Why IEBC Can't Be Trusted With The Next Polls - Raila Asserts

CORD leader Hon. Raila Odinga has reiterated that the IEBC as is currently constituted can not be entrusted with overseeing the next general elections. He stated that some individuals within IEBC had lost credibility in the eyes of Kenyans.

Addressing CORD supporters at the London Russel Hotel this morning, Raila also stated that there is need for a truly independent Judiciary composed of men and women of integrity if the Judiciary is to regain the confidence of Kenyans as an institution of last resort in handling election disputes.

Raila Odinga

He said CORD "accepted the Supreme Court Ruling because its verdict is final,but did not agree with it.Hon. He further observed that there is need for full implementation of the devolved system of Government as a panacea to the imperial Presidency that Kenya has witnessed in the past.

Raila,who was flanked by his former Campaign Manager, Mr. Eliud Owalo stated that both the CORD constituent parties and the Coalition will be strengthened in readiness for the next elections.He also thanked the CORD UK Chapter for their support during the last elections.

The CORD UK team which was led by Chairman Ben Wanyonyi and officials Joakim Nyantika,John Baraza,Amina Shariff,George Morara,Dennis Onyango,Anne Sitati and Councillor Mary Anne Marion congratulated Hon.Raila Odinga on his role in widening the democratisation space in Kenya.They stated that it was extremely difficult for CORD supporters to cope with the Supreme Court verdict and the outcome of the last elections.

Should Raila Odinga be in Parliament?

By Salim Lone.

 

Many of you responded to my brief post on social media regarding Raila Odinga and Devolution yesterday by asking me to encourage him not to return to Parliament. I cannot ask him this - he has already told me he does not wish to do that, and he has said so publicly in any case. But what prompted these friends’ requests to me is the continuing clamor for Raila Odinga to return to Parliament.

At one level this reaffirmation of people’s support for Mr Odinga is wonderful to behold, and must also give him good solace at a time when he is personally grappling with a second loss of a presidency in very questionable circumstances. But this extended debate on his return to Parliament is distracting attention from so many other issues that Kenyans need to focus on at this time.

I too feel he would do much better if he is freed of the challenges of managing day-to-day politics and focuses instead on building his party as well as a national movement for change involving civil society, professionals, trade unionists and others. Njeri Osaak in her extended response yesterday also spelled out many good reasons why Parliament is not the right place for Raila anymore. Do read her posting.

Part of this clamour for Raila Odinga's return to Parliament reflects a misunderstanding of our political system. One does not have to be in Parliament to influence this country’s direction and evolution. Raila’s own father Jaramogi spent long periods out of Parliament but continued to be a powerful political force. A number of other Kenyans who fought against overwhelming odds under Kanu rule to give us the freedoms we now enjoy did so in their non-parliamentary lives.

There is no objective way to determine whether Raila can do more for us from within or outside Parliament. So that decision is entirely his, If this current campaign to convince him to change his position on this issue succeeds, I will not complain. But this discussion should end soon.

Did You Vote For Raila Odinga?

“I would like to thank every Kenyan that supported our movement, CORD, and voted for me and my brother, Kalonzo Musyoka in the just concluded elections. I would also like to thank all those that voted for our electoral opponents, you played your rightful part in growing our democracy.
I thank all of the Old Guard who stood by us and advised us. I especially wish to thank all of the young people who volunteered sacrificing their time, resources and energy in campaigning for CORD. I try to read as many of your messages as possible on Facebook and Twitter. You are all truly appreciated.
You all believed in me and I believe in you. Together, we can make Kenya a prosperous nation that is the envy of all the world. Keep working, keep trying...For Kenya! I will also do the same!”

The Jubilee Government Progress So Far

By Dikembe.

So far, govt has achieved the following: put statehouse on facebook and tweeter, brought two former election losers to head parliament and senate, attended a number of churches, attended one burial, named one-eighth of cabinet.

As the elected Excellencies were engaged in such important mentioned activities; their spousal counterparts went in a long shopping spree. They bought their husbands-excellencies same shirts, trousers, boxers, vests, socks, handkerchiefs (just in case Ruto decides to weep again), belts, shoes et al. Never before in Kenya has two women, done so much, for so little, to create plastic similarities for two very dissimilar men. Ruto cries; Uhuru does not. Ruto spends more minutes explaining nothing; Uhuru spends no minute to explain anything.

In their public pronouncements: Ruto wants Jubilee to run a government, Uhuru wants Jubilee to run a Country. Ruto may not care what Uhuru thinks, Uhuru must care what the country thinks. He is the head of state. Even in their non-verbal communication; Uhuru reveals more tension within than Ruto, yet, interestingly, Ruto breaks down faster than Uhuru. A ‘dynamic duo’ indeed!

So in the last two days, we have been treated to presidential uniforms. But how do you buy uniforms without books? You take eighteen subjects but buys only four books! Aren’t such pupils good for punishment?

Kenyan Mentors – Meet Peter Nduati (Founder, Director and CEO – Resolution Insurance).

Going through previous clips of Dad’s Can Cook; a famous Kenyan TV programme, I came through this clip of a gentleman preparing my favorite dish ‘Shepherd’s Pie’. That was my first encounter with Mr. Peter Nduati, the Founder, Director and CEO of Resolution Insurance (Previously Resolution Health – East Africa Ltd). 

It is on record, that Mr. Nduati left a full time paying job at AAR to start Resolution Health without any money at the turn of century. He is therefore one amongst the few, who has constantly challenged their comfort zones and gone the extra mile to achieve their dreams, against a backdrop of doom and despair.

Those who have interacted with  Mr. Nduati will tell you, that He is not only full of vision and focus, but he has the guts and confidence to achieve whatever he has set his eyes on.  And to prove this, Mr. Nduati is currently in his early 40’s but has so far achieved every man’s dream; in all spheres of his life.

Mr. Nduati is a Masters Degree Holder in Economics and Insurance. He is a Chartered Insurer with over 20 years experience in the Kenyan Insurance Industry. Equally, He is an Entrepreneurship Doctorate Student at Daystar University.

A Mentor with the Greenhorn Mentorship Programme and is also member of the Organizations Board of Advisors. Mr. Peter is also involved in AIESEC (an organization for students interested in Commerce and Business). He is the current Chair of Board of Daystar University’s local chapter. He won the Kenya Alumni Association in 2002 and was shortlisted nominee of the Global alumni of the year 2007. Mr. Nduati is the current Director at First Benefits Ltd, Pine Creek Holdings and Brown Oak Ltd; (an Investment Holding Company). He also sits in the Board of Governors of Dagoretti High School. Before establishing Resolution Health (Now Resolution Insurance),  Mr. Peter Nduati was the CEO of Metropolitan Health Group, a South African Health Insurance Group. He was also the Managing Director of AAR Health Services Tanzania.

A father of three children (two girls and a son). Mr. Nduati is not only an enterprising Mogul, but also a passionate man about his family, rugby, music and mentorship. He is former Director of National squads in the Kenya Rugby Football Union. He played rugby for Impala Club in the National League and is the Chairman of the Rugby Club. 

‘He is real and a cool guy to work with. He is the best Director one can ever dream working with. Confident, Straightforward, Hardworking, Honest but above all a go getter’….These were the words of one of the employees of Resolution Health who sought anonymity.  His parting short however, is what caught my attention, that ‘Mr. Nduati Knows and He Knows that He Knows’….an indication that Mr. Nduati has confidence in all His engagements.

Decision Times wishes to Salute Mr. Nduati for being a real Kenyan role model and a mentor to many aspiring young Kenyan Entrepreneurs. We wish him many many many years of good health and long life in order to continue impacting many Kenyan lives.

Looming Danger - Kenya Will Be Harmed By Ethiopia's Gibe III Dam

BY DR ALEX AWITI, 

Three months ago in this column, I warned that the completion of Ethiopia's Gibe III dam on the Omo River could transform Lake Turkana, the world's only desert lake, into Africa's Aral Sea. Impassioned by China-style great leap forward philosophy, the Ethiopian government has pursued the development of the Gibe III dam in total disregard to the consequence associated with it.

The Ethiopian government and multilateral donor institutions present the Gibe III dam project as critical to national and regional energy security and contributing to poverty alleviation. A new report from the African Resource Working Group (ARWG) reveals that the completion of the Gibe III dam on the Omo River will touch off socio-economic, political and ecological collapse in the tri-state border region of the Great Horn of Africa.

According to the ARWG report, a major review by the African Development Bank of the hydrological impacts of the Gibe III dam on Lake Turkana omitted any assessment of the dependence of the livelihoods of local communities on the lake's resources. Moreover, the assessment by the Ethiopian government shows no regard for Kenya's sovereignty over Lake Turkana's northern shoreline zone and a significant portion of the Omo Delta.

The author of the report, Claudia J. Carr, associate professor at University of California at Berkeley, argues that no credible assessments of the environmental and social cross-border impacts of the dam have been conducted. The report charges that the assessments of the dam's impact were fragmentary and riddled with major omissions, inaccuracies and even fabrications.

For instance, the Ethiopian government and the dam proponents suggest that a 60-70% drop in inflows would only cause a 2m-drop in lake levels. The report suggests that the Ethiopian government, international development banks and global commercial investors have operated with the precondition despite glaringly inadequate appraisal of the impacts of Gibe III mega-dam project.

The Gibe III reservoir would be 150 km long, in a narrow gorge with covering an area of 211 square kilometers, with a storage volume of 11,750 million cubic meters; an amount equal to about two years of the Omo River's flow causing a 60-70% reduction in the volume of the Omo River, which contributes 90% of inflow into Lake Turkana. This will reduce Lake Turkana's volume by 58%, lower the lake level by10-22m while doubling its salinity and putting nearly 500,000 pastoralists and fisher folk at the risk of famine and conflict.

Picture Speak: Laptops Vs Basic Learning Materials

Why I Am Disappointed With The President’s Choice For Cabinet Secretary – Health

By Dr. Oduwo Noah Akala (M.B.Ch.B)

Yesterday evening, following days of almost palpable anticipation regarding the composition of the Cabinet, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced the names of four individuals that he will present to the National Assembly for vetting before they assume their roles as members of the Executive arm of Government.

For the position of Secretary for Information, he chose an IT Guru. A University Don with years of experience in the field, Mr Fred Okengo. For Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Amina Mohamed was selected. She is a career diplomat having served as diplomatic representative at high levels at the United Nations Environmental Programme. For Treasury Secretary, Henry Rotich…A career civil servant and celebrated economist. I commend the President for his choices in the aforementioned three ministries. They are fresh faces that so far represent the face of Kenya, take into consideration gender balance and most importantly, professional competence.

However, I must register my disappointment with his choice for Cabinet Secretary for Health. Before I go into this, allow me to first give some background so as to inform you of the reasons for my opposition.

Kenya is coming from an era where cabinet appoinents were purely political affairs with the most important considerations being party loyalty and regional balance. In spite of this, we did manage to land upon some gems such as the late Hon John Michuki who managed to turn the Transport Sector around despite having limited background in the said area. He even famously declared that he had never bought a second hand vehicle in his entire working life. At first, many were apprehensive about his ability to perform in such a key ministry given his detachment from the day to day issues facing public transport. He pleasantly surprised us all by streamlining the sector.

But I hazard to say that such examples were the exception rather than the rule. We are the same nation that put the only nobel laureate we have ever produced, the late Hon Wangari Maathai, in a ministry that had nothing to do with her prize. She was an environmentalist celebrated the world over for her conservation efforts yet the Environment docket wad headed by an accountant at the time. This gives the impression that more luck than deliberate intent went into cabinet appointments then.

The Healthcare Sector has for many years been treated as a second rate ministry. This is so in many regards but most significantly, in terms of budgetary allocation. The Abuja declaration states that the bare minimum required to run a country’s health affairs is 15% of the national budget yet we, at best, hover between 5-6%.

It is on the background of this consistent maltreatment that I base my argument. As a young budding doctor, in undergraduate training, one is taught that mistakes in our profession cost lives. To emphasize this, for instance, we are taught that when examining a patient, one must always stand on the right side of the patient’s bed. This is for a variety of reasons not pertinent to today’s discussion. However, undergraduates are failed in their clinical exams if they contravene this rule. The point being to pass across the message that in healthcare, details matter. Health is not the sector to adopt a trial and error methodology neither in patient care nor in management of the sector as a whole. Mistakes in this regard cost lives!

Therefore, in light of the new constitutional dispensation where MPs are no longer appointed to cabinet and that the National Assembly vets nominees to such positions on the basis of qualifications, it is my view that the President’s advisors would have done better in guiding him towards a professional with a proven track record in healthcare. If for no other reason other than the fact that, he who wears the shoe, knows where it pinches. They did so for all other Ministries named yesterday, why not health?

The Expected New Kenyan Cabinet - A Closer Look By Dikembe

By: Dikembe Disembe

CharityNgilu

Reports appearing in the mainstream media that Hon Charity Ngilu, Najib Balala and Chirau Ali Mwakwere, Prof Sam Ongeri may miss out in the cabinet slots seem to reverberate well with the public, considering how the media has packaged the position of secretaries as ‘technocratic’, professional and requires very ‘high’ integrity standards.

However a keen observer of the political developments cannot miss too see the hypocrisy in the move. The strategy to use NSIS and Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) clearance as an excuse to bar the two from appointment will only serve to remind Ngilu and Co of the use and dump that was perfected by rtd president Moi.

The Supreme Court’s verdict on the election petition that validated the victory of Hon Kenyatta is testimony that no institution is bigger than Uhuru and his handlers and hence certification that Uhuru is simply not going to reward the Ngilu group. The NSIS and EACC are only being used by the president’s handlers as a shield; otherwise, if they delivered the presidency, getting Ngilu and Co to the cabinet will only take a less than one minute telephone call!

The four politicians stuck with candidate Uhuru and Ruto even when it was clear doing so was signing a political obituary. It was Najib Balala who first ‘predicted’ the future of Kenyan leadership as revolving around the ‘high-table’ where Uhuru and Ruto sat side by side. Even when Kwale County was openly showing signs of hostility towards the Jubilee alliance, Mwakwere stood out for Ruto, later ‘allowing’ Uhuru to navigate the murky land question in the coastal region.

Ngilu made a passionate appeal for Uhuru, even sacrificing her presidential ambitions and her party to join Jubilee. Had she not crossed over from CORD, she would be in the senate today, because, most kambas credit Ngilu for doing so much for Ukambani more than, surprisingly, CORD’s David Musila her competitor in the Kitui senate race.

But more than the small Kamba constituency, Charity has been in politics more than Uhuru and Ruto. She vied for the presidency at a time Uhuru could not address a political rally of 200 ‘kenyans’ drawn from all the 42 tribes. Her name was on the ballot when Ruto was terrorizing Rift Valley residents using KANU youths-jeshi la Mzee-and preparing ground for one of the biggest ethnic orgies of our time in 2007. These are facts, and facts are stubborn things!

Ngilu is a senior Kenyan politician with a proven track record. Politicians like Charity are more precious for the president than hawk-eyed bureaucrats and status quoists like Kimemia and company because they not only bring merit to the table but also a unique political experience nurtured over decades in elective politics. They understand real politick.

To call her a political reject, like Charles Keter was quoted saying, simply because she lost her seat campaigning for the president in a region which, after the frustrations Kalonzo Musyoka went through, in the hands of the very same president and his deputy, then presidential candidates with the heavy baggage of the ICC, is to perpetuate the enduring culture of use and dump which is Kibaki’s legacy.

To use the NSIS and the EACC to project these individuals as having integrity issues is to hoodwink the public. In fact, the president and deputy have global ‘integrity’ issues more than the three. The NSIS raised no objections when these leaders vied in the last elections. The EACC gave these leaders a clean bill of health.

Political reciprocity is important in a multi-ethnic democracy such as ours. Merit in politics is a very controversial topic. For example, which yardstick is the president using to bar these three from leadership? Rejection at the ballot? Poor service delivery?

Let me be clear, I’m not holding brief for Ngilu, Balala and Mwakwere, Prof Ongeri. These are politicians who never got my vote. I come from a region which views the three of them, especially Balala and Ngilu, as traitors who turned their backs on Raila Odinga when he needed them most, yet, my refusal to accept the poisoned chalice we are being treated to, that the three are not worthy of being in the cabinet of Uhuru and Ruto, stems from the fact that we in Kenya are trying to legalize politics.

We have so many agencies and commissions telling politicians what to do, when to do what and with whom to do what so much so that the art of politics is losing its meaning.
Politics is no longer dirty in Kenya. Politics is being sanitized at a speed this country, and indeed no country under the sun, has ever endured. Our political arena is an expanded supreme court where decisions are immutable. This is not what popular democracy is. This is what popular idiocy is!

Politics is how peoples’ expectations are handled. If the new president bungles these expectations by using laws and agencies which want to manufacture ‘angles’ for Uhuru’s cabinet, then we are staring at a future where all political deals will have to be deposited in courts to give them life.
The president and his deputy must go beyond their high octane rhetoric of uniting the country in funerals and churches and be seen to be doing so.

Why Luos Must Redefine Their Politics

By William Makora.

 

I feel duly compelled to make this humble appeal to my people, the Luos, to consider diversifying their political belief and embrace flexible factors that favor change. Their faith in political patronage has done the community and, by extension, the country a lot of good by propelling it on course of definite popular political paths. The benefits reaped for the nation over the period of time are far fetching yet the community lugs behind in everything including academics where it was a powerhouse at independence.

Bad Choice

While decisions determine what you do, choice answers what you have. When one makes a good decision he lives doing something he likes. One makes a bad choice he lives in regretful sadness. It is, therefore, worthwhile for mankind to think properly before making any choice.

After independence of Kenya in 1964, the Luos were provided with two choices in their leadership; politics and development. These were presented to the people through J. O. Odinga and T. J. Mboya respectively. Both the leaders served in the first government. Odinga was the Vice President while Mboya was the Minister for Economic Planning and Development.

As a community, the Luos could take both, or either of, the two packages. Unlike the Kikuyus that took both, the Luos opted for politics and politicking have hence become their duty in the nation of diverse competitions. This has endured in respite of the factors that face it and the around it have limited the area of influence or diversified national dominance. In short, competing forces have since confined it to the lowlands while the real wealth is shared at the top. In simple sense, it has denied the people access of national health and vibrancy. The Kikuyus with whom the Luos formed the first government as principals have enjoyed both and their population has grown tremendiously.

Before his exit from the government in 1966, Odinga asked the people to wait until he ‘became’ the president in order to see how ‘his government’ would, responsibly, ensure amenities and infrastructure. The Luos are still waiting to date. At his assassination in 1969, Mboya had mobilized the people of his region in the divide to ensure notable amenities and infrastructure. Odinga enjoyed the rest of the period till he passed it over to his son, Raila A. Odinga. It has never shifted elsewhere.

We are still in politics; eating and living politics by choice! A political community! Politics is the life of majority of us who fall within the bracket of ordinary fellows. Opponents have made it the bait on the trap. They cast it on a dirty rock and name it ‘The Luos”. Whatever they say about us in that same shadow sounds loud! Whatever fashion they give us suits us! We have no defense. We have chosen politics against development. We are given politics minus power and we take it. Bad choice bad life!

Not Lost

Political essays about the Luos may not be good either. Apart from many key persons lost in the game, a lot of resources and assets, especially; academics, economical wealth, health, et cetera have dissipated in the miry bog. Although we are blessed with good brains only a few Luos manage studies by capricious chance over a long period of time. We have some of the worst amenities in the nation and our children have limited chances to access any advantages in the prevailing scarcity. We always think it is the failure of the government to provide them while our competitors use their strength to move ahead of us. The government will respond but we shall not be able to catch them that leaped ahead over the period.

I think all is not lost. We can play politics. It has become our birthright. But we can diversify it. We can spread it all over the land and let everybody own it. That way it may not be easy to cage. The opponents may not easily arrest it and say; “We don’t want Raila” to mean “We don’t want Luos”. We may break loose and release ourselves for a moment. Then we will be able to think and act freely.

Political Power

That the Luos are a political powerhouse is not secret. We have agile politicians. Ours are accurate political analysts and movers. But demerits put us in a can of vulnerability. If we gather ourselves in a valley and overlooking mountains fall over us, we crash. We can build our political power by according ourselves common playing ground. We owe our sons and daughters every space for sowing of their seeds now and in future. If we do what is right with our advantages, we raise our stakes in the national socio-political and economical divide. We can only opt to make political capital if we all value it. If we don’t we can leave it to the Odingas, especially, if they seem to believe in opposition leadership, or that we are the shield that protects the nation. It has hurt us over the years as the arsenals hit pearls like Tom Mboya, Robert Ouko and Odhiambo Mbai in the first, second and last regimes respectively. We do not want to lose more for that reason. We can avoid regrets. A stitch in time saves nine!