CORD Declines to Issue Nomination Certificates to ODM’s Homabay Defectors

ODM’s Homabay Senatorial Seat aspirants got a rude shock this week when CORD’s Deputy Party Leader, Kalonzo Musyoka, announced that the coalition’s affiliate parties will not issue nomination certificates to other contestants in the forthcoming Homabay Senatorial elections.

This, he said, was to guarantee the coalition’s chances of retaining the vacant seat which was left behind after the death of Otieno Jakwang’.

Meet The New Governor of Nairobi County - Dr. Evans odhiambo Kidero

Dr. Evans Kidero - The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) strong man clinched the Nairobi Gubernatorial seat, beating his closest rival Ferdinand Waititu with a small margin. 

Final results from Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) showed Evans Kidero obtained 692,483 votes against TNA’s Ferdinand Waititu with 617,839. 

Speaking after being trounced by Kidero, Waititu honorably conceded defeat and said he has respected the wishes of the Nairobians.

A Message From Raila Odinga to the CORD Elected Candidates

REMARKS OF CORD PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, RT. HON RAILA ODINGA AT MEETING WITH GOVERNORS, SENATORS AND MPs-ELECT; MARCH 12, 2013; KENYATTA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CENTRE.
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Thank you for heeding my call on short notice and attending this meeting, at this critical moment in the history of our country.
I also wish to congratulate each of you for the hard fought battle and hard won victory.

The victory by each of you has taken our party closer to having the numbers that will enable us implement our dreams for Kenya.
I also want to thank each one of you, whether you won or lost, for standing with our party.

Some of you stood with CORD against great odds and in the midst of obvious options that would have seen you ride easily to victory.
But you chose principle and ideology over expediency, euphoria and tribe. You chose what is right and not what was easy in this election. For this, I honour you and I congratulate you.
But you chose principle over convenience and comfort and ran on CORD ticket. I congratulate all of you.

In running on CORD, you have taken our struggle for change and reform forward. But a lot remains to be done.
As I said on many occasions before election, our opponents believe that reforms and change are already here and we need not fight for them anymore.

To us in CORD, this election is just the beginning of the push by the people of Kenya to realize the fruits of their labour as far as change, reforms and democracy are concerned.

I want to remind you of the words of the late US President Ronald Reagan Remind Kenyans of the words of Ronald Reagan and I quote…
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. It must be fought for, protected and handed on to the next generation for them to do the same or we will one day spend our sunset years telling our grand children what it was once like in a country where men and women were free but no longer are."
We are here to defend democracy and secure it for posterity.
That is why we will shortly be moving to court; to secure the gains we have made so far and to get more.The Supreme Court that we are moving into is itself a product of a long and painful struggle that caused people their careers and their lives.

It is now a reality, and should be part of our motivation to defend what we have. Change and democracy are worth fighting for.
That is part of why we have convened here. I invite you to join our struggle to safeguard democracy for our children and their children.

We seek nothing other than safeguarding the gains made and ensuring that we hand over a better nation to our children.
In invite you to embrace the ideals of DUTY to the nation, SACRIFICE for the nation, COMMITMENT to the nation and PATRIOTISM to our nation.

These are the ideals that have sustained this nation and they are the same ideals that will carry us forward.

I want to appeal to the all Kenyans of good will, including those who ran in this election as presidential candidates, to support CORD in its quest for justice and truth through the courts of law.
Justice serves everyone in the end.

I want to remind all Kenyans of this famous classic poem which runs…
“First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for the Communists and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.”

Today, the victim may be CORD. Tomorrow, it will be somebody else.

Let us join hands in seeking justice and fairness at the polls.
Let us join hands in ensuring that elections count. That they are not exercises that are conducted to confirm preconceived conditions and positions.
Let us join hands in rejecting the notion that a little electoral theft here and there every five years constitutes some kind of magical progression towards greater democracy and change.
Above all, let us ensure peace and stability prevails in our country as we pursue justice in the courts.

I thank you.

20 Councillors Defect From ODM and KANU To URP

URP has continued its expected harvest in the vast Rift Valley province by receiving into into its fold 20 Councillors from ODM and KANU in Samburu. These Councillors were received party chairman Mr.Francis Ole Kaparo and the URP presidential candidate Hon. William Ruto.

Could Sonko Be Warming Up To ODM?

As he entered the Nairobi politics for the first time, his original party of choice was ODM. However, he fled after failing to clinch the party ticket to contest the Makadara seat. Of late, He has tonned down his ever loud criticism for ODM and as pictured above in an ODM cap, Who knows?

What Next For Hon. Musalia Mudavadi?

Some people claim that Hon. Musalia Mudavadi has been left at a political bus station by some historical poli-entraprenuers. If the way current events continue to unfold, then perhaps one might be tempted to imagine that this could be a reality. I try to compare the Mudavadi on his last Moments while in ODM and the current Mudavadi; the difference is equivalent to day and night.

What Next For Musalia Mudavadi?

Since leaving ODM, Musalia has been portrayed as some ‘project’, a fact that looked real on wordings, but very different practically. Slowly by slowly, the people who were merrying with the Sabatia legislator have started their movements to where they feel at home. The biggest puzzle the whole world is now waiting see Mudavadi solve is seeing his name in the Ballot; come 2013 elections. This is the main agenda which drove him out of ODM.

Will He Succeed?

One thing I like about Musalia Mudavadi is his resilience and persistence. He is one man who follows his heart and all the courses he believes in. Right now, the only way for him through is through the trap set before him. He is still a force to reckon with come 2013 since it is time which judges everything. They way forward for Mudavadi is to be honest with himself; then to access and consolidate his support base. Then out of any inevitable political pact in future, he should bring on board his support base and use it as a bargaining chip.

Mudavadi is one of the very few  Kenyan politicians who cannot be written off come 2013. I bet on this.

The Kenya's Greatest Speech - A speech By Rt. Hon. Raila Odinga

It had been regarded as the Kenya's greatest speech of all time. A speech delivered by Rt. Hon Raila Odinga during the promulgation of the New Kenya's Constitution.

Here is the full speech .........

 

' SPEECH BY THE RT. HON. RAILA ODINGA, PRIME MINISTER OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA, DURING THE ENACTMENT OF A NEW CONSTITUTION FOR KENYA AT UHURU PARK, NAIROBI; AUGUST 27, 2010.

Your Excellency the President,

Your Excellencies Heads of State and Government

Your Excellencies the ambassadors;

Members of the diplomatic Corp;

Citizens and friends of Kenya:

Today, we mark the end of one journey, as we embark on the beginning of another.

On the Fourth of August this year, Kenyans stood one by one in the solitude of the polling booths and voted in favour of a new national Constitution. In that moment, so fleeting and yet so historic, decades of struggle for a better future were finally rewarded.

The Fourth of August will go down in history as the date on which we, the people of Kenya, formed a more united nation,  and established the groundwork for justice, unity and the full blessings of liberty for ourselves and for posterity.

No one could have thought that out of the bitter harvest of the disputed election and the violence that pitted our people against each other just two years ago, we would be witnessing today the birth of a national unity that has eluded us for more than 40 years.

Today, we close a long chapter in our history. We put repression, exclusion and heroic struggle behind us once and for all. We have opened a clean new page in our book. On that page, we begin writing the story of an equal and just society.

We gather here now to ratify the pledge we made to ourselves and to the world, that Kenya shall redeem herself and extend the frontiers of democracy and freedom. This freedom has eluded us for more than forty years. Each time we came close to attaining it, it slipped from our grasp.

Each time we missed it; ever-greater repression seemed to replace the justice we sought.

But a time comes in the life of every nation when citizens have to choose between the status quo and a future that is full of promise.

In dedicating this Supreme Law, we pay our respects to those who walked this land before us, who saw its beauty, and who fought for fulfillment for all its citizens.

We remember Pio Gama Pinto, Josiah Mwangi Kariuki, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Alexander Kipsang Arap Muge, Masinde Muliro, George Anyona, Katama Mkangi, Jean Marie Seroney, Henry Okullu, among many others who struggled for this day to come but did not live to see it.

We honour Kenneth Matiba, Charles Rubia, Martin Shikuku, Wangari Maaithai, Chelagat Mutai, and the Young Turks of the Second Liberation who pushed us closer to this day.

These are but a few of the Kenyan patriots who sacrificed to make today a reality. At great risks to their lives, they challenged dictatorship.

They paid great prices to liberate our country from impunity. Collectively, we owe them a debt of gratitude. In the words of the late Sir Winston Churchill…. “Never have so many, owed so much, to so few…” We thank and honour our President, Mwai Kibaki, who has today signed into law what we endorsed on the Fourth of August.

In 1992, when multiparty politics were restored to our country, Mr Kibaki joined hands with the Opposition. Ten years later, he led our country into a new era and towards the Constitution that we now unveil.

We thank the Grand Coalition Government for pulling together to deliver this critical item of our National Accord. We salute the women and the youth of Kenya for their heroic participation in the rebirth of our Nation.

We owe gratitude to His Excellency Dr Kofi Anan, a true friend of Kenya, and the team of Eminent African Personalities who stood with us at our lowest moment in our history and helped us trace our way back into sanity.

We proclaim this new Supreme Law in the firm belief that lasting peace and security and prosperity for all can only come if we all enjoy freedom and justice as equals.

The promise of this new beginning will be challenged by our traditional enemies; corruption and negative ethnicity. We must be vigilant and stop corruption from stealing our future and negative ethnicity from weakening our nationhood.

To those in charge of public affairs, may public service be what it is; public service; not self-service. This new beginning must mark the end of shallow political partisanship and herald the start of mature competition among political parties.

To all the people of Kenya, I say, thank you for taking your destiny into your own hands.

Among us today are representatives of the international community, some of whom have stood with us in good and bad times as we have continued our search for these new laws. We thank you. This Constitution is our humble contribution to the culture of democracy and human rights worldwide that you represent.

It is our solemn pledge that never again shall the laws of our land divide and authorise the repression and oppression of our people.

I have never said this with a fuller heart: God bless you all, and God bless Kenya.

Thank you.'

Source -Prime Minister Press Service.

The 5 Billion City Hall's Equity Loan Deal

In His Facebook Account Timeline, The Former Nairobi Town Clerk and current aspirant for Nairobi Governor Seat; Philip Kisia highlighted the truth behind City Hall's Equity Loan deal.                                                             

                                                                                   His Facebook post read that;

'City hall has firmly clarified that the Kshs. 5 billion loan transaction from equity bank was above board and economically sensible, and that it saved the council money. In a paid advertisement in the media, the council highlighted reasons why the loan was sourced (The Standard Newspaper 8/10/12).

 The council secured the loan to pay statutory debts to LAPTRUST, LAPFUND, NSSF and NHIF that were attracting a 36% interest which could soon render the council insolvent. It was thus necessary that the council look for a cheaper way to service the debts and hence approached 7 banks out of which only Equity bank responded positively. Equity bank offered the council the loan at an interest rate of 10% p.a. 

However due to prevailing economic conditions, the Central Bank increased its base lending rate from 5.75% to 18% automatically causing Equity Bank to revise its lending rate to 24% as per banking regulations in Kenya. The 24% was still 12% cheaper than the 36% rate charged by statutory debtors. Contrary to negative speculation and adverse publicity, the loan was in the best interest of the council and those who initiated should not be vilified. '

Philip Kisia Has a dream to take Nairobi City to the Next Level. His past performance anywhere he has served has always been unquestionable. He always does things above board. Could He be the best Best bet for Nairobi's Governor Seat?

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