Kenya’s next General Election, which is expected to be held in December this year or March 4, 2013, is estimated to be the most expensive election in the world, at the cost of Ksh 36 billion ($427 million). The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) that is responsible for conducting the elections, had initially requested for Ksh 41.5 billion ($493 million) but the Treasury has offered only Ksh 17.5 billion ($207.5 million). On May 20th, presidential aspirant Uhuru Kenyatta showed financial might when he launched his political party (The National Alliance) with pomp and fanfare. The event was beamed via satellite at various locations countrywide. It was also broadcast live on television and on the Internet. It is claimed that the launch cost up to Ksh 150 million.
Kenyans have mixed feelings about those who have declared their candidacy in the forthcoming presidential elections. Two frontrunners, Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto, have been charged with crimes against humanity which were committed during the post-election violence (PEV) in 2008. They are expected to defend themselves at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. However, they are determined to contest the presidency and do not see the charges as a hindrance. Their assumption, which will stand the test of time, is that they have a lot of support from their tribes, namely: the Kikuyu (Uhuru) and the Kalenjin (Ruto).
The ICC does not oppose their presidential ambitions, although some Kenyans (according to various opinion polls) feel that they should step down from politics completely, on moral and ethical grounds. Chapter Six of Kenya’s new Constitution deals with integrity and states that public officials must have honor and should promote public confidence in their offices. As per this Constitutional provision, the two ICC suspects ought to abandon their presidential dreams.
Recently, Chief Justice Willy Mutunga warned that he would not hesitate to use Chapter Six of the Constitution to bar politicians with questionable integrities from contesting elective office. “Being Kenyan is a full-time commitment. This country needs citizens who are Kenyans all the time; not those who are vernacular Kenyans most of the time. Just in case you forgot, Chapter Six is partly intended to eliminate this breed,” said the Chief Justice.
An interesting angle in Kenya’s next elections is the role of tribes. Kenyans are very inclined to support a presidential candidate who belongs to their tribe. At the moment, there are candidates from the key tribes, namely: Kikuyu, Kalenjin, Luo and the Luhya. The Kikuyu have five contestants, the Luhya and Luo have two each and the Kalenjin have one, so far. According to past opinion polls, many Kenyans do not want another Kikuyu president after Mwai Kibaki’s ten year rule. Non-Kikuyus feel that Uhuru Kenyatta will add another decade of unaccountable Kikuyu leadership, at the expense of other tribes craving for their sons and daughters to come to power so that these tribes “can eat”.
Martha Karua is a victim of sexism
Since Kenya’s Independence in 1963, Kikuyus have ‘enjoyed’ the presidency for a total of 25 years (15 with Jomo Kenyatta) and 10 with Mwai Kibaki. The Kalenjin also ‘enjoyed’ the presidency for 24 years under Daniel arap Moi. Popular opinion has it that it is therefore prudent to rotate the presidency among other tribes apart which have not been in power. At this rate, when will the Digo, Ndorobo, Rendille, Maasai, Borana, Ogiek, Mijikenda and other small tribes lead? Politicians must stop playing the tribal card to further their personal goals.
Since appearing at The Hague last year, Uhuru Kenyatta and Ruto have held ‘Prayer meetings’ in their strongholds (areas dominated by their tribes) and have continually launched personal attacks on Prime Minister Raila Odinga, whom they perceive as the person who masterminded their Hague tribulations. This perception has caused tension among their sympathizers, some of whom have split from Raila’s political party, the Orange Democratic Party (ODM). Close MPs who support them have also quit. The issue of party defections is very common and although the Political Parties Act states that whoever defects must seek re-election, none has done so.
Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi who also recently left ODM, is now busy shouting himself hoarse about Raila Odinga’s ills, yet he lacked the mettle to quit KANU in 2002 and lost his Sabatia parliamentary seat. He made a political comeback in 2005 when he joined Raila to oppose the constitutional referendum. Another presidential aspirant, Raphael Tuju, who is widely seen as a Kibaki government sponsored Luo presidential candidate aimed at splitting Odinga’s votes in Luo Nyanza, has gone silent after insulting Raila for a few weeks since launching his political party. He has nothing more to offer Kenyans in his presidential bid. Raila Odinga’s opponents seem to dwell on his personality instead of presenting their agenda for Kenya as future leaders. This is how petty they get and how widely they propagate tribal hatred. Many of these presidential candidates hold rallies in the tribal zones instead of crisscrossing the country to have a national outlook.
Parliamentary elections will also be highly contested with the electorate planning to oust those MPs whom, they feel, have not uplifted their living standards through allocated development funds. For instance, various audit reports indicate grand corruption annually and gross mismanagement of the Constituency Development Funds (CDF). MPs have been accused of nepotism since they notoriously deploy their relatives and cronies to manage the funds. Other new political positions created are those of the Governor and Senator, and some MPs have already said they will go for them instead.
Despite a provision in the Constitution for more parliamentary seats for women, there is a general perception that they are not fit to lead. A case in point is that of Martha Karua, a female presidential aspirant who is also an MP and a former Justice Minister. She is a Kikuyu and many times has been threatened to drop from the race, to allow Uhuru Kenyatta to run as the sole Kikuyu candidate. However, she has stood her ground and believes Kenyans need a female president. There are only two women who have publicly expressed their interest in the presidency. Past experiences for female politicians have been bitter, with some being beaten by goons sent by male politicians, in order to discourage them from contesting. Furthermore, there have been cases of fraud within political parties whereby men get awarded nomination certificates to stand as MPs, against women candidates who have rightfully won at the primaries.
A Line-up of candidates
A lot of money is used to ‘buy’ political seats, so those who have development records and are likely to do well as MPs, simply lose if they do not ‘donate’ cash to the party leader. Being an MP in Kenya guarantees instant wealth, since it is highly paying. MPs carry home salaries and perks to the tune of USD 9,300 per month, which they award themselves willingly. In 2010, they voted to earn an after-tax salary of USD 126,000 per annum after the next General Election. Meanwhile, the people they serve (poor Kenyans), earn an average of USD 730 annually and survive on less than $1 a day.
A thorny issue which is not addressed candidly by Ruto and Uhuru, is that of the internally displaced persons (IDPs). The saying of “there is no permanent enemy in politics” is correct in their case. It is paradoxical that Ruto was once a wanted man among the Kikuyu, since he was alleged to have sponsored the PEV. However, because of political expediency, he is now palling around with Uhuru, whose Kikuyu people suffered fatalities and material losses in the Rift Valley, meted out by Kalenjin warriors.
Will the Kalenjin vote for a Kikuyu leader and vice-versa? So far, both leaders have marshaled their people and assume they are the right leaders for Kenya. The Rift Valley remains tense as elections approach and many Kikuyu IDPs continue languishing in tattered tents, without a clear date of resettlement to resume normal life. Kalenjins had sworn before they would drive Kikuyus out of the Rift Valley. The recurring tribal clashes during the General Election are likely to be experienced, though they may target the Luo and other tribes deemed to be against Ruto and Uhuru.
From Wikipedia: publicly declared and speculated presidential candidates
Raila Odinga (current Prime Minister of Kenya)
Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka (current Vice President of Kenya)
Uhuru Kenyatta (current Deputy Prime Minister of Kenya)
William Ruto (MP for Eldoret North Constituency)
Sir George Luchiri Wajackoyah (Diaspora Candidate)
Martha Karua (MP for Gichugu Constituency)
Eugene Wamalwa (MP for Saboti Constituency)
Mutava Musyimi (current Gachoka MP)
Kingwa Kamencu (Oxford Rhodes Scholar)
James Ole Kiyapi (former Permanent Secretary Education)
Musalia Mudavadi (The other Deputy PM)
Peter Kenneth (current MP Gatanga Constituency)
Paul Muite (former MP Kabete Constituency)
Raphael Tuju (former MP Rarieda Constituency)
Joseph Hellon Jazz Maestro (Chair Placenta Party)
George Saitoti (Minister Internal Security)
Dennis Nzioka (Gay Kenya Public Relations Director)
Cyrus Jirongo (current MP Lugari Constituency)
Jared Odero
About the Author
Kenya: Presidential Aspirants Must Sell Agenda, Not Ambition
The aftermath of Kenya’s last general election has not given the country a chance to hold President Mwai Kibaki or Prime Minister Raila Odinga accountable for their performance in office because of the nature and structure of the coalition government. Nevertheless, Kenyans are bracing themselves for another election in 2012.
Already PNU, ODM, Narc Kenya and the G7 Alliance among others are drumming up support. However, none has given out a comprehensive agenda to the nation apart from overzealously exhibiting insatiable ambition to occupy the house on the hill.
Holding a clean election is easy when you know you are going to win. The acid test comes when the outcome is in doubt. Why is this? Democracy in Kenya does not work in a way that we might find familiar. Despite all the focus on personalities and trivia, questions of policy apparently appear not to matter with these parties and individuals. Ideally, votes should be won and lost on the performance of the economy or the management of the nation’s affairs across the board. In Kenya, politicians rarely bother to campaign on policy or ideology. The president’s performance in office, his ideas for running the country, his handling of the economy – all these are often irrelevant.
Raila Odinga appears to belabour his agenda around reforms (implementation of the constitution) and sound development policies. Narc Kenya’s Martha Karua does the same. However, the opponents (G7 Alliances) have their agenda molded around the prism of blocking Raila from ascending the presidency.
Food insecurity, spiraling crime, poverty, ballooning inflation, a volatile shilling and national reconciliation are on the back-banner of the candidates. These, indeed, should be issues informing, which policies and election agenda the candidates are mounting their campaign. This should be what the presidential aspirants should be telling Kenyans – what they intend to do while in office instead of engaging in hate speech, ethnic and regional balkanization of the country. To the contrary, now, tribal loyalties are by far the most important determinant of voting behaviour in Kenya. Put bluntly, we vote according to who we are, not what we believe. Raila, Willam Ruto, Kalonzo Musyoka, Karua and George Saitoti could thus rely on most of their fellow tribesmen to back them, no matter how useless and corrupt their governments could be.
In other words, elections in Kenya, as is elsewhere in Africa are nothing more than a disguised national census. All they do is disclose the latest balance between the tribes. In the end, democracy’s only purpose is to allow a president to be removed without bloodshed. What is happening in the Arab world or the “Arab Spring” typically attests to this fact. However, Kenya has proudly moved beyond that.
It is imperative that leaders garnering for presidency come clear on their agenda for the nation. This country needs to urgently move to another level – democratically and economically. The lives of Kenyans need to be improved at all levels. We deserve a better life.
Democracy in Africa is often a sham and, tragically, Kenyans paid with their lives after the 2007 elections. Presidential aspirants have the option of avoiding another tragedy. They should embrace developmental and nation reconciliatory politics. Avoid hate speech and ethnicisation of politics for personal expediency.
There are some silver linings. Today, Kenya has a free press and a degree of freedom of expression that would have been inconceivable a decade ago. Moreover, the rise of an urban and articulate middle class is slowly reducing the grip of tribalism on politics. Whether the president is any good at his job might actually matter in future elections.
None of the candidates has addressed the issue of corruption, which is at the core of Kenya’s problems. It is not in doubt that good governance entails accountability, transparency, enhanced public participation in decision making, strengthened public sector and civil society institutions and greater adherence to the rule of law. Corruption results in grave violations of socio-economic rights, condemns people to extreme levels of poverty and often leads to social unrest. Curbing corruption is therefore critical to the achievement of good governance and the rule of law in Kenya. Although the legal system prohibits corruption, the practice is significantly different.
Kenyan democracy has failed because ordinary people were encouraged to believe that the process in and of itself could bring change. Kenya’s leaders interpret democracy simply in terms of the ceremony of multiparty elections. Polls bestow legitimacy on politicians to pillage for five years until the next depressing cycle begins.
Kenya could descend into violence worse than the 2008 post-election crisis unless rampant corruption in the ruling elite is tackled. I find it appalling that while some positive reform steps have been taken, the old guard associated with the culture of impunity continues to resist fundamental change.
I am afraid that failure to implement significant reforms will greatly enhance prospects for a violent crisis in 2012 or before – which might well prove much worse than the last post-election crisis. In 2008, chaos followed the release of election results, which many claimed were rigged by the government. About 1,500 people died in the ensuing violence and more than 300,000 were forced to flee their homes. After weeks of talks between Kibaki’s ruling party and Odinga, the opposition leader, a deal was struck which left Kibaki as president and made Odinga Prime Minister. However, most of Kenya has remained a divided society, with thousands of people still unable to return to their homes and very little justice for the perpetrators. Can among others, the issue of IDPs be addressed by the candidates?
By Kasembeli Albert
The author is a journalist based in Nairobi.
http://WWW.KURAYETU.COM is an online protocol of credible leadership and good governance for the Kenya we want, the changes we hope for. For change that Kenya hoped for, addressing critical National Issues, political and social. It targets the common mwananchi to be able to understand how much voting process is carried out, their respective candidates from the county to the country and their background.
For the first time in Africa we have a chance to choose our leaders by comprehensive analysis. We are urging Kenyans to know their leaders credibility before electing people who shake us in character when then go in.
It is an informative website that also educates the mwnanchi on the constructive, democracy, the economy and education. This is seen as part of a civic education to the grassroots.
http://www.kurayetu.com/
HOW TOP MUNGIKI MAN WAS ELIMINATED
Sunday, 03 June 2012 23:43 BY STAR REPORTER
The Mungiki leader named by the International Criminal Court as having attended a meeting at State House to plan the Naivasha revenge attacks in the 2007-08 post-election violence was lured to his death by a top government official who called him to a Nairobi hotel to collect money. Joseph Maina Kang’ethe aka Maina Diambo is mentioned in the ICC case against Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and former Secretary to the Cabinet Francis Muthaura.
The details of the November 26, 2007 State House meeting were laid bare during the ICC confirmation of charges last year. Diambo dropped out of school in class seven at Nguruweini Primary school in Kandara, Muranga. He did menial jobs before trying his hand at managing matatu fleets in Dandora, Nairobi. He later joined the Mungiki and rose to positions of influence, coordinating the sect’s activities in Nairobi. He was the only son of Mary Muthoni Kang’ethe.
Close family members yesterday revealed that Diambo and two of his Mungiki colleagues were on July 6, 2008 called by a top government official to collect Sh3 million donation for the burial of then Mungiki leader Maina Njenga’s wife Virginia Nyakio. Nyakio together with her bodyguard and driver had been killed in mysterious circumstances in March 8, 2008 and their bodies recovered in Gakoe forest in Gatundu.
According to sources, who requested for anonymity, the day before Diambo disappeared he had received the first donation from the same politician at a government office. The money was allegedly in a briefcase. Diambo was accompanied to the the first meeting by the Wagacha brothers — Charles Ndungu Wagacha and George Njoroge Wagacha — who were later murdered in Mai Mahiu.
At the meeting they allegedly received Sh3 million, which they were to deliver to Njenga, then incarcerated at Naivasha Maximum Security Prison. The Wagacha brothers, who were aides of Njenga together with another man identified as Naftaly Irungu, were shot dead as they drove to Naivasha on April 29, 2008. The following day, Diambo received a phone call asking him to go to a Nairobi hotel and meet the contact to collect another tranche of cash.
According to those close to Diambo, he was at the City Bus Station area when he received the call for the urgent meeting. The 43-year-old immediately headed to the hotel alone and was never seen again. Diambo’s wife reported his disappearance to Nairobi’s Central Police Station. Diambo was said to have been very a close associate of Njenga. Njenga is now a born-again Christian and runs the church Hope International Ministries in Nairobi. At the time Njenga was in jail, Diambo ran the Mungiki gang.
Around the same time, another key operative in Central Province, Alfred Peter Njoroge, went missing never to be found. Njoroge who had earlier been arrested and charged in connection with hate leaftlets that were spread in Muranga town in 2007, went missing on April 22. Njoroges’ wife Rigidia Njoki said the 38-year–old father of three was arrested by a gang in Marurui, Nairobi, as he drove to Komarock where he worked as land broker. The matter was reported to Kasarani Police Station.
Anthony Mwangi alias Norieng, another Mungiki adherent, also went mission on April 12, 2008 and is yet to be traced. The 34 year-old father of three went missing hours after he was released from a Thika court where he was charged with touting. His wife Margaret Wambui said she reported to Thika police that her husband was arrested by police officers minutes after he was released from the courts. Wambui said her husband together with four other young men were picked up by Thika police from his farm in Kiandutu on April 11. His body is yet to be found.
Sources in the sect said Norieng was an active Mungiki member and a key organiser in Central Kenya. According to the ICC prosecutor, Diambo attended the State House meeting together with two other individuals. In the confirmation of charges verdict, the ICC judges said that in the meeting were then State House Comptroller Hyslop Ipu, Presidential Press Service head Isaya Kabira, official Stanley Murage, Uhuru and Muthaura.
Muthaura reportedly introduced the Mungiki as “youth” and a sect representative then presented their demands on behalf of Maina Njenga, who was then in jail, in exchange for the sect’s support for President Kibaki. “After hearing the Mungiki demands, the President addressed Mr Muthaura telling him something to the effect of: “You have heard what the youth want, so now it is upon you,” the judges quoted a witness as saying. State House has since denied that Mungiki attended any meeting there. Some of the youth who attended the meeting have publicly claimed that they were not Mungiki.
In January 2008 another payment of Sh20 million was allegedly taken to Njenga in prison by Diambo and two other individuals whose names were redacted (blacked out) in the ICC prosecution report. The witness said that it was after receiving this money that the Mungiki carried out attacks in Naivasha. Njenga was released from jail where he was on a five-year term for illegal possession of a firearm in 2009, nearly two years after the post-election violence.
Deadly Thugs – Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya’s First President’s Son, Terrorises Political Opponents with a Terrifying Gang
By Christopher Goffard
Its name means “multitude,” and it may be the biggest and most dangerous gang in the world, a thuggish army terrorizing Kenya with extortion rackets and gruesome punishments.
Much about the organization called Mungiki is cloaked in myth and speculation, not least the estimate of sworn members — some say 100,000, others say millions. Those claiming to be defectors, however, say the gang relies on strict discipline and tolerates no dissent.
“If a member disobeys, they would cut that member’s head off and put the head in public view at the place where they had a problem with the member,” an alleged former member said in a statement to prosecutors at the International Criminal Court.
Six Kenyans are facing charges at the ICC related to the ethnic violence that brought Kenya to the brink of civil war in 2008. The proceedings in The Hague in the Netherlands have cast a spotlight on the workings of the secretive Mungiki and its alleged role in what the court charges was government-sponsored mayhem in the wake of a disputed presidential election that left more than 1,000 people dead.
Often referred to in the Kenyan press as “an outlawed sect,” Mungiki has roots as a religious movement of the Kikuyu, Kenya’s most populous ethnic group. Some call it a descendant of the 1950s-era Mau Mau movement, in which Kikuyu guerrillas battled the British colonial establishment under the banner of “Land and Freedom.”
Central to the ICC case is the nature of the gang’s links to the Kenyan government, despite a bloody, controversial battle to crush the group.
Prosecutors contend that chilling attacks by Mungiki thugs in the Rift Valley towns of Naivasha and Nakuru against members of the Luo ethnic group were orchestrated by one of Kenya’s most famous figures, Uhuru Kenyatta, son of the country’s first president and currently its finance minister and deputy prime minister.
“Mr. Kenyatta had close and powerful ties with the Mungiki, ties that went back many years,” prosecutor Adesola Adeboyejo told a pretrial chamber at The Hague in September.
Prosecutors, who have not publicly revealed many witnesses’ names on security grounds, pointed to statements from alleged Mungiki insiders who claimed that Kenyatta swore an oath of membership in the gang.
Starting in December 2007, prosecutors contend, Kenyatta met Mungiki leaders multiple times, sometimes at State House, Kenya’s White House, to plan the attacks in the Rift Valley towns. At one meeting, according to a witness, Kenyatta distributed 3.3 million Kenyan shillings — about $36,000 — to people he charged with carrying out the attacks.
Another witness, claiming to be a former gang member, alleges that he received a text message on his cellphone ordering him to board a bus that took him to State House, where he and dozens of other members were assured of government support and driven to Naivasha to attack civilians.
Despite long-standing public animosity between Kenyan police and Mungiki, prosecutors allege, police allowed gang members to roam from house to house, targeting mostly Luo supporters of presidential challenger Raila Odinga, a Kikuyu, who claimed he had been cheated out of the presidency.
Prosecutors contend that Kenyatta orchestrated the attacks with Francis Muthaura, the head of the civil service, who allegedly ordered police not to interfere.
Kenyatta appeared as a witness before the pretrial chamber in September and denied that he had ever belonged to the gang. The gang had, in fact, burned him in effigy in August 2000, apparently blaming him for a government crackdown.
The claim that he distributed millions of shillings at State House was “completely ludicrous,” Kenyatta said. Though the Mungiki backed his failed bid for president in 2002, he said, he did not solicit that support, and had repeatedly denounced the gang’s activities.
The ICC’s chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, cross-examined Kenyatta but appeared to make little headway. At one point, Moreno-Ocampo told Kenyatta that he was “the only link” between the Mungiki violence and Kenya’s ruling coalition.
“Our theory, our evidence shows that you were calling the Mungiki, that you were organizing them, you were financing them,” Moreno-Ocampo said. “But maybe this is a chance for you to explain to us now it is a different person who did that.”
Source: Los Angeles Times
We Need To Return To A Focus On Issue- Based Politics
Saturday, 03 September 2011 00:04 BY DAVID KIMWELE
With every Tom, Dick and Harry declaring their bid for the highest office in the land, the menu of those aspiring for the presidency in the next General Elections has now become ridiculously rich.
It remains to be seen what impact this will have on the General Elections. Nonetheless, most everyone with an honest opinion agrees that the Right Honourable Prime Minister, Raila Amolo Odinga is still the man to beat in the next General Elections; a political reality that is notoriously dominating the raging succession politics.
Raila’s rather excellent prospects for the presidency have however been met with fierce opposition from his formidable opponents who seem hell-bent on seeing a totally different outcome in the next General Elections. In an unprecedented move that is reminiscent of the 2002 General elections when the leading political lights in opposition united to dislodge Moi’s KANU from power, Raila’s political detractors have ganged up against him to thwart his bid for the presidency something which has seen him get branded as the ‘common enemy.’
Kenyans have a deep-seated desire for a democratic political system that is issue-based, people-centred, result oriented and accountable to the public as is captured in the political pillar of Kenya’s Vision 2030. Unfortunately, nothing brings out the worst in politicians than an election and the raging Kibaki succession politics are thus far hopelessly bankrupt of issues. What we are witnessing thus far is a succession debate that has degenerated into a dangerous electioneering circus.
The debate is now dominated by two concerns which are extremely difficult to fathom how they can be considered issues of national importance. The first concern is Raila’s popularity which is perceived to significantly improve his prospects of winning the presidency come the next General Elections. The second concern is the indictment of Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto at The Hague with crimes against humanity.
This is absurd and highly regrettable especially considering that there are weighty people-centred issues of national importance that should be dominating the succession debate.
The Kibaki succession debate ideally affords Kenyans an opportunity to interrogate the issues of national importance such as the crucial issue of devolution vis-à-vis anyone seeking to be Kenya’s Chief Administrator. Kenyans should be finding out who among the aspiring presidential candidates is best suited to fully and effectively implement the constitution? Who has demonstrated a genuine commitment to the reforms in the constitution both now and in the past? Can those who fiercely opposed the constitution be trusted to fully and effectively implement the constitution? Can those who were wishy-washy in their support for the new constitution be trusted now?
On the economic development front, Kenya has the ambitious goal of becoming a globally competitive nation with a high quality of life for all its citizens by the year 2030. However, as things stand now, the requisite economic growth has stalled at about 4.5 per cent yet the country needs to sustain an ambitious 10 per cent growth rate if we are to have a fair chance of achieving our Vision 2030.
Who among the serious contenders for the presidency have the political acumen to assemble the right economic advisers and oversee the implementation of the bold economic policies that will be prescribed to turn around the economy? The current economic thinking is that the next president should major on the railway infrastructure and maintain the momentum on roads, the port of Lamu and nuclear energy. Who among those aspiring for the high office is already thinking in the same direction?
These are the real issues of national importance that should dominate the succession debate and not the current issues dominating the debate. Honestly, it is a crying shame to see otherwise reputable politicians running around like headless chicken in fear because Raila has excellent prospects for winning the presidency. It is neither a fraud nor it a crime he has endeared himself to the people. It is an affront to the people to gang up against a candidate on account of his popularity.
It is true that elections bring the worst in politicians naturally but it should be obvious by now that fear-mongering and hate-mongering that preys on poverty, ignorance and ethnocentric stereotypes is not a viable campaign strategy. In any case, the hypocritical portrayal of Raila as a leader who is hungry for power appears to have lost traction over the months and years.
As for the concern of the indictment of Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto at The Hague with crimes against humanity, Kenyans should accept that this the best way of handling the post-election violence. It is true that a drowning man will clutch at straws but the country mustn’t sink with the Ocampo six.
Amkeni Wakenya is a UNDP led Facility set up to promote democratic governance in Kenya. The name Amkeni Wakenya is inspired by the second stanza of the National Anthem that calls upon all Kenyans to actively participate in nation building. Amkeni Wakenya primarily works through Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in recognition of the significant role that they play in ensuring that the aspirations of Kenyans are taken into consideration in the democratization.
http://www.amkeniwakenya.org/
Woman politician beaten by radio station director in Meru
Tuesday June 12, 2012 – Faith Kawira, a woman contesting for Buuri Constituency Parliamentary seat was severely beaten by a director of vernacular FM station in Meru County.
Ms Kawira, who is also a civil rights activist, was beaten after she ranted that the FM radio station was airing derogatory and defamatory statements about her marital status and her family. She decided to call and ask the management of the station the motive behind the show.
“I called them and wanted to know why they were discussing negative things about my family. The director of the station then called me to his offices and when I got there, the workers started kicking and boxing me out of their premises,” Kawira said.
Now Kawira has gone to court seeking compensation after she sustained injuries which were treated at Meru Level Five Hospital.
Stephen Njoroge, (The Kenyan DAILY POST)
Raila owes women in Luoland a favour
By OTIENO OTIENO
Posted Saturday, June 23 2012 at 17:34
Opinion
Raila owes women in Luoland a favour
By OTIENO OTIENO
Posted Saturday, June 23 2012 at 17:34
Last week after I wrote an open letter to the chairman of the Luo Council of Elders on the practice of wife inheritance, one Josiah Ngigi Kariuki from Kiambu County asked me in an email to remember to always copy the letters to the PM [Raila Odinga].
“He [Mr Odinga] has quite a following and therefore in a position to bring change — probably faster than the Ker of the Luos,” he wrote.
I have no reason to believe that Mr Kariuki was being cheeky or cynical in his advice. Indeed Mr Odinga enjoys reverence in the Luo community — part earned, part inherited.
Mr Odinga has also not demonstrated public revulsion to the idea of being thought of as a cultural elder. I have lost count of the number of times he has been installed as a Kalenjin elder, a Meru elder, a Maasai elder, or a Luhya elder.
And he installed the chairman of one of the factions of the Luo Council of Elders. So like Mr Kariuki, I, too, believe that the PM can use his high status in society to influence how people view outdated cultural practices like wife inheritance.
But Mr Odinga is best known as a politician and it would be a little unfair to judge him on his perceived achievements or failures on cultural matters.
One can, for instance, legitimately challenge him to show how much he has done to expand the democratic space for women since he emerged as the most powerful politician from the community.
Unfortunately, Mr Odinga’s performance has been rather poor in my view. The last time a woman was elected MP in Luoland was in 1992 when his dad, Jaramogi, called the shots.
Mrs Phoebe Asiyo’s victory in Karachuonyo that year came at the head of a progressive momentum that began in Kisumu Town with the election of Mrs Grace Onyango. In between, Mrs Grace Ogot was also elected MP in Gem.
The dry spell for women in elective politics in Luoland is therefore best viewed through the lens of Mr Odinga’s reign.
Chaotic party nominations and violent election campaigns have robbed women of their democratic right to participate meaningfully in elections as voters or credible candidates.
The next elections present Mr Odinga the opportunity to match rhetoric with deed and give women a chance. From what I hear, there is no shortage of takers.
Prof Collette Suda in Migori, Ms Millie Odhiambo in Mbita, Prof Jacqueline Oduol in Siaya, Mrs Monica Amolo in Ndhiwa and others have already shown they are equal to the challenge. Mrs Mary Ojode also gave an excellent speech in Ndhiwa.
http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Opinion/Raila+owes+women+in+Luoland+a+favour++/-/440808/1434330/-/view/printVersion/-/tnp32/-/index.html