from Judy Miriga

Folks,

For the sake of Peace, Love and Unity of Common good of all, the process of change through Freedom of Speech, Information and Association must be accommodative…. This is because, The Truth is bitter, but it MUST be told………Corruption and conspiracies MUST be WRESTLED……..Men, Women and Children, must come out and face this DRAGON……….People, There is no short-cut……….there is no easy way, there is no where to hide. It is coming to your doorstep whether you like it or not…….It is coming in Leaps and Bounts, you will face it in the form of joblessness, extreme hunger, the little wealth you own, will also be taken away from you………death looming with lamentation everywhere……….The Dice has been cast……..The Status Quo are busy Re-Aligning Winning Strategies………But, do they care about competing fixtures of the New Constitution Implementation for Federal Majimbo County Set-up, and provide the needed Civic Education…??? I dont think so, it is delaying tactics, all they want is how they can generate more money to fill up their campain kitty…….

People, it is now that you stand tall and be United Now with the Righteous to save Kenya, or you are doomed and perish……..What is happening in Somalia has arrived and is in Kenya in droves……The good Responsible people who could be trusted to do what is right in likes of Mr Allan Odongo, has become a sacrificial lamb……..United, we are Strong, Devided, we perish…….

Yes, and in our records, we can remember how James Oswago tried to frustrate good outcome results received during the Referendum……..How can I be convinced…..????

We currently have Al-Shabaab who played part of local Civil Society in Kenya in day to day activites mingling with ordinary Kenyans as Kenyans, but majority of them have faked papers or are illegally staying in Kenya……..they are known to be members of the Kenyan Civil Society, but yet, some were found out in Court that they are top members of Al-Shabaab living comfortably in Kenya………Some of the same group were part of those trained by Uganda as Somali Soldiers, but recently were removed from Uganda to Kisumu. They are loosely praying between Kisumu and Siaya, in and around Lake Victoria, Migingo and Ugingo……..!!!!!……..There is a serious undercover of Conspiracy going on and people cannot afford to sleep any more…….!

Human Trafficking and Slavery, Child selling and porno are crimes and violation against Human Rights that must be met forcefully be suppressed and the players be netted to face justice……….These are signs of curses and Kenya is in deeper problems, than we can imagine……..

Rumours have it that some Politicians are engaged in supporting and Sponoring Al-Shabaab, and the center of Al-Shabaab and Al-Qaeda sympathizers are in Eastleigh Nairobi………and in Utange in Mombasa Kisauni………That Turkana was being cleaned to provide for sneaky investors while ocupying somali Refugees while wiping out the indigenous……….This is just a tip of an iceburg……….Open your eyes and open them wide……….!!!!!!!………….!!!!!

Enough is Enough……..!!!!

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

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bwanda Ja-Karapul (Nyatiti)

Raila Suspends Top Aide
4 August 2011

Prime Minister Raila Odinga has suspended his advisor on coalition affairs Miguna Miguna.

Mr Miguna was suspended Thursday over gross misconduct as a probe over hate campaign in the Interim Independent Electoral Commission takes root.

He is accused of among other things harassment, intimidation and use of abusive language to colleagues.

On Wednesday, the IIEC recalled chief executive officer James Oswago from an overseas trip and suspended his personal assistant in a crackdown on a smear campaign targeting commissioners.

The IIEC also called in the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) to investigate allegations of nepotism, corruption and infighting.

Chairman Ahmed Isaack Hassan dismissed the allegations as “totally false” and political.

“We have operated this commission with utmost high standards and professionalism. We hired a human resource firm to do the recruitment. This is the first time that the electoral commission was even advertising for clerks. We have been very professional and transparent. That is the reason we find those allegations very malicious and just out to destroy us,” he said.

Mr Hassan said Mr Allan Odongo was suspended after articles painting the commission in bad light were found on his laptop.

“Some of the articles are word for word of what has been printed in a local paper’s opinion pages under a different byline. The other articles were due to be released in subsequent publications. The commission has since suspended the said officer pending further investigations,” the IIEC chairman said.

Election Body Recalls CEO From Trip in Hate Probe
Walter Menya
3 August 2011

The Interim Independent Electoral Commission has recalled chief officer James Oswago from an overseas trip and suspended his personal assistant in a crackdown on a smear campaign targeting commissioners.

The IIEC has also called in the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) to investigate allegations of nepotism, corruption and infighting.

Chairman Ahmed Isaack Hassan dismissed the allegations as “totally false” and political.

“We have operated this commission with utmost high standards and professionalism. We hired a human resource firm to do the recruitment. This is the first time that the electoral commission was even advertising for clerks. We have been very professional and transparent. That is the reason we find those allegations very malicious and just out to destroy us,” he said.

Mr Hassan said Mr Allan Odongo was suspended after articles painting the commission in bad light were found on his laptop.

“Some of the articles are word for word of what has been printed in a local paper’s opinion pages under a different byline. The other articles were due to be released in subsequent publications. The commission has since suspended the said officer pending further investigations,” the IIEC chairman said.

But Mr Odongo disowned the articles in a letter to the chairman, and questioned the motive of suspending him without pay.

“A word document titled Seven Facts You Did Not Know about IIEC and which was found on my office laptop was given to me, together with other materials, from another source. Please note that the said documents alleged to have been found on my laptop are common documents circulating around in the media houses and a section of the civil society,” Mr Odongo stated.

He said the articles raised fundamental issues on governance, integrity and the rule of law.

Earlier, Mr Hassan said the suspended officer had told investigators that he was acting alone.

Mr Oswago left for the Philippines early this week. Mr Hassan and Commissioner Winnie Guchu were to travel with him, but abandoned the trip at the eleventh hour.

“If I was away with him in Philippines, we would not have been able to do the investigations we did to uncover the truth and actually go to the bottom of it,” the chairman told journalists flanked by commissioners Davis Chirchir, Guchu, Yusuf Nzibo, Tiyah Galgalo, Ken Nyaundi, Hamara Ibrahim Adan, Douglas Mwashigadi and Deputy CEO Gladys Shollei.

The contentious articles doing the rounds on email claim commissioners appointed their friends and allies to secretariat and field positions, and were holding brief for their political masters.

“The timing of these malicious allegations is suspect. We are in a transition and it is highly possible that some forces would like to influence who manages the 2012 elections. There is evidence that they are using some of our staff to champion their selfish interests,” said the IIEC boss.

The fallout has been linked to succession wars, with a new team expected to take over soon.

Nairobi Star (Nairobi)
Kenya: Abdikadir Warns Over Delays in Creation of LEBC
Isaac Ongiri
3 August 2011

THE creation of a new electoral agency may fail to take off if disagreements regarding the role of the commission in the delimitation of boundaries is not solved.

Chairman of the Committee on Implementation and Oversight of the Constitution Abdikadir Mohamed said emerging conflict and misinterpretation of the role of the IEBC on the boundary issue is disturbing. He was speaking outside Parliament after chairing a meeting of the CIOC.

He said that shifting of goal posts and outrageous outbursts over the boundary issue could permanently paralyse the ongoing plans to create a permanent electoral commission.

“There are those who want the delimitation to start afresh but the law outlines specific roles for the IEBC,” Abdikadir said.

The CIOC boss warned that the country could plunge into a irreparable constitutional crisis if leaders introduced unnecessary debate over the controversial boundary issue.
He said that his team has summoned the chairman of the Commission on Implementation Commission Charles Nyachae to clarify his numerous conflicting interpretations on different aspects of the constitution, and various acts being generated through Parliament. “We are shocked at the flying press statements here and there.

We want this process to continue unhindered and so we have asked the CIC chairman to come and talk to us about these issues instead of talking to the press,” the MP said.
On Monday Nyachae called for the amendment of the IEBC Act and warned that failure to do so could halt plans to create the 80 new constituencies. He faulted several parts of the Act saying they were defective and called for an amendment.

Abdikadir said that Nyachae and other stakeholders including ministers from ministries driving key legislations will meet the CIOC on Friday to try to unlock the process.
He said that the committee will ask for the expansion of the parliamentary sessions by 50 per cent to enhance the handling of the bills that must be passed before August 27.

Some 15 bills are yet to be tabled in Parliament despite the fact that the deadline for their passage is fast approaching. Members of the CIOC want parliament to work overnight and through the weekend to facilitate the urgent passage of the bills.

The pending bills includes the Independent Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission Bill, The Commission on Revenue Allocation Bill, The Police Service Commission Bill, The Independent Policing Oversight Authority Bill, The Ratification of Treaties Bill, The Employment and Labour Relations Bill all at the Attorney General’s office.

Others pending before the CIC include The Elections Bill, The Kenyan Citizens and Immigration Bill, The Kenya Citizens and Foreign Nationals Management Service Bill, The Public Financial Management Bill and the Urban areas and cities Bill.

Nairobi Star (Nairobi)
Kenya: Tribalism, Nepotism Are Rife At the IIEC
Gikonyo Boaz
2 August 2011

These are facts. If you find them unsettling, then we have cause to be afraid, very afraid, indeed. If you doubt these please seek to establish the same from any or all of the following; Institute of Education in Democracy (IED), Electoral Institute for the Sustainability of Democracy in Africa (EISA), National Democratic Institute (NDI), International Commission of Jurists-Kenya Chapter (ICJ-Kenya), the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), URAIA e.t.c. These are NGOs involved intimately in supporting and collaborating with IIEC in various ways. On issues touching on governance or corruption in the IIEC, even the state Intelligence agency, we are sure has corroborative evidence.

The IIEC commissioners are fiercely divided on regional or tribal lines. First, against all common sense and better judgment, they first recruited Regional Election Coordinators (RECs), Constituency Election Coordinators (CECs) and Managers. Then lastly contracted the recruitment of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Directors to KPMG. Reasonable approach would have started with the CEO and Directors who would have been instrumental in putting up criteria for the recruitment of lower cadre. The reason is simple: Commissioners see themselves as representing and projecting ‘provincial’ interests and their own personal interests.

The result is that nearly all RECs are either directly related to the Commissioners or were recruited at the behest of dominant political interests in the provinces. For instance, how is it that in the entire Rift Valley, all the three RECs are either Kipsigis or related to the Commissioner from the same ‘region’? How come there is not one Maasai as REC? And why is the REC for Southern Rift located in Bomet Town and not Narok? Could it be because the Commissioner for Rift Valley is a Kipsigis? Can it be denied that the South Rift Regional Elections Coordinator is related to the Commissioner for Rift Valley?

In Nyanza, the REC for South Nyanza, a Kisii, has lived and still lives in Eldoret Town where her home immediately borders that of the Commissioner for Nyanza, also a Kisii, and the two are long-time family friends. The Chairman himself is a relative of the REC for Garissa and many CECs!

There is a Staff Disciplinary Committee in the Commission. Fraud cannot be prosecuted because the commissioners protect their own. Example: A CEC related to the Rift Valley Commissioner, withdrew money to pay clerks, about Ksh. 400,000. His station is Muhoroni Constituency. Instead of paying the clerks he took the money to Eldoret, booked himself into a hotel with his wife and enjoyed mightily. Later he claimed that the money was stolen. The CEC was suspended and should have been sacked in accordance with the Commission’s disciplinary procedures. But the Commissioner from Rift Valley obstructed the process arguing that the fellow had returned the money after getting the family shamba sold and that this was enough punishment. ALL CECs from Nyanza, Rift Valley and Western Provinces were interchanged. This means that CECs that originate from Nyanza can be found posted to constituencies in either Rift Valley or Western Province and vice versa. Therefore, the CEC for Kisumu Rural Constituency is a Luhya; Budalangi a Kalenjin; Bomachoge a Luhya; Tinderet Luhya; Muhoroni Kalenjin and Narok South a Luo. This ‘ethnic interchange’ affected only Nyanza, Western and Rift Valley Provinces. The Commissioner for Central led a rebellion against this policy and the result is that all CECs born and bred in Central serve only in Central. So, if a general election is called, all poll officials from Central will be Kikuyus, while in Rift Valley, Nyanza and Western, there will be an ‘ethnic interchange’. As well, all Kambas will serve in their own backyard. In North Eastern, Eastern and Coast Provinces it will be the same thing. The Chairman of the Commission failed dismally to enforce a standard policy across all regions and this is a time bomb waiting to explode if not addressed immediately.

To make matters really worse all Regional Election Co-ordinators serve in their Regions of birth. In South Nyanza which includes Kisii, the REC is a Kisii, in Luo Nyanza, a Luo,in Central all the two RECs are Kikuyus, in Coast, North Eastern Western and Eastern the same!

All public and private sector employees in Kenya do not work only in the provinces of their birth. Why is IIEC so primordial in its thinking? In the entire North Eastern, Eastern, Central and Coast provinces, all electoral officials are native. This is a recipe for electoral fraud. This much can be guaranteed.

Commissioners have attempted to influence or influenced the conduct of elections to the extent that, due to repeated public outcry, the Commission adopted an unofficial policy that a commissioner will not take part in or supervise any election taking place in their Region or Province. But this policy hasn’t been enforced consistently as the examples here illustrate. In the recent Juja by-election, all the seven candidates – except Thuo who was considered by many to be a ‘state candidate’ – stormed the offices of the IIEC and protested at the ‘visible’ partisan involvement of Commissioner Winnie Guchu in the elections in favor of Thuo. This was widely covered in both the print and electronic media. The same was repeated in Kirinyaga where Martha Karua loudly, repeatedly and bitterly complained about the partisan state role in the election and the biased role of Commissioner Winnie Guchu. These are facts that the IIEC Chairman and his Commissioners must be asked to confirm or deny!
The writer comments on topical issues.

Nyanza Women demo Against Harassment
Thursday, 04 August 2011 00:14 BY JUSTUS OCHIENG’

Women in Kisumu yesterday protested against political violence and intimidation from their male opponents. The women thronged the streets of the lake side town from as early as 8 am to protest against violence and singled out the recent incident that saw the beating of a councilor in Siaya during the mayoral elections. Youths in Siaya beat Jera ward councilor Elizabeth Owino for opposing councilor Aggrey Onyango.

Demonstrating women claimed gender violence had scared women in the region from contesting for political seats. “For a long time, such events have made women shy away from politics in the province,” they added. They pointed out that the new constitution gave women equal opportunities adding that they should not be undermined when they declare their interest to vie for any elective position.

They vowed not to allow women denied their rights that are articulated and protected in the new constitution. “We the women of Nyanza condemn in the strongest terms possible those who seek to rubbish the very spirit of our new constitution,” they added.