SERO DEPASCO AND RABET MATAARI ON KALONZO

Rabet Maatari Your Kalonzo Musyoka analysis is very correct. For somebody who has been in Siasa for so long, he should be keenly aware of the fact that winning the presidency is not about being a back stabber and using the same old antics (like promising Kenyans free secondary school education, knowing that this was the one thing that would positively touch virtually every single Kenyan voter, especially because so many have failed to go to secondary school for lack of fees). Neither is it about cutting a new image (joining a street demonstration for the first time ever in his political career. We all know that he Kalonzo has always behaved sheepishly and nothing to Stand for. His Idea and conclusion to Defect for Raila Led ODM K and joing LPK was the counter the thought that he has never led any political or civic Party during his entire 20 plus years in active politics, he thought by Being a leader of LPK qwells this Question. Electing a president is the people’s prerogative and a leader must merit the top seat. Is Kalonzo qualified for president? HELL NO This is not for me to judge, but going by the people’s wishes, it is clear the man stands NO chance to beat president Raila or Kibaki if he stands alone as the opposition candidate. Real change can only come when the pain of having something in our lives not working exceeds the pain of making a change, or when the rewards of change exceeds the rewards of resistance. We have come a long way to realize change do not require resolutions we cannot keep or the guilt that follows our failure, but the intense awareness that accompanies self-confrontation. We fear self-confrontation, often choosing self-righteousness to shield us from the one thing that can move us forward; - self confrontation. Bwana Kalonzo Self-righteousness does not bring change, self-confrontation does!! Kenyans do not need the likes of Kalonzo. We need a president who can confront major issues without fear. A decisive decision-maker. We need new ideas, not old Kanu re-cycled tired strategy, which is the only thing we can expect from Musyoka who as we all know is still remains very close to former president Daniel arap Moi, the man who invented him from nowhere, Bwana moi has refused to let go of politics for obvious reasons. My honest conclusion? In a Kalonzo presidency we can only expect more of the same. Where president Kibaki has been a fence-seater, President Kalonzo would be even more so.Then somewhere along the way his true colors would have to emerge even more, his defection from ODM and his steal the show anitics are only splinters of his true self. His arrogance and deamenour are all but self telling. SERO DEPASCO RESPONSE TO MATAARI Rabet Maatari wrote: Over the past few months ODM-Kenya Presidential candidate Kalonzo Musyoka has exposed his soft underbelly in political strategy this albeit declaring that he is a "strategist" and "Revolutionary" . Time and again his serious lack of political acumen has been exhibited by his monstrous blunders made in an effort to "steal the show" from his main rival in the Orange Democratic Movement Raila Odinga. Having realized earlier on that the only person that stood between him and the opposition outfit's leadership mantle was Raila, Kalonzo by design and not coincidence chose to portray his stand on issues as completely opposite of his rival's. A brief trip down memory lane will point to instances where Kalonzo has conspired to out manoeuver and "steal the show" from "Agwambo" as Raila's supporters adoringly refer to him, but come out bruised and weaker. From their heydays in LDP, Kalonzo always insisted on taking positions on issues that would project him in the public domain as the alternate center of power in LDP. There was tussle of whether the flag bearer of LDP was to be picked by consensus, delegates or direct voting by members of the party. While Raila favored the delegates method, Kalonzo chose direct voting by members after learning of Tinga's preference and knowing all too well that that his stand would look more democratic. This was done despite the reality being that a direct vote in the nominations would cost a colossal amount of money which LDP did not have. Besides this there was all the issue of identifying the bona fide members of LDP. On moving to ODM, Kalonzo again deliberately opted for a stand of always taking a different view to that of Raila. When the issue of the mode of choosing the ODM Presidential Candidate came up in the Navaisha plenary Kalonzo shifted from his direct vote preference to delegates system but here again he took a diametrically opposite position from Raila. While Raila was for delegates chosen from the constituency level, Kalonzo insisted on having delegates from the sub-location level. When this become a cropper he then insisted that the delegates would only be chosen from the constituency level if their number was increased from Raila's suggested 1000 to 2000. All the while Kalonzo was making these demands, he was in Nairobi to keep an appointment of a TV interview while all party members including all Presidential Candidates were busy holding deliberations in the Navaisha plenary. Ostensibly Kalonzo was issuing his demands via his mobile phone to his group of supporters at the meeting. Then there was the London trip debacle. All ODM-Kenya Presidential candidates except Raila and Joseph Nyaga failed to make the trip which had been heralded as a "bonding session". Four candidates, Uhuru Kenyatta, Julia Ojiambo, Nazlin Umar and Kalonzo skipped the excursion in solidarity with William Ruto another candidate who reports said had been denied entry into the UK owing corruption cases against him in the Kenyan courts. Two others, Musalia Mudavadi and Najib Balala had originally planned not to travel. On this occasion Kalonzo triumphantly declared he had decided not to travel as a show of support for his "brother" Ruto. His second reason for opting out of the trip was because his intelligence network had reliably informed him that the trip was to be used to clandestinely endorse Raila as the ODM-Kenya flag bearer in this year's election. Clearly his explanation was an attempt to paint Raila as the lone ranger in the movement. When the Lang'ata MP was preparing to launch his vision in May, Kalonzo sensing the euphoria Raila's event was creating rushed to a Nairobi hotel and unveiled his "tax proposals" to the nation a day before Raila's gala event. Again the motive here was to steal the thunder from Raila who by this time had eclipsed Kalonzo in terms of popularity in opinion polls. Kalonzo then ridiculously took a swipe at media houses accusing them of giving undue and unwarranted coverage to Raila. When Uhuru, Ruto, Ojiambo and Nazlin all declared that they would not be submitting their presidential nomination papers back to the Anyang' Nyong'o led ODM-K secretariat but to a properly constituted ODM-K elections board Kalonzo swiftly joined the their bandwagon. He even displayed a copy of a million shillings cheque for the nomination fee while picking up his nomination papers from the secretariat and gleefully declared that money was not the issue. He then refused to hand the cheque to Nyong'o. This stunt was primarily not only geared at seeking cheap publicity, but also taking a swipe at Nyong'o who reportedly is a Raila supporter. He was also intent on quashing the perception that his campaign lacks financial support as opposed to Raila's. Hot on the heels came the fiasco surrounding the leaked report by the Fred Gumo led ODM-K council of elders which had controversially favored the candidacies of Musalia or Kalonzo. This led to a flurry of meetings of interest groupings within ODM-K which culminated in Rift Valley MP's and Ruto asking Raila to step down in favor of either Musalia or Kalonzo. Kalonzo then seized the opportunity to declare that he and Ruto were like minded and speaking as one when it came to matters pertaining to finding an agreeable ODM-K flag bearer. He quickly then shifted his goal posts declaring that consensus was indeed the best method of choosing the ODM-K presidential candidate and that the delegates or his earlier preferred direct vote where susceptible to infiltration by Government agents and sympathizers. His current stand was of course informed on the misguided perception that Raila ambitions had been "dented" by the leaked report and he Kalonzo was clearly the man of the moment. It is common knowledge of how Raila aptly handled the leaked report and took his quest directly to the people to the chargin of Kalonzo. On the eve of the controversial Mombasa ODM-K rally, Kalonzo was again at his best with his "steal the show" antics. He secured an interview with a local daily in which he poked fun at Raila's second liberation credential's. He then famously claimed that his major contribution to Kenya's democratization process was coining the phrase the "Rainbow coalition" and that the first meeting of the Rainbow coalition was held in his room whatever that meant. One wonders whether this interview was the catalyst that led to him being booed and heckled at the Mombasa rally. Clearly losing major ground to his rival Raila as the Steadman and Infotrak opinion polls suggested, Kalonzo unrelenting and seeking to recover pulled a move he seemingly believed to be deft but which turned out to be daft. After short consultations with Julia Ojiambo's Labour Party of Kenya he announced his defection to LPK from LDP two parties that were members of ODM-K. It is instructive to note that his defection was motivated by his desire to get out under the suffocating influence of Raila in LDP. He then proceeded to instruct the registered officials of ODM-K led by his supporter Daniel Maanzo who were holding the party in trust to take over the operations of the party from the recognized interim officials led by Henry Kosgei. But Raila and co successfully managed to cast his act as a defection from ODM-K arguing that LPK had contravened the ODM-K constitution by advertising in the newspapers for parliamentary and civic aspirants willing to stand for elections on it's party ticket. Kalonzo's "masterstroke" act evidently ended up not having the desired domino effect of gaining him more supporters but instead only a handful of members from his ethnic group jumped ship with him. And last week when the then Kosgei led faction of ODM-K called a NEC meeting in Nairobi, Kalonzo initially reacted by saying the Maanzo faction would instead be holding the legitimate NEC meeting in Machakos before being reported as saying that he would indeed be attending the NEC meeting in Nairobi. But to political pundits surprise, Kalonzo called a press conference on the morning of the NEC meeting in which he wasted no time in castigating the Kosgei led faction and declaring the soon to be held NEC and it's resolutions null and void. He then retreated to his Machakos ethnic backyard for a rally with his supporters who all again consisted of members of his ethnic group. The Nairobi NEC meeting of course resulted in Raila and his group acquiring the first registered ODM party from Lawyer Mugambi Imanyara. In shock and left with an empty shell in the form of ODM-K, all Kalonzo could manage was to call Raila a coward and traitor. And now while Raila and his group have moved on, Kalonzo is still up to his "steal the show antics" and has reportedly declared that his ODM-K will hold it's Presidential nomination a day before ODM holds it's nomination on September 1st. This according to him will prevent ODM from stealing ODM-K delegates. Talk of stealing. One can't stop but think why delegates of Kalonzo's ODM-K would want to be associated with ODM if they are truly ODM-K delegates. Furthermore, shouldn't it be as clear as day and night the distinction between the two parties with one (ODM) presenting itself as an individual membership party and the other (ODM-K) being a coalition of parties? From this chronicle, it is evident that Kalonzo is devoid of any originality as far as political agenda setting and strategy is concerned and should stop passing himself as a Political Strategist Instead his energies should be spent on building team skills and political alliances with grassroots leaders countrywide. This he should start by venturing out of his Kamba backyard and not retreating to it when caught between a rock and a hard place. He should also invest in a different PR team as his current team is doing great injustice to him with their contribution to his Presidential campaign. By Rabet Maatari.

RAILA EJECTION AND THE LESSON TO KENYAN VOTERS

The ejection of ODM presidential hopeful Raila Odinga and his entourage from a hotel owned by a relative of president Kibaki was a primitive act that should not only be condemned but has no place in the modern civilization. It must be noted that whatever the reason was such an action reflected on how polarized our country is along tribal lines. we can remember Raila himself proved that he was not a tribalism when he declared ‘Kibaki tussah’ in 2002.But now its coming to a point where some people in this country believe that the seat of the president is their preserve and whoever else seeks it is an enemy who doesn’t deserve any hospitality even if he is paying for it. It is shame if at all Raila’s ejection was as a result of a tall order from a senior family member of Hon. Mwai Kibaki as its being speculated. Such primitive characters have not had an opportunity to learn consequences of such primitive actions. Many will remember, the Nazi holocaust, racial hatred, the infamous Rwanda genocide which resulted from hatred between Tutsis and Hutus and the scenario where celebrated author and lecturer Prof.Ngugi wa Thiong’o was ejected from an hotel in California purportedly meant for whites only .Those ignorant of history and ignorant of global political trends do not know repercussions of such actions. Its time for Kenyans as elections approach to teach such people a lesson through the ballot. It doesn’t matter whether such people win or not but a statement should be made by us denying them our votes and rethinking on any other alternative. If president Kibaki supporters and relatives can show such manners to his opponents, then they stand warned that even their candidate since they have decided to own him should not campaign outside Nyeri or Central province in that matter. Such actions easily convince me that Kenyans need to wake up (Amkeni Wakenya). I have been watching so many things going on in the Kibaki camp for the last few months, and this proves how tribalistic some of these people are. It will be as you have witnessed in the last five years that when they say they have a government of national unity, only a few political leaders from other communities benefit while other great opportunities such as high profile appointments and government tenders go to one specific community. It is a sad affair. Our earlier intentions to support Kibaki should be re considered basing on the fact that many things have happened since. Its time for political realignment and we must only go where we are respected and recognized. Not where we are going to rubberstamp other peoples fortunes. We have less than 100 days to election and that means we need to make a decision that makes sense to us and our interests, especially the young people both in western province and other parts of the country. If Kibaki team will be such a group, well if not we will certainly decide. We should not be as cheap like our leaders of national stature who are benefiting at our expense and promising Kibaki that they will mobilize us to vote for him. It is a known fact that our political leaders in western were well contented when Kibaki cancelled debts for coffee farmers and tea farmers but when he came to western province he dilly dallied about the plight of the sugar cane and maize farmers. Then the leaders celebrated. Its corruption, tribalism and compromise of a few minority to manipulate the poor uninformed majority. It must also be noted that when Kibaki went to western province to create districts and start foundations for markets, some lobby group of made up of people from his province came and launched some outfit in Kakamega and declared that all western province is for Kibaki.they hereby stand warned that should they risk to go back to kakamega, whoever they should blame is only themselves. That is the trend they have created including appointing a person of central province to be a coordinator for western province. We are certainly against this kind of behavior and we promise to use any necessary force to deal with them should they ever attempt to continue with these actions. They have taken us for granted because our political leaders like Kombo and Kituyi and moody have decided to auction luhyas on the stake. How could the president come to western province, leave without addressing the sugar cane issue and these guys are still singing that the Kibaki has a development record? Does it make sense if he gives everything to central province and we celebrate by getting the left over, just like what the field Negro (slaves) used to eat after being beaten from morning to night. Am informed that a Mr.Njoroge is the coordinator for western for a Kibaki campaign group. As I write this am hereby informing all you guys who support Kibaki and belong to this yahoo group and you come from western to refuse that kind of arrangement. All our networks in western province should share this information. Let us not rubberstamp the benefits the ministers have gained at our expense. We wanted to learn them and we actually discovered what they are. We will call you for a meeting soon to deliberate on this. We will only support whoever will show value to us and also have space for us. This decision comes after a series of deliberations and evidence that the people campaigning for Kibaki are nothing but a bunch of self centered bunch of tribalists.we have a vision to save the future of our people and not through Mwai Kibaki…we will tell you who. Forward this message to other contacts both in Kenya and outside. We will call a meeting soon over this…our initial support of Kibaki was important because without which we wouldn’t have known some of the evils these people commit. It will be time to spill the beans. While Kituyi, Kombo, and Awori, Kirwa trade with Kibaki they get compromised and pretend to be representing us. Young people wake up and save our country from scavengers, both old and others living amongst us, don’t be used as rubberstamps .Let them campaign in their villages since they think they can go far on their own. Because we are trying to save Kenya as they struggle to rape her. FWAMBA NC FWAMBA

BUNGE PUBLIC LECTURE!

BUNGE PUBLIC LECTURE! BUNGE PUBLIC LECTURE! BUNGE PUBLIC LECTURE! TOPIC: POLITICS, POLITICAL PROCESSES AND GENERAL ELECTIONS: WHAT MUST COMMON MAN KNOW? (TRANSLATION: SIASA, HARAKATI ZA SIASA NA UCHAGUZI MKUU: NINI CHA LAZIMA MWANANCHI WA KAWAIDA KUJUA?) DELIVERED BY: HON WANYIRI KIHORO Hon Wanyiri Kihoro is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya, a Land Economist and the Secretary of FPAK. He was the MP for Nyeri Town in 1997-2002. He was educated at the University of Nairobi , University of London , London School of Economics and the University of Cambridge . He has written widely on land, law, freedom and nationalism in Kenya . DATE: FRIDAY, 24TH AUGUST 2007 TIME: 4-6PM VENUE: BUNGE LA MWANANCHI, JEVANJEE GARDENS CONTACTS: GEORGE NYONGESA, +254 720 451 235 FWAMBA NC FWAMBA, +254 721 779 445 ORGANIZED BY: BUNGE LA MWANANCHI, AMKENI KENYA INITIATIVE, KENYA YOUNG VOTERS ALLIANCE, NAIROBI & KENYATTA UNIVERSITY STUDENT ASSOCIATIONS, AND KENYA POLYTECHNIC “…BE INFORMED, BE MOTIVATED AND VOTE WISELY….”

ANDRONICUS,MBARA,KARUGA,FWAMBA,KILONZO,GEORGE AT THE THIRD NATIONAL YOUTH CONVENTION AT KICC 12TH AUGUST 2007

''ITS INEVITABLE-THE CHICKEN WILL ALWAYS COME HOME TO ROOST''

INDEPENDENT MEDIA

What’s going on in Nairobi ? NO VOX 07 Aug 2007 13:33 GMT Repeated offenses against constitutionnal rights and police’s violence against civil society 4 months before the general elections in december 2007. Two demonstrations were planned in Nairobi on tuesday 31 of july and Thursday 2 of august 2007. Civil society was protesting against a new bill voted by the Parliament under which MPs would receive 12.5 percent of their annual earnings, backdated to January 2003. According to local newspapers « having voted themselves a four-fold salary rise as the first order of business in the new parliament in 2003, the legislators are already some of the world’s best-paid. A typical Kenyan legislator already earns about $12,000 a month. » when « more than 60% of the population lives on less than $1 a day ». Protest was also targetting the governmental project to increase the number of constituencies just before the general elections (more on [Peoples's Parliament website->www.peoples-parliament.org]) On Tuesday, a peaceful demo took place in front of the Parliament in Nairobi. Nevertheless the police repressed with violence and 5 leaders were arrested, most of them well established NGOs leaders (Walimu Mati Cyprian Nyamwamu, Anne Njogu, Okoiti Omtatah). Although the arrest took place in front of the parliament, MPs didn’t care about this violation of constitutionnal rights. 4 of them were put in a crazy driven police car which had an accident with a Matatu (collective cab). They where then transported to the hopistal, which was put into heavy police guard. The next morning, they were driven to the central police station. Their lawyer was also arrested. Concerning the fifth of them, Mrs Ann Njogu – CEO of a Soros supported NGO – she had been in the central police station since Monday evening. In the middle of tuesday night the Ministry of Health herself, Mrs Charity Ngilu, drove with her official car to the police station in order to bring Mrs Njogu to the hospital because she had been enduring police violence. She was herself hurt by male policemen before she could take Mrs Njogu in her car and bring her to the same hospital, where her fellows were spending the night under police guard. Police arrested then Mrs Njogu’s husband. And on Tuesday morning, some MPs asked for the Ministry of Health arrestation. She was summoned in the afternoon, where she arrived and had the support of protesters coming back from the wensday demo which had been attacked with tear gases. The police refused her first the assistance of her lawyer. She the was then retained all the night. And 10, who were peacefully demonstrating their support to the ministry in front of Criminal Investigation Department were also arrested (Kepta Ombati, Wangui Mbatia, Abel Okundi, Fwamba NC Fwamba, Hassan Indusa, Eddie Mwangu, Keli Musyoka, Robert Ondari, Patrick Kamotho and Phillo Ikonya). They were charged the following day with « unlawful assembly and strorming a police station », took a plead of not guilty and were released on bail (20 000 KES about 220 EUR.) More or less at the same time the 5 arrested on monday were released in court. The judge stated the violation of their constitutionnal rights (they hadn’t been brought in court in the legal time of 24h.) Policemen officers who had been ordered to attend the interterpartes made no appearance in court. Pt Kibaki’s regime has been playing a very dangerous game for months with systematic repression of civil society and is more and more compared to the former Moi regime. Except for the unacceptable behavior of MPs, the most frightening is that the police, known for corruption and violence, seems to be encouraged to offense constitutionnal rights and target opposants. 2 demonstrations are planned on wensday 8 and Thursday 9 august. The No-Vox network launches an appeal to vigilance and solidarity with Kenyan civil society. homepage:: http://www.novox.ras.eu.org

REACTIONS FOLLOWING THE ARRESTS

Wase Fwamba orio for the struggle. Can we turn around and see this whole problem as a societal one.I dont think its the politicians carrying the blame alone. The electorate demand alot from these guys. Poeple, under the influence of lack of information and poverty think MPs are there to give hand outs. In public policy, it is said that every politician seeks to maximise votes, and so the MPs have no choice other than to give kitu kidogo to every person who crosses their path, hii kitu kidogo pulls to kitu kikubwa. Which comes to the people, they need to be informed. Told about the roles of politicians. They need to be economically empowered. The civil society, as an agent of development alongside markets and the state, has a role to educate and empower the citizens. Lobbying the MPs is no solution, rather the solution even starts with the masses. My appeal is that members of the civil society and especially in Kenya should move away from the steets of Nairobi and come down to the darker parts of Kenya, where there are no cameras, educate the people and then move on with the current debates. Fwamba, with due respect, there is also pretence among some members of the civil society in Kenya. Where did the civil society disappear to immediately NARC came to power. Where are the likes of Kivuta, Musyimi et al? For one, people are using the civil society to ascend to political ladders, once they are there, they renege what they were preaching while at the periphery. I rather Kenyans be wary of such characters. Fwamba, I count on you to change this mentality. I am happy that you are there at the national level and I know you can change this perception. The question of MPs at hand should be understood as the societal problem, part of our socialisation as regards the role of politicians, poverty and economic disempowerment on the part of the electorate, which in turn serves to legitimise political and economic hegemony of those at the center. Is there any way out we can address the issue with the people. Hiyo ni siasa yangu ya pesa nane tu. okhwa Wamalwa 229 Great Portland Street, W1W 5PN London.+44 7932919126 geoffrey omedo wrote: Fwamba, thanks for walking the talk. Im sure this clearly defines the moral fibre guiding your life and person and reaffirms your commitment for true and complete social justice for the poor majority in Kenya today. This clearly shows that you have inherent respect for the sovereignty of power by the masses, and not by a few political elites. This is a lesson to us all, to regard the political class with the disdain they deserve. They are not our LORDS, but rather our SERVANTS hence the power lays in our hands. To HIRE, FIRE, REWARD, PUNISH and even RECOGNIZE. Once we lose our sovereign power, then woe unto us. Because the political class thrives on our nonchalance, our complacency and our weakness to assume full rights of our inherent powers. We should hold these powers dearly, and use them for the benefit of society. Hence by a show of bravado and style, our civil society leaders Fwamba included clearly averted the legalization of official thuggery by our servants, on a five year tour of duty in Parliament. I insist that the political class serves us, we employ them hence we hold the sovereign power to even consider their renumeration, not the current scenario, where they can sneak in Parliament ammendments meant to serve their interests. In this regard, its time we fired these bunch of legislators, especially the ones who even supported this issue. Jeff O. Makeke ----- Original Message ---- From: edgar selebwa To: banduBEINGO INGO Sent: Monday, August 6, 2007 6:48:37 AM Subject: [omulembe] Welcome back Fwamba. Nice to hear you are a free man. Atleast this is a lesson that all of us we have learnt from you and et al. This what should be a driving force for all of us to take our position and demand for what is rightful ours. Fwamba congrats, this was an act of selflessnes and thanks George for informing us. On the same line I just support what a friend inquired sometime last week if you may write a publication on what you had and including this latest developments its worth it.

REACTIONS FOLLOWING THE ARRESTS

Wase Fwamba orio for the struggle. Can we turn around and see this whole problem as a societal one.I dont think its the politicians carrying the blame alone. The electorate demand alot from these guys. Poeple, under the influence of lack of information and poverty think MPs are there to give hand outs. In public policy, it is said that every politician seeks to maximise votes, and so the MPs have no choice other than to give kitu kidogo to every person who crosses their path, hii kitu kidogo pulls to kitu kikubwa. Which comes to the people, they need to be informed. Told about the roles of politicians. They need to be economically empowered. The civil society, as an agent of development alongside markets and the state, has a role to educate and empower the citizens. Lobbying the MPs is no solution, rather the solution even starts with the masses. My appeal is that members of the civil society and especially in Kenya should move away from the steets of Nairobi and come down to the darker parts of Kenya, where there are no cameras, educate the people and then move on with the current debates. Fwamba, with due respect, there is also pretence among some members of the civil society in Kenya. Where did the civil society disappear to immediately NARC came to power. Where are the likes of Kivuta, Musyimi et al? For one, people are using the civil society to ascend to political ladders, once they are there, they renege what they were preaching while at the periphery. I rather Kenyans be wary of such characters. Fwamba, I count on you to change this mentality. I am happy that you are there at the national level and I know you can change this perception. The question of MPs at hand should be understood as the societal problem, part of our socialisation as regards the role of politicians, poverty and economic disempowerment on the part of the electorate, which in turn serves to legitimise political and economic hegemony of those at the center. Is there any way out we can address the issue with the people. Hiyo ni siasa yangu ya pesa nane tu. okhwa Wamalwa 229 Great Portland Street, W1W 5PN London.+44 7932919126 geoffrey omedo WROTE: Fwamba, thanks for walking the talk. Im sure this clearly defines the moral fibre guiding your life and person and reaffirms your commitment for true and complete social justice for the poor majority in Kenya today. This clearly shows that you have inherent respect for the sovereignty of power by the masses, and not by a few political elites. This is a lesson to us all, to regard the political class with the disdain they deserve. They are not our LORDS, but rather our SERVANTS hence the power lays in our hands. To HIRE, FIRE, REWARD, PUNISH and even RECOGNIZE. Once we lose our sovereign power, then woe unto us. Because the political class thrives on our nonchalance, our complacency and our weakness to assume full rights of our inherent powers. We should hold these powers dearly, and use them for the benefit of society. Hence by a show of bravado and style, our civil society leaders Fwamba included clearly averted the legalization of official thuggery by our servants, on a five year tour of duty in Parliament. I insist that the political class serves us, we employ them hence we hold the sovereign power to even consider their renumeration, not the current scenario, where they can sneak in Parliament ammendments meant to serve their interests. In this regard, its time we fired these bunch of legislators, especially the ones who even supported this issue. Jeff O. Makeke EDGAR SELEBWQ WROTE..... ----- Original Message ---- From: edgar selebwa To: banduBEINGO INGO Sent: Monday, August 6, 2007 6:48:37 AM Subject: [omulembe] Welcome back Fwamba. Nice to hear you are a free man. Atleast this is a lesson that all of us we have learnt from you and et al. This what should be a driving force for all of us to take our position and demand for what is rightful ours. Fwamba congrats, this was an act of selflessnes and thanks George for informing us. On the same line I just support what a friend inquired sometime last week if you may write a publication on what you had and including this latest developments its worth it.

thanks for your solidarity comrades.

we are now out and we must continue with the struggle.

COMRADES,THANKS FOR YOUR SOLIDARITY....ALUTA CONTINUA

I am a free man now,thanks to the civil society comrades and other kenyan public who joined us in solidarity.that is why i have been able to update this blogspot.its good that through comrade George Nyongesa most of you were able to learn of our arrests.the struggle is however not over.the ultimate result is to ensure that continuous protests achieve the right result-that the corrupt members of parliament dont approve their theft of 1.4 billion kenya shillings from the kenyans.later we must vote them out.the ninth parliament is no different from soddoma and gommorah.Hon.Ngilu,Hon Muite are like the servant of God Lot(genesis chapter 18).Sodom AND Gommorah must get its retribution come the general elections through your voters card.We believe and still believe that Mwalimu Mati,Cyprian Nyamamu,Okoiti omtata,Ann Njogu,Ouma Odera who were arrested earlier were right on their cause of fighting for the rights of the kenyan proleteriat.that is why even the muthaiga 10 stood in solidarity with hon Charity Ngilu since she had shown solidarity with us earlier.on behalf of my fellow friends whom we together learn a lot in the cells and out of the cells i urge my fellow Kenyans to wake up and fight against this malicious rip off.do not relent.on behalf of the following i would like to thank you all.Philo Ikonya, Patrick Kamotho, Robert Ondari, Eddie Mwangi, Hassan Indusa ,Wangui Mbatia, Kepta Ombati, Abel Onkundi,Kelly Musyoka and myself(Fwamba NC Fwamba.its time for liberation from the hands of greedy 9th parliament.

Zeitgeist - The spirit of the time!

There comes a time when people get tired; tired of being plundered by government in pay perks for politicians; tired of being kicked about by the brutal feet of oppression, tired of being tired. Just tired! Zeitgeist: onward soldiers! In post President Moi-police-state, for some time Kenyans have shown an amazing patience. In some way we have given the government and political class a feeling that we like the way we are being treated. But in the final analysis we must all come to accept that there is nothing called government (it only exists in our mind) but what we have are individuals like you and myself who the public has entrusted with some rights and common resources as custodians. Often, like all of us, these individuals act in excess of their mandate. Human weaknesses such as greed, selfishness or beastly behavior get the best of them resulting in riotous behavior which manifests in acts like giving the nod to government expenditures on hefty pay cheques for members of parliament. While Kenyans joyful linch petty suspected thugs,conmen, I am amazed at our tolerance at the acts of the 222 Matheris masquerading as honournable MPs. The other day, members of the Civil society together with a group of youth showed up at parliament's doorstep to protest against public plunder in the name hefty golden handshake for members of parliament and voice their disdain at other well known anomalies in our government. While no one expected it since this was a peaceful demonstration, the police appeared from nowhere at high noon brandishing guns and fired teargas into the crowd. Some of us scampered for safety, the Civil Society leaders Mr. Mwalimu Mate, Ms Ann Njogu, Mr Okoiti Omutatah, Mr. Cyprian Nyamwamu were arrested and underwent an ordeal of 72hours in the cells without prefered charges. The whole dramma had some realy nasty accident that got Omutatah and Mwalimu Mate injured. News just arrived in Fwamba has been arrested alongside Kepta Ombati and they are being held at Muthaiga Police cells....it is all about resitance on the increase of MPs pay perk .... Irrespective of personal sentiments about civil society leadership and any of us who joined them, anyone must in the end acknowledge that the action of the demonstration is in itself noble and justified, both morally and legally. That is, anyone who truly cares to subscribe to the highest principle of law and order. One of the great glories of democracy anywhere in our world is the right for citizens to protest. Protest is an inherent reflex action in all of us. It is like coughing when chocked...you cannot hold it! Some of us protest feebly from inside but others cannot stomach their disgust at anomalies in the society so they shake while coughing (which to some is an irritant!) We were repulsed today by police from parliament where we went to drum our digust the behavior of our MPs... you see my friends we went to the parliament because we were feeling choked by the nauseating plans to give parliamentarians more money, we were choking under the pungency of the government's falsehood in hoodwinking the women fraternity that they have reserved 50 parliamentary seats for them in exchange for votes, we were choking in asphyxiation from the government's plan to gerrymander our constituency borders to broaden its chances of winning the 2007 General Elections. Now, if one wants freedom and the privileges of freedom, one cannot afford to be tired. That is why we are planning( but it will have to hold on that becos we have to secure Fwamba's release) a return to parliament to express our disgust at the act of looting public coffers and to dramatise the situation of common citizen whose child goes to bed hungry, the lot that has never seen a dentist, those who have never seen clean water and those who only hear of electricity. We will be at the parliament buildings because we need plausible answers to the following questions: Why can't the government use the Ksh. 900 million they are giving members of parliament as a Christmas gift, to get doctors, medicine and security services in the forgotten Kenya (Pokot, Turkana, Kwale, Samburu, Garrisa etc)? Why can’t they use that money to zero rate taxes on common citizens' essentials such as sugar, maize flour, kerosene, salt etc? Brothers and sisters, 56% of our population can hardly get by in their livelihood. Life is designed in a way that we can’t afford to feel comfortable when others live in terrible conditions. We must come to accept that we are our brother’s keeper. For us to realize the country that we desire there are things we will have to challenge head on. There are some sacrifices to be made. Will you stand up to be counted? Let your conscience be your guide. In the spirit of the time, George Nyongesa +254 720 451 235

ARRESTS OF CIVIL SOCIETY LEADERS A BLOW TO DEMOCRATIC GAINS OF THE SECOND LIBERATION

The violent force used and eventual arrests of civil society leaders-Cyprian Nyamwamu of NCEC, Mwalimu Mati formally of TI, columnist Okoiti Omtatah and others by the police should be highly condemned. It’s a reminder of the old dreaded KANU days. Its an indicator that there are major forces which are out to make sure that bad laws are passed in parliament without public resentment. It’s so unfortunate that even under the current democracy such actions by the police have not changed. As it’s alleged that they were holding a demonstration against the immoral attempts by the ninth parliament to give itself billions of money at the expense of the tax payer should be commended. Any right thinking Kenyan knows that it’s an act of massive corruption if the parliamentarians award themselves such monies as highlighted by the media. It is an opportunity for young people to stand and be counted in the fight against such rip off. This and the attempts by the government to gerrymander 40 constituencies should be condemned too. The third national youth convention which is scheduled to be held soon should address such kind of issues. The youth must wake up for if these mistakes are not corrected now; it’s them who will in future bear the brunt of such horrendous evils being committed by the greedy 9th parliament. Even if the police have express instructions to use unreasonable force against demonstrators, the Kenyan youth should not relent in their pursuit of justice and equality. Since the youth which is a vast voting group is also underrepresented in parliament, 100 positions of nominations should be reserved for the youth with 50%allocation to each gender. Hon Martha Karua talks for women in the cabinet, who is talking for the youth within the same precincts of power. The 50 proposed seats for women is blackmail to the president to approve it to get women votes. It’s important too that young people rise and bargain for stakes with anyone interested in the youth vote. The youth have not raised their voices enough to be heard. Now is the time. Young people need to wake up from slumber land and save this country from the incumbent insatiable leaders.Nyamwamu, Mwalimu mati and Omtatah have lead by example, and Kenya youths should emulate them, to make sure that the parliament stops pursuing corrupt and oppressive bills with impunity. FWAMBA NC FWAMBA BOX 1176,BUNGOMA +254721779445

PARLIAMENT OF WHORES, VOTE EM OUT.

Shameless they are. Daylight robbers.thieves.They shamelessly can’t hide their gluttonous nudity. They are whores.they call themselves waheshimiwas or are they wezi-miwas. Comrades, lovers of peace freedom justice and equality, you have only one opportunity to rise and fight against injustices hurdled upon the Kenyan peasant, the proletariat, the worker and the tax payer. Are we going to watch as a few individuals who work less and earn more continue accumulating material affluence at our expence.enough is enough. you got to stand and be counted….our country can not be run by hungry dogs and barking bitches who are ever insatiable. Kenyans wake up and stop this mess. They too want to create backdoor parliamentary representatives for their mistresses, wives, daughters, nieces and concubines. They hypocritically want to cheat you that they want to give you better representation by gerrymandering 40 constituencies and 50 nominations for women. Which women are these? Representing who. Some of these clowns are the old proponents of Social Democracy. Which has turned into opportunism and Social Hypocricy.kenyans, wake up from your slumberland.as you sleep don’t be surprised to wake up and find all your granaries dry and members of parliament licking your plates. Are you going to watch as they move to pass this into law? It could be a legal move. But the remain guilty as far as social justice is concerned. And if it happens that the courts doesn’t condemn them. Then as a patriot, a citizen and a focused individual especially the oppressed, sidelined and ignored youth, you need to give justice. We got to stop it. Its time to rise up and be counted. Now is the time. Our disquiet about this brand of actions should be as loud as possible because at this trend, you never know. Down with the looters in the 9th parliament. In December this year, the chickens have to cross the road. Whatever happens before roosting; only lord knows? Young people of Kenya, it could be a provocation for a generational revolution. We got to take action. Your advice on this if you feel affected please be free to comment on the way forward. Let’s not mourn. Organize. I don’t care what they feel, they should feel what we care. NB lobby, canvass. blog and. forward this message to as many people as many possible. FWAMBA NC FWAMBA

NARC KENYA WON’T GIVE KIBAKI VICTORY

Political parties are ideological institutions whose intentions of pursuing power are based on delivering election pledges in line with the party ideology. That’s why I believe coalitions which are the most popular political arrangements in Kenya today amount to abuse of democracy. Coalitions especially the post elections ones limit the electorate to elect groups of parties and individuals who do not necessarily uphold any common political principles. In most cases going by what happened in the 2002 elections Kenyans were limited to chose between only two serious contenders, kibaki and uhuru because most of other potential contenders had stepped down for president Kibaki to form a grand coalition,NARC.The wrangles that later bedeviled NARC were as a result of this, Leaders of different political ideologies. As far as a stable government with internal order unquestionable loyalty to the president is concerned, trade minister Dr.Mukhisa Kituyi is right to insist that NARC/Kenya will go it alone in the forth coming election. That is the most ideal situation. However, the practical political situation in Kenya is far from Hon.Kituyis imagination. It’s unfortunate but also true that most of the political parties in Kenya have been ethnicised. Such kind of scenario has made most Kenyans to believe that for anyone to ascend to power her/him needs to form alliances with other parties that hold greater popularity where his/her party cannot. Narc Kenya itself which initially had intentions of becoming a party with a national outlook failed the test because of such circumstances. It is a party to pride in for members from central province, while it’s so difficult to display NARC Kenya membership card in any other part of this country that does not have a large kikuyu population. The only sure way of winning presidency if that is the priority of NARC Kenya, is to unite with other parties with the same priorities. Instead of spending time insisting that they go it alone, they should unite with other parties that are already arranging formation of a coalition. Otherwise arguing that NARC Kenya can go it alone and win presidential elections is day dreaming. FWAMBA NC FWAMBA BOX 41046,NAIROBI +254721779445

LET A NEUTRAL COMMISSION BE SET UP TO REVIEW BOUNDARIES.

The crisis over creation of new constituencies has seen kenya go through serious political intrigues with members of the opposition accusing the government of gerrymandering for the sake of the forthcoming elections.its notable too that some members of the government of national unity have expressed dissatifaction on how and where the proposed constituencies should be created.therefore at such a trend it will be difficult to have any constituencies that will be created because of sincere need.it is evident that the incumbents are struggling to make sure that any created constituencies favour their re-election come the december general electioncs. Legislation to have a neutral electoral boundaries commission is the only way to ensure fairness in creation of new constituencies. The opposition is sensing gerrymandering by the government while some of the members of the government of national unity feel that if not well calculated, the process may lead to tullymandering (work at the detriment of the incumbent). Habitually such kind of opportunistic manouvres have left ordinary citizens without any improvement to service delivery.whenever gerrymandering has been rampant, only major political parties and the influential people of such parties have benefited at the expense of ordinary citizens. Such a conflict of interests about electoral boundaries is not a new issue in histrory. Although all electoral systems that use multiple constituencies as a basis for determining representation are susceptible to gerrymandering to various degrees, governments using single winner voting systems are the most vulnerable. Most notably, gerrymandering is particularly effective in nonproportional systems that tend towards fewer parties, such as first past the post. Most democracies in the world hate partly proportional electoral systems, where several political parties are proportionally represented in the national parliaments, in proportion to the total numbers of votes of the parties in the regional or national elections. Among Western democracies, states like Israel and the Netherlands are not susceptible to gerrymandering in the national government, as they employ electoral systems with only one (nationwide) voting constituency. Other countries, such as the United Kingdom and Canada, attempt to prevent gerrymandering by having the electoral boundaries set by non-partisan organisations such as the UK's Boundary Commission. Gerrymandering is most common in countries such as the United States of America where elected state politicians are responsible for drawing constituencies, with few exceptions. Gerrymandering should not be mistaken for malapportionment whereby the number of eligible voters per elected representative can vary widely, and which can also be used to predetermine the overall outcome of an election. Gerrymandering is effective because of the wasted vote effect by packing opposition voters into constituencies they will already win (increasing excess votes for winners) and by cracking the remainder among constituencies where they are moved into the minority (increasing votes for eventual losers), the number of wasted votes among the opposition can be maximized. Similarly, with supporters now holding minimal margins in the unpacked constituencies, the number of wasted votes among supporters is minimized. The most immediate and obvious effect of gerrymandering is for elections to become less competitive in most if not all constituencies, particularly packed ones. As electoral margins of victory become significantly greater and incumbent politicians have safe seats, the incentive for meaningful campaigning is reduced. In 2000, for example, only 57 of the 435 seats (13 percent) of the United States House of Representatives were decided by margins of 10 percent or less. Similarly, voter turnout is likely to be adversely affected as the chance of influencing electoral results by voting becomes badly reduced and, correspondingly, political campaigns are less likely to expend resources encouraging voter turnout. According to political scientists Norman Ornstein and Thomas Mann, the effect of gerrymandering on incumbents is particularly focused, as incumbents are far more likely to be reelected under such conditions. For example, in 2002, only four challengers were able to defeat incumbent members of Congress, the lowest number in modern American history. Gerrymandering also has significant effects on the representation received by voters in gerrymandered electoral areas. Since gerrymandering is designed to increase the number of wasted votes among the electorate, the relative representation of particular groups can be drastically altered from their actual share of the voting population. Such a case in Kenya may arise if the constituency boundaries are created in regard of two major opposing political forces. Sometimes, however, gerrymandering is advocated as a solution for improving representation amongst otherwise underrepresented groups by packing them into a single electoral area. This can be controversial, and may lead to those groups remaining marginalized in the government as they become confined to a single electoral area and representatives outside that area no longer need to represent them to win election. As an example much of the redistricting conducted in the United States in the early 1990s involved the intentional creation of additional "majority-minority" districts where racial minor)ties such as African Americans were packed into the majority. Curiously, this "maximization policy" was supported by elements of both the Republican Party (who had limited support among African Americans) and minority representatives elected as Democrats from these constituencies, who then had "safe seats". As a result of myriad issues associated with gerrymandering and the subsequent impact it has on competitive elections and democratic accountability, numerous countries have enacted reforms making the practice either more difficult or less effective. Countries such as the UK, Australia, Canada and most of Europe have moved the responsibility of drawing constituency boundaries to neutral or cross-party bodies. For fair creation of new constituencies, Kenya needs to adopt this kind of method to avoid such conflicts whenever we approach election. The most commonly advocated electoral reform proposal targeted at gerrymandering is to change the process used in creation of these boundaries. Under these proposals, an independent, and presumably objective, commission should be created and charged with creating fresh constituency boundaries rather than the legislature, the electoral commission of Kenya or the government. To help ensure neutrality, members of the board can come from relatively apolitical sources such as retired state judges or longstanding members of religious groups, possibly requiring adequate representation from competing political parties. Additionally, members of the board can be denied access to information that might aid in gerrymandering, such as the demographic makeup or voting patterns of the population. As a further constraint, consensus requirements can be imposed to ensure that the resulting constituency map reflects a wider perception of fairness, such as a requirement for a supermajority approval of the commission for any constituency proposal. However, in some American states (such as Missouri following 2000 census) this has led to deadlock where the equally numbered partisan appointees were unable to reach consensus in a reasonable timeframe resulting in the courts having to draw the lines. To ensure smooth running of such a commission, it should be formed by the same methods by which the Kenya anti/corruption commission(KACC )was formed whereby all players in the political field will feel represented and not necessarily for the benefit of incumbent members of parliament and the incumbent government., As the world advances in ways of governance, Kenyans must too adopt methods that can reflect good, fair and democratic ways of governance, and setting up an electoral boundaries commission is one such thing that can rid us of the prevailing suspicions and confusion. The commission will be able to only recommend creation of new electoral areas on the basis of merit and not political biasness. FWAMBA NC FWAMBA BOX 41046, 00100 NAIROBI +254721779445

NYCIII SHOULD ADDRESS THE PLIGHT OF A REVOLUTIONARY GENERATION.

Over the last one-decade, young people in Kenya have ventured into various political activities with an aim of shaping the future of this country and creating a niche for themselves to get into positions that affect policy formulation and governance. The first national youth convention held in 1997 suggested possibilities and strategies of young people organizing themselves and bracing for leadership. At that time it was so common for most of senior politicians saying that the youth are leaders of tomorrow. It’s a big challenge today to the youth of that time to realize that yesterday’s tomorrow is today. Therefore its pertinent as we near the third national youth convention in august for the young people to look back and see how much has been achieved since the last convention was held. The matter of progress must be well scrutinized and assessed as young people especially those who participated in the first and second convention prepare for the next national youth convention. It’s also important this being an election year for youths to know how many people are keen on advancing to national leadership as a result of this kind of civic education. So far a number of young people have declared interests in vying for parliamentary seats, but it’s yet to be seen if such a move will help young people get to the helm of power. Its though a pity that a number of political parties and even presidential candidates have little attention to the issues concerning the youth within their manifestos and visions respectively. It’s however significantly noticeable that only Ford Kenya as a party has given room to full participation of young people in their activities. according to a report in one of the local newspapers its also commendable that some young people have resorted to forming and running their own political parties as ripe grounds for bargaining such groups include the Vijana Progressive Party(VIPA) and the Kenya youth movement(KYM) and youth lobby groups like the Kenya Young Voters Alliance(KYVA). The biggest challenge during the convention should however focus on more serious avenues to power for the young people. It’s important to develop a National Youth Manifesto that should be the target of achievement for whoever will win the forthcoming general elections. It should also be noted that as the young people clamour for positive chance all political advances and support should be ideologically based and not necessarily assumed that age is an automatic qualification for one to cause positive change within the political, social and economic circles of this country. It’s however challenging that a number of young leaders have not embraced any specific ideology that can be sustained for years. The revolutionary generation should ensure that a policy paper for posterity is drawn, just like what the communist party under Fidel Castro did in Cuba after taking power in from Batista .they had sustainable policies and ideologies that have remained consistent to date. Most of the professional and politically conscious young people who are ambitious are so determined that change from poverty, corruption, insecurity and negative ethnicity will only be realized through them. That is why the young people should be more aggressive and be more focused as we approach the elections for this is the only opportunity to exercise their democratic right by electing a president who will be conscious of handing power to a younger generation. Thus its main focus should be to develop a political ideology that can make Kenya an economic superpower through use of intellectual human and natural resources The NYC III should therefore be able to come up with a unique and most practical way to realization of meaningful socio/economic/political change in line with modern challenges to governance. FWAMBA NC FWAMBA BOX 41046, NAIROBI +254721779445

AFRICAN BANKS : A BIG LET DOWN:BY GEORGE NYONGESA

African Banks: A big Letdown! Imagine what would happen if banks came up with a strategy to have our 800 million people in Africa to make a profit of one dollar a day for self development, after their daily expenditures. Collectively, we would make $ 800, 000, 000 and in a year, make $ 292, 000, 000, 000. Isn't this figure way above the total sum of foreign aid Africa receives?   In his Commonwealth Lecture in 2003, Professor Yunus, Economist and Creator of Grameen Bank contested that our economic theories and frameworks are responsible for perpetuating poverty. As is well known, banks in Africa do not service the development needs of the poor. African banks focus on the few and rich “large borrowers” but totally ignore the “small borrowers” who are the majority. Even if they reach out to the poor, the business is carried out with a paternalistic attitude.  Their cosmetic community activities that are dramatised before media cameras are a public relations tool meant to fool the society. Consider Kenya as a case in point: while banks are struggling with what to do with a big money reserve, 57 percent of Kenya’s citizens still live in extreme poverty, life expectancy at birth remains at around 48 years and 30 percent of the rural population has no access to safe drinking water. However, a wave is sweeping across the Kenyan banking industry that perhaps signals a unique opportunity. With large borrowers, such as the government, cutting back on their borrowing, banks are being forced to look elsewhere for business. The panic has pushed banks that traditionally ignored to advertise outside corporate circles to look for small borrowers, commonly referred to as the poor. It is startling that the poor are no longer begging the bank for money but the banks are begging the poor to take its money! It is sad that as this happens, most people’s mindset is not yet open to credit services. Without education on how to make more with money, are loans not trapping the poor into debts of un-serviced loans? Banks’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) remains a reactive response, treating poor people as liabilities and beneficiaries of public expenditure, in need for things to be done for them.   Africa needs banks that treat poor people as assets and partners in societal development; empowering them to seek solutions to their life challenges and supporting indigenous development. People are a resource and if well harnessed will inevitably be reflected as huge profit returns in their accounts. This paradoxical situation brings with it unprecedented regional and global opportunities to redefine banking and money in order to effectively serve our people and communities. Despite the credit-phobia amongst poor people, the banks’ paradigm shift is an acknowledgement that poor people can be as creditworthy as the rich. This will restore self confidence in them and precipitate the release of creative energies to improve livelihood. The shift should be followed by educating the poor on how money and banks work.  This is essential and crucial for development of our society, especially in the fight against poverty. If the panic in banking industry in Kenya is anything to go by, banking institutions in Africa must re-package themselves, contextualize their principles, concepts, and framework of business to fight off being outmoded. Africa needs banks that will give the poor a platform to develop capacities to make decisions and implement them, hence reducing their dependence on the elite. Banks should proactively reach out to poor communities to demystify beliefs that banking is a preserve of the elite or rich. The educated poor, with access to credit will easily turnaround their hungry communities into land of plenty. The growth and success of Bangladesh prototype, Grameen Bank, shows how banking can be turned from its current state of near irrelevance to helping poor people achieve self-sufficiency through entrepreneurship and self-employment. Grameen Bank offers some hopeful hints on the banks crucial involvement in supporting the poor to rebuild their lives. With the advent of IT development, banks could be part of information diffusion to the community. This would be a definite assault on information poverty and foundation for sustainable development. Some banks could come up with products that nurture the poor people to organize themselves into saving groups so as to improve their financial capacity. This might birth locally owed businesses and first-time savers. We need banks that hold public clinics on ‘how to make money’ alongside their favourite clinics ‘where to store your money’. We need banks that create forums where the poor can listen to “rags to riches” testimonies and even ask questions. We need banks that organize entrepreneurship lectures for school children. With this kind of social vision, banks can empower poor communities to develop their own safety-net-mechanisms.   African banks have answers to some of the poverty and underdevelopment questions. They indeed wield a potent means to move the masses of poor from obsessive struggle for sheer daily survival to larger humanity objectives: the right to liberty, equal opportunity, social justice, peace and spiritual fulfilment. By George Nyongesa grnyongesa@yahoo.com 254 720 451 235

AFRICA DOES NOT NEED IMPORTED BRAINS:BY GEORGE NYONGESA

Africa Doesn't Need Donors   In spite of  over 20 years of numerous activities by “save Africa industries” like food distribution, cash- for- work, food- for -work, school feeding programs and  billions of dollars in aid, nearly 17 million Kenyans (57% of the population ) are  living in poverty.   Africa’s poverty stems from its laxity to break free from the opportunistic mindset of its so-called “friends in need.” Novocain statements like “Africa is a land of potential” are true because most of our people die with their virgin potential to create wealth. Potential energy is only useful in kinetic state. Why go a pauper to the grave while you are a millionaire within?   The primary law of human life is self-determination and self-preservation. Wealth creation is a primary way of securing and preserving the right to life. Wealth creation is a product of the mind that sets humanity a distinct notch above primal instincts. For man, survival is not just a hunting game for the present meal. Instead, man labors (self determination) to secure (self preservation) adequate “daily bread”. Wealth creation is a fruit of one’s self-determination while wealth accumulation is one’s self-preservation tact.   Life has its origin in an idea and the secret of life lies in the womb of ideas. If money makes the world go round, then ideas must be the axle! Whatever is dark about the continent of Africa is the passivity to the power of ideas. It is the fundamental reason why Kenya, and Africa by extension, cannot feed its people.   How did the West make the wealth they “generously” share with Africa? It is through innovative ideas that answered  to their needs and wants. Africa leaders' gallop to the West and the East to beg for money  implies that their lack of ideas can be compensated with aid.   Is Africa a child of the West or East? When will this child grow and be independent? Life’s phases are a linear motion; from dependence to independence to interdependence. The highest form of a truly symbiotic relationship is interdependence. Africa’s culture of dependence breeds death as long as it does not evolve into interdependence.   My catechist taught me: “no work no food,” “you harvest what you planted” and narrated how “God’s people perish for lack knowledge.” Would I be wrong to decipher that God has laid everything within us and it is up to us to exit from  hunger, homelessness and nakedness?   Why for God’s sake should Africa be perpetually fed, clothed and housed by others?  Did God put people in Africa and place their livelihood across the Atlantic or Indian Ocean? I  firmly  believe  that God hates our ritualistic bows to the West or East for “our daily bread.”   Whoever argues that awakening Africans to tap their latent wealth creation potential is a western game neither knows God’s love for free people, nor the virtue of free enterprise.  He is collaborating with those who are enslaving and annihilating the African mind through the condescending benevolence called aid or relief.   We need to equip our people with ideas to create wealth, as this will ensure their right to life. We need to awaken our mind to a new world where the right to life includes the freedom to pursue decent means of livelihood. Today’s world economy is not based on gold, diamond, or oil; but on ideas. With ideas we can make wealth. Wealth is health; and health is life. This is the game of life.   When we empower our people to solve their problems, we are in effect handing them their magna carta. We will gain respect when we fervently labor to solve our problems and bring a permanent halt to the aid dependency.   The essence of democracy is the fervent desire that free ideas determine and control the direction and speed at which man progresses in all facets of life. It is the power of ideas that will reform and invigorate the development of Africa, and set Africa free!   In Africa, we say that “the one who feeds you can beat your mother as you watch helplessly.” He is your master: you are his slave. Is this saying true in Africa today? Be the judge, considering the fact that all Westerners employed in Africa (irrespective of their education) are called “expatriates” while Africans working abroad are called “economic refugees.” Consider the modern day scramble for Africa euphemized as donors, investors or tourists without reciprocated courtesies in their countries. Can America or China allow Kenya to set up a radio station in their countries to tell African stories? Consider further the westward smooth lane that repatriates aid money in the form of expatriate salaries. All these are signs of a master-slave relationship.   This is our life. No one can solve our problems just as no one can live for us. Aid and relief packages from the West or East lack genuine goodwill to help African communities create wealth. No master has ever smiled at losing a slave. Aid and relief are painkillers as opposed to curative medicine for Africa’s sickness. We cannot stake our people on aid to deal with the shocks of drought, hunger, famine, disease, war and poverty. True aid does not stifle creativity. It allows individuals to decide their destiny. No matter the circumstances, with ideas that build skills, experience and confidence, a people can transcend the limits of money, natural resource, gender, race, class and situations.   Let us be courageous and address the root causes for poverty in Africa. Let us challenge the mindset that resists development and consequently traps our people in destitution. What is our defense for the largely misguided worldview amongst our people that hinders development and consequent liberation? What is our case against corrupt work ethics? Shouldn’t we be more worried at rooting out fatalistic mindsets that think "you die poor if you were born from poor family?"   For over five years, I have worked with community based initiatives powered by ideas to explore local resources for community development. I am convinced that we have enough resources to solve our problems.   The households in the Coastal region of Kenya are a living testimony of the power of ideas in shattering the shackles of poverty. Utopia you say? Consider Mzee Nzoloi in Chanzou village, Kwale district, whose kiosk initially contained stock worth US$6 but whose idea of helping his neighbors access maize floor, paraffin, salt, and sugar from his one roomed grass thatched house saw his stock’s worth grow to US$85 within six months. Talk about Mama Mwero of Mtuluni village, who has reduced the distance teachers in two neighboring schools walk to buy kales, tomatoes and onions for their households.   What of the Bofu villagers who faced dire water problems but have formed groups that dig surface dams to trap rainwater, saving their women and children six hours usually spent in search of water? Should I also mention households in Kibaoni village, who are fighting the arid conditions of Kwale district by nurturing trees and hawking them for KSh.10 (approximately an eighth of a dollar)?  The beauty of these community development activities lies in the ease of its implementation, ‘multiplicability’ and sustainability.   Entrepreneurs are the true heroes of Africa. Any African thinking that the answers to Africa’s challenges lie elsewhere is highly misguided. All people have an inherent capacity to conquer their context environment and create wealth. If wealth creation is rooted in tapping into our own mental faculty to give meaning to our lives, I say let the game begin! By George Nyongesa grnyongesa@yahoo.com 254 720 451 235

AFRICA DOES NOT NEED IMPORTED BRAINS:BY GEORGE NYONGESA

Africa Doesn't Need Donors   In spite of  over 20 years of numerous activities by “save Africa industries” like food distribution, cash- for- work, food- for -work, school feeding programs and  billions of dollars in aid, nearly 17 million Kenyans (57% of the population ) are  living in poverty.   Africa’s poverty stems from its laxity to break free from the opportunistic mindset of its so-called “friends in need.” Novocain statements like “Africa is a land of potential” are true because most of our people die with their virgin potential to create wealth. Potential energy is only useful in kinetic state. Why go a pauper to the grave while you are a millionaire within?   The primary law of human life is self-determination and self-preservation. Wealth creation is a primary way of securing and preserving the right to life. Wealth creation is a product of the mind that sets humanity a distinct notch above primal instincts. For man, survival is not just a hunting game for the present meal. Instead, man labors (self determination) to secure (self preservation) adequate “daily bread”. Wealth creation is a fruit of one’s self-determination while wealth accumulation is one’s self-preservation tact.   Life has its origin in an idea and the secret of life lies in the womb of ideas. If money makes the world go round, then ideas must be the axle! Whatever is dark about the continent of Africa is the passivity to the power of ideas. It is the fundamental reason why Kenya, and Africa by extension, cannot feed its people.   How did the West make the wealth they “generously” share with Africa? It is through innovative ideas that answered  to their needs and wants. Africa leaders' gallop to the West and the East to beg for money  implies that their lack of ideas can be compensated with aid.   Is Africa a child of the West or East? When will this child grow and be independent? Life’s phases are a linear motion; from dependence to independence to interdependence. The highest form of a truly symbiotic relationship is interdependence. Africa’s culture of dependence breeds death as long as it does not evolve into interdependence.   My catechist taught me: “no work no food,” “you harvest what you planted” and narrated how “God’s people perish for lack knowledge.” Would I be wrong to decipher that God has laid everything within us and it is up to us to exit from  hunger, homelessness and nakedness?   Why for God’s sake should Africa be perpetually fed, clothed and housed by others?  Did God put people in Africa and place their livelihood across the Atlantic or Indian Ocean? I  firmly  believe  that God hates our ritualistic bows to the West or East for “our daily bread.”   Whoever argues that awakening Africans to tap their latent wealth creation potential is a western game neither knows God’s love for free people, nor the virtue of free enterprise.  He is collaborating with those who are enslaving and annihilating the African mind through the condescending benevolence called aid or relief.   We need to equip our people with ideas to create wealth, as this will ensure their right to life. We need to awaken our mind to a new world where the right to life includes the freedom to pursue decent means of livelihood. Today’s world economy is not based on gold, diamond, or oil; but on ideas. With ideas we can make wealth. Wealth is health; and health is life. This is the game of life.   When we empower our people to solve their problems, we are in effect handing them their magna carta. We will gain respect when we fervently labor to solve our problems and bring a permanent halt to the aid dependency.   The essence of democracy is the fervent desire that free ideas determine and control the direction and speed at which man progresses in all facets of life. It is the power of ideas that will reform and invigorate the development of Africa, and set Africa free!   In Africa, we say that “the one who feeds you can beat your mother as you watch helplessly.” He is your master: you are his slave. Is this saying true in Africa today? Be the judge, considering the fact that all Westerners employed in Africa (irrespective of their education) are called “expatriates” while Africans working abroad are called “economic refugees.” Consider the modern day scramble for Africa euphemized as donors, investors or tourists without reciprocated courtesies in their countries. Can America or China allow Kenya to set up a radio station in their countries to tell African stories? Consider further the westward smooth lane that repatriates aid money in the form of expatriate salaries. All these are signs of a master-slave relationship.   This is our life. No one can solve our problems just as no one can live for us. Aid and relief packages from the West or East lack genuine goodwill to help African communities create wealth. No master has ever smiled at losing a slave. Aid and relief are painkillers as opposed to curative medicine for Africa’s sickness. We cannot stake our people on aid to deal with the shocks of drought, hunger, famine, disease, war and poverty. True aid does not stifle creativity. It allows individuals to decide their destiny. No matter the circumstances, with ideas that build skills, experience and confidence, a people can transcend the limits of money, natural resource, gender, race, class and situations.   Let us be courageous and address the root causes for poverty in Africa. Let us challenge the mindset that resists development and consequently traps our people in destitution. What is our defense for the largely misguided worldview amongst our people that hinders development and consequent liberation? What is our case against corrupt work ethics? Shouldn’t we be more worried at rooting out fatalistic mindsets that think "you die poor if you were born from poor family?"   For over five years, I have worked with community based initiatives powered by ideas to explore local resources for community development. I am convinced that we have enough resources to solve our problems.   The households in the Coastal region of Kenya are a living testimony of the power of ideas in shattering the shackles of poverty. Utopia you say? Consider Mzee Nzoloi in Chanzou village, Kwale district, whose kiosk initially contained stock worth US$6 but whose idea of helping his neighbors access maize floor, paraffin, salt, and sugar from his one roomed grass thatched house saw his stock’s worth grow to US$85 within six months. Talk about Mama Mwero of Mtuluni village, who has reduced the distance teachers in two neighboring schools walk to buy kales, tomatoes and onions for their households.   What of the Bofu villagers who faced dire water problems but have formed groups that dig surface dams to trap rainwater, saving their women and children six hours usually spent in search of water? Should I also mention households in Kibaoni village, who are fighting the arid conditions of Kwale district by nurturing trees and hawking them for KSh.10 (approximately an eighth of a dollar)?  The beauty of these community development activities lies in the ease of its implementation, ‘multiplicability’ and sustainability.   Entrepreneurs are the true heroes of Africa. Any African thinking that the answers to Africa’s challenges lie elsewhere is highly misguided. All people have an inherent capacity to conquer their context environment and create wealth. If wealth creation is rooted in tapping into our own mental faculty to give meaning to our lives, I say let the game begin! By George Nyongesa grnyongesa@yahoo.com 254 720 451 235

WHAT IF KIBAKI DOESNT SEEK RE-ELECTION-WILL RAILA BE THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE?:FWAMBA NC FWAMBA

According to Nicolo Machiavelli, The social and political world of the The Prince is monstrously unpredictable and volatile; only the most superhuman calculative mind can overcome this social and political volatility. He argues. Its now six months to election if the election timetable is upheld in precedence since the repeal of section 2a that lead to holding a general eletion under a multiparty democracy in Kenya. As many Kenyans are still evaluating the said development records under the leadership of president kibaki, the latest events within the political circles are indicative of a very speculative opinion on whether president Kibaki will be seeking re-eletion later this year. Apart from the president denying that he ever committed himself to serve one term and asking people to judge him by the development record  he is yet to convince his supporters that his re-eletion bid is a big issue within his line of ambitions. The presidents’ supporters seem to be more ambitious for him than himself. At the rate which his supposed opponents are moving, it’s foolhardy to imagine that campaign time is still too far and Kenyans will easily buy the development record theory. Going by latest events since the government spokesman told Kenyans to shun activists ‘with questionable characters’ masquerading to be campaigning for the president, many individuals or groups purporting to support the president are left guessing since the head of state either doesn’t wish to be re-elected or he is the proverbial dancer who doesn’t respond to drumbeats no matter how skilled the drum player is. The examples of these circumstances include the presidents turn down of Democratic Party chairmanship, and his imaginary distant involvement in Narc- Kenya activities. At sometime the vice president Hon. moody Awori confidently said that the president fully supports the Narc-Kenya initiative and the president campaigning for its pioneer members of parliament in a by-election. The campaigning for the party parliamentarian for Nakuru town then could only be translated to the sympathy to Hon.Mirugi Kariuki’s family and not necessarily for the love of Narc- Kenya as a party. the president has never authoritatively involved his efforts in building Narc Kenya apart from a few of his friends who would like him to run on its ticket due to the controversies involved if he decided to seek re-eletion on the Narc party which is now defunct considering that one of their component parties the LDP is fully in opposition.Narc-Kenya, the party on whose ticket the president is expected to seek re-election held elections recently while claiming that the party has no funds! as a result and poor management of the elections, the party had elections which were more of appointments that do not necessarily reflect the existence of officials whose popularity on the ground can help  the president in attaining enough grassroots support during the general election. While central province suspended grassroots elections, other parts of the country which claimed to have elections, no actual elections were ever carried out just like the Naivasha Member of Parliament had earlier predicted. At this juncture, Kenyans and president Kibaki supporters must start thinking of what to do incase the president decides that he wants to be a respected statesman like nelson Mandela by leaving power voluntarily. To do that the president only needs to leave a legacy of less talk and economic prosperity. Under the president, the government faces two main issues to deal with; the mungiki menace and the allegations of rampant practices of tribalism in public appointments. Apart from the two issues that currently look like a cancer in the government, the president’s performance record is above average and that is why if he contested; with a serious and well organized campaign he will win the second term. The political landscape is likely to undergo radical political changes and realignments incase the president decides not to run for the second and last term constitutionally. That will totally complicate the existing so called horses’ and donkeys’ race. Some donkeys will automatically become horses while some horses may become donkeys. The main political players and those who had suspended their ambitions for the 2012 race because of their support for president Kibaki may as well decide to make this their time. That automatically brings the frontrunners in bid for Narc-Kenya chairmanship into the field. Individuals like Prof.George Saitoti, Kipruto Kirwa.Dr.Mukhisa Kituyi, Kiraitu Murungi, amongst others will automatically become major players and possible candidates.Uhuru Kenyatta’s candidature on whatever ticket will obviously get a boost because of the tribal equation and the central province vote. This scenario will also become a battle of influence of individuals and not necessarily political parties. Without the president contesting, the ODM-Kenya’s intention of being together automatically ceases since their main and common agenda has been to defeat president Kibaki in the elections. Some of them who are facing corruption cases in court may through the ECK be barred from contesting according to the regulations thus they may be thrown to political oblivion if the electoral commission takes such a move. That will mean that fresh coalitions will be formed with some of the ODM-Kenya members supporting the Narc-Kenya presidential candidate, while some Narc-Kenya and ODM-K people will run on their own. The so called third force under Ngilu and Kombo may gain relevance too. In this scenario, it will be difficult too to tell if even the likes of Raila, Saitoti, Kituyi, Kalonzo, Ngilu, Kombo, or Uhuru will be able to become Kenya’s next president. As expected president Kibaki and former president Moi will have a big role to play. However going by the president’s way of doing things he may not necessarily support anyone aggressively. On the other hand, if he is set for re-election, then the president’s unpredictability may harm his campaigns.   FWAMBA NC FWAMBA Box 41046-00100 NAIROBI +254721779445  

KIBAKI TEAM SHOULD NOT CELEBRATE ODM-KENYA DISINTEGRATION:FWAMBA NC FWAMBA

Sometime last month I wrote in this column that ODM -Kenya unity will never be realized due to the lacking of a common ideology among the leaders apart from their thirst for power, greed, hypocricy and selfish ambitions. The latest developments within the party indicate that I wasn’t far from right. It’s so much of conspicuous evidence that these leaders have nothing substantial to offer Kenyans. It’s just a bunch of politicians driven by blind ambitions with theoretical visions seeking to reside at state house. Some of these politicians are finding it difficult to cope with each others ways of politicking due to their political backgrounds. While Raila’s background is associated with what some may refer to as socialism or communism, the rest of ODM-K candidates are products of the former oppressive KANU regime. Thus above all there lies an ideological conflict between the chief government critic Raila Odinga and the kanulets.That could be the main borne of contention in ODM-K.While Raila Odinga happens to be admired by even those people who oppose him in public due to his charisma the rest happen to attract mercies of people associated or related to kanu a party that was at the helm of power for four decades since independence. Many foes and friends alike regard Raila as one of Africa’s 21st century Fidel Castro or Hugo Chavez. Such a presidency is one that the analogical Railaphobics who include his fellow ODM luminaries dread. For Railamaniacs and anti-Kanu dynasty crusaders that (Raila presidency) will be regarded as a great gift to Kenya. For that reason I still believe that even with ODM-K disintegrating, Raila remains the greatest threat to President Kibaki’s re-election than any other candidate. If elected, crusaders of change who will vote against president Kibaki will only have a reason to replace him with Raila and nobody else since the rest of the candidates are products of Kanu. That is a presidency some voters may want to experiment one that represents a break from a kanu dynasty, just like voters in 2002 undertook a political experiment on how the country can be without president Moi and kanu in power. If voters develop such an attitude as to how different Kenya can be with a Raila presidency or how Kenya could be without a Kibaki presidency, then the Kibaki team needs to factor such in the campaigns...The much  anticipated disintegration of ODM-K  and the expected emergency of more coalitions should not  be reason enough of victory celebration for Narc-Kenya.If voting patterns of Kenyans; (which are tribal) are upheld by precedent then the looming fallout within ODM-K may end up affecting president Kibakis re-election bid negatively. The reality of Kenyans voting along tribal lines should not be downplayed. for that case,Uhuru Kenyatta’s or Kalonzo’s candidature may end up working negatively for president Kibaki than for Raila Odinga.Raila’s candidature may get a boost if Kalonzo or Uhuru contested on their own since the tribal arithmetic for president kibaki will be divided. With the support of Musalia Mudavadi and William Ruto, it will be an uphill task for president Kibaki.The supporters of the president riding on a notion that Raila is unelectable should know that that notion is no longer holding among many Kenyan voters apart from central province. It’s an alliance of Ruto, Mudavadi and Raila that may be more threatening than such alliance including all the current ODM luminaries. Emperor napoleon Bonaparte of the French empire once noted that what unites men is summarized as interest and fear, once people do not face a common fear and interest it automatically becomes difficult to unite. the scenario as per now is that the odm leadership face a common fear of being in opposition for the coming five years while their common interest of attaining power is threatened since all of them are keen on getting presidency even when the seat can only be occupied by one person at a time. Therefore room for uniting doesn’t exist due to this conflict of interest. For any Kenyans intending to vote change, individuals like hon. Kalonzo Musyoka do not represent any thing new; Raila becomes a strong candidate for he is the only one less associated with the kanu dynasty. Therefore for any significant difference in government, whether positive or negative, the electorate may favour Raila for he is believed to be the epitome of the struggle in Kenya having been the longest serving political detainee during the Kanu dictatorship. The much talked about development record achieved by the Kibaki administration should not be used as novocaine (a painkiller) to blind the president’s campaign team to think that the votes are going to be got just by Kenyans seeing the development projects. In self analysis it’s imperative for any leader willing to win an election to focus more on how to counter his weaknesses than just getting contented with the achieved strengths. The paradox exists within the incumbent for believing that Kenyans will selectively focus on the development projects, economic growth and give a blind eye to inflation rate, insecurity, allegations of high level corruption, tribalism and the gap between the rich and the poor. Most of the people in government seem to be slowing the campaign process with a great focus on the government’s strengths than weaknesses. The president needs to step up a spirited and intellectually run campaign for re-election since even the development facilities that have been realized during the Narc era are not uniformly distributed in the whole country. For example the development realized in Bungoma is not on the same scale as moyale.It must also be noted that the conditions under which the president was elected in 2002 are quite different from now. It’s therefore important that the president’s team focuses on the obvious weaknesses of the incumbent government. Inasmuch as the president is a committed nationalist none tribalistic a lot of tribalism is being practiced by junior officers in his government. This is likely to affect his government negatvely.its evident that these people who practice such vices do it in such a cunning way that the president happens not to knowe.with the establishment of the office of the ombudsman, the president will be able to get direct information from citizens. apart from psychological perception that unity of odm will bring them victory, there is little that Uhuru Kenyattas kanu supporters will take to ODM-K unless if its him who is running. That’s the same case with Kalonzo.that is why they have to fight hard to maintain their relevance at least within the media circles. For that reason Kenyans should be advised to vote for president kibaki for the hypocrisy of ODM-K leaders has been exposed through their inability to agree on one candidate. That is an indicator that none of them can be a worthy leader for this country. FWAMBA NC FWAMBA BOX 1176, BUNGOMA +254721779445

ODM-KENYA:THE REVOLT OF PIGMIES BY CYPRIAN ORINA NYAMWAMU

''Mtumishi Orina has captured the issues we ought to face fairly more candidly. There are only two areas he ought to have delved into, which I will do. The struggle in ODM-K is a continuation of the pre independence tag of war, where the home guards went away with our Independence. Those who genuinely fought for Independence, never even enjoyed that fruit of their struggle. They were shown the doors, and the home guards, and their side kicks ruled until 1992, when again, Kenyans were denied the chance to elect a true reformer. This time around, children of privilege ganged up and made sure that there was no united opposition. Ironically, the coming together of these children of privilege, helped derail the chances Jaramogi had of ever becoming the president of this country. When we had the best chance in 2002, again the battle was between two non reformers. One, a child of privilege, the next, a son of privilege. All the two front runners never knew what it took to liberate Kenya from the colonialists, and they were also not involved in the second liberation. They did not know what Kenyans wanted, and all the same, they all wanted to be president. When we elected one of the two, it was business as usual. He promptly forgot all the promises he made to Kenyans. About what Kenyans desired in his presidency, he did not know. So he never bothered to do anything about tribalism, corruption and the burning need to have a new constitution. This is basically what is playing out again now in ODM-K. The chicken are coming home to roost. The children of home guards and the children of privilege have re group to continue in their plunder of Kenya. They all have one thing in common; they are non reformers. They all believe in the status quo, and it is only Kenyans who will stop them in their tracks. Kenyans MUST now come up and say enough is enough. We must now look at all these individuals, and place them accordingly. We must not abort the struggle again when we have a bridge that will cross us to the Kenya we all want. Odhiambo T Oketch Komarock Nairobi orina Nyamwamu wrote: ODM and the revolt of the pygmies Apart from President Mwai Kibaki, there is no other politician still active in the national stage, in the country who has engaged national issues more passionately and intimately than Raila Odinga. The other wannabes currently making a case for candidature as president are mere political pygmies who real stand for nothing but for power as a means for more wealth. The pygmies think that mere appointment as vice president or minister by Moi or Kenyatta make them a national leaders. The men and women who have rolled their sleeves to gun for the ODM-Kenya Presidential candidature except for Raila Odinga are political pygmies who hope that the windfall may make them occupants of the state house and therefore access unlimited power. While Raila Odinga has in the past few years drifted towards embracing a conservative agenda and deemphasized the need for fundamental social transformation, which some see as a betrayal of the more progressive even radical ideas he stood for at the height of the struggle for a democratic Kenya, he still remains the only worth candidate worth the consideration by Kenyans. No one in the ODM Kenya bandwagon deserves the right to rule over the people Kenya. Those of us who come from the progressive and activist tradition in Kenya find it difficult to accept that the political dwarfs and anti democratic politicians who watched as the country was plundered by Kenyatta and Moi’s rule have now found a platform to cheat the people that they are the real alternative to President Mwai Kibaki. To be honest, it is only Raila Odinga who deserves to present an argument against Kibaki. The rest must be put in their place. The ODM-K has now acquired a special talent for revising Kenya’s history. ODM-K wants to present Kibaki as the biggest national problem. They want to present the removal of Kibaki as the new Kenyan struggle. He is not. The biggest national problem is the lack of leadership for uncompleted struggle to make Kenya truly independent and democratic. That leadership is what President Kibaki has failed and is incapable of offering. But I doubt whether the pygmies in ODM can actually offer the leadership Kenya is looking for. The only person who can present an application for the presidency against President Mwai Kibaki that is worth studying remains Raila Odinga among others who have not declared their candidature but are qualified. They include James Orengo, Micere Mugo and Maina Kiai. The pygmies in ODM have positioned themselves as the stock holders of certain shares called ethnic votes. They want to force us to bargain with them on the basis of stolen goods –ethnic votes. But this is not a measure of leadership. We can not allow political pygmies to subvert reason and arm-twist us to accept the argument that the number of ethnic votes you represent translates to leadership. Ethnic votes can not be turned into a qualification for leading Kenya. Leadership qualification must remain the ability, reliability and evidence of siding with the struggles of the people of for freedom, development and social justice. These credentials are elegantly missing from the ODM-K political pygmies. While President Kibaki has done a good job of helping the country recover from the destruction and hemorrhage the Kenyatta-Moi tyranny wrought on the nation assisted by the same ODM-K minnows and Kibaki himself, the next five years in Kenya’s history can not be about recovery. The country now must be put on a path to social transformation. Only those men and women who understand the meaning of and are spiritually committed to the cause of social transformation need to be listened to. If we were to be honest, the visions of the various candidates for president should have only had one chapter – a chapter on social justice and social transformation. Period! President Kibaki does not have the capacity and passion to institute social transformation in Kenya. He is an actor with vested interests in the current status quo is incapable of facilitating significant progress and change to the current socio-economic and political structure. It is important for Kenyans to in the mean time know that the limitations of President Kibaki can not be made a license for any politician to package himself as a messiah. We must permit only capable and reliable nationalists to lead this nation. In that respect it is correct to suggest that the real choice for the people of Kenya in the forth coming elections is between President Mwai Kibaki’s recovery record and Raila Odinga’s promise to bring about social transformation. Note that it is not possible to talk about political parties since there are none. The outfits being cobbled together for purposes of elections 2007 must be seen for what they are- mere special purpose vehicles. In selecting who to vote for it must be remembered that President Kibaki has done his recovery assignment averagely but now the required leadership for the country is the leadership to facilitate social transformation. The recovery assignment had four components namely the economic recovery, institutional re-armament, national reconciliation and renewal, and social systems. Kibaki has failed the national reconciliation and renewal and has not liberated institutions of governance from the tragedy of personal rule. This is because he failed to help Kenya make a new constitution and he blocked the formation of a Truth, Justice and reconciliation process. The next team of leaders must understand the assignment well. Kenya needs a leadership a commited and courageous leadership that will offer the poor a support system to lift themselves out of poverty, overhaul the current constitution, deal with the gaps between the rich and the poor and the inequalities- gender, regional, intergenrational, social classes, etc- that are the hall mark of our nation and facilitate economic transformation, not growth only. Kenya should therefore working through the elimination method to ensure that they do not end up voting for a product of the revolt of the pygmies in ODM-K that is currently underway. Cyprian Orina-Nyamwamu 970 Words unedited June 22, 2007

YOUTH FOR KIBAKI 2007

YOUTH FOR KIBAKI 2007:BY FWAMBA NC FWAMBA&GEORGE NYONGESA Youth for Kibaki 2007 is an idea originating from a conglomerate mainly made up of politically conscious former university student leaders who are currently professionals practicing their respective professions or/and continuing with their education at masters or doctorate levels and other youths from different spheres of life.Yk07 does not necessarily subscribe to one specific political party.we belong to different political parties but we have come together on the basis of our common agenda. As our name suggests our main objective is to advocate by any means necessary for the re-election of Hon. Mwai Kibaki C.G.H, MP in the forth coming general elections. We do believe that in aggregate, the president's policies are working positively for this country and given the remaining five years, we are optimistic that we are obviously going to experience greater achievements for this country. It is self evident that our economy after very many years of degradation is now growing at 5.8%.His development record speaks for itself and explains the future. Upon mutual agreement based on factual existence of unchallenged ability to change this country into a progressive economy, we have resolved to support and indeed do our bits to ensure that president Kibaki be re-elected due to amongst many others, the following reasons: Its first time, Kenya has experienced a witty, politically tolerant, development conscious leader who believes in meritocracy, freedom of speech, justice to everyone and equal treatment of all Kenyans. Immediately after his election in 2002, the president extended an olive branch to all people tormented by the previous regimes; some of the people in this group included political exiles like Prof.Ngugi wa Thiong`'o and former student leaders whose education had been terminated by former president Moi's regime because of political reasons that had lead to their unwarranted suspensions and expulsions. The president asked the politically exiled to return and take part in nation building, expelled and suspended students to be re-admitted unconditionally so that they could complete their respective degree courses.it is under president kibakis leadership that our independence heroes have been given due recognition.its under his leadership that finally dedan kimathis statue has been erected and unvailed as a siggn of honour to the maumau leader and other freedom fighters. With president kibaki’s leadership, free primary education which looked so much unrealizable is now existent and doing well both in rural and urban areas. The government bursary fund has also improved and the higher education loans board has increased amounts of money disbursed to needy students to help them pursue their education. It’s quite evident that the president is committed to a great future for this country. His commitment to these means he has interests of the youth at heart. It’s also the first time in the Kenyan government where young people have risen to occupy senior government positions without them necessarily having a background of political royalty. Such offices include the office public communications and a number of cabinet positions which are occupied by Kenyans who are below forty years. Unlike what others may want to project, the Kibaki cabinet is representative of people of all ages, meaning it’s non-discriminative. Under president kibaki Kenyans came to know in details about the evils committed during the nyayo era: this included showing the nyayo house torture chambers to the public, establishing the Goldenberg committee of inquiry, revamping the Dr.Ouko death inquiry. Any incompetent result given by officers entrusted to the respective duties is their own failing. For example the president appointed well trained people to deal with the Goldenberg cases. The failure to get the culprits of the Goldenberg scandal and murderers of Dr.Ouko rests with their incompetence and not the president. All Kenyans know that the president has been and is always committed to the fight against corruption. Since the establishment of the Kenya anti corruption commission and the purge in the judiciary, many Kenyans are now afraid to take bribes. It’s also through the president’s policies that many corrupt cases including Anglo leasing have been exposed to the public. During the previous regimes such a case would have never been known. It’s the first time that the recruitment of the armed forces and other public officers is being done openly and people are appointed based on merit. it is quite significant that during president kibaki's tenure kenyans have found a difference for the first time an economically conscious leader with peoples interests at heart. its evident that under president kibaki, the government has developed strategies to work towards equal development to different parts of the country without any discrimination based on political affilliations.such policies include the constituency run development fund (CDF), The recently created national youth fund, creation of new districts to ensure closer interraction between the government and the people: many kenyans can now access government services without much hurdle. The general national infrastructure has improved, roads network, rural electrification are examples of such.during hon. kibakis tenure,kenya has realized revival of many industries that were stalled during the nyayo era within only four years.such industries include the kenya meat commission(KMC),kenya cooperative creameries(KCC) and others.the tourism industry has also expanded.many public utilities have been renovated for example the kenyatta international conference centre(KICC).These efforts have obviously created many job opportunities for college graduates and the general youth populace. the president has established ministries that reflect the needs of the kenyan people,in addition to other ordinary ministries,the president established the ministry of special programmes,youth affairs,justice and constitutional affairs to deal with disasters,youth matters and justice and constitutional reforms respectively.this shows that the president is conscious of the kenyans needs and has their interests at heart.his commitment to ensure kenya has a new constitution has been evident since he became president.his government was committed to facilitate the process up the draft constitution level which went to the referendum;which was sabotaged by the same hypocrites who are claiming to be pro-reforms.under president kibaki many kenyans would like to have a new constitution and not piecemeal reforms whose intentions are to cater for a few hungry political stomachs.We are staunch advocates of a people's approved comprehensive reforms.in this quest we share this same vision with these kenyans. We strongly support the president and his government on this pursuit. We also believe that age is not a question here because so far out of all presidential candidates is a youth. All of them are above 35 years. The main factor is who will serve the kenyan peoples interest best, and his Excellency Hon mwai kibaki has proved to be one such person. Cheap politicking and egocentrically organized demonstrations can not add any value to the lives of Kenyans. the above stated reasons make president kibaki the candidate of our choice and we can not sit and watch the country become lead by people with questionable intentions.We do believe that all kenyans who believe in absolute truth and sincere unbiased analysis will support and join us in this Endeavour. Karl Marx.................chairman....................0725204817 Cllr.Irungu Kang'ata....Secretary general............0722910198 George Nyongesa.......... Organising Secretary.......0720451235 Fwamba Nc Fwamba........National Co-Ordinator........0721779445 Dr.Ken Orengo...........National codinator...........0721779445