While they say politics is a dirty game, and the youths are the leaders of future, Kenya is now witnessing more and more young politicians stepping into the arena to clean the dirt in the game. Many have come and gone, and others made it others did not, a real leader is one who champions his policies and agreeing not to keep rehashing mistakes of the past and instead focus on the future without bootlicking the moneyed party chiefs.
Change won’t come from the top, and change will come from the mobilised grassroots, Obama said while launching his presidential ambitions. Obama who first attracted global attention in 2004 at the DNC in Philadelphia and rose to win the American presidency in 2008 with his ‘Yes we can’ slogan is inspiration enough to up and coming young politicians from humble backgrounds.
The election of President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2013 must have acted as the biggest push in a generational shift. I am seeing a crop of dedicated young men keeping on their track, rising and getting better with time. Mombasa is the den of many, Moses Aran who is the current Chairman of ODM Youth, and Mombasa County has steadily risen to his position after many years of community work and youth mobilisation. He is now sharing the same platform with the big men in political spheres, Cord leader Raila Odinga, Mombasa Governor Ali Joho and area Mp, Abdulswamad Nasir just to mention a few.
Moses Aran, Mombasa Youth Leader addressing a crowd
With a track record that speaks volumes, he cannot be belittled as a small time leader. Moses has headed projects that saw the shaping of musical talents of juveniles from Boarstal Academy, Shimo la Tewa Prisons, leading Tudor soccer team to represent the country in beach soccer tournament in Tanzania in 2014 and organising community clean-ups. Commonly known as Cvilizer Youth Commander 001, Moses has been the loudest voice of reason among the youth of Mombasa. Through Samba Foundation where he is the project director, his efforts have seen the implementation of projects that change and sustain lives of women and the youth. Recent polls ranked him the most influential young people in the county.
The trend is not in Mombasa alone; Nairobi too is seeing the same. Young people are gearing to be elected in top political positions in 2017 polls. TNA Chairman, Johnson Arthur Sakaja is a young man who burst into the national limelight with a powerful speech during the launch of The National Alliance (TNA) party in 2012. He began his foray into national politics while studying at the University of Nairobi in 2005 and later played a key role in the re-election of the retired president Mwai Kibaki. Now a household name, the nominated lawmaker has declared his interest in the Nairobi gubernatorial race.
Paul Owino Ongili, better by his moniker ‘Babu Owino’ than his real names is the young man in his late 20s with a whiff of scandals about him. Babu who is the current chairman of SONU is always in the news for one reason or the other, from controversial re- election, flashy lifestyle and to constant dates with the courts has said he is in the race for Embakasi East parliamentary seat. His political future seems bright with the kind of authority he commands among university students or comrades as he refers to them; he is in a place where many have successfully launched their political careers.
Steve Mbogo is another one, flashy and controversial with many questioning his wealth and education. In an article, a Daily Nation writer described him as nothing more than a crossbreed of a fake wannabe with a rudimentary grasp of English. The leader of Party of National Alliance (PONA) Party is aspiring to unseat President Uhuru Kenyatta just like Mohamed Abduba Dida.
Criticism and Platform of the Criticism
Ms Njoki Chege to Senior Advocate Donald Kipkorir
Cicero once said, “To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child.”
Kenya as a Society we are engulfed with ample tools, which can be theoretical, monetary, tangible resources just to mention a few. For purposes of this discourse, the article focuses on conceptual and financial tools. Also, there will be a slight touch on Social Media.
The theoretical tool is the most celebrated document in Kenya, which happens to be the Constitution of Kenya (the CoK). The said document entails some freedoms, such as freedom of expression. The freedom of expression is not absolute neither is the right to information. The two have some capping, which varies based on a case-to-case basis.
For instance, it is relevant for someone who has Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) to inform any person who he or she intends to have sexual intercourse with that he or she has HIV. However, a third party is not allowed to share such information, not to mention even the doctors or medical practitioners, and if it is done, one will have a success Petition that his or her Constitutional Right to Privacy has been breached. And, if it is a matter that could raise controversy over one’s reputation, then the author should at least make an effort to contact the person who the article is likely to affect.
Cicero asserted through “Academic Scepticism” that appreciation of a diverse ideology is the first step to understanding it and develop some better ideas surrounding the said topic. It is evident that one Ms. Njoki Chege knowingly and to the best of her knowledge, not to mention the critical thinking abilities that she has attained through her personal urge of interacting with the education system, which in the current society is presumed to make one literate and intelligent, has enabled her to pen an article about Senior Advocate Donald Kipkorir. However, the article cannot engage one in a constructive discussion, more so, a person of the stature of one Senior Advocate Donald Kipkorir. To make this view more vivid, the discussion below will be segregated into various topics.
SOCIAL STANDARDS
The moment a baby is born, he or she is forced to engage in an environment that is quite unbearable. Looking at the tales of John Locke, Thomas Hobbes et al. when discussing the Doctrine of Social Contract, which is the ideology behind what a Government or Society is, then one will start to realise that as a human being, you will never have free will. The free will that we presume to have is not extant even if the aspect of Social Contract was not in place.
Our current free will is based on Social Standards that we exhibit consciously and subconsciously. For instance, in the Western Region of Kenya, it is believed that a chicken’s gizzard is a man’s food, and if you share it, the two who share will become enemies. In this case, that is how the cycle begins, people being born and taught actively or learn actively or passively through observation. Therefore, they live by that standards, believing that is the right measure of leading life.
Going back to Ms Njoki Chege’s article, it is clear that she indeed believes of what a Society should be like or those who have certain monies need to act like. For instance, she addresses that a man of a certain age should be married, initiate certain investments or maybe own a building in the Central Business District of Nairobi, Kenya just to mention a few since she might have preserved some valuable ideas on how the social structuring of the society should take place.
There are possibilities that Ms Njoki Chege might be right, as she believes on certain Social Standards that can be termed as Cultural Practices that are either rooted from our African Traditions, Religious practices or Traditions borrowed from other Societies. Also, these Cultural Practices or Social Standards are equally acknowledged within the CoK and the Judicature Act; but are they absolute?
Let us focus on Social Engineering School of thought by one Nathan Roscoe Pound, which addresses on Law in Action and Law in Form. Predominantly, these Social Standards are Laws in Action, which is not written but developed out various practices. Some can offend the Law in Form while some cannot offend the Law in Form. Therefore, this question on whether Senior Advocate Donald Kipkorir is flaunting is best addressed with his peers, whom we can say are the Advocates who are members of the Law Society of Kenya. Such a move will answer questions that surround the Legal fraternity on issues of Moral Ethics as per the profession.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Social Media has transformed from the early years of 2004 (Facebook) and 2006 (Twitter). Unlike the initial times, it was more of family and friends that are why there is always an advanced aspect of privacy. For instance, “Add Friend” “Delete Friend” (In a Mafia’s world this is something different) “Who to View” “Who can send a friend request” “Who can view your timeline” etc. Regardless of the same and advanced settings being provided, there are other uses of Social Media; some examples can be, networking, e-transactions and advertisement (both paid and organic approach).
Therefore, Social Media is a reflection of the streets, cities, roads, etc. we have the likes Moi Avenue, 1st Ngong’ Avenue, Uhuru Highway, Mombasa, etc. In the event you become a friend or follower of another person on Social Media, it is like accepting to see and read (if you want to) their content that they are willing to allow the public to see or read.
However, you as a friend you have a choice of terminating the online friendship that you have or approaching the individual through the inbox chat, email or a phone call for a certain conversation.
In the olden days when one buys a car or builds a house, they used to call the villagers, family and friends to come and celebrate the success. It is clear that the Senior Advocate Donald Kipkorir did that, and it is okay to elicit different forms of reactions just like that of one Ms Njoki Chege.
HUMAN BEINGS
We as human beings are always different, not to mention even twins experience different thoughts and approach on various issues. An individual is faced with diverse factors, for instance, in a political forum, let us consider a Jubilee supporter (The Current Government):
One will agree with the 2013 Judgment just because he wanted Uhuru and Ruto to be the holders of the Government; and
Another one might be of the view that the Judgment given by the Supreme Court of Kenya was well thought; hence, Uhuru and Ruto are rightfully in the office.
Those are two supporters of the Jubilee Government holding different views of why they support the leadership that is in control of the Government of Kenya.
Various desires drive human beings, some we know, but some are deep inside our subconscious mind. That is the reason why people who have theoretically same background setting will always have a different approach to life. Another example is about a young child is emotionally and physically abused because he or she is a foster child, there are various occurrences in the future about the child, which can be as follows:
One might turn out to be an activist for the rights of the foster children as he understands the pain and pressure; and
The other might be vicious and vent his or her childhood harsh environment to other peers or those below him or her either physically or socially.
Therefore, at no point will it be wise to argue that Human Beings will always act the same or follow a particular Social Standard, and in the event, the Social Standards is incoherent with the Law in Form then there are right platforms to present our grievances.
MONEY AND POWER
I will not delve into this division that much as one Ms Njoki Chege relates the daily activities of Senior Advocate Donald Kipkorir to that of someone being in regular confrontation with the City Council’s officers – Whereby her thoughts are, one with the power of such influence cannot encounter such hurdles.
The life of the late billionaire Mr Jacob Juma can be the best tale, and this is because he had money but sometimes and just sometimes one is not always protected. I would like to remind her of JF Kennedy who was assassinated based on his new approach concerning Governance; also, among the many, we have the late Thomas Sankara. What I’m driving to is that in this Society, the aspect of Power and Money is not vital as there are various classes of money and power; hence, the comparative analysis done by Ms Njoki Chege is unreliable.
Conclusion? You can make one
Ombo Malumbe is an ATP at Kenya School of Law
Disclaimer: This article expresses the author’s opinion only. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Kenya Insights or its Editors. We welcome opinion and views on topical issues. Email:[email protected]
If you thought it’s what one does off the cameras and off the courts that make make them worthy of the people’s support, then you figured it wrong. Think again. The race to clinch the Nairobi women rep seat which soon fall vacant is taking an interesting turn.
Would be politicians are working best with what they have, others are using their financial strength, some are self-motivated and inspired, others by virtue of being the incumbent are putting up a strong fight to defend the seat when lazy ones are up to use their bottoms to shoot straight to the top.
As the nation struggles to strike gender balance in its elected leadership, special seats reserved for our women are attracting passive candidates who champion nothing. Some are running to please their sponsors or milk them dry or just to graduate from being parasites to honourable members. Real women who stand for serious issues go for ‘bigger positions’ like gubernatorial or senatorial seats.
Before you just bid think about what people know you for, is it arrest for drunk driving, escape with another woman’s husband or donating books to a local school? Some aspirants have made news for all the wrong reasons acquiring negative fame. A thousand people who follow you on social media and like your pages will not turn to vote. The empty pledges you are giving are an old century rhetorics that no one takes seriously. Present policies that resonate with the electorate and can fix the challenges they are facing.
Karen Nyamu Aka Bae Wa Nai
The incumbent Hon. Rachael Shebesh aka Manzi wa Nairobi is facing opponents with the same childish monikers. The Bae wa Nairobi, Toto si Totos and Wakili wa Mama na Watoto of this world are up to pose a limping challenge to the incumbent who has had a dismal performance. A serious candidate with fresh and real ideas is needed. I mean, going by the monikers what difference is there between Manzi wa Nairobi and Bae wa Nairobi? Copy and paste strategy that can not work even in utopia.
These are short visioned leaders who may deliver less than Shebesh. Copy and paste, lame PR stunts and taking photos to beg for mercy work not anymore. They say brains hardly go with beauty, and the testimony is right before the eyes of the Nairobians.
As mentioned in the previous article, the Nairobi woman rep is yet to attract serious candidate or already the ones who’ve declared interests don’t have a clear view of what they want. The campaign slogan is a key pivot point. Yes, We Can is what shot Obama to the spot two terms later. The slogan tells the seriousness or saucy nature in your bid. We’re not just looking at who has more sexual appeal, which has the trendy tag but a woman of substance who has strict moral values to defend the rights of Nairobi women. The tags flowing around are as childish as they sound.
The outgoing IEBC commissioners last week published rules capping campaign spending in the coming 2017 polls. The rules have come under scathing criticism from various political players as a ploy to auction country’s political leadership to billionaires, and indeed it looks like it. This commission has been accused of being ‘bought’ by the moneyed politicians and the coalition wing that makes the ruling regime of the day.
This was the worst last card the embattled commission would play after it lost the confidence of the opposition and public and a section of the religious leadership. When the former Chief Executive Officer of the Committee of Experts (COE) Mr Ekuro Ekuot defended the commission saying that his team keenly looked at the integrity of these individuals before giving them the job, the team forgot about integrity as a leadership value soon as they got into IEBC job.
Kenyans with real integrity who may not be billionaires or part of the ruling elites will be so disadvantaged from taking leadership of this country or running for top political offices. What remains a crucial question is what forms their opinion. The rules are so unfounded and have only been thrown out of the blues just appear to be doing something ahead of the 2017 elections that they will not conduct.
The commission has never published reports on the amount that was spent in the last elections by various political parties and candidates who participated in it. Neither have they told the nation the sources of massive campaign funds that politicians dish out and hold flashy campaigns with. All the top presidential contenders were flying in choppers branded with their respective party colours.
When one thought the choppers would be of excellent service delivery to the people after the polls, the demise was before the first vote was cast.
The capped amounts
As much as they are still the commissioners till the new ones are appointed, IEBC should spare the nation unnecessary drama of crowding the office with ideas that add no value but mess the electoral process more. In fact, it should fix the BVR kits that fail on the D-Day than setting rules that will not be implemented at all.
In the US for example at the federal level, campaign finance law is enacted by Congress and enforced by the Federal Election Commission (FEC), an independent federal agency. The system is open, and records are readily available of the financiers. Banks, individuals the list of contributors varies.
In Kenya its known for businessmen and big empires also foreign agencies to support a political wing with a back expectation of securing personal securities. Tax evasion syndicate and dubious businesspeople have been sponsoring candidates to score favours. Industrialist Manu Chandaria, for example, is said to have heavily financed the NYK 92 for Moi’s reelection to buy favours and continue evading taxes and so has been the case of a counterpart and BIDCO owner Vimal Shah who as of now owes the tax collector up to Sh.6B in tax arrears.
Dubious businessmen also choose on politicians to support to help hide their dirty money. With the records of financiers out there, voters can easily deduce the interests being reserved and the actual nature of candidates. Leaving the expenditure gap in billions gives room for drug lords and all the dirty dealers an excellent platform to launder their money in the name of financing candidates. It goes without mentioning that public funds are at stake and threat of being misused by those in a position of power. For integrity, we need to know really where all these billions being spent are coming from more than just how much.
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) on Thursday published campaign finance regulations which set limits on expenditure by political parties and candidates in the 2017 campaigns.
The electoral body capped presidential aspirants spending to Kshs 5.2 billion, Governors, Senators and women reps to Kshs 432 million, Members of Parliament to Kshs 330 million and members of County Assembly to Kshs 103 million.
Individual party expenditure is set not exceed 150 million dollars and a single source contribution not to exceed 30 million dollars. The body also added that any candidate or party flouting the rules will be liable to a fine no exceeding 2 million dollars, or a jail term not exceeding five years or both.
Certain quarters find this paradoxical that the unfit IEBC is setting campaign expenditure caps but it’s right to do so since they are still the commissioners till the new ones are appointed. This is just a good statement and exactly what the people want to but it’s nothing close to what will actually be done.
Who will monitor the expenditure if one may ask and who has the guts to send any politician found guilty of flouting the rules to jail?
The regulations present more questions than answers, who is the source of the amounts of money said here. If a sitting governor once denied being in a position to afford a two million dollar bribe to influence a petition case. Dr. Evans Kidero treated the amount as huge to an extent that it would only be ferried in trucks, where would a mere MCA get over one hundred million shillings to campaign.
Money is power and individuals talked about here have the financial might to muzzle any case brought against them. Institutions in Kenya have been crippled by corruption and the law is applied selectively . Relevant institutions like Ethica and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) have been turned into nothing but places where the ‘big fish’ are cleaned out. What if one spends more than Shs 5.2 billion and goes ahead to win the presidency, who will send that individual to jail?
By Nicholas Olambo
This article expresses the author’s opinion only. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Kenya Insights or its Editors. We welcome opinion and views on topical issues. Email: [email protected]
Scandals galore agency IEBC is yet again on the dwelling zone following latest audit report that has revealed how they paid up to Sh. 50M to an unnamed company to offer transport services for elections materials during the 2013 elections and the astonishing thing according to the auditor general’s report, the company was non-existent until September 12, 2014, when it was formally registered payments yet according to IEBC records were made to the firm in November 2013.
The payment was purportedly to a related company that the IEBC had awarded the tender earlier for the transport services. In a bid to clear off any trails, IEBC agreed to an irregular request through the unreferenced letter dated October 13, 2014, in which the company indicates that payments due to another firm previously contracted by the commission should be paid to it.
The company that was initially contracted for the transport failed its mandates on the initial stages according to the AG Ouko’s report, and they had inked for 27 vehicles to be used in transporting election materials and instead only five could be accounted to have been used. When the Auditor General’s office questioned IEBC on these discrepancies in draft stages of auditing, they gave additional documents for ten more vehicles instead of 22.
Verifying details of the ten vehicles revealed that some had been reported to have been in use in three different locations at the same time, making their use in assigned areas questionable. The report gives the example of vehicle registration number KAJ 482N, which the IEBC had indicated delivered election material in Malindi Region but was found to have been operating in Rongai and Bahati constituencies in the Rift Valley at the same time.
IEBC has been rocked with controversial transactions and scandals with Chickengate being the most open one where Kenyan officials including the Chairman Isaak Hassan(who has since been cleared by mischevious EACC of any involvement in the scam) alongside others like former IEBC CEO James Oswago of having been bribed by a UK printing firm as tip-off for the ballot paper printing tender award. Faced with immense integrity questions denting their credibility, the defiant IEBC team with the rock Kenyan spirit of never giving up positions have finally bowed out and will pave a way for a new team. It will, however, cost Kenya up to Sh.400M to send the commissioners home.
Water CS Eugene Wamalwa who has been causing major ripples in the now hot Nairobi political scene has added more fruits to his captivating bucket following latest endorsement by the Business community from the GEMA union.
Eugene is yet to make it public his candidature, but word on the streets that has caused much distress within the Jubilee camp is that the principals have silently endorsed him to unseat the incumbent. MPs drawn from Kiambu led by Waititu were the first to give Eugene an endorsement then Moses Kuria whom many views as Uhuru’s mouthpiece echoed the sentiments by throwing his support towards Eugene.
In a quick, expected move, Jubilee MPs from Nairobi led by Maina Kamanda rubbished the endorsement saying the Nairobi seat is foreordained for insiders not outsiders like Wamalwa. The definition of the outsider is best known to them since last time I checked Nairobi is a cosmopolitan city and constitution allow us to vie for any seat anywhere in the country, but there’s less to expect from legislators who have zero regards for the law.
My moles telling me the rebellion from the Nairobi MPs was as a result of their prior endorsement of wealthy Dennis Waweru whom I learn is financing them so that the outcry can be justified.
Eugene’s entrance into the Nairobi scene has not only thrown Dennis to the ditches but also Bishop Wanjiru, Sakaja, Sonko both of whom latest polls rank fairly well.
Kenya voting patterns are mostly determined by the tribal card, and that’s why central MPs who know the Kikuyu voting block in Nairobi is huge have been banking on this to field their own. Nairobi County receives the largest budget allocation with up to Sh.12B annually making it lucrative for most hazardous appetite politicians.
The endorsement of Wamalwa by the business community is coming at a time when propaganda orchestrated by Waweru’s Communication Team has been pushing ‘hogwash’ as Wamalwa describes it that he has bowed out of the race and shifting his focus to Trans Nzoia County to unseat Patrick Khaemba and battle it out with Noah Wekesa who is steering committee in the structuring of Jubilee Merger.
It will be interesting to watch how Eugene who is viewed by critics as a naive, spongy, diplomatic politician to hack the politics of Nairobi which requires one to get his hands dirty and putting off the fire from the wreathing Jubilee MPs perturbed by his endorsement from the high house.
As 2017 fast approaches, political landscapes are changing. Nairobi is at the centre of everything political. The gubernatorial seat is attracting many candidates from the Jubilee wing, and so the women rep position, the incumbent Hon. Rachael Shebesh is up for an uphill task to defend her seat.
Latest polls are showing Nairobi, businesswoman, Esther Passaris enjoying a 28% lead, Rachael Shebesh is second with 20 percent, Wangui Ng’ang’a is a distance third with 2 percent followed by new entrant Karen Nyamu who enjoys only 1 percent. Of all the candidates so far, the city lawyer Karen Njeri Nyamu has been doing meet the people during the weekends traversing various slums.
With the incumbent lacking a track record that speaks for itself the new entrants have no policies too other than clinging on peculiar monikers like Toto si Toto, Bae wa Nairobi, Wakili wa Mama na Watoto and taking pictures in slums to identify with the dwellers when they don’t understand needs of the Nairobians. Ms Njeri for instance admitted to having no manifesto as the prepares to clinch the nomination ticket.
With latest trends politics is almost lacking seriousness, the seat that was created through the new constitution to enhance gender balance has not been understood. Even some candidates are not aware that women representatives though majorly representing the interests of women are just like other MPs( Members of Parliament).
Karen Nyamu,, Women Rep aspirant in the slums where she has been doing grassroots campaigns
Ladies who are moderately successful in business and desperate for fame chest thump without proper policies running for the seat. You can not employ every woman at the EPZ (Export Processing Zone), times have changed, we are living in the 21st century. It’s too late to promise people jobs that can barely support their lives. Initiate ideas that can fix problems that people face.
Most of these candidates are people who have access to individuals or cash to facilitate their way to greener pastures. At the centre of political leadership is a relationship, Hillary Clinton once said but many candidates around have no time-tested relationship with the people.
They come at the eleventh hour, hoodwink the people, get elected, forget the people and fill their stomachs. Relationship with the people in this context is not taking desperate photos with poor kids at the slums and jumping over dirty trenches with the poor drainage system.
Nairobi did not see these candidates doing the same two or three years ago, and these are cheap PR stunts meant to work as ‘a political currency’ to win elections.
It makes no sense jumping over trenches or taking pictures with malnourished kids and promising to employ people at the EPZ. The photo and promise don’t relate and why should you wait till you are elected to hire people? Do it now if you can because empty promises work no more. Maybe Shebesh has not done a commendable job other controversies here and there, but her successor must be the serious candidate, not a restless socialite.
This article expresses the author’s opinion only. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Kenya Insights or its Editors. We welcome opinion and views on topical issues. Email:[email protected]
While lives of many have been thrown into the ditches and crime rates rising high due to elevated levels of unemployment and idle youths joining criminal gangs, the beneficiary of NYS fraud is out here adding salt to the injury. Mutahi Ngunyi, a renowned political analyst, cum NYS scam fraudster is having a hard time trying to cleanse his name buried deep in the NYS fraud mud.
Mutahi in a recent letter to the Ministry of public service, gender and youth, came out defensive claiming an audit report gave his firm The House of Consulting a clean bill of health refuting claims that they received an extra amount of Sh.12.5M from the NYS on the consulting services they were offering. Auditor General in his FY 2014/15 report pointed out Mutahi Ngunyi was irregularly paid Sh.12.5M more on what he was to be paid. He rubbished off the claims calling the Auditor an agent of Raila playing politics.
Ironically, in the same letter he acknowledges his company received an exact amount but in a rare twist and hoodwinking move, claim the amount is unclaimed for since a mysterious client made it and they didn’t invoice for the same. Its laughable that an entire Sh.12.5M sat on his account without noticing, and it had to take the Auditor General’s signal one year later to realise the “accidental’ deposit. Did Mutahi file his tax returns for 2015? If he did, he would’ve detected the mysterious amount, finding out a year later puts into question his tax compliance as well.
Social Media has been on its true face calling for Mutahi Ngunyi’s arrest with majority convinced he was paid the extra amount and was merely hanging on the loose strings.
Unapologetic and arrogant Mutahi has come out and spat on Kenyans faces saying he is rich because he is a Kikuyu, given the context he’s saying he stole the NYS money because he was a Kikuyu and that ‘mtado?’. It’s very wrong for Mutahi to seek refuge from his fraud unto haunting in the tribal shell.
BeforeAfter
Talking of Consultancy services to NYS, Mutahi Ngunyi is said to have plagiarized NYS review Task Force gazetted on May 26, 2007(Vol. CIX No.36) Ngunyi sim[ply adopted the findings of the task force constituted by the then Youth Minister Mohammed Kuti and named it 5-Point and pocketed Sh.38M for a consultation he never researched on. His fraudulent ways obviously didn’t start today.
Poverty doesn’t discriminate on tribal lines, Mutahi doesn’t need to be lectured but he can visit Mathare, Mukuru Kwa Njenga, and any other slums you can think of you’ll find Kikuyus trying to make a life alongside fellow Kenyans, the hogwash that it’s natural for every Kikuyu to be rich and insinuating others to be rich, goes further again to expose his lack of touch with the reality on the ground. Makes you question his accuracy on the unending hypothesis if he is unable to decipher such a basic point.
While many have described the Former Prime Minister Raila as the kingmaker, the enigma of Kenyan politics, crowd puller and the best player in confrontational politics who is never short of surprises, Raila’s best moments are behind him as Prof. Makau Mutua puts it. I don’t think Tinga has more cards close to his chest to pull, his opponents have studied and known him. In fact, President Uhuru Kenyatta is causing him sleepless nights via proxies. What if he comes direct?
The former premier must be acknowledged for nurturing many politicians most of whom have turned to be his sworn enemies. He has not nurtured any from his back yard, Luo Nyanza despite Kenyan politics being so tribal. No one from Nyanza has received Raila’s blessings in case he quits the political stage which can’t be too long after 2017 polls. From where I sit, possibilities of ‘Luo Nation’ not voting as a block in post-Raila era are extremely high.
Only Kidero comes out as the Luo politician with the might to take after him, but sycophants and Raila followers from his native Central Nyanza are not ready to back any politician from South Nyanza where the Nairobi Governor, Dr Evan Kidero hails from. Raila has every right to run for president in the coming 2017 polls but after three unsuccessful shots, the experienced politician must also think of passing the Burton. Right now he comes out as one who thinks he is the only Luo who can be president.
As much as it’s said that Raila has been betrayed by the same individuals whose political careers he helped built, he must change his tactics and try new avenues. Politics is a game of numbers, but Raila has been unable to keep his house intact, he has been busy putting off rebellion fires in his party when his opponents are planning for 2017 polls. Money also plays a great deal, and Jubilee is seriously moneyed, but Odinga has been accused of sitting on the wallet when his foot soldiers are being ‘bought’ like toffees. So many broke politicians stand for nothing but gullible to shift allegiance for the love of the money.
Opportunity only comes once in a lifetime they say, and Raila let the presidency slip from his hands in 2007 and that moment will never come again. Believers in the say like Alassane Ouattara of Ivory Coast never allowed his win slip away from him; he fought to the very end and took over from Laurent Gbagbo, a dictator who is now facing war crime charges at the Internal Criminal Court (ICC). Raila was fixed through the deal that saw the formation of a grand coalition government that he shared with the then president, Mwai Kibaki. The deal was the last nail in the ‘coffin’ of his presidential ambitions.
They say history repeats itself, and Kibaki became President at the age of 74, and Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria became president on the fourth attempt. Raila may be hanging his hopes on these thin and weak threads, but the generational change in Kenyan politics punches another big hole on Odinga’s dreams.
The incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta was elected the fourth president at the age of 51, this kind of generational change makes it hard for him to be elected to succeed Mr. Kenyatta.
He has now and after 2017 polls to give direction to the Luo nation that has strongly been with him through his political career especially the south, many will be waiting to see if Central Nyanza can back a leader from the South.
This article expresses the author’s opinion only. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Kenya Insights or its Editors. We welcome opinion and views on topical issues. Email: [email protected]
Former Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) CEO, James Oswago
EACC cleared the IEBC chairman Isaack Hassan of involvement in the Sh.41B Chickengate bribery scandal that saw the directors of the UK printing firm sent to jail in London. The anti-corruption body had been handed the files to prosecute the case.
Isaac Hassan, the IEBC chairman, was mentioned in the dossier alongside IEBC commissioners as being part of the syndicate. After conducting investigations, EACC, the body that coincidentally had cleared Ann Waiguru of involvement from the NYS theft only for new evidence to prove otherwise, also cleared Hassan.
IEBC CEO Oswago alongside others were found culpable, and EACC recommended the ODPP to open prosecutions against Oswago and team for having engaged in bribery schemes with the UK printing firm for the ballot papers in the run-up to the 2013 elections.
Oswago who has been missing from the public limelight since the controversial general elections resurfaced from his hiding place protesting against the decision by the EACC. Oswago argues that he is being made a sacrificial lamb while people who should take more responsibility like Isaac Hassan have been exonerated.
Pressure has been mounting from the EU who are the biggest financier of elections in Kenya on GoK to act upon the Chickengate scandal. Oswago has been running around like a headless cock screaming innocence.
In several media interviews in the past week Oswago has opened the Pandora box revealing that indeed 2013 elections were flawed and rigged in favour of jubilee. In his wild claims, Oswago says the commission he headed was compromised by powerful forces and that there was nothing he could do about it at that time, going as far as saying his life was threatened.
This is a desperate sympathy seeking plot that’s not going to work amongst able minded Kenyans. Kenyans had to drag themselves through the Supreme Court for the ultimate decision that legitimised Jubilee win. It was a bitter journey for CORD supporters who felt that their glory was snatched. For Oswago to surface from his hideout years later to allege that the election was altered is an insult to human intelligence.
If his conscience was right, he could’ve come out earlier on this exposed the matter at a previous stage. If he lacked trust on the local judicial system, Oswago had the opportunity to seek political asylum and lodge the rigging plot on an international court for a public tribunal. Coming out now is an unnecessary and damaging step.
Having said that, with the former CEO now confessing that the elections were flawed the entire IEBC as currently constituted must be demolished and reconstructed. The country is in a fragile state and can’t afford to move into another election with a suspicion body as the current. Oswago and rest of the team involved in the Chickengate scandal must carry the cross and answer to the allegations against them. Jumping out of one media station to the next is a socialite syndrome that’s not going to help him or any other accused. Let the law take the course.
President Obama delivering his speech at the Democratic Convention 2016 in Philadelphia
OBAMA: Thank you!
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you!
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you.
Thank you so much! Thank you everybody.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you. Thank you.
OBAMA: Thank you so much, everybody. Thank you! Thank you!
Thank you, everybody.
AUDIENCE: Yes, we can! Yes, we can!
Thank you so much, everybody!
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I love you back!
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Hello, America! Hello, Democrats!
So 12 years ago tonight I addressed this convention for the very first time.
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You met my two little girls, Malia and Sasha, now two amazing young women who just fill me with pride.
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You fell for my brilliant wife and partner, Michelle…
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…who has made me a better father and a better man, who has gone on to inspire our nation as first lady and who somehow hasn’t aged a day.
(LAUGHTER)
I know, the same cannot be said for me. My girls remind me all the time. Wow, you’ve changed so much, daddy.
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: And then they try to clean it up. Not bad, just more mature.
And it’s true, I was so young that first time in Boston.
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And look, I’ll admit it, maybe I was a little nervous addressing such a big crowd. But I was filled with faith; faith in America, the generous, bighearted, hopeful country that made my story, that made all of our stories possible.
A lot’s happened over the years. And while this nation has been tested by war and it’s been tested by recession and all manner of challenges, I stand before you again tonight, after almost two terms as your president, to tell you I am even more optimistic about the future of America than ever before.
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How could I not be, after all that we’ve achieved together?
After the worst recession in 80 years, we’ve fought our way back. We’ve seen deficits come down, 401(k)s recover, an auto industry set new records, unemployment reach eight-year lows, and our businesses create 15 million new jobs.
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After a century of trying, we declared that health care in America is not a privilege for a few, it is a right for everybody.
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After decades of talk, we finally began to wean ourselves off foreign oil, we doubled our production of clean energy.
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We brought more of our troops home to their families, and we delivered justice to Osama bin Laden.
(APPLAUSE) Through diplomacy, we shut down Iran’s nuclear weapons program, we opened up a new chapter with the people of Cuba, brought nearly 200 nations together around a climate agreement that could save this planet for our children.
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We put policies in place to help students with loans, protect consumers from fraud, cut veteran homelessness almost in half. And through countless acts of quiet courage, America learned that love has no limits, and marriage equality is now a reality across the land.
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By so many measures, our country is stronger and more prosperous than it was when we started. And through every victory and every setback, I’ve insisted that change is never easy, and never quick; that we wouldn’t meet all of our challenges in one term, or one presidency, or even in one lifetime.
So tonight, I’m here to tell you that yes, we’ve still got more work to do. More work to do for every American still in need of a good job or a raise, paid leave or a decent retirement; for every child who needs a sturdier ladder out of poverty or a world-class education; for everyone who has not yet felt the progress of these past seven-and-a-half years. We need to keep making our streets safer and our criminal justice system fairer; our homeland more secure, and our world more peaceful and sustainable for the next generation.
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We’re not done perfecting our union, or living up to our founding creed that all of us are created equal, all of us are free in the eyes of God.
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And that work involves a big choice this November. I think it’s fair to say, this is not your typical election. It’s not just a choice between parties or policies, the usual debates between left and right. This is a more fundamental choice about who we are as a people, and whether we stay true to this great American experiment in self-government.
Look, we Democrats have always had plenty of differences with the Republican Party, and there’s nothing wrong with that. it’s precisely this contest of ideas that pushes our country forward.
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But what we heard in Cleveland last week wasn’t particularly Republican and it sure wasn’t conservative. What we heard was a deeply pessimistic vision of a country where we turn against each other and turn away from the rest of the world. There were no serious solutions to pressing problems, just the fanning of resentment and blame and anger and hate. And that is not the America I know.
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The America I know is full of courage and optimism and ingenuity. The America I know is decent and generous. Sure, we have real anxieties about paying the bills and protecting our kids, caring for a sick parent. We get frustrated with political gridlock and worry about racial divisions. We are shocked and saddened by the madness of Orlando or Nice. There are pockets of America that never recovered from factory closures, men who took pride in hard work and providing for their families who now feel forgotten, parents who wonder whether their kids will have the same opportunities we had.
All of that is real. We’re challenged to do better, to be better. But as I’ve traveled this country, through all 50 states, as I’ve rejoiced with you and mourned with you, what I have also seen, more than anything, is what is right with America.
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OBAMA: I see people working hard and starting businesses. I see people teaching kids and serving our country. I see engineers inventing stuff, doctors coming up with new cures. I see a younger generation full of energy and new ideas, not constrained by what is, ready to seize what ought to be.
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And most of all, I see Americans of every party, every background, every faith who believe that we are stronger together, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, young, old, gay, straight, men, women, folks with disabilities, all pledging allegiance, under the same proud flag, to this big, bold country that we love.
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That’s what I see! That’s the America that I know!
And there is only one candidate in this race who believes in that future, has devoted her life to it; a mother and grandmother who would do anything to help our children thrive, a leader with real plans to break down barriers and blast through glass ceilings and widen the circle of opportunity to every single American, the next president of the United States, Hillary Clinton.
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AUDIENCE: Hillary! Hillary! Hillary!
OBAMA: That’s right. That’s right.
Let me tell you, eight years ago, you may remember Hillary and I were rivals for the Democratic nomination. We battled for a year-and- a-half. Let me tell you, it was tough because Hillary was tough. I was worn out.
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She was doing everything I was doing, but just like Ginger Rogers it was backwards in heels.
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And every time I thought I might have that race won, Hillary just came back stronger.
But after it was all over, I asked Hillary to join my team.
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And she was a little surprised, some of my staff were surprised.
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But ultimately said yes because she knew that what was at stake was bigger than either of us.
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And for four years, for four years, I had a front-row seat to her intelligence, her judgment and her discipline. I came to realize that her unbelievable work ethic wasn’t for praise, it wasn’t for attention, that she was in this for everyone who needs a champion.
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I understood that after all these years, she has never forgotten just who she’s fighting for.
Hillary’s still got the tenacity that she had as a young woman working at the Children’s Defense Fund, going door to door to ultimately make sure kids with disabilities could get a quality education.
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She’s still got the heart she showed as our first lady, working with Congress to help push through a Children’s Health Insurance Program that to this day protects millions of kids.
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She’s still seared with the memory of every American she met who lost loved ones on 9/11, which is why, as a senator from New York, she fought so hard for funding to help first responders, to help the city rebuild; why, as secretary of state, she sat with me in the Situation Room and forcefully argued in favor of the mission that took out bin Laden.
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You know, nothing truly prepares you for the demands of the Oval Office. You can read about it, you can study it. But until you’ve sat at that desk, you don’t know what it’s like to manage a global crisis or send young people to war. But Hillary’s been in the room, she’s been part of those decisions.
She knows what’s at stake in the decisions our government makes, what’s at stake for the working family, for the senior citizen, for the small-business owner, for the soldier, for the veteran. And even in the midst of crisis, she listens to people and she keeps her cool and she treats everybody with respect. And no matter how daunting the odds, no matter how much people try to knock her down, she never, ever quits.
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That’s the Hillary I know. That’s the Hillary I’ve come to admire. And that’s why I can say with confidence there has never been a man or a woman, not me, not Bill, nobody more qualified than Hillary Clinton to serve as president of the United States of America.
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I hope you don’t mind, Bill, but I was just telling the truth, man.
And by the way, in case you were wondering about her judgment, take a look at her choice of running mate. Tim Kaine is as good a man, as humble and as committed a public servant as anybody that I know. I know his family. I love Anne, I love their kids. He will be a great vice president, he will make Hillary a better president, just like my dear friend and brother Joe Biden has made me a better president.
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Now, Hillary has real plans to address the concerns she’s heard from you on the campaign trail. She’s got specific ideas to invest in new jobs, to help workers share in their company’s profits, to help put kids in preschool, and put students through college without taking on a ton of debt. That’s what leaders do.
And then there’s Donald Trump.
(AUDIENCE JEERS)
Don’t boo; vote!
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You know, the Donald is not really a plans guy. He’s not really a facts guy, either.
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He calls himself a business guy, which is true, but I have to say, I know plenty of businessmen and women who’ve achieved remarkable success without leaving a trail of lawsuits and unpaid workers and people feeling like they got cheated.
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Does anyone really believe that a guy who’s spent his 70 years on this Earth showing no regard for working people is suddenly going to be your champion? Your voice? Hey, if so, you should vote for him.
But if you’re someone who’s truly concerned about paying your bills, if you’re really concerned about pocketbook issues and seeing the economy grow and creating more opportunity for everybody, then the choice isn’t even close. If you want someone with a lifelong track record of fighting for higher wages and better benefits and a fairer tax code and a bigger voice for workers and stronger regulations on Wall Street, then you should vote for Hillary Clinton.
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And if you’re rightly concerned about who’s going to keep you and your family safe in a dangerous world, well, the choice is even clearer. Hillary Clinton is respected around the world, not just by leaders, but by the people they serve.
I have to say this. People outside of the United States do not understand what’s going on in this election, they really don’t.
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Because they know Hillary, they’ve seen her work. She’s worked closely with our intelligence teams, our diplomats, our military. And she has the judgment and the experience and the temperament to meet the threat from terrorism. It’s not new to her. Our troops have pounded ISIL without mercy, taking out their leaders, taking back territory. And I know Hillary won’t relent until ISIL is destroyed.
She will finish the job and she’ll do it without resorting to torture or banning entire religions from entering our country. She is fit and she is ready to be the next commander in chief.
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Meanwhile, Donald Trump calls our military a disaster. Apparently, he doesn’t know the men and women who make up the strongest fighting force the world has ever known.
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OBAMA: He suggests America is weak. He must not hear the billions of men and women and children, from the Baltics to Burma, who still look to America to be the light of freedom and dignity and human rights. He cozies up to Putin, praises Saddam Hussein, tells our NATO allies that stood by our side after 9/11 that they have to pay up if they want our protection.
Well, America’s promises do not come with a price tag. We meet our commitments. We bear our burdens. That’s one of the reasons why almost every country on Earth sees America as stronger and more respected today than they did eight years ago when I took office.
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America is already great. America is already strong. And I promise you, our strength, our greatness does not depend on Donald Trump.
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In fact, it doesn’t depend on any one person. And that, in the end, may be the biggest difference in this election, the meaning of our democracy.
Ronald Reagan called America “a shining city on a hill.” Donald Trump calls it “a divided crime scene” that only he can fix. It doesn’t matter to him that illegal immigration and the crime rate are as low as they’ve been in decades, because he’s not actually offering any real solutions to those issues. He’s just offering slogans, and he’s offering fear. He’s betting that if he scares enough people, he might score just enough votes to win this election.
(AUDIENCE JEERS)
And that’s another bet that Donald Trump will lose. And the reason he’ll lose it is because he’s selling the American people short. We are not a fragile people, we’re not a frightful people. Our power doesn’t come from some self-declared savior promising that he alone can restore order as long as we do things his way. We don’t look to be ruled.
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Our power comes from those immortal declarations first put to paper right here in Philadelphia all those years ago. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that we the people can form a more perfect union. That’s who we are. That’s our birthright, the capacity to shape our own destiny.
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That’s what drove patriots to choose revolution over tyranny and our GIs to liberate a continent. It’s what gave women the courage to reach for the ballot and marchers to cross a bridge in Selma and workers to organize and fight for collective bargaining and better wages.
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America has never been about what one person says he’ll do for us. It’s about what can be achieved by us, together, through the hard and slow and sometimes frustrating, but ultimately enduring work of self-government.
And that’s what Hillary Clinton understands. She knows that this is a big, diverse country, she has seen it, she’s traveled, she’s talked to folks and she understands that most issues are rarely black and white. She understands that even when you’re 100 percent right, getting things done requires compromise. That democracy doesn’t work if we constantly demonize each other.
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She knows that for progress to happen, we have to listen to each other and see ourselves in each other, and fight for our principles, but also fight to find common ground, no matter how elusive that may sometimes seem.
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Hillary knows we can work through racial divides in this country when we realize the worry black parents feel when their son leaves the house isn’t so different than what a brave cop’s family feels when he puts on the blue and goes to work, that we can honor police and treat every community fairly. We can do that.
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And she knows that acknowledging problems that have festered for decades isn’t making race relations worse, it’s creating the possibility for people of good will to join and make things better.
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Hillary knows we can insist on a lawful and orderly immigration system while still seeing striving students and their toiling parents as loving families, not criminals or rapists, families that came here for the same reasons our forebears came, to work and to study and to make a better life, in a place where we can talk and worship and love as we please. She knows their dream is quintessentially American, and the American dream is something no wall will ever contain. (APPLAUSE)
These are the things that Hillary knows. It can be frustrating, this business of democracy. Trust me, I know. Hillary knows, too. When the other side refuses to compromise, progress can stall. People are hurt by the inaction. Supporters can grow impatient and worry that you’re not trying hard enough, that you’ve maybe sold out.
But I promise you, when we keep at it, when we change enough minds, when we deliver enough votes, then progress does happen. And if you doubt that, just ask the 20 million more people who have health care today. Just ask the Marine who proudly serves his country without hiding the husband that he loves.
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Democracy works, America, but we gotta want it, not just during an election year, but all the days in between.
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So if you agree that there’s too much inequality in our economy, and too much money in our politics, we all need to be as vocal and as organized and as persistent as Bernie Sanders’ supporters have been during this election.
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We all need to get out and vote for Democrats up and down the ticket, and then hold them accountable until they get the job done.
That’s right, feel the Bern!
If you want more justice in the justice system, then we’ve all got to vote, not just for a president, but for mayors and sheriffs and state’s attorneys and state legislators. That’s where the criminal law is made. And we’ve got to work with police and protesters until laws and practices are changed. That’s how democracy works.
If you want to fight climate change, we’ve got to engage not only young people on college campuses, we’ve got to reach out to the coal miner who’s worried about taking care of his family, the single mom worried about gas prices.
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If you want to protect our kids and our cops from gun violence, we’ve got to get the vast majority of Americans, including gun owners, who agree on things like background checks to be just as vocal and determined as the gun lobby that blocks change through every funeral that we hold. That’s how change happens.
(APPLAUSE)
Look, Hillary’s got her share of critics. She has been caricatured by the right and by some on the left. She has been accused of everything you can imagine and some things that you cannot.
(LAUGHTER)
But she knows that’s what happens when you’re under a microscope for 40 years.
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She knows that sometimes during those 40 years she’s made mistakes, just like I have, just like we all do. That’s what happens when we try. That’s what happens when you’re the kind of citizen Teddy Roosevelt once described, not the timid souls who criticize from the sidelines, but someone “who is actually in the arena, who strives valiantly, who errs, but who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement.”
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Hillary Clinton is that woman in the arena. She’s been there for us, even if we haven’t always noticed.
And if you’re serious about our democracy, you can’t afford to stay home just because she might not align with you on every issue. You’ve got to get in the arena with her, because democracy isn’t a spectator sport. America isn’t about “yes he will.” It’s about “yes we can.” And we’re going to carry Hillary to victory this fall, because that’s what the moment demands.
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OBAMA: Yes, we can! Not yes, she can; not yes, I can; yes, we can!
You know, there’s been a lot of talk in this campaign about what America’s lost, people who tell us that our way of life is being undermined by pernicious changes and dark forces beyond our control. They tell voters there’s a “real America” out there that must be restored.
This isn’t an idea, by the way, that started with Donald Trump. It’s been peddled by politicians for a long time, probably from the start of our republic. And it’s got me thinking about the story I told you 12 years ago tonight about my Kansas grandparents and the things they taught me when I was growing up.
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See, my grandparents, they came from the heartland. Their ancestors began settling there about 200 years ago. I don’t know if they had their birth certificates, but they were there.
(LAUGHTER)
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They were Scotch-Irish mostly, farmers, teachers, ranch hands, pharmacists, oil rig workers. Hardy, small-town folks. Some were Democrats, but a lot of them, maybe even most of them were Republicans, the party of Lincoln. And my grandparents explained that folks in these parts, they didn’t like show-offs, they didn’t admire braggarts or bullies.
They didn’t respect mean-spiritedness or folks who were always looking for shortcuts in life. Instead, they valued traits like honesty and hard work, kindness, courtesy, humility, responsibility; helping each other out. That’s what they believed in. True things, things that last, the things we try to teach our kids.
And what my grandparents understood was that these values weren’t limited to Kansas. They weren’t limited to small towns. These values could travel to Hawaii.
(APPLAUSE) They could travel even the other side of the world, where my mother would end up working to help poor women get a better life trying to apply those values. My grandparents knew these values weren’t reserved for one race; they could be passed down to a half- Kenyan grandson, or a half-Asian granddaughter; in fact, they were the same values Michelle’s parents, the descendants of slaves, taught their own kids living in a bungalow on the south side of Chicago.
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They knew these values were exactly what drew immigrants here, and they believed that the children of those immigrants were just as American as their own, whether they wore a cowboy hat or a yarmulke, a baseball cap or a hijab.
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America has changed over the years. But these values that my grandparents taught me, they haven’t gone anywhere. They’re as strong as ever; still cherished by people of every party, every race, every faith. They live on in each of us. What makes us American, what makes us patriots is what’s in here. That’s what matters.
(APPLAUSE)
And that’s why we can take the food and music and holidays and styles of other countries and blend it into something uniquely our own. That’s why we can attract strivers and entrepreneurs from around the globe to build new factories and create new industries here. That’s why our military can look the way it does, every shade of humanity, forged into common service. That’s why anyone who threatens our values, whether fascists or communists or jihadists or homegrown demagogues, will always fail in the end.
(APPLAUSE)
That is America. That is America. Those bonds of affection, that common creed. We don’t fear the future; we shape it, embrace it, as one people, stronger together than we are on our own.
That’s what Hillary Clinton understands. This fighter, this stateswoman, this mother and grandmother, this public servant, this patriot, that’s the America she’s fighting for.
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And that is why I have confidence, as I leave this stage tonight, that the Democratic Party is in good hands. My time in this office, it hasn’t fixed everything. As much as we’ve done, there’s still so much I want to do. But for all the tough lessons I’ve had to learn, for all the places I’ve fallen short, I’ve told Hillary, and I’ll tell you what’s picked me back up, every single time: It’s been you, the American people.
(APPLAUSE) It’s the letter I keep on my wall from a survivor in Ohio who twice almost lost everything to cancer, but urged me to keep fighting for health care reform, even when the battle seemed lost. Do not quit.
It’s the painting I keep in my private office, a big-eyed, green owl with blue wings, made by a 7-year-old girl who was taken from us in Newtown, given to me by her parents so I wouldn’t forget, a reminder of all the parents who have turned their grief into action.
(APPLAUSE)
It’s the small-business owner in Colorado who cut most of his own salary so he wouldn’t have to lay off any of his workers in the recession because, he said, that wouldn’t have been in the spirit of America.
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It’s the conservative in Texas who said he disagreed with me on everything, but appreciated that, like him, I try to be a good dad.
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It’s the courage of the young soldier from Arizona who nearly died on the battlefield in Afghanistan, but who has learned to speak again and walk again, and earlier this year, stepped through the door of the Oval Office on his own power, to salute and shake my hand.
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It is every American who believed we could change this country for the better, so many of you who’d never been involved in politics, who picked up phones and hit the streets and used the internet in amazing new ways that I didn’t really understand, but made change happen. You are the best organizers on the planet, and I am so proud of all the change that you made possible.
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Time and again, you’ve picked me up. And I hope sometimes I’ve picked you up, too.
(APPLAUSE)
And tonight, I ask you to do for Hillary Clinton what you did for me.
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I ask you to carry her the same way you carried me. Because you’re who I was talking about 12 years ago, when I talked about hope. It’s been you who’ve fueled my dogged faith in our future, even when the odds were great, even when the road is long. Hope in the face of difficulty, hope in the face of uncertainty, the audacity of hope!
America, you have vindicated that hope these past eight years.
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(APPLAUSE)
And now I’m ready to pass the baton and do my part as a private citizen. So this year, in this election, I’m asking you to join me, to reject cynicism and reject fear and to summon what is best in us; to elect Hillary Clinton as the next president of the United States and show the world we still believe in the promise of this great nation.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you for this incredible journey. Let’s keep it going. God bless you. God bless the United States of America.
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission chairman Isaack Hassan
The incompetence of IEBC is not about chicken gate alone; the body itself admitted that there were numerous electoral malpractices in the 2013 general elections. The Supreme Court, which is the highest court of the land despite its ruling on the presidential petition, also noted that the 2013 polls had problems.
Nothing much has been done to reform the body, and the country is now 13 months to the next general elections. The opposition has held several street protests demanding the disbandment of the current IEBC; the calls have seen the formation of Joint select committee look into concerns raised about the credibility of the electoral body.
Dilly dallying can be seen from quotas that are anti-IEBC reforms. Perception has now been created by the Chepkonga led Justice and Legal Affairs Committee (JLAC) that IEBC carried the day after its chairperson Issack Hassan was cleared of any wrongdoing in the procurement of BVR kits that failed immensely during the 2013 polls. Any seriously thinking Kenyan knows that the people who benefited from the 2013 malpractices cannot support the disbandment or the current IEBC or removal of its chairperson.
Clearing Hassan is a ploy to insulate him from facing prosecution. The public cannot be fooled that only the former IEBC chief executive James Oswago is responsible for the infamous chicken gate scandal alongside other three ‘small’ accomplices the committee allowed to be prosecuted. It’s a pity that EACC has also turned to be a clearinghouse for highly connected. Oswago said that he was not allowed by EACC to complete the statement he had begun making a month ago. “Any accused person must be given time to defend himself. The EACC may be trying to divert public attention from a particular matter”, said Oswago.
The electoral environment has not changed since 2013, and it’s absurd for Hassan to celebrate and sit pretty preparing for next polls. Serious reforms are needed to secure proper elections in 2017, and the reforms must go beyond the commission. Voter registration must be seriously conducted without favouring any region and issues on technology to be used must be resolved.
Leaders of IEBC must inspire the nation, and the Hassan led commission lacks public confidence, and something must be done within the timeline. Relevant teams must put the country first and work expeditiously hard to reform the IEBC and avoid pushing back the election date which can be very expensive for the country. Change of election date extends the term of the president which can only be affected through a referendum.
It’s sad to note that time wastage through unnecessary debates between JLAC and Joint Select Committees may force the nation to push back election date. AG Githu Muigai, for instance, is asking for the 2017 poll date postponed allowing proper reconstitution of the ongoing reforms including putting in place new IEBC commissioners. The constitution is clear on the election date, August 8th, 2017.
Attempts to postpone elections will be seen as a plot by the president to extend his term which may plunge the country into more arguments. There is enough time to reform IEBC and have the next elections held as stipulated in the constitution.
On Thursday the political temperatures shot high with streets buzzing with the debate sparked by Bungoma Senator and CORD’s co-principal Moses Wetangula. He had earlier in the day called out for his counterpart Raila Odinga to give up his political ambitions following his previous unsuccessful bids. Weta argued that Raila has made more than enough shots, and it’s the right time he gave up and let others like him attempt their luck.
The argument as anticipated was received with mixed reactions, Raila opponents applauded Weta for it and ran away with the story to escalated grounds. Raila’s supporters were on the other end unamused in what they say are impairing efforts by Jubilee to weaken CORD. The majority language is that Weta has been bought by Jubilee and joining likes of Ababu, the CORD rebels said to have been heavily pocketed by the monied jubilee.
While trading accusations is a political norm, I don’t see anything wrong in Wetangula calling for Raila to call off his bid. In a healthy democracy that CORD fundamentals are supposedly built on, is a good sign of maturity and free speech space. CORD supporters should take pride in having space where one is allowed to express himself and challenge the leader.
What a better time for this debate to come than now when Jubilee leadership in Central Kenya has sent a stark warning to all aspirants that vying on any party other than JAP and supporting anyone other than President Uhuru would be severely consequential. This shows the minimal democratic space within the party, exhibiting dictatorial tendencies.
By CORD having space for anyone to raise a voice and challenge the de facto leader is a good move in the right way. The times of ‘ndio baba’ Moi era politics is long gone and should never make a comeback. Presidential nominations for CORD should be fair, Raila is not the ordained candidate, the coalition’s secretariat has made it clear that the candidate would be picked through a constitutional process. Weta as a hopeful is right in fighting for his space. As an art of war, deal with the biggest threats first.
As to whether Wetangula has the muscle might to head CORD and win elections is another matter. The Senator has been fumbling with no firm position on his political future, as we had reported earlier on a Kenya Insights Weta is also eyeing the Nairobi gubernatorial seat. Close sources confide in me that he’s financially limping and would take up any attractive deal including joining Jubilee. If Ababu with all that my DNA is ODM and his blood incompatible with Jubilee shenanigans changed overnight what can stop Weta?
Talking of which politics and politicians are about securing personal interests, that’s the unwritten law, and there’s nothing wrong politicians will see in shifting allegiances as long as their interests are guaranteed. What’s wrong with joining Jubilee after all? Let Weta dance and let Raila fight for his place, and it should never be a silver plate service.
The EACC (Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission) chairman, Philip Kinisu has come out strongly to defy calls for resignation after a company he owns, Esaki Communications Ltd, was found to have conducted business with the troubled NYS where Kshs.791 million was lost. His company received over 35 million shillings to supply NYS with borehole materials.
Kinisu, who is the ‘former’ director of Esaki Limited, a company associated with his wife and daughter, claims the tender awarded to the firm was won before NYS woes. He chairs the EACC, which hurriedly cleared the former Devolution CS Ann Waiguru from NYS scandals only to repeat their shoddy job after Kabura affidavit.
The structures in this country are too eroded to fight corruption, how was a controversial figure like Kinisu appointed to head EACC. Other than corruption watchdog, he also chairs ‘a nonprofit’ organisation, Africa Population and Health whose operations are being questioned by NGOs Coordination Board (NCB)
Sources close to KI revealed that NCB Executive Director Fazul Mohamed wrote to the spy chief Philip Kameru asking him to investigate the organisation for diversion of donor aid, money laundering and regulatory misconduct. The NGO received over five million shillings in the past three years.
“The allegations against the company and me are unsubstantiated. We have been tried and convicted in the court of public opinion by the deliberate manner in which these matters have been framed and orchestrated. Corruption is sophisticated and compelling. My experience through these events has shown that even those who should be on the right side are easily swayed to become angels of the devil”, Mr Kinisu said. He also added that resigning would set a wrong precedent, a classic response of ‘corrupt’ Kenyans.
There are many qualified Kenyans without ‘integrity issues’ who can serve in the capacity he is serving even better. Opportunity to serve Kenyans is a privilege and the moment one becomes a questionable character like him, the honourable thing to do is to resign. It’s insane to put the nation through a series of lame dramas quoting irrelevant sections of the law just to buy time and prevent thorough investigations.
Even if the company was not adversely mentioned in the alleged scandal that saw NYS lose 792 million, the fact it is owned by the EACC boss raises many questions about the possibility of conflict in interest. Surprisingly, companies associated with Kinisu are under investigations by the DCI, Assets Recovery Agency and the Kenya Revenue Authority over their dealings with the troubled NYS. Kinisu is not ethically fit to stay in office. Kenya is sick of individuals like him leading from behind.
L-R DP William Ruto, President Uhuru amd Ann Waiguru share a plartform during a past state function
Ms Ann Waiguru, a once powerful figure in Jubilee government where she headed the devolution ministry, is back in the news. Despite massive backing from Statehouse, Waiguru succumbed to public pressure and resigned following allegations that she masterminded theft of up to Sh.791M from the NYS coffers.
Waiguru was sold out by her proxy Kabura, a hairdresser that she planted in the syphoning scheme and later ousted her in a scathing affidavit that is still under investigations by the EACC, she particular mentioned Waiguru as the chief architect of the mass looting.
On her resignation, Waiguru went on water testing overdrive in the political world. She held several meetings and had made her interest in Nairobi’s gubernatorial race open. Her entrance into the already crowded arena with political heavyweights caused immense unease within the Jubilee faction who are determined to grab the seat from CORD- sponsored Kidero.
Jubilee is still torn on who to give the ticket between Sakaja, Waweru or Wanjiru, who’re equally strong candidates. After deliberations, Waiguru strategically drew back and went on to keep a low profile. According to Kenya Insights sources planted at the house in the hill, Waiguru was advised to drop her bid for Nairobi and promised Kirinyaga gubernatorial seat with statehouse support.
This was stamped over the weekend when a Statehouse official attached to Waiguru, Mr Patrick Ngatia, publicly announced at a function in Kirinyaga that Statehouse had endorsed her for the county’s gubernatorial seat. Even though Waiguru herself steered off from directly admitting, the subliminal message was home.
Former Devolution CS Ann Waiguru
Thanks to this meeting, the loudly mouthed Ngatia revealed that Statehouse was still treating Waiguru with executive privileges including security details, and State officers still accompany her to different functions. “The State House has not forsaken Ms Waiguru, and that is why she is always assigned an official from the seat of power to accompany her wherever she goes.” Mr Ngatia is a senior staff member in the Political Affairs Division in Statehouse.
Waiguru ceased being a State employee on her resignation and shouldn’t be legible to such a like privileges which contravene laws and exposing abuse of power. Not a single cent of taxpayers money should be spent on her in the capacity of an official unless she’s serving under unknown position.
NYS looting scandal is still undergoing investigations, and Waiguru maintains innocence. She boasts of having won over ten awards in her three-year tenure, and it goes without mentioning that it’s within these three years of her tenure that NYS lost nearly Sh 1B in fraudulent deals that sworn affidavits link her to.
Politics is as Barack Obama would call it, silly season but in Kenya, its silliest of seasons and it would seem all year(s) long! With 2017 fast approaching all manner of games, trivia, lies and stories are being told to a bemused public. Known agents of Jubilee are standing authoritatively in CoRD press conferences waxing lyrical about political parties, communities and democracy.
This is more than ridiculous.
Ababu’s games that have been known to only but a few over the years, have progressed and now reached their crescendo and presumably climaxed. But who is this Mr Namwamba?
I love Kenyan psychology. Simple tricks are played on the unsuspecting public to hoodwink commoners and emasculate the truth. But the truth is always hiding in plain sight and people have reputations and histories.
The rumor mill in Kenya is seldom wrong, yet purveyors of impunity will lambast truth tellers and dismissively call them ‘rumor mongers’…it’s a technique well tried, tested and perfected by Moi in the KANU years who would dismiss Wangari Maathai (a great woman) as a ‘mad woman’ to the amusement and roaring laughter of wananchi at a public holiday rally.
It is through rumors that we knew Ouko had disappeared. It is through rumors we are aware Ababu was not trustworthy at the University of Nairobi and reportedly did his exams under police escort for his own safety.
During the swearing-in ceremony of early 2008, the entire Kenya was treated to pseudo comedy from a young first time MP swearing allegiance to Raila as the “elected president”, never mind Mwai Kibaki commander-in-chief was in the House, also for swearing in. Most thought “…wow what a loyal junior this one.” I watched carefully, on the face of it quite remarkable and cute but as they say time reveals everything.
The ‘establishment’ elements too have eyes and more ears, and they had taken note of this fellow. It wasn’t long before his name was all over the ‘maize scandal’ and a curious dalliance with Agriculture minister William Ruto keenly noted by all and sundry. But because politicians assume and ‘know’ that Kenyans are foolish, Ababu continued to front the ‘I am more ODM than anyone’ mask and to talk tough and to baptize himself “Generali.” And Raila allowed it.
Tinga wants to be president so bad, and is so under siege from many corners of the establishment that he’s always overwhelmed, outfoxed and in crisis. While knowing Ababu was compromised, he kept playing games with him, feeding him cookies and stroking his ego until ‘Men-in-Black’ happened on his watch. The party had been infiltrated and the take-over had to be stopped, violently and in broad daylight.
Meanwhile, Ababu had been chastised, rebuked and thrown out of the leadership of the Legal Affairs Committee in parliament and no media channel has cared to look carefully at his record and facts. Somehow he weaved his way as an ‘ODM loyalist’ and landed the plum position of chairperson Parliamentary Accounts Committee PAC a most cherished and coveted perch.
Alas, screwed up investigations ensued on sensitive topics (e.g., Hustler Jet and guess who the subject was?!) before Ababu again was bundled out in ignominy on crazy allegations of bribe taking and finger pointing in the same committee but not before going to his party leaders house to brief him on goings-on and while at it taped him secretly!
Recently, social media smoked out Ababu and mainstream media followed suit asking where is the ODM SG? Without breaking a sweat and being the liar he has proven to be the young politician quickly put out that he’s been on paternity leave, has young children and a young wife and all is honky dory.
Except that it’s not! Soon he clarified that he’s been absent because his conscience is so clear about IEBC that he doesn’t accept the unlawful methods of street demonstrations…after which he called the press to assert that he is not a cry baby, before finally declaring that he is frustrated upon realizing that his office has no powers and that the “gun he was given has no bullets!” All this, in a span of 6 weeks.
Kenyans like me are tired.
We are tired of rubbish. We abhor tribal politics and the naked manipulation, upending, blackmail and fallacy that go with it. We are well aware that our childish political culture impoverishes our people. We are tired of a lazy media that chooses to focus on Ababu carrying a mwiko and printing new tee shirts for his villagers than digging into the heart and core of issues.
Theatrics! We are tired of impunity. Of grown men, so scared like little children, unable to muster the courage to walk out of a party (any party) they fundamentally disagree with but choose to sit tight and serve two masters. We are tired of Tumbocracy masquerading as Democracy. Political players don’t care what the political parties act says, they don’t read the constitution they only want chopper rides, bags of money and big 4X4s to dazzle peasants in the constituency.
After almost 10 years, no Kenyan can identify one solid legislation crafted, drafted and advocated by Ababu Namwamba, nor any policy direction he pushed as minister or otherwise. Kenyan politics is about tricks, lies, deception and gimmicks. This must stop. Ababu is so busted. Fare thee well.
The writer is a social commentator and a governance adviser
This article expresses the author’s opinion only. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Kenya Insights or its Editors. We welcome opinion and views on topical issues. Email:[email protected]
Integrity House, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission headquarters in Nairobi
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has apparently embarked on a cat and mouse games in dealing with the Chickengate probe- the Sh.52M bribery scandal involving National Exams Council and the electoral commission. The EACC Chairman Philip Kinisu in February promised that the investigations into the matter would be concluded in under a month.
On March 18, the EACC boss Halakhe Waqo appearing before a parliamentary committee said that the report was finished, and he would forward the files to DPP Tobiko for the prosecution of those involved by 30th June. As it turned out, this was all a bluff, and the commission seems to have done zero investigations or is sitting on the report.
The scandal involved inflation of ballot papers prices as part of the kickbacks from the UK’s printing firm, Smith and Ouzman Ltd in the heights to 2013 elections. IEBC Chairman Issack Hassan tops the list of Kenyan officials who ‘ate’ the chicken. Others named in the scandal Davis Chirchir, an IEBC Commissioner then (he was rewarded with Energy CS post in Jubilee and was later sacked over graft allegations), James Oswago, Gladys Boss Shollei.
While the Kenyan counterparts are roaming free with no fear, a London court sentenced two directors of the printing company involved in the bribery scandal to jail. UK government even handed over the files and pieces of evidence they used to imprison the bribing US firm to the Kenyan authorities. EACC was tasked to investigate then forward files to the DPP.
Mentioned in the Chickengate scandal. From left: Mr Davis Chirchir, former Energy CS; Paul Wasanga, former KNEC
EACC is yet to do what they were mandated to do. Less can be written home about EACC effectiveness, countable or no prominent graft case that they’ve successfully solved. In the latest budgetary allocations, EACC got Sh. 2B more to their kitty. Kenya loses approximately Sh. 700B annually to corruption and most, if not all of it, is never recovered.
The anti-graft commission has been actively viewed as a pro graft body with critics saying it’s not free from executive control.
In the height of NYS scandal, EACC did ‘investigations’ and gave the then Devolution CS Ann Waiguru a clean bill of health. It later turned out money was lost in NYS and the ‘clean’ Waiguru was named as the mastermind of the nearly a billion-shilling rip off scheme.
Some people jokingly refer to EACC as the clearing commission, a quick refuge for the graft kings.
They rush here for clearance after looting. The legitimacy, reputation and integrity of the anti-graft body is highly questionable and leaves more to desire. The CEO Halakhe has also been named in several scandals with many critics accusing him of being subject to compromise by the corruption cartel.
Why is it taking EACC long to act on the Chickengate scandal, what more do they need when the UK government already made work easier and handed them over the evidence for the prosecution and nailing the suspects.
Ababu and Raila sharing a light moment during an ODM function
By Bel Akinyi
The hypocrisy in the political corridors today in Kenya has gutted me. Someone once said, man made money and money made man mad, and this is absolute genius. Political lightweights are flying all over the ring throwing empty punches into the air, making the utmost yet vain roars.
Jubilee has made it clear that 2017 is going to be about money, they’ve set aside billions, possibly stolen from the public kitty and about or already making it rain. Malnourished politicians are streaming in for brown envelopes. Recently, New Ford Kenya dissolved their party to join Jubilee, an openly money motivated move.
To the point at hand, it’s laughable and embarrassing, insulting to natural intelligence when a once thought to be brilliant politician turned bluff of century Ababu Namwamba, deprecates and rubbish off Raila political prowess.
First, Ababu’s approach is cliché, and he’s using a script that has been used by many; get in Raila circle, stick around like a leech, gain political mileage, start rebelling, cook an excuse to bolt out, call Raila names. I mean you couldn’t shock us with anything distinctive?
Ababu has been running up and down calling Raila names, saying how undemocratic and undermining he’s been to him. Now Ababu sit down your four eyes and let me school you and jog your memory. Ababu is who he is in political scale because of Raila, and he can deny it as much as a grown person refusing ever suckling his mother’s breast.
Ababu in Statehouse when he led a group of MPs from Western to hold talks with President Uhuru and DP Ruto
We all remember the controversial swearing in where defiant Ababu declined to pay allegiance to Kibaki instead he did on Raila, and that’s when he caught the nation’s attention and when his political star in the national sky went on.
In the coalition government, Raila awarded Ababu with a ministerial post, but the man with the mouthful of Ingokho now will deny that. Ababu was awarded a lucrative committee in Parliament PAC, courtesy of Raila and he was swimming in oil, he’s said to have been paid off in millions to throw under the bus, PAC report on Ruto’s hustler’s jet that cost taxpayers millions. Ababu has enjoyed political privileges courtesy of Raila he can’t deny that.
Despite revolt from insiders and many party supporters, Raila gave Ababu a chance and was delivered ODM’s top most authoritative position and was named the Secretary General. And yet this man still grieves of having been played in ODM. I asked this before, and I’ll ask again, did Ababu want Raila to give him his lungs to feel content.
On a fair note, it’s okay if a young man as Ababu has bigger political ambitions. However, it’s more significant to play smart as in politics isn’t any standard game. Respect the rules of power, don’t punch a wall and expect the wall to get hurt.
Raila leads Ababu in the good old days
Pursue your ambitions Ababu, but don’t insult people who nurtured you, respect is paramount, in Africa, and the young are bound to respect the elders. It wouldn’t hurt or make you less of a man if you only said “Mr Odinga, I’m thankful for the time I’ve been with you, I’ve learnt a lot, and I think we no longer share identical political agendas, and it’s time for me to move on to the next phase of my political career.” It wouldn’t harm you Ababu.
By Bel Akinyi is a Political Science student at Melbourne University, Australia.
Twitter: @BelAkinyii
This article expresses the author’s opinion only. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Kenya Insights or its Editors. We welcome opinion and views on topical issues. Email:[email protected]
On the 23rd of June, Human Rights advocate Willie Kimani, his client Josephat Mwendwa and their taxi driver Joseph Muiruri disappeared after Kimani and Mwendwa had attended court in Mavoko over police brutality on Mwendwa, who had been shot by police earlier. Having received many threats on his life, Kimani braved to assist his client in the case.
The last that it was heard, Kimani had dropped a ‘we’re in danger’ note to be delivered to his wife, whose number he had written on the note. A boda boda operator allegedly picked the note near Syokimau police container and reached the wife via phone. The boda boda operator and the note remains the only relevant links to the story
Immediately the news hit the airwaves, and pressure started pilling coming from both the civil society and lawyers’ association in which Kimani was a member, the Flying Squad, which is widely suspected of engaging in extrajudicial killings, in the past took up the case. This move doesn’t seem to have gone well with the US envoy.
FBI Agents
The Flying Squad has been checking phone records and looking at footage from roadside surveillance cameras to identify where the three might have been taken. Human rights activists predicted that several officers, including the one connected to the first shooting, would soon be arrested.
The International Justice Mission, the American legal aid group that employed Mr Kimani and had been representing Mr Mwenda in his court cases, is a well-connected Christian organisation. Within hours of the three men vanishing, the American Embassy in Nairobi received several messages from Washington asking diplomats to look into the case.
US envoy, Godec unitedly with other foreign diplomats in Kenya piled pressure on the state to speed up investigations and that no loophole should be left untouched. In the meantime, FBI agents stationed in Kenya had hit the ground running and led the investigations and search for the missing three persons. An extra troop of detectives were sent from Washington to join their colleagues.
DCI Muhoro when he appeared before the court on Tuesday
The US government funds the police in millions of dollars of security assistance to Kenya each year, including training and equipment to police officers.
One American official, talking to New York Times, said the Kenyan police clearly still had problems and that continued cooperation would be influenced by how much improvement the Kenyans make.
An estimated sixty people were killed by the police in the month of June alone, with the numbers going up instead of reducing, according to several NGO reports. UN has also added their voice to the worrying rate of extra-judicial killings in the country. They’ve called upon the government to ensure perpetrators are brought to book.
Noticeably, the West hasn’t been as vocal on extrajudicial killings until the latest event. According to sleuths in Statehouse speaking to Kenya Insights, the pressure is like never before. White House is stopping at nothing and committed to seeing those involved brought to books.
The suspected officers; Fredrick Leliman, Stephen Chebulet, Leonard Maina Mwangi and Silvia Wanjiku appeared at the Milimani Law courts on Monday
As a consequence, the Director of Criminal Investigations amongst other senior officers were forced to appear before a Nairobi court to give sureties that other extra-judicial killers will be arrested. Many contributors have pointed fingers at Muhoro’s department as being responsible for such killings. The Law Society is calling for his resignation together with the Police Inspector General Joseph Boinnet.
The US government and Western community are so determined to pursue the course. FBI agents are leading the investigations and a comprehensive report tying Mavoko three killers and the killer unit expected to be available in a fortnight.
A fourth suspect, an AP was arrested on Monday now making the number of officers arrested to be four. Prosecution applied for the speedy start to the case of the murdered and appointed four prosecutors to guide investigations.
One wonders if the outstanding efforts to unravel the murderers of the three would have happened without Western intervention and more specifically the US. Ironically, when the DCI Muhoro appeared before the court on Tuesday to answer on the extra-judicial killings, he was with a purple ribbon. The ribbon is tagged on activists and lawyers to signify their support for the unlawful killings by the police.
