-
From: Bob Collymore
Date: Fri, 4 Apr 2008 09:19:57 +0200
Subject: FW: Vodafone’s mystery partner in Kenya – Mobitelea

Your email to Jane Hayes/Gavin Darby has been passed to me for a response.

Vodafone is aware of the concerns you have expressed in your email and indeed similar concerns have been aired in the media over recent weeks and months. There are essentially three misconceptions that lead to these concerns.

The first is that Mobitelea is a shareholder in Safaricom and that they will benefit from the current IPO. This is not true. The shareholders of Safaricom are the Government of Kenya and Vodafone Kenya Ltd. Mobitelea does not own shares to sell in Safaricom.

The second is that shares were given to Mobitelea. This is also not true. Mobitelea have paid for their shareholding in Vodafone Kenya.

The third is that Vodafone is being deliberately opaque about the details of Mobitelea. Vodafone is legally bound by a confidentiality agreement which forbids this kind of disclosure without being subjected to legal action.

Vodafone has been a committed investor in Safaricom and Kenya since 2000 and are please that our confidence has been endorsed by the substantial growth and success of the company.

Regards

Bob Collymore
Vodafone Governance Director – Africa
Vodacom Commercial Park, 082 Vodacom Boulevard
Vodavalley, Midrand
Johannesburg, South Africa
Private Bag X9904, Sandton, 2146, South Africa

_______________________________________________________________

From: Joram Odus
Sent: 28 March 2008 11:58
To: Hayes, Jane, VF-Group

Subject: Vodafone’s mystery partner in Kenya – Mobitelea

I refer to our brief telephone conversation this morning and the need to talk to Gavin Darby-CEO of vodafone responsible for Africa operations. As Kenyan residents and business people living in the UK, we have grave concerns regarding the your chosen partner in respect to shareholding in Kenyan Safaricom and the lack of transparency on behalf of vodafone to come forth with detailed information about the owners of this shadowy partner. To contextualise the issue, Kenya have had serious problems in the past where shadowy companies were involved in fleeing funds to foreign countries. We have the example, of Angelo Leasing where billions of public money was stolen by using fake companies. As the CEO of the leading mobile operator with strategic investment opportunities in Africa and Kenya in particular, your have both moral and social responsibility to be transparent and not be party to a company whose intentions and ownership is to steal public resources from a third World country like Kenya. We have established that MOBITELEA was registered in Guernsey on the 18 June 1999. I wait in anticipation Kind regards Joram OdusChairman-Kenya Forum for Peace & DemocracyLONDON “This e-mail is sent on the Terms and Conditions that can be accessed by Clicking on this link http://www.vodacom.co.za/legal/email.jsp ”

Unedited by Jaluo Press.