Kenya Insights

Tag: General Election 2022

  • Orengo-Junet war that threatens to split Raila campaign team

    Orengo-Junet war that threatens to split Raila campaign team

    Bitter war has exploded between Siaya SenatorJames Orengo and Suna East MP Mohammed Junet who are both sycophantic supporters of ODM leader Raila Odinga who is planning to give a fifth stab at presidency. Orengo has not been happy with Junet who is now Odinga’s most trusted follower since the much hyped ‘Handshake’ between the ODM leader and President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2018 where Junet accompanied Mr Odinga while Orengo was left in the darkness. In 2008 Orengo was Raila’s aide and wwas instrumental during the formation of grand coalition government with President Mwai Kibaki.

    But  Orengo’s growing jealousy was later made serious after the loudmouth Junet made a loose remark during a Odinga’s campaign tour in Kisii where he said that Kikuyus will be treated like outsiders in Odinga’s government. The unwarranted comment pushed Orengo to hire goons and  local  MCAs to heckle the Suna East lawmaker who was to accompany Odinga to a similar rally in Kisumu but he skipped after getting the wind of Orengo’s dirty schemes. The senator wanted Kisumu youths to demand that Raila drops Junet from his campaign team.

    Junet’s closer relationship with Raila Odinga also saw him being chosen to co-chair the Building Bridges Initiative secretariat with former Dagoretti South MP Dennis Waweru who represented Uhuru/Kieleweke wing making it apparent that Odinga trusts Junet over Luo politicians. That favoritism has made him an enemy of irrelevant Luo politicians led by Senator James Orengo who is leading a cocoon of Luo politicians in ODM are now claiming that their tribal party has been taken hostage by outsiders.

    ODM’s  two deputy leaders are governors Hassan Joho of Mombasa County and Wycliffe Oparanya of Kakamega County, the secretary general is Edwin Sifuna who hails from Bungoma County but Junet has pocketed a couple of Luo politicians like Omondi Gwonyo to spy around other Luo politicians and report back to him.

    Orengo is leading the same clique that accused Odinga and Junet of falling for a raw deal on the distribution of the 70 constituencies in the collapsed BBI that were designed to benefit the Mt. Kenya region. He also led a section of Nyanza politicians including Otiende Amollo (Rarieda), Samuel Atand and Aduma Owuor (Nyakach) who campaigned against the BBI document across Nyanza region arguing that Luos were being shortchanged through BBI.

    Gwonyo noted that when the BBI collapsed at the Court of Appeal Senator Orengo and his team celebrated their vindication as they placed Junet on the chopping board for ‘finishing’ Raila.

     

  • State Unveils New Force To Crackdown On Cyberbullies

    State Unveils New Force To Crackdown On Cyberbullies

    A crackdown against cybercrime and social media bullies has inched closer to reality with the unveiling of the Secretariat to operationalise the relevant law.

    The National Computer and Cybercrime Coordination Committee (NC4) will be tasked with consolidating action on the detection, investigation and prosecution of cybercrimes.

    Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr Fred Matiang’i said the Secretariat will prioritize the misuse of social media which he described as a major threat to national security and integration.

    The CS who officiated the launch of the Secretariat at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development said there will be a sustained crackdown against culprits especially in the run-up to the General Election.

    “As we approach the general elections, our challenge number one is the misuse and abuse of social media,” he said, adding that digital communication and transactions were a growing reality of the public and private sectors and urged all arms of the government to invest commensurately in relevant training.

    He noted that the adoption of technology had also seen steady growth in cybercrime and other digital-driven crimes and challenged the players in law and order sectors including the Judiciary to incorporate digital training within its ranks.

    “Nations around the world are pumping resources into research on cybersecurity…Our conflicts are going to move to the Judiciary, and the judges must be capacitated enough to help us resolve them.”

    ICT CS Joe Mucheru said the new law was necessary to support the digital economy and called for its stringent application.

    “People have been giving public holidays on social media, killing others online, and even publishing content from different countries to mislead citizens. This habit must stop.”

    Interior Principal Secretary Dr Karanja Kibicho who chairs the NC4 said the unveiling of the Secretariat will deter rampant abuse and character assassinations on social media.

    “The operationalisation of this Secretariat and the law will provide us as a country with a very good foundation to get recourse from those who are hiding behind the keyboard of their phones to commit crime,” he said.

    The NC4 was established under the Computer Misuse and Cybercrime Act of 2018 to enable timely prohibition, detection, investigation, prosecution and response to computer misuse and cybercrime.

    The Act provides a framework to fight computer misuse and cybercrime by facilitating investigation procedures for local and international cooperation.

    It establishes jurisdiction and prescribes penalties for crimes such as mobile money fraud, developing websites to steal people’s information and child pornography among others.

    The Committee comprises representatives from the Kenya Defence Forces, the National Police Service, the National Intelligence Service, the Ministry of the Interior, as well as representatives from the office of the Attorney General and Director of Public Prosecutions, Communications Authority of Kenya and the Central Bank among other agencies.