MARGARET C. KIMOSOP

2011-06-28T09:00:00.000-07:00

South Sudan grappling with disarmament challenge

Southern Sudan is facing a major challenge of disarming more than 150,000 soldiers and easing them back to civilian life when it becomes independent next week.
Southern Sudan Disarmament Demobilisation and Reintegration Commission chairman William Deng Deng said the country wants to get rid of excess forces including the elderly, disabled and children.
“These are soldiers seen not be in use after the war. We now need an organized, professional, controllable force,” Mr Deng told the Nation during an interview in Nairobi.
Southern Sudan is set to be Africa’s 53 state on July 7 and change its name to South Sudan.
Under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended 21 years of war between north and southern Sudan, the commission is to plan, manage and implement the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration programmes in southern Sudan.
"The objective of the DDR process is to contribute to creating an enabling environment to human security and to support post-peace-agreement social stabilisation across the Sudan, particularly war affected areas.
Among those to be disarmed, demobilised and reintegrated back to the communities voluntarily are Sudanese People’s Liberation Army and Sudan Armed Forces and 90,000 from each group had been targeted under the CPA..
Appealing for support from donors, Mr Deng said the exercise is crucial and that if does not go well could pose a major security threat to not only southern Sudan but the region as a whole.
“If we cannot control small arms proliferation in southern Sudan it would affect the region. It is something that needs to be addressed if southern Sudan is to be stable and democratic. The neighbouring countries are also vulnerable as they are the easiest places for southern Sudanese to run as refugees,” Mr Deng said.
According to UN figures, there are estimated 2.4 million guns in the hands of individuals who are not in standing army in southern Sudan with a population of about 10 million.Mr Deng said the southern Sudan government is committed to the disarmament, demobilisation reintegration and that it has given the process the necessary support.
Mr Deng said he will soon table a policy to the Cabinet on the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration process and a framework on how it would be done so that the southern Sudan government could remain with about 100,000 armed forces.
The soldiers would first undergo a three months intensive training , then six months of integration and later three months of counselling and training. The exercise is to start in January and handle between10,000 to 30,000 soldiers per year in three transit facilities.
It will take six to eight years to complete the programme, Mr Deng said, adding that majority of those to be affected are the elderly and disabled.
Southern Sudan had until 2017 to re-organise itself and transform its armed forces.
Mr Deng said his commission is facing huge challenges due to the vastness of southern Sudan, poor terrain and small economy.
“The number of soldiers to be transformed to civilian is too big. They cannot be absorbed anywhere as we have no industries and private sector is not developed. We are only relying on subsistence agriculture and oil,” he said and called for creation of industries to avoid those removed from frustration and engaging in acts of lawlessness.
He said the country cannot afford a huge military force and needs to direct little available resources to building of schools and hospitals.
“This is an important programme that needs to be supported by all governments. It looks strange but it is very important. We need to instill to the minds of the soldiers who will be removed that they are being given another assignment and that they could do other businesses as civilians. Some of them have been soldiers for the whole of their life,” he said.
He said the country also needs to downsize and recruit an able and sustainable professional force despite current fears of a return to war due to fighting in Abyei and Southern Kordofan.
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“The security threats are there but to bring an educated, able, professional force we have to downsize and recruit better equipped soldiers,” Mr Deng said.
The country also faces other challenges including demining, corruption and security.
After more than two decades of civil war, Southern Sudan has grappled with a contamination problem of a large scale landmine/Explosives Remnants of War (ERW).
The contamination continues to threaten civilians and impede economic recovery and development.
Contaminated land reduces agricultural activity and productivity and the sustainable livelihoods of rural communities. Southern Sudan has nine other Independent Commissions & Institutions established by the Constitution.
The chairpersons and members of the independent commissions and institutions are appointed by the President of Southern Sudan in consultation with the Vice-President and with the approval of the National Assembly.
They include the Anti Corruption Commission, Audit Chamber, Centre for Census, Statistics and Evaluation, Civil Service Commission, De-Mining Authority, Employees Justice Chamber, Fiscal, Financial Allocation & Monitoring Commission, HIV and Aids Commission, Human Rights Commission, Land Commission and Peace Commission. Others are Public Grievances Chamber, Reconstruction and Development Fund and Southern Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission.

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/-/1066/1190460/-/item/0/-/2o4yblz/-/index.html

2011-06-22T12:18:00.001-07:00

Peace and Healing important for Kenya

Kenyans are now gearing up for the rigours of election campaigns, for the 2012 elections. Elections are coming up in under two years time, and there is rising concern that true peace has not yet been achieved, after the 2007 contentious elections that saw hundreds of people lose their lives and thousands more displaced from their homes.

It is a high time that religious leaders, politicians, community leaders, the civil society, and other concerned citizens take an active role in advocating for peace in the country. Leaders must traverse the country preaching about peace, and pointing out the dangers of conflict. Many kenyans don't want to see a repeat of the 2007/8 violence, but awareness among the people must be raised of the importance of peace. Peace must be diligently nurtured by every man,woman, and child. The energy and momentum for peace must be sustained every day.

2011-06-22T11:39:00.000-07:00

Kenya fails to heal years after chaos

Published on 11/05/2011

Three years after Kenya bled from the post-election violence of 2008, there are fears merchants of hatred are re-grouping amid waning efforts to unite rival communities.

And growing negative ethnicity, unresolved historical injustices and ethnic hatred are mostly to blame for slow national healing process, analysts say.

Chairman of the National Cohesion and Integration Commission Mzalendo Kibunjia acknowledges the situation remains toxic but says his team is closing in on ‘loose-tongued’ politicians.

"Most Kenyans are saying never again to violence, but few leaders still want to play past politics by inciting people on basis of ethnicity, race and religion," he said in an interview.

Kibunjia expressed disappointment that politicians continue to play tribal cards, a move he describes as a setback to his commission’s efforts to promote national peace and unity. He says they are planning a programme that would see peace ambassadors posted in all 47 counties.

Peter Kamuyu, the Executive Director of Sychar Centre, says ethnic conflict trends were worrying.

"There is increasing evidence even where conflict has been subdued, psychological trauma left behind is seldom healed, especially among children and women," he says.

In a recent publication Poverty, Inequality and Conflict in Kenya, Kamuyu says besides ethnic hatred, the worsening poverty levels and the Government’s failure to cushion citizens against economic repressions were some of the factors putting the country in a conflict danger zone.

Wounds still fresh

Hostilities the Government faced when it searched for land to resettle thousands of IDPs was proof the wounds had not healed.

IDPs have been rejected in Narok, Muhoroni and Coast regions where locals said they would not live with them.

A Catholic priest Ambrose Kimutai of Segemik Parish in Bomet says the situation remains fluid.

"The wounds inflicted by the past tribal skirmishes and the election violence are still fresh. There is no healing. The seeds of discord planted by politicians have sprouted. There will be no reconciliation until the Government addresses the issues that caused the violence," said Fr Kimutai.

And Mr Chris Owala, a regional co-ordinator with the Partners for Peace, a consortium of organisations working towards sustainable peace in Nyanza, Western and Rift Valley provinces, says infiltrations of small arms into the country and poverty play a major role in fuelling the conflicts.

He adds: "Existing peace building mechanisms, such as District Peace Committees are not sustainable and lack the necessary independence, capacity or visibility to assert a leading role in response to conflicts."

But as political scientist Walter Oyugi in a paper Conflict in Kenya: A Periodic Phenomenon published recently in the African Journal of Political Science, says: "There is evidence where ethnic conflict has emerged in Africa, there has always been political machinations behind it."

2011-06-20T13:53:00.000-07:00

WORLD REFUGEE DAY!

“Why do women have to dance for you, just like you are a god?”

The bold question posed in 1975 in front of a large crowd by 22-year-old Marie Rose Mukeni Beya did not go over well with Zaire’s longtime dictator, Mobutu Sese Seko, a despot best known in the West for his jaunty leopard skin hats. “Mobutu ordered: ‘Take her,’” Mukeni Beya recalled this month.

She was taken captive and tortured for three days, and from that time on was targeted, threatened, harassed and detained by Mobutu’s government and various repressive regimes that followed for questioning her government and standing up for women’s rights. Finally, she was forced to flee in 2002 and seek refuge in the United States.

Since arriving with her youngest daughter, with little more than the clothes on her back and in dire need of emergency medical care, Mukeni Beya has struggled to rebuild her life. Now, almost nine years later, the psychology professor and mother of five is finally realizing her dream: She is teaching again and will take her naturalization exam for U.S. citizenship in a few weeks.

Mukeni Beya is in some ways emblematic of the estimated 40 million refugees around the world who have been forced to flee their homes because of conflict or persecution. But, as the U.N. marks World Refugee Day on Monday, it’s important to note that her story also is in many ways different than that of the typical refugee.

Detention centers
Many refugees end up living in crowded camps for years, waiting for conflicts to end so they can go home. Others strike out on their own, heading to more stable countries in Europe and North America and applying for asylum. But often they languish in prison-like detention centers while their asylum cases are pending — and if they fail, they are deported to their country of origin.

Some 358,800 asylum applications were recorded in 44 countries in 2010, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

The greatest number of asylum seekers made their request to the U.S., which received approximately 55,500 asylum applications in 2010 but accepted only 21,113, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Story: U.S. system for refugee, asylum seekers explained
Mukeni Beya was one of the lucky ones. Thanks to the network of doctors and lawyers who helped her heal and gain asylum, as well as her own determination, she’s now back where she wanted to be: teaching in a classroom with the freedom to speak her mind.

‘I was humiliated'
Mukeni Beya, a calm, confident, soft-spoken 58-year-old, was the first female psychologist in the former Zaire, a sprawling country in the center of Africa with a population of 71 million. Mobutu was the all-powerful one-man ruler of the country from 1965 until he was ousted in 1997 by Laurent Kabila, who renamed the country the Democratic Republic of Congo.

From Congo to NY: a refugee's story of redemption .
..After presenting her dissertation in Belgium in 1980, Mukeni Beya returned to Zaire to teach. Before long, she was named to head the department of psychology at the University of Kisangani, and later assumed the same position at the University of Kinshasa, in the country’s capital.

Mukeni Beya said being the only female professor and the head of a university department in a male-dominated culture was not easy. She met resistance from both professors and students, who were not accustomed to working with or being taught by a woman.

“But I kept doing my job, because I was convinced that … if I got discouraged, I (would) show the Congolese that women cannot do something because they are weaker,” she said in a recent interview in New York.

A member of the Luba tribe, which was marginalized by Mobutu’s regime, Mukeni Beya was soon labeled as a troublemaker for pushing her students to be critical of their government, for trying to get rid of corruption among the other professors and for encouraging the female students to stand up for themselves.

“I thought that as a professor, it was my responsibility to raise the awareness of students,” she said. “My goal was not to say we are against the government, just to say we to question the government and be more critical.” She now says she was naïve and that there were government spies in some of her classes.

Forced to stand for two days straight Things came to a head when a mob attacked her as she was handing out an exam on Congo’s Independence Day, June 30, in 2002. She was grabbed, taken away again and forced to stand for two days straight in a secret government installation.

“They said, ‘You are the one we’ve been searching for. Here you are – show that you are the professor. You will stand up; because you are a teacher, you are used to standing,’” Mukeni Beya said.
She said her captors, including some former students, mocked her and put cigarette butts out on her legs. They also subjected her to what she described as psychological torture meant to demean and discourage her. “I was well-known, the great Professor Mukeni, and then I was reduced to nothing,” she said. “I suffered physically, yes — but I suffered more by this kind of humiliation.”

As a result of the torture she developed deep-vein thrombosis — or major blood clots in her legs — a chronic condition that can be life threatening if not treated. As she shared her story, she lifted her long skirt to show the compression stockings she wears to prevent new blood clots from developing.

After being released, she knew she had to leave the country. She recalls breaking the news to her children.

“I told them, either I get help and improve my health and we can live together for a long time or I stay here and you know what will happen,” she said. “They were very courageous. They said, 'Mom, go.'”

On Christmas Day 2002, she and her youngest daughter, who was 11, left for New York City. When she arrived at Bellevue Hospital, the doctors took one look at her swollen legs and said she needed immediate emergency treatment.

“Torture, as we know, can have devastating health consequences — physically, psychologically and socially,” said Dr. Allen Keller, the director of the Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture, who treated Mukeni Beya when she first arrived. “She endured all of these — the physical injuries, including the chronic deep vein thrombosis; the psychological impacts, feelings of sadness, terror, sleep difficulties.”

From prestige to poverty
Keller added that sometimes the social challenges and feelings of isolation can be among the biggest obstacles refugees face.

“Here was somebody who had been an accomplished professor — a leader in her field in her country and she arrives here basically penniless. So I know it was very difficult for her,” he said.

The United States has a long history of accepting refugees and asylum seekers who have been forced to flee their homes because of persecution or fear of persecution because of their race, religion, nationality, social group or political opinion. In 1980 Congress passed the Refugee Act to bring U.S. law into compliance with the U.N. protocol on refugees, which prohibits any nation from returning a refugee to a country where his or her life may be threatened.
The U.S. provides refuge to victims of persecution through two programs: one for refugees outside of the U.S. and one for asylum seekers in the U.S. People in both groups go through lengthy processes to attain their immigration status.
Mukeni Beya received asylum in 2004, thanks in large part to Human Rights First, a nonprofit, nonpartisan international human rights organization.
Shoshana Altschuler, a member of the group and a young lawyer, took on Mukeni Beya’s pro-bono asylum case and helped steer her through the labyrinth that is this country’s immigration system.
“The way they treat me, they were with me every single day. I consider them as part of my family,” Mukeni Beya said of Altschuler and the other lawyers who worked on her case.
Even though she switched law firms, Altschuler continued working to win asylum for the rest of Mukeni Beya’s family and, in December 2004, the immigrant and her four other children were reunited in New York.

'A hard experience' Gaining asylum for herself and her family did not solve all Mukeni Beya’s problems. Her teaching credentials were no good here and she was no longer the well-respected professional she had been.
“Being here as a refugee is a hard experience. You experience humiliation — every single day,” said Mukeni Beya. “You experience unemployment, homelessness, sickness — all these experiences just push you down. But you have to be strong enough to just stand up and say, ‘I know why I am here.’”

When she discovered she would have to repeat in English all the courses she had taken in French as a young college student, Mukeni Beya’s response was “OK! I will do that.” She never told her teachers about her background, but her secret inevitably crumbled when she aced her exams.
As she worked her way back, she found time to teach French at the Alliance Francaise, volunteer at the Henry George School of Social Scienceand work odd jobs to support her family.
Now, nearly nine years later, her hard work has paid off. She became an associate professor at the City College of New York a few weeks ago.
Jonathan D. Woods / msnbc.com Marie Rose Mukeni Beya gives a lesson as part of an adolescent and youth psychology course at City College of New York on June 14. “I will teach what I have taught all my live: infancy and child development and adolescence," she said.
She is applying for U.S. citizenship and will take her naturalization exam soon. Her daughter, who is now in college studying medical engineering, has already become a U.S. citizen. Two of her sons are also attending college and the third is working full time.
Her lawyer, Altschuler, said she spoke to Mukeni Beya after she taught her first class at City College and that she was the happiest she has ever heard her.
“She’s made a real effort in the years that she’s been here to assimilate into our society,” Altschuler said. “She’s worked hard to follow the rules and get back to where she was. She is such a positive spirit and such a hard worker and has good morals, good values, and really just works to better herself and her family. Her determination is what made her story a success story.”
Not alone
For Keller, the doctor who treated her when she arrived in the U.S., Mukeni Beya’s story is what his work is all about.
“Clearly in many ways, Marie Rose represents the American dream: someone who overcame profound brutality and trauma, came here literally penniless and has not only rebuilt her life, but makes invaluable contributions to our society.”
Keller said that while Mukeni Beya’s story is remarkable, it is not uncommon. Survivors of Torture has cared for more than 3,000 individuals from more than 80 countries since it was founded 1995, and many of the refugees, asylum seekers and torture victims he meets on a daily basis have similar stories.
“Individuals come here — often individuals who were very high functioning in their countries, but they may come here not speaking the language, not having friends or family or jobs. Basically homeless, undocumented, uninsured, uneverything,” said Keller. “But the same determination, tenacity, survival skills that enabled them to survive what they were subjected to in their country, also serves them well in making it here and rebuilding their lives.”

Mukeni Beya said the road to a new life has not been easy, but she credits the “Four Ds” — dedication, determination, devotion and discipline — with keeping her moving forward.
She said that as an educated woman who has been given the opportunity to make the best of her life, she couldn’t stand for anything less.
“It’s up to me to make the right choice,” she said. “… You fight, struggle every day.

2011-06-19T23:51:00.000-07:00

Angelina Jolie traveled to the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa on Sunday to thank its residents for welcoming in the estimated 20,000 migrants who arrived after fleeing unrest in Tunisia and Libya.

Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, toured a migrant holding center, chatted with some refugees and then participated in a ceremony at Lampedusa's memorial for migrants lost at sea as part of commemorations for World Refugee Day on Monday.

"It is very hard to imagine looking out at this beautiful sea how many people have risked their lives and how many people have risked their children's lives and so many of them have lost their lives at sea," she said.

She thanked the residents who gathered for the ceremony for welcoming the migrants in and asked them to consider how "horrible" their lives must have been that they would risk everything for the chance of a better life in Europe.

"Can you imagine how it must feel to finally cross in" to Italy? she asked. "For the coast guard to save them and carry them to safety, save their children's lives and give them a chance to survive and to have a future, and what it means to them," said Jolie, wearing a plain black blouse and jacket.

U.N. refugee chief Antonio Guterres also was on hand to urge Europe to continue keeping its doors open to refugees. Italy's center-right government has begrudgingly accepted the migrants. It has also struck deals with Tunisia and the Libyan opposition to return those who don't qualify for asylum.

Guterres said the debate in Europe about immigration "doesn't correspond to the reality," given that the number of African migrants who have arrived in Europe is a fraction of the numbers who have gone elsewhere, such as Tunisia or Egypt.

'A drop in the ocean'
"Obviously, for a small island like Lampedusa, to have such a large number of people coming is a huge pressure," he told reporters. "But for Europe as a whole, it is a drop in the ocean, and so I believe that with an adequate form of solidarity this challenge can be overcome."

Lampedusa, with a permanent population of 6,000, was overwhelmed this spring by waves of refugees fleeing the social uprising in Tunisia, with an estimated 20,000 arriving on the island, which is closer to Africa than mainland Italy. Boats continue to arrive from Libya, but eventually the refugees are transferred to holding centers elsewhere in Italy or sent back home unless they qualify for asylum.

Pope Benedict XVI urged countries to welcome refugees for as long as they need sanctuary in a message delivered Sunday while visiting the tiny republic of San Marino, itself founded in the early 4th century by a Christian refugee from Croatia.

"I invite civil authorities and every one of good will to guarantee a welcome and dignified living conditions for refugees until they can return to their countries freely and safely," Benedict said.

Yet as he spoke, members of Premier Silvio Berlusconi's government heated up the anti-immigrant rhetoric during an annual rally of the xenophobic Northern League party near the northern city of Bergamo.

Interior Minister Roberto Maroni drew cheers from the crowd when he boasted of the hardline policies he has pushed through to return migrants back to their home countries

2011-06-01T07:28:00.000-07:00

There is great need today to market out African traditional attire.It is amazing how people respond so positively to the briliant and bright attire from the African continent. We certainly have a valued and treasured cultural product that can enrich and add value to other people's lives

2011-05-31T21:17:00.000-07:00

We just came back from celebrating out first year wedding anniversary and we had an awesome time. we visited the Traverse city area and the scenery there was spectacular. This is an area worth visiting!!

2011-03-04T19:16:00.000-08:00

Internal Security Minister George Saitoti (right) with the Democratic Republic of Congo Minister for Regional and International Integration Raymond Tshibanda (left) and the country’s Ambassador to Kenya Tadumi Onokoko (centre) after addressing the Press at Harambee House, Friday. [PHOTO: COLLINS KWEYU/Standard]

Top Government officials caught in web of blood gold

Top Government officials are said to be among members of an international smuggling ring involving gold and other high-value minerals from a neighboring country.

Investigations revealed that the smuggling network is well connected and is said to have a firm foothold in several key ministries, including Internal Security, Finance, Immigration, Environment, and Foreign Affairs. According to Internal Security Minister George Saitoti, some of the kingpins of the illicit trade are influential politicians in Government.

Yesterday, Saitoti — while remaining guarded on the details — revealed that the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) had interrogated some influential politicians in connection with the ring.

Among those helping with investigations is a Congolese citizen, who was arrested in Nairobi, Friday.

The suspects are believed to be behind the disappearance of 2.5 tonnes of the mineral stolen from eastern Congo and valued at Sh8 billion.

On Thursday, DRC President Joseph Kabila met President Kibaki, and their talks centred on smuggled gold and other minerals from the war-torn country.

The talks came within days of the murder of a Kenya Revenue Authority investigator, Joseph Cheptarus, who was on the trail of the smuggling ring that also, include a PNU activist, and the family of a minister allied to ODM.

CID boss Ndegwa Muhoro spent the better part of yesterday and Thursday night at Harambee House, briefing Saitoti and Kabila’s delegation on the status of the investigations.

The CID has been conducting the investigations together with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), and the Immigration Department.

Porous borders

Cheptarus, the slain KRA senior assistant commissioner, had been seconded to the investigations team. He was shot dead at around 1.15am last Saturday, as he entered his home in Nairobi’s South C Estate. The team had established that Nairobi had become a popular transit point for gold merchants from the DRC, serving genuine and illegal trade for overseas markets, because of lax security.

With porous borders and highly corruptible Immigration officials, Kenya is often used as a transit route for minerals, hardwood timber, and artefacts from DRC destined for markets in the Middle East, China, Belgium, Switzerland, India and the United States, according to multiple United Nations Security Council reports.

Gold and diamonds smuggled from Congo have featured prominently in Kenya, and during the Goldenberg Inquiry, Kamlesh Pattni — believed to have been the architect, gave detailed accounts of how he and his associates in the Kanu regime smuggled diamonds and gold from the DRC.

On the mysterious disappearance of the 2.5 tonnes of gold, investigators are focusing on how it was smuggled into the country before being trans-shipped to Dubai. It is also suspected that some of the gold found its way to South Africa, where investigators plan to visit as part of their probe.

A preliminary report handed over to Kibaki and Kabila details how smugglers use Nairobi as a transit hub.

The report prompted the two presidents to form a joint team to intensify the search for the multi- billion-shilling illegal gold consignment.

"They instructed police authorities in both countries to share information on suspected persons as well as registered dealers in minerals in the two countries," said Saitoti.

The two presidents acknowledged that illegal exploitation of minerals has been a source of conflict in eastern DRC, and welcomed the Lusaka Protocol that commits member states of the Great Lakes Region to end the trade, according to the Internal Security minister.

"They underscored the need to uphold the Lusaka and Nairobi protocols on management of minerals and agreed that Kenyan authorities vigorously pursue the ongoing investigations," added Saitoti.

He was speaking in his office when he received two ministers from the DRC — Regional and International Co-operation minister Raymond Tshibanda and his Mining counterpart, Martin Kabwelulu — minutes, before Kabila flew out.

Saitoti said the two presidents undertook to share information and intelligence on illegal trafficking of minerals.

The meeting came after weeks of a fruitless search for the 2.5 tonnes of gold worth Sh8 billion that disappeared from the DRC in January. The gold was destined for export to the United Arab Emirates.

Investigations began after the mineral-rich DRC requested the Interpol regional bureau in Nairobi to track suspected smugglers and seize any consignments on transit in Kenya. The illegal trade raises security concerns because of the huge amount of money the minerals attract in the black market. It is feared unscrupulous dealers could use the wealth to buy weapons and fuel fighting in an already volatile region.

The revelations emerged after more than 475 ingots of the commodity valued at Sh1.6 billion went missing at a warehouse in the Nairobi, and later found its way back to Goma, in the DRC, last December.

Custom warehouse

Lawyers in the Sh1.6 billion gold revealed that the commodity was headed to the US, for purchase by one Mukaila Aderemi ‘Mickey’ Lawal. Lawyer Punit Vadgama, acting for the US national, said his client denied that he was involved in the Sh8 billion disappearance.

Lawal, 50, had in January visited Nairobi and inspected the commodity in a warehouse said to have been at "a Customs warehouse" at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport after overseeing its smelting.

Lawal, who was detained along with fellow Houstonian Carlos St Mary and two other businessmen on February 3 in Goma, had arrived on a jet ready to fly with the commodity when Congolese intelligence police intercepted them, impounded the plane, and seized almost $7 million and the gold bars.

It was then that Vadgama wrote to Kabila explaining the genesis of the issue. He said one Axiom contacted him in December to set up a Kenyan company to obtain licenses and permits for a legal gold transaction that supposedly began when "a person named David" approached St Mary in the US.

Vadgama said ‘David’ had agreed to sell Axiom 475kg of gold at a competitive price. The deal was to take place in Kenya and to be legally documented.

When a delegation of the American group arrived in Kenya, St Mary and his partners began to suspect they might be getting duped when they made partial payment and suddenly could no longer contact the Kenyan ‘owner’ of the gold who was brokering the deal identified as E. Michelle Malonga.

After notifying Kenyan police of the possible swindle in January, Malonga contacted Axiom that the gold had been taken to Uganda, and that the deal would have to be sealed there.

Further, Malonga is alleged to have said that the gold was in Congo and that the deal had to go down in Goma. They agreed, went to Goma, paid Malonga and his associates and the gold was loaded on a Nairobi-bound flight.

It was reported in Congo that the commodity was in the possession of men taking it to the residence of Gen Bosco Ntaganda, who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes.

Ntaganda has denied involvement in gold smuggling.

http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=2000030494&cid=4&ttl=Top Government officials caught in web of blood gold

2011-01-26T11:33:00.000-08:00

Education: The key to Africa's Futuer in the 21st Century

Africa is no doubt blessed with wonderful natural resources that hold so much potential to bring about development for the continent. However, where the continent has failed is the development of its Human resources. Not enough is done to add value to the manpower in Africa and that is why the Africa's natural resources are lying idle and not exploited for the good of its people.

Community leaders, parents and other stakeholders need to wake up and realize that it is imperative to invest in the children and youth of Africa. An educated and enlighted citizenry will not be easily swayed and misused by corrupt and selfish leaders.

Vigilance among the citizens can only be assured from a people who have the knowledge to make the right choices about their day to day lives.

The 21st Century will only be bright if we truly focus on transformational education for our children

2010-02-17T06:49:00.000-08:00

Knowledge Economy: The Next Frontier for Africa

The year 2010 is particularly significant because it marks the start of a new decade. New beginnings are always an opportunity for renewal and rededication to development aspirations. Perhaps more noteworthy is the fact that this year marks the fiftieth anniversary of' independence for a large number of' African countries. Encouraged by the trailblazing example of countries like Sudan and Ghana and a critical mass of countries achieving independence in 1960, that period could arguably be described as the turning point in the struggle for decolonization. We must reflect on how well we have done since then.

Africa has made considerable progress since the beginning of the new millennium. This was the period in which the African Union was established and NEPAD adopted. Prior to the outbreak of the global economic and financial crisis, Africa had consistently achieved annual growth rates of 6%. It was making steady progress in peace and security issues and had taken the lead in defining its own governance agenda by promoting more democratic and accountable political structures through the creation of the unique African Peer Review Mechanism. In a number of social development areas such as gender equality, primary school enrolment, reductions in HIV prevalence rates and progress in the treatment of infectious and preventable diseases, Africa has made considerable gains.

The year 2009 however marked a departure from this trend as socio-economic developments in Africa were overshadowed by the global economic and financial crisis and the prior food and fuel crisis. Export and government earnings dropped significantly as did remittances and other financial flows. Continental GDI' dropped from 4.9 per cent in 2008 to 1.6% in 2009 which is below the population growth rate and implies a fall in per capita income. Similarly, governance conditions seemed to give fresh cause for concern with a rash of unconstitutional changes of governments that have blotted the political landscape in the recent past and which should be firmly resisted. Maternal mortality and violence against women and children remain unacceptably high and our societies continue to face challenges in providing adequately for marginalized and vulnerable groups as well as for refugees and internally displaced persons.

Despite this departure, the forecast in the forthcoming Economic Report for Africa, jointly published by the ECA and African Union Commission, shows that Africa's GDP is expected to grow at a rate of 4.3 per cent in 2010. We need to ensure that our development policies go beyond improving macroeconomic management and balances, which are important and necessary but insufficient. We need structures that promote production, employment and trade to transform our small and fragmented economies into strong, diversified and resilient entities that can generate employment for their teeming populations.

The adoption by the ILO and UN Economic and Social Council of the Global Jobs Pact aimed at stimulating economic recovery, generating jobs and providing protection to working people and their families is a step in the right direction. The 3rd Joint AU/ECA Conference of Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development taking place in Lilongwe, Malawi in March 2010 will take this matter further under the theme "Promoting high-level sustainable growth to reduce unemployment in Africa". All these efforts must he underpinned by a renewed sense of urgency in promoting Africa's regional integration agenda.

Regional integration is imperative if Africa is to realize its potential to become a dynamic economic force. Faster and deeper integration will not only reflect the pan-African ideal of continental unity but will also enable Africa to engage more meaningfully in global political and economic processes. A common African voice has been used to great effect in recent international forums such as the G20 meetings and the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. Despite minor misunderstandings, Africa got a good deal out of the Copenhagen meeting because it went in there as one delegation on the able leadership of Prime Minister Metes Zenawi. Regional integration will enable more economies of scale in the productive activities that must underpin greater competitiveness and growth in the continent.

In today's global knowledge economy and information-driven society, economic success is increasingly based on the effective utilization of intangible assets such as knowledge, skills and innovative potential as key resources for competitive advantage. Information and Communications Technologies can improve performance of businesses and the efficiency of markets, while empowering citizens and communities and increasing their access to knowledge.

ICTs provide several opportunities for our countries. As mobile phone usage expands, it will facilitate health, commerce, trading, and financial services such as m-banking and m-payments. Africans can now use their mobile phones to make person to person payments, transfer money, purchase pre-paid electricity. ICT devices also provide a wealth of information that have enhanced the education and knowledge stream for children, leading to their further understanding of Africa's development challenges, human rights issues and the science and technology underpinning ICTs. Furthermore, the use of geo-spatial technology for management and exploration of natural resources and disaster awareness and preparedness as well as in climate change adaptation will contribute to improving socio-economic conditions in Africa.

Whilst Africa has chalked some milestones in embracing and adapting to the Information Society and the use of ICTs, it needs to be integrated much faster into the knowledge economy. Critical foundation blocs need urgently to he put in place, namely by way of infrastructure, regional backbones and connectivity. Internet growth and speed is still limited in Africa. We have only one fixed broadband subscriber for every 1,000 inhabitants while Europe in comparison has 200 subscribers per 1,000 people.

I am nevertheless happy to report that through the African Information Society Initiative with the support of ECA and its partners, up to forty African countries have made good progress in adopting ICT strategies especially through National Information and Communication Infrastructure Plans (NICIs). Tremendous efforts are also underway to launch e-health, e-government and e-commerce applications in related sectors. Through initiatives such as e-CEMAC and e-SADC, ICTs are being used in support of regional integration to promote harmonization of national policies and regulatory frameworks. ECA accordingly looks forward to working closely with its partners especially the African Union Commission in monitoring the Summit outcomes on ICT.

By Abdoulie Janneh,

UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ECA.

http://www.africanexecutive.com/modules/magazine/articles.php?article=5028&magazine=270

2008-09-12T05:50:00.000-07:00

Only the bold can face this Maasai ceremony

By Isaac Ongiri

Initiates parade outside Impiron village in Loitokitok in readiness to undergo a traditional ritual.

The acrid smell of cow dung mixed with red ochre pervades the atmosphere as thousands of young Maasai youths sit huddled together at the start of their age group’s most important initiation ceremony.

They are about to undergo the Maasai rite of passage into moranism, which has become more symbolic than traditional due to the advent of education and influence on culture by modern times.

Initiates parade outside Impiron village in Loitokitok in readiness to undergo a traditional ritual.

But Maasai elders are keen to maintain the remaining vestiges of the community’s world-acclaimed culture.

And such was the moment when more than 4,000 Maasai morans recently gathered at Impiron village for a special coronation before being ushered into moranism.

The process is punitive, breathtaking, spectacular and largely horrifying to the uninitiated observer.

First, they spend their last night in the jungle before bathing in a slow flowing cold river at dawn.

According to traditional chief Lekato ole Mento, the community has kept its tradition of modeling warriors for protection from "external invasion".

Future army

"The 4,000 young men you are seeing here will be the community’s army. They have to sacrifice, and their courage must be tested to ascertain whether they are ready to become men," Mento states.

Mento was picked to lead eight selected and traditionally anointed old men from the age group whose sons would be graduating through the ceremony. At Impiron village, everything is arranged and order and protocol are adhered to, to the letter.

At the manyatta, the eight old men are in charge; they direct guests arriving for the ceremony and give briefs on the programme as they constantly consult the chief when not sure.

The process in solemn and very important in the lives of the initiates. Each one of them is careful to heed the advice of the elders.

An Elder, Nkiminis ole Mekoki smears special cream on one of the initiates.

Photos: Pius Cheruiyot/Standard

Several groups of young men in the region, some of them from as far as Moshi and Arusha in Tanzania, are also enjoined in the process, controlled by the power of one Oloibon (Maasai elder) Salaal ole Matunda of Kilimanjaro.

"He is the overseer. He advises the community and without his blessings, nothing happens," says Saroni ole Kamei.

The Oloibon has picked a name for the age set of 4,000 youths — "Iltwati".

On the last day, before they receive special blessings from Nkiminis Mekoki, the man the elders have picked to smear a special cream on the warriors’ faces, the morans are treated to a tumultuous reception at the manyatta.

They sing songs as they run around the homesteads with elders standing at each entrance to ensure none of them gets access to the manyatta.

"We do not allow them into the homestead before they spend their last day out and their bravery tested," says Kimonos.

No room for cowards

The rogue ones who are tempted into the manyatta are treated to caning by elders.

"Caning is no punishment. It just signifies the amount of suffering the initiates should expect when they become warriors. It also ensures high standards of discipline," says Mekoki.

While in the bush, the boys try their hands at war with the wildlife. They kill snakes, lions, hyenas and other wild animals.

But for this particular rite, the boys have been advised not to kill lions, and KWS rangers deployed to keep watch as the boys spend time in the wild ensure this.

"We have organised for KWS rangers to be around, not necessarily to interfere but to ensure the lions are not attacked by our warriors," says Assistant Minister Katoo ole Metito, who is a member of the age set whose first born sons are graduating.

Metito says the ceremony that is planned every seven to eight years costs the organisers close to 150 cows, as it runs for 30 days.

"I don’t know how much that can cost us because we don’t bother as long as the ceremony is successful," says Nkiminis.

On the final day, guests from all walks of life are invited, with juicy nyama choma (roast meat) available in plenty.

The boys are well fed, and then they each take blessings from the anointed man Nkiminis, who together with his wife and son smears "blessed" oil on each and every face.

Final stage

Those who qualify at this stage are then circumcised and declared warriors and mandated to be in charge of the community security.

According to Metito, the initiated and circumcised group will undergo another ritual known as eunoto as the previous morans hand over to them.

The minister, however, says modernity is fast catching up with the cultural practice that has survived the years.

"They cannot kill lions like we did but only snakes. They can also not practice moranism all through because they have to go to school," he adds.

http://www.eastandard.net/specialreports/InsidePage.php?id=1143994696&cid=259&

2008-07-26T08:19:00.000-07:00

Taming harsh sunrays to make cooking easy

Mrs Julia Puka checks to see if a meal is cooked and ready to be served.
Photos: Peter Ochieng/Standard

Published on 25/07/2008
By Isaiah Lucheli

The blazing sun and harsh conditions in the semi-arid Pokot makes farming almost impossible.

Many of the villagers depend on relief rations from the Government and livestock rearing for their survival.

Water sources have dried up and farming along the riverbanks is no longer sustainable.

Cattle rustling, the high rate of school dropouts, malnutrition and early marriages have for many years been part of the people’s lifestyle.

It is for that reason that women in Pokot Central District decided to brainstorm and see how they could make use of the blazing sun.

The women place a black painted pan in a polythene bag in readiness for cooking
They had for many years preserved food and dried vegetables for storage using the scorching sun’s heat.

But never had they thought that they could use the sun to make some income until they ventured in the production of solar cookers.

They grappled with the idea, bought material with the little money they could raise and begun making a few solar cookers in 2003.

They then organised themselves into the Wei Wei women group and started using old carton boxes and aluminium foils to make cookers for domestic use.
Today, they sensitise the villagers on how to use the cookers by holding demonstrations during market days in the vast district.

The cookers, made from used carton boxes covered with aluminium foil, are curved into hexagonal shapes.

“The scorching sun and the harsh climatic conditions in the region have made the cookers ideal for the area. The cooker is known as ‘Cook It’,” explains group Treasurer Julia Pukat.

Sell thousands of cookers

From the humble beginning when the women made a handful of cookers for members at a small fee, they now sell thousands of the cookers.

Pukat explains that ‘Cook It’ design enables the user to curve them in a hexagon shape to facilitate the placing of the cooking pan in the middle.

The biggest problem encountered by the women is the sourcing of aluminium foil and the cartons.

“We buy cartons and the foil from supermarkets in Kitale and Eldoret, but the good sales we make cover the cost,” says Pukat.

“The shape of the cooker enables the sun rays to be directly deflected on the cooking pan. However, the user has to keep turning the cooker in the direction of the sun’s rays,” she adds.

Heat retention

Pukat explains that the cooking pan and its lid are painted black to enable them retain heat as the foil in the boxes reflect the scorching sunrays to the cooking pan.

Mrs Julia Puka checks to see if a meal is cooked and ready to be served.
Photos: Peter Ochieng/Standard

She says that in an effort to ensure the food is cooked within a short period, the pan containing the food is wrapped in a polythene bag before being placed on ‘Cook It’.

"The polythene bag used must be checked to ensure it is not torn. After the pan with its lid is placed in the polythene bag, it is tied with a thread," she told The Standard in an interview in Sigor market.

To facilitate effective cooking, three tiny wooden pieces of wood are placed on the base of the cooker. These are the ones that prop the pan in the right position.
Pukat further explains that clean water is scarce in the region, but the solar cookers enable them purify drinking water. This had led to a reduction in waterborne diseases.

"We have a gadget we use to measure the impurity level in the water. If it lies horizontally in the water after boiling then it is safe for drinking," she explains.
Pukat displayed a small cylindrical glass-like gadget with some fluid inside and a long string.

She says the cookers are hygienic and they are used in the drying of vegetables and fruits to facilitate storage.

"Our area is arid and there is no meaningful agriculture but we normally have mangoes, paw paws and vegetables harvested from the Wei Wei irrigation scheme. We dry and store our harvest for future use," she says.

Pukat adds that since its inception in 2003, the group had attracted more than 500 members, from a paltry 10 who started the organisation.

Revolutionised cooking

A beneficiary of the project, Josephine Wakini explains that the cooker had revolutionised her cooking at her Lomut home.

She says the scorching sun had come in handy.
"I used to trek for long distances in search of firewood, but the situation now is different. I have less to worry about. The cooking process is simple, hygienic, with less preparation time," she says.

The women have been raising awareness on the benefits of the solar cookers and sell them at Sh1,200 a piece.

Wakini explains that she has stopped worrying about her lungs due to smoke from firewood. She also pays less attention to the cooking process.

The process, she says, is simple. One mixes her ingredients with, for example, beef or vegetables and some water before putting it in the cooker.

The solar cookers can prepare a wide variety of foodstuff and the time taken depends on the type of food.

For instance, it takes one hour to fry meat, cook rice and groundnuts.
Wakini says a mixture of maize and beans commonly known as githeri takes two hours, but the mixture has to be soaked overnight.

She adds that the preparation of ugali takes at least one and a half hours and explains that the process is easy and convenient.

The organisation's Chairlady, Agnes Lokitare, explains that Solar Cooking International officials trained them further on how to make the cookers.

"An Italian organisation also played a key role in facilitating us to make the solar cookers. We are now able to effectively harness sunrays for our benefit," she says.
The group has been able to reach out to more than 1,000 women in Ortum, Chepariria and Sigor and they are in the process of moving to Turkana District.

"God gave us the sun for free and we are happy that now we can also see the positive side of its scorching heat. Initially we used to blame the sun for all our woes," explains Lokitare.

The solar cookers are not only a blessing for the local people, but also play a key role in environment conservation.

"The issue of firewood is becoming an aspect of the past. The workload in our homes has reduced. One can leave the food cooking as she carries out other chores without any fear of the food burning," she explains.

The kit includes a cooking pan, lid, the cooker, the gadget for measuring water impurity, polythene bag and three tiny pieces of wood for positioning the pan.

The women have, however, faced many challenges in their struggle. Lack of transport to traverse markets in the vast district and extreme weather conditions are some of the factors that hamper their efforts.

But they are determined to make use of the blazing sun for the betterment of their lives, their families and that of the community.

http://www.eastandard.net/specialreports/InsidePage.php?id=1143990877&cid=259&

2008-06-05T16:48:00.000-07:00

Thirst spreads as shortage of water persists

Samples of contaminated water presented to Water Minister Charity Ngilu when she visited Mandera. The area experiences a perennial water shortage. Picture: Boniface Ongeri

Published on June 6, 2008, 12:00 am

By Adow Jubat and Boniface Ongeri

The adage, "the early bird catches the worm" may be true for residents of Mandera West Constituency.

Each morning, they wake to lick dew from plants to quench their thirst.
To them, the perennial water scarcity has turned into a nightmare.

"It doesn’t really quench our thirst, but keeps us going during the day’s intense temperatures," Mr Alnur Osman, 84, says as he moves his tongue from one leaf of a neem tree to another.

Dogged by a perennial water crisis, the residents of this remote constituency want a lasting solution.

"The dew only helps to minimise thirst but as you can see, we are dirty for not washing. We need water," Alnur says.

While the rest of the country is exploring prospects for oil and improved agricultural turnover, the constituency is yet to have a reliable water supply.
Several excavations have been done, but none has been successful.
Children have not been spared by this crisis.

Many have dropped out of school to join their parents in search of the precious commodity.

In the dry dusty roads, they flag down motorists, begging for water. A resident, Mr Ibrahim Adan Mohammed, says women do not attend to their chores fully because they spend most of their time looking for water.

Like schools, health centres have been worst affected, with most hospital facilities turning into health hazards instead.

Pans and dams that harvest the commodity during the rare rains are all dry as short rains last year and this year’s long rains failed.

A spot check on several dams and pans in Mandera reveal that most have dried up while others are a murky puddle.

At least eight locations are experiencing scarcity and require water tinkering, according to the DC John Kinja.

Several villages have been deserted as the occupants set out to look for water and pasture for their livestock and families.

Takaba, the constituency-cum-district headquarters, is not spared either. During the recent homecoming ceremony for area MP Mohammed Maalim Mahamud, visitors including Water minister Charity Ngilu and six Members of Parliament were shown samples of water full of algae that residents drink.

Concocted faces from the visitors said it all.

"I am ashamed to be the Water minister if this is the kind of water people drink here," Mrs Ngilu said.

A glimpse of the locals’ predicament greeted the entourage as they landed in a dusty airstrip.

"Welcome Minister Ngilu, but 45 years since independence, we have no water," the residents said, with some displaying banners to drive home the point.

Mandera badly needs water since it is predominantly a Muslim community in which everything depends on water.

Human-wildlife conflict

It is widely used to wash corpses before burial and for ablution in preparation for prayers.

Ngilu ordered an emergency delivery of water to the residents.
But even so, the residents are bracing for another bout of confrontation with wildlife, particularly baboons, over the scarce water sources.

"We often treat patients injured by baboons every year," Mr Ismail Tulo, a clinical officer at the local health centre, said.

Security personnel have also been caught in the fray. In Kiliweri, Elgofa, Banissa, Dandu and Darwet locations, security officers are now armed with firearms on one hand and jerricans on the other as they join the residents in search of water over long distances.

"Our major job here is to look for water besides ensuring security," an officer in Takaba said.

The Regional Manager for Water Resource Management Authority Ali Yarrow, says that since 1934, 18 trials to drill boreholes have been unsuccessful.

"The sites include Takaba, Kiliweri, Elgoffa, Wangai, Banisa, Guba, Darwet and Dandu," Yarrow said.

Between 2001 and 2006, some 12 sites were investigated, but only one at Khokai Hamansa was recommended for drilling to the depth of 350 metres. It was dry.
However, a site at Ereb Kuki along the Wargadud-Shimbir Fatuma road junction recommended in 1985 by the Ministry of Water and Irrigation geologists has not been drilled to date.

The military tried to drill two boreholes in Darwet, but they were also unsuccessful.
Local MP Mahamud said he would engage professionals to conduct a study on how the entire Mandera district’s needs can be addressed, including intensive hydro geological survey to identify fractured sites.

In the meantime, the residents will be waking up everyday before the sun strikes to lick dewdrops.

http://www.eastandard.net/specialreports/?id=1143987924&cid=259

2008-05-23T14:40:00.000-07:00

IDPs should be resettled in a peaceful environment

Published on May 24, 2008, 12:00 am

By Dr Kiplege Zochin

Resettling displaced persons in Rift Valley requires a sustainable mechanism for peace building and conflict resolution which may entail participatory strategies.
The efforts should involve the affected communities and their leaders. We cannot afford the consequences of forced resettlement.

Dialogue should be initiated in all affected areas. Chiefs and their assistants, councillors, church leaders and local elders should be involved in the peace talks. Each group should be encouraged to express their fears and suspicions.

Forced settlement will not work. It was recently reported that IDPs felt the Government was coercing host communities to accept them back. This was confirmed last week when IDPs who had been transported back to their farms in Burnt Forest returned to their camps. Mr Julius Nderitu, an IDP from Rukuini farm in Uasin Gishu District, reportedly said the situation on the ground forced him to return to the camp.

"You cannot force your way into enemy territory without reconciliation. Now they think we want to forcefully go back there, yet it is the Government that wants us to," he said. And Archbishop Cornelius Korir of Eldoret Catholic Diocese called on the Government to pursue dialogue.

Agriculture Minister, Mr William Ruto, concurs. He recently visited the IDPs at the Eldoret Showground accompanied by some Rift Valley MPs. He is reported to have told the victims to move only when they were ready, and that they should not be forced out of the camps.

The different communities should be brought together to discuss how they can co-exist without suspicion. It should involve striking deals on issues of mutual interest that cement their relationship. Their resolutions should be documented through minutes for future references.

Peace-building and conflict resolution

The proceedings of such meetings should be made sacred through prayers led by traditional and religious leaders. The local administration and humanitarian agencies can come in as facilitators.

Everybody’s participation in peace-building and conflict resolution will help protect the remaining limited resources. This includes human lives and infrastructure. Reconstruction is therefore an expensive undertaking.

We should build peace through initiatives that ensure destruction does not happen again.

Aid agencies have a crucial role in conflict prevention. This entails early warnings, grassroots peace building and networking with responsible decision-makers. The challenge of putting in place preventive measures to conflict is a fundamental global concern.

Two functions are expected of humanitarian and aid agencies. First is to give early warnings before a conflict erupts or escalates.

Second, they should engage the community in a gradual process to change attitude, perception and biased beliefs through education workshops, conflict transformation and conflict resolution.

Early warnings imply proactively taking part in actions that counter a plausible conflict. An aid agency working in a particular area needs to be on the alert, regularly making analyses of the political and social situation.

The challenge, therefore, is for these agencies to design strategic engagements to prevent conflict.

During last year’s election campaigns, the Government and peace agencies should have expected any eventuality, including inter-ethnic violence. They should have taken corrective measures to avert the post-election skirmishes.

This also puts into sharp focus the Government’s own early warning systems, through the National Security Intelligence Service.

There is need for present and future coordinated efforts towards conflict prevention.
We need sustainable peace-building and conflict resolution.

-The writer (ronzochin@yahoo.com) is a management consultant in Nairobi

http://www.eastandard.net/commentaries/?id=1143987132&cid=15

2008-05-14T21:04:00.000-07:00

The Clintons in sorrow as Obama sings ‘Yes, we can!’

By Okech Kendo

Hillary Clinton’s campaign is broke. She is borrowing to stoke dying embers of hope.

The woman who represents corporate America has run out of campaign cash and donors, while her rival Barack Obama’s vote-hunting war chest climbs by the dollar. Obama, the precocious second-generation Kenyan-American is propelled by the audacity of hope, with the call: "Yes, we can!"

Hillary has also depleted the bank of those who believe she still can, as she continues to lose those who believed she could. Supporters are pleading with her to quit with grace than waiting to exit in disgrace, too shrivelled to bargain.

Quit, when your stocks are still redeemable, is the message Hillary does not want to hear — not just yet.

Not that those who say she should leave love Hillary less, but they admire Obama more.

Near the sunset on the gruelling primaries for party presidential candidate, Democrats understand there is more to the race than Hillary claiming she is ready to be commander-in-chief on day one.

"Barack Obama has waged a very effective campaign. He is an unusually capable and talented man. I frankly didn’t know him when I endorsed Hillary last October," a Democratic Party leader and former US senator from South Dakota, who made failed attempt at White House in 1972, told Reuters, last week.

Americans who did not believe a black man could, within their lifetime, make such a winning bid for the White House, are joining the change-hungry. Their inspiration is Obama’s chorus, "Yes, we can!" And they are saying, "Yes, he can!"

Obama is leading in State support, pledged delegates and super-delegates. Super-delegates nominate the Democratic Party presidential candidate during the August Convention, if the race gets that far. The Democrat would then face the Republican nominee John MacCain in the November General Election.

Last week Hillary had a victory in Indiana that tasted like a loss. Obama had a loss that was too tight it seemed like a win.

Hillary’s two-point win in Indiana and Obama’s earlier 14-point lead in North Carolina gave the precocious ‘Kenyan’ new gravitas.

Hillary is in a quandary. Delegates no longer return her telephone calls. Donors are not keen on banking on a candidate on the losing trail. Now, it’s only Hillary who lends to the Hillary campaign.

Obama needs just 150 total delegates to win the nomination. Hillary still must convince 320 to reach the touchline. Even her most ardent supporters say she has no mathematical chance of winning. Not even Tuesday win in West Virginia can salvage her ambition.

Does not believe this is over

Hillary is fighting on, but Oregon and Kentucky, voting on May 20, may not rescue her from the precipice.

The Clinton clan is moaning. After the narrow win in Indiana last week, Bill Clinton was described as looking as "sour as a giant cranberry".

Her daughter Chelsea "appeared to be on the verge of tears".

Hillary, dressed in fluorescent scarlet, was described as "dagger-eyed and guns blazing in a remake of the zombie movie Dawn of the Dead".

The First Daughter who used to introduce her mother as "the next president of the United States" now remembers to add "hopefully".
"Apart from Hillary herself, it is very hard to find people who do not believe this is over," says one commentator.

"She is in denial." The woman is battered, bruised and brazen, but she is not quitting. She borrows to stay on.

From the Obama-Hillary duel we learn that small people across small towns that contribute, say, Sh500 or Sh1,000 are stronger than captains of corruption who donate Sh100m, at Sh1m-a-plate dinners at five-star hotels in Nairobi.

Such are the captors who force ‘bad candidates’ with power to rig elections, so the benefactors can recoup their ‘investments’. Those who donate Sh500 with clean hearts just want good governance.

That Obama could win with petty cash from largely nondescript Democrats is a lesson for Kenya’s would-be presidential candidates.

Hillary is heading towards a fall. Then she would probably plead with Obama to name her his running mate — a potential first woman vice-president of the United States.
The New York senator had tasted White House as the First Lady.

But her attempt to return to Washington as president and commander-in-chief, is in trouble after the Indiana-North Carolina stumble.

Pride is about the only thing that stands between former President Bill Clinton’s wife and snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

-The writer (kendo@eastandard.net) is The Standard Managing Editor, Quality and Production

http://www.eastandard.net/columnists/?id=1143986619&cid=190

2008-04-19T08:28:00.000-07:00

A time to heal

Story by BERNARD NAMUNANE
Publication Date: 4/18/2008

Mr Raila Odinga, Prime Minister

President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga Thursday pledged to work together to heal and re-unite the country.

The President called for the speedy resettlement of internal refugees while the Prime Minister pledged to lead the campaign against violence. He also extended an olive branch to the Mungiki sect members who have been blamed for chaos in which over 11 people were killed this week.

The two leaders spoke when the Grand Coalition Cabinet was sworn in at State House, Nairobi, Thursday.

Said President Kibaki: “Now that we have agreed to work together, let us not go back to what we have come from. The most important thing was coming together and we should not stray from the course.”

Mr Odinga had earlier said: “There will not be two Cabinets but one Cabinet. On this, I and President Kibaki are in full agreement.”

Thursday’s ceremony was witnessed by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and chief mediator Kofi Annan among other dignitaries and diplomats.

After taking his oath of office, Mr Odinga promised to spearhead efforts to end further violence in the country.

“We want our Mungiki brothers to come out and talk to us to end the killings. We will go an extra mile to ensure there is peace in this great country of ours. We do not want to see Kenyans killing each other,” he said,

For Mr Annan, the former UN secretary-general, the ceremony was the fruit of his mediation effort which saw President Kibaki and Mr Odinga sign a power-sharing deal on February 28, ending two months of violence over the disputed presidential elections which left more than 1,200 people dead and 350,000 displaced from their homes.

The President and the Prime Minister pledged that the grand coalition will work as a team.

President Kibaki said he had spoken to Mr Odinga and Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka on the need for a united administration that has to pull the country out of the political and economic crisis and place it firmly on the path to recovery and progress.

Taken oath

Mr Odinga, who had just taken the oath to become the country’s second PM since independence, said PNU and ODM had come together to form one government and assured Kenyans that there was only one centre of power.

“We have decided to create a grand coalition government; we are not creating two governments but one,” he said.

Those present at the ceremony said it signalled fresh hope and highlighted the need to promote peace and unity and end violence that shook the country’s stability in January and February. The cost of the violence to the economy was estimated at over Sh260 billion.
Mr Annan, the man who helped the parties to find a solution to the crisis that was tearing the country apart, said Kenya had been on the edge of destruction and the new administration must nurture the peace that has been established.

“Kenya was on the brink but now that you have started a new journey, you must stay the course. Some times we tend to treat peace like we treat good health. You never know its value until you lose it. Peace is precious; let us not lose it again,” he said.

President Museveni expressed his delight at the restoration of peace in Kenya warned that political leaders should not go into a lull and allow the thorns of violence and political unrest “to prick the country’s tender skin again”.

“It is good that you have found a cure to the disease that had infected you. The duty you have ahead is to keep the prescription safe and apply it as the doctor has instructed. Such diseases are never cured completely,” he said.

The leaders spoke after the swearing in of Mr Odinga as the PM, his two Deputy Prime Ministers, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta and Mr Musalia Mudavadi.

Only 23 Cabinet ministers and 52 assistant ministers were sworn in during the ceremony that took two hours and ended at 12:53 pm. Of the ministers, only five women were sworn in since Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Martha Karua and Special Programmes minister Naomi Shaaban were sworn in in January.

The others had been sworn-in in January but they attended Thursday’s ceremony. However, Medical Services minister Anyang Nyong’o will be sworn in at a later date since he was out of the country. Two of the ministers who had been named in January were demoted in the new line-up that President Kibaki named on Sunday. They were Mr Asman Kamama and Dr Wilfred Machage.

Mr Odinga was the first to take the oath of office at 10:49 am. The oath was administered by Head of Civil Service and Secretary to the Cabinet, Mr Francis Muthaura. The oath involved swearing allegiance to the Republic of Kenya and its Constitution and bound the office holder to discharge his duties under the President and pledging never to reveal Cabinet secrets.

Next in line was Mr Kenyatta and Mr Mudavadi who took similar oaths before the other ministers were sworn in.

Mr Kamama and Dr Machage were sworn in as assistant ministers for Higher Education and Roads respectively.

President Kibaki urged his new Cabinet to move with speed to resettle the more than 600,000 Kenyans who were displaced from their homes during the two months of post-election violence.

“It is unacceptable that a Kenyan should be prevented from accessing his or her property by another,” the President said.

The new ministers were also given the responsibility of reconciling Kenyans and bring to an end the cycle of violence that had rocked the country in January and February. They were also urged to work towards a new Constitution and reverse the declining economic growth rate which had triggered an increase in food prices and transport costs.

The President also stated that the Cabinet must be united and should craft policies that will liberate half of Kenya’s population from poverty in five years.

“If we achieve this goal, the grand coalition will have served its true purpose, which is to unite all of Kenya’s leaders in a joint and effective war against poverty, ignorance and disease while also creating a just and democratic society.
US envoy Michael Ranneberger and his German counterpart, Mr Walter Lindner, praised the new Cabinet and urged the members to coalesce into a united team to address the needs of Kenyans.

“This was very positive for Kenyans and the agenda that has been laid out is very challenging. The signs are good and the United States will be present to give its assistance,” said Mr Ranneberger.

Performance

Mr Lindner, who described coalitions as exceptional said the Cabinet should be judged by its performance and not its size.

“Members of the Cabinet should start work immediately. We will look at the product and not the size of the Cabinet and Germany will offer assistance whenever it is required,” Mr Lindner said.

Present during the occasion were Tanzania Prime Minister Peter Pinda Mizengo, his Rwandese counterpart, Mr Bernard Makuza, Burundi’s First Vice President Yves Sahinguvu, former Malawi president Bakili Muluzi, former President Daniel arap Moi, National Assembly Speaker Kenneth Marende, former Vice President Moody Awori and a host of diplomats.

http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=1&newsid=121395

2008-04-08T08:27:00.000-07:00

STATEMENT BY HON. RAILA ODINGA, PRIME MINISTER-DESIGNATE, ON THE CURRENT STATUS OF NEGOTIATIONS ON FORMING THE GRAND COALITION GOVERNMENT

7 April 08

With cries of jubilation and Happy New Years, Kenyans on 28th February began to breathe freely again as the National Accord brokered by Mr. Kofi Annan was signed by President Kibaki and myself. The terror and fear they had been living under at the hands of mobs, militias and government forces was finally over.

A few weeks later, Parliament unanimously entrenched the Accord into the Constitution and Laws of Kenya.

But since then, Kenyans have observed with growing dismay and anxiety that not a single concrete agreement has been achieved on any aspect of the new coalition government. Our nation is adrift and without direction, and with each passing day, our problems are mounting.

To overcome this terrible impasse and another looming crisis, our side has gone many extra miles and made an extraordinary number of concessions. Against the strong wishes of our supporters and indeed of all Kenyans, we accepted PNU’s insistence on a bloated 40 member Cabinet.

I agreed also to cede some of the most crucial ministries – such as Finance, Defense, Internal Security and Justice and Constitutional Affairs.

-+In exchange, we obtained infrastructural ministries such as Energy, Transport and Roads - which are instrumental in the building of rapid economic growth - as well as Local Government and Foreign Affairs. But in agreeing to this, I indicated that we had reached our irreducible minimum. The response to our magnanimity from the other side has been to retract every agreement we have finalized!

This latest crisis in portfolio balance captures the astonishing lengths PNU is willing to go to ensure that it continues to monopolize power.

On 1st April, President Kibaki’s emissary, Hon George Saitoti, gave me a proposed list of 40 ministries and how they should be divided. The next day, we wrote to the President’s Office rejecting the proposal.

The following day, 3rd April, President Kibaki and I met for two hours and made numerous concrete agreements on portfolio balance that I have just mentioned, which enabled both of us to say publicly that the Cabinet would be announced yesterday (Sunday).

On Saturday, I received from Ambassador Muthaura a letter unilaterally indicating that the Cabinet to be announced would be formed on the basis of an enclosed list of ministries and their allocations that we had rejected on 2nd April! The agreements we reached in our 3rd April meeting were nowhere to be seen.

We were therefore unable to reach any agreement in the six hours of talks yesterday.
Today, in response to a letter I had written to President Kibaki, we received a reply from Ambassador Muthaura side reneging on our previous agreements, as well as the spirit and the letter of the Accord. In PNU’s interpretation, the Constitution grants the President exclusive executive power to run this country on his own, and that these powers supersede all the provisions of the Accord.

The President and I promised the nation yesterday that we would finalize arrangements for the Grand Coalition government, including the naming of the Cabinet.

However, PNU’s misconception of the Accord and the principles of democratic governance mean that there was no point in meeting today to conclude discussions on Cabinet formation and the constitution of the government.

We hereby provide correspondence between our two sides which gives details of the issues at stake and our proposals on the way forward. Let me state once again that we are committed to the full and speedy implementation of the National Accord to resolve the crisis gripping our country.

http://kumekucha.blogspot.com/

2008-04-08T08:19:00.001-07:00

Cabinet Crisis Drama In Writing

Here is a glimpse of the cabinet crisis drama in writing.....

7th April 2008

His Excellency Mwai Kibaki, CGH, MP

President of the Republic of Kenya

Office of the President,

P.O. Box 30510,

NAIROBI

Your Excellency,

RE: FORMATION OF THE GRAND COALITION GOVERNMENT

The meeting yesterday adjourned to allow for consultations until this afternoon, after you declined further discussions on portfolio balance and instead insisted on your proposed allocation of ministries.

Our party is deeply concerned that the stalemate over the formation of the Grand Coalition Government is increasing uncertainty and anxiety in the country. It is also escalating the mistrust that we as leaders were expected to eliminate by the establishment of the Grand Coalition.

The National Accord and Reconciliation Act is already in force. It must be understood that ODM and PNU are equal partners in the Grand Coalition. The failure to form the Grand Coalition Government is in fact a continuing breach of the Act and the Constitution.

We have always acted in good faith and conveyed to Your Excellency that the Grand Coalition would be one government. The positions PNU is staking claim to imply that we are forming a government with two cabinets. On the contrary, this is a Grand Coalition of two equal partners sharing executive power on a 50-50 basis.

It is becoming clear to our party that your side is reluctant to honour the spirit and principles of the National Accord and Reconciliation Act. I therefore wish to let you know that the following issues must be resolved in the course of our further consultations on the formation of the Government:

1. The Current Cabinet

The current cabinet should be dissolved to allow for the formation of a fresh Cabinet in accordance with the Act.

2. Portfolio Balance

Although we reluctantly conceded to an enlarged cabinet against the wishes of Kenyans, our party now maintains that the Grand Coalition Cabinet should not exceed 34 ministries. Allocations of portfolios must be based on the agreement of 3rd April 2008 in which we agreed that the PNU side nominates appointments in the Finance and Security portfolios and in return, ODM would nominate Ministers to the following portfolios:

· Local Government

· Foreign Affairs

· Transport

· Energy

· Cabinet Affairs

It is important I reiterate that the above represents and remains our Party’s irreducible minimum position. We attach hereto, for your ease of reference, the full ODM Portfolio Balance List, which was delivered to you last Friday.

3. Structure and Organization of Government

The following must also be agreed upon in advance:

· An acceptable classification of ministries;

· A clear definition of the roles and responsibilities of the Office of the Prime Minister;

· The structure and organization of government, including the rationalisation of the roles of the Head of the Public Service and Secretary to the Cabinet;

· Appointment of the Permanent Secretaries;

· Appointment of Ambassadors and High Commissioners; and the

· Appointment of the Chairpersons, Directors and Chief Executives of parastatals, and constitutional offices.

I propose that a Joint Team of four members, two from each side, be constituted to build consensus on these issues within the next three days.

Please confirm your acceptance of the above before the meeting this afternoon.

Yours truly,

Hon Raila Odinga, EGH, MP

Prime Minister-Designate

Encl.

http://kumekucha.blogspot.com/

2008-04-01T05:26:00.001-07:00

American rider on a mission to market Kenya

American motorcyclist Jerry Finley, who is on a tour of 13 African countries. He is helping market Kenya as a tourist destination.

Photo/DANIEL NYASSY

Story by DANIEL NYASSY
Publication Date: 2008/04/01

An American motorcyclist is on an ambitious mission to help redeem the reputation of Kenya as a tourist destination.

Mr Jerry Finley was in the country recently after the post-election violence that brought the tourism industry to its knees.

He is on a tour of 13 countries and says that he defied concerted negative publicity about Kenya during the post-election period to visit the country and see for himself what was happening.

American motorcyclist Jerry Finley, who is on a tour of 13 African countries. He is helping market Kenya as a tourist destination. Photo/DANIEL NYASSY

“When I arrived in Kenya, I was surprised at the inaccuracy of the situation as potrayed by the international media.”

Mr Finley said he realised that Kenya is not only a beautiful country, endowed with numerous tourist attractions, but also has very hospitable people.

Peaceful and safe
“I want to reassure people who plan to visit Kenya, that the country is peaceful and safe to visit, contrary to reports they read about or watch on international television channels,” he said.

Mr Finley says negative stories about Kenya, in the US media, had prompted him to include the country in his 13 African countries cycling tour, “in order to get the true picture and first-hand feel”.

The US media, he pointed out, reported negatively about Kenya, even after the peace deal was signed between the Party of National Unity and the Orange Democratic Movement.

Mr Finley says he will carry the message with him through the Horn of Africa, north, central and southern African states of Egypt, Zimbabwe, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi and South Africa, among others.

Relaxing at the Hemingway Beach resort in Watamu, when the Nation team bumped into him, Mr Finley said: “The US media portrayed and painted a very bad image of Kenya. It reported that Nairobi was a no-go spot. I got very curious and decided to come and see for myself.”

Many of his friends in the US also discouraged him from visiting Kenya, saying he was taking a risk of a lifetime. But he said he was determined to travel.

“Many friends told me Kenya was having one of its worst tribal revolutions and that there was a big war here. They told me strongly, don’t go there,” he says.

Mr Finley was surprised by the calm and tranquillity that he found when he stepped into the city. He said he camped somewhere near the city for a few days “in order to observe the fire in the city”.

He said what he saw disapproved the home media reports.
“I walked freely in Nairobi, even in some slum areas. Absolutely no problem, no incident,” says Mr Finley, who comes from California and is a well travelled person.

Enjoyed everything
The only “ugly” incident was when his motorbike, a huge 104 KTM-950 100 horse power adventure bike made in Austria, was hit by a land cruiser in the city.

He says it was quickly “fixed at a jua kali garage” and he continued with his journey.

“I love nature and I immensely enjoyed everything in Kenya, the donkeys, goats and cows on the roadside, the potholes on the roads, the cheerful people, the culture and the wild game. Everything is fascinating.

I think Kenya is a great country and not a trouble country as always portrayed in our media,” he said.

Mr Finley, who was in the company of other motorcycle riders from Holland and other countries, says he will definitely come back to Kenya.

“It is my honour to market the country to tourists from America and other countries after what I have experienced,” he says.

His advice to the Ministry of Tourism: “I think the country should try motorcycle tourism, which I think can do great. There are hundreds of professional motor riders in the US, Europe and elsewhere, who would love to come and do their jinx in the African jungle.”

Mr Finley, who is a member of a riders club back home, began his tour in the Horn of Africa and hopes to end it in Johannesburg, South Africa.

He has travelled widely across all the continents and describes his experience in Kenya as “one of the most captivating”.

“From the mountainous sites and valleys in the highlands and the Rift Valley, to the bare savanna grassland, to the dry and stony countryside, to the magnificent blue beaches, it’s all marvellous,” he says.

He says he enjoyed the local food and the short lived company of local people, particularly the rural people.

“Go east, go west, go north, go south, Kenya is the best.”
He wishes to be back soon, not on a motorbike, but in one of the planes bringing in tourists from the US.

Elsewhere, marketing Kenya as an international and domestic front has started paying off. A good number of Kenyans took time to savour the plenty found within their borders over Easter holidays.

The domestic tourism front, that had for a long time received little marketing, recorded an upsurge, as Kenyans poured in to the national parks and game reserves to spend their time.

Hotels and restaurants, that received a beating in revenue during the post-election violence experienced increased bookings.

Data on domestic tourism has remained negligible all year round in the past. This has left most tour operators and hospitality players to peg their focus abroad.

Late last year, the Ministry of Tourism unveiled the Domestic Tourism Council to spearhead the campaign. Part of its strategies was to work ways of impacting directly on the numbers of domestic tourism.

Although the post-election violence put on hold some of its planned activities, the council was incorporated into the National Tourism Crisis Management team.

The committee launched a website, Tembea Kenya, and a logo dedicated at promoting domestic tourism.

Additional reports by Joseph Bonyo

http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=39&newsid=120254

2008-04-01T05:09:00.000-07:00

Island of peace at the heart of desolate region

Turkana dancers in Loiyangalani. They do not just dance to entertain but also to preserve their culture. Photo/GEORGE OMONDI

Story by GEORGE OMONDI
Publication Date: 2008/04/01

To many Kenyans, the North Rift is synonymous with insecurity, thanks to the region’s perception as the land of cattle rustlers and bandits.

However, for tourists who enjoy navigating through the harsh terrain of northern tourist circuit, Loiyangalani Centre is a worthy resting stop.

The centre, which is near the shores of Lake Turkana, is like a shimmering mirage that adds colour to the vast arid and semi-arid region. But one has to get there to believe that the water is real, not a mirage.

To those familiar with the lifestyles of pastoralist communities, Loiyangalani is a haven of peace and a place of plenty in the middle of a land known for its desert-like conditions.

And although many communities in the North Rift are traditional enemies, at Loiyangalani, they live and share out their resources in harmony.

Welcome relief

Arrival at the centre, after spending days in the wilderness gives a life-after-death feeling. For tourists, the inviting blue-green waters of Lake Turkana which signals the arrival at the centre are a sight to behold in Loiyangalani.

The cool breeze that blows from the lake provides a welcome relief to visitors, after days of journeying through the hot and dry land.

Visitors who begin their journey by road from Nairobi via Isiolo, Samburu, Marsabit and North Horr to Sibiloi National Park, just a few kilometres from the country’s border with Ethiopia, are likely to arrive at Loiyangalani on the fifth day, if they choose to return to Nairobi via the South Horr–Baragoi-Maralal-Nyahururu road.

A stop-over at Loiyangalani, can leave the visitor feeling that one is no longer at the heart of the harsh arid region. After days of endless sand, one arrives at the centre only to be surrounded by water – not only from the lake but also from the hot springs that form the beautiful fountains that are a leading attraction at the centre.

Residents fondly refer to the centre as “a refreshing and a delightful oasis of quietness and friendship”. Like in most parts of northern Kenya, the communities living at the centre have preserved their culture.

Cattle rustling
Most pastoralist communities in the north are embroiled in cattle rustling and other wars over grazing land and water, which is scarce in the area. Each community believes that its members are victims of hostile neighbours, whom they depict as aggressors who cannot be trusted.

Besides cattle, the area residents have large numbers of camels and goats – the only other livestock that can withstand the harsh conditions.

But to the people of the region, these are not just animals. They signify one’s economic status. The more you have the richer you are — even if you acquired them after a battle with a neighbouring community.

At Loiyangalani centre, members of the Samburu, Turkana, El Molo and Rendile communities live side by side in harmony. They draw strength from their diversity and transact daily business in impressive Kiswahili — the preferred language at the centre.

Every morning, men and women at the centre begin their days early in the morning and continue working throughout the day.

Women mostly gather in groups and weave items for sale while some stay home to build houses. Men herd livestock as others collect and sell precious stones. The El Molo men mostly spend their time fishing.

Although each community maintains its culture, the work of NGOs in bringing them together, is largely noticeable in Loiyangalani.

Every youth or women’s project consists of members from different communities.
The groups usually sell members’ products, but they are also involved in environmental conservation efforts and tapping the tourism sector.

Mosaretu (short for El Molo, Samburu, Rendile and Turkana) women’s group is doing brisk business providing lodging and camping facilities to tourists who visit the region.

The accommodation is provided as a cluster of Turkana houses built under the shade of palm trees where temperatures are cooler during the day.

Mosaretu members, comprising about 50 women from the four different communities, usually perform ceremonial dances to entertain tourists and also organise cultural visits to various villages.

At the lodge, bath water is drawn directly from the hot springs. It is usually hot throughout the day and night, having been heated naturally.

At Loiyangalani centre, Turkana villagers gather outside their manyattas every evening to perform traditional dances until late into the night.
The performances are a sight to behold. Edong’a, Ekwale and Etung’ are some of the dances that a visitor is likely to enjoy the most.

“Our evening dances do not target visitors but they are part of our age-old cultural practices that we have to adhere to – with or without visitors,” said an elder, who only identified himself as Ekwe.

He explained that after every day’s work, villagers come together to share and celebrate their experiences through songs and dances.

Express love

Through the songs, young unmarried men express their love to young eligible girls — in the presence of the community members who include their parents.

Men who may have had heroic encounters at the grazing fields during the day also use the songs to narrate their escapades to the approval of ululating women.

Having wandered through the vast arid and semi arid north, the carnival mood that sets in every evening, as villagers prepare for the dances is a welcome relief, after the hard life that the pastoralist communities have to face each day.

But if tourism is to be improved in the region, the entire 235-km road towards Maralal needs to be rehabilitated as it is bumpy and mostly bordered by deep gullies.

One would be forgiven for thinking that he was on the surface of the moon. The section between Baragoi to Maralal is largely impassable during rainy seasons and hardly has any functioning bridges.

Fishermen at Lake Turkana said the poor state of roads hinders them from delivering their fresh catch to their customers in other towns.

“Few vehicles use the road to Maralal and this has forced us to preserve and sell our fish in dried forms only,” a fisherman at the shores of Lake Turkana told the Daily Nation.

The residents want the Government to build good roads to open up the region for tourism and promote the fishing industry.

Water is also a major problem in the region. Just a few kilometres from Lake Turkana, thirsty villagers, plastic bottles and gourds in hand, usually run towards any vehicle approaching from Loiyangalani to beg for water from passengers.

The farther one moves southward from Loiyangalani, the more the inter-community conflict between pastoralists intensifies, largely due to lack of water and pasture for the large number of livestock.

Guns in the wrong hands — something that is unheard of at Loiyangalani — are the order of the day in the dry parts where livestock is the only source of livelihood.
The guns are also a constant threat to private ranches and wild animals’ sanctuaries that dot the section between Baragoi, Maralal, Laikipia and Nyahururu.

Loiyangalani, a haven for harmony and peaceful coexistence, provides a case study for ending the incessant inter-community wars of the North Rift where lack of water, grazing ground and poor incomes have seen communities fighting for ages.

But the magic that works at Loiyangalani — especially the abundance of water — must be replicated in the other areas for peace to reign.

http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=39&newsid=120256

2008-03-26T21:23:00.000-07:00

Sh31m airstrip set to uplift growth of tourism in region

Story by MICHAEL NJUGUNA
Publication Date: 3/27/2008

Light clouds scudded across the sky as Kenya Wildlife Service chief pilot Anthony Kiroken guided his 14-seater plane to a perfect landing at Lake Nakuru National Park’s new tarmac airstrip at exactly 9.50am.

The newly built 1.2 kilometre airstrip at the Lake Nakuru National Park which is expected to boost tourism in the Central and Southern Rift Valley. The airstrip cost Sh31 million and is 28 metres wide. Photo/ JOSEPH KIHERI

Among pilot Kiroken’s passengers were the KWS chief executive officer Julius Kipng’etich and several senior officials of the organisation.

On the ground to receive them were the KWS regional assistant director, Mrs Anne Kahihia, mayor David Gikaria and several councillors, the manager of Barclays Bank, Nakuru branch, Mr Daniel Muya, representatives of the hotel industry and civil aviation, among others.

There were also representatives of the provincial administration, manufacturing companies and the Kenya Army, Lanet.

Engineers and other officials of Adequate Machinery Construction Company which built the 1.2-kilometre long airstrip, at a cost of Sh31 million, were also at hand for the handing over ceremony.

The commissioning of the new Class ‘B’ airstrip was aptly described during speeches made later by leaders as a umbilical cord that will marshal the economic recovery in central Rift Valley and beyond.

Lake Nakuru National Park and other tourist destinations in the area were beset by the post-election violence, which saw the number of tourists drop by about 88 per cent in February.

But Mr Kipng’etich extolled the benefit of all the stakeholders pooling their producer resources to enable the country overcome the past misfortunes, get back on the track and focus on Vision 2030.

Mr Kipng’etich said that KWS was in the process of repositioning Kenya as a premium tourist destination by upgrading infrastructure in all the parks.

Protected parks

He said the new all-weather airstrip, the best in central and southern Rift Valley, would turn the area into an investment hub and open up the picturesque sceneries and rustic resorts that spread all the way from Hell’s Gate in Naivasha, Lake Bogoria, Menengai Crater and the Maasai Mara.

Tourists will now be able to fly to Nakuru from Mombasa, the Maasai Mara and most of the other protected parks in the country, where the KWS is upgrading airstrips. Among the parks, where the KWS is to upgrade airstrips is Ruma in Suba, Mt Elgon, Tsavo East, Tsavo West, Meru National Park and Mweiga.

The KWS is also to provide an aircraft to each of its eight regions and allocate more sites for new lodges in the protected parks.

Lake Nakuru National Park has two lodges – the Lake Nakuru Lodge and Sarova Lion Hill. Tariffs will also be reviewed to ensure that the country reaps maximum benefit from its rich wildlife. He cited the case of Rwanda where tourists pay $500 to watch gorillas for an hour.

In Kenya, Mr Kipng’etich said, tourists pay only $40 to watch the big five and other animals and birds for 24 hours.

He said that while the KWS was determined to make Kenya one of the best tourist destinations, the other stakeholders, including local authorities such as Nakuru municipality, must wake up from complacency and play their part in the burgeoning national and international tourism arena.

Economic driver

Mr Kipng’etich said that sectors such as agriculture had reached a plateau and tourism had taken over as the key economic driver.
‘‘You must see each planeload of tourists landing here as a source of employment and market for agricultural produce. The hotels will need eggs, vegetables and other foodstuff. This airstrip is a national resource and you must make the best out of it,’’ Mr Kipng’etich told his listeners, who included farmers from the neighbouring Naishi farms.

Mr Kipng’etich said the new airstrip would play a key role in increasing visits to Lake Nakuru National Park and consequently raise revenue for KWS, lodges in the park and hotels in Nakuru Town.

He said the aviation industry would be an increasingly important means of transport for tourists, especially in areas where the road network was poor.

An engineer told the Nation that the 1.2km long, 18m wide airstrip was suitable for domestic use, ‘‘but even a jumbo can land here in case of an emergency’’.

Naishi section of the park, where the airstrip was built, has the offices of the Rhino Sanctuary protection base managed by KWS. It was here that the first rhinos from Solio Ranch in Laikipia were held in an enclosure and fed for several days before being released into the wild.

Another 10 white rhinos from South Africa were received at the same place in 1994, leading to the growth of the current breeding herd estimated at over 100 animals.
The new airstrip will certainly be a boon to tourist facilities that have not attracted large numbers of visitors.

Such facilities include the Lord Egerton Castle in Njoro, the Hyrax pre-historic site on the western side of the town and the 90 square kilometres Menengai Crater to the north.

Tourist to the Nakuru sites will also be able to visit the famous Thomson’s Falls in Nyahururu Town, which is about 60km from the Rift Valley provincial capital. Mountain climbers can enjoy a thrilling time at Hell’s Gate National Park. This is one of the few protected parks in the country where visitors are allowed to walk along nature trails or use bicycles.

Several species

While at Hell’s Gate, tourists will have the opportunity of visiting the Joy Adamson’s Centre and later take a boat ride on Lake Naivasha.
The almost hidden crater lake, which has also been attracting small numbers of tourists, is likely to record higher numbers of visitors.

Currently, visitors travelling between Nairobi and Nakuru by road have the opportunity to enjoy the scenic Rift Valley and the various species of birds at Lake Elmentaita.

Ornithologists have recorded as many as 40,000 flamingoes at Lake Elmentaita, which also has a pelican breeding island near part of the lake bordering Lord Delamere’s Soysambu ranch.

Residents of Maji Tamu have also been trying to establish a conservancy around Lake Solai, tucked away below the hills, about 30km from Nakuru Town.
Lake Solai has several hundred species of birds, including the Egyptian geese, weaver birds and the African Jacana.

http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=39&newsid=119872

2008-03-17T14:46:00.000-07:00

Exceptional gathering at Shoe4Africa Peace Run

Never at a Kenyan race has there been such a galaxy of International stars from past, present & future.

It was a day of joyous celebration on Saturday in Iten, Kenya at the Shoe4Africa Peace run. Over 560 school girls came out to run a 4km peace run powered by Leppin.

The story of the day was the amazing turnout of Kenya’s international stars who, led by Douglas Wakiihuri and Luke Kibet, World champions in the marathon, walked through Iten town on an athlete’s parade of peace with all the children singing and dancing behind, walking behind shouting Amani Kenya (Peace in Kenya) Shoe4Africa Run for Peace.

All were dressed in yellow T-shirts. There was hugging, crying and dancing not only from the children, but also from the athletes, many of which had not seen each other in decades.

Priscah Jepteling was the winner of the girls’ race, flagged off by Nyandika Maiyoro and Wilson Kiprugut, the first Kenyan to run in the Olympics and the first Kenyan to win an Olympic medal.

Chris Cheboiboch & Timothy Cherigat, a Boston runner-up and a Boston winner, were rabbits to lead the girls on pace. Holding the finishers tape were the flag bearers Wakiihuri, a Kikuyu, and Kibet from the Kalenjin.

As the runners passed the finish line, all the stars handed a pair of running shoes to all of the runners, exercise books and pencils too.

At the awards ceremony Amos Biwott, the man who won the first steeplechase Olympic Gold handed out a new windows vista laptop computer to Kiptingo Primary school, money for books went to the second prize school, awarded by Moses Kiptanui, and Moses Tanui gave out a similar prize for Kamariny Primary.

Another legend of the sport, Olympic steeplechase champion Matthew Birir was on hand to give out the sports watches to the top three individual finishers.

All the international athletes introduced themselves, the crowds sang, and the day ended on a fitting note as Douglas Wakiihuri was embraced by the crowds as he came up and taught the school children a song he had written in the local Kalenjin tongue.

The area MP Mr. Cheptwony, and the acting District Commissioner, were also in attendance.

Toby Tanser for the IAAF

Athletes in attendance:

Daniel Komen World Champion 1997
Matthew Birir Olympic Steeplechase Champion 1992
Moses Tanui World Champion 10,000 & Half Marathon
Moses Kiptanui Three time world champion steeplechase Olympic silver
Kimutai Kosgei Amsterdam Marathon champion, Boston runners up
Timothy Cherigat Boston Marathon Champion 2004
Luke Kibet World Marathon Champion 2007
Lornah Kiplagat World champion cross country, double world champion road
Chris Cheboiboch Fastest ever runner up at the New York Marathon
William Koila former world best junior 1500m record
John Yuda World half and world cross country silver medallist
Mike Boit Olympic Bronze 1972, Commonwealth Games Gold 1982
Paul Koech World Half Marathon Champion 1999
Ben Maiyo Second place Boston Marathon
Janeth “Eldoret Express” Jepkosgei World 800m champion 2007
Ezekiel Kemboi Olympic Steeplechase Champion 2004
Japheth Kimutai Commonwealth Games Champion 800m 1998
Douglas Wakiihuri World Marathon Champion 1987, Olympic Silver 1988
Nyandika Maiyoro First Ever Kenyan to run in the Olympics
Wilson Kiprugut First Olympic medalist for Kenya bronze 1964 800 (and 1968 Silver)
John Litei Commonwealth Games bronze 2006 800m
Fred Kiprop, 2:06 Amsterdam Marathon
Katui Kipkemboi, Asian Games Silver 5000
Duncan Cheruiyot ParaOlmpics two gold 22004
Sylvia Kibet African Games & African Championships bronze medallist
James Kosgei Road Racer of the year four times
Luke Kipkosgei Internationalist
Rebbie Koech Internationalist
Peter Tanui Internationalist
Christopher Koskei World Champion 1999 Steeplechase
Paul Cherop Internationalist 1970’s
Sammy Maritim Internationalist 10,000 1970’s
Ben Kogo Olympic Games Silver 1968
Fatwell Kimaiyo Kenyan record holder 110m hurdles
Rose Tata First Kenyan lady to run in the World Championships
Kefah Kerero 2:13 marathon
Jonah Birir 5th Olympic 1500
David Kiptoo 1:43 800m Internationalist
Yobes Ondieki World record 10,000 1993
Hosea Rotich Fastest ever marathon on Kenyan soil
Joyce Chepchumba Olympic Bronze Marathon 2000
Amos Biwott Olympic Gold Steeplechase 1968

[http://www.iaaf.org/news/kind=100/newsid=44080.html]

2008-03-08T15:13:00.001-08:00

The struggle for education: Selina's story

Women often walk long distances, up to six miles in each direction, in search of water in the arid Pokot environment. Photo: Stephen Speakman/CWS
March 23, 2007

By Stephen Speakman, CWS Eastern Africa

Selina is a twenty-year-old woman living in West Pokot, Kenya. She also is one of three females in her community who completed high school this year. For Selina, graduating from high school is a major accomplishment. Not only has she successfully completed her academic work, but her journey has included overcoming a cultural attitude in West Pokot that does not value education for women.

When Selina was in upper primary school (equivalent to middle school in the U.S. system), her father wanted to marry her to an older man. Many men in the West Pokot community think of their daughters as a source of income for their household. When a man comes to the home intending to marry the girl, he will bring the father thirty or forty cows in exchange.

Despite her father’s intentions to give her away in marriage, Selina was resolute in her desire to receive an education. She, along with two other girls, decided that they did not want to be like other girls in their community who were married at an early age and who were not valued by the society. Instead, the girls committed themselves to completing high school.

"We told ourselves," says Selina, "'If we stay in the same condition as our mothers, what can we do for this community? It is better for us to finish Form 4 [the final year of high school] and help our community – help the community to be seen as one of people looking forward.'"

When asked how she managed to convince her father not to give her away in marriage, Selina recounts how she told her father that, no matter what he did to her, she would not marry.

"I told my father that there is time for everything. If you want those cows [that the man is offering for a dowry], I can bring you more than the number you want from this person [after I receive my education]. I told him that this person [whom he intends me to marry] will limit my life. If he is not educated, what benefit is there for me to be married to him?"

Realizing Selina's determination to receive an education, her father relented and sold a cow to allow Selina to attend at least her first year of high school.
Even after this first victory, Selina's journey to graduation was not easy. For many people living in Kenya, the prospect of receiving an education beyond Standard 8 (8th grade) is grim due to the cost of school fees. Although the government made reforms in 2002 that initiated free primary education for all Kenyans, secondary school fees remain an expense that many Kenyans, especially those people living in rural areas such as West Pokot, cannot easily afford.

Despite this difficulty, and despite her father's limited support, Selina would not be deterred. "Other girls, they hear what their parents say—that their home doesn’t have enough cows to allow their children to be educated," Selina notes. "But we [in our group] didn't see that as a problem that would hinder us from reaching Form 4. We said, 'If this is the problem that will hinder us from being educated, we can look for other ways to assist in our education.'"

For Selina, that assistance came through the financial support of other members of the community. To help Selina meet her school fees, her church conducted a fundraiser to create a base of financial support. She also received a government grant designed to assist capable students in needy communities. Selina is grateful for the way in which people in the community responded to her desire to receive an education. "For me who has received education, I have not been limited," she said. "The community gave to me; now I will give back."

If her test results are good, Selina plans to attend college so that she can do just that—give back to her community. She did not hesitate when asked her dreams for the future—she wants to become either a teacher or a nurse. Whatever she becomes, she intends to return to her community to show them the power of education to improve their lives.

"We always told people in the community that, if God wills, you will see what we can bring to you as educated people," she says. "If I qualify as a teacher, I will come to this place and teach. I will talk about the problems that I passed to get this education, and I will tell girls the benefit of education. If I become a nurse, I will combat malaria. I will tell my people how to prevent it. Most of the people here don't know, but me, a girl who is from this place, will come and teach them, tell them in my own language."

Selina has a younger sister who is in Standard 6 (6th grade). Selina says that she is ready to fight for her sister’s education. "I told my sister, 'If our father told you anything that would lead you to forget about your education, listen to me instead.'" And what is her message?

"Education is very important. Without education, there is no life."
In West Pokot, Kenya, CWS partner Yang'at has completed phase one of a project designed to provide assistance to the women and children, like Selina, who often are marginalized. Since women and children spend much of their time during the day fetching water in the arid Pokot environment, Yang'at's project is designed to use the vital issue of water access as an entry point for still further development.
Through the construction of sand dams, Yang'at has reduced the amount of time and the amount of effort women and children must use in fetching water for their households. With the "extra time" during the day, children are able to attend school and women, with skills training from Yang'at, are able to begin smallscale income generating activities.

Yang'at also is actively involved in challenging the local perceptions that hinder women's development. Through sensitization meetings and workshops, Yang’at highlights how traditional practices such as female genital mutilation and early marriage hinder a girl's ability to reach her full potential.

For more information about Yang'at and the work they are carrying out in West Pokot, please read "Kenya: Pokot women challenge local perceptions"

http://churchworldservice.org/news/archives/2007/03/653.html

Media Contact:
Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676; lcrosson@churchworldservice.org
Jan Dragin, 781-925-1526; jdragin@gis.net

2008-03-08T14:59:00.000-08:00

Kenya: Pokot women challenge local perceptions

By Stephen Speakman, CWS Eastern Africa

The word Yang'at means "to care" in the local language of the Pokot. For the women and men working with the Yang'at Girl Child Potential Sensitization Group, in Kenya, this mission "to care" is a deeply personal passion.

In 1999, four Pokot women founded Yang'at as an organization dedicated to improve access to education for girls in their home area of West Pokot. All four women had completed their university education, and they understood the importance of education in their lives. Yet, they also understood that in West Pokot most women are not afforded the opportunity to attend school due to a cultural attitude that does not value female education.

In traditional Pokot culture, young girls around the age of twelve are married off to older men after having gone through a female circumcision rite that enters them into "adulthood." Because of this practice of early marriage, and because the cultural attitude that does not value education for women, these girls are unable to continue their schooling. Instead, they are forced to drop out of school to begin their work serving the household. This situation has resulted in high levels of illiteracy among women and a complete lack of access to means of improving their economic status.

Seeing the state of women in West Pokot and knowing the power of education to have a positive impact on a person's life, CWS partner Yang'at decided that something needed to be done within these communities to effect a change. "We started this organization to care about the girl child and women, because they are the most marginalized ones in the district," says Deborah Katina, Yang'at coordinator.

During the dry season, women dig into the sand to fetch the water that the subsurface dam has stored. Photo: Stephen Speakman/CWS

Katina describes the role of women in West Pokot as being like that of donkeys—doing the heavy manual labor such as fetching water from long distances, upwards of ten kilometers in one direction. "Women walk long distances, so they don’t have time for other economic activities," she says. One Pokot woman, Rael Lokoryese, tells of leaving her home at three o'clock in the morning to fetch water. She would leave at three, she says, because the water point was far away. It would take her five hours to walk the twenty kilometers (around twelve miles) necessary to bring water back to her home, and she needed to return to the house with water by eight o'clock so that she could begin to fix porridge for her family's breakfast.

In addition to shouldering the burden of physical labor, women and girls are marginalized in other ways such as by the cultural attitude of men which sees girls only as a source of wealth for the family.

"When a girl is around twelve years old," says Katina, "she goes through female genital mutilation, after which she will be married off immediately. The father will get a dowry after he marries out the girl at twelve years old. He can get thirty or forty cows, so he looks at the girl as a source of wealth."

Water projects have been one way that Yang'at has looked to change these detrimental mindsets and behaviors that lead to women being marginalized within Pokot communities. With funding from Church World Service, Yang'at constructed six sub-surface dams (sand dams) in various locations in West Pokot in 2005 and 2006.

When these dams fill with sand during the flow of water during the rainy season, the sand holds water that otherwise would simply run off or evaporate due to the scorching Pokot sun. With these dams in place, women are able to come to the river bed, scoop into the sand, and find water rather than walking for hours in search of the life-sustaining resource.

In times of severe water shortage, a pipe at the bottom of the dam bed can be opened, allowing community members access to the water stored in the bottom of the dam. As community ownership is a critical issue for all CWS projects, the local people contributed labor and stones for the projects. With project completion, the management of the dams has been turned over to local people who Yang'at trained to handle the project maintenance.

With water close to communities, women and girls who once spent large portions of their day in search of water have time to invest in other ventures such as businesses or attending school. To help women capitalize on this opportunity, Yang'at trains women in small scale income generating activities such as beekeeping and bead-making. The money that the women make is one way to demonstrate to the communities that a woman’s worth is not only in dowry payments or as manual labor. According to Katina, when community members see Pokot women bringing improvements to their communities, they see that girls are important and can do something productive in their society.

When communities see that the project has eased the burden of fetching water and has improved household income, they become more willing to listen to Yang'at's message that women have a valuable role to play in the community. Through sensitization meetings, Yang’at works to encourage communities to change these longstanding cultural mindsets. Yang'at's work shows that Pokot woman can become educated and use their knowledge to benefit the entire community.

The Yang'at staff members, volunteering their time and energy to the people of West Pokot, are living examples of what Pokot women can accomplish when given the opportunity to succeed.

"The members of Yang'at, all of us are from this area—from Pokot," comments Katina. "All of us have gotten our education, and when we are doing this work, we are acting as role models. We are working so that communities can see that women can produce something for their community."

For a more detailed look into the challenges facing one Pokot girl to receive an education, please read "The struggle for education: Selina's story."

Media Contact:
Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676; lcrosson@churchworldservice.orgThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Jan Dragin, 781-925-1526; jdragin@gis.net jdragin@gis.netThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

[http://www.churchworldservices.org/news/archives/2007/03/652.html]

2008-03-05T07:22:00.000-08:00

STATE 'SANCTIONED' KENYAN CLASHES

Some 1,500 people died in unrest after disputed poll results
The BBC has learnt of allegations of state-sanctioned violence in Kenya during the turmoil that followed last December's disputed presidential poll.

Sources allege that meetings were hosted at the official residence of the president between the banned Mungiki militia and senior government figures.
The aim was to hire them as a defence force in the Rift Valley to protect the president's Kikuyu community.

The government denied the allegations, calling them "preposterous".
"No such meetings took place at State House or any government office," the government said in a statement posted on its website.

Such "unfounded lies" are "injurious to the president, government and the people of Kenya", the statement said.

The allegations come as parliament is due to open on Thursday preparing the way for a new coalition government.

Although parliament's focus will be on healing ethnic divisions and creating a coalition government - allegations of state involvement with a banned Kikuyu militia, known as Mungiki, will not go ignored, the BBC's Karen Allen in Nairobi says.
She says there is growing suspicion that some of the violence that led to 1,500 people being killed and hundreds of thousands displaced was orchestrated by both sides of the political divide.

Gangs with machetes

The BBC source, who is a member of the Kikuyu tribe and who is now in hiding after receiving death threats, alleged: "Three members of the gang met at State House... and after the elections and the violence the militias were called again and they were given a duty to defend the Kikuyu in Rift Valley and we know they were there in numbers."

Non-Kikuyu homes in Naivasha were ransacked and set alight
On the weekend of 25 January, the Rift Valley towns of Nakuru and then Naivasha were the focus of the some of the worst post-election violence.

Eyewitnesses spoke of non-Kikuyu homes being marked, then gangs with machetes - who they claim were Mungiki - attacked people who were from other ethnic groups.
Sources inside the Mungiki have told the BBC that it was a renegade branch of the outfit that was responsible for violence, not them.

A policeman who was on duty at the time, who has spoken to the BBC on condition of anonymity, has also pointed to clear signs of state complicity.

He alleges that in the hours before the violence in Nakuru, police officers had orders not to stop a convoy of minibus taxis, called "matatus", packed with men when they arrived at police checkpoints.

"When we were there... I saw about 12 of them [matatus] packed with men," he said.
"There were no females... I could see they were armed.

"We were ordered not to stop the vehicles to allow them to go."
The current and previous minister for internal security have both been invited to respond to the allegations. So far they have declined to do so.

The allegations come at a time of growing concern that there was pre-planned violence on both sides of the political fence, in the aftermath of Kenya's disputed election result.

The International Crisis Group has already raised such concerns and Human Rights Watch is expected to publish its report making similar claims shortly.
There are plans to establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the coming weeks to examine claims of election violence.

The allegations are likely to be among the themes investigated by a commission created to address the issue of post-election skirmishes.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7279149.stm

2008-02-29T06:50:00.001-08:00

Kenyans must seize democracy for themselves

Mukoma Wa Ngugi and Firoze Manji (2008-02-28)

It has taken over 1,500 Kenyan lives, hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people, a destroyed economy, and intensified mistrust between ethnicities that will last generations for both Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga to realize what everyone knew from the beginning: “Neither side can realistically govern the country without the other. There must be real power-sharing to move the country forward and begin the healing and reconciliation process”.

We applaud Kofi Annan for steering Kenya back to sanity. But we also have to understand that this peace deal is an emergency stopgap solution so that the wounds of rigged elections, mobilized militias, ethnic cleansing, and extra-judicial killings may not bleed the country to death.

The Kenyan people on whose backs this power sharing deal has been signed have to seize democracy for themselves if change is to be real and long lasting, and in service of the Kenyan people and not the competing politicians.

We applaud the deal for peace but also recognize the work for a democracy that serves the people and not the elite is just starting.

We have been offered the shell of democracy, but the struggle is for its content.

We call for a democracy with content of equal land redistribution because land was at the heart of this crisis.

We call for a democracy with the content of economic justice because it is our discontent with extreme poverty that was used against us by the same politicians we are going to reward with cabinet positions.

We call for a democracy with the content of justice. In 1963, our first authoritarian leader, Jomo Kenyatta, asked us to forgive but not forget British colonialism. What he meant was forgive and forget. Let justice be the keeper of our memory.

We call for a democracy that protects its citizens from the excesses of the state. The police killings of unarmed electoral protestors recalls the extra-judicial killings of hundreds of young men criminalized because they are poor in May to June, 2007.

The police force we inherited from British colonialism was trained to see the people as the enemy. We call not only for a retraining of the police, but also for the officers and politicians who gave the shoot-to-kill orders to be brought to justice

We call for a democracy that has the content of justice, if we are to end of cycle of violence and counter violence, revenge and counter-revenge.

We call for a systematic disarming of all militia and the bringing to justice all those responsible for killings, injuries and destabilization.

We call for guarantees of safe passage and return of those violently displaced from their homes. Those who have suffered loss need to be compensated.

We call on an immediate investigation on behalf of the victims of sexual violence and rape and the bringing to justice those responsible.

We call for an independent judicial inquiry into the allegations of election rigging that led to the current crisis.

We have been very good at forgetting – the February 25th anniversary of the Wagalla massacres of 1984 in which over a thousand Kenyan Somalis were killed by the Moi government just passed without as much as a murmur. The recent Eldoret Killings recall the Eldoret killings of 1992 in which over a thousand Kenyans lost their lives. We call for historical and present day crimes against the Kenyan people and humanity to be punished.

We welcome the calm that the agreement brings. But this must not be confused with peace: peace will only be possible through justice and the placing of the truth in the public arena and addressing injustice and inequality.

A process must begin now to consider whether the constitution as it exists, and as it will be amended by parliament shortly, is the constitution that can guarantee peace, or whether we need to establish one that reflects the vision and values of all citizens.

In short, we call for a democracy that serves the people, and not a democracy that dresses up thieves and political thugs in suits.

Let us make sure Kibaki and Raila do not forget that they are in power as a result of over 1,500 needless deaths and the thousands who have been displaced and the anxiety and fear of millions of Kenyans.

A true democracy is for the Kenyan people to win, or to lose.

*Mukoma Wa Ngugi and Firoze Manji are the editors of Pambazuka News.

**Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

The full text of the agreement signed by Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga is available at the link below.
Kenya: Agreement on the Principles of Partnership of the Coalition Government

Preamble:

The crisis triggered by the 2007 disputed presidential election has brought to the surface deep-seated and long-standing divisions within Kenyan society. If left unaddressed, these divisions threaten the very existence of Kenya as a unified country. The Kenyan people are now looking to their leaders to ensure that their country will not be lost.

Given the current situation, neither side can realistically govern the country without the other. There must be real power-sharing to move the country forward and begin the healing and reconciliation process.

With this agreement, we are stepping forward together, as political leaders, to overcome the current crisis and to set the country on a new path. As partners in a coalition government, we commit ourselves to work together in good faith as true partners, through constant consultation and willingness to compromise.

This agreement is designed to create an environment conducive to such a partnership and to build mutual trust and confidence. It is not about creating positions that reward individuals. It seeks to enable Kenya's political leaders to look beyond partisan considerations with a view to promoting the greater interests of the nation as a whole. It provides the means to implement a coherent and far-reaching reform agenda, to address the fundamental root causes of recurrent conflict, and to create a better, more secure, more prosperous Kenya for all.

To resolve the political crisis, and in the spirit of coalition and partnership, we have agreed to enact the National Accord and Reconciliation Act 2008, whose provisions have been agreed upon in their entirety by the parties hereto and a draft copy is appended hereto.

Its key points are:

* There will be a Prime Minister of the Government of Kenya, with authority to coordinate and supervise the execution of the functions and affairs of the Government of Kenya.

* The Prime Minister will be an elected member of the National Assembly and the parliamentary leader of the largest party in the National Assembly, or of a coalition, if the largest party does not command a majority.

* Each member of the coalition shall nominate one person from the National Assembly to be appointed a Deputy Prime Minister.

* The Cabinet will consist of the President, the Vice-President, the Prime Minister, the two Deputy Prime Ministers and the other Ministers. The removal of any Minister of the coalition will be subject to consultation and concurrence in writing by the leaders.

* The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Ministers can only be removed if the National Assembly passes a motion of no confidence with a majority vote.

* The composition of the coalition government will at all times take into account the principle of portfolio balance and will reflect their relative parliamentary strength.

* The coalition will be dissolved if the Tenth Parliament is dissolved; or if the parties agree in writing; or if one coalition partner withdraws from the coalition.

* The National Accord and Reconciliation Act shall be entrenched in the Constitution.

Having agreed on the critical issues above, we will now take this process to Parliament. It will be convened at the earliest moment to enact these agreements. This will be in the form of an Act of Parliament and the necessary amendment to the Constitution.

We believe by these steps we can together in the spirit of partnership bring peace and prosperity back to the people of Kenya who so richly deserve it.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/46467

2008-02-29T06:44:00.000-08:00

Kenya: Hanging on to a fragile peace

Pambazuka Editors' (2008-02-28)

Pambazuka News spoke with Wangui Wa Goro, a public intellectual, writer, translator and academic and an Associate Fellow at the Institute of Human Rights and Social Justice at London Metropolitan University about the power sharing agreement reached by Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga on February 28, 2008. Pambazuka News readers will remember her for her incisive commentary on Kenya pre and post the crisis. We spoke about the implications of the peace-deal on the larger questions of peace and justice, the meaning of democracy itself, the continuing role of Civil Society Organizations and lessons for other African countries.

PAMBAZUKA NEWS: The power sharing deal has Raila Odinga as the Prime Minister and Mwai Kibaki remaining the President. We are not yet clear on exact day-to-day functioning of each – but what are your initial thoughts?

WANGUI WA GORO: I am glad that the parties have come to some agreement at the moment because it will ease the tension in the country. I am however wary because of the way in which we have witnessed the mediation process. I think that many Kenyans are skeptical about the goodwill of some in the process. As Kenyans, we are also aware of our capacity for duplicity and doubletalk ("ujanja").

PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Both Kibaki and Raila formed a coalition government shortly after the 2002 elections that collapsed and in way, the violence we saw was a direct result of their inability to get along – do you a see a difference this time? Will it hold?

WANGUI WA GORO: I think the fact that the process is being witnessed nationally and internationally by all will place a huge burden on those who want to cheat unlike before when “Memorandums of Understanding” were agreed behind closed doors. This is a significant difference between 2002 and 2008.

I am however still concerned that the Kenyan people should know the outcome of the election that just took place. These agreements could undermine our confidence in the mechanisms of democracy and the institutions for this. We are bowing to the will of individuals rather than to the will of our nation and this is wrong. I hope, therefore, that this arrangement is a transitional one. We are rolling back our attainment of multipartism which should provide checks and balances.

I think the loss of life and displacements we have witnessed should act as a wake up call for all of us and the world and if the two leaders are serious and actually work together, this may work. I still believe that the civil society, other political players and the international community should continue pressing for the delivery of the agreement in order for the transitional process and justice to take place. The hard work now has a framework as does the chance for a new constitution. Kenyans will have to work hard to heal the nation and to continue to seek peace, truth and justice. I hope that these processes can heal the nation. I pray that for this alone, that peace will hold.

PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Do you see a continuing role for the international community? Should there be a difference between African and Western pressure?

WANGUI WA GORO: No. I think that what should matter the most is what Kenyans want and the African and international pressure should reflect that will of the Kenyan people. I see a continued role of the international community in "supervising" the agreement and ensuring that Kenya does not slide into anarchy. This they can do by using the agreement to hold individuals and their parties to account.

I hope that The Kofi Annan Team remains with Kenyans for the duration of the Transitional Period in an advisory or consultative role to ensure that we remain within the spirit and letter of the agreements. I hope that Parliament will also take responsibility for running the affairs of the country and that Kenyans find mechanisms for engaging constructively with their leaders, particularly the civil society in an organized form. We have never been here in our history.

PAMBAZUKA NEWS: The civil society organizations have been agitating for an arrangement that would make peace possible. What should their role be in the post-peace deal period?

WANGUI WA GORO: The role of the civil society is now more crucial than ever. They will have to be the domestic monitors of the agreement and further, because of their knowledge and the way in which they have conducted themselves over the last two months, they will find an important role as a lobby which is not entrenched in the processes. They can engage constructively and this will be very important for the country. We have also seen the importance of their vanguard role in this process. There are many lessons to be learned here and I hope that unlike 2002, they do not let up.

PAMBAZUKA NEWS: A short question- Where are the people in this deal?

WANGUI WA GORO: That is precisely the point! I believe that the discussions with Dr. Kofi Annan are continuing on the longer-term issues this coming Friday. We should wait and see what is agreed then.

PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Moving forward - The Kenyan society has been divided in ways we have not seen before- probably not since the end of British colonialism. More than 1,500 dead, hundreds of thousands of refugees, not to speak of an economy in tatters – how do we repair the torn fabric?

WANGUI WA GORO: On the Kenyan society being divided for the first time, this is not correct. Divide and rule tactics were part of British colonial rule. Kenya has also had very difficult moments in its history such as the assassination of Tom Mboya when the so called differences amongst ethnicities were supposed to be very high. People were very hurt then.

And many other terrible things have happened to people like Pio Gama Pinto, Bishop Muge, JM Kariuki, Robert Ouko etc. and Kenyans can see patterns here which are not ethnically driven. Some of these leaders were asking fundamental questions about injustice and inequality. We have also had a coup d'etat in 1982 when many people died, and in 1984 many Kenyans were killed in the Wagalla Massacre. In 1992 many Kenyans were displaced from the Rift Valley and many were also killed - over 1500. And between 1982 to 1990 many Kenyans were jailed, tortured, killed and exiled. These traumas have continued since independence. I hope that this disregard for life and for Kenyans stops for once and for all. All of us are important and our lives are precious in equal measure.

You will also know that those who fought for freedom have died in abject poverty and without recognition until recently. We have to have a broader understanding of our history and not allow the distortions of "ethnicism" to blind us to the class dimension, corruption, poverty and disenfranchisement of the majority Kenyans of all ethnicities, cultures and religions.

PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Can we reflect on the role of Western democracy on historical legacies? Does the Kenya crisis suggest there is something wrong with Western democracy? What does African democracy look like?

WANGUI WA GORO: I think that there is a difference between the cultures of practice of "democracy" and what we understand as democratic principals. Democracies are built over time through good practice over years. There must be some of the values of what is called a "good society" which people seem to understand to be in the contract for democracy such as accountability, representation, transparency and the institutions and mechanism for delivering these such as the rule of law, independent institutions such as Parliament and the Judiciary which remove entrenched power from parties or individuals..

Now, I don't think we have seen African Democracy working at its best in Kenya or much of Africa because of the kinds of legacies and traditions and practices we adopted after Independence. You will know we inherited the Constitution and some of the practices from colonial rule, in our case from Britain. For instance, the police force was used to defend the state from the people and this culture has continued. We did not have a moment of reflection of the kind of nation state we might want for ourselves. This question of regional representation and distribution of resources for instance is one;, it was raised for debate but then shelved and ignored, and is at the heart of some of the difficulties we have today.

The philosophy of forgive and forget is another. Another is the power of the presidency which grew and grew since Kenyatta and became entrenched in the constitution because people became so frightened of him and the Presidency. This continued under Moi and in 1982, Kenya moved from a de facto one party state to a de jure one party state which really entrenched Moi's dictatorship.

PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Is it all about what the rulers want, not what citizens want…So we need constitutional reforms that speaks to the Kenyan political reality, for example?

WANGUI WA GORO: I think that is what has come out as a most over riding desire of the Kenyan people. But as you know, fine constitutions can be written, and in fact, the first Kenyan one was not that bad. It is having it implemented that is a problem. Britain for instance does not have a written tradition but it evolves rules and values through Acts of Parliament and the law. Kenyans can use this opportunity to enshrine the kind of nation they want and BOMAS began to address this issue. I think a new constitution will be very good for Kenya because KENYANS will feel that they own it.

PAMBAZUKA NEWS: What does equality mean to democracy? It is a word that is assumed to be already contained in democracy, yet we see nations with vicious inequalities call themselves democratic - your thoughts?

WANGUI WA GORO: On paper, Kenya has a Bill of Rights which recognises equality. But in reality, we have seen the day to day treatment of women, people with disabilities, people of "other" religions or "ethnicities" treated badly. In public, it is difficult to pass bills against violence against women such as rape. There are no policies on the aged and it is only recently that the rights of the child have come on board.

Words are meaningless if people do not feel protected from their historic and cultural vulnerabilities. Our laws have been couched in ambiguous terms such as both recognising civil law and common law. We are not aware of what these issues mean in a diverse nation state of different ethnicities and religious persuasions so you will have one Kenyan treated differently than another because of common law which recognises the different cultures. We also do not know about each others cultures so we are limited in our arguments for Kenyan universal values. Our democracy will be most tested and beneficial when we address these issues because they lie at the heart of our current disquiet over disenfranchisement from power and lack of self-determination.

PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Wangui, the question of whether Kenya should be a federal state has come up quite a bit - those for it argue that resources will be distributed better - those against it that it will entrench ethnic tension. Your take?

WANGUI WA GORO: I think that a federal state would be premature. I think that if local government was strong and there was less corruption, such a system could work. As it is now, some regions have been marginalised eternally in punitive ways and naturally they will want to have federal states. Our local government has also not been representative in the political sense or professional enough, similar to the public institutions which remain in a colonial and postcolonial time warp. They need to modernize to reflect the modern Kenyan and global world. Then we have this parallel system of administration of Provincial and District Officers who are powerful but not locally accountable. I think that these arrangements cannot foster democratic engagement when power is distributed through patronage. Appointment to senior positions has also been problematic as has been corruption and the allocation of resources.

PAMBAZUKA NEWS: How do we develop and implement a people's agenda?

WANGUI WA GORO: I think that the local issues matter a great deal to people. Their day-to-day lives. Having power and control over their own immediate destiny -which cannot be done by some centralized remote, and often middleclass or bourgeois administration. There needs to be genuine engagement with governance by the people, ways of holding their elected leaders to account and ways for having their voices heard and acted upon. As we have lived in Kenya, it has been hard in the past to have access to your elected leader and people are frightened of these people whom they elected. That is my recollection of Kenya as I knew it then.

PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Finally Wangui, what can countries like Zimbabwe and South Africa learn from Kenya? Or countries like Uganda or Ethiopia where Museveni or Meles might point to Kenya as a warning for playing around with the fire of democracy? Are there lessons to be gleaned across the board?

WANGUI WA GORO: I think we need to start thinking outside the box. I think the whole of Africa can learn from itself. There are lessons that point to the failures of the post colonial states from the North to the South. You can see the upheaval everywhere. There are particularities about each of our countries, such as the resilience of the pro-people cultures and their continuities. There are also longer traditions of institutionalization in some places like South Africa and the economic power of Apartheid is very deeply entrenched.

So we need to learn from all our cultures and see how we can improve on the particular. The cultures we cultivate are also important, such as the cultures of struggle, the cultures of fear, the cultures of solidarity. What has amazed me in these last few weeks is the strength of individuals and organizations in the civil society and the pro-people movements and their willingness to defend "the good of society".

I hope that Kenyans and our leaders are willing to give peace, truth, justice and reconciliation a try. It will be very difficult to heal our nation now that blood has flown. There is no turning back the clock and these hurts remain for a very long time. We must learn from the holocausts in our continent and elsewhere. Kenya is and can be a wonderful place.

*Wangui Wa Goro, a public intellectual, writer, translator and academic and an Associate Fellow at the Institute of Human Rights and Social Justice at London Metropolitan University.

From Pambazuka News:
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/46468

2008-02-29T06:13:00.001-08:00

PEACE DEAL REACHED!

It is heartening to know that the two leaders in Kenya, President Mwai Kibaki, and Prime-Minister designate Raila Odinga have come to a power-sharing agreement. This is what all Kenyans have been waiting for with bated breaths. For two months millions of Kenyans have suffered and agonized over the future of their beloved country. Many have lost their lives and thousands of others been driven from their homes. Now that the peace deal has been struck it is the hope of all Kenyan people that life will return to normal and that they can have time to rebuild their lives.

There is still however, a long road ahead. All the animosity and hatred that has been stirred these past two months need to be purged. People need to be reconciled once again with one another and true peace restored to neighborhoods and communities across the nation. I am optimistic that the Kenyan people will embrace this opportunity to lead the nation to greater heights of understanding and prosperity.

2008-02-29T06:09:00.000-08:00

Deal offers fresh hope to Kenya

By Noel Mwakugu
BBC News, Nairobi

The handshake finally came after a month of talks

Many Kenyans had feared the imminent outbreak of renewed violence when peace talks were suspended on Monday but instead there is now fresh hope after the two rival leaders agreed to share power.

Both President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga gave ground under massive international pressure and the intervention of African Union Chairman and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete.

They unveiled a deal that is intended to steer the country towards much-needed reconciliation after allegations of rigging in last December's elections.
However, as chief mediator Kofi Annan said: "The journey is far from over. In fact it is only beginning."

A peaceful destination will only be reached only if Mr Kibaki and Mr Odinga show the political will.
After such a bitter dispute, which has cost 1,500 lives, trust between the two men has been in short supply - this is why it took more than a month of tortuous talks for them to reach a deal.

Hurdles ahead

This will not be the first time that the two leaders have formed a joint government - they did it in 2002 but it lasted barely three years before they fell out.
While Mr Odinga looks set to take up the new post of prime minister, it is not clear who prevails in the event of a disagreement between him and President Kibaki.

If the deal is strong enough to overcome that hurdle, the new optimism will prove well-founded.

All eyes in a country that has been mourning for the past two months now turn to parliament, where MPs convene next Thursday to vote for the National Accord and Reconciliation Act that will usher in these changes.

The first challenge facing the two leaders once the act is operational is to appoint a new cabinet, whose members will be shared out equally.

The violence has left deep ethnic divisions and a new cabinet must be named with a regional balance to appease communities that felt left out in the last administration.
Corruption scandals
Apart from the regional balance, Kenyans are eager to see the parties merge their policies and deliver an equal share of national resources.

Kofi Annan hailed the deal but said there was more work to be done
Economic disparities lie behind much of the ethnic tension which exploded into violence after the disputed election.

One major policy difference is that of decentralising power and therefore wealth.
This was a key campaign pledge of Mr Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) but not Mr Kibaki's Party of National Unity (PNU).

The coalition partners now have to marry these and other areas of disagreement.
President Kibaki is credited with steering economic growth in his first term in office but corruption thrived within his administration, drawing much criticism from foreign diplomats.

This is yet another hurdle for the new coalition - both sides include people linked with corruption scandals in the past.

Many doubt if the leaders will have the courage to sacrifice them and inject fresh blood into the administration since it is clear some of those tainted by scandal helped fund the campaigns and remain very influential.

Political will?

The talks which gave birth to this new power-sharing arrangement have brought to the fore the influence of hardliners on both sides.

Odinga supporters took to the streets as the deal was announced
While Mr Kibaki and Mr Odinga may have shaken hands and exchanged pleasantries, observers are sceptical as to whether they will ignore the advice of some of their hardline backers.

But failure to contain their influence may endanger the new coalition.
The power-sharing agreement ends if either partner walks out and this would throw the country back into another phase of uncertainty.

Some argue that the new deal could produce a new breed of leader who would be respected for their political principles and not the wealth they possess, as at present.

But as Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete squarely put at the signing ceremony, it is the political will of the two leaders that remains central if this promise is to become a reality.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7269769.stm

2008-02-22T18:51:00.001-08:00

Athletes appeal for a stop to harassment

Published on February 23, 2008, 12:00 am

By Biketi Kikechi

Athletes from the North Rift have asked the Government for protection from people claiming they sponsored violence.

Retired, current and budding runners on Friday gathered at Kipchoge Keino Stadium in Eldoret to protest at victimisation.

The athletes said they had received emails threatening top runners from the region.

"These stories are worrying and it is very sad that athletes are not being allowed to train when we have the World Cross Country championship and the Olympic games coming," said Kipchoge Keino, chairman of the National Olympic Committee of Kenya.

He said he was shocked to read about the allegations in a Nairobi tabloid when he arrived from Russia, on Friday.

"This is calculated to damage the image of Kenyan athletes internationally and it is going to affect young athletes," he said.

It was reported that athletes were involved in violence. The story was attributed to the International Crisis Group.

The ICG report alleged that the athletes with military background were training and commanding the raiders. It also said that they were preparing to take over the property of the displaced.

Among the athletes in attendance were Moses Kiptanui, Patrick Sang, Moses Tanui, Yobes Ondieki, Daniel Komen and Japheth Kimutai.

"We leaders of sports are worried about how our athletes are going to perform in the coming races," said Keino.

Athletes from US, South America, Bosnia, Switzerland and Sri Lanka who had been training at the Kipchoge Keino camp left the country due to violence.

The athletes asked the Government to protect athletes from intimidation.

"We want those who wrote that story to provide the evidence that athletes were funding these activities because we are all peaceful people," said Keino.

Last month, a group of athletes from Marakwet led by Kiptanui and Ezekiel Kemboi said police were harassing them.

http://www.eastandard.net/news/?id=1143982259&cid=159

2008-02-22T10:17:00.000-08:00

AQUA CLARA FOUNDATION

Aqua Clara Foundation is truly an inspiring organization. It works and partners with organizations and local communities in developing nations to address the need for clean affordable water in communities of need. It have done this through putting together an innovative but cheap technology that cleans and purifies water for use in villages and local households.

In partnership with local people and organizations the organization is introducing this new technology to numerous villages in Africa. Its goal is to introduce the water reactors and purifiers to thousands of households that need them in order to meet the broader goal of cultivating healthy and thriving communities.

Below is an example of people they have partnered with to meet this noble goal.

AQUA CLARA FOUNDATION

Providing clean water to those in need as a tool
for the transformation of children’s lives

Two Women and A Village

By Marcia Buck

Rosaline and Rael decided they wanted to start a business. And so they did. They had a goal. They wanted to start a business of making water purifiers and bring clean water to the remote village in Kenya, Africa. They also wanted to start classes for women to teach them computer skills, sewing, and crafts. They wanted to make a difference. They wanted to do all this to bring the love of Christ to the village. They did it.

In the village near Eldoret where Rosaline and Rael live, the mothers and children go daily to the river to collect their water for drinking, cooking, and cleaning. When they arrive at the river, they visit with the other mothers and children and fill their jugs with water. In this same river, the women do their laundry, and the children and babies play, while their domestic animals including sheep, goats, and cows drink from the river.

Because of this kind of multiple use of the river, the water in it is often fecally-contaminated and this kills. One in five children will die from the contaminated water. Of the remaining four children, two of the four will be diseased with skin, intestinal problems, and disabling disease all of their life, prohibiting them from getting an education and unable to contribute to the work of the family. The psychological toll on the family and village is enormous, and the consequential medical costs and disabilities continue the cycle of despair.

Rosaline and Rael started a company called Kerio Clean Water Group -- they found a building, they got a license, they opened a bank account, and they signed the agreements. They were then licensed to build water purifiers, and their business was born. They held meetings with groups of women in the villages. There is an informal group of women called a merry go round where the women meet to discuss the issues of the day, and offer support and friendship to each other. They also have a fund they all contribute to that is used for emergencies. Rosaline and Rael met with these women in many of these surrounding villages, and they may not have called it marketing, but the women wanted the clean water. They paved the way for the new business.

KERIO Clean Water Company is a beta site for the Aqua Clara Foundation. Developed by Dr. Robert McDonald, the Aqua Clara Water Purifier is designed for use in developing countries to remedy the lethal effects of fecal polluted water. This Water Purifier has no moving parts, requires no power, can be made inexpensively with local materials and is designed as point of use for a family of five. The output has been tested by World Health Organization labs and is rated at 0% E.Coli, the best rating possible. KERIO Clean Water is selling this purifier for under $20.00 and the purifier will last for years without maintenance. Aqua Clara is intent on not only delivering the water purifier to those in need in the world, but also to manufacture and distribute this purifier through locally owned businesses for profit. When an existing infrastructure such as a church or seminary or hospital supports this business, there is local trust and confidence that helps to assure sustainability of continued use in developing countries. It is only as the bottom of the pyramid begins to experience the hope of a job and of income that the cycle of poverty can be broken.

The KERIO Clean Water Company wisely markets their water purifier through the local schools in addition to the groups of women. A purifier is placed in each class room so that the children can have clean water during the day. Then, as a special reward to one of the students, he gets to take home a pitcher of clean water for the family. This process has created quite a buzz, and the local people are gathering at the school to find out more about what is going on with water!

It is a great inspiration to watch Rosaline and Rael as they work this business near Eldoret, Kenya. They are not afraid to work hard. They are not afraid of hard work. They already have thought of ways to expand this business – they want to teach the women that they meet and serve the skills that they can use to start a business – and continue to break the cycle of hopelessness and extreme poverty.

You can see the sparkle in their eyes, you can palpably feel their enthusiasm and energy, you can sense their faith and hope. These ordinary women are doing something extraordinary! I am inspired by their undaunted courage to do whatever it takes -- GO!! Rosaline and Rael!

For more information go to: www.aquaclarafound.org

2008-02-22T09:43:00.000-08:00

AQUA CLARA FOUNDATION
…in pursuit of H2OPE

News Item

February 6, 2008

By Marcia Buck
Business Development

Mrs. Sobodosh’s Third Grade Class
Munson Elementary School in Chardon, Ohio

Third Grade Class Interviews Kenyan Margaret Kimosop

February 6, 2008: The third grade class of Mrs. Sobodosh at Munson Elementary School in Chardon, Ohio, interviewed Ms. Margaret Kimosop from Kenya over SKYPE in their classroom today. The children were excited about the event, and asked perceptive and interesting questions. Ms. Kimosop wore her Kenyan dress and elegant head piece to help set the stage, and gave a startling presentation on what it feels like to be a third grade student in Kenya. She talked about the fact that many of them eat corn gruel three times a day, and that a majority do not have snacks and pizza and humburgers and cookies in Eldoret. Margaret talked about the strict discipline of the school, the politeness of the children, the way that they share their pencils and books with three or four other students, and they make their own balls out of sticks and paper and string.

The students then asked questions about what the Kenyans do for fun, what the weather is like, and what holidays they celebrate. Margaret told the students that many of the Kenyan young men are breaking world records in running, and that this is because from the age of 4, when they start school, many of them have to walk or run for miles to get to school. She also mentioned that many children do not use busses to get to school and this surprised the students.

Sharon Van Zeeland made the arrangements for the interview because she has found the program of Aqua Clara compelling, and wanted her son’s class room to share in the excitement. Sharon works for Fairmount Minerals, a partner and supporter of Aqua Clara. This class is now writing pen pal letters to the Talai Academy in Kenya, and is also sending some pencils and bracelets to the students. They hope that they will get letters back and that they can establish new friendships.

Margaret Kimosop is doing her doctorate in Public Administration from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

For more information, go to: www.aquaclarafound.org

2008-02-22T09:20:00.001-08:00

BURUNDIAN WOMEN SUPPORT GROUP

Jozerene is an 18 year-old single mother with a 4year old son. She has been part of small group of Burundian refugee women who have been meeting often for small informal times of sharing and fellowship. She appreciates this time and opportunity for support as she works at settling in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. She and many other other Burundian refugees arrived in Grand Rapids, Michigan in the summer of 2007 and have lived here in the past eight months. Before then they lived in large refugee camps in the country of Tanzania where many of them were born and raised. Jozerene has known no other life than that of being a refugee. So when the prospect of her coming to the United States to start a new life came up, she was very delighted.

Jozerene had lived a tough life at the camp, both her parents had died when she was young and she and her siblings had to fend for themselves while living at the refugee camp. She remembers many times when she and her siblings had to sleep hungry because their food rations from the camp administrators had ran out.

Today, she lives in her own one bedroom apartment in Grand Rapids, and with the help of her local sponsoring refugee agency, she manages her own affairs while raising her son. However, challenges remain for her and other refugee women. She cannot yet speak English (as she only spoke Kirundi and Swahili while at the camp) and she does not have reliable transportation which forces her to rely on Public transportation in order for her to go for shopping or meet her appointments. Recently she stated to her support group leader “ I want to learn English and also get a job with a local company. Can you be able to help me with that?”

Many of the refugee women meeting in the support group talk of their desire to be able to speak English and to get jobs that would help supplement their household incomes. Some of them have been attending English as Second Language (ESL) classes that are conducted by various agencies within the city, but with the onset of the cold season combined with unreliable transportation, and lack of child care options, many have had to temporarily suspend their attendance in these classes.

The African Community Center of West Michingan, that is organizing this women’s support group continues to work with these women to find solutions to the challenges they face. The support group leader from the African Center visits with these women, listens to their concerns and answers their many questions about life in West Michigan. These women greatly appreciate this kind of support. Settling in a foreign country with the additional obstacle of not being able to speak or understand the local language can be a major hurdle to overcome. But having someone to listen to those concerns and offer suggestions and a helping hand is a major relief for any refugee person.

The African Community Center strives to provide culturally sensitive and appropriate services to its clients. Over the last five years it has served hundreds of refugees by providing them with services that include ESL classes, Computer literacy classes, Financial literacy workshops, referrals for community services like clothing and food aid, medical help, and job opportunities.

The goal of the African Community Center’s women support group is to help the women to become self- confident and self-reliant. By learning English and gaining job skills including learning how to work with modern technology like computers, many of these women will seamlessly be intergrated into the larger local community and be able to be key players in the life of the community. They will no longer be isolated in their homes but will rather be able to give and share their rich cultural and life experiences with others in the greater Grand Rapids community.

When Jozerene, heard that the African Community Center offers computer classes, she was very excited and asked “ when can I be able to join the classes so that I can know how to operate a computer?” One can see the hunger for knowledge and opportunity from not only this young refugee woman, but from many other newly arrived refugees from not only Burundi, but from many other parts of the world.
It is the hope of the African Community Center of West Michigan that many caring agencies will step up and partner with it to meet the challenging needs of refugee women by providing in-kind support or financial support in order to provide timely and much needed services.

2008-02-07T18:37:00.000-08:00

UK papers call for 'robust pressure' on Kibaki, Raila

By PAUL REDFERN
Special Correspondent

The escalating political violence in Kenya is the inevitable end-result of politicians “hiring thugs to do their dirty work for them,” according to a leading international academic on Kenya.

UK-based academic David Anderson, who has written extensively on Kenyan politics, including recently the respected book on the Mau Mau era Histories of the Hanged, says that violence has become a part of Kenyan economic and political life.

He says that the murder of Orange Democratic Movement legislator Mugabe Were last week “revealed how violence has permeated to the very heart of Kenya’s failing democracy,” and says that the current political violence “has been purposefully fostered by those whose political interests it serves.”

At the heart of Mr Anderson’s viewpoint is that in poorer suburbs where crime is endemic and the police ineffective and corrupt, gangs have proliferated.
These gangs are used by the politicians they serve, either as “youth-wingers” or to intimidate opponents.

“In Kenyan politics it has become the norm for politicians to hire thugs to do their dirty work, especially at election time,” Mr Anderson writes in the Independent newspaper.

With the current outpouring of violence threatening Kenya’s very stability, it is the politicians who are to blame and they are reaping what they have sown.
The UK media meanwhile, is urging the British government to back the threat given by the United States on Wednesday, to impose a settlement, if bickering leaders cannot find one.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph newspaper David Blair says that, “Effective and robust pressure has been missing from Britain’s response to Kenya’s crisis. Mr Kibaki will compromise only if the cost of intransigence is made unacceptably high. Mr Kibaki may have stolen an election and turned a blind eye to hideous violence, but he is no Robert Mugabe. He is not a ruthless, deluded megalomaniac like the Zimbabwean leader.
Mr Kibaki knows full well that Kenya is inherently vulnerable to outside pressure because its economy depends on foreign investment. Unlike Mr Mugabe, he is not willing to see his country bankrupted and its nascent prosperity destroyed. So he will move if the right levers are used.

The first step is to set out Britain’s demands. Incredibly, neither Lord Malloch-Brown nor any other British minister has publicly called for last month’s election to be re-run under international supervision.

The rigged poll was the principal cause of the violence. The only solution is for Kenya to have another election, under outside supervision if necessary.
If Mr Kibaki fails to oblige, a graduated scale of penalties should be imposed.
First, Britain could marshal the European Union (EU) and America to announce without any ambiguity that they no longer recognise Mr Kibaki as Kenya’s president.
From that moment on, he would become an international outlaw. Then Britain could ask the Commonwealth to expel Kenya. Afterwards, London could press the EU to impose penalties targeted on Kenya’s government.

Mr Kibaki and all his ministers could be banned from travelling to any EU state, while any assets they hold in European banks could be frozen. Kenyan ministers are not known for their financial probity. A measure that would deprive them of their loot and stop all shopping trips to Europe might concentrate minds.

Along the way, Western aid given directly to Kenya’s government could be halted. All this would dramatically reduce foreign investment and deal a body blow to the country’s largest single industry, tourism. Unless Mr Kibaki knows these measures are on the table — and that Britain is serious about imposing them if necessary — he will not agree to hold another election.”

Mr Blair adds that the “tragedy is that Mr Kibaki has been allowed to get away with so much.”

There are however indications that London, along with Washington is reaching the end of its tether in terms of negotiations with President Kibaki’s government.
Following his visit to Kenya this week, British Foreign office minister Lord Malloch Brown who met both President Kibaki and Mr Odinga, expressed pessimism that they could agree on an urgent solution to the crisis.

“I felt that they were talking about two different crises, with a different view of the facts and differing scenarios about what must happen and what needs to be done,” he said.
Before leaving Kenya, Lord Malloch-Brown publicly lamented the intransigence of Mr Kibaki and his key opponent, Raila Odinga to make headway on finding a political compromise acceptable to all Kenyans.

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called on Kenya’s leaders to pursue constructive dialogue urgently, which he says must include “addressing the underlying issues — as they have committed to do in order to resolve Kenya’s problems and put in place the basis of governance that is representative of the democratic will of the Kenyan people.”

The Times newspaper in an editorial noted that, “Western leaders have done little except urge restraint, hint at a suspension of aid and draw up plans to evacuate their nationals. It is time that George Bush, Gordon Brown and European leaders were more outspoken in their demands, robust in their diplomacy and forthright in their denunciations of the terrible events threatening to ruin Kenya....The UN and the European Union must be ready to back peace with muscle.”

The UK has acknowledged that it is keeping its development programme in Kenya “under review” because of the current situation, but it adds “our commitment to the Kenyan people remains undiminished.”

London does however say that “The size and content of the future programme will reflect the extent to which political differences can be resolved.”

Writing in the Guardian, Madeleine Bunting says that Kenya is now “stuck in a dangerous stalemate, with no point of agreement between Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga.
Ms Bunting says that in Africa which has seen more wars since 1990 than it did in the whole of the previous century, “violence can be a form of communication of last resort. When all other channels for seeking justice for embittered grievances in a corrupt regime appear to have been exhausted, some will see violence as the only way to protect their interests. That doesn’t make the violence right, but neither does it make it senseless. It can have its own awful rationality.

What we are seeing in Kenya, is how human beings behave when faced with the kind of chronic insecurity that globalisation is incubating the world over. Dislocation breeds fear in which old, buried identities become an insurance policy....(But) the outcome is always tragic.”

http://www.nationmedia.com/eastafrican/current/News/news0402089.htm

2008-02-07T18:16:00.001-08:00

Arrest gangs, Fida tells police

Story by CAROLINE WAFULA
Publication Date: 2/8/2008

The International Federation of Women Lawyers (Kenya) has asked the police to crack down on gangs reported to be harassing and stripping women wearing trousers and mini-skirts in some parts of the country.

Fida says the gangs should let women wear what they want, and has asked the Government to ensure that no woman is harassed because of what she puts on.

This follows several incidents in parts of Naivasha, Limuru, Thika and Kiambu towns where criminal groups are said to be forcing women wearing trousers and mini-skirts to either cover themselves with lessos or go back to their homes “to dress decently.”
The criminals, suspected to be members of the outlawed Mungiki sect, claim it is immoral and “not African” for women to wear trousers and mini-skirts.
New form of violence

Fida warned that coming hot on the heels of the post-poll clashes, the incidents could spiral into a new form of post-election violence targeting women.
The organisation’s chairperson, Ms Violet Awori, said the harassment was not only unlawful but also barbaric and had no place in modern society.

“Fida Kenya wishes to remind the perpetrators of these attacks on women that there is no law against the wearing of trousers by women,” she said.
She cited Section 238 (1) of the Penal Code which provides that any person who intimidates or molests another is guilty of an offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years.

In a statement, the organisation called on the police to intensify security in Naivasha and other parts of the country affected by the post-election violence to ensure the protection of women.

Bring to book

It demanded urgent investigations into the matter and urged the police to bring the perpetrators to book .

In some of the affected areas, police are reported to be complaining that they lack adequate manpower to handle the emerging cases.

Naivasha district commissioner Katee Mwanza and his Kiambu counterpart Peter Leley have warned that those behind the incidents would face the full force of the law.

http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=1&newsid=116351

2008-02-07T18:10:00.001-08:00

Kiai for probe in election fiasco

Story by KEVIN J KELLEY
Publication Date: 2/8/2008

Documented flaws in the presidential tally “rendered untenable the conclusion that Mwai Kibaki was validly elected,” Kenya’s leading human rights activist told the US Congress on Wednesday.

Mr Maina Kiai, chairman of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, also called for an independent international investigation of the presidential election. Such an inquiry should seek to “find out who did what and why (and) who ordered it.”

Official result

His sentiments were echoed by Congressman Donald Payne, the chairman of the US House of Representatives panel that convened Wednesday’s hearing.
Mr Payne, a Democrat, pointed to “a series of highly irregular events which cast significant doubt on (Mr Kibaki’s) so-called victory.”

The congressman added: “Let me be blunt. The election results announced by the ECK do not reflect the wishes of the Kenyan people. The people of Kenya voted for change. What they were given was the status quo.”

Congressman Payne called for formation of a transitional coalition government with a mandate to oversee adoption of a new Constitution, electoral law and Electoral Commission. Kenya should then vote for a new president within two years.
Political solution

A State Department official testifying at the Wednesday inquiry said “power sharing is an essential element to a viable short-term solution for Kenya.”
But Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs James Swan stopped short of calling for new elections.

Congressman Payne was critical of the charge that some of the violence in the Rift Valley constituted “ethnic cleansing.” That comment by Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer “played right into the hands of the Kibaki camp, allowing them to portray themselves as victims of an ethnic conflict,” the congressman said.

Mr Kiai took a similar view, saying “the violence is neither genocide nor ethnic cleansing.”

Mike McConnell, director of national intelligence, said Mr Kibaki “probably will do everything he can to hold on to power.”

http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=2&newsid=116362

2008-02-07T18:02:00.000-08:00

The genie that was let out of the bottle

Those people who resurrected the much maligned terror gang , the Mungiki, to fight, maim, and even kill other communities after the recently botched elections in Kenya did not know what they were getting themselves into.

Because they wanted to settle score with other communities after they perceived that their people were being unfairly treated and targeted, they recalled the once despised group to come and do their dirty job. After a week of terror and numerous people killed and others driven from their homes in Nakuru and Naivasha, this terror gang is now unleashing its terror on innocent women and girls for the “crime” of wearing trousers and mini-skirts!!

There are reports of women being harassed, disrobed, and even being threatened with death for simply exercising their right to being dressed with their choice of clothes. Mungiki’s wild allegation that dressing in this manner is immodest is rubbish. Now how will this dangerous gang be put back where they belong and so stop the harassment of innocent Kenyans especially women?

2008-02-07T17:33:00.000-08:00

Kenya and China

The sound of silence

Feb 7th 2008
From The Economist print edition

The murky role of one of President Mwai Kibaki's closest new allies

IN THE six weeks since Kenya's disputed election, an array of bigwigs, from the UN secretary-general to the chairman of the African Union, have flown into Nairobi to urge Kenya's warring parties to negotiate. But this frenetic diplomacy serves only to amplify the silence coming out of China, which may soon be the only big country left that has omitted to send an envoy, special or otherwise, to see Mwai Kibaki, Kenya's unyielding president.

This is not for lack of interest. In Kenya, as elsewhere in Africa, the Chinese have a large and growing economic stake, which the Kenyan government is keen to emphasise. The Chinese defence minister visited just before the elections to agree to modernise Kenya's armed forces. Hu Jintao, China's president, honoured Kenya with three days of his attention on a whistle-stop tour of Africa in 2006. It is ideology, not indifference, that is keeping the Chinese away from the diplomacy.

China's stance is consistent with its policy of non-interference in other countries' internal affairs. An editorial in Beijing's People's Daily on January 14th upset Kenya's opposition by saying that “Western-style democratic theory simply isn't suited to African conditions but rather it carries with it the root of disaster. The elections crisis in Kenya is just one example.”

This sort of non-interference has consequences. With China to fall back on, Mr Kibaki may feel better able to cling on to power and withstand any Western threats to impose sanctions or suspend aid. According to the IMF, China's trade with Kenya was $706m in 2006, a startling 36% up on the year before. Kenya's trade with America, its largest Western partner, was $919m, but down on the previous year; with Britain it was $864m. The Chinese have invested in mining and offshore oil exploration, plus some big infrastructure projects, such as new bypasses around Nairobi.

http://www.economist.com/world/africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10653924

2008-02-07T17:30:00.000-08:00

Kenya's tragedy

Stop this descent into hell

Feb 7th 2008

From The Economist print edition
President Mwai Kibaki must be persuaded to compromise or he may lose a country

AFP
SIX weeks after Mwai Kibaki stole an election, the bloodshed and ethnic cleansing in swathes of Kenya are getting frighteningly worse. Parts of the country are in danger of sealing themselves off (see article). Areas where a medley of ethnic groups once lived together are being ripped apart in tribal mayhem. The economy is rapidly deteriorating. The export of tea, coffee and flowers, big foreign-currency earners, has slowed drastically. Tourism is plummeting. Whole towns have been paralysed, as ethnic cleansing has spread, with Mr Kibaki's fellow Kikuyus, who run thousands of businesses outside their own heartlands, being chased out or even killed. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced.

Mr Kibaki has been hoping that time is on his side, that the violence and anger will burn itself out, that the opposition led by Raila Odinga will gradually be forced to accept a fait accompli, that the African Union and leaders of countries close to Kenya will rally to the incumbent in their usual clubbable manner, and that Kenya's biggest trading partners and aid givers will shrink from penalising him because general sanctions would hurt Kenya's many poor. But this happy (for him) outcome seems a distant prospect. If Mr Kibaki is to save his country, let alone his presidency, he must give ground. Otherwise Kenya will move beyond saving. This would be terrible not just for Kenya; it threatens the well-being of the entire region, for which Kenya and its capital, Nairobi, have long served as a hub of political moderation and economic bustle. Landlocked Uganda and Rwanda are being hurt. Goods are piling up in the region's main port, Mombasa.

The international bodies and countries that might have been expected to squeeze Mr Kibaki into seeing sense have been incoherent. The Americans first endorsed Mr Kibaki's flawed victory, as he has been an ally in their war on terror, then withheld approval, then sent out confusing signals after their State Department's head of African affairs said, rightly, that ethnic cleansing was happening. The British and their European partners have been more united in disapproval but have yet to present a real plan. Next door to Kenya, Uganda's president, Yoweri Museveni, himself the beneficiary of a constitutional fiddle to give himself a third term, has been alone in granting full support. The Chinese, whom Mr Kibaki is looking to for economic and moral support, have unhelpfully sneered that multi-party democracy is ill-suited to Africa.

This leaves a former UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan, as the sole plausible mediator. He has made a little progress. At least Messrs Kibaki and Odinga now have two teams of negotiators grappling with each other under Mr Annan's gaze. But Mr Kibaki still seems loth to share power, let alone contemplate rerunning the election under international supervision.

A rerun would have been the juster solution. But with Kenya burning, the world may have now to settle for second-best, a government of national unity. Mr Kibaki should also promise to reform the electoral commission, perhaps bringing in members from Commonwealth countries in Africa and Asia. Ideally, he should also agree in principle to long-mooted constitutional changes that would provide for a prime minister and a more devolved administration, thus softening the winner-takes-all attitude that is partly responsible for the current intransigence on both sides.

Bringing the entire building down on himself

There is no easily enforceable way for outsiders to impose such sensible conditions on Mr Kibaki. Certainly, the United States and the European Union, if not the African Union, should impose targeted sanctions—with asset freezes and travel bans—against a clutch of the most venal ministers, some of whom Mr Kibaki has even promoted since his fraudulent re-election; they should be named, too. Kenya should be suspended from the Commonwealth and aid reconsidered.

But the most powerful pressure against Mr Kibaki is the sight of his country's economy threatening to implode. Many of his keenest Kikuyu supporters must realise that his refusal to budge is leading all Kenyans, whether supporters of himself or Mr Odinga, into a bloody and bankrupting dead end from which it may soon become impossible to retreat.

http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10651817

2008-02-07T17:27:00.000-08:00

Kenya

More mayhem than mediation

Jan 31st 2008 | NAIVASHA
From The Economist print edition

Kenya's warring politicians are only just beginning to talk to each other as ethnic violence threatens to slip out of control
Reuters

THE small propeller-driven plane piloted by Peter Szapary, an Austrian count turned Kenyan flower farmer, banked and flew low over the Rift Valley town of Naivasha. Some traffic was visible on the main road, the same rotten one that connects much of the interior of eastern Africa, including Uganda, with the sea. But in the town itself things were largely at a standstill. Several streets were controlled by crowds of Kikuyu youths armed with clubs, machetes, bows and arrows. Here and there, houses were burning. A few hundred youths were strung along the road outside the police station, where several thousand of Naivasha's Luos, whose heartland is some 200km (120 miles) farther west, had taken shelter. Mr Szapary landed his plane on a grass airstrip by Lake Naivasha and found out the whereabouts of his two Luo managers. One had taken shelter in the town prison, too scared to leave. The other had fled in a boat to an island in the lake; Mr Szapary later landed there and flew him back to Nairobi.

The Rift Valley has become a hub for much of the ethnic violence that has worsened sharply in the past fortnight. In Nakuru, north-west of Naivasha, at least 80 people have been killed. Now it is often a case of simple revenge, Kikuyus striking back against their Luo and Kalenjin tormentors who, in turn, did most of the killing immediately after the disputed election of December 27th. At least 1,000 have since died and 200,000 been driven from their homes. The cycle of bloodshed may be gathering its own momentum beyond the control of Kenya's political leaders.
But at least this week they started talking to each other. A former UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan, who is the leading mediator, has persuaded the incumbent president, Mwai Kibaki, a Kikuyu, to enter into negotiations with Raila Odinga, a Luo, who leads the opposition Orange Democratic Movement. Both leaders have appointed teams of three representatives to resolve what Mr Annan calls their “immediate political issues” and break the impasse. He gave warning that it may take much longer, even a year, to forge a solid and comprehensive agreement.
Still, that is progress of sorts. Mr Kibaki's newly appointed ministers at first insisted there was nothing to negotiate. Yet the main difference remains. The opposition insists that Mr Kibaki stole the election and is an “illegal” president, whereas the government argues that Mr Kibaki won fairly, so the country should carry on as normal. Britain's minister for Africa, Lord Malloch-Brown, met both sides earlier this week and said he felt they were talking about separate crises and solutions.

Mr Annan has apparently ruled out a recount of the vote on the ground that Kenyans have lost confidence in their electoral commission. He also reckons a new election is unthinkable for a year or so. The Oranges are being urged to suppress their anger and soften their demands; even if they did, it remains unclear whether Mr Kibaki and his backers would sit alongside Mr Odinga in an interim government.
Should Mr Kibaki drag out the talks in the hope of bolstering his position without making any concession on the election or on any other issue, the European Union may seek “targeted” sanctions on Kenya. These would punish Mr Kibaki's more obdurate ministers and backers, while sparing poorer Kenyans from the effects of general trade and aid sanctions. The targeted version would include travel bans on specified individuals and their families, increased international oversight of prospective privatisations, and publicity to advertise new investigations into grand corruption by named ministers. More extreme measures would be to downgrade diplomatic relations and withdraw the considerable military support that Kenya gets from Britain and America, though Mr Kibaki has been warmly embraced in the past as an ally in the global “war on terror”.

In any event, the shooting dead, in separate incidents, of two Orange MPs, set off more spasms of lethal riots in the capital's slums and elsewhere. One was Mugabe Were, a Luhya who was popular in Nairobi; the other was David Too, a Kalenjin. In the Luos' provincial capital, Kisumu, more Kikuyus were butchered and “necklaced” with burning tyres by Luo youths.

Kenya is rife with rumour. Some say there are furious disagreements within Mr Kibaki's circle in State House. Others say he is poised to impose a state of emergency. Among Kikuyus, there is fearful talk of Luo militias loyal to Mr Odinga being trained in southern Sudan.

All sides realise that an escalation in violence from machetes to machineguns would be ruinous for all Kenyans. So far, the use of traditional weapons, including clubs and poisoned arrows, has caused the flight of several hundred thousand Kenyans who belonged to ethnic minorities in their places of abode—for instance, Luos in Central Province and Kikuyus in the west. Wholesale slaughter has yet to occur on the scale of Rwanda in 1994, but the prospect hovers in people's minds. Indeed, the fear spreading across the country may offer Mr Annan his best chance of success.
Diplomats have joined Kenyan business and church leaders in giving him their support. Though many believe Mr Kibaki is to blame for rigging the presidential vote, they have agreed not to press for immediate sanctions so as to give Mr Annan's negotiations a chance to succeed.

But if there is no breakthrough, Kenya could tear apart even more drastically along ethnic lines, with Mr Kibaki's Kikuyu-dominated government controlling the wealthy centre of the country up to Nakuru, north-west of Nairobi, while Mr Odinga's Orange opposition holds sway over the west and much of the north. Most of the Kalenjin people in the Rift Valley are hostile to Kikuyu political domination.

For many Kenyans this is both an appalling and, until recent events, incredible prospect. The country's largest newspaper, the Daily Nation, which had slightly favoured Mr Kibaki during the election campaign, has lost patience with him. An editorial declared that the government's “inertia and ineptitude” were “exposing base instincts and driving the country back to pre-colonial times”.

http://www.economist.com/world/africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10609000

2008-02-02T08:20:00.002-08:00

Kenya wont move forward until the bitter truth is told

Story by DONALD KIPKORIR
Publication Date: 2/2/2008

Former UN chief Kofi Annan has the support of Kenyans in his quest for a way out of the national crisis. But he must know that we will not countenance Zimbabwe-like AU-sponsored mediation which has been dancing on the spot as Mr Robert Mugabe presides over the annihilation of his country.

A police officer charges at a rioter at Bondeni in Mombasa. Police should bear in mind that their duty is to maintain law and order and not to kill. Photo/FILE
Zimbabwe, once a jewel of Africa, now has 3 million refugees in South Africa and 1 million in England yet Mr Thabo Mbeki is still massaging the fraudulent ego of Comrade Bob! Annan must not take us the same road and ought to know that we will not allow him.

He must play his role of a mediator knowing that his fidelity and duty is to the people of Kenya who have genuine grievances arising from a disputed presidential election and historical injustices.

The time for euphemism is over. We leave it to court jesters like Eric Kiraithe and Alfred Mutua to tell the emperor that he is dressed in the finest clothes when the opposite is true.

Finest clothes

Unlike the sycophants of Emperor Nero who joined him in dancing as Rome burnt to the ground in 64 AD or those who applauded Empress Marie Antoinette in telling Parisians in 1789 to eat cake when they couldn’t afford bread, we will not lie to President Kibaki that all is well.

Mainstream American media is brutally honest and that is why America is the richest and most powerful empire ever. The current edition of Newsweek in its cover article, calls George W. Bush’s presidency the American tragedy and that he is an idiot comparable to an American president called Grover Cleveland who historians can’t even remember.

The media in Kenya must play their role of being harbinger of truth and not play a partisan role.

With the same honesty, we must tell President Kibaki that after Mr Samuel Kivuitu declared him winner in controversial circumstances on December 30, 2007, he has decided to retreat to State House and let the country burn.

He didn’t take the oath of office to be giving us taped messages aired through KBC or unsigned statements by the PPS. He seems to have forgotten that a president is demanded of him to offer national leadership, administration, management, and as George W. Bush correctly stated, he must be the decider. In 1960s America, the civil rights movement was being twin-pronged in its leadership by radical and militant Malcolm X on one part, and the other by evangelical Martin Luther King. Blacks wanted to correct historical injustices that had lasted centuries, and the privileged ruling white clans stood in the way.

President John F. Kennedy, who has since been sainted, never trusted these black movements. In 1963, King vowed to organise a million-man march to Washington for blacks to demand their rights to Kennedy’s protestations. When the march was on, no gun was fired and no tear gas was thrown and as they say, the rest is history. The lesson? Presidents must never stand in the way of history and people’s rights for correctional justice.

As we search for solutions, it is time we give names, faces and identity to people killing and being killed. It is a tragedy when people are killed because the police suspect they were going to burn property, and it is a catastrophe when we shy from identifying the names and tribes of all the protagonists and victims.

Part of Europe wanted to behave the same way on the killings of Jews until states legislated to make denial a crime. Do we want legislation to force us to do the same? We cannot move on till we face the brutal truth as it is.

The death of any Kenyan, whether Kikuyu, Kalenjin, Luo or Luhya carries the same weight. No tribe is superior or has monopoly of political hegemony.

The police have abdicated their cardinal duties and have allowed our country to follow the footsteps of Cote d’Ivorie and Lebanon. The police think they are an armed wing of PNU and cannot allow people allied to ODM to enjoy their constitutional rights or even mourn their dead! In the fullness of time, they must face the law for dereliction and abdication of their statutory duty.

The police need always to remember that they are regulated by the Police Act, Cap 84 and no other law in respect of their use of arms. The law does not provide for use of lethal force to disperse demonstrations or protect property. In only three instances are they allowed to use force — to stop escapees from lawful custody, those aiding the escapees and those resisting arrest. However, in these instances, the police must give clear and unequivocal warning that they intend to use force.

In March, 2005 and November, 2007, Paris suburbs went up in flames, thousands of motor vehicles were burnt, shops and libraries were destroyed, and 77 policemen injured. The financial and political costs on France arising from the riots were monumental and crippling, yet the police did not shoot one demonstrator!

When police realise that their duty is to maintain law and order and not to kill, Kenya will stand proud.

In addition to France, deaths of civilians or police caused by civil strife have not been recorded in decades in Europe and America. In Italy, when one policeman was killed by football hooligans, the country mourned and a national shake-up in the police force was ordered. In Kenya, the rupture will happen first before any police commissioner takes moral responsibility for lapses in the conduct of the police.

In the meantime, the army should remain in the barracks. Their intervention ought to be the last line of defence. Over 40 years ago, crooked and corrupt civilian leaders facing popular revolt in Lebanon, Turkey, Thailand and Pakistan invited the army to protect them and since then, all successive governments in these countries are answerable to the army, not the people. We may applaud the intervention by the army now but we must not be blind to history. The army should not open the doors of their barracks till our borders are breached or our State House has locked its gates when the country is burning. Those flying over in Naivasha, Nakuru and Eldoret must return to the barracks.

Likewise the Church in Kenya has no moral integrity to guide us. Church leaders have taken sides and are demanding that we maintain peace and move on. In the Old Testament and from the time when Cain killed Abel, Jehovah rejects sacrifices offered to Him and demands instead truth and justice, and in the New Testament, Jesus says that He is the way, the truth and the life. Let the Church take a break and listen to the Holy Spirit and not political spirits!

Customs and traditions

As the country grapples with the current crisis, perhaps Kenyans should ponder over some of the customs and traditions of conflicts. Indeed, we cannot bury our heads in the sand, when more than 1,000 people have been killed and no one is taking responsibility.

Such acts as killing non-combatants, defenceless persons, or those who have surrendered are outlawed. If any force is used, it must be humane and proportionate. The killings and burning of non-threatening women and children in conflict zones or of innocent passengers in PSV vehicles are totally and wholly out of order and criminal under local and international law.

That is why the Government has the ultimate responsibility of maintaining law and order. Under international law, a government bears legal responsibility for armed gangs operating within its borders. When normalcy finally returns, some people may have to answer for all that went wrong and that is the law.

Kenya deserves peace, not mere peace, but peace based on the truth, justice and equity.

http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=39&newsid=115873

2008-01-10T06:43:00.000-08:00

Kenyan crisis hammers tourism sector
By Peter Greste
BBC News, Nairobi

Mombasa beach
Mombasa's beaches are deserted
Sally Mullens stared out across the azure blue channel that separates the coastal village of Shimoni from the island of Wasini white beach just north of Mombasa.

As the owner of Charlie Claws, a tour company that runs diving and snorkelling trips along the spectacular coastline, she is responsible for about one hundred local staff, and she is deeply concerned.

"I just don't know what we'll do," she says "We've already had to lay off about half of our staff, and almost all the other hotels and resorts have had to do the same.

"Normally we'd expect about a hundred tourists a day for this time of the year. Tomorrow we're down to 12."

Her fears stem not from any risk of violence or looting, but from the potentially catastrophic collapse in tourism that looms as a result of Kenya's ongoing political crisis.

Cancellations for her business, as well as most others along the waterfront and for those who run wildlife safaris in the interior, have been coming thick and fast, despite the fact that no tourists have so far been caught up in the troubles.

"Just look at this," she says. "The conditions are perfect. If it weren't for the news reports, we wouldn't know that anything was wrong in other parts of the country.

""But all the publicity and the travel advisories have really hit us hard. If only they'd make a more realistic assessment of the risk to tourists, we'd be fine."

Long-term impact

Tourism is easily Kenya's biggest foreign currency earner, bringing in an estimated $1bn (£500m) per year - more than horticulture and tea exports combined.

Kenyans are an incredibly industrious and entrepreneurial people. They've recovered from big hits in the past, and they'll do so again, but this is going to be very difficult for a while to come
Robert Shaw, economist

It has also been one of the economy's most spectacular performers, with visitor numbers doubling over the past three years.

But it is a notoriously fickle industry. Already, tourism is the industry most dramatically affected by the recent crisis, and analysts warn it could take years to recover.

"Tourism is dead," says Tasneem Adamji, chair of the Kenyan Association of Tour Operators (KATO) for the coast region.

"The coast depends on charter flights for most of its tourists. This week, they've lost 5,400 seats on those flights mostly from Europe. That represents an 85% loss on their usual numbers.

This, she adds, means "20,000 direct job losses are imminent along the coast between now and March" so that when indirect jobs are included the total job losses will reach 100,000.

Given that each employed Kenyan feeds 10 people, the tourism industry's difficulty could affect at least a million people, KATO estimates.

"The dilemma for us is that there has not been a single incident involving tourists since the whole crisis began, but in ten days, we've undone all the hard work of the past six or seven years to recover from the last collapse in tourism," says Ms Adamji.

Analysts, including Professor Terry Ryan, believe the entire economy is staring at a recession, and this after growing at a blistering 7% last year.

In an interview with the Business Daily newspaper, he said he would "expect the economic growth rate to scale down to between 2% and 4.5%, and that is assuming that the situation returns to normalcy soon."

Nervous investors

Already, Kenya's finance minister estimates that the economy has lost $1bn since the post-election crisis began on 28 December, and industries like transport and agriculture and financial services are still struggling to get back on their feet.

Another economist, Robert Shaw, believes one of the biggest problems has been the loss of business and investor confidence.

Kenya tourists
Tourists have stopped coming to Kenya

"Things might be calmer now," he says. "But parliament is going to be stormy for the foreseeable future, and there is no sustainable solution anywhere on the horizon.

"Investors are all incredibly nervous," he adds. "The last thing they want is instability, and that's exactly what we have right now."

Part of the problem has been the focus of opposition anger on President Kibaki's Kikuyu community.

The Kikuyu dominate economic life in Kenya, but many of their businesses have been burned, and farmers driven from their properties in the post-election violence.

"The movement of Kikuyus takes a lot of the dynamism out of the economy," Mr Shaw says.

Vital link

And it is not just Kenya that is suffering as a result. No fewer than five neighbouring states channel their exports and imports through the Kenyan port of Mombasa on the Indian Ocean.

In a statement, the World Bank says a quarter of the gross domestic product of Uganda and Rwanda and a third of Burndi's pass through Kenya, including essential commodities.

South Sudan, the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and northern Tanzania also lean heavily on Kenya both for trans-shipments and imports of essentials such as maize.

Although road transport has returned to normal across much of the country, ongoing instability in the west of the country near the Ugandan border continues to make trucking dangerous, and shortages of fuel and other essentials are continuing inside Uganda.

That is already driving up inflation across the region.

Tough times ahead

The government insists it has taken control of the situation. On Tuesday afternoon, President Kibaki announced half of his cabinet, including re-appointing his finance minister Amos Kimunya, who told the BBC that what investors wanted was continuity and stability, and that, he insisted, is what the president has delivered.

But economic analyst Mr Shaw disagrees.

"They're pretending that everything's normal, but it isn't," he says.

"This is really the lull before the storm, whether it's a political storm or more than that.

"The fundamental fault lines, which caused the troubles in the first place, are still there.

"Kenyans are an incredibly industrious and entrepreneurial people. They've recovered from big hits in the past, and they'll do so again, but this is going to be very difficult for a while to come."

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7179577.stm

2008-01-07T17:09:00.000-08:00

You absolutely have to read this. It is so damning!

January 7, 2008

OPINIONS & COMMENTARIES

LETTER TO A KAMPALA FRIEND | Muniini K. Mulera

What a deceptive world where a spade is called a big spoon!
Dear Tingasiga: We live in an era of linguistic deception; of calling things what they are not; of not calling things what they are.
People do not die. They pass away. A country’s president, a certified pathological liar, does not tell lies. He misspeaks. He misrepresents the truth. A government minister does not steal public funds.He misappropriates them. He is not a thief or robber. He is corrupt.

Listen to the barrage of painfully deceptive words in reference to the disaster that was Kenya’s presidential election ten days ago. Scribes and diplomats alike report that the Kenyan presidential election was “flawed”; it was marred by “irregularities,” “malpractices” and “loopholes” in the tallying of the votes.
These are soft words that make it sound like innocuous incompetence; mischief by naughty politicians and their agents; nothing more than that. I refuse to engage in such diplomatic circumlocution in this deceptive intellectual tip-toeing around matters that demand calling a spade a spade.

What happened in Kenya was grand thieving, daylight robbery by political bandits who care less about Kenya than they do about their overflowing pockets and egos. To avoid ambiguity, Tingasiga, let us record for posterity that the Kenyan presidential election of December 27, 2007 was stolen by Emilio Stanley Mwai Kibaki, in a civil-paramilitary coup that began long before the millions of hopeful Kenyan voters went to the polls to elect their new president, Raila Amolo Odinga.

Yes, that’s right. The elected president of Kenya is the son of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, he who wrote, 40 years ago, Not Yet Uhuru, a classic treatise whose title is true today as it was all those many years ago. That is why it is a great insult to the Kenyan people to ask their chosen leader, Raila Odinga, to join Kibaki, the loser who stole the throne, in a so-called government of national unity (GNU). It is akin to asking a man to return to his own house, to join those who have robbed and raped his house and spouse in a fellowship dance of death.

No, the Kenyan people have rejected Kibaki, along with most of his ministers and parliamentary candidates. To force him onto them, no matter what justification, is to annul their democratic and human rights. Stay the course Raila. Say no to the Americans and the British and whoever else is afraid to call a spade a spade.

A week ago I, like most of the world, laboured under the view that Kenya’s ruling classes and their Electoral Commission (ECK) were committed to democracy. Today, I stand disabused of this illusion, not only by the confessions of ECK Chairman Samuel Kivuitu; and not only by careful analysis of the published electoral results, but by the most extraordinary tales I have heard first hand from sources that were right at the centre of the Kibaki coup.

According to my sources, with whom I have spoken at length by telephone, the events of last week were a culmination of a well-calculated and brilliantly executed plot that was hatched at least two years ago to keep Kibaki in power. The Kenyan referendum of 2005, which was won by Raila Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), left no doubt in the Kibaki Court that there was little hope of winning the presidential election of 2007.

My sources have confirmed as true the allegations by Raila Odinga that a combined force of the Administration Police (AP) headed by Commandant Kinuthia Mbugua, members of the National Security Intelligence Service (NSIS) led by Director General Michael Gichangi, and sections of the Kenya Armed Forces, led by Lt. Gen. Julius Karangi, the Deputy Chief of the General Staff (CGS) swung into action to sabotage the democratic hopes and rights of Kenyans. My sources told me that the Administration Police, very loyal to Kibaki, was drilled in election rigging and funds from the security services were used to buy electoral clerks and returning officers of the ECK.
Above all, “advance marking” of presidential ballots were embarked on by six AP officers, allegedly headed by one Jabel Munene.

According to my sources, by election day, pre-marked ballots giving Kibaki a huge lead over Odinga had been transported to many polling stations across the country, carried there in 56 buses that also ferried 3,500 AP officers who had shed their police uniforms in exchange for ECK polling agents’ and returning officers’ badges.
The AP officers-cum-polling agents who went to Odinga’s home province of Nyanza were attacked and forced to retreat by the locals. They had taken the precaution of rigging the Nyanza ballots in favour of Odinga to make their voting patterns appear “genuine.”

Furthermore, where they inflated the numbers for Kibaki, they made sure they inflated Raila’s numbers, but to a lesser degree of course. To be sure of “victory” they created new polling stations, complete with ballot-filled boxes that gave Kibaki decisive “wins” over Odinga. This ballot stuffing and substitution of fake “ballot boxes” for the official ones into which Kenyans cast their votes by the millions, is the reason why Kibaki and his courtiers have been calling for a recount.

But that is also why Odinga and the ODM, fully aware of the entire anatomy of the robbery, have rejected the idea of a recount. They are right. What Kenyans need is a fresh election, conducted and supervised by a team from the United Nations and from a select group of truly democratic members of the African Union .

Meanwhile, as the world continues to dispense its advice to the Kenyan leaders and citizens, we should all meditate upon this secret brief, which was written by the Analysis and Production Division of the NSIS, and sent to President Kibaki on December 29, 2007: “Any announcement which would not favour Raila Odinga is going to be a source of anarchy in the country.”

Kibaki ignored the advice of his intelligence agents. Rivers of blood now flow in what was supposedly an island of stability.

http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/muniini/What_a_deceptive_world_where_a_spade_is_called_a_big_spoon.shtm

2008-01-07T15:57:00.000-08:00

The article below is quite interesting and shows us how hasty decisions and actions as happened with our kenyan elections are truly foolhardy.

The hurried rush to madness

Published on January 6, 2008, 12:00 am

By Kap Kirwok

At times like these, we are lost for words. The events of the last week — the announcement of a winner of the presidential contest despite credible evidence of rigging, the hurried swearing in ceremony, the brutal suppression of public protest, the continuing unrest — leave me completely speechless.

Searching for suitable words to describe these events, and finding none in my shocked and dazed mind, I turned to the Merriam-Webster English dictionary.

Here is what I found. To thumb one’s nose. This is to express scorn or ridicule by placing the thumb on the nose and wiggling the fingers. That comes very close to describing what the powers that be are doing to Kenyans. At its most basic, it says I am going to lord it over you and there is nothing you can do.

But where does such an attitude come from?

To find an answer I searched under letter H and came across the word Hubris whose meaning is "excessive pride to the point that a mortal challenges the superiority of the gods; hubris is a fatal flaw, which is inevitably punished."

The last part of this sentence is little comfort to those who have lost loved ones.

Hubris comes much closer to the word I was looking for. Where does hubris derive its motive force? What is its taproot?

William Shakespeare in Measure for Measure nails it on the head with devastating poetic force: "But man, proud man, dressed in a little brief authority, most ignorant of what he’s most assured; his glassy essence, like an angry ape, plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven as make the angels weep." There you have your culprit — a little brief authority.

Excessive pride is, therefore, driven by a little brief authority or power. And there is no worse narcotic than power. Power is sweet, power and privilege even sweeter. It plays tricks on our minds. We start thinking we are superior to the gods. We become most assured of what we are most ignorant. We begin to believe we can get away with anything. We begin the grand march to methodical madness.

But hubris does not quite capture what we see displayed by our leaders. Delusion, a persistent false psychotic belief that is maintained despite indisputable evidence to the contrary, is the word I was really looking for; a total loss of contact with reality.

Much has been made of the claim that even the United States rigged its presidential elections in 2000; what is wrong with Kenya doing a little bit of rigging of its own? Unbelievable. Should we judge ourselves by the worst in others? If we must do so, let us remember the actual facts about that controversial election.

In the American system of presidential elections, the electoral vote system determines the winner, and Bush won this count, although Gore received more popular votes. Let us also remember that Gore demanded a manual recount of votes and that this was granted. Unfortunately, because of the lack of clarity in recount rules regarding the ballots considered validly cast, the actual recount was time barred. Florida law required all counties to certify their election returns to the Florida Secretary of State within seven days of the election.

As we recall, this time requirement was disputed all the way to the Supreme Court and decided in George Bush’s favour — all within four weeks.

In our own tallying controversy, would it have been too much to allow a re-tallying of presidential votes in all 210 constituencies, even if it took two more days of waiting? Why insist on the court system when we all know it can take more than five years to resolve?

The intoxicating mix of power, hubris and delusion was simply too overpowering to allow for humility and clarity of thought. Now see what we have reaped.

On December 9 in this column, I wrote "The readings on the tribal Hate-O-Meter are off the charts. The dial has been creeping up gradually since about early 2003 and is now inching dangerously towards the red zone."

Well, we are in the red zone. Tribal hatred just got a zillion times worse, and is likely to remain so for a long time to come. What a shame! What a real, crying shame! So now we know. Beneath the veneer of civility displayed by some of our leaders lies a terrible secret: They are hopelessly vain. Now everyone is calling for peace and sacrifice. We have suddenly discovered that Kenya is bigger than all of us.

Where will Kenya get clear-eyed leadership at a time when eyes are rapidly blurring under a torrent of tears? Cry, beloved Kenya, cry.

—The writer is based in the USA Strategybeyondprofit@gmail.com

http://www.eastandard.net/news/?id=1143979972&cid=190

2008-01-07T07:22:00.000-08:00

A Canadian Expatriate's view: Kenyan elections 2007

The letter below was written by a Canadian expatriate who resides in Nairobi, Kenya. It reflects the profound sadness that many Kenyan people including foreigners who love the Kenyan country feel over the flawed elections of 2007.

Dear Friends and Family,

It is 1994. Tanzania. I stand upon the hill on which the Anglican church stands. I look around me, and let my eyes rest on the river Ngara below. The view is stunning. I wonder why there are so many crocodiles floating lazily in the river. I look again - and look away. They are not crocodiles; they are human bodies, floating down from Rwanda. I look again, hoping to see an end to these floating bodies. There is no end. More and more and more.... small, large, bloated, incomplete.... I turn, I run, I fall. I get up but stumble yet again. My mind cannot comprehend what my eyes have just seen, and my body fails me under the weight of it all.

It is 1997. South Africa. I attend several sessions of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. "I set the dog on your husband. Yes, he was carrying your son. He bit them both, yes. I did not restrain the dog. I was under orders. The dog, he was trained .... he tore.... he mauled.... I left them there. No help. They died there, both of them. Loss of blood. No, the bodies were not buried. You know the dogs, they had tasted human flesh. I am so sorry. God, I am so sorry." Archbishop Tutu, who is moderating the session, gets a bloody nose. The hearing must stop. It will continue tomorrow, and the next day, and the next.... I walk out, hurriedly. Outside it is raining.

It is 1998. Rwanda. I am on my way to Kivu. My host Liz stops the landrover. We get out to visit a church. The air feels cool. The winding road before and behind us is smooth as silk. A gentlemen appears and opens the church door and I walk in. My eyes take a few second to adjust to the dim lighting and then: skulls, hundreds and thousands of skulls. Some with cracks, some with missing halves, empty holes where eyes and minds, joy and sorrow, thoughts and feelings, love and hate once lived. The skulls are neatly arranged on tall tables. Underneath the tables is a huge assortment of many other bones. These once enabled a person to run, to dance, to dig, to live. Each skull representing a unique and special human being who will never be again.

A large pit forms in my stomach. Outside the church the sun is bright and the hills are lush and green. A teenage girl tells us what transpired in this part of Rwanda in 1994. I listen to her but I don't hear. All I see is the huge scar from the top of her head, across her eye, nose, mouth, neck and shoulder. Machete. Rape. She survived. Or did she?

It is 2007. Netherlands. It's a graveyard we are visiting - a memorial to the Canadians who fought against the Germans and her allies to free the Netherlands during World War II. White crosses, hundreds and thousands of white crosses, row upon row. They all blend into one, yet each stands unique. Each cross a unique young life snuffed out by war. Soldiers, all of them soldiers. Senseless. Or is it? Here lies ..... 19 years old...., 21 years, 25 years, 17 years. Died in 1943. Died in 1944. Died in February 1945 - three months before the liberation. Come, lets go. I have seen enough. Just war? Lest we forget... for the sake of freedom. For my sake, my freedom.

It is 2008. Kenya. The nation is on fire, literally on fire, from Kisumu to Eldoret, from Bungoma to Naivasha, from Nairobi to Mombasa. Yet since 1996, I travelled this beautiful country from East to West, from North to South, and at times alone. A flat tire at dusk near Webuye; an overheating radiator at Sigor; a tire blow out near Kisii; sick and vomiting in Dol dol; no accommodation available in Voi; my 8-month old baby feverish in Garsen; - I never felt threatened or scared. I always had good Samaritans lend a hand.

But for the past six days, in Nairobi, I have not ventured more than 10 km from my home. Even then I hurry back to the safety of the lawn behind my locked gate, and the home behind the concrete walls. I can't even get to my office. The nation is fighting for justice and truth. The election was stolen, rigged, dishonest. "Justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. (Is. 59:14-15).

Democracy is at stake. Freedom is at stake. At least 164 people have been killed so far. Over 70,000 people have been displaced from their homes. How many more for the sake of truth and justice? How many more for my sake and for the sake of my children? Democracy and freedom are for the living, not for the dead. With Kenya going up in smoke, and her people dying and beaten - including our world renown athletes - what will remain to rebuild the nation upon? "I will not keep silent, I will not remain quiet, till her righteousness shines out like the dawn..." (Is. 62:1).

Anja Oussoren
2 January 2008

2008-01-07T06:26:00.000-08:00

Kivuitu, you are to blame for the disaster that we in Kenya face now

I was shocked and utterly dismayed as I watched how Samuel Kivuitu, the Chairman of the Electoral Commission of Kenya conducted himself in the recently concluded elections. Even in the face of mounting evidence of election irregularities and the continued pleading from the opposition leaders to hold off reading the final results he completely ignored all these calls and went right ahead and announced the results thus leading to grave consequences for the Kenyan nation.

This was a great miscarriage of justice and a great contempt for the people of Kenya. Hundreds of precious Kenyan lives have been lost because of his carelessness and callousness. He needs to be held accountable for his actions.

Many Kenyans highly regarded Mr. Kivuitu and saw him as the best and most qualified person to provide leadership for the 2007 elections. But the actions we saw from him made many of us wonder whether he was operating from another reality. What a disappointment Mr. Kivuitu! You let down every single Kenyan.

Even though Mr. Kivuitu later admitted that he announced the results because of great pressure from other quarters, he should have used his moral and ethical judgement and refused to announce the results given the contentious nature of some of the election returns.

In due time he must be made to answer for his careless and grave actions that have led our lovely country Kenya on a downward spiral.

2008-01-07T06:07:00.000-08:00

Dissapointing Kenyan Elections

Many Kenyans today are still reeling from the shock and profound dissapointment with the recently concluded elections. There is a sense of great frustration with the way the election outcomes were handled. Now the country is truly at a crossroad seeking the way forward as it tries to pull itself from the brink of total collapse. The writer below sums quite well the feelings of many Kenyans and that is the need for new elections!

We want fresh election and an end to impunity
Published on January 7, 2008, 12:00 am

By Ashish Shah

Over eight million Kenyans turned out in their highest numbers ever to vote on December 27. Whichever side of the political divide you sit on, a little over one week later, you are still being reminded why we all came out to vote.
We came out to vote because we are tired, angry and frustrated with the political patronage and impunity that pervades our beautiful nation, and we wanted to use our precious vote to make our concerns known. Little did we expect that it would be the same impunity and patronage that had spread like cancer into our own electoral commission.
Our votes have been manipulated because of impunity and patronage.
I have lost all faith in the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK). I cannot accept having ECK commissioners come out now, after they made decisions based on impunity and patronage, to call for an independent investigation.
Impunity and patronage allow for ECK commissioners to continue to sit in office despite presiding over gross irregularities. They allow politicians to suggest that we use the courts to resolve the crises when we know that our courts continue to be under the influence of that same impunity and patronage.
Impunity and patronage allow for a President to be sworn in without citizens of a nation celebrating. Impunity and patronage allow for brazen attempts to silence the media. They allow for a media house to be raided in full glare of cameras.
There is no shortcut to our future. We have lost faith in all our governing institutions and we cannot rely on them to resolve this impasse. I cannot allow for independent people to re-tally votes already manipulated by the ECK. I cannot trust courts to solve this impasse.
There are only two things I can trust: One is the power of the people to cast their vote under the supervision of an impartial and independent and perhaps foreign electoral institution so that people are given the opportunity to regain control of the destiny of this nation with non-violent means. In the absence of non-violent means which are in the control of citizens to vent their frustrations and opinions, both sides of the political divide will only contribute to escalating violence, peacelessness.
Worse still, what we are seeing in Kenya is a greater consolidation of power resulting in more patronage and more impunity, the very things more than eight million Kenyans came out to vote for and change.
Supporters for both sides of the political divide voted for radical change. That is why over 16 Cabinet ministers were felled. That is why we all turned out in such large numbers.
We must allow Kenyans to vent their frustration and their desire for a better country through the ballot box yet again if we want to prevent citizens from venting their frustration through violence in the streets.
But beyond a fresh presidential election, we must use the current impasse to redirect all out energies into revolutionising our Constitution, because it is our Constitution that continues to allow impunity and patronage to go unchecked and unabated. This impasse provides for an opportunity for all of us to focus our energy on the real issue — delivering a Constitution that will prevent against impunity and patronage.
The real issue is not about who comes to power. The real issue is that we are tired of those who exercise power given to them with impunity and patronage. We are tired of personality-based politics.
Without a new constitution, we will continue to hope for benevolent leadership. This is a risk I am no longer prepared to take. As we have seen over the last five years, even the most benevolent of leaders can preside over impunity and patronage.
Do not waste this impasse in violence against your fellow brothers and sisters. Use this impasse to rid Kenya of impunity and patronage by calls for fresh and independent elections and immediate constitutional reform that places power back into the hands of millions of voters, and away from the political elite.
The writer is an economic and social policy consultant.

http://www.eastandard.net/news/?id=1143980038

2007-11-16T05:36:00.000-08:00

Lakewood fourth-graders learn about students in Kenya
connecting students

Sentinel staff report

By Marcia Buck

Margaret Kimosop, wearing clothing from her homeland Kenya.

When fourth-graders at West Ottawa's Lakewood Elementary School learned about Kenyan children, and their need for clean water, "they had eager minds, generous hearts and loving spirits," said Marcia Buck, a Holland representative of the Aqua Clara program.

On Nov. 7, Margaret Kimosop from Kenya addressed the group in her traditional Kenyan dress, while Bettie Visscher of Holland told the group of her experiences as a teacher in one of the schools in Kenya.

Earlier, with their teachers, Jamila Jawahir, Ken Arthurs and Amy VanAllsburg, the Lakewood students had learned about the children in five elementary schools around Eldoret, Kenya, and elected to contribute some of their limited funds to help these Kenyan children.

Visscher told the students that the Kenyan children would walk to school, sometimes an hour away, and that they would sit for four hours straight without a break, sometimes with little brothers and sisters on their lap, for morning classes and then again in the afternoon.

For breakfast they would have a cup of tea, for lunch, corn gruel (like cream of wheat in texture) and the same for dinner, but maybe with a little goat meat. The Lakewood students asked whether there were snacks or a cafeteria where they could get other food. The answer was no.

A doctoral student in Public Administration at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Kimosop told the students that the Kenyan children love to learn. They want to learn English and know everything they can about the United States, because that can get them a job. She told the students that the children of Kenya wear uniforms to school, and politeness is very important. Their lessons are at a table made of planks of wood in a large room where all the children are seated. When the teacher enters, the children all rise and say, "Good Morning, Miss Kimosop," sit and begin lessons for the day.

The Lakewood students asked what kind of sports or games the children played. Kimosop said although recesses are few, they love to play outside, just as American students do, but there they would make balls out of paper and string and make up games to play.

To foster cross-cultural communication, this month the Lakewood students are writing letters and short stories with pictures for the children in Kenya. The principal of schools at Eldoret has promised that the Kenyan children will respond with letters. However, they have a limited supply of paper and pencils, so when the letters are sent from Holland, paper, pencils, erasers and sharpeners will be included. Mrs. Jawahir's class has already collected 683 pencils. Collectively, it is the intention of all the children to establish longer-term communications with each other.

"Last year, Lakewood Elementary students collected $460 to help buy water purifiers for the children in each of the grades in five schools around Eldoret. These water purifiers, as developed by Aqua Clara using age-old technologies, provide clean water from fecally polluted water at $0.0003 per liter," Buck said. "At that time, we made the promise to the Lakewood children to establish a linkage between these groups of children so everyone could talk to everyone, which is now happening."

"So at this meeting, John Hesselink III of Holland, who will expand the training of the Kenyan teams in producing these water purifiers, also shared some of his experiences with the children. He described the condition of the water from the local stream, where the children bathe and the wild animals defecate, as being the same water the children and their families have for drinking. Such water often makes the children chronically sick and sometimes die. He explained the new, locally made water purifiers provide clean water at a price their families can afford. John went on to describe the high interest of the Kenyan children in having clean water and sharing that with their families. In January he will also help in expanding the linkage between the schools and share with the Kenyan children the greetings from the children from the Lakewood Schools."

For more information, visit www.aquaclara.us or call Marcia Buck at (616) 396-8511.

2007-04-13T15:11:00.000-07:00

Culture, civilization, and development

How do we build a world that is more tolerant and accepting of all people? How do we build societies that are more accepting of others and that seek the best for all their people? These are some of the many questions that we al grapple with as we struggle to find answers to all the turmoil that we see everyday all over the world. Global terrorism is on the rise around the world and even as of today the United States and its allies seem to be loosing the battle in their fight to root out terrorist activities around the world. How does culture play a role in nurturing democratic ideals in a given society and how are these ideals sustained and practiced holistically without discrimination or preference.

The article reviewed looks at this critical matter and how culture shapes society. The article is based on an interview of Lee Kuan Yew (former ruler of Singapore from 1969- 1990) and conducted by Fareed Zakaria (1994). Zakaria’s aim in doing the interview was to explore some of the critical factors that led to the enormous economic success of Singapore since its independence. In the interview, Yew notes that one of the factors that has enabled Singapore and especially the Asian tigers to succeed immensely is their cultural values and belief in “thrift, hard work, filial piety and loyalty in the extended family and most of all, the respect for scholarship and learning.” He acknowledges that even though these values also exist within the Western cultural system and have in the past led to the western nation’s success, these values have been on decline in these nations for decades now thus threatening the underpinnings of their societies.

Yew also points out that another reason for Singapore’s success has been the government’s facilitation of certain changes that have created economic growth as the country moved from and agricultural society to an industrial society. Although others have criticized this kind of government initiated and driven economic policy and plan as compared to an American-style system that is flexible, laissez-faire and constantly adapting to change, Yew sees it differently. Although he believes in the government’s role in society, he nevertheless believes that in keeping with the Confucian value system the strongest foundation for any society is in the family. He notes that through all turbulence the family provided an individual a “survival raft.” According to him this “life raft is what enables the civilization to carry on and get to its next phase.”

Yew notes that notwithstanding the criticisms that have been leveled against some East Asian countries of their distrust for open and freewheeling intellectual climate, East Asian countries actually value innovation and the production of new technologies and products. Yew points out that East Asians tradition of strict discipline and respect for teachers enables the nurturing of intellectual capacities. On a governmental level, the encouragement of savings and investments, keeping inflation low, and providing high-quality education have been key drivers of success. However, Yew stresses that the overarching factor is the cultural underpinnings of the society. He notes that even if a country liberalizes its economy and gets many of the economic fundamentals right, if other driving forces are ignored including the value of learning and scholarship, hard work, thrift, and deferment of present enjoyment for future gain, the going will be much slower.
In many ways, there is some truth in what Yew talks about especially one compares the East Asian nations to the oil rich gulf states that have a lot of economic wealth (in terms of oil money), but whose societies still languish and are far behind the East Asian nations.

Yew notes that although with the passage of time cultures change and adopt new ways of doing things and seeing the world, people still tend to grope backwards in the hope of identifying with their past. He illustrates this with the example of how there is a resurgence or the rise of religion in many parts of East Asia. In other parts of the world (especially in the western world) people are not looking to official religion but are searching for a higher meaning and purpose in their own lives. He also acknowledges that there are massive changes occurring within the East Asian societies in terms of lifestyles, ways of bringing up children and especially governance systems within the countries. In terms of the spreading of ideas of democracy and individual rights with East Asian countries, he acknowledges that many of these countries have changed considerably and are still changing. However, he notes that this will not necessarily mean that the systems of government will end up being like the American system or the German system. It is possible that they will be entirely different in keeping with the people’s needs and the maximization of possibilities for all citizens. He is convinced that what will eventually emerge is what will work best within their culture and context.

Implication for governance values
Such an argument mirrors the discussion on what is happening in the Middle East today and especially United States policy in Iraq. Trying to forcibly plant a western style democratic system in such a country and within a short period of time is foolish at best. The United States has hopefully learnt a valuable lesson from the Iraq debacle that one cannot unilaterally impose one’s own system of governance on another country without taking into account the history and context of that nation. There are no generic solutions to be dispensed at will to anyone that one has control of. What is needed is for the rebuilding of societal institutions in such ravaged nations and planting of seeds that will hopefully flower to create a society where everybody is valued and provided with the opportunity to be the best that they can be.

Yew explains that the United States, Western Europe, Japan, China, and other emerging strong nations will in the future need to work more and more closely together in working to find ways to maintain the rule of law and to spread the rule of law in international relations. He notes that the world has over the decades become more intertwined and nations have become interdependent on another thus calling for a need for greater collaboration in world affairs.

REFERENCE
Zakaria, F. (1994). Culture is destiny- a conversation with Lee Kuan Yew. Foreign Affairs, 73 (2), 109- 126

2007-04-13T14:56:00.000-07:00

Welfare reform: An outcomes analysis of policy changes

Welfare as a public policy issue has always been a contentious one and among the broad range of people in society, it evokes different feelings and emotions. On one hand there are those who strongly believe that welfare is an entitlement program that should be done away with completely or at least severely limited because of its effects of building a culture of poverty. Others on the opposite end have always seen welfare as a means of meeting the needs of the poor in society and as a way of equalizing the unfairness of the American socio-economic system. According to this camp, it is morally justifiable to meet the needs of those who cannot provide for themselves and no limits should be placed on such kind of help.

From the time of the great society programs and President Lyndon Johnson’s war on poverty programs in the 1960’s to the early 1990’s this debate raged deeply among the American people. Many calls were made to reform the welfare system because many people judged the system as it was a failure in rooting out poverty and stabilizing millions of people living in poverty especially single mothers and their children. As a result, in 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act (PRWORA) into law which ushered in a new set of welfare policies that made work –not need – the centerpiece of the welfare system. Over ten years since the enactment of this law, conflicting outcomes have been evidenced. The article reviewed below closely examines the impacts and outcomes of the 1996 welfare reform and evaluates its successes and failures. Essentially, what the article contends is that welfare reform is not enough and the system needs to be better structured to adequately meet the needs of those it serves. As has been stated above, this is just one of the sides of this debate and others would strongly disagree with such a conclusion. Really, depending on one’s own ideological view, it is possible to come up with a different set of conclusions. Advocates of the welfare system, even in its reformed state say that the system has enabled many individuals and especially many young single mothers lead a dignified life with their own health and the health of their children assured.

According to Tanner, M. (2003) “welfare reform has not been the disaster predicted by its critics, but neither has it been the extraordinary success hailed by its supporters” (1). He contends that welfare reform has been less successful in meeting many of its stated goals including the enforcement of time limits and work requirements. He also points out that welfare reform has not been able to reduce out-of-wedlock births to young women and has not been successful in breeding a new culture of independence and self-sufficiency among welfare recipients.
In terms of its success, Tanner points out that results show that poverty rates declined every year between 1996 and 2001 and by 2000 child poverty rates had declined to 16.2 percent from a high of 20 percent in 1996. He also points out that by 2003 there had been a drastic decline in poverty among female-headed households compared to other demographic groups though women and children still remained more likely to be in poverty than two-parent families with children.

Tanner also points out that welfare caseloads have been declining since the enactment of the new welfare policies. He points out to statistics that show that in the year 1995 more than 5 million Americans were receiving welfare benefits and nearly one of every seven children lived in a family receiving welfare. After the passage of welfare reform in 1996 caseloads decline increased rapidly and nearly every state saw a significant drop in the number of people seeking benefits. Of course others have seen this decline as having come as a result of a combination of many factors and not just welfare reform. According to those observers, a fall in welfare caseloads coincided with a period of substantial economic and job growth thus leading to the conclusion that former welfare recipients were taking advantage of the good economy and therefore getting jobs. However, this conclusion was subject to debate.

According to Tanner others point out that a fall in welfare caseloads was a result of stringent sanction policies that were put in place by many states to move people out of welfare. Many other welfare recipients were “strongly” encouraged to find work and many did eventually find work and stayed completely off welfare. Many other states also introduced “work first” programs that helped former welfare recipients to ease into work environment and also provided many work support programs like child care and transportation to assist clients retain their jobs once they were employed. However, in the recent years caseloads have either leveled off in many states or have inched up a little bit in some states as a result of weak state economies and loss of jobs. On the whole, Tanner and other policy observers acknowledges that there will be many people who will always dependent on welfare because of a variety of reasons including those who lack education, job skills and employment history and many others who battle with substance abuse, domestic violence, lack health insurance, those who have disabilities, lack transportation, and other problems.

Tanner also points out that success of welfare policies should not be judged by declining case loads alone but also by the well-being of those who have left the welfare rolls. According to a study done in South Carolina and Wisconsin among former recipients, many believed that their quality of life had improved since leaving welfare.

In terms of discouraging out-of-wedlock births, post-1996 welfare reforms have shown encouraging results. Researchers at the Brookings Institution have pointed out that the slowing down of out-of-wedlock births during the first part of the 1990’s was as a result of a decline in second out-of-wedlock births to women who had already had one child out of wedlock.

Implication for governance values

As has been noted above, welfare reforms since the mid 1990’s have exhibited mixed results that include both successes and failures. However, on the whole there have been more successes that have contributed to the betterment of the lives of millions of Americans. The calls for welfare reforms in the 1990 were partly a call for limiting government and especially in its role in the lives of the citizens. It was also occasioned by the cries of those who saw government as huge bureaucratic machine that had become mired by waste and fraud. Many observers today therefore see the 1990’s welfare reforms as positive changes that were long overdue. As more studies are done to ascertain the success or failures of the new welfare system, what is of importance to keep in mind is that the quality of lives of million of Americans is at stake and therefore any policy changes that are made should be done in a spirit of fairness and justice and not just out of expediency and partisanship.

REFERENCE

Tanner, M. (2003). Welfare reform: Less that meets the eye. Cato Institute Policy Analysis No. 473. Cato Institute. Retrieved February 20, 2006 from the World Wide Web: htt://www.cato.org

2007-03-16T18:37:00.000-07:00

Eco-tourism: Does it help or hurt fragile lands and cultures?

Ecotourism has become the in-thing today. More people are latching on to the ecotourism bandwagon in the hopes of gaining some benefit from this relatively new tourism phenomenon. However, of late there has been grave concern that rather than promoting and protecting the environment, ecotourism actually hurts the environment and that the costs far out way the benefits. The article reviewed below analyzes this critical issue from all angles.

The international Ecotourism Society defines ecotourism as “responsible travel to natural areas that conserve the environment and improves the well-being of local people”. Cox (2006) in her article notes that in the booming global travel business, ecotourism is one of the fastest-growing segments. Those who strongly advocate for this kind of tourism see it as a “benign tool for sustainable economic development in even the poorest nations” However, those who are critical of ecotourism point out to the dangers to fragile ecosystems which visitors flock to see, and the threats to the wellbeing of indigenous cultures as they come in contact with outsiders.

Cox notes that in the last twenty five years, many travelers have enjoyed expanding opportunities to visit locations once considered impossibly remote. Places like the Antarctica, Galapagos Islands and Mount Everest, have become popular destination spots for many tourists in recent years. Cox notes that for those tourists who seek meaningful experiences during their vacations, ecotourism has been able to provide them with these kinds of opportunities. Tourists are able to learn about different cultures and how other people live and are also able to observe and learn about unique natural settings and ecosystems. Advocates of ecotourism also point to the benefits that local economies gain by participants in the ecotourism business. In fact a number of development economists have pointed out that ecotourism is one of the best methods of local community development especially in many poor communities. This is especially so in communities where the indigenous people are made a part of the decision making process and are closely involved in the ecotourism projects.

Indeed there has been some evidence that this kind of program has worked in some communities. In Kenya for instance, the Masaai and Samburu ethnic people who live near many of the most popular wildlife destination spots in the country that receive thousands of international tourists a year have partnered with the government and both local and international tour operators to manage some of the game parks and national reserves so that all the stakeholders can benefit from the tourism trade. In the past these communities had been marginalized and denied the benefits accruing from the tourism trade and this had led to a lot of disenchantment and retaliation from the local communities. Today, the development of these kinds of partnership has led to increasing trust and openness and even led to greater efforts at conservation and preservation of the natural environment by local communities and other key stakeholders.

Those who are critical of such development however, point out that for many other local communities around the world, ecotourism has not been the boon they thought it would be. Some critics point out that a lot of that money that is brought in by tourists ends up back in many of the developed nations in terms of “profits earned by foreign-owned businesses, promotional spending abroad or payments for imported labor and goods.”

Some have contended that many groups have joined the ecotourism or “green” bandwagon just to make quick profits and not necessarily because they care too much about the environment or even whether their services or tour offers are really ecotourism related. This has led to calls for a certification system “reflecting a destination’s environmental and cultural sensitivity. Cox points out that those who advocate for such kind of certification system see it as the only “way to protect the market advantages of genuine ecotourism and encourage development of sustainable practices in the broader marketplace.” However, those who criticize such a move see it as one more way that “diminishes the involvement of indigenous people and exacerbate many of the problems ecotourism already creates for its communities.”

Even as ecotourism has benefited numerous communities around the world, there has been increasing concern that fragile ecosystems are in great danger of tremendous damage. Cox (2006) gives an example of Costa Rica, where as a result of an explosion of visitors to some of its beautiful park systems, hundreds of Costa Rican workers moved into these areas to provide services to the tourists creating a negative environmental impact on the fringes of the preserves. This shows that more needs to be done to balance population needs with environmental protection.

Implication for Governance values
On the whole, ecotourism can be beneficial to all stakeholders if managed well. Governments, conservation agencies, tour operators and local communities all need to work together to aggressively promote environmental sustainability. Sustainable practices are being encouraged on a global scale to mitigate the effects of increasing tourism around the world. Cox (2006) notes that in “Costa Rica, Guatemala, Belize and Ecuador, more than 200 tourism operations in or near sensitive or protected areas are receiving training in the “best practices” of sustainable tourism including waste management and water and electricity conservation, as well as social factors as paying adequate salaries and including local and indigenous people in decision making.”

Others point out to the benefits accrued as a result of different people from different cultures meeting and learning from one another. Indigenous-rights activists see the interpersonal connections and first-person impressions derived from tourist visits as of great importance. They contend that tourism should be utilized as a means of effective communication with one another and as a better way of understanding the global crisis that we face today.

REFERENCE

Cox, R. S. (2006, October 20). Ecotourism: Does it help or hurt fragile lands and cultures? CQ Researcher, 16(37), 865-888.

2007-02-11T18:56:00.000-08:00

Women’s role in society

I agree with the writer Kang’ara that African women today have been disempowered through the economic system of the modern world. In the past African women were “proud landowners and producers” but today they do not have a say in their economic lives. They have been reduced to consumers of products rather than producers. Even though the products they produced in the past were basic and often rudimentary, it met the needs of their families and their communities. Cottage industries thrived in these traditional communities and goods were exchanged through barter trade. When you look at e-bay for instance, it is nothing but a virtual market where people barter products they have in exchange for the goods they need, only that it is done in a little bit more sophisticated way.

We need to carefully study the traditional system of family and community sustenance and especially the traditional economic systems that acted as mechanisms for the exchange of goods and services and see what lessons we can glean from our forefathers. The lessons learned can then be applied to our modern African context and figure out how the system of today can incorporate those tried and true traditional ways. Presently, development aid has almost completely failed in Africa because it is based on a faulty system. We need less aid and more trade and opportunities to create goods and services and exchange these in the world market. We need to redesign our financial systems so that money received is well protected.

“Women were once leaders in the business of survival but today are forced to sit on the sidelines while others make decisions for them” We need to empower women once again to be welcome to the decision making table where they will have a voice and say in policy making. Today, the United States has a woman as the Speaker of the house making it a historic moment because she is the first woman to hold this position. She is in a powerful policy making position and under her watch a lot of key legislations and policy will undoubtedly be passed making her a powerful person.

We must use science and technology to further enhance the lives of women in Africa in the years to come. Once a lot of the drudgery of their daily tasks is removed from under them, it will free them to become more productive and better contributors to society’s development.

Women have an inbuilt capacity for compassion and empathy and this can be a powerful leadership tool especially in troubled times. Africa leadership for instance today ignores the role that women can play conflict resolution and peace initiatives. Exemplary leaders like Oprah Winfrey, Wangari Maathai, Rosa Parks, mother Teresa, and Eleanor Roosevelt have used their power, position and platforms to highlight critical community issues that needed or need to be addressed. These issues range from environmental protection, civil rights, social justice, poverty, and social wellbeing for all.

What is the effect of global capitalism today especially pertaining to women of Africa? What famine eradication policies are in place today and how do they take into account the long term needs of communities? What is African leadership doing about these issues? What are the voices of women who have to live through starvation and deprivation? What can they teach us about their situation? What are the nations’ of Africa long term planning for food stocks?

Women must be at the center of creation of opportunities of enhancing food production capacity and creating markets for goods produced. They need to be at the forefront in the investment initiatives in rural areas and key players in the ownership and control of means of production. Famine is not right in the eyes of women and their empowerment to fight this ill is long overdue.

2007-02-08T12:21:00.000-08:00

Does the United States still depend too heavily on oil?

How does use of fossil fuels impact the environment and the general quality of life of Americans? What is the global impact of the unrelenting use of oil? What policy initiatives has the US government undertaken to address the pressing issue of the impact of energy use on the environment? What other policy initiatives has the government considered in order to lessen the dependence on oil? The paper reviewed below attempts to address some of those issues.

Cooper, Mary (2000) contends that indeed the United States depends too much on oil. Because of this heavy reliance on oil usage, environmental quality in the United States has been seriously compromised. She gives a comprehensive summary of different problems and solutions to America’s dependence on oil. She notes that even though the USA has strong energy policies, America’s insatiable thirst for oil and other fossil fuels continues to rise, this in spite of the recent gas shortages and growing concerns about global warming and other environment problems.

Cooper notes that America faces major vulnerabilities because of it transportation system that is “97 percent dependent on petroleum”. She observes that even though the oil crises of the 1970’s and early 1980’s forced motorists to line up for gas and also forced auto makers to make more energy efficient cars, today America has become more dependent on foreign oil than ever before and the types of vehicles being driven today ( e.g., sport-utility vehicles) consume vast amounts of gas.

She points out that some of the environmental impacts of burning fossil fuels include smog and acid rain. Compounds that get emitted into the environment as a result of burning of these fuels include nitrogen oxide, sulfur oxides, and volatile organic compounds.

Although measures and legislation has been put in place to help maintain air-quality standards as was the case of the 1970 Clean Air Act and other subsequent legislation leading to greatly reduced forms of air pollution, many cities today still continue to be covered in a thick blanket of smog.

Cooper notes that though the political will is there to maintain the strict air-quality standards in many states, governors of some states have been “dodging the politically unpopular steps of properly enforcing auto-emission standards at home”

Another major problem mentioned in the article is the threat of the build up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere caused by burning fossil fuels. Cooper points that scientist have determined that excessive emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are causing the warming of the earth’s atmosphere. Because of this danger, Cooper points out that the United States and 37 other countries signed the Kyoto Protocol with all the countries committing to reducing their 1990 greenhouse gas emission levels by 5-8 percent by 2008. Former President Bill Clinton strongly supported this initiative but in the recent years the Bush administration has not enthusiastically embraced the initiative.

Other initiatives that have been contemplated include the increased use of nuclear power as an alternative to fossil fuel. Although there are strong proponents for this initiative, many still oppose it by stating that it is not any cleaner than fossil fuels and that the dangers of radiation from nuclear waste are too critical to ignore.

Developed nations like France and Belgium have strongly adopted the use of nuclear power for generating electric power and on a worldwide scale, nuclear energy “accounts for 6.3 percent of the world’s energy production”. In the United States, nuclear power accounts for one-fifth of its electricity. Such statistics indicate that nuclear power is certainly a viable option and that the increase in its usage is inevitable.

Implications for governance values

The US government cannot continue acting in an isolationist manner in regards to environmental policy. It needs to reexamine its stand on the Kyoto protocol on global warming by realizing that it needs to work together and collaborate with other nations to fight the effects of global warming. The government should stop being beholden to large corporate interests that do not want to be challenged in how they consume vast amounts of energy with little regard to the environment.

The government must also tighten its regulatory standards through the EPA. Those who violate the EPA standards should pay high penalties thus acting as a deterrent. Although these tenets go against the governing values of limited government, it nevertheless important for the government to strongly enforce its standards and to be a watchdog by providing oversight over legislation passed.

Congress needs to work hard at passing stronger legislation to protect the environment without necessarily hampering the ability of today’s industries from functioning. They also need to work at securing funding for research into energy efficient practices that can lead to a declining need for oil. Further research needs to be done in the field of biofuels. Citizens need to be involved in finding solutions to the energy dependence that the country faces. It might be a surprise that people come with creative and innovative ideas on how to cut on foreign oil dependency.

REFERENCE

Cooper, M. H. (2000, March 3). Energy and the environment. CQ Researcher, 10, 161-184.

2007-02-08T12:18:00.000-08:00

The globalization of the labor market for health-care professionals

In recent years, we find that the migration of people from one country to another has become a contentious issue. This is especially so for the migration of million of people from the developing nations to the developed nations. In the United States today, there is a raging debate about the issue of illegal immigrants who are within the country’s borders and what the government ought to do to stem the tide of many more who are willing to do anything to get into the country. Europe too is facing a similar problem with the European citizens calling for tighter measures to keep out immigrants who the citizens claim come to take their jobs and take advantage of their social systems. However, with the current trend in globalization and the relative freedom of movement of people, goods and services it seems this is an increasingly loosing battle. People often move from one country to another in search for jobs and a better standard of living and if jobs or opportunities are plentiful in one region of the world, people will move there.

The article under review analyzes the subject of the globalization of the labor market focusing on health-care professionals. Unlike other kinds of labor markets, the health care labor market and the emigration of health care professionals has been to a large extent endorsed by many developed nations thus leading to high rate of migration of health care professionals from developing nations to developed nations. Clark, F.P., Clark, A. D., & Stewart, B.J., (2006) in their article contend that though this kind of emigration has always taken place, in recent years this phenomenon has accelerated significantly. Although migration of health care professionals also takes place between poor nations and between wealthy nations, a larger number of professionals are moving from poor nations to rich nations.

This kind of movement has been criticized heavily in recent years because of the effects it has particularly on poor nations. The authors note that many poor nations are loosing critically needed nurses, doctors, physicians, and other health-care practitioners. The loss of these workers has made the situation desperate for many poor nations who as a result cannot adequately meet the health care needs of their people. The authors point out that the under funding and the dysfunctional nature of the health-care systems of many poor nations leads to major flows of labor to wealth nations. Thus, global labor market is disproportionately tilted towards nations that are affluent and that provide the kinds of compensations and opportunities that are a big draw to highly trained professionals.

The authors highlight the problem of the shortage of health-care workers in both developing nations and developed nations. In the case of developed nations, the imbalance is occasioned by a greater demand of health care workers whereas supply is not keeping up. A rising ageing population who have a significantly higher need of health care is met with fewer workers joining the health care profession. Another cause for the shortage is the soaring malpractice insurance rates that have driven away many physicians. In developing nations the shortage of health care workers is mainly caused by lack of resources to train or retrain health care workers and also poor working conditions for those who are already working in the health care field.

The authors note that major migration is among English speaking countries. In the year 2001-2002 there were over 7,000 Philipino nurses who migrated to the United Kingdom while there were over 2,000 nurses who came from South Africa. Australia contributed over 1,000 nurses while from India came over 900 nurses.

As has been noted above, there are costs and benefits to the migration of health-care workers from one country to another. The benefits often accrue to the individuals and to the receiving nations who are able to fill in needed workers where there are critical shortages. However what has been the case is that the costs have often been greater for developing nations who lose valuable human resources that they sorely need. In addition resources that are used to train these departing professionals are often taken away from other critically needed services within the country including education, infrastructure development and social service provision. In the United States, the hiring of foreign workers has centered on the effects it has on labor practices and working conditions for local workers. Issues here include the potential erosion of employment conditions and depressed wages.

Given the high costs that developing nations face when there workers migrate to wealthier nations, there has be an international call to deal with this issue that many have a called a moral and ethical issue of our time. One of the suggestions that has been floated is for developing nations to require the health-care professionals who are planning to emigrate to make a “repayment” commitment in form of a required period of public service especially for those health care workers whose training was publicly funded. Developing nations have also been urged by the world community to increase their investment in the health care sector particularly by working at improving the working conditions of health care workers and also providing better compensation as an incentive to stay within their own countries.

However, on the whole it is an agreed fact that something ought to be done to address the overall issue of negative migration of health care workers from developing nations to developed nations. On a global scale, many solutions have been proposed including passing regulation limiting the number of health care professional who can emigrate to wealthy nations. This solution has however met with resistance because it infringes on the rights of individuals to make their personal choices as to where to live and work. In addition market advocates contend that the current labor movement is a result of the market forces at work that lead people to move where the need and demand for their services is.

Developed nations like the United States and the United Kingdom have been urged to help developing nations to improve their overall social, physical and economic infrastructures as a means to stem the outflow of workers. This particularly important because historically developed nations have faced an unfair terms of trade in the world market with the consequences being devastating for these nations. In addition United States and other developed nations have been urged to support a global fund that would fund the training of health-care workers in developing nations negatively impacted by migration.

These and many other strategies will hopefully address some of the critical issues surrounding the global market of health care professionals.

REFERENCE

Clark, P.F., Clark, D.A., & Stewart, J. B. (2006). The globalization of the labor market
for health-care professionals. International Labour Review, 145(2) 37-64

2007-01-15T08:30:00.000-08:00

As we start this New Year, let us all be positive minded people. Let us learn to look at our world with a positive worldview and see the possibilities that are there in our environment. We can achieve so much when we learn to do this. Hope the year 2007 is a memorable one for all.

2007-01-15T07:55:00.000-08:00

Children are our future

Educating a child today is creating hope for tomorrow. Children hold so much potential and possibilities that it is imperative that we invest in them. At Potters House Academy, we are investing in the lives of hundreds of children. We are helping these children build self-confidence and gain the knowledge and skills that will enable them to live fulfilling and fruitful lives.

The 21st century holds so much promise for the African continent and so we must prepare the next generation to take the reins of leadership and take the continent to new levels of develpment. It is our hope that Potters House Academy will be at the forefront in preparing these kind of leaders.

2006-11-20T18:07:00.000-08:00

Moral and ethical leadership: The case for Africa

Introduction
Moral and ethical leadership is needed in the continent of Africa, more than ever today. The continent faces numerous challenges that have resulted in the hindrance in economic development and the improvement of the living conditions and standards of its people. One of the Key ingredients to this failure is the lack of moral and ethical leadership. Corruption, tribalism, nepotism and the like continue to ravage the continent.
This paper aims to look at the issue of moral and ethical leadership as it is being played out in the African continent and to examine some of the implications of a lack of clear leadership in terms of economic development and the general welfare of the people.
Before looking at the ethical and moral leadership in the context of Africa, it is imperative to define the terms ethics and morality and give a brief overview what has been written about ethical and moral leadership in organizations or institutions today. According to Northouse (2005), leadership ethics as a topic of study is a recent phenomenon. He points out that one of the earliest writings on leadership ethics was as recent as 1996 in the work of a group sponsored by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. The groups’ ideas were published in a volume titled Ethic:, the Heart of Leadership (Ciulla, 1998). However, Northouse points out that during the last ten years, interest in the nature of ethical leadership has increased.
Ethics is defined as “the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group and also as a set of moral principles or values” (Mariam-Webster’s Collegiate dictionary, 3rd ed.) Morals on the other hand relates to “principles of right and wrong” (Mariam-Webster’s Collegiate dictionary, 3rd ed.). Northouse (2005) states that “ ethical theory provides a system of rules or principles that guide us in making decisions about what is “right or wrong” and “good or bad” in a particular situation” (p. 302). In terms of leadership, Northouse points out that ethics deals with a leader’s behavior and integrity. Practicing ethical leadership leads to the building of strong trust among all stakeholders. This in turn leads to collaboration in undertaking various tasks and meeting the national goals for development. Northouse argues that ethical leadership is a key to effective leadership. To him, since leaders have been vested with power, they ought to use that power in a positive way to influence their followers in significant ways. Northouse says that some of the characteristics of ethical leadership include: “respect for others, service to others, justice, honesty, focus on community building” (p. 310).
Heifetz (1994), another scholar who studied the importance of ethical leadership pointed out that leaders need to use their authority to help their followers deal with the conflicting demands of a changing work environment by creating trusting and supportive environments.
Greenleaf (1970, 1971) was another key figure who argued for ethical leadership through what he called ‘servant leadership’. According to Greenleaf, an effective leader must be ready to serve his followers. Servant leadership allows everybody to participate in the life of the community and helps build trust and respect among all the stakeholders.
An Individual’s values are the basic principles and tenets that guide beliefs, attitudes, and behavior (Gordon, 1996). A value is believed to function as a guide to the individual’s adaptation to the surrounding environment (Kahle and GoffTimmer, 1983). Thus, values are the point on which the individual intersects with society (Grunert and Scherhorn, 1990).
The relationship between leadership and values has long been studied in the management literature (e.g., Barnard, 1938; Selznick, 1957). Selzick (1957) argued that the real task of leadership is to create a social structure of shared values. Schein (1985) notes that top managers attempt to communicate their organizational values to employees to shape behavior and lead the firm. The ethical orientation of the manager, in terms of traits and behaviors, is a key factor in promoting ethical behavior in an organization (Carlson and Perrewe, 1995). An ethically oriented organization is one that has the capacity to reflect on values in the decision making process and establish how managers can use these observations in managing the organization (Caroll, 1987).
Thompson (2004) asserts that leadership is fundamentally a moral endeavor. She notes that “effective leaders are able to engage with others in building, by example and constructive effort, an environment within which individuals and groups are free and encouraged to discern and actualize the right and the good in fulfillment of shared goals, values and purpose” (p.28).
Leadership especially at an institutional level or a national level sets the tone of the ethical orientation of their environments. Leaders communicate and exhibit the values that lead to an ethical orientation in their settings (Hood, 2003). Therefore, when studying leadership in the African context it is important to examine some of the values that African leaders exhibit in their practice of leadership.

Colonial experience
The colonial experience in Africa was not a pleasant one. Because of repression and the way in which the colonial administrators treated the people within their colonies, the leadership model displayed was not a positive one. Often, the colonial leaders used the divide and rule approach to dealing the indigenous people thus breeding mistrust and animosity between different ethnic groups within a country. A good example of this is what happened in Rwanda and Burundi where seeds of distrust were planted within the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups that decades later led to devastating massacres of innocent people.
Post-colonial experience
Although, the colonial experience for many African countries was not pleasant and a lot of damage was done in the leadership and governance practices of the varied countries, the post-colonial experience has not been very rosy either. Failure in African leaderships is still evident today four decades after colonialism ended. Numerous scholars have posited different views as to why this has been the case. The general consensus however, has been the notion that a lack of a value driven leadership has been the weakness of most African leadership (Bonsu, 2002). Bonsu notes that “politically, the Sub-Saharan African leadership has always built organizations where networks of trust are confined to families and cronies, and those of mistrust and suspicion are relegated to outside groups” (p. 5) Regional conflicts in Liberia and Sierra Leone for instance has led to terrible human rights abuses and economically impoverished those nations.
However, a small number of African nations have shown some progress in terms of leadership and economic development during this post colonial period. Botswana for instance has not experienced internal instability since its independence from the British in the mid sixties. This has been attributed to Botswana’s post colonial leaders who fostered and maintained a high moral leadership culture that reduced corruption (Bonsu, 2002).

Governance
Leaders who uphold ethical and moral values help build societies that value good governance. Amoako (2001), states “that good governance generates confidence in institutions and process of government.” He continues to add that good governance creates value for all sectors in an economy including the private sector. Good governance demands peace and security both of which are in scarce supply in many African countries as a result of internal conflicts. However, Amoaki notes that a number of peace efforts have been initiated and moral leadership provided by such luminary figures as Nelson Mandela.

Corruption
Corruption and graft are not unique to the African continent. Corruption exists everywhere and anywhere due to the nature of man and due to the cultural context in which he or she operates. Examples of massive corruption and ethical lapses has been witnessed not only in the U.S., but also in many European countries and even in Asia. However, we find that corruption has often become more institutionalized in some regions as compared to others. In many African countries, corruption has become such an embedded feature in the leadership practice that it has become a very serious and moral crisis.
Because of rampant corruption in many African nations today, people have lost trust in their government. Kenya for example was recently cited as one of the most corrupt nations in the world by Transparency international (Transparency International, Kenya, 2006). A lot of Kenyans interviewed after the corruption index report was released expressed an increased level of frustration as they saw that corruption was increasing every year. In addition, Kenya was recently said to be a high level transit hub of the illegal drug trade. How can such things happen if the elements with the government are not condoning such practices? Such practices cannot happen within a vacuum. Corrupt and greedy government officials must either be colluding with the drug cartels or they must be looking the other way as illegal drugs are transited through the country. The present Kenyan government was elected on the platform of zero tolerance to corruption. However, four years down the road those declarations seem mere platitudes as corruption has hardly been tackled. In fact, what happened once the new government came into power was the inheriting of the corruption rings and corrupt systems of the past regime, to benefit those who now wielded power.
High levels of corruption have led to political elites to embezzle from the national treasury for personal use, thereby undermining the accumulation of financial capital resources essential for economic development (Bonsu, 2002). The late President Mobutu Sese Seko of the Democratic Republic of Congo had, according to one estimate, well over $5 billion in foreign account, an amount the size of Congo’s foreign debt at the time (Economist, 1993). Kauffman (1997) notes that corruption is negatively associated with developmental objectives everywhere. He notes that the results gathered from surveys conducted among high level officials from emerging economies shows that public sector corruption is rated as the most severe developmental obstacle facing their countries
However, the good news is that there are a number of African countries that have been cited in a new World Bank research as among countries which have made progress in improving governance and corruption. These include: Botswana, Ghana, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Mozambique, and Liberia. Moral and ethical leadership will say no to corruption and under hand dealings that are driven by selfishness and greed.

2006-11-14T21:35:00.000-08:00

New leadership paradigms for 21st century schools: A case for sub-Saharan Africa

Africa today is groaning under the weight of immense socio-economic challenges. its societal systems are under so much attack and its people are indeed floundering. Part of Africa’s challenges stem from its own history of colonial rule and the subjugation of the African people. Its education history particularly leaves a lot to be desired, especially in the light of the colonial legacy where the colonial administration did not invest seriously in the education of the African people. After independence, the educational gaps in the society were immense. Post independent Africa has not faired much better. Education in many sub-Saharan countries still lags behind. As a result of this history, we find that human capital has not been fully tapped in order to aid the development of the continent.

What is needed is a new paradigm in school leadership and administration in African schools with the goal of transforming school systems and the educational environment as a whole in order to produce graduates of a high caliber who are able to face the 21st century with its opportunities and challenges. What then are the new leadership qualities, skills and capacities that are needed for the prospective school administrator or leader?

The goal of this paper is to examine school leadership through the lense of transformational, contingency, and team leadership theories and draw some lessons that can be applied to school leadership in sub-Saharan Africa.

In this essay, we will look at what others have said about transformational leadership and its implications for school leadership in particular.

In a recent article written by a leading Kenyan newspaper, school heads were interviewed and were asked what were some of the challenges they faced in school leadership. Many answered that there greatest challenge was that they did not feel prepared for the tasks of school management and leadership. Inadequate training and preparation greatly hampered there work. I believe however, that beyond learning the management skills of running a day to day operation of a school. School heads need to cultivate leadership skills that will transform their schools into places of excellence where all involved thrive and excel.

A transformative school leader will be one who will cast the vision about where he or she wants to see the school head. This leader will inspire all the stakeholders in the educational enterprise to seize moments of opportunities for excellence. As a transformative person, the school leader will be ready to take risks, create new visions, and change people’s perception about themselves and their situation. The leader will build new relationships and new structures that fosters a healthy learning climate. The leader will also work at creating a new culture that is open to new ideas and approaches that enhances the school operates.

The 21st century school leaders must learn to be collaborators and co-participants with all the stakeholders in the educational community, including parents, children, policy makers and other community leaders. School leaders can gain tremendous insight by listening and drawing ideas from a wide variety of people in order to enhance the effectiveness of schools. Effective school leaders will be those who will be able to cope with conflict, set new directions, align resources and inspire all stakeholders. They will empower all stakeholders to create longterm vision, define and clarify problems and opportunities, create and commit to improvement strategies and take action. Such leaders will require courage, commitment, and empathy.
One of the major problems that has plagued school leadership in many sub-Saharan countries is the use of top-down approach to leadership where it is assumed that the boss knows it all and he or she should be the one to come up with all the solutions. This, has resulted in ineffective school performance and massive failure. Many teachers and heads acknowledge that this has been the scenario for decades. Nevertheless, many have come to realize that this practice needs to change. Many African schools are now adopting bottom-up approach to educational leadership....You can request for a copy of this whole paper from: mkimosop@hotmail.com

2006-11-14T14:02:00.000-08:00

"Let this Pan African Parliament be the voice of the poor. Let us be open to allow the voices of those who speak through us be heard,"

Nelson Mandela challenging the members of the Pan African Parliament (PAP) while launching the Trust Fund at the seat of the august House in Midrand, South Africa.

For details go to:
http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=39&newsid=85547

The launching of the Trust Fund triggers many things to many people. Personally, it swings my mind back to the pet subject of many in Africa—corruption! Corruption is nothing new in Africa. Unfortunately, there is a prevalent consciousness that corruption has been on the increase on the continent over the past 40 years. Undoubtedly, bribery is not new to the region, but substantial graft seems to have multiplied, as suggested by scandals in many African countries. Assuming that the observation of amplified corruption mirror a real vice, and is not due simply to enhanced reporting and closer scrutiny by a more observant public, what are the focal reasons behind this increase? Current explanations tend to stress heightened opportunities for extracting bribes more than incentives for doing so. As regards the former, many scholars have pointed to growing state interventionism, which gives bureaucrats and politicians broad discretion over appealingly huge resources. Other scholars, by contrast, have pointed to the recent wave of neoliberal reforms, during which bureaucrats and politicians disposed of huge portions of public property, often with limited transparency. While these factors were at work in some cases, they do not grant an adequate explanation for the recent rise of corruption. Corruption can result from a multiplicity of causes or combinations of causes.

Corruption may be defined as the provision of material benefits to politicians and public officials in exchange for illicit influence over their decisions. The corruptor uses private benefits to induce a public decision maker to bend or break formal rules of procedure in order to confer on the corruptor special favors in the adjudication of rights or the allocation of resources. Although it may be tolerated by a country's citizens, corruption is, by definition, illegal. It is important to distinguish corruption, which entails the illegal sale of special favors, from political patronage, which occurs when public decision makers use their legal margin of discretion to confer favors on their friends and followers without receiving material benefits in return. Corruption can have two different purposes. Politicians and public officials may sell favorable decisions in order to accumulate funds for political reasons, such as a future election campaign. They may also use bribes to accumulate private wealth. Of course, the boundary between political and personal corruption is fluid.

As regards increased enticement for corruption, a prime suspect is the wave of democratization that has swept across Africa over the last 20 years. By dispersing power and requiring the consent of several institutions in decision making, the return of democracy has extended the variety of performers who can demand bribes. Also over the past 20 years, personalistic leaders with mass swaying charisma have sought to bypass established political parties and interest groups in order to reach "the people" through direct, most often televised, appeals aimed at building up a loyal following from scratch. Because its methods are costly, the new media-based politics has given ambitious politicians much higher incentives to resort to corruption.

With this in mind, I call upon all young leaders in Africa to take the challenge by Retired South African President Nelson Mandela when he led members of the Pan African Parliament (PAP) in launching the Trust Fund seriously. We understand that the fund will act as the basket for pooling assistance from member states of the African Union (AU), companies and individuals from the continent. It will also allow PAP to seek financial and related support from foreign governments and organizations for implementation of its programmes. This is a very noble goal which ought to be fought for by all mindful and patriotic Africans. Indeed the African leaders who attended that function and heard that challenge from Nelson Mandela owe it to the African continent to respect and honor our statesman. He is our role model in many ways. He sacrificed his own life to “emancipate’ Africa yet when he ascended to power he did not exemplify greed and arrogance like many of the African leaders.

Visit this site for some interesting stuff in the women's world: http://wworld.org/programs/newItem.asp?eventID=40

2006-11-11T15:53:00.000-08:00

What is Africa lacking? Moral leaders with a clear concept about positive development!

Here are some amazing eye-opening facts-thanks to Dr.Steve Van Horn:

· The total income of all 55 African countries is a little more than that of Belgium.
· Africa is the world's most indebted and aid-dependent region.
· 17% of the African GNP goes towards debt repayment.
· The whole continent has fewer paved roads than Poland alone.
· Africa is poorer than it was 40 years ago.
· African economies must grow at 5% annually just to maintain the current level of poverty.
· Africa looses 20,000 skilled professionals a year due to economic hardship.
· Africa has less than 10% of the world's population but 70% of the world's total HIV infection.
· 1999 world financial reports indicate that 39% of all African GNP is taken and deposited in foreign banks by selfish and corrupt leaders.
· Nigeria has more than 110 trillion standard cubic feet of gas reserve and about 10 trillion cubic feet of oil reserve, but also has an external debt of $50 billion.
· Nigeria alone produces 50% of the United States' petroleum needs.
· The continent has one of the largest water and river systems in the world, yet it suffers from drought and insufficient hydro electricity.
· A recent computer analysis of the economy of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) concluded that no one could survive there.
· By 1958, the DRC was producing 50% of the world's uranium, 75% of the world's cobalt, 70% of he world's industrial diamonds, and it was the world's largest producer of rubber. But the average income per capita in the DRC is less than 1% of that in the United States.
· With good leadership, and good resource management the DRC could feed up to 2/3 of Africa all by itself.

Friends:
With all of this potential, Africa has the world's poorest of the poor. What is Africa lacking? Why can't the situation change in such a "Christianized" populace? Who are the Christians in Africa and what are they doing?

2006-11-09T10:07:00.000-08:00

Kenyan Traditional Family Patterns

Families from time immemorial have formed the core component of any society. From creation, the Lord ordained the family as the center for nurture and instruction. The family was established by God as a necessary structure for human living. During biblical times and especially in ancient Israel, we see how the family formed the glue that kept the community together.

Today, the family remains as important as it was in biblical times. Its mission remains just as critical in these present times, especially as the world changes at a phenomenal rate and people and communities are impacted in tremendous ways.

In thinking about the mission of the family, in particular, the Christian family today, we look to what God has mandated the family members to do and accomplish in his name. Apart from its role of nurture and instruction God calls the family and its members to be his witnesses to a world that does not know him. God calls the Christian family to be his evangelists and ambassadors to His world, to bring his gospel of reconciliation.

However, when we look at the mission of the family in the context of today's world, we find that the family is confronted by many challenges. Secularism, materialism, consumerism, urbanization, crime, and poverty are on the rise in every corner of the world. How can families understand their roles and tasks or remain true to their mission in the light of what confronts them on a daily basis?

There is, however, hope for the family, and in spite of the challenges the family has an exciting role to play today in the extension of the kingdom of God.

In looking at the mission of the family from a Kenyan perspective, we explore all these angles and the societal context in which the modern family exist and also look at the solutions and ways to support the family as it strives to be a beacon of hope and an agent of community transformation. To read more go to: http://community.gospelcom.net/Brix?pageID=6089

Personal Profile

2006-11-09T09:51:00.000-08:00

I was born...............Currently a Ph.D student in Public Administration.