Wednesday, January 9, 2019

MOSES KURIA,UHURU KENYATTA IS THE PRESIDENT OF KENYA,NOT GATUNDU





BY FWAMBA NC FWAMBA



Just before shouting disrespectfully at the president in the name of playing to the gallery,Gatundu South MP Hon Moses Kuria and his Bahati counterpart Hon Onesmus Kimani Ngunjiri should re-look at our long journey towards equity and equal distribution of resources,fair allocation of revenue and the gains the country has made since. The two members of parliament and their friends forget that Kenya is no longer run by individual whims of the head of state but by the principles of constitutionalism and law.


As legislators who have served in both the 12th and 13th parliament, they are well placed enough to know that under our current dispensation, there are clear guidelines enacted through legislation which determine revenue allocation and distribution. It must be appreciated that it is during the reign of President Uhuru Kenyatta that Kenya has for the first time established a formula that puts in place fair mechanisms for national development.


Since gaining independence from her colonizers in 1963, Kenya has come a long way as far as resource allocation and distribution is concerned.


As a young nation with minimal resources,the country embarked on a development plan that focused on maximizing use of high potential areas and establishment of industries as a way of sparking the country’s economic growth. This initiative was realized through the Sessional Paper no.10 of 1965(African Socialism and its application to planning in Kenya) .This sessional paper that was credited to Tom Mboya during his tenure as Minister for Economic Planning, provided a guideline for economic development and strategic locations of various industries that continue supporting a section of Kenyan populace to date.


Although well intended, the aspirations of Sessional Paper no.10 of 1965 effectively shut out some parts of the country from the development grid leading to long term marginalization of the regions in question.


Due to politics, the objective and systematic allocation and distribution of resources contemplated in the sessional paper no 10 was with time abandoned at the expense of development based on ethnic biases and political persuasions. The political patronage based development led to the collapse of some economic development establishments that were in politically incorrect regions. Among others, one of the factories that suffered this fate was the Kisumu Cotton Mills (KICOMI) factory.


 

During the reign of Kenya’s 2nd President Moi , development was strictly pegged on political loyalty. Government appointments were distributed in accordance to regional allegiance to the head of state. This kind of skewed development and allocation of resources in accordance to political loyalty further polarized the country along ethnic lines.


The Constituency Development Fund (CDF) Act, 2003 introduced by then Ol Kalao MP Muriuki Karue was a significant attempt to fair allocation and distribution of resources across the country. Efforts during the regime of our 3rdPresident Mwai Kibaki to entrench fair distribution of resources and address the issue of marginalization were also realized through the establishment of the Ministry of Special Programs and the Ministry of Northern Kenya that attempted to address the plight of the former Northern Frontier region’s development that had lagged behind as a result of earlier policies that were contained in the sessional paper number 10 of 1965.


 

The promulgation of the 2010 constitution was the most significant step that put to an end biased distribution and allocation of revenue. This was addressed through institutional frameworks whose authority is directly derived from the constitution of Kenya 2010.


The constitution of Kenya 2010 in general sought to ensure that Kenyans receive equal treatment and access services equitably regardless of their geographical and ethnic backgrounds or their political persuasions. It should also be known that this is the same reason as to why we ensured the devolved governments are in place. The devolved governments intended to bring services closer to the people. Since his election in 2013, the President has signed many bills into law that support development at the grassroots.


Article 215 of the constitution of Kenya establishes the Commission on Revenue Allocation as one of the independent Commissions in Kenya while article 216 highlights the functions of the commission. Among other responsibilities, the CRA is mandated to provide an objective and independent framework for equitable sharing of revenue raised by the national government.


It is also worth noting that parliament plays the most central role in the national budget making process and thus members of parliament play a central role in deciding what goes where and for what purpose in terms of budgetary planning. Under the current dispensation, no mega project can be implemented without the input of parliament; both the senate and the national assembly.


On 21st June, 2016, the National Assembly pursuant to article 217 of the constitution established the basis of revenue sharing using the following parameters:  population(45%),Equal share(26%),Poverty(18%),land area(8%)Fiscal Effort(2%),Development factor(1%) .So far, these parameters have been used as the criteria for revenue sharing among the counties for financial years2016/2018, 2017/18 and 2018/19.


 

The government through sessional paper number 8 of 2012 on National Policy for the Sustainable Development of Northern Kenya and other Arid Lands ‘Releasing Our Full Potential’ (also referred to as the ASAL policy) addressed policy challenges that were particular to northern Kenya and other arid and semi-arid areas. This legislation established deliberate mechanisms to bridge the developmental gap that had left most of the arid and semi-arid areas marginalized.


The National Government CDF Act 2015 which came into effect on 19th February 2016 to replace CDF Act 2013, under direct supervision by members of parliament is another opportunity for all Kenyans to benefit from equitable development opportunities and has a well-established legal framework for disbursement. The fund, according  to the established law supports national government projects at constituency levels.


 

The MPs should remember that Kenya is one country under one president whose mandate carries jurisdiction over the over 45 million Kenyans.While a Member of Parliament oversees constituency based programs,governors are the agents of development at county levelsres. As people's representatives, it’s the duty of members of parliament to use correct channels;particularly  parliament to ensure their respective areas of representation are developed. This can only be achieved through sober engagements and not public populist spats.


President Uhuru Kenyatta’s legacy is about doing the right thing. His Big Four development agenda and the building bridges initiative that began with the March 9th 2018 handshake with his archrival Raila Odinga is the path to a lasting legacy and he deserves support from every Kenyan of goodwill.


The writer is an Advisor to the Cabinet Secretary for devolution and ASALs Hon Eugene Wamalwa

fwambanc@gmail.com



https://kyva.wordpress.com/2019/01/09/moses-kuriauhuru-kenyatta-is-the-president-of-kenyanot-gatundu/

Friday, May 9, 2014

LET US STREAMLINE LAW ON IMPEACHMENT




BY FWAMBA NC FWAMBA

‘Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely’. This old adage appears to be defining the implications of the powers given to various institutions through the 2010 Constitution of Kenya. County assembly members are on the spot.

The Kenyan electorate are happy whenever leaders rise to fight corruption. The commitment and zeal with which various County Assemblies have stood out to fight corruption is highly commendable. Any county assembly membership as the oversight body at the county level is the most important institution that helps in checking the excesses of county governments. Without County Assemblies, it is possible that all monies sent to the county governments would be easily swindled by some corrupt county officers who are driven by greed than intention to serve the Kenyan people.

After the second impeachment of Martin Nyaga Wambora by the Embu County Assembly, Kenyans need ask themselves whether this is the best way of going about dealing with challenges that come with the teething problems of Kenya’s one year old devolved governance structure. It is possible that if the Embu County trend is anything to go by then it will be hard for the devolved governments to work. Regardless of whether the former Embu Governor is guilty of the accusations levelled against of him or not, it is so apparent that most of the governors, as a result of Wambora impeachment are now struggling to please the members of their respective County Assemblies than working on service delivery to the electorate. For the Governors, it’s now about survival.Wambora’s successive impeachments have proved that it is easier to get rid of a Governor than any other person holding an elective office.

Kenyan leadership, especially the governors, their deputies and members of parliament both in the senate and the national assembly should act urgently. A stakeholder’s conference should be organized to work out on legislation to streamline the role of County Assemblies in their oversight role to county governments. If this move is not made, it will be hard for the governors to effectively achieve their promises to the electorate. It is right to say that the Wambora woes have sent all governors in panic mode. The witch-hunt against the members of county executives coated with the spirit of fighting graft is rampant all over the republic.

It would be very progressive if the impeachments and threats to impeach were objective and pegged on real facts. The unfortunate bit is that most of the impeachments and threats to impeach governors are either political or motivated by disagreements over contracts and the cartels that used to run former local authorities that have since taken over the county governments in the respective areas.

At this rate, It is important for legislation to be in place to define the threshold for impeachment of governors or county executive members lest we’ll end up with all the 47 governors being impeached or becoming lame duck to only serve the economic appetite of the members of County Assemblies and business cartels within their respective counties.

If governors are blackmailed by business cartels, it will be hard for many progressive government policies and laws to be implemented. If this circus continues, the 30 percent business opportunity to the youth as a presidential directive which has now been presented on the floor of parliament by nominated MP and TNA Chairman Johnson Sakaja as a Bill will be hard to implement at the county levels even when signed into law. It will be hard for young people to be given businesses at the expense of already established business cartels without governors and members of county executives fearing political ramifications borne out of witch hunt.

Currently a number of Governors are under siege apparently for failing to work at the whims of certain members of their County Assemblies. A number of members of various county executives face the same dilemma across the republic. No grievous offence has been confirmed against most of these individuals who potentially stand on the brink of being rendered jobless. While there might be legitimate concerns, lacking a clear and strict way of going about the impeachment processes can subject so many people holding these positions to irreversible injustices.

A law should be put in place to ensure that all channels are exploited before a decision to impeach a governor or a member of a county executive committee is reached. In this law, there should be absolute clarity of the circumstances and procedure under which a governor should be impeached. Making impeachment as it is currently can lead to a lot of interference in the process of implementation of the constitution. In this law, there must be a framework where it is compulsory for the voters who elected the governor and competent legal experts to play a direct role in respectively determining whether a governor or a member of a county executive should be impeached. It is hard for people held at ransom to do any serious work that will benefit ordinary Mwananchi. The Commission on the Implementation of the constitution should also work closely with parliament on coming up with this specific law.

The writer is the leader of Kenya young voters’ alliance

Friday, January 4, 2013

MY TRIBUTE TO CHRISTOPHER OWIRO ‘KARL MARX’


Karl Marx’s struggle in context

By Fwamba NC Fwamba
Ordinarily, during student gatherings famously known as Kamukunjis, it was routine for the Students Organization of Nairobi University (SONU) secretary general to speak last summarising the conclusions and resolutions of the students’ political rally.
Kamukunji was a political term coined after the dare devil rally that was organized by Forum for the Restoration of Democracy (FORD) founders under the leadership of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Masinde Muliro, Ahmed Salim Bahmariz, Martin Shikuku, George Nthenge and Philip Gachoka in November 1991 at the Kamukunji grounds where rally enthusiasts were brutally dispersed by the then President Moi regime during the agitation for multi party in Kenya. The University of Nairobi students, due to the nature of defiance of the student gatherings against the university administration likened these political gatherings to the defiant FORD rallies.

When I joined the University of Nairobi on October 16th 2000, David ole Sankok was the SONU Chairman deputized by Irungu Kang’ata. George Omondi who was the secretary General of SONU was in accordance to tradition the official spokesman of the student union.

As a first year student, I shared a room with Augustine Njuguna who had enrolled as a student of land economics while I had enrolled as a student of design in a traditionally apolitical faculty of Architecture Design and Development since the days of former SONU Chairman Tito Adungosi. As a way of knowing each other we often talked about many issues including the kind of advice we received before joining university. I was not surprised that Augustine, just like me had been warned to pursue his academic career and not to be like one ‘Karl Marx’. At that time, little did I know that in reality ‘Karl Marx’ was such an inspiration for many young people of his age that made him an envy of the old majority of whom served the Moi regime. I wondered why someone from Gatundu would be given same warnings about the same person I had been warned about all the way from Bungoma. This created more anxiety on knowing who this ‘Karl Marx’ was. Before joining university, we had heard a lot about ‘Karl Marx’s role in leading students to reclaim Karura forest .Very few knew his real name, the fame of ‘Karl Marx’ eclipsed the real identity of Christopher Owiro. I had personally read in the papers about ‘Karl Marx’’s ambition to be Kenya’s president one day.

During our orientation as freshers,George Omondi and the Main campus representative Otieno K’ojwang’ had appeared to be the most skilled orators and student politicians but I was really desperate to catch a glimpse of this enigma who today and many years later will remain a legend in student activism and pursuit of justice by any means necessary.
It however happened that more of the orientation was to come which was usually referred to as baptism with fire. Through silent talks it became apparent that every freshman wanted to know who ‘Karl Marx’ was. ‘Karl Marx’ had the fame of that student leader who was considered very radical and also very good academically.
The opportunity presented itself on the evening of 28th November 2000.I remember the then SONU Vice Chairman Irungu Kang’ata blowing a whistle calling for a Kamukunji. We as first years discovered that it was an opportunity to know who ‘Karl Marx’ was. The student leadership had decided to fight against the introduction of the parallel degree program arguing that it was not good for the quality of university education and that it took away opportunities from poor but bright students. The leaders argued that the parallel degree program was moving the country towards commercialization of education and disregard of the value of intellectual prowess. That same evening it was also rumoured that two of our students had been arrested and it was not clear whether they were being held at Central police station or at the industrial area remand prison. We did not understand why the students could be arrested yet during orientation we had been told by our student leaders that apart from the president, University students were above the law!

At the Kamukunji, I remember us being addressed by all elected student leaders outside hall nine. Some of the people who addressed that Kamukunji included Irungu Kang’ata, Otieno CD, David ole Sankok, Otieno Kenyatta and George Omondi among others .As per the tradition, George Omondi who was a very popular student leader with excellent oratory skills started the summary of the resolutions of the Kamukunji as it ended .Apparently, majority of the over 5,000 students who attended the Kamukunji wanted ‘Karl Marx’ to give the way forward. Students started shouting in chorus ‘Let ‘Karl Marx’ speak’,’ Wacha ‘Karl Marx’ aongee’.’ ‘Karl Marx’’ came to the podium and in an authoritative voice uttered one sentence. ‘Comrades, it’s now or never, we goo, we go’. The whole crowd answered in chorus responding and chanting ‘we go’. ‘Karl Marx’ became the leader of the march as the whole crowd snaked out of the venue via the state house road tunnel towards main campus and to central police where George Omondi attempted to address another Kamukunji at the central police station. A lot happened that night; lots of tear gas….The anxiety of knowing who ‘Karl Marx’ was had come to pass. The following day 29th November 2000, the University was closed.

‘Karl Marx’ had branded his politics earlier as served as Organization of Nairobi University Science Students (ONUSS) Chairman before joining SONU politics. Though he never got elected as an official of SONU, there was no doubt he was the SONU de facto leader.
When the University was reopened, in early 2001, all the student leaders including our hero ‘Karl Marx’ had been suspended, pending disciplinary action. The saddest thing was that the university administration had disbanded the student union to ensure the students had no organization through which they could channel their grievances.

To frustrate the cause, the university administration levelled trumped up charges against the leaders and through the so called disciplinary action, many were given punishments that ranged from expulsion to three years suspension. I had personally looked upon these fellows as heroes. I was convinced that an injustice had been done against them. I thought something was to be done about it. Its memorable that Lawrence Nyaguti who was the then Nairobi University Arts Students Association (NUARSA) Chairman was suspended too for six years when he questioned the Vice chancellor Prof Francis Gichaga on why the majority of the suspended and expelled students only came from one community.

In our first week of reopening university in 2001, while other student leaders who had been suspended had gone to their respective homes, ‘Karl Marx’, also known as Christopher Owiro attempted to convene a Kamukunji outside hall nine. That was on the 5th of February 2001,a time when Kanu and NDP were cooperating, a cooperation that later led to Raila Odinga being made Minister for Energy and Kanu Secretary General on the 18th March 2002 political merger.
During the time of the suspensions, I came to interact with the suspended student leaders at a more personal level because personally I considered them heroes. With all the risks associated, I could occasionally accommodate in my room in prefabs 9 room 14.That time I felt proud to have people like ‘Karl Marx’ sleep in my room.

The suspended students felt that their suspensions were an infringement on their rights and they took the matter to court. They argued that they were playing their role as representatives of the students. It was a historical moment. The current Law Society of Kenya Chairman Eric Mutua represented the leaders pro bono, while Mutula Kilonzo who was also Moi’s personal lawyer represented the University administration arguing that the University was justified to suspend the leaders. They appeared before Justice Kasanga Mulwa who ruled that the matter be settled at the University. The student leaders through Eric Mutua appealed the Kasanga Mulwa ruling arguing that they didn’t expect the University to be fair, given the trend of argument the University lawyer Mutula Kilonzo had taken in court .I made it a duty to always go with the leaders every time they were to appear in court. I remember Mutula Kilonzo making a reference; citing a case in Britain where he justified suspension of students from University for up to like 55 years. I remember Eric Mutua arguing that if a son errors, it is imprudent for a parent to punish the son by killing him. The kind of supposed punishment meted on the student leaders was something close to a death sentence to their ambitions and dreams.
The student leaders ultimately lost this case even on appeal, Justice Tonui, Justice Bosire and Justice Okubasu upheld the Justice Kasanga Mulwa ruling.

My close interaction with this group gave me an opportunity to know Christopher Owiro more closely. He argued that the courts were never going to give them justice. ‘Karl Marx’ believed that the only way to work out a method of to be readmitted was involving the students in their cause, something I totally agreed with because the courts belonged to Moi and his henchmen including the Judges.
One of his planned Kamukunjis saw him violently attacked and badly brutalised by the university security officers .Despite this ‘Karl Marx’ was resilient.
After insisting on holding Kamukunjis on campus despite the suspension and an order never to step on campus precincts, the university administration decided to give ‘Karl Marx’ an expulsion as a punishment for his defiance.

The time of suspension/expulsion destroyed ‘Karl Marx’ and reduced him to an ordinary drunkard. Sometimes he got too drunk and disorderly and could get arrested for unexplained reasons. I remember one day getting a note from him. He had sent someone to give me the note to ensure it reached Hon. James Orengo, to inform the latter that ‘Karl Marx’ was being held at industrial area prison incommunicado where he had already spent over three weeks.

‘Karl Marx’ believed that the NDP/KANU merger had a role in their political and academic tribulations.

Being close to the suspended group of student leaders who were over 100 in number inspired me to agitate for their reinstatement and the revival of SONU. This process took long for we had to organize many secret meetings for obvious reasons, that if the university administration discovered, the rest of us would be victimised.

There were mixed reactions in the student fraternity when Prof.Kiamba was appointed Vice Chancellor. While a number believed that Kiamba was going to be ruthless, many believed that Kiamba was going to be more lenient and parent like. ‘Karl Marx’ believed that exist of Kanu from power was the only saviour for him and his colleagues.

The end of the Moi regime and the NDP walkout from Kanu was a blessing in disguise. ‘Karl Marx’ and all other former student leaders believed that their reinstatement was directly attached to Moi and Kanu exiting from power. The student fraternity overwhelmingly supported Kibaki who was Kanu’s main opponent under the Narc coalition. The Kibaki youth campaign was led by Thomas Mbewa who was one of the suspended students. Kibaki’s victory on 31st December 2002 was the sweet revenge against Moi and his henchmen at the University of Nairobi.

After Kibaki’s swearing in ceremony after the 2002 election, we reactivated our secret meetings. We eventually went public. The group used State House Road hostel room F3 as the operations centre. That was where I resided, therefore I was the host. The group turned itself into a committee of seventeen people with specific responsibilities. Among others in this group was Makokha Wanjala who had been very instrumental in the campaigns of Kibaki through the now defunct Narc Youth Congress. We went public and started holding Kamukunjis with defiance.

On the 22nd January 2003, Prof .Kiamba at a Kamukunji attended by over 10,000 students at the University of Nairobi great court lifted the ban on SONU and unconditionally declared reinstatement of all students who had been suspended and been expelled for political reasons.’Karl Marx’ was among the group that was reinstated but for him, life was never the same. He had become too much addicted to alcohol. That is the time he could get drunk and address imaginary Kamukunjis.

In the subsequent election I was elected SONU vice chairman and as the executive we created an Ayatollah like structure dubbed SONU elders where ‘Karl Marx’ and other former student leaders who had served in the disbanded SONU were given quasi recognition as student leaders. The former leaders also formed a lobby named ‘Consortium of Former Expelled and Suspended Students’. This gave them a say and some critical role in student leadership.

Father Dr.Dominic Wamugunda, Prof.Godfrey Muriuki and the likes of Pastor Robert Ayonga tried to rehabilitate him.’ ‘Karl Marx’’ eventually graduated. Through, the efforts of the then Students Welfare Authority (SWA) Director, Prof Jasper Mumo (now deceased),’Karl Marx’ got an attention as a special student. Professor Mumo encouraged him and helped him enrol for post graduate studies as an actuarial science student at Chiromo campus. Prof.Mumo introduced him to his church and family. This move transformed ‘Karl Marx’ into a church going individual. Ken Orengo helped to ensure that Owiro didn’t miss church including some evening prayers. Occasionally together we would attend that church which was located in Westlands near Holiday inn.
At some point I remember ‘Karl Marx’ complaining of a lot of pain on the side of his chest. He felt like there were some injuries to his ribs. Ken Orengo, Ken Obura and Mbara Kambara intervened and prevailed upon Prof.George Magoha; the Vice Chancellor at that time to have Owiro get some medical attention. He received treatment and the doctor who attended to him said that there was nothing chronic. A number of Owiro’s friends have always suspected that something must have gone wrong with Owiro after the Nyayo era stints in police cells.

In his postgraduate studies, ‘Karl Marx’ performed very well and succeeded without even a single re-sit or supplementary. He shared the good news with all his friends; that now he was eligible for good employment. He proudly told us how Kenya has a very limited number Actuaries and he was proud to be one.

In 2007,George Nyongesa, Irungu Kang’ata, Ken Orengo and I fronted ‘Karl Marx’ in a lobby group in support of Mwai Kibaki re election. He attributed his completion of his 8-4-4 education to Mwai Kibaki’s 2003 amnesty to all suspended and expelled student leaders. We thought that could be used as an opportunity to revive our comrade to his former self. We however encountered so many obstacles including sabotage by his former University political rivals and ethnic chauvinism that compounded the Kibaki campaigns and administration. It became very hard for ‘Karl Marx’ to find his space in the campaign.

At some point he indicated that he had made contact with his friend Hon. James Orengo who had contacted somebody at the Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA) to find out a vacancy for him. Apparently, that job opportunity never landed on ‘Karl Marx’s way. Failure to get employment even with exceptional qualifications drove ‘Karl Marx’ into further frustration. He became uncontrollably too alcoholic. When sober he could listen to friends’ advice, when he was drunk, the situation was totally different. He was a disaster when drunk. That is the time you could find him addressing imaginary political crowds at Ambassador Bus stage. It was the time you could find him talking about how Raila Odinga frustrated him. Those were his words. Those are the same words he uttered when he together with, Irungu Kang’ata, Ken Orengo, George Nyongesa, Antony Nyaga, I and others addressed a press conference in support of Mwai Kibaki for president in 2007. His words were well captured by NTV’s Emmanuel Juma’s ‘Bull’z Eye’ dubbed ‘the return of ‘Karl Marx’’.

I do not share a history where his differences with Raila originated, for that people like former SONU Chairman Moses Oburu, former Secretary general Joseph Kioko, former SONU Organizing secretary general Job Wamalwa, his fellow Chiromites like Otieno Kenyatta and the rest of his peers especially those who joined the University of Nairobi in 1996 are in the best position to give that account.

Towards, the end of 2009,’Karl Marx’ had become too much of a trouble to himself. He got too drunk due to frustration. For that reason, George Nyongesa and Ken Orengo who have acted so much of a brother’s keeper on ‘Karl Marx’ decided to help him get to Kisumu. His life in Nairobi was getting too risky.
Recently, Otieno Kenyatta suggested that we look for ‘Karl Marx’, George Nyongesa and I didn’t get too much into the discussion because we knew we had tried to some level. ‘Karl Marx’ was destroyed by Kenya’s rotten political system. The political system that was destroyed by Moi, the system that gives no recognition to meritocracy, the system that destroys those who appear to be of some hope.

As Comrade Kingwa Kamnchu pointed out in a very poetic form on her face book posting on learning of ‘Karl Marx’’s death, I concur with her that we as the people of this generation have to collectively join hands and address some of the issues that make many promising people go to waste. In line with comrade Kingwa Kamenchu’s words, the Kenyan political system dehumanized Christopher Owiro. The Kenyan political system is yet to recover from Moism; it’s yet to recover from the fear of accommodating intellectual heavyweights. Little has been done in Kibaki’s ten years of supposed change.Christopher Owiro is a victim of this system, many university graduates are, some have succumbed while others have been fighting and confronting it the hard way.


According to me ‘Karl Marx’ has died several times before his actual death. The 1st January 2013 was the ultimate death, the death of his body. What I and other friends tried need not be discussed here, but all I can say is that ‘Karl Marx’ was let down by his peers; he was let down by his political associates of Muungano wa Mageuzi lobby; he was let down by the many who are purporting to be his friends now.

Rest in Peace Comrade. Rest in Peace Christopher Owiro. What we tried need not be discussed here, but all I can say is that ‘Karl Marx’ was let down by his peers; including his political associates of Muungano wa Mageuzi.
Pass our regards to Oulu GPO. R.I.P.

Saturday, October 6, 2012

2013 IS KENYA’S YEAR OF IMAGE REDEMPTION


By Fwamba NC Fwamba


Despite her unique challenges, Kenya like any other country in the world has gone through different stages of growth under dynamic circumstances that are espoused through different political leaderships at respective times.

In 1963, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga who later became Kenya’s founding Vice President shelved his ambitions of becoming President in favour of President Jommo Kenyatta who was then still imprisoned by the colonial government. Jaramogi argued that it was not in the best interest of the country for him to take the reigns of power while Kenyatta still languished in colonial shackles. For that reason, the then Kanu leadership pushed for the release of Kenyatta whom by mutual consensus was made the first Head of State.

After a few years of independence Kenyatta and Jaramogi had a strained political relationship that led them to part ways due to what experts have since concluded were ideological differences. That caused Jaramogi to be replaced as Vice President. The centre of political power remained under the absolute grip of Jommo Kenyatta with Kanu party as the sole and dominant political institution in the country.

Kenyatta remained the only political powerhouse running the government until his demise in august 1978.His death paved way for his then Vice President Daniel arap Moi to take reigns of power, holding the position of Kenya’s President until 2002 when he retired as was required by the constitution after having served two full terms of five years each since the first multiparty election that was held in 1992 after the repeal of section 2a of the then constitution of Kenya.
The first multiparty election in Kenya was held in 1992 as a result of continuous agitation by the civil society to expand democratic space and end what they called Moi and Kanu dictatorship. The election saw the country go through a political transition that allowed radical constitutional amendments.

At the time of President Moi’s retirement, the country’s presidency had been occupied by only two individuals; Kenyatta’s 15 year period and Moi’s 24 years all under Kanu political establishment .During most of that time, the country had one opposition figure in Jaramogi Oginga Odinga who passed on in January 1994 after suffering a massive cardiac arrest. As a result of continued rivalry between the Kenyatta political establishment and Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, the country became highly polarised along ethnic lines. The rivalry between Jaramogi and Kenyatta was interpreted by majority of Kenyans as a silent ethnic political battle between the Luo and the Kikuyu community.

In 2002, Kenyans opened a new chapter in the country’s history by electing President Mwai Kibaki who won with a big margin against his kinsman Uhuru Kenyatta; the son of the founding President. Significantly ,Raila Odinga; the son of the founding Vice President and Kenya’s most significant opposition figure Jaramogi Oginga Odinga played a major role in Mwai Kibaki’s Presidential campaign. After Kibaki’s 2002 victory, Raila became the most prominent political figure in Kenya. Having played a considerable role in the Kibaki campaigns, Raila expected a bigger reward than just a Cabinet minister. He appeared dissatisfied with serving as Minister for Roads and his supporters kept on making reference to an alleged memorandum of understanding that was meant to have Raila appointed Prime Minister. Raila made his supporters to believe that he had been short-changed under the ‘MOU’ which has never been made public to date. Kibaki denied existence of such a memorandum.

Due to that kind of rivalry and continued disagreement between Kibaki and Raila, the two had to part ways during the November 2005 referendum campaigns. In spite of being a minister in Kibaki government, Raila galvanized a group of cabinet ministers most of whom were allied to his Liberal Democratic party (LDP) wing of the National Rainbow Coalition (Narc) government to campaign against the draft constitution with their symbol being the Orange while Kibaki’s government agitated for the passing of the constitution which was famously referred to as the Wako draft (named after the then Attorney General of Kenya) whose symbol was a banana. Among those who opposed the draft constitution was the then opposition leader; Uhuru Kenyatta.

The government lost in the referendum and as a result Kibaki dissolved his cabinet, to only reconstitute it after a few days to the exclusion of Raila and other ministers who had opposed the Wako draft. This led to the formation of the Orange movement .Having been fired, Raila and his team saw that as an opportunity to start early campaigns against Kibaki’s re-election in 2007.The Orange group radicalised there anger against Kibaki and they set the country in a campaign mood two years to election. The main rhetoric of the Orange group was no longer about the constitution but pursuit for political power.

In their nationwide campaigns, the Orange group was adamant that it was time for a person from another community to lead the country. They kept on the arithmetic that by 2007, the Kikuyu community would have ruled the country for 20 years while the Kalenjin community had had 24 years under Moi. The group also hyped the rhetoric that the Kikuyu community has never supported any other person in pursuit for leadership except their own. This rhetoric was left unabated and by the time of going to election, the Orange group’s winning formula was 41 against one. The 41 against one rhetoric meant that all communities were to gang up against the Kikuyu to elect another person to state house. This kind of rhetoric became too much in the Orange group and this made Uhuru Kenyatta who is himself a Kikuyu to feel uncomfortable within the Orange group. Despite of him being an opposition leader, Uhuru opted out of the Presidential race and endorsed Mwai Kibaki for the second term to appease his tribesmen and also safeguard his Gatundu South parliamentary seat.

The anti Kikuyu rhetoric had far reaching results. The rhetoric did not only end with politics but it created a lot of hatred against the Kikuyu community. For that reason, when allegations of election rigging came up during the tallying of the 2007 Presidential results, the country gripped with anger and fear of continued Kikuyu presidency went up in flames. Most of the supporters of the Orange Movement could not come to terms with another five years of a Kibaki presidency.
The 2007 post election violence was the darkest moment in the country and a turning point to Kenya’s political history. It was a lesson every Kenyan learnt and all Kenyans were the ultimate losers as the result of the violence. The violence exposed Kenya to the international limelight for all wrong reasons leading to some of the country’s leaders being tried in a foreign land at the International Criminal Court at The Hague. This kind of negative exposure has tainted the image of our country and the citizenry are now faced with the challenge of restoring the dignity of our country.

March 2013 presents an opportunity to avoid the pattern of history set in 2007.So far we have groups coming up that are threatening national security. Some groups allege to have legitimate claims that need to be addressed. Other elements are using excuses of what they call historical injustices to commit atrocities; case in point being the brutal attack meted on Fisheries Minister Hon. Amason Kingi that left the minister’s bodyguard and four others dead.
It’s important for Kenyans to scrutinize the candidates who have so far presented themselves and elect a person who will put our country on the track of peace, unity and tranquillity. The country needs a President who is neutral and ready to unify all communities in Kenya. The country has an opportunity to elect a level headed President who will not attract ethnic passions that are a danger to our own security and survival. Kenyans should avoid voting along ethnic lines and support a candidate who will give the country a leeway for healing and reconciliation; a President who is not a party to Kenya’s current woos.


Fwamba NC Fwamba is the leader of Kenya Young Voters Alliance

Monday, July 30, 2012

RAILA ODINGA IS NO REFORMER, NEITHER IS KALONZO MUSYOKA


Of late I have been keenly watching the moves made by various presidential candidates and other political players as we near the next general elections. I can authoritatively state that I am among those Kenyans who are shopping for the best and most qualified of all the candidates to meet the aspirations of Kenyans to support for president. It will be in the best interest of Kenyans to rally behind an individual who will ensure that the ordinary Kenyans’ living standards are improved in a proportionate way of the taxes collected by the government. It’s obvious that the Kibaki government’s greatest achievement has been in collection of taxes.

Under Kibaki we have realised radical infrastructural development never experienced before under the previous regimes of the late founding father Jommo Kenyatta and our second President Daniel arap Moi. The saddest part is that during Kibaki’s reign the distribution of resources has had a mild if any positive impact among the people of the lower economic class. The peasants of this country have had little improvements in their lives during the Kibaki presidency. Lucrative government tenders and job opportunities have remained a preserve of those who already occupy big offices, their cronies and their relatives. Joblessness and underemployment has remained a major economic scourge amongst lower economic class of Kenyan citizens. Due to this skewed approach to development, Kenya remains one of the countries in the world with the highest economic inequality among the citizens. The gap between the rich and the poor remains extremely high in Kenya. Corruption in high offices has gone unabated in contradiction to president Kibaki’s promise of zero tolerance to corruption during his inauguration when he took oath of office after the December 2002 election.
The Kenyan youth in particular with humble backgrounds have remained victims of economic malpractices even when the country is said to have economically progressed under Kibaki. Majority of ordinary Kenyans are anxious and are expectant that the situation is going to improve to have everybody access equal opportunity once a new regime comes to power in 2013. As Kenyans prepare to vote in a new president and hence a new political regime, the only window of optimism remains in the personality of the individual who will be privileged to be our country’s chief executive in the subsequent five years. Kenyans’ hopes can only be brightened and be realized if we elect a genuine reformer as president.
Lately, of significant interest are the utterances made by various presidential aspirants while touring different parts of the country. The campaigns are gaining momentum on a daily basis and this is causing some candidates to appear too desperate to get votes, projecting themselves to be what they are not.

A lot of political excitement has been generated since the launch of Miguna Miguna’s book Peeling Back the Mask. The most annoying thing is the hypocrisy with which some incumbent politicians have taken over Miguna’s agenda as if they were discovering corrupt practices in government for the first time. There is no doubt that majority of government officials were aware or have always been aware of the issues raised by Miguna .For them, the issues raised by Miguna are normal government practices and some of them are culprits in the same measure only that they haven’t sacked someone to be bitter enough to ‘expose’ them Miguna style. Miguna’s book is only a case of sour grapes after being sacked and am sure we will hear more shocking stories if Miguna types were sacked in some other offices of those hypocritically claiming now to be holier than thou. The book has been used as an opportunity for some non progressive presidential candidates to claim ownership to the reform process when they have no idea what the word reform means. The Miguna Miguna book has become an agenda for agenda-less presidential candidates.

However, Miguna’s book is an eye opener to those who blindly believed that the Rt.Hon. Prime Minister Raila Odinga is a believer and torch bearer of the reform agenda in Kenya.
Responding to Miguna’s bitterness as documented in Peeling Back the Mask, Kalonzo Musyoka proclaimed himself a reformer while castigating the prime minister’s alleged corrupt practices as documented by Miguna. As always, the Vice President H.E Hon. Kalonzo Musyoka, who is well known for his opportunistic tendencies, wasted no opportunity to declare himself what he is not. This is laughable. Thesaurus English dictionary describes a reformer as a person who improves,develops, restructures or revolutionizes something. Kalonzo Musyoka’s bio is not in any way related to the above mentioned verbs and his claim to the reform agenda is nothing but a mockery to those who have sacrificed and dedicated their lives to improving the state of being of the Kenyan populace in the democratisation process, constitutional reforms and developmental agenda.

Under the Kenyan constitution, like many other Kenyans Kalonzo qualifies to run for president except that he is one person who will never win the presidential race if the reform credentials are used as the yardstick to determine who best qualifies to lead us.
After president Kibaki, Kalonzo is the longest serving politician seeking presidency, having joined the national assembly in 1985 and uninterrupted to date. The irony is that despite his long stay in government occupying senior positions, there is little in terms of development or reform associated with his long presence. Kalonzo is a stranger to the reform agenda for he stayed in Kanu and pledged loyalty to former president Moi while majority of Kenyans languished under bad governance; only joining the opposition in 2002 when he saw that his dreams of becoming president through Moi’s support became nought. Kalonzo’s credentials are very dismal compared to his long tenure .In his own backyard, people like Hon. John Harun Mwau who have served only one term in parliament have been able to formulate and achieve greater developmental goals than what Kalonzo has ever achieved in the last 28 years in power. In Ukambani, Mwau can be characterized as a reformer because of how he has worked to improve the lives of his constituents compared to Kalonzo who is yet to even have the road to his own village tarmacked.
AS we head to elections, Kenyans are supposed to analyse all candidates, give them opportunity to present their manifesto and vote a true reformer who will put in place economic reforms that will prioritise fairness and equity to all. The reformer is not one who proclaims himself, but one with a track record. Kalonzo has no track record of a reformer.

Electing a true reformer in the forth coming election will ensure that the constitution, economic and social reforms are implemented and the rule of law is completely adhered to. A reformer will ensure that there is equal opportunity for every Kenyan to create wealth and improve the livelihoods of the citizens. This is the opportunity to make Kenya a better governed country and it’s a patriotic duty for every Kenyan voter that we vote in individuals with the people’s agenda this time round and not pretenders to the reform agenda.

Fwamba NC Fwamba
The writer is the leader of Kenya Young Voters Alliance.
Box 41046, Nairobi
+254721779445

Friday, January 6, 2012

THE KENYAN MEDIA IS EXAGGERATING THE BARAZA STORY

By Fwamba NC Fwamba Something I have noted over a period of time is that there is an inherent wedge that gets easily exposed whenever there is a conflict between groups and individuals who are perceived to belong to different economic classes. Given this trend, it’s no surprising that the majority are trying to support or justify the actions of the guard and have therefore deliberately or unconsciously ignored rationality, fairness or critical analysis on the other side of the story. The mob justice mentality in Kenya has taken root whenever such kind of conflict arises. The Kenyan government has three arms the legislature, the judiciary and the executive. Under the aforementioned structure president Kibaki heads the executive deputized by Kalonzo Musyoka while the legislature is headed by the speaker Kenneth Marende deputized by Farah Maalim .Nancy Baraza who deputizes Dr. Willy Mutunga’s is the deputy president of the judiciary. I will not necessarily defend Nancy as a person but the office of the deputy chief justice which deserves due respect .The reform process should not mean that we start treating our institutions with contempt. Given her status it’s important to note that the security guard was herself a security threat to the deputy chief justice. If it were Kalonzo’s security, I doubt whether they would have cared whether the said guard recognized Kalonzo or not. I personally don’t find anything wrong if Nancy advised the guard to know people. The way the media is reacting looks like some unknown mama mboga (nothing ill intended to mama mbogas) raided the village market and refused to be frisked. On this I think the media is ignoring many facts. I have no problem if any VIP chooses to be frisked and walk everywhere freely the way former Burkina Faso leader captain Thomas Sankara used to do; I however think that should be a personal choice so that in case of anything the leader in question takes responsibility of all the potential threats that come with such a lifestyle. That kind of lifestyle earned Thomas Sankara early death when he was assassinated at the age of 37 .In normal circumstances, the guard would have been arrested and be charged with breaching and threatening the security of the deputy chief justice. Security of prominent people should never be compromised and Nancy Baraza’s is no exception given the position she occupies. In history many prominent people have been brought to harm’s way due to lapse in security. The most significant scenario is where Dr Martin Luther King junior was stabbed by a woman who appeared very innocent. The incident occurred in 1958 in Harlem new York .It was on September 20th 1958 when Dr. king was on a promotional tour of his book Strive Toward Freedom.. During a book signing at a department store in New York City, a well-dressed woman approached and asked him if he was Martin Luther King, Jr. When King replied in the affirmative, she said, "I've been looking for you for five years," then stabbed him in the chest with a steel letter opener. since Dr. King was a prominent and a very popular civil rights leader in America, he proudly answered in the affirmative because he must have thought that the woman was one of his supporters but that almost cost him his life for the woman instead stabbed him cutting his aorta; something that was so fatal that doctors said that had Dr .King sneezed at that time, he would have died instantly. On 11 September 2003, former Swedish minister Anna Lindh died as a result of a knife attack in a Stockholm shopping mall the previous day. On the 10th September 2003 at about 4 pm, she had been attacked while shopping in the ladies' department at the Nordiska Kompaniet department store in central Stockholm. She was stabbed in the chest, stomach and arms. At the time of the attack, Lindh was not protected by bodyguards from the Swedish Security Service, a controversial predicament similar to that of former Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme in 1986. Following the assault she was rushed to the Karolinska hospital where she underwent surgery for over nine hours, receiving blood transfusions continuously during the surgery. She reportedly suffered serious internal bleeding, her liver was seriously damaged, and her medical situation remained critical leading to her death at the age of 46. The assassination of India’s sixth prime minister on 21st of May 1991 can be related to the same context of poor security arrangements for the VIPs. During the campaigns, a woman who was later identified as a Tamil Tigers suicide attacker detonated a 700 gram RDX after getting too close to the prime minister and bending down towards his feet; a sign of respect among the Indians. On 4th November 1995,Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a hard-line Jewish university student Yigal Amir as a result laxity in his security arrangements a few days after the historical handshake with the leader of the Palestinian liberation organization(PLO)’s leader YassIr Arafat at the white house. After A rally, Rabin walked down the city hall steps towards the open door of his car, at which time Amir fired three shots towards Rabin with a Beretta 84F.380 ACP calibre semi automatic pistol. He was immediately subdued by Rabin's bodyguards and arrested with the murder weapon. He also shot and slightly wounded Yoram Rubin, a security guard, with a third bullet that missed Rabin. In January 2011, Arizona’s chief federal judge john roll was killed in an incident where Congresswoman Gabby Gifford’s was shot. The two were shot while on kind of a meet the people tour. In Kenya, we have a culture of looking at incidents of that nature in a simple way, but the security of a senior government official can not be compromised at the expense of making some people happy. We can not afford the risk as a country. The news that the lady is now demanding obscene amounts of cash shows that she had a well calculated plan in advance and even her argument that she didn’t know who Nancy was now appears questionable. She is an extortionist par excellence. It’s not hard to conclude that the whole scheme was pre planned given that the deputy chief justice says she has been shopping at the same place for a number of years. What should be investigated is whether the security guard was acting alone or in cahoots with other people whose mission should as well be established. Fwamba NC Fwamba is the leader of Kenya Young Voters Alliance. fwambancfwamba.wordpress.com fwambanc@gmail.com +254786779445

Thursday, November 24, 2011

OCAMPO’S STANCE ON LIBYA EXPOSES THE TRUE INTENTIONS OF HIS WESTERN PUPPETEERS


By Fwamba NC Fwamba

On Tuesday 22nd Nov 2011, the Netherlands based International Criminal Court(ICC) prosecutor Louis Moreno Ocampo announced that he had no objection for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ( NATO) backed Libyan anarchists to try  Col.Muammar Gaddafi’s son, Saif al Islam. His reason for backing a Libya based trial for Saif based on claims that ICC will be comfortable with the trial so long as the trial does ‘not intend to shield the accused’. He indicated that he was confident that the Libyan anarchists will give Saif a ‘fair trial’. According to his version, a fair trial means ensuring that the accused is guilty regardless of the merits and demerits of the charge(s).The remarks also implied that the so called international judicial standard in Ocampo’s own imagination is very low that the NATO’s Libyan mercenaries can be considered a government capable of trying anyone in a fair way. The same remarks confirmed the fears that the west is hell bent to ensure that they have Saif too just like his father and three brothers killed. They only want to window dress the process whose decision has already been arrived at by the western assassins of Col.Gaddafi and their Libyan puppets whom they consider a government.

How fair will be the trial yet the spin doctors of the same court are supposedly the complainants. How do we expect justice to be done when the accuser is the judge? It’s a well calculated move to destroy the family of Gaddafi, just like they did to the family of Saddam Hussein.

The whole world knows that the west has imposed a clique of their preferred puppets as leaders of Libya. The so called government has no legitimacy of any form from the Libyan people. We know that the so called revolution was not a people’s power decision to replace the government but a result of NATO’s military prowess. The current leaders are nothing but a bunch of CIA apologists and individuals driven by vengeance and retribution against Col.Gaddafi’s regime and family. The last thing to expect from these people is a fair trial. The world needs to stand up for the truth; that those claiming that Saif al Islam is a suspect in the murders of innocent Libyans are hypocrites who do not want to admit liability of NATO’s operations in Libya. They don’t want to admit that Obama, Sarkozy, Cameron and Berlusconi hold the highest and direct responsibility of turning Libyans who had lived like brothers against each other. If there are any Libyans who should face trial, then those NATO sponsored NTC puppets should be the first ones. The Libyan anarchists have no capacity to try anyone; not even a chicken thief.

I can correctly predict that any trial of Saif under the jurisdiction of bloodthirsty Western backed regime will be nothing but a mockery of justice. Any objective trial should ensure that all those involved in the Libyan atrocities; including those who tied the hands of detainees and shot them in Sirte are brought to book. The same judicial system should ensure that the leaders of NTC are tried and charged for the same crimes allegedly committed by Col.Gaddafi and his regime. The war claimed lives on both sides and it will be hypocritical to deny justice to the people who were incinerated by NATO missiles. That kind of judicial system is not in existence and will not exist in any near future in Libya. For Ocampo and ICC, a fair trial means giving justice to the victor in the conflict .Ocampo’s move confirms that ICC, just like NATO is just a mere tool of re-colonizing Africa.

ICC’s mandate is nothing but managing and manipulating western imposed ‘democracy’ in Africa. The main objective of putting Saif on trial is to have a public relations exercise whose motive and ultimate result is easy to predict .They want to have  what will look like a trial and there is no doubt that they will use former Gaddafi loyalists as  witnesses to fix Saif. It’s predictable that the current puppet regime will recruit false witnesses with promises of amnesty and western life kind of enticements. The world should demand justice for Saif al Islam, the Gaddafi family and former government officials who have so far suffered because of the NATO sponsored propaganda.

The most shocking thing is the double standards Louis Moreno Ocampo has applied in respect to the Libyan case juxtaposed with the Kenyan case.
While there is no people’s government or hope of one in the near future in Libya, Ocampo is contented that the Libyan rulers have capacity to carry out a trial. Kenya on the hand has a working government. In his wisdom or lack of it, Ocampo has remained the main obstacle in referring the Kenyan cases to be heard and determined in Kenya. He has maintained a line of argument that Kenya has no capacity to run its own affairs. Those who didn’t know should now know and see the truth. The west is not interested in justice for any African; what they are interested in is an opportunity to meddle in our affairs in order to have an opportunity to have control over our resources and democratic processes.

Fwamba NC Fwamba Is the Leader of Kenya Young Voters Alliance
+254786779445
fwambanc@gmail.com
fwambancfwamba.wordpress.com
kenyayoungvotersalliance.blogspot.com

Thursday, November 17, 2011

AFRICA! BEWARE OF THE WEST’S DOUBLE STANDARDS


AFRICA! BEWARE OF THE WEST’S DOUBLE STANDARDS
By Fwamba NC Fwamba
Colonel Gaddafi swore to remain and die or win in Libya. He lived by his word, when the western sponsored anarchists raided Tripoli; he went and led the resistance from the frontline; a rare attribute of any leader. Under ordinary circumstances, many people in the same position will flee the country and leave their people to suffer alone .Gaddafi lost three of his sons; Khamis,Arab and Mutassim in the war. The leader as he was fondly referred to by his people chose to die a martyr. Gaddafi warned that the rebel elements were terrorists and al Qaeda operatives. Today an al Qaeda flag flies high on a Benghazi courthouse. The historical leader of Al Qaeda in Libya, Abdel Hakim Belhadj, is now the military governor of "liberated" Tripoli and in charge of organizing the army of the "new Libya". Libya has disintegrated and now ethnic tensions are rife. Death and starvation have taken toll on the populations. Africa is  mourning Gaddafi.

The western media has continued misleading the ordinary citizens of Africa and the third world. A lie repeated many times becomes gospel truth. That is how propaganda works and the western governments are champions of this vice since time immemorial. It will take a while for the citizens of the third world to learn and wholesomely discover that the western axis of evil will never stop to dismantle the developing world so long as Africa remains the richest continent in natural resources and the main source of raw materials for the industrialised nations that claim prefecture and authority over what they define as democracy.
In the midst of this scenario and against the stated background, Africa needs to be curious and ask more questions and seek answers from the west on the malicious invasion of Libya and the eventual assassination of the leader of the Libyan People’s Jamahiriya Republic Col.Muammar Gaddafi. It’s not enough for Africans and the citizens of the developing world to be misled to believe that Gaddafi was killed because he was a dictator. It only takes a foolish individual, innocently ignorant, gullible mind or a bootlicker of the western imperialists to believe such an argument. America’s involvement in any conflict has always been about resources and American interests. It is not the so called democracy that they purport to bring. There is no time in history where America has waged a war abroad with an intention of helping any non-Americans. In any case, America has never been bothered about the deaths they cause during their reckless and unjustified wars.
With the American empire as the most powerful military force on earth, the world peace has become more and more endangered every time America gets involved in any military conflict.
Col Muammar Gaddafi is one of very few Arab leaders that had committed himself to denounce and fight against extremism and terrorism. This had helped Libya which is largely Islamic to remain a peaceful, productive and; politically stable country for a very long time. He denounced jihadists and developed a political ideology that was not necessarily centred on religion. That made many people of different races, ethnic and religious persuasions to be comfortable in Libya .Many foreigners including black Africans worked in Libya to earn their daily bread. Gaddafi developed a people centred economy that ensured that every Libyan earned a decent livelihood. Today Africans like you and I including professionals and citizens of Libya are victims of racist and xenophobic attacks. No western media is highlighting this because its none of their business.
The western media, out of their own hatred and envy of what Col Gaddafi had achieved for his people and what he was trying to do for Africa, embarked on an international media smear campaign of discrediting the leadership of Col Gaddafi. To date, there is no significant justification as to why the western countries decided to invade Libya. There is no explanation as to why the NATO countries decided to turn the entire Libyan infrastructure into rubble. There is no explanation as to why they hunted down and killed the Libyan leader.
The whole NATO operation was intended to destroy Col Gaddafi, his family and Libya. NATO and their Libyan agents in the name of NTC had one main goal, to assassinate Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. It’s ironical that a few days before Col Gaddafi was assassinated, the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Tripoli and called for the killing of Gaddafi. When she saw the images of his brutal killing she sighed in jubilation. As a mockery to justice, she later hypocritically said that investigations were required to establish how Col Gaddafi and his son and national security advisor; Mutassim were killed.
The start of the so called protests in Benghazi in early 2011 already signified what was in the offing. A few hoodlums while chanting and brandishing Kalashnikovs started demonstrating in Benghazi. The so called international community headed by western dictators started alleging that Gaddafi was using too much force ‘against his own people’. They downplayed the fact that that is the same kind of force any government would use against armed demonstrators. This is one question Gaddafi asked Obama in one of his last letters to the American dictator whom he kept on referring to as ‘my son’ considering president Obama’s African origin. Its not only in Libya, in Africa or in the third world that maximum force will be used against any person purporting to demonstrate while armed with guns and bombs. The end was made to justify the means. The world super powers conspired and used the UN Security Council’s resolutions 1970 and 1973 to attack Libya, kill civilians under the guise of protecting them and eventually kill Gaddafi. NATO called off the operations immediately after Gaddafi was captured and killed in Sirte on 20th October 2011.Its no coincidence that all so called liberators are western educated and speak fluent English. They are agents of imperialism and will plunder the Libyan resources to please their western matters.
It happened so fast that the rebels emerged from nowhere, government armouries were raided and people un trained to handle weapons became custodians of the Kalashnikovs, bombs, grenades and machine guns. Child soldiers were recruited and put on the frontline to fight in a war whose origin and objective they knew little about.
Sometime in May the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued warrants of arrest against Col Gaddafi, Saif Al Islam and Abdalla Senusi .Apparently the warrants were issued not because the named persons were most responsible for the deaths in Libya, but because they are the most politically influential persons in Libya. The intention of western governments is to stage manage what they call democracy in the developing nations.
The Libyan scenario shows that the west had intentions of creating confusion as much as possible so as to access all the oil and get reconstruction projects without any controls. Indicting Saif al Islam was strategically meant to ensure that even if Col Gaddafi left power, there was no room for Saif to help lead the country to its original track. The ICC just like NATO has unfortunately turned into another tool of imperialism and promotion of there west’s selfish and immoral interests in Africa. It must be noted that so far the ICC has not named any individual responsible for war crimes on the side of NATO and NTC.Its evident that majority of the deaths of civilians resulted from NATO bombs.
Africa is watching and waiting. The ICC must take action against the Libyan anarchists led Mustapha Jalil and Mohammoud Jibril and hold them directly responsible for the murders, rapes, recruitment of child soldiers, displacements and destruction of property. The ICC too should indict president Obama, President Sarkozy, Prime Minister David Cameron and Silvio Berlusconi for the crimes against humanity committed in Libya. The same too should be specifically charged for the assassination of Col.Muammar Gaddafi. We expect justice to be done across the board. It should be justice for everybody or justice for nobody.
Citizens of the developing world should also ask themselves about the double standards being applied by the imperialist powers.
Their main reason of attacking Gaddafi followed a claim that he had stayed for long. The Queen of England has stayed in power for 60 years .No African has ever asked why the queen continues to be the head of the commonwealth yet no election has been held to elect the queen. Africans respect other people’s cultures and that is why no African leader has ever ridiculed or attacked Britain for being ruled by one family for all that long without raising a question.
The western governments have been slow and reluctant to take the same action on Syria, Bahrain or Yemen. It’s in doubt whether they would have supported a military action against their disgraced ally and former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak.
The western media has given a blackout to atrocities being committed in Bahrain. The King of Bahrain Hammad Ibn Isa Al Khalifa   is under siege but it appears like the western powers through their puppet Saudi Arabia King Abdullah are protecting the Bahrain king due to selfish interests. It’s unfortunate that the third world and the developing nations’ citizens haven’t grasped interest in reading and learning.
This analysis shows that there was some evil covert intention of attacking Libya and killing Colonel Gaddafi. The ‘dictator ‘theory is misleading and we want our people to know the truth. This is the challenge, read more stuff, find out more information independently and make sound decisions. With this Africa will prosper. Read and know the truth. We refuse to be misled.

Fwamba NC Fwamba is the leader of Kenya Young Voters Alliance

Monday, November 14, 2011

SPEAKING MY MIND

SPEAKING MY MIND
During the 2007 campaigns, I accompanied Martin Wanyonyi to the then New Ford Kenya offices in Woodley estate where he introduced me to Captain Charles Masinde; the founder and Secretary General of the party. It was such an opportune moment for me because I was involved in the presidential youth campaign but had no footing in any political party. Captain Masinde requested me to represent the youth in the Kibaki presidential campaign; a campaign in which I was already one of the 17 man team. I quickly accepted the offer and had a letter of introduction signed by captain Masinde.The letter included my name, Patrick Kokonya,Dr.Ken  Orengo,George Nyongesa and Martin Nkari as the bona fide youth representing New Ford Kenya in the national campaigns of president Mwai Kibaki. I had given the names to captain Masinde because the listed people are the ones I had worked together with as we joined the presidential campaign using our own means.
After the elections I continued acting as the youth leader of the party. Many people expected political rewards through their parties or directly through the recognition of having participated in the president’s youth campaign. It must be noted that out of the 17 youth leaders who campaigned for the president, only one occupies a position acquired because of the role played. The rest of us were given ‘half loaf theory’ kind of excuses and we decided to content with what we do in our own lives. I continued with my own life doing and improving on what I always do; political consultancy, design, research and other income generating activities. God has been kind to me and I think I have managed to make progress in my own small way. All this time, I have however remained committed to New Ford Kenya and tried as much as I can make the party relevant in anywhere I have foothold.
Captain Charles Masinde had reached out to a number of his friends too to join the party. One among them was one Col.Muema whom he managed to employ as the party’s Executive Director.

Sometime in late 2008, captain Masinde travelled out of the country. The political parties act of 2007 required parties to register under the newly established structures where the parties were to be registered under the registrar of political parties as opposed to the previous arrangement where the parties were registered at the registrar of societies.
I received a call from Hon Soita Shitanda who told me that there is something we needed to work on as a party. He asked me to meet him together with my colleagues to do the party work as we continued waiting for space to open up in government for us. I immediately contacted Ken Orengo and Martin Nkari. The following morning, we met the minister. In the meeting we were joined by Dr.Boni Khalwale,Kirwa Tirop,Swaleh Abdile and Benjamin Muema.The main agenda of the meeting was to carry out recruitment of the party members so that we comply with the then  newly established political parties act.
Nkari,Orengo,Muema and myself used Dr.Boni Khalwale’s office at continental house to work out modalities of registration. Just like many other parties, no practical recruitment was done. We met every morning to as late as 10 pm every day to work out lists for party memberships (a story of its own).
We prepared party lists for all the 210 constituencies. At that time, a case had been instituted at an Eldoret court stopping Hon.Soita Shitanda(Party Leader),Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi(Chairman),Captain Charles Masinde (Secretary General), and Dr.Boni Khalwale(Organizing Secretary) from holding elections or acting on behalf of new Ford Kenya until certain matters were sorted out. For that reason, the said officials were to stay out of party leadership for the sake of the registration process, so that they could reclaim their positions once the court case was over.
During the development of this situation, Captain Masinde was still out of the country and I was made to believe that he had been informed about his temporary removal from his position of the Secretary General for the reason aforementioned.
In the constitution the position of party chairman was abolished.
Councillor Edward Indai was brought in on behalf of Hon.Soita Shitanda to become the   registered Party Leader.Prof.Ruth Oniang’o and Tirop Kirwa became Deputy party leaders.Col.Muema who had initially been employed by captain Masinde as the party’s executive director became the secretary general claiming that he was standing in for his friend.Dr.Kituyi never sent anyone to stand in for him or on his behalf. William Ntoina was made Organizing secretary. Other names were proposed by Hon Shitanda,Dr.Khalwale ,Muema and myself.I became the Deputy Director of elections ,Orengo became deputy treasurer while Martin Nkari became the legal and constitutional affairs secretary. Orengo and I were asked to content with deputising positions because the minister intended to get us employment opportunities. This was towards Christmas time of 2008 and Hon Shitanda was sick at the time. We kept on visiting him at the Nairobi hospital to brief him on the progress of the registration. He kept on encouraging me that he intended to allow us run the party and grow politically. He has always had good intentions. In this arrangement,Muema secretly sneaked in his wife as one of the 28 NEC members. We were in a hurry and we never noticed or bothered to know if that was the case. Dr.Khalwale and Hon.Shitanda remained party Nec Members by virtue of being the only party sponsored members of parliament. They are NEC members because of the provision of the party’s constitution.

The case against Masinde,Khalwale,Kituyi and Shitanda was won by the party. After that I kept on requesting the minister to restructure the party to its original form so as to make it more effective.
The party has had so many issues but we have chosen to remain mum so as to maintain the dignity of the party. All this time, I have been patient enough to pursue diplomatic means to internally deal with the party affairs.
In 2009, the party started receiving money from the political parties’ fund. We never held and we have never held any party meeting whether NEC or otherwise to approve any expenditure or any activity. The Secretary General and one of the deputy party leaders secretly made themselves signatories to the account and thus recipients of the political parties’ fund. NEW FORD KENYA HAS NEVER HELD EVEN A SINGLE NEC MEETING SINCE 2008.
After trying to sort out the matter diplomatically for a very long time, we resorted to address it directly through the authorities. Early this year; we approached the registrar of political parties to furnish us with party records. We were shocked to find that the party has been receiving funds, yet there is no sign of any party based discussion or approvals on how the monies are spent. While at the registrar’s office, I received a call from Hon.Shitanda who asked me to see him over the matter the following day. I complied. I met the minister and informed him about misshapenness in the party including the secretary general allocating himself a salary as the executive director of the party. It sounded like the minister wasn’t aware of most of the issues I was raising with him. He promised to intervene. After some time, no progress was seen. The minister got too busy with the Ikolomani by elections and thus didn’t have much time. We decided to address the matter to Kenya Anti Corruption Commission .The KACC referred us back to the registrar of political parties. The reports indicated that the party was paying rent. The reality is that the Woodley office had been closed for over a year. In a nutshell, the party had no official address although according to the registrar, the records indicated that the New Ford Kenya headquarters were situated at Woodley,Kikombe House.The Kikombe House rent was paid from contributions of Captain Masinde,Hon Shitanda and Hon Khalwale, even when the party had started getting funding from the political parties fund. Apparently Hon.Shitanda had been put in the dark about most of the party finances and opportunities.
The registrar asked us to formally ask her office about our party headquarters. We thought of presenting the case to the tribunal but considered the consequences and therefore chose to trust the registrar of political parties to handle the matter. A few days after the Ikolomani by elections I raised the same matter with Boni.Boni didn’t believe that the party didn’t have offices. This is something I tried to avoid telling the new team that joined the party. I didn’t want Eugene’s team to be discouraged, thus I kept this between myself,Soita,Khalwale,Kirwa,Ken Orengo and Martin Nkari.Boni insisted to me that we have a fully furnished office. This was based on the information given to him by Hon Shitanda.When he asked Shitanda about the office, the minister told him that Muema had told him that there was an office. Apparently, Hon Shitanda had never seen the offices himself. He had just been told. When more questions were asked, it emerged that the said office is located in Ngara on a fourth floor of some building. It is evident that someone had rushed to put up an office in Ngara after I raised the matter with the registrar.
I continued to pursue the matter with the registrar but she seemed not serious in dealing with the matter. It was so evident that so many rules had been flouted. The final returns of the financial report from the party can not be said to credible when the party never approved expenditure in the first place. We raised the matter with the bank with a letter from the party treasurer Swaleh Abdille attached. We kept these matters private because we wanted to safeguard the integrity of the party never wished an individual’s mistakes to tarnish the name of the party. We requested for the funding of the party to be put on hold until the matters are sorted out or at least until the party executive is convened to deal with the matters. The registrar agreed but seemingly, no action was taken to ensure this is done even after promising to convene the New Ford Kenya NEC herself in her office. She never acted for the reasons best known to her.
Trying to matters in order I decided to share this predicament with the new entrants to the party. I shared with my friends Kizito Temba,Jack Wamboka,Yvonne Khamati in a confidential way.It was important because they were part of the main team that had decamped from Ford Kenya and I also considered my social and political background I have with them. I never gave a clear answer to anyone about the party headquarters or party affairs because I never wanted to expose the weaknesses of the party propagated by an individual.
I remember being asked by Hon Eugene Wamalwa and Hon. Akaranga about the party offices. I chose to dodge the question.
The secretary general falsely and deliberately interpreted that I had a personal difference with him, which is not the case. For that kind of assumption, the minister called to reconcile us after the CMD elections that saw Kirwa disagree with the secretary general over the same kind of issues. The ‘reconciliation’ was meaningless because the secretary general resolved to avoid passing any information that was meant for the party to myself and other leaders who are against his way of doing things. In the recent meeting, which was supposedly meant to review the party constitution, he decided to keep in the dark and hold the meeting without my knowledge. He has done this for some time since Eugene and the group joined NFK.On the 9th, I got wind that there was an NFK ‘NEC’ meeting which I wasn’t invited. I went there with about 25 of my friends. I was assaulted by hired goons under the instructions of Muema.On the same day, a direct threat was made to my life and I have reported to the police. The decisions I made and the decisions we are making on this matter and the decisions we are going to make are informed by this background. Being assaulted on that day was a culmination of events and not a one day issue. I have chosen to take an informative approach than a radical approach. I will do so whenever there will be need. This is just a summary of the events.
I am still contemplating my next action and I ask for your prayers to help me make the right decision. I am still consulting and listening to my friends.You are some of the friends. Let me hear from you.

Fwamba NC Fwamba

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