Monthly Archives: November 2009

How Tanzania can harness our green energy potentials for the greatness of our people

Leave a reply

The questions of our abundant human and natural resources are no longer in doubt. What is in doubt is How to harness these potentials for the greatness of our people, and the development of the country and the continent at large. I have mentioned the larger African continent because, the development or under development of our country will have a spill over effect on the rest of the continent. Tanzania is huge with massive potentials. There are more the Tanzanian people can do to harness these resources without necessarily depending on the government. The civil society groups have got more work to do in this aspect. Also there is need to disseminate proper information, so that people can become aware of what they can start doing both individually and as group.

Tanzania has massive solar energy, courtesy of the abundant sun. Just recently, Time international magazine of September 28th 2009, reported that Europe aims to cover a considerable proportion of their electricity needs over the next decades using solar power from Africa. This is not another colonization or neo-colonization, its simply that we do not value what we have or that we do not know how to explore our God given resources for own good.

Tanzania is also blessed with abundant strong winds. Strong winds can be used to generate energy. India, Germany, United Kingdom etc are already using wind turbines to generate electricity. Tanga , Lindi   including other coastal regions in Tanzania will be well suited for wind turbine plants. This is because of presence of strong winds emanating from the ocean. Having observed this, let the Tanzanian private sector go into researches and partnership to explore these untapped resources. Am sure a lot of energy can be generated from these sources.

Power is very crucial to the development of any country. That was why many Tanzanians became disappointed, when the National Assembly revealed the amount of money wasted on power without any mega watt added to the national grid. Solar and wind energy can be a better alternative source of energy. More so, its equally environmentally friendly since the world is going green. There is need for wider private sector lead researches into this area. There are more to gain from these sources of energy. There is no point folding our hands while the Europeans come over to use the African solar to supplement their energy needs. Solar and wind energy can produce power cheaper. The question of distribution like laying electric cables, electric poles etc will not be an issue. Thus homes, individual, groups and communities too remote to be reached by power cables, can generate on their own without depending on the national grid. In the United Kingdom, there over 100,000 installed solar micro generation. This figure is set to rise, especially with the increased campaign to save the planet. With this method in place, we might begin to have steady power for both home and industrial needs.

Lets not forget our pleasant whether conditions (tropical climate), which I consider to be one of the best in the world. Our whether supports the cultivation of most cash crops and farm products. Tanzania can become the food basket of Africa if we want. You will begin to appreciate our whether more, when you live in countries with adverse whether conditions. Most western and other foreign countries (United Kingdom, Canada, America, Germany, China, etc) can record between -1 to -20 degrees. Our whether is also quite suitable for tourism, as most western tourist(s) prefer warm climates.

There is also need for us to start recycling our waste products. This is an area that requires more researches and more investments. The private sector/business leaders should look more into this process of converting waste to wealth. Tanzania has more waste to be converted to wealth. In 2008, the city of Leicester in United Kingdom recycled 33% of its waste.

The level of recycling waste in Tanzania is low. There is more wealth to be created by our waste. A lot of employment opportunities can be created through this venture. The following waste can be recycled, paper, cardboard, newspapers, catalogues, magazines, glass bottles, plastic bottles, jars, aluminum, car batteries, cans, CDs, metal, electrical equipment, fluorescent tubes, ink jet cartridges, used engine oil, video tapes, unused paints, asbestos materials, used cooking oil etc. We can export our waste products like scrape metals etc.

At present, some researchers from Hokkaido University Japan in partnership with a business firm have produced the worlds first biodiesel from used cooking oil. The product is called, Vegetable Diesel Fuel. This product (Vegetable Diesel Fuel) has been used to generate electricity in some events in Japan. We can borrow this technology and domesticate it in Tanzania. The major raw material (used cooking oil) can never be in short supply in Tanzania. Since it can generate electricity, it will be highly needed to substitute for the normal diesel and fuel, which is currently being used to generate power.

From the above paragraphs, Tanzanians can begin to discover or add to what they know already that we have far more resources to exploit. There is no point to wait for all these resources to continue wasting. What we need are domestic investors to explore these areas. We also need further feasibility studies, researches and dissemination of information to empower people towards recycling abundant waste products in Tanzania. There are many individuals, families, friends, groups, churches, NGOs etc that could carry out researches on the above or fund people to do same. Interestingly the cost(s) of doing feasibility studies and researches on recycling our waste might be cheaper than we think.

Added to the above are our abundant human resources. Our population is one of our biggest assets as a nation. Our big population has created large market, which is indirectly the investors paradise. Zain Tanzania (mobile phone Communication Company) is a good example of a company that has benefited from the large Tanzanian market. Our market/our large size accounts for why there are so many Chinese, Lebanese, and Indians in our country. They are doing business as well benefiting from our large population. Our economic planners, business leaders, entrepreneurs etc should explore our size to its fullest. If not for economic problems, energy instabilities (regular power failures), insecurity etc, am sure many more foreign investors would have come to Tanzania.

We also need to add skills acquisition to our academic pursuits in order to boost our human resources. We need to copy  the Japanese who do not have any natural resources beneath the earth but up in their brain. We can earn more money with our skills overseas if we choose to work abroad. An example is a plumber, electrician, and a motor mechanic earns more than 30 pounds per hour in most cities in United Kingdom. May God bless Tanzania.

Yona Fares Maro
I.T. Specialist and Digital Security Consultant

NEO-KU KLUX KLAN ARCHITECTS FIND A SAFE HAVEN IN THE MAU EVICTIONS.

10 Replies

Dear Sir/Madam,

In the words of John Adams, “facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, or our inclination or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” I cannot agree more with these words of wisdom. For sometime the country has expressed outrage at the idea of some self seeking politicians crafting ethnic alliances to propel them to the helm of the country`s political leadership. Every other time the said political leaders vehemently denied it. But if one cared to scratch up on their rhetoric one would surely see the blatant insult of betrayal of our common good as a country. If you ever had doubted this then the Mau evictions saga lends credence to these banality.

It behooves the intelligence of many that despite the Government, the civil society and the mainstream media explaining with intermittent patience the catastrophic effect of not conserving the country`s largest water tower there are those who are playing politics with the country`s lifeline. This continued malfeasance and dishonesty is a stark testament of politicians bereft of any iota of morality. That is why they have ganged up to construct a reality based on lies. In fact, tale tellers have it that they are even ferrying people from elsewhere to camp on the fringes of the Mau to give an impression to the whole world of the worst form of a government sponsored humanitarian crisis. And from the look of things they are really riding high on a carefully orchestrated political roller-coaster.

Even though they have constantly had their snouts bashed by the right thinking public they are not just ready to give up their deceit. They are the men and women of “great common sense and good taste.” They are not so much interested in being on the right side of history but would rather let opportunism drive them to boring ordinariness in their quest to ascend to the helm of the country`s political leadership in 2012.  You have witnessed them snuggle in the guise of a fundraiser. And I also hear that that there are a series of rallies lined up just to denounce the evictions and to slander and vilify their perceived political nemesis. Going back to the fundraiser, I must not hesitate to point out that there is nothing wrong in organizing for a fundraiser to help genuine evictees. However, there is everything wrong in using the fundraiser as a perfect smokescreen for the launching of a neo Ku Klux Klan (commonly referred to as triple K alliance).

Much as I am encouraged by their sudden bout of philanthropy, I am still struggling very hard to understand why majority of the organizers of this fundraiser never shed a single tear for the victims of the Post Election Violence who are to date landless and homeless. Didn`t they not have children, women and the octogenarians sleeping in the biting cold? Didn`t organizers of this fundraiser demand for humane treatment of the IDPs as they are now doing for the Mau Complex illegal settlers? The Mau evictees and the IDPs aside, do these politicians give a hoot to the startling statistics of the landless and homeless in all the four corners of Kenya? Not even a cent has ever been extended to them. Did I hear someone shout subterfuge?

It is the duty of the mainstream media to make these facts stubborn. The media must continually air drop these facts in the current stream of the public`s conscience. Never must the public be oblivious to the history of the degazetment and systematic excision of the Mau complex and the political machination behind the importation of a human shield to protect the politically correct land lords of the Mau complex. If anything it is the yesterday`s oligarchy that must be prosecuted and forced to compensate the illegal settlers of the Mau. It is time they stopped politicking and faced the reality.

Most importantly, the intensifying rhetoric on the Mau eviction exercise must cease. This is because it does not bode well with the post election violence (PEV) conciliatory climate especially in the expansive Rift Valley region. In this rhetoric is a veneer of retaliatory attacks aimed at purging of the Rift Valley off “other ethnic communities.” They want to once more rouse the dreaded monster of negative ethnicity. Political leaders must understand that fear mongering in the guise of political supremacy battles is far from being patriotic.

If they really want the public to believe that parliament and cabinet had agreed on compensating or giving alternative land to the illegal settlers, then, why not urgently convene a cabinet meeting and thrush out misunderstandings on the eviction exercise rather than engage in the protracted poisonous rhetoric? As for the MPs, isn`t the floor of the August House where they are supposed to put the government to task for reneging on such a substantive agreement? Or are they permanently incapable of making sense on the floor of the House? I suspect that the reason why these politicians do not want to engage in reasonable discourses on the floor of the August House is because they know that they are simply politicizing that which they themselves participated in legislating. Kenyans are increasingly dismayed especially by the preposterous behavior of Cabinet ministers who overstep acknowledged protocol of collective responsibility to criticize the policies and decisions ratified in cabinet meetings. This only lends credence to their sinister motives. The two principals must crack the whip now before it is too late. Now than ever before, the country desires President Kibaki`s silence to be broken, at least on the Mau issue.

TOME FRANCIS,

BUMULA CONSTITUENCY.

$2 Million Competition Seeks Ideas to Transform Learning

2 Replies

(AScribe Newswire) — As President Obama called for new efforts to reimagine and improve education in science and math, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced a $2 million open competition for ideas to transform learning using digital media. The competition seeks designers, inventors, entrepreneurs, researchers, and others to build digital media experiences – the learning labs of the 21st Century – that help young people interact, share, build, tinker, and explore in new and innovative ways. Supported by a grant to the University of California at Irvine, the competition was planned and announced in partnership with National Lab Day, a movement to revitalize science, technology, engineering and math in schools that was highlighted at a White House event today.

Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA), in cooperation with the Entertainment Software Association and the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, will team with MacArthur to support Game Changers, a new component of the competition. Game Changers will provide awards for the creation of new game experiences using PlayStation’s popular video game, LittleBigPlanet(tm). SCEA will also donate 1000 PlayStation(r)3 (PS3(tm)) systems and copies of the LittleBigPlanet(tm) game to libraries and community-based organizations in low-income communities.

“Lifting American students from the middle to the top of the pack in STEM achievement over the next decade will not be attained by government alone,” said President Obama. “I applaud the substantial commitments made today by the leaders of companies, universities, foundations, non-profits and organizations representing millions of scientists, engineers, and teachers from across the country.”

“MacArthur is pleased to team with Sony and National Lab Day to encourage the next generation of innovators to focus on science, technology, engineering and math. Digital media, including games, are the learning labs of the future and this open competition encourages people to consider creative new ways to use digital media to create learning environments that are engaging, immersive and participatory,” said Connie Yowell, MacArthur’s Director of Education. “This competition will help ensure that the new and highly engaging approaches to science, technology, engineering, and math find their way into schools, libraries, museums, and other spaces for learning.”

“This challenge truly embodies what’s possible when you place the learning tools and the opportunity into the hands of creative and imaginative minds,” said Jack Tretton, president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America. “When leveraging the innovative technology of LittleBigPlanet and the PS3 system, both advanced and novice gamers have access to an open canvas to learn, build, and explore entirely new kinds of gaming experiences. They can also share their creations with millions of gamers around the world to play, rate, and review their levels. There’s no better training ground for anyone interested in digital media.”

The competition is designed to promote “participatory learning,” the notion that young people often learn best through sharing and involvement. Participatory learning, as defined by the competition, is a form of learning connected to individual interests and passions, inherently social in nature, and occurring during hands-on, creative activities. Successful learning labs and games will exploit all of these elements. Awards will be made in two categories: 21st Century Learning Lab Designers and Game Changers.

The competition includes three rounds of submissions, with public comment at each stage. The public will also be invited to judge the final candidates, including the selection of People’s Choice awards in each category.

“Learning labs are digital media projects that promote hands-on participatory learning,” said Cathy Davidson, Duke University Professor and HASTAC co-founder. “They promote learning together with others, by interactively doing, trying, sometimes failing. When we think of laboratories, the image of beakers and microscopes come to mind, but learning labs help us reimagine and expand our understanding of learning across all domains of knowledge.”

Competition winners will join an existing community of 36 awardees from 2007 and 2008, including a video blogging project for young women in Mumbai, India; a cutting-edge mobile phone application that lets children conduct digital wildlife spotting and share that information with friends; a project that leverages low-cost laptops to help indigenous children in Chiapas, Mexico learn by producing and sharing their own media creations; and an online platform for 200 classrooms around the world that allows young people to monitor, analyze, and share information about the declining global fish population.

The competition is funded by a MacArthur grant to the University of California, Irvine, and to Duke University and is administered by the Humanities, Arts, Science and Technology Advanced Collaboratory (HASTAC), a virtual network of learning institutions. The competition is part of MacArthur’s digital media and learning initiative, which is designed to help determine how digital technologies are changing the way young people learn, play, socialize and participate in civic life. Answers are critical to education and other social institutions that must meet the needs of this and future generations.

Information about the competition, which will begin officially on December 7, is available at http://www.dmlcompetition.net/ .

CONTACT: Andy Solomon, MacArthur Foundation, asolomon@macfound.org, 312-917-0313

Forwarded by:
Judy Miriga
Diaspora Spokesperson
Executive Director
Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
USA
http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com

After Common Market and EA Customs Union, the political federation is the next stop

Leave a reply

AFTER THE SIGNING OF BOTH AGREEMENTS FOR CUSTOMS UNION AND COMMON MARKET PROTOCOLS LAST WEEK, THE POLITICAL FEDERATION OF EAST AFRICA IS NOW VERY MUCH FEASIBLE.

News Analysis By Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu.

BY signing the common market protocol last week, the East African Community has officially ushered in a common market amid renewed commitment by the region’s head of states to expedite the much touted and envisaged political federation of East African states.

The common market protocol was finally signed in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha last Friday, bringing to an end months of waiting and anxiety.

Contentious issues nearly derailed the grueling negotiations and the signing, and what should have been accomplished earlier this year, was pushed forward to this month, from April, 2009.

At a colorful ceremony to mark the 10th anniversary , which coincided with the EAC bloc’s common market deal, the chairperson of the East African Community Council of Ministers, Ms Monique Mukuyruliza, who is also the Rwandan Minister for the Community Affairs, urged the partner states to expedite its ratification at national level by the scheduled July 1,2010.

The outgoing chair of the EAC Summit, Presidents Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Mwai Kibaki {Kenya}, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni {Uganda}, Pierre Mkurunziza of Burundi and the hosts, Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania and Abeid Amani Karume of Zanzibar, nodded their heads as Ms Mkuruliza said the ball was now in their national courts.

The Minister said Rwanda was the only country in the region with a fast ratification policy, with Tanzania trailing behind, taking longest time, four months.

Despite the disparities, she said, the EAC Ministers had agreed to work closely with their respective countries to push the necessary ratification within the shortest period of time possible.

The coming into force of both the East African Customs Union, and the Common Market, will lead to a short-term loss of revenue, as countries remove internal taxes, and harmonize external duties, as per the common external tariff guidelines.

The expected loss is estimated to run into million of dollars. Rwanda, she said, is the only country that has done a full assessment, and is looking at a loss of USD 12 million, but its EAC Permanent Secretary, Robert Ssali said it is a small price to pay for the expected benefits.

At the signing ceremony, President Kagame handed over the Summit chair to President Jakaya Kikwete.

The EAC Secretary General, Juma V. Mwapachu, said that in the regionalization and globalization era, no one single country can be on its own.

President Kagame, in a his key-note address, said the protocol was a major milestone for the EAC, and attested to its shedding of colonial boundaries and individualism and embracing of globalization.

The Heads of States gave a deadline of six months for a detailed report on the fine-tuning of the federation ,and a committee of experts is to be formed immediately.

Also being fast tracked is a ground for free trade area from Cape Town to Cairo, bringing together the EAC, the Common Market for East and Southern Africa, and the Southern African Development Community, that will remove trade borders among 26 African countries.

A conference in March next year will fine tune documents, to be signed by the Presidents in April, and become operational in December 2010.

Meanwhile, Kenya’s Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, has welcomed the signing of the common market protocol and the EAC Customs Union Act. He said this will bring to an end the harassment of Kenyan fishermen in Lake Victoria.

Speaking at Usenge Beach in Yimbo Location, Bondo district, during the International Fishing Day, Raila Odinga said the two agreements will boost the security in the region.

“The treaty permits the free movement of people, goods and services both on land and in the lake”, said the PM.

He said from now onward, no Kenyan fisherman will again be arrested for trespassing into parts of the lake considered to be in Uganda or Tanzania. Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania have a common security team to make fishing in Lake Victoria more safe.

Illegal fishing nets being used in the lake, said Mr.Odinga, is the only threat to the existence of lake resources. He told the fishermen to act responsibly and conserve the lake resources for the future generation.

The Prime Minister was accompanied by the Fisheries Minister, Dr. Nyongesa Otuoma, the Minister for Regional Development, Fred Gumo and other senior government and local officials..

Ends

leooderaomolo@yahoo.com

KANU MAN TO FUND RAISE FOR YOUTHS

Leave a reply

KANU MAN TO FUND RAISE FOR YOUTHS

BY JEFF OTIENO

A Nairobi based business magnet, Tom Onyango Alila pictured, who is also a KANU Politician, is slated to conduct a massive funds drive in aid of Emuhaya Constituency Youths on December 12th 2009.

Emuhaya professionals, led by media executive Tom Alwaka, confirmed to the press that Alila has been ear marked as the chief guest in a funds drive aimed at empowering youths, and promoting sports in the area.

Tom Onyango Alila

Alila, who has of late been criss crossing the political terrains, gearing up to brace for a fight with KANU National Chairman, Uhuru Kenyatta, and his Vice Chairman, Gedion Moi, for the party chairmanship, to be held soon, recently confided that his quest will not be jeopardized by anybody, arguing that KANU needs a fresh start to revamp its lost glory, which he alleged has suffered at the hands of less committed party leaders.

Alila is the Ndhiwa branch KANU Chairman, and recently embarked on a vigorous sensitization exercise in Nyanza and Western Regions, where he sponsored party members for discussions, with a view of getting away forward for the former ruling party.

END.

Harmonized Draft a real time bomb

5 Replies

Harmonized Draft a real time bomb

24th November 2009

I have taken my time to read the Harmonized Draft Constitution of Kenya, and I can with all confidence urge Kenyans to reject it. It is worse than the current Constitution.

In making this appeal, I have taken cognizance of the fact that the problem all along has never been the Constitution; the problem has been the Executive which has over the period emasculated all powers to an extent that we have an imperial presidency, one that even the Judiciary cow-tows to.

1] Chapter 4 Citizenship

At Article 19- Citizenship by naturalization; A person who has been lawfully resident in Kenya for a continuous period of at least seven years, and who satisfies the conditions prescribed by an Act of Parliament, may apply to be naturalized as a citizen.

This basically means that we may import Artur Sagasyan and his brother, host them for seven years, naturalize them, and then activate them for the intended reasons. It smells. Already, Kenya has been invaded by none Kenyans who have made the cost of property to be out of reach for indigenous Kenyans, and this Act will make Kenyans be subservient to foreigners, pirates and charlatans.

2] Chapter 6 The Bill of Rights

The Bill of Rights is very utopian. It lists all the good things then in one single fell swoop, curtails them all.

At Article 33 [1] No right or fundamental freedom set out in the Bill of Rights may be limited except-

(a)    by a limitation or qualification expressly set out in the provision containing that right or fundamental freedom or by law;

The usage of the two words, ‘by law’, curtails all the beautiful provisions as set out in the entire Bill of Rights. It basically means that your fundamental rights are abrogated herein.

Again, at Article 76, Human Rights and Gender Commission is being entrenched in the Constitution. I bet this is wrong. A Commission can be effected through a mere Act of Parliament not by entrenchment of the same in the Constitution.

3] Chapter 10 Representation of the People

Article 110- Electoral disputes- [1] An Act of Parliament shall establish mechanisms for settling electoral disputes.

Honestly, Kenya almost went to the dogs due to an electoral dispute last year and now that we have a chance to fix the problem, we are shying away from the same. Instead, we are entrenching things like Human Rights and Gender Commission into the Constitution instead of being clear on how we will fix electoral frauds.

On the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, the Harmonized Draft does not come out clearly. It gives a loophole through which there can be manipulations. Look at this;

Article 112 [4] The Commission shall exercise its powers and perform its function in accordance with this Constitution and national legislation.

We do not need any national legislation here. We need the Constitution to be very clear on this. This ambiguity is what has made Kenya gain in several new Districts in the last 4 years.

Chapter 11- The Legislature

This has been badly drafted. It segregates against Kenyans, men in particular. Why must we give women special seats and at the same time, allow them to compete fairly with all. Article 126 [1] is a classic example of how not to do it. We need to be very clear on what we want, how many members of either the Senate or Parliament and subject the same to Universal Suffrage. It makes nonsense of gender equality. We must then accept the status of women as being otherwise less in stature to men, to the extent of being equated to children, disabled persons, and minorities despite their numbers as recorded in the last Census.

Article 131 [2] Parliament shall enact legislature to provide for the grounds on which a member may be recalled and the procedure to be followed.

This should have been very clear. But leaving it at the mercy of the same people to be affected by the recall, is slightly being disingenuous, playing roulette, telling us that it shall not be done.

Chapter 12- The Executive

I am now more convinced than ever before that all those MPs who are talking about the powers of the President being reduced and given to the Prime Minister have not read this Harmonized Draft. The Draft makes the Presidency more imperial than ever before. Have a look at this;

Article 158 [2] The State President, in accordance with this Constitution and the law, shall appoint and may dismiss-

(a)    the Cabinet, including the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Ministers…….

Look, he does not need to have any reference anywhere. What do you make of the Constitution that gives the President such sweeping powers? Then it goes further to give the President all those powers to appoint all and sundry, and you want to call it weak? Article 158 takes us back to the pre-Section 2[a] days. And we must not pretend here, we are creating a dictator here, an imperial President to boot.

Articles 179 and 180 proves how week the office of the Prime Minister shall become. And at Article 180 [1] (a) and (b), you see the kind of manipulation that waters down the office of the Prime Minister. It basically reduces the stature of the same office because the State President can appoint anybody to that office, not necessarily the person with the largest number of Members of Parliament.

Chapter 13- Judiciary

I bet all courts of law are meant to uphold the rule of law, so, why do we have classification of courts? Why have a Constitutional Court? And then make it that draconian as to limit our Fundamental Rights- Article 203 [9] All decisions of the Constitutional Court in matters relating to elections are final.

This is dictatorial and cleverly meant to subjugate the rule of law. This Court will be parked by Executive Apologists who will be switched on as desired for the desired results. The moment they lock you out, even in direct contravention of the law, you are left with no more avenue to seek solace. This basically abrogates our Fundamental Human Rights.

Chapter 14 deals with Devolved Government, and as it is now, we already have too much government in our lives. This new Draft takes it to our doorsteps. It is giving us no breathing space. It will even curtail our parking rights, to an extent that the Government will tax you for parking your car in your compound, because they must generate revenue to maintain this monolith of a Government that has been proposed.

I bet we need less government in our lives.

I am not a lawyer yet I can pin point these inconsistencies. I bet Kenyans ought to reject this Draft, come back to reality and demand that the law as we currently have it, must be obeyed. We cannot have a government that does not respect the law of the land. That has been our problem, not the lack of good laws.

Can we start by respecting the law as it exists? The bottom line; the current Constitution looks better than this thing that has been cooked by many cooks.

My 2 cents. Over to you brothers and sisters.

Odhiambo T Oketch

Komarock Nairobi.

Uganda is developing an alternative route to the sea via Dar Es Salaam

1 Reply

UGANDA PLANS TO REHABILITATE PORT BELL AND MWANZA PORTS FOR ALTERNATIVE OUTLET ROUTES TO THE SEA VIA THE PORT OF DAR ES SALAAM.

Business News By Leo Odera Omolo In kisumu City.

The Kenyan Kilindini harbour, located at the coastal city of Mombasa may soon loose its lucrative freight business to the Tanzanian port of Dar Es Salaam, if the plans envisaged by the Ugandan government to rehabilitate the Port Bell {Luzira} and Mwanza Port in Tanzania succeeded.

The Kampala regime has re-launched the new development of Port Bell {Luzira}, the biggest port in the western shore of Lake Victoria. The envisaged ambitious plan is estimated to cost the government USD 13 million { Ushs 24 billion}. This project, the government maintains, will rehabilitate its freight services across Lake Victoria..

The plan was disclosed this week by the Director of Transport in the Ministry of Works, James Itazi, who explained that the Ugandan government has already allocated the funds, amounting to USD 1.7 million[Ushs 3.5 billion} in the 2009/2010 fiscal year, to kick-start the work.

Although not discussed openly by the government of Uganda, the plan may have been rushed forward because of the highly charged political atmosphere in Kenya. It may be recalled that the Kenyan Uganda railway system was uprooted several times last year during the political unrest associated with the 2007 post election violence in Kenya, thus completely crippling the movement of freight to Uganda. The same thing happened again recently, when Uganda invaded Migingo Island of Kenya.

The planned development includes the rehabilitation of the dry dock and its remodeling to enable it to handle containerized and general cargo.

“However, the space for expansion is too small to handle multipurpose and containerized ships”, Itazi said in an interview with the SUNDAYVISION.

The Port Bell is connected by 9 kilometer railway line to the capital, Kampala and is close to the City’s Industrial and business park project in Namanve area.

The director was, however, non-committal on the commencement of the construction works, including details of when the biding and tendering process would be done.

Itazi said the dry dock would offer a direct connection with Dar Es Salaam port thus avoiding crossing the densely populated greater Kampala metropolitan area.

The development of the port, will be short term intervention only to handle the current traffic of cargo.

With the problems associated with over reliance on the Northern Corridor route, he said, it was imperative the Uganda urgently develop an alternative, but competitive second route to the sea via Dar Es Salaam.

The director said that the development strategy would involve addressing physical infrastructure constrains like ports, railways, roads and the provision of adequate resources associated with maritime facilities.

The project, he said, includes docking containers and fuels storage facilities, handling equipments, such as are required, and improvement of facilities by both Uganda and Tanzania..

“The development partners and private sector are therefore requested to provide the necessarily required funding to develop the route, said Mr Itazi.

For close to two decades ever since the accession of President Yoweri Museveni to power in 1986, the land –locked Uganda has been trying all the tricks in the books to abandoned the use of the more efficient and convenient Kenyan Port of Mombasa. At one time, it had proposed to rehabilitate the Port of Tanga and the construction of a new railway line from the Tanzania northern town of Arusha across the Serengeti Plains to Musoma or Mwanza. But these proposals hit the rock as the environmentalists the world over were vehemently opposed to the idea, saying it would adversely affect wild animals at the world famous Serengeti National Game Park.

The plan also had no blessing of the Ugandan business community, which cited excessive pilferage of cargo at the Dar Es Salaam port.

Ends

leooderaomolo@yahoo.com

The Nandis now want Tea Plantation foreign farmers out of Nandi Hills

1 Reply

ANOTHER EXPLOSIVE LAND DISPUTE BETWEEN KALENJIN AND THE GOVERNMENT IS ON THE OFFING AS THE NANDIS LAUNCH DEMANDS TO BE GIVEN SHARES IN THE TEA ESTATES.

Writes Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City.

Mon, Nov 23, 2009 at 5:22 PM

THE prolonged agitation and politicking over the on-going government eviction exercise against illegal squatters in the controversial Mau Forest Complex has rekindled other thorny issues involving the Kalenjin community.

This time around, the latest development has come from the North Rift, where three sub-clans of the Nandi sub-tribe of the larger Kalenjin ethnic community have issued an ultimatum to the government, demanding that their members be given shares in the various tea plantations and factories located in Nandi Hills, arguing that their ancestors were forcefully evicted from those lands at gun point by the British colonialists, who in turn allocated the land to the white settlers for tea plantation.

The three sub-clans are Kapchepkendi, Kapsumbeywo and Kapmelilo. After their forceful removal from their ancestral land, they were settled in marginalized areas of Kabiyet. They said they were consigned to live in an area, which has no better land for cash crops, and have been suffering ever since 1906.

The Kapchepkendi sub-clans were the rightful owners of areas where the tea estates and factories like Kibabet, Kapchorwa, Kipchamo,and Siret Tea Estates and factories stand today.

The sub-clans also lost the prime agricultural land at Koisagat, Chepmartin and Kipkoimet areas of the Nandi Hills. The places are now under the foreign owned multinational tea Companies.

The other sub-clan, Kapsumbeywo had settled in the Kimwani areas, covering Songhor, Kopere and Chemelil. These areas were exclusively preserved for the community grazing field, and when the British soldiers moved in 1906 and 1907, the community lost close to 47,00 herds of cattle, seized by the British soldiers..

During the colonial period, Kimwani farm was owned by a Mr. Roderick Macleod, whose younger brother at one time served as the Colonial Secretary in years close to Kenya’s achievement of political independence in 1963. Mr. Macleod also owned Jolly-Farmers Hotel in Molo, which the government later bought and turned into a GSU camp.

His large scale farm was taken over by the Agricultural Development Corporation[ADC}, which has since sold some of it to a Nyanza politician, Dr. William Odongo Omamo, and a Nandi KANU politician and a former nominated MP, Ezekiel Bargetuny and others. Omamo later dished out part of the farm running to 3 acres to the former Chemelil Managing Director, Mr Aaron Tuikong, who has since built a palatial home on the farm.

Other beneficiaries included former director of CID, Noah ArapToo, former Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President In charge of PR, Nicholas K Biwott {100 acres} and his friends got close to 400 acres, Bargetuny and his family close to 700 acres. Next to it is a 3,000 acres farm, previously owned by another former PS in the Office of the President, the late Ezekiah N.Oyugi, which he bought from former Chemelil Sisal Estates.

It is who is who in the Moi administration as regards to the beneficiaries of Kimwani ADC farm, which is located in the foot of Nandi Hills escarpment. Some parts were even dished out to Moi’s security. And the Ndung’u Report had mentioned nothing in regards to Kimwani ADC farm.

The Nandis sub-clans claimed they also lost Songhor, Chemelil, Kibigori, Chepsweta, Kopere along the Nandi Escarpment, which was the most suitable land for the community’s open grazing field.

Strangely, when the post Independence government of Kenya settled the landless people or opened the area for new settlers, it did not consider the area’s original owners of the land, whose ancestors were forced out by the British colonialists.

The spokesman, who requested for his anonymity, said the Nandis did not want to drive the new owners of the farms out, but wanted the foreigners either to sell to them shares and stakes in the lucrative tea industry, or ”Alternatively, they must sell these farms back to us on a willing buyer willing seller basis and pack and go home”, he said.

Kapsumbeywo and Kapchemelilo sub-clans also at one time owned parts of Kano plains, leave alone Muhoroni and Songhor areas.

The seizure of the sub-clans prime land came about in around 1906, soon immediately after the Colonialist had tricked their Orkoiyot {Laibon} Koitalel Arap Samoei. He was betrayed and tricked to attend a stage managed peace meeting, where a British Officer shot him dead. The incident sent his rug-tug forces of Nandi warriors in disarray. And when the peace finally came in 1906, the three sub-clans were forcefully removed and sent to the semi-arid Kibiyet areas in Mosop constituency.

The areas is so dry that no cash crop can grow. Others were given land in the Uasin Gishu plains, on which the Uasin Gishu Maasai sub-clan had also been forced out to give way for white settlers.

The Nandis now want injustices of the past addressed. “These are some of the contentious issues which the late John Marie Seroney, the former fierce Mp for Tinderet, had tried to force the government to sort out in the late 1960s, and caused him detention and other problems.

Hon Henry Kosgey, the ODM national chairman and MP for Tinderet, who is also the Minister for Industrialization, could not be reached for his immediate comments. But observers and political pundits in Kapsabet were quick in blaming the government for having taken too long, while politicking about the Mau eviction programme, arousing awareness of other communities with long standing land grievances.

Ends

leooderaomolo@yahoo.com

Kenya On the Brink; Harmonized Constitution Draft a Basket case of Failure and Governance Quandary!

1 Reply

Kenya On the Brink; Harmonized Constitution Draft a Basket case of Failure and Governance Quandary!

David ochwangi

Mon, Nov 23, 2009 at 11:12 PM

Wise men say, “Only fools rush in where angels dare tread”; we have been down this road several times before.  We need to tread with caution on this draft and avoid the same pitfalls that we have been misled to sign on to like lost sheep jumping off a cliff time and time again as recent as 2002, 2005, 2007 and 2008. As important as it is that we get a new constitution as some want to, it is equally imperative that we get it RIGHT timelines notwithstanding! This so called “Harmonized Draft Constitution” compounds the problems in Kenya, not solve them.  Just two weeks ago, almost immediately after recess and when parliament should have been debating the people’s business e.g. the Imanyara Bill to set up a local tribunal to punish PEV perpetrators, Ministers and their Assistants instead went on an expensive retreat in Mombasa on the taxpayers’ tab to “BOND”! And show unity of purpose in supporting this fatally flawed so called the “Harmonized Draft Constitution”. These are the same people who unanimously and without aforethought voted for this confused embarrassing so called coalition government, a permanent stalemate and paralysis; a bloated cabinet paid for on the backs of the poorest of the poor while the nation starves and IDPs still languish in camps; stalled delivery of services to Kenyans; the same bunch that refuses to pay taxes on their hefty salaries; the same bunch that approved one quarter Billion Shillings to renovate the PRIVATE residence of the PM which will NOT benefit tax payers one iota and continues to fund other excessive luxuries of the President, vice president, speaker, on and on and on;  so can we really trust parliament to do any better now beyond what they are good at,  self preservation?  The only unmistakable variable missing from the” BONDING” session was, as usual, “WE THE PEOPLE”.  This was nothing more than yet another “Boardroom Gentlemen’s meeting to come up with an agreement or MOU” to guarantee perpetual hold on power.

If there was ever a time this country needed men and women of substance to stand up for Kenya’s very survival, it is now! Just as we have fought so hard and still continue to end impunity in Kenya, this is another fight we cannot ignore and allow a few conceited self righteous individuals write our country’s next chapter; we must be on the driver seat this time around, period. Left to their devices, this bunch will most certainly plunge the country into the abyss, remember the international community has had to babysit Kenya’s leadership for two years straight now!  We have been on this journey long enough and been bamboozled many a time to know things are terribly amiss. As the rubber hits the asphalt and the once unknown unravels; as the witch’s brew has fermented long enough and is now being served, we must remain vigilant, one more time. The country would be taking a step backward to primitivism if we sit idly and just watch and Just as before, we’ll be left with an even bigger mess to clean up for way too long after these henchmen exit the scene. For decades now the same faces have been at the driver’s seat in Kenya’s government and the evidence of piles upon piles of ROT speaks for itself; enough is enough!

Constitutional review:

I am livid that this is what the “EXPERTS” came up with, seriously! Not so much for its verbosity, redundancy and contradictions but because this is a reactionary half baked document based on fear of what might happen if one side doesn’t get what it wants instead of reason and principle; the so called “experts” have acknowledged as much. This document rewards further the 2007 PEV inciters and is not objective at all. It effectively makes permanent TWO centers of government by splitting hairs about the definitions of the so called “State” and “Government”! It is a clear attempt by the politicians to carve out yet another piece of the pie for themselves so they remain relevant for years to come; there is no such a thing as “State” and “Government” separation. The government runs the state, it is the practice world over, and we have had the arrangement for 46 years now, what happened, a sudden epiphany to the “experts”?  A constitution is supposed to be a purposeful document for posterity; a NEUTRAL legal document emphasizing rule of law and based on principle not a temporary fix of past or current flare-ups; that only defers cries for new constitutions when new flares surface down the road. This document is based on fear, intimidation and appeasement. It does not even adequately address incitement to violence by leaders dissatisfied with election outcomes such as stiff penalties and barring them permanently from ever holding public or elective office as a deterrent to violence and encourage rule of law. This draft further dramatically expands government and bureaucracy at astronomical costs, adding layers upon layers of red tape on an already rotten system, creates more unnecessary turf wars, increase deficiencies in service delivery instead of efficiency. What is an expert?

Expert; Definition

An expert is someone widely recognized as a reliable source of technique or skill whose faculty for judging or deciding rightly, justly, or wisely is accorded authority and status by their peers or the public in a specific well-distinguished domain. An expert, more generally, is a person with extensive knowledge or ability based on research, experience, or occupation and in a particular area of study.(WIKIPEDIA)

Please convince me that the so called “Harmonized” Draft is the work of “EXPERTS”.

What a sham and waste of national resources? ABSOLUTE NONSENSE; Most of what is contained in the draft  either already exists  in the current constitution or in the last Waki Draft which was defeated in the 2005 referendum; Was tax payer money spent on this? I mean seriously, were these “EXPERTS” paid for this? If you thought the current confusion and ineptitude in governance in Kenya is bad, God forbid this incredibly flawed so called “Harmonized Constitutional Draft” ever sees light of day in Kenya! Who “harmonized” this thing? When?  It is an assured train wreck; the “experts” are proposing to replace all the gains we have made in our democracy with a return to a dictatorial oligarchy which we have made every effort to erase since independence, an absolute nightmare which will see many innocent lives lost unnecessarily. They are proposing to not only make permanent the current flawed arrangement which has extremely burdened taxpayers and also paralyzed government service delivery but also expand it. WHY on God’s green earth would Kenya want to extend this confusion one additional day? WHY?! It is a blatant attempt by these folks to divvy up the electoral spoils through radical and exponential expansion of government and to ratify the 2002 MEMORANDUM of UNDERSTANDING (MOU) at the expense of all of us. Who will pay for all this expansion? This bunch is just taking us for one major FINAL ride of their self preservation. This piece of draft is fatally flawed and to think we spent Millions of Shillings of tax payer funds to produce it is just appalling! Twice now, with career politicians devoid of true issues affecting the common man; they are attempting to short circuit the coexistence of Kenyans!  I knew, like many of us did, that the “experts” may not necessarily have all the answers but we didn’t expect it to be this BAD!

The Executive:

First off, and to the “experts” credit for properly recognizing this, the Presidency is the ONLY true symbol of our national unity and cohesion. It is the ONLY office with necessarily the most stringent prerequisites for the bearer to meet before being elected; and for a good reason. That the man or woman who holds the office must satisfy majority of Kenyans of his/her ability, credentials and fitness to lead before he/she is given the people’s mandate to govern; that his/her mandate comes DIRECTLY from the people, not a few who may be (as history has shown time and time again in Kenya) rigged into parliament and then corrupted and/or coerced to elect an Executive PM.  This is a non-negotiable basic democratic principle. If anybody, particularly the Prime Minister wants to wield National Executive Authority, he must get the people’s mandate to do so; our constitution must be of, for and by the people-not parliament. The president who is popularly elected represents the wishes of the majority and how they wish to be governed at any given time. Consequently, the people’s mandate must also be manifested in the president’s authority and power to dispense their wishes or in any other office of National nature for that matter; the PM’s office in this case provided he/she is elected directly by the governed. Parliament is the last place in Kenya to vest any kind of executive authority for crying out loud. Not just because it is a separate co-equal branch of government whose role is to legislate and not enforce laws but also because the Kenyan Parliament’s own record over the decades particularly in the last two years has been abysmal!   Further, the idea of splitting hairs between the so called “State” and “Government” is absolute NONSENSE! There is no such thing as State and Government world over. The state is the form upon which the government operates; they are one and the same. The government governs the state and this attempt to formalize the semantics through creating different centers of power to appease the current establishment is simply BAD policy. This thing will create a total mess for no valid reason whatsoever.

The majority in Kenya is in the MILLIONS, not a hundred or so in parliament whom the “experts” propose to shift the people’s power to and it is for this reason that the people’s wishes and choice of the national leader be properly reflected in the power of the presidency; our wishes, our votes and our mandate are of true value not of nominal or ceremonial value! The “experts” must not be allowed to punish the voters by devaluing our votes simply because of past abuses of holders of the presidency. Our votes and voices must be strengthened NOT weakened; remedies to fix past abuses should be directed at fixing the abusive loopholes, not at “we the people” as this draft proposal seeks to do. DEVALUING our votes is not the answer to past abuses of the presidency! It is tough enough already as it is that not all votes count equally in Kenya i.e. it is a fact that Kalenjin votes count as twice as Kikuyu votes for example, courtesy of electoral abuses engineered by president Moi; let the “experts” fix that first!

The proposal being championed by ODM calls for the party with majority MPs in parliament to “elect” an executive Prime Minister while we the people simply elect a “ceremonial” president, in other words our votes’ value only amount to a “figurehead”. If this asinine proposal was adopted, in a nation with tens of political parties, we could end up with an executive PM “elected” by a mere 40 MPs depending on party representation in Parliament but wielding national powers not given by the people. If you take into account the current coalition where ODM’s claim to winning the presidency was based on regional elections primarily of the Rift Valley, Nyanza and Western, the country’s power center could end up being concentrated on these three provinces!  We are being robbed blind of our authority in broad daylight; as we watch; people, this MUST NOT STAND. Replacing the people’s control of their government with a handful of corruptible power hungry so called “majority” in parliament, especially in a parliament with no true majority representation and where voter buying and corruption is the order of the day is idiotic. The whole idea of democracy is “Balance” through representation and in Kenya that would of course be the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary; all separate and co-equal.

The Executive enforces Laws passed by the Legislature through the Judiciary; it is very unambiguous. That is what we have had for a while now albeit imperfect. The “experts”, should have focused on strengthening each of these institutions and creating more balance and equality of the three branches of government instead of drastically weakening the only one which we the people have a direct say in and strengthening the one we have NO say in! I think that in itself is backward and very very unhelpful in advancing Kenya’s progress. We can only move forward if we allow true separation of the branches.  The very idea of usurping power of the majority of Kenyans through the back door and handing it over to a dictatorial clique of a few so called “majority” MPs is not only laughable but also treasonable. This is the same bunch of nutcases who leech on the rest of us with hefty salaries they refuse to pay taxes on while IDPs are going hungry daily; the same guys who allotted themselves the biggest pays anywhere on earth,  even higher than those of the United States Congress, the same bunch who refuse to form a tribunal to try Post election violence suspects, the same geniuses who blindly almost to the man/woman signed on to the so called “Grand Coalition” without any safeguards whatsoever and plunged the country into a state of perpetual confusion and campaigns;  the same corrupt MPs who were bought in “selecting” a speaker through intimidation; the same bunch who whole heartedly endorsed a bloated useless overlapping cabinet which is costing us Billions of Shillings in incremental costs to the poor citizens! Guys, make no mistake about this, if this is the so called “REFORM” that has eluded us for so long, if this is what Kenyans have been waiting for all these years; we must all stand and be counted; Wacha ikae, the answer is HELL NO!

The Draft proposes a PM with executive authority who heads the government and the cabinet chosen from among his peers in Parliament based on party majority: Plenty of problems with this arrangement;

· The cabinet is an executive branch of government charged with enforcing laws; in a true democracy such as the US (which incidentally it appears is what the “experts” are attempting to incorporate as well as the European models). It cannot be comingled with the legislative branch i.e. Parliament. It is a very clear conflict of interest; if the same Parliament which passes laws is also the same one enforcing them, who has oversight over its functions? Isn’t that the whole idea of the new constitution, to fix excesses of any Branch of Government? What is the value to “we the people” of shifting excess powers away from a popularly elected President to an unelected Prime Minister? I mean what value is that to anyone? Do we trust Parliament to police itself, especially KENYA’s parliament? The answer is NO! Even if we would, this proposal is wrought with glaring loopholes subject to massive abuses and manipulation.

· If the proposal intends to retain the presidency with true power, then by default that is Executive Authority; where is the demarcation line? Whom do “we the people” call on when things go wrong? We have no recourse, we cannot recall the PM because we did NOT elect him/her and his/her cronies can retain him in office for personal reasons while the country goes up in flames; it is not a mere possibility but a very probable outcome. WE NEED  direct RECOURSE to recall our government

· The draft also punishes the electorate needlessly by calling for a national election of ALL MPs in the event Parliament or the President fails to appoint a PM in 60 days. Elections are an expensive time and resource consuming exercise which we would rather invest on nation building. If the President and Parliament fails to choose a PM, that is their problem which shouldn’t be passed on to us but more importantly, it is yet another reason why the PM MUST BE ELECTED DIRECTLY BY THE PEOPLE in the first place if we must have a PM so we are NOT subjected to the endless theatrics! Enough already.

· The draft bars the elected president from holding a political party office while it explicitly exempts the PM from this requirement; WHY? How is it that a president popularly elected by the majority of Kenyans on a party platform is stripped of his/her party leadership position and effectively the ability to push the party agenda that got him/her elected in the first place while an UNELECTED PM with executive powers is permitted to hang on to his/her party leadership position and push the party’ s agenda on all of us despite the fact that we are denied the opportunity to vote for the PM! What rationale are the “experts” employing?

· Why is an unelected PM chosen by a few in the legislature exercising executive authority? It currently takes at least 50% +1 in parliament to elect a speaker who runs the legislature; the “experts” have lowered this threshold even further by letting a simple majority party in parliament choose a PM with national executive authority, and you don’t find any problem with that, really? In a county like Kenya with tens of political parties, a simple majority of 50 can choose a PM and lead into political stalemates! Further, the PM should mind parliament since he is an MP, there are three co-equal branches of government, why are we trying to marry them and create unnecessary conflicts of interest? The president is the Chief Executive of the country and he runs his/her branch through the help of the cabinet, cut out the NONESENSE about comingling branches of government and usurping the people’s mandate, come on people.

· Under the proposed draft, the roles would dramatically reverse without recourse to the detriment of all of us where the so called “head of government” (PM) would have the least support among Kenyans yet wielding the most power while the President with the most support among Kenyans would have the least powers; this is irreconcilable in any democracy. Does that make sense to anyone? Here is the scenario they are proposing:

Continue reading →

KOSGEY AND POGHISO HAVE NOW SEEN ENOUGH

24 Replies

Now Kosgey and Poghiso have seen enough of their disorganized government and have broken off from the spirit of  “Ministerial Collective responsibility”.  Like Ruto, they too are talking of the government this, government that.

At the time the prime minister is saying things like, “The Government efforts must not be frustrated by a few selfish politicians who are doing it purely for political reasons”. And that  “we will do all that is possible to find a solution to the people leaving the forest,”.  Kosgey was crying foul by stating that “We agreed as a Government that the eviction would be implemented according to the laws of the land governing compulsory acquisition, but what is happening in Mau is the complete opposite”. “We should not render people destitute and create a humanitarian crisis as is happening now in the name of conserving Mau.”

In brief, Kosgey is saying that the cabinet did not say that the mau residents be indiscriminately evicted and told to go wherever they feel like. While the PM is saying the eviction is done in a humane manner Mr. Kosgey is saying, “Mr. PM come and see for yourself, it is not humane”. As usual the prime minister has been misadviced to bite a big chunk of meet he cannot swallow. He trusted the so called government, gave his word and followed it not knowing that he is not privy to things being discussed in the state house.

The whole world saw what happened. When the guards were well organised in demolishing houses, they were not accompanied by a well organised transport or resettlement plan. As usual, Africans know how to destroy but have no business building anything. The evictees were simply told to leave their homes and go wherever they wanted to. At least that is what the arrogant Wekesa said openly.  There was utmost impunity in the glaring  camera lights and  Kosgey is now telling the PM  openly, ” You are lied to Mr PM”.

The worst part of this is that the prime minister, who stamped his name on this projec, was busy fighting with Ruto. What happened to Raila “the advocate of  the poor?” What happened to ” Chuny piny”, What really happened to “the man of the people”?

In my opinion, this was not even in the docket of the prime minister. This issue was an issue that the ministry of land, environment, human resources and internal security was totally capable of handling. Why did Raila get involved and why did Kibaki completely ignore the issue until recently? Why was this the issue that Raila pegged his carreer on? I think I know the answer. It was popular to save the environment and look good to the international community. Well, that is true but at the same time, the international community takes the plight of the poor very seriously, and saving them is just as popular and hence, Raila should not persist on the wrong path.

Stop Mr. Prime Minister, accept that we have a humane issue and help to genuinely settle these poor people. You are making Ruto look good through our innate sympathy for those who are being trodden upon. It is not too late for a change of heart.

Raila put himslef at the centre of this, leaving Kibaki totally free to calculate how to make him look bad. Raila has all over suddenly become the government, while Kalonzo Musyoka,  the vice president himself, has become the opposition. While Raila was busy saving the forest, his advisers failed to tell him what was going to happen next.

Well, we have it here. Young children left in the cold, in make shift huts, poor old people riding on the back of donkeys, women genuinely building small make shift tents, and yet Raila, Wekesa and Mchuki insist it is humane, and that those poor people trying to keep themselves warm, were simply people brought over there by Ruto to politicise the issue. There is no politics in this. Simply resettle the people and then let Ruto move to his other political issues.

Who is now playing politics with this? The answer is with Kosgey and Poghiso. Kosgey and Poghiso are the most moderate Rift Valley politicians. Even in times when they had been pressed to join the Rift Valley band wagon, they have always made independent decisions. For Poghiso to say that he will side with his child first before he is a tree, it implies that this mau issue has gone too far and the prime minister should take this issue very very seriousely. Kosgey and Poghiso have said enough is enough. What else can I say?
Dr. Barack Abonyo

In support of Harmonized Draft Constitution

1 Reply

PRESS   RELEASE.

November 23, 2009.

From Nyanza Council of Church Leaders comprising of 240 Churches.

WE as Interdenominational Church leaders from Nyanza Province would like to support the committee of Experts on the constitution, for a job well done.

As Men of God, we would like to take this early and utmost opportunity to make an impassioned appeal to all Kenyans to fully rally behind the harmonized Draft and support it.

At the same time we agree with sections of the Draft that seeks to whittle down some powers of the t President.

It is for the simple reason that Kenyans have for many years suffered and had immense problems at the hands of an imperial head of state..

As people who talk when driven with the spirit of God, we are humbled to submit that Presidential Powers should be devolved in the direction of the Prime Minister.

As members of the Nyanza council of Church leaders, we feel that the ongoing debate on the harmonized draft is healthy, but should not be narrowed down to individual parties or groups.

The stand taken over the weekend by a number of leaders, that the Draft should not be trivialized around parties or individuals, is quite in order.

The church fraternity in the country, including ourselves, is perplexed by rules given out by the Minister for environment, John Michuki, over noise.

Our stand is that the rules are repugnant and an affront to our faiths, and do not promote the freedom of worship, that is enshrined in the constitution of the republic of Kenya.

The rules should be suspended henceforth since it negates the very principals that are enshrined in the constitution.

We need the noise in order to target the modern youths. During the time of prophets and even John the Baptist, they preached outside with noise. We totally disagree with the Minister to return us to dark days.  Soviet Union and Eastern Germany, they banned Churches from preaching outside,  and plunged their Countries to poverty far worse, Compared to America and Britain.

Signed By:

Bishop Dr. Washington Ogonyo Ngede. H.S.C.

CHAIRMAN NYANZA COUNCIL OF CHURCH LEADERS.

TANZANIA – MOVING ICT AND TELECOM SECTORS FORWARD

Leave a reply

The information age has made technology, particularly information and communications technology, indispensable. What has been the Information Technology (IT) and Telecommunications situation in Tanzania? Tanzania is often identified as the fastest moving economy and one of the most advanced ICT market sectors in East Africa . It has the largest population in East Africa , also making it an attractive and big market. How has or how is IT and Telecoms allowing Tanzania to leap-frog into the information age?


Essentially answers to these questions have to do with access to IT and Telecoms services. Let’s examine Information and Communications Technology (ICT) status and developments in Tanzania by looking at several issues relating to infrastructure in Tanzania. In this regard, telecommunications infrastructure is particularly important, because of its far-reaching impact.


A New Era

Telecommunication infrastructure remains one of the major issues affecting technology deployment required for growth and development in Tanzania. There has however, been massive improvement in infrastructure over the past few years. Tanzania has certainly left the telecomm state where there were only a few dial-up e-mail providers and Internet service providers (ISPs) and when Tanzanian Telecommunications Limited (TTCL) was the only Telecommunications operator. It was a dark era characterized by slow Internet links, poor service, high cost, lack of infrastructure and an unprogressive telecoms monopoly. Things have certainly changed. So has night turned to day?

Deregulation of the telecommunications sector led to the introduction of major Global System of Mobile Communications (GSM), mobile phone providers, Zain Vodacom, Zantel , Tigo and SasaTel).


Tanzania‘s government had earlier provided the impetus for liberalization by setting up the Tanzanian Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) Although TCRA became the regulatory body for Tanzania’s telecom sector in 2003 , it is the present government that dealt with the telecom policy, interconnection agreements and the empowerment of TCRA. TCRA issues licenses to private telecoms companies providing a variety of telecom services to the Tanzanian populace.


According to TCRA, deregulated telecommunications services include:

“Sales and Installation of Terminal equipment (Mobile Cellular Phones, Satellite Communication and Switching equipments etc); Public Payphone Services; Internet Services; Prepaid Calling Card Services; Community Telephony with exchanges; Paging Services; Trunk and 2-Way Radio Network Services; Fixed Telephony Services, employing cable and Radio; Satellite Network Services (e.g. Domestic VSAT networks); Repairs & Maintenance of telecommunications facilities; Cabling services; Tele-Centers/Cyber Cafes”.


The GSM Revolution

The GSM revolution began in 1994 and changed the face of Information and Communications Technology in Tanzania. But note that the picture will not be complete without mentioning the Private Telephone Operators (PTOs) and other landmarks such as the licensing of Tigo which was Mobitel as Tanzania’s second national operator (SNO)as well as the licensing of many other fixed wireless operators.


Though Tigo is presently more active in the mobile telephony sector it has the same licenses as TTCL . Tigo licence constitutes a multi-service package of National Carrier, GSM, International Gateway and Fixed Wireless Access (FWA).


Since the GSM launch, mobile telephony has rapidly become the most popular method of voice communication in Tanzania. Growth has been so rapid that Tanzania has been rightly described in various fora as “one of the fastest growing GSM markets in the world”. Indeed these developments have been truly explosive: today Tanzania has about five million mobile lines and about one million fixed lines, compared with just about 450,000 working lines from TTCL three years ago.


ICT boom – Combined Effort

But Tanzania’s telecom infrastructure story and growth has not been due to GSM alone. For example, GSM doesn’t have much to do with the upsurge in Internet usage and access. In essence it is the combined activities of Tanzania’s telecoms providers – GSM, FWA, PTOs, telephony and VSAT operators and TCRA’s regulatory efforts that has led to increased competition and availability of a wide range of voice, data and internet applications and services. The improvement in the telecom situation in Tanzania has made significant impact in all sectors – commerce, social and educational. Although most of the impact is presently felt only in the urban centers, TCRA has announced plans to ensure the telecomms revolution also touches the rural populace. As noted by one of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) publications, there is “a direct correlation between access to telecommunications, economic wealth, and social development”.


The telecomms boom has resulted in greater usage of Internet Technology, growth and availability of cyber cafés, increased Internet provision by ISPs and PTOs, increased communications services (mobile telephony, e-mail, VOIP), reduction of Internet costs, online information gathering and research, e-learning, Internet business opportunities, online advertising opportunities as well as developments in e-banking. Growth has been phenomenal because Tanzania’s size is massive and Tanzanians have been starved of such access for decades. A kind of  “Thank God the drought is over” experience. So while there might be an IT or Telecomms downturn in the rest of the world, the ICT sector in Africa especially in places like Tanzania continues to boom.


A few years ago, “cyber café” was a strange word from another world. Today cyber cafés exist in virtually every neighborhood especially in the urban centers. Because cost of ICT is still relatively high for most individuals, the cybercafe has significantly improved accessibility to the Internet in Tanzania.


This is particularly significant as the ITU publication, states: “if information is power, then the internet must be the easiest way of empowering those that have traditionally been left behind.”


Success? Paradise?

The facts are there for all to see. There has been substantial improvement in access to telecom facilities and unprecedented growth in the telecoms network. So has night turned to day? Not quite. In view of Tanzania’s size and requirements telecommunications infrastructure is still grossly inadequate. Tanzania is regarded as “one of the biggest telecommunications markets in Africa and the world”. But does size determine quality? It should be more about growth and qualitative infrastructure than just having a big or the fastest growing market.


With the opening up of the telecoms space further dramatic growth is expected as service and reliability demands increase. However, in-depth penetration and qualitative infrastructure growth is critical.


Qualitative Factors


Cost

Access is not just about availability. Cost affects usage. High cost is still a barrier. While prices have defiTTCLy come down the cost of access is still too high to have a transformatory impact. There are presently price competition battles going on involving PTOs and GSM providers, which are steps in this direction. The provision of Internet by PTOs is also helping. But more needs to be done about bringing down call tariffs and rates not just communications acquisition cost. The aim should be low cost Internet and phone service.


Because most of the computer hardware in use in Tanzania is imported, high computer prices are a barrier to access. e-business, telecomms infrastructure is incomplete without affordable computing facilities. Although just like the phone and Internet costs, computer prices have been falling, more people, not just businesses, need to have access to reasonably priced computers for education, recreation, business and other creative activities.


Poor electricity supply

Epileptic power supply increases the cost of access. Supply of electricity needs to be optimal to enable businesses and banks to provide seamless online services through local areas networks, wide area networks and the Internet. Inefficiency is the word to describe a situation where everybody has to depend on power generators, as the primary, reliable power supply. This constitutes a barrier to growth and sustainable development. The growth of real e-business cannot take place or be of any significance in an environment with unreliable public power supply.


Quality of service

While availability has grown, this has not been matched by quality of service. It is not enough to have cheap lines and low cost bandwidth. Efficiency and accessibility of telecoms service should be paramount. Most operators have a lot of work to do in QoS especially in the areas of congestion and support. TCRA may have to wield the big stick by sanctioning poor performers.


Appropriate Licensing fees

TCRA has done a lot as a pacesetter. But TCRA needs to review the appropriateness of its license fees. How realistic are such fees for healthy competition? Will such fees as they are stimulate telecoms growth or increase the number of competent market players?


ICT Incentives

The market is large – the biggest in Africa! Opportunities abound! But more needs to be done to encourage investment in ICT, especially in the knowledge and creative areas. There is a need for a combination of incentives: reduction of import duties on ICT equipment, tax incentives for ICT companies, tax incentives for investment in ICT research, development and training efforts, local manufacture of telecommunications equipment and infrastructure. Again the essence of these incentives is to encourage growth and reduce access cost. If most ICT providers are faced with the problem of multiplicity of taxes, as is the case now, is this in sync with the growth that is needed?


The TTCL question

What exactly is the aim of the seesaw commercialization / privatization of TTCL? TTCL’s performance as a national operator, or even as a telecom provider is still way below standard. Although TTCL may no longer be the sole or dominant operator, its 450,000 lines is still a major chunk of infrastructure that can’t be ignored. present commercial managers of TTCL experiment is clearly not working. For the many who depend on TTCL, improvement in performance and quality of service are key.


Building expertise in Tanzania

More efforts should be invested in encouraging the development of IT and Telecoms expertise in Tanzania. “The biggest market”, “the fastest growing teledensity” or just “the biggest consumers”? Consumption alone cannot engender growth. There is a need to develop human capacity in areas such as: technical, management, research and development, security, strategic and operational. For example, while there has been a cybercafe boom, management has been a major source of concern for cybercafe businesses.


Also with the many IT and Telecoms projects that are taking off, project management skills will be required to get benefit.


Human development in ICT can be encouraged through increased awareness of opportunities and capabilities in ICT. The environment should encourage ICT education and provide incentives especially for those investing in research, development, training, software and other creative efforts. Acquiring infrastructure is great but it is serious investment in education that will bridge the digital divide and enhance the quality of infrastructure, the quality of access, the quality of usage, the quality of growth.


Initiatives from profit-driven members of the private sector should be encouraged, but such schemes are on their own not enough to make Tanzania an ICT-capable country or a key player in the global ICT revolution.


An emphasis on infrastructure would widen access to ICT facilities. Tanzania can’t afford the luxury of ignoring the multiplier effects of access to ICT. Tanzania has certainly done well so far in improving infrastructure capacity in “record time”, now it’s time to start focusing on quality. At the end of the day, infrastructure is not just about access, it’s about what you do with access

—
Yona Fares Maro
I.T. Specialist and Digital Security Consultant

Mzee Orinda Ndege

10 Replies

23rd November 2009

Mzee Orinda Ndege

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

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

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

  • Dr. George Omburo

  • Mr. Jorum Odus

  • Mr. Jairus
    K’Onyiego

  • Mr. Dave Ndolo

  • Dr. Paul Nyandoto

  • Mr. Oduor Ong’wen

  • Dr. Barrack Abonyo

  • Mr. William Oduor

  • Mr. Patrick Opondi

  • Dr. Peter Okoth,

  • Mr. Jack Ayim,

  • Mr. Jairus Onyiego

  • Mr. Oloo Janak,

  • Mr. Washington
    Raburu

  • Mr. Odhiambo T
    Oketch [Team Leader]

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

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

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

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

Peace and blessings.

Odhiambo T Oketch,

Tel; 0724 365 557, 0724
365 557,

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

Blogspot;
http://kcdnkomarockswatch.blogspot.com

East African Leaders sign a landmark agreement to establish common

Leave a reply

THE FIVE PRESIDENTS OF THE EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY COUNTRIES HAVE SIGNED A LANDMARK AGREEMENT ESTABLISHING THE REGION’S COMMON MARKET.

News Analysis By Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City.

THe five presidents of the East African Community member countries have signed a landmark agreement for the establishment of a common market, which allows free movement of people, goods, labor and capital across their member countries.

The ceremony, which took place on Thursday last week in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha, where the community headquarter is located, coincided with the 10th anniversary of the community’s rebirth and inception in 1999.

The colourful ceremony was attended by Presidents Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania, Mwai Kibaki of Kenya, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of Uganda, Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi.
The ceremony was also attended by cabinet ministers from the five member states, members of the diplomatic corps, foreign dignitaries, invited guest as well as a battery of local and international journalists.

The common market agreement comes into effect on July, 1st, 2010 after ratification by all the five member states.

The next stage will then be to adopt one currency, and later, the much touted political federation, with possible of one federal president of an East African united states. This will create a buoyant economic growth to the region’s close to 130 million people.

Under the common market, East African citizens can enter another country without visa. Limitation, however, can be imposed by individual countries on grounds of public policy, security and health.
The signed protocol also allows for the rights of residence, free movement of service and capital, and protection of cross-border investments.

The five regional leaders signed the protocol during a colorful ceremony held at the Arusha International Conference Centre. Initially, the signing was to take place at the Sheikh Amri Abeid Memorial Stadium in view of the public. However, a heavy downpour of the current El-Nino associated rains marred the programme, prompting a change of venue.

The five Presidents also laid the foundation stone of the multi-billion dollar ultra –modern new headquarter of the East African Community, a project co-funded by Germany.

“The tradition is that all the protocols establishing the East African Community institutions are always signed in public, in order to be witnessed, since the birth of such projects”, President Kikwete explained.

Under the common market protocol, the five countries of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi agreed to eliminate all the trade barriers, harmonize standards for goods and services, and to implement a common trade policy.

The head of states also agreed on the freedom of labor, to provide social security benefits, and establish common standard for workers and employers associations. Except for Tanzania, the rest agreed to use national identity cards as the official travel documents.

The common market is the second stage in the EAC integration process and comes five years after the launching of the customs union.

President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, who handed the EAC chairmanship to president Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania, said the signing of the common market protocol signaled the “passing of a region of states competing with each other, and welcoming a region with a common interest and aspiration”. “The establishment of the customs union has also enhanced trade among the member countries,” Kagame noted, adding that the fears that revenue of some countries would be vandalized has been removed.

In his moving address, President Yoweri Museven of Uganda called for investment in the oil exploration, and assured East Africans that the recently discovered petroleum in Uganda will benefit the entire region.

A jovial Ugandan leader said the oil exploration companies were initially opposed to the idea of building a refinery, and instead wanted to build a pipeline to export the raw crude oil to be refined abroad.
“Then I made an abrupt trip to Iran, which is not a popular country in some parts of the world {a reference to the US}. Through the President of that country, I learnt that they have nine oil refineries and are in the process of building another seven”.

He said the discovery of petroleum deposits in Uganda is a sign that there may be oil in other parts of western rift valley, which is shared by Tanzania. Rwanda and Burundi.

Museveni stressed that agriculture should not be neglected because petroleum is a finite resource that will get exhausted one day. ”The money accrued from oil therefore, should be used constructively to build infrastructure for transport, energy and science.

Ends
leooderaomolo@yahoo.com

Is Mau the reason we did not have water in Nairobi?

5 Replies

Joe Ageyo wrote an article
Why I’m not celebrating the Mau Move
http://www.kensja.org/?p=208

By Joe Ageyo

For the first time since the battle for Karura Forest in the 1990s, environmental activists in Kenya must be celebrating. The Mau Forest saga has captured the imagination of the nation in ways only similar to political campaigns. Could this be a signal that environmental conservation is finally taking its rightful place in Kenya ’s national psyche or is Mau just another political fad, in a country with a penchant for quarrels and disagreements?

The position taken by the Prime Minister Raila Odinga is a case in point. Mr Odinga has always had only one response to environmental disputes – that nature has to be ‘destroyed’ a little for a country to progress. In fact his sound bite is often juicier, he says: ‘if you want to have grand children, then your daughter must not remain a virgin’. This was his take on both the controversial Tana Delta sugar scheme and the equally contentious Yala Swamp project. This past few days however he has indicated that he is willing to put his political career on the line to ‘save’ the Mau. This can only suggest one of two things: either the Prime Minister has finally seen the light or the Mau situation is really grave.

I will address only the latter proposition since that is how the Mau situation has been framed these past few weeks. Yes, it is true, the Mau Complex is a very important national resource- as one of the so-called five water towers in the country. And yes, it is true that the destruction going on in the Mau is indeed grave, and ought to have been stopped many years ago. But is Mau the most serious and pressing environmental crisis facing the country today? Is it the most endangered national resource in Kenya today? Put differently, is there something more to the Mau saga than what the government or indeed the Rift Valley MPs would want us to believe? Something stinks about the timing and framing of this genuine environmental concern!

A recent survey by UNEP and KWS indicated that between the year 2000 and 2003, a whopping 6,013 hectares in the Mount Kenya Forest was illegally cleared, compared to about 5,000 hectares in the Mau over the same period. The same aerial survey suggested that Mount Elgon Forest too was disappearing at nearly the same rate.

Granted, no nation can deal with all its environmental problems in one fell swoop, but what guarantee is there that after the Mau, the government will extend the same enthusiasm to Nairobi River, whose clean-up has been ‘going on’ for the last ten years and not even an inch has actually been cleaned? Or Lake Victoria , which is choking in raw sewer and agrochemicals from the highlands?

The government has skilfully presented the Mau situation as being the cause of all our problems ranging from the famine in parts of the country to the biting water shortage in Nairobi . This partly explains why the issue has become so emotive. Yet some experts would rather argue that Nairobi ’s water has more to do with the Aberdares and Mount Kenya forests more than the Mau – but that is neither here nor there. The point is, environmental issues are complex and are oversimplified only at the risk of misleading the nation.

If the government were really serious about addressing the issue of deforestation, it should have unveiled a comprehensive policy of protecting all forests in the country. The current plan suggests the formation of a Mau Complex Authority to oversee the restoration and protection of the Mau, does this mean we will eventually have five such authorities to steward all five of Kenya ’s water towers? Are we always going to form a task force or a new institution every time we are faced with a crisis?

What is needed in the Mau is not the creation of a new institution but ensuring the current institutions work. All the studies conducted on Kenya ’s forest situation invariably point to weak enforcement of existing laws owing to an incredibly low morale and corruption among forest officers. In addition, the Kenya Forest Service does not know for certain how much forest there is in the country, and therefore is ill-prepared to safeguard this resource.

The government has also curiously presented the eviction of the so-called squatters as the ultimate solution to problem of deforestation in the Mau. Whereas, people who irregularly acquired forestland must pay for their sins, including surrendering the land, we must not let the heat of the moment push us into discarding reason. The new forest management regime under the Forest Act 2005 expressly provides for the involvement of local communities in the management of forests. Indeed it is now widely accepted that no environmental policy, including the management of the Mau, can succeed without the support of the local communities. We should therefore not create a national impression that people who live next to forests will always destroy them. Furthermore the fledgling Kenya Forest Service does not have enough personnel to police all the forests in the country; they need the numerous eyes of local communities to secure these important national resources.

Good treatment always begins with an accurate diagnosis – the Mau situation may yet prove to be a serious case of misdiagnosis!

Joe Ageyo- NTV (Currently pursuing a Masters Degree in Environmental Governance at the University of Manchester , UK )

This article should be re read again to show us that may be the reason we missed water in Nairobi is because of a failed state that keeps Kikuyu peasants to small acres of plots to produce food instead of putting money in the North of Kenya to save the environment.

Mau is sensational but that it may be just a political battle zone not where the future of Kenya’s environmental salvation lies. An integrated development Policy approach is the way. And that needs to ask questions with what do we do with our Export led agricultural produce Policy that continues to deny Kenyans food and hence forces peasants to penetrate further into the forest to grow food and cash crops.

I have decided to look at things with a more holistic view. There is a very skewed view of things in Kenya.

Cyprian Orina Nyamwamu

KENYA A PARIAH-FAILED STATE

1 Reply

KENYA A PARIAH-FAILED STATE
DR. KIPRONOH RUTTOH

Jambo every one,

I am bemused and I am watching the great circus, taking place in Kenya. If only there were leaders, Kenya would not have been in this shame full episodes! when we should have been holding our heads high and proudly proclaiming ourselves as great people and one nation, we are, but placed in a situation-rather a nightmare, that has left us recoil in shame.

Do we have leaders in Kenya today? or have we, ( Kenyans ) ever had
leaders? Not so! The current group of men are busy tearing Kenya apart, when they open their mouths they broadcast to all their ignorance!

For instance, when the USA tried to offer advise, they were told off. By
non other than Prime Minister Odinga, and his chief silly lieutenant, the
Minister of foreign affairs, Moses Wetangula.

The whole planet knows that the President of America has had the best of good will to Kenya, not even the fact that he is a Kenya and Kenya’s blood runs through his veins, would be enough, to shut the mouths of the fools.

Alas, it is Kenya, that was the only one with no brains to discern! This
nation has no bearing and totally lack any perception of what a nation out to do! The very idea of being one and what Unity entails, does not exist in the mind and language of Kenya.

Let us delve into the Mau Issue. If Kenya had intelligent leaders, the
shame and horrors that we are seeing now on the highways from Mau would not have existed.

All Kenyans want a better Kenya, not a desert. But how to go about is a difference. Lack of leaders, and having fools to run the nation is what we are witnessing today!

Many of you will be screaming about President, well Kenya has no President, what we have is a lame old and worn out relic of ancient times. Irrelevant to Kenya of today. He is waiting for his time to end, further more, you all know that he is not functioning upstairs!

For Kibaki to have allowed Mr. Moi to deceive him, even though he knew how Mr. Moi wanted him to fail is a tale with no comparison! Intelligent men does not accept that, to happen in their watch.

A man who loves his people and his country, would not steal from his
citizens, like what is happening in Kenya.

The picture I am talking about is this: Citizens thrown out on the streets year in , year out! Was it not 2005 when the last eviction happened? why was this problem not addressed?

We have the Prime Minister robbing the nation in broad day light, yet he has courage to kick out the citizens! and scatter them on the streets! then go into his home to eat and sleep and say he is a great leader? Is this what Kenya can come up with?

Raila Odinga lives like this:

His home – Runda Gated ( Mbwa Kalied ) area

His Constituency-Kibera Slums ( World’s Greatest )

His other People / IDP, Mau evictees and Squaters

His income KSh. 1 500 000.00 / Monthly salary

400 000.00 / allowance

33 400 000.00 / house beautification 2009

55 000 000.00 / house party 2010

77 000 000.00 / house party 2011

? ? ?000 000.00 / house party 2012

His office 700 000 000.00 / Building only not furnished

His car free

His gas ( Benzene-Petrol ) free

Total income, $10,896,042.48 ( USD ), ( Yes it is over Ten million,
American dollars ) in nation as poor as Kenya!

Is this what a wise leader does?

If Prime Minister and Wekesa, the minister were wise, or even if they had a little intelligence, they would have first gotten funds ready to transport and feed their fellow Kenyans-Evicted from Mau.

Where would the money have come from, you may ask! Well check the BBC WEB page, 1 Billion Pounds were given to Nigeria for the re integration of the Delta residences and enhancement of peace. By the European Union. Kenya only needed to ask.

Egypt was willing to offer any help that is needed to keep the Rivers
flowing into the Lake! No one bothered to do any thing!

Why? was it not done? The thing is, there is going to be an Oslo meeting in December, and the Prime Minister, had to pull a fast one on the Mau, tribes, the idea is that he will use the eviction of the alleged destructive (Squatters ) to ask for money to replant the Mau.

Right now, a Contingent of an all Kikuyu, Youth are in Canada training as tree planters. They are leaving for Kenya in December 8, 2009. They were in Canada for 3 Months!

This is the reason why there will never be serious assistance for the mau evicted People! money is needed for important projects, such as the Prime Ministers House parties, and executive offices.

I have noted with amusement, the discussions on this forum. One in
particular is this:

: HOW DO POLITICIANS LIKE THE MAU PICTURE NOW ”

Some people are very forgetful. A symptomatic amnesiac behaviour that this nation is cursed with! So many of the writers are telling the Mau Evictees that they are not of any use. And to any other individual, it is this; how dare you to point out the mistakes of Dinga!

It is very sad to see all that we had hoped to achieve going down the
drainage hole of stupidity and ignorance!

Barack Abonyo was trying to raise a true sound and reasonable idea about how a responsible gouvernment and leaders ought to treat the citizens, but all seems lost in a blind following of a leader abandoning the nation!.

Is this what Kenya is all about? Judge by your self:

” better join the kalenjin council of elders (war council). we are ready
for u guys ” bobby, Nov 18th, 2009 at 1:00 am
,

To add on to what Nduko said, the kalenjin have also benefited from other kenyans for a long time , if they did not use their benefits/advantage to uplift their lives , then they should just have them selves to blame. we the rest of kenyans also want to benefit from our environment at least coz that is all we can get back. we can not always use our sweat/tax to support them, we also need bullet factories in kisumu incase they attack us when we tell them not to cut down trees.

How is this attitude going to built a better Kenya for all of her people?

I grew up in Nyahera, Ogada, I went to Ogada Primary school, and my Sunday teacher was Erasto Seda, the father of the late Dr. Ouko Seda. I know how much potential the Luo people have. I learnt fluently the” Dholuo ” And Luos to me have been my brothers and sisters.

Today, however, I am heart broken, unless the Prime Minister does a drastic change, I can say Kenya has lost a very golden opportunity to shine.

Can some one wise, give words of wisdom to Mr. Prime Minister, he has to listen to peoples’ cry. I can not have, even a faintest courage, to go and cast another vote for him when there are so much sorrow being subjected to certain group of Kenyans-And to my very own people, my brothers and sisters!

Corruption at Safaricom Kenya

4 Replies

21st November 2009
Jeremy Kinyanjui

Corruption at Safaricom Kenya

There appears to be a lot that is troubling wrong at the biggest corporation in East & Central Africa i.e. giant mobile phone service provider, Safaricom Kenya.

Financial, technical and intellectual systems for one, are clearly stretched at Safaricom Kenya, and are at breaking point.

Safaricom Kenya for instance, was meant to pay out a dividend of 10 Kenya cents per share on 9th November 2009, but there is no indication that this has been done (refer to the Safaricom Kenya Annual Report & Accounts for the financial year ended 31st March 2009, both hardcopy, & softcopy i.e. www.safaricom.co.ke)

When a dividend for a publicly quoted company falls due, the practice is that formal announcements & protocols are set in motion, including formal notification of the declared dividend being made to the shareholders of the company, the Capital Markets Authority & the Nairobi Stock Exchange, by the publicly quoted company in question. Should any changes to the defined timetable arise for one reason or another, then the three key parties i.e. the shareholders of the company, the Capital Markets Authority & the Nairobi Stock Exchange, should again be immediately notified about the revision, and if need be, penalties/sanctions/reprimands applied on the Board of Directors & Management for this lapse.

Safaricom Kenya is in a financial crisis by every indication. Safaricom Kenya carried out a month and a half long exercise asking shareholders to sign up and receive their dividends by way of Safaricom Kenya’s M-Pesa money transfer service. As at the date of this letter i.e. 21st November 2009, there is no indication that payment of dividend has been effected to Safaricom shareholders who opted to receive their dividends through Safaricom Kenya’s M-Pesa money transfer service, bearing in mind that Safaricom Kenya was meant to effect dividend payment for the financial year ended 31st March 2009, on 9th November 2009, as stated above.

Even then, the decision by Safaricom Kenya to use M-Pesa to pay the 2008/2009 dividend to a substantial number of it’s shareholders, reeks of deceit and outright theft of it’s shareholders in particular, and the people of Kenya in general.

According to data released following the high profile Safaricom Initial Public Offer of March 2008, the majority of retail shareholders were allocated 420 shares each following massive over-subscription. Safaricom incidentally, has approximately 850,000 shareholders, almost all of whom are small scale retail shareholders.

As mentioned above, Safaricom Kenya is meant to pay out a dividend of 10 Kenya cents per share for the financial year ended 31st March 2009. This means that majority Safaricom Kenya shareholders are set to get a dividend of 42 Kenya shillings for the financial year ended 31st March 2009. It is claimed that that the Kenya Government does not deduct a 5% withholding tax for locals (i.e. Kenyans), for any dividend payment less than 50 Kenya shillings. The Ministry of Finance/Treasury is yet to confirm this, but assuming that it is indeed a statute in Kenya fiscal law, then majority Safaricom Kenya shareholders will therefore get a dividend of 42 Kenya shillings.

Now here’s the bombshell… Safaricom CEO Michael Joseph & Safaricom CFO Les Baille, claim that about a quarter of it’s retail shareholders (approximately 212,500 shareholders), registered to receive their dividend payments for the financial year 2008/2009 by way of Safaricom’s M-Pesa money transfer service. Safaricom Kenya charges 30 Kenya shillings for such M-Pesa money transfer transactions, meaning that many of the stated 212,500 retail shareholders, will receive a net payment of 12 Kenya shillings. What’s more is that if there is no statute in Kenya fiscal law allowing for a waiver of withholding tax of 5% for any dividend payment less than 50 Kenya shillings, then the saga gets even more comical, because 5% of 42 Kenya shillings is Kenya shillings 2.10. Net dividend after deduction of 5% withholding tax for many retail shareholders will therefore come to Kenya shillings 39.90. A majority of Safaricom Kenya retail shareholders receiving their dividends through the Safaricom M-Pesa money transfer service, should therefore receive a net dividend of Kenya shillings 9.90 after the M-Pesa transaction fee of Kenya shillings 30 is deducted. This is assuming that there is no statute in Kenya fiscal law allowing for a waiver of withholding tax of 5% for any dividend payment less than 50 Kenya shillings. The difference anyway between Kenya shillings 12 and Kenya shillings 9.90 is not much. It is Kenya shillings 2.10, which is not even enough to send a local text message in Kenya.

How about the remaining approximate 637,500 Safaricom Kenya shareholders? Why have they up to now not received their dividend cheques for the financial year ended 31st March 2009? These were meant to have been despatched on 9th November 2009 as mentioned above. Inspite of the fact that many of the remaining 637,500 shareholders will receive net dividend cheques of either Kenya shillings 42 or Kenya shillings 39.90, and inspite of the fact that Safaricom Kenya has made no arrangements and/or provisions for how these low value dividend cheques will be cashed, why have the dividend cheques not been mailed out yet? Is it because Safaricom Kenya does not have the money? Is it because Safaricom Kenya is broke? Is Safaricom desperately scrambling to raise funds to pay the 2008/2009 dividend, by amongst other ways, the just launched low denomination, lower market end Kenya shilling 10 & Kenya shilling 5 calling cards? Safaricom Kenya is desperate & is doing little to conceal it.

The company reportedly made a very attractive gross profit of 45 billion Kenya shillings for the 2007/2008 financial year and an equally attractive gross profit of slightly less than 40 billion Kenya shillings for the 2008/2009 financial year. These are huge huge sums of money. Even assuming a flat Kenyan corporate tax rate of 30%, the quoted revenues would translate into approximate net profit amounts of Kenya shillings 31.5 billion and 28 billion for the financial years ended 31st March 2008 & 31st March 2009, respectively. Where is all this money? Where are all these so called “reserves”? Are they fictitious? Are they illusionary? Are they just on paper? Are these just doctored figures that keep being prepared & presented to the public?

Safaricom Kenya has an issued share capital of 10 billion ordinary shares. Safaricom Kenya made a staggering 50 billion Kenya shillings during it’s stated initial public offer of March 2008, because each Safaricom Kenya share retailed at 5 Kenya Shillings during the initial public offer. Add to this the staggering attractive approximate net profits above of 31.5 billion Kenya shillings & 28 billion Kenya shillings for two years in a row, and it becomes really baffling why Safaricom Kenya is not able to pay a dividend of only Kenya shillings 1 billion for the financial year ended 31st March 2009, and why they are openly fleecing it’s shareholders and Kenyans in general, by further stealing 30 Kenya shillings from every one of the approximate number of 212,500 shareholders who have “opted” to receive their dividends for the 2008/2009 financial year via Safaricom Kenya’s M-Pesa money transfer service. The Safaricom Kenya dividend payment for the financial year ended 31st March 2009 comes to merely 1 billion Kenya shillings in the circumstances, because an issued share capital of 10 billion ordinary shares multiplied by the declared dividend of 10 Kenya cents, comes to only 1 billion Kenya shillings, a pittance for the “giant” Safaricom Kenya, the “biggest” corporation in this region i.e. East & Central Africa.

Safaricom Kenya has also just issued a corporate bond for 2 billion Kenya shillings, and reported that it will issue similar such corporate bonds in phases. Why is a company with such huge reserves borrowing such small amounts of money from a hard pressed Kenyan public? Why does a company that has made huge staggering approximate net profits of 59.5 billion Kenya shillings over a two year period, have to go back to the Kenyan public to borrow a mere 2 billion Kenya shillings for it’s “expansion” programmes. Moreover, this is in the midst of it’s failure to release a declared dividend for the financial year ended 31st March 2009 for a small amount of 1 billion Kenya shillings.

Safaricom Kenya is in a heavily desperate situation & I would personally not be surprised to even hear that they have not paid their employees and/or suppliers. One even wonders what the real state of numerous other smaller Kenyan corporations/enterprises/businesses is.

Safaricom has resorted to sending all manner of annoying, valueless, irritating & nonsensical near daily promotions to it’s huge subscriber base of close to 10 million users, amongst other things, merchandising “branded” laptops at “throw away prices”, asking subscribers to sign-up for English premier league updates for the “Big 4” English football teams i.e. Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool, and asking subscribers to download ring tones and/or “Skiza” tones from www.safaricom.co.ke. One of the annoying, valueless, irritating & nonsensical promotions even asked subscribers to download “gospel” tones from www.safaricom.co.ke at “premium rates”, disregarding the fact that a huge number of Safaricom Kenya subscribers are not Christians. This is extremely insensitive & outrageously fails to recognise the cosmopolitan nature of Kenya’s people, showing indeed, just how desperate Safaricom Kenya is. I mean why not just send out promotional text messages in Kikuyu, Luo, Gusii, Kalenjin, Taita, Kamba, Meru, Luhyia, Maasai, Somali, Samburu, Borana, Dorobo, Rendille, Gujarati, Sheng or any one of the numerous other dialects in Kenya, if this is the case.

One also wonders what Safaricom Kenya sets out to achieve in sending out promotional text messages for it’s branded laptops that they claim cost “only” Kenya shillings 19,999. Are they targeting lower market end subscribers for whom they have just launched low denomination Kenya shilling 10 and Kenya shilling 5 calling cards for and for whom they look set to also further soon launch a Kenya shillings 2 calling card for, or are they targeting the higher end of the market that already owns laptops?

This country is in serious trouble. Who else is enjoined in the Safaricom Kenya conspiracy of deceit, open lies and open theft? The Capital Markets Authority, the Nairobi Stock Exchange, Parliament, the Ministry of Finance/Treasury?

In general, this is a good time to tread very cautiously. Safaricom Kenya is in dire straits, but so is the rest of the Kenyan economy. The Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KENGEN), has just announced the “successful” subscription of it’s just issued corporate bond. East African Portland Cement has also just announced that it will soon issue a corporate bond to help offset it’s huge loan servicing obligations pegged to the Japanese yen. Pan African Paper Mills, Webuye, is insolvent. The giant Kenya Planters Co-Operative Union (KPCU), is also insolvent. Uchumi Supermarkets is also desperately trying to remain relevant with all manner of announcements of the flashy financial instruments that they shall use in their recovery, despite the failure of their debenture issues. Barclays Bank of Kenya is also a big player in the long term syndicated corporate bond market, despite having declared enormous profits for a continuous 17 year period. Similarly, Kenya Commercial Bank recently saw the need for a rights issue despite also having declared huge profits for several consecutive years. The Kenya Government itself is heavily borrowing from the Kenya public and from overseas, and has only just announced a subscription “extension” of it’s Infrastructure bond, “owing to great public demand”, another way of saying, “Please guys, buy this bond… We are not playing and desperately need the money!”

The global financial crisis whose “de facto” commencement can be said to be the spectacular September 2008 collapse of Lehmans Brothers in the United States, has noticeably began arriving in Kenya.

On the issue of Majimbo & Mutahi Ngunyi’s rejection thereof

2 Replies

Comment by Robert Maxon appearing on the Kenya Scholar’s

———— —–

I apologize for entering this discussion a bit late, but this has been a busy time. I congratulate those who have contributed for their thoughtful and penetrating analyses. For someone like me, it is most encouraging to see how passionately Kenyan scholars care about their mother country and its future.

I would like to comment from a historical angle with a focus on majimbo/utaguzi as that is all the rage again in the draft constitution.

First, the notion that majimbo should be opposed for Kenya’s future since Kenya’s founding fathers rejected it begs more questions than it answers. Does it mean that only members of KANU in 1960-63 can be considered founding fathers? More to the point, such notions do not even consider why the KANU founding fathers rejected a federal system.

They certainly raised many reasons for the need to ditch federalism, such as the fact that Kenya could not afford such an expensive system, but those who, like Odinga and Mboya, sought to justify their stand never divulged the real reasons why they refused to implement the self government constitution (1 June 1963 to 12 December 1963). In so doing they broke solemn promises made in April and July 1962 and March 1963 that they would abide by the agreements they signed. Several contributors have expressed their fear that current political leaders are not likely to abide by any new constitutional order.

I offer the following reasons, based upon my forthcoming book, Uhuru na Majimbo, which describes the evolution of Kenya ’s independence constitution.
First and foremost, the KANU leaders sought to do away with majimbo for no other reason than the self government constitution gave too much power and autonomy to regional assemblies.

Kenyatta and his ministers who took office on madaraka day 1963 had that in mind from day one. There is plenty of archival evidence to support this interpretation. For example, less than two weeks after taking power, Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Tom Mboya ordered those departments whose services were to be regionalized, such as agriculture, health, and education, to produce memos making the case that such services must remain the responsibility of the central government. This was before those sections of the constitution had even been implemented!

Position papers were prepared calling for changes in the constitution. So far as can be determined all were written by expatriate civil servants. In other words, the KANU leaders were determined right from the first to institute a centralizing and authoritarian system of government in which the regional assemblies created by the majimbo constitution would have nothing to do.

A second example of this tendency may be seen in the government’s demand to place the executive power of the regions in the hands of the civil secretary, the region’s highest ranking civil servant (and successor to the PC of colonial times). The self government constitution placed this authority in the regional assembly for each region, but it quickly became clear that such a system was unwieldy.

KANU’s demand would have negated democracy by putting power in the hands of a civil servant (who when KANU got its way with the establishment of a single civil service commission in the independence constitution would be a central government appointee) rather than by the presidents of the regions elected by the regional assemblies holding executive authority.

The British government refused to go along with this, however, and the independence constitution placed executive authority in the hands of the finance and administration committee of each regional assembly. After the 1964 constitutional amendments, the PCs were back in their neo-colonial roles.

Another long forgotten reason for the failure to sustain federalism after independence may be found in the overwhelming opposition of civil servants to the self government constitution. This again is well documented in archival evidence as British colonial civil servants were overwhelmingly opposed to majimbo.

Almost to a man, they believed it would increase tribalism and ethnic tension, and they were strongly opposed to the existence of eight civil service commissions in the self government constitution. These expatriates and the still small number of African civil servants in the higher ranks of the civil service in 1963-64 (the overwhelming majority from ethnic groups that supported KANU) were important allies for the KANU leaders in refusing to implement the constitution and the ultimate destruction of majimbo.

Needless to say, most of the expatriates who favored a neo-colonial political and administrative system for Kenya did not stay in the country long enough to taste its negative fruits.

Rather than develop these issues further, I will merely repeat one of the points I made at the KESSA conference last summer. That is that majimbo has never, from the 1950s to the present, had the support of the majority of Kenya ’s population. Obviously, the committee of experts disagree, but the consensus they claim to have found may well break down when it comes to considering the specifics of majimbo and the many contentious issues such as those noted above.

What powers will the devolved units actually have? Who will hold executive power in those units? How will they be financed?

Remember that the self government constitution provided finances for the regions to provide services, but almost all had to be collected by the central government and then disbursed to the regions. For that type of federalism to work, those in control of the central government must also believe in, and practice, federalism.

In the self government and independence constitutions, moreover, regional assemblies were not allowed to take loans locally or internationally. KADU had advocated this power for the assemblies and KANU opposed it; it was left for the British government to decide. In this case, the Secretary of State for the Colonies decided for KANU’s position in his constitutional adjudication of March 1963.

As noted by some contributors, moreover, the whole question of provincial and district boundaries promises to be very difficult to decide. This was certainly the case in 1962 and 1963. It raised ethnic tensions and suspicions then and will likely do so now if the same basis for decision making (primarily ethnic) is relied upon.

The difficulty may be appreciated by recalling that in 1962 KADU called for six regions based upon an affinity of interest among people who would wish to live together. A second principle advocated by the party was that within any region there would be more than a single ethnic group and all the districts would have an equal number of seats in the regional assembly.

The party’s third principle made a great deal of sense. This was to bring together people from areas that were less developed economically and educationally with those more developed economically and educationally so as to provide for mutual alignment of economic interests and a maximization of development based on the rich cooperating with the poor. This was well illustrated by KADU’s proposed Northwestern Region where Turkana, West Pokot and Marakwet were to be joined in the same region with Trans Nzoia, North and Elgon Nyanza (Busia district was created later).

As is well known the Regional Boundaries Commission refused to establish such a unit. Even more serious for KADU’s regionalism was Central Region. This was created by the commission just like KADU had advocated, but this unit represented a violation of the principles noted above. The anti-Kikuyu bias and intent of this was obvious and gave KADU’s critics plenty of ammunition in attacking the party’s policy as akin to tribalism.

Thank you for this opportunity to bring forth some warnings from the past as Kenyans seek a better future with a new constitution.

Robert Maxon

Debating “Democracy Kills” author on BBC

1 Reply

Onyango Oloo is scheduled to debate “Democracy Kills” author Humphrey Hawksley on the 21st November edition of the BBC World Service program “Weekend Network” airing live at 4 a.m. GMT (7 a.m. East African Time).

Onyango Oloo is the Secretary General of the Social Democratic Party of Kenya.

If you are in Nairobi or Mombasa you can tune it at 93.7 FM.

You can access the program over the internet by going to:

http://www.bbc. co.uk/worldservi ce/africa/

and clicking on the Network Africa Weekend link.

More information about Humphrey Hawkley is available at his website:

http://www.humphrey hawksley. com/

Here are a couple of links to book reviews of “Democracy Kills”:

http://www.ft. com/cms/s/ 2/976b77ae- aee3-11de- 96d7-00144feabdc 0.html

http://www.independ ent.co.uk/ arts-entertainme nt/books/ reviews/democrac y-kills-by- humphrey- hawksley- 1807168.html

http://www.guardian .co.uk/books/ 2009/sep/ 19/democracy- kills-freedom- for-sale

http://www.amazon. co.uk/product- reviews/02307440 87

Any feedback will be very welcome!

Onyango Oloo
Nairobi, Kenya

——————————————————————-
Forwarded by:
Judy Miriga
Diaspora Spokesperson
Executive Director
Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
USA
http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com

KALENJIN MPS MUST STOP BLAME GAMES AGAINST MR ODINGA OVER MAU

3 Replies

THE PRIME MINISTER, RAILA ODINGA SHOULD NOT BE BLAMED INDIVIDUALLY OVER THE GOVERNMENT EVICTION EXERCISES AGAINST ILLEGAL SETTLERS IN MAU FOREST

Commentary By Leo Odera Omolo

Any sane person watching the Television news footage would agree in principle, that the majority of faces of people streaming out of Mau Forest Complex are old people in their advanced ages, beyond sixties and seventies.

At least these people have some places where they came from. If that is the case, then why can’t they go back to where they belong?

The aquisition of land in this one of the five water towers in Kenya, and the settlement, only began in the 1990s. This defeats all the logics and spirited argument being advanced by a section of the Rift Valley MPs, especially when they are saying that these people have no land elsewhere to go back to. Where were they all these years? I am sure they did not come from heaven the other day and landed on Mau forest.

In this context, I concur with the Forestry Minister, Dr. Noah Wekesa’s contention that the so-called landless Mau settlers had their ancestral family land elsewhere. And as such, they should pack their belongings and voluntarily vacate the forestland without causing much fuss and hullabaloo.

Such exercise would give the government the breathing space to plan well and search for land on which it could settle those with genuine cases of landlessness.

For this reason, however, I have in mind the Ogiek, the genuine forest dwellers and gatherers community, who have lived in the Mau, and other forests in this country for close to between 200 and 300 years. The Ogiek people deserve to be given priority when the government considers its next land plot allocation programme in the Rift Valley and elsewhere.

The other group or category of landless people who the government gives its due care and priority are the Laibons {Orkoik or Talaek}. These are the sub-clans of the much revered Koitalel Arap Samoei, the Nandi hero who fought the White colonialist, and resisted the British authority for nine years, before he was eventually betrayed and lured into a stage managed peace meeting, where he was shot and killed in 1905.

The Laibons are a very special community of sorcerers , astrologers as well as witchdoctors, were in 1934, on falsified accusation by colonial chiefs and white missionaries , rounded up and bundled out of their ancestral land in Nandi, Kipsigis and Tugen regions. Hundred of their families were forcefully exiled into the remotest Gwassi Hills in the then South Nyanza district. Some of the Laibons were taken to Mfangano Island. Their prominent leaders were detained by colonialists in Nyeri, and Kodiaga prisons in Kisumu, where they died under the harsh prisons conditions, and some, of old age.

But in 1960, the then member of the white dominated Colonial Legislative Council for Kipsigis, the late Dr. Taaitta Araap Toweett, moved a motion in the Legco, which received unanimous support and backing of all the then 14 Legco African elected members, Asians , Arab members, as well as moderate European members, requesting the Colonial Office in London, and the then Governor of Kenya, Sir Patrick Muir Renson, to revoke the thirty year old deportation order against the Kalenjin Laibons, so that they may rejoin their communities back home.

Toweett’s motion was accepted by the colonial administration, and in 1961, the Laibons started their long journey of moving out of Gwassi Hills and back to their homes of origins in Kericho , Nandi and Tugen regions.

Unfortunately, when these people got back to their home districts of origin before they were exiled, they found that their land had already been seized and taken by other people during the land consolidation exercises in those regions. And the new settlers, who had already settled on the land for close to 30 years, had already become the legal owners and colonialist did nothing to help the Laibons resettled among their communities.

Few wealthy ones managed to secure pieces of land which they bought at very exorbitant prices. The majority became landless and destitute, and are still living in camps within Kericho Municipality. Others went back to Nandi and settled at Kapsisiyo, in Nandi North district, while other moved and settled in Koibatek.

To-date, close to 200 families are still living like destitutes in a camp within Kericho Municipality. Here is where they have lived ever since they returned from Gwassi Hills in 1961. The late Kipkalya Kones, at one time, while serving in the former KANU regime as a powerful Minister of State in the Office of the President, had made a spirited effort to have these people settled in Ndabibi area, in Narok North. But the Maasais, led by William Ole Ntimama, could hear none of this move.

All the community predicaments facing the Kalenjin illegal settlement in Mau did not come about because of the actions of the Prime Minister Raila Odinga. The criticism now being leveled on the Prime Minister are misdirected, unwarranted and unjustifiable. It is therefore wrong for anyone to use the Prime Minister as his or their scapegoat for their own failures.

Instead, the Kalenjin MPs should engage the government constructively, and secure a good deal for their people, instead of too much politicking, for the purpose of gaining cheap publicity and political mileage. This is completely wrong, and if the Kalenjin community is going to rely on these kind mediocrity leadership, then the community is heading to doom.

Mr Odinga’s role in Mau is only to implement the government decision and policy, and therefore, should not be singled out for scathing criticism and wholesale condemnation. It is also a common knowledge that those in the forefront, and speaking the loudest about the Mau, are all serving selfish interests. The majority of the MPs are the beneficiaries of Mau Forest land grabbing.

How about the thousands of hectares of the fertile and prime Kalenjin ancestral land on which the large scale tea plantations stand on in the South Rift and Nandi districts? Were these farms also dished out to the multinational Tea Companies by Mr.Odinga?

I am sure Raila was nowhere on this planet in the 1912 and 1920s, when these farms were forcefully seized by colonialists and white settlers from the Kipsigis and the Nandis at gun-point. Why can’t Hon Isaac Ruto and Hon Joshua Kutuny return these prime farm lands to the rightful owners and re-settle their people on these tea estates?

Surely, such a move could be more logical than issuing childish threats of returning the doomed settlers to the forest within two weeks if the government did not provide them with the alternative in which they can be settled. Why all these pipe dreams?

None of the Kalenjin MPs openly speaks about the Tea farms, but some of them, it is being alleged, sneak into the tea company bosses compounds only in the evenings, in search of cheap handouts.

A true and dynamic leader, who makes tough decisions, irrespective of its outcome, but for the interest of the present and future generations, obviously that man is a hero.

One Kalenjin MP made a childish remark, insinuating that Mr Odinga is seeking international recognition by evicting the Kalenjin settlers from Mau. What kind of recognition, particularly to a politician of Mr. Odinga’s calibre?

The time is up for some of the present crops of Kalenjin Mps, who, it seems, need to mature up from political novices, to dynamism political leadership. Preaching the gospel of hatred and incitement cannot build a strong and united Kenyan nation. Moreover the Rift Valley is not the exclusive of the Kalenjin alone. It is a cosmopolitan region where Kenyans from all other communities have settled., and are therefore contributing immensely towards the real task of nation building.

Hollow and shallow argument of this magnitude, and fire-spiting inflammatory utterances, such which were made by several Kalenjin Mps, and political operative via Kass FM Kalenjin vernacular Radio  Station, against Mr Odinga can only fuel communal hatred among the diverse Kenyan communities. And yet we still need each other.

Please the Rift Valley politicians, you must stop using the ODM party as a ransom bait for power bargain and also stop being petty.

Ends
leooderaomolo@yahoo.com

About the author: LEO ODERA OMOLO is a veteran Kenyan journalist, who is living on semi-retirement, but at times operating from the lakeside Kenyan City of  Kisumu, and regularly writing comments on diverse topics.