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NOW THE MUNGIKI ISSUE TO BE TABLED IN PARLIAMENT

Maragua MP Elias Mbau is preparing to table a motion in Parliament that will compel the government to negotiate with Mungiki over a set period of time we can report.

The motion will argue that the the killings of Mungiki sect leaders was unconstitutional and that the state should instead arrest and charge those they suspected to be behind the sect instead of harrassing them.

Sources further indicated that the motion could be tabled as early as Tuesday.

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2008-05-03 @ 20:12 by dcbqhxhudqj (http://rxuisxzrpdze.com/)

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RAILA THE PRIME MINISTER - WILL HE PERFORM? ABUNUWASI.COM TRACES HIS HISTORY IN PUBLIC POSITIONS

AFTER being shortchanged twice in boardroom deals, RAILA Amollo Odinga has finally tied the proverbial nuptial knots with history as the King of Coalitions and as he prepares to ascend to the office of the Prime Minister – Www.abunuwasi.com examines the man who has become the second holder of the plum position.

Odinga to his credit is the only politician in the country today, who on a whim can whip up a crowd and consequently trigger cult-like adoration.

Like President Mwai Kibaki in 2003, Raila begins his tenure with a health problem, that has forced him to undergo a successful operation in Germany.

He remains the most feared and most covered politician in Kenya today, and for this reason, he begins the race with an edge over Musyoka.

His close associates will also attest to the fact that he has an emotional attachment to the past and has maintained a connection with his roots; “he is very loyal to his close friends…” they all admit.

In fact as we went to press reports filtering into our offices indicated that Raila Odinga was preparing to host a major house party for all ODM legislators and those who lost in the elections with a view of thanking them for sticking by him.

Raila Odinga has often been faulted for switching political parties but like Winston Churchill, he has adequately explained himself thus, “Some men change their party for the sake of their principles; others their principles for the sake of their party”. 

Roman"">So much of an enigma is Raila, that when the suspicion within the National Rainbow Coalition was at its height, the then Vice President Kijana Wamalwa summed it thus; “when it comes to Raila it is either you are a Raila Maniac or Raila Phobic.”

The Magdeburg College of Advanced studies- Germany trained Engineer, has gripped the nation’s imagination so much that he is ever described in the heaviest of adjectives available and were his memoirs to be written he would go down as the very hurricane of Kenyan politics- as he describes himself.

RAILA THE MAN

Frederich Herrine, who has written a paper on Raila describes him thus, “he would fit the bill of an enthusiastic rooster if he lived among the Chinese. You will rarely see a relaxed rooster that sits quietly doing nothing.  Odinga has a legendary sixth sense and has a knack for sniffing enemies from miles away.”

 Privately, he is very sociable, an excellent conversationalist, always up and like his son Fidel Castro Odinga recently said, a schemer per se , “ who will always surprise even me, I cannot tell for sure what he wants to do next.”

“In fact, I have also been reduced to his fan, I sit in his rallies and listen to him as if I am a member of his political cult I am amazed at his power and his next political plan is a secret he keeps and executes so well,” Fidel told a gathering at the Nu Metro junction during the launch of Raila’s autobiography two years ago.

But other than his fiery and exciting brand of politics does the man hold anything that quantifies him as a performer especially with the role of a Prime Minister awaiting him, where he will be in charge of National Reconstruction and Healing Ministry?

He is a proud liberal who is readily open to favouring proposals for reform and open to new ideas.

“Those of us who have attended his numerous overseas presentations, can attest to the fact, on a one-on-one basis, he is down to earth, broad-minded and has a sponge like memory: he socks in everything you tell him and will address acquaintances fondly, while making adroit remarks in reference to their familial anecdotes,” Aldai legislator Sally Kosgei explained to us in an interview.

Due to his years in detention, Odinga has always been viewed as a man who cannot be trusted with power.

A perception that was advanced by retired President Daniel Moi over year’s and was not helped by the fact that Raila kept changing his political associations starting with the famed KANU/NDP merger that saw him get the Energy ministry.

When it was clear he would not be considered in the succession race, he jump-shipped with his newly formed Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the National Party of Kenya (NAK) ending up with the controversy ridden National Rainbow Coalition (NARC).

He however got the Roads and Public Works ministry. An analysis of what he achieved in his two cabinet positions may be a pointer to what he is capable of doing at his new office.

THE MINISTRIES

Energy

He flag-started the now famous Rural Electrification programme, by re - negotiationg the terms with donors, who had then withheld funds due to the carefree manner which government issues and donor money was handled.

The programme during his brief stint at the ministry benefited at least 250,000 homesteads countrywide a major feat given that he sat in the ministry for slightly over a year.

However, the downside was that he was the man who had to take the painful decision of plunging the nation into power-blackouts – through the programme now known as rationing, over a famine that hit the country in the second part of that year.

Roads and Public Works

He began his job with a lot of steam and zeal, declaring a death knell for dubious contractors whom he dubbed, ‘cowboy contractors.’

He then flag started a process aimed at decongesting the city, by introducing By-passes, thereby getting involved in the memorable bringing down of major houses constructed by the roadside.

He will also be remembered for starting off the police housing that had stalled over a period of time.

The downside when he sat in office was that the same Cowboy contractors he had promised to fight were back with a bang, while he was still in office.

According to politicians, significantly Finance Minister Amos Kimunya, Raila also declined to have houses belonging to his family in Kisumu which are constructed on a roadside on

RAILA THE POLITICIAN

Despite heir present day loyalty, firebrand politician James Orengo and ODM Secretary General Anyang Nyong’o know that though Raila gets elected in a Nairobi constituency, he is the man to cling to so as to get elected by the masses in Nyanza.

When Orengo and Nyong’o attempted to play the role of liberals in Nyanza, Raila literally brought their careers to a relative spin, as he backed political neophytes like Archbishop Stephen Ondiek
and Winston Ochoro Ayoki respectively - And all because the two political neophytes danced to
Raila’s tune, period.

The defining moment for Raila was during the first elections of the breakaway Ford-Kenya under the leadership of the late Jaramogi, Raila lost the contest for the post of the party’s second vice chairman to James Orengo – a defeat largely attributed to the firebrand Ugenya’s legislator then
close association with the old man.

Upon Jaramogi’s untimely demise in January 1994, the party held elections to fill the void created by his death and the defection of top party officials among them Kabete MP Paul Muite, former Lagdera MP Farah Maalim, Imenti South MP Kiraitu Murungi and former Imenti Central MP Gitobu Imanyara.

Again, Raila and Orengo found themselves contesting the same seat – that of national first Vice chairman, a contest Raila yet again lost, largely due to the same reasons.

A few months later, Raila would give a stab at the post of Ford Kenya national chairman, against the charismatic Michael Wamalwa Kijana, a battle he lost during bloody elections held at the Thika Municipal stadium and presided over by the former head of the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK), Manasses Kuria.

But in an unparalleled political feat which took the multi-party politics to new scales, Raila would
proceed to resign altogether from Ford Kenya , and in effect, his Langata  Parliamentary seat in accordance with the law.

He would proceed to take under his wings a virtually nondescript, briefcase political outfit – the National Development Party – on whose ticket he would successfully contest the Langata parliamentary seat during the subsequent by-elections, despite strong opposition from his former

His most difficult job may indeed require him to formulate a method of transcending tribal politics. The negative tribal connotations are so deeply rooted that it may take nothing short of a complete paradigm shift amongst the Kenya masses to completely embrace him.

According to historians, former French President Charles de Gaulle was considered an excellent soldier but a mediocre politician.  De Gaulle brushed aside such labels by retorting that politics was too serious a matter to be left to politicians. 

By the time the second general elections under the multi party era came about in late 1997, virtually every Member of Parliament from Luo Nyanza were dancing to his tune.

And just before the 1997 general elections, Raila would instigate a major political exodus from Ford Kenya , wooing no les than fifteen sitting members of Parliament from the party to join his political stable, NDP.

Save for Orengo, then Rarieda MP Achieng Oneko, then Kisumu Rural’s Anyang’ Nyong’o, the late Gem MP Oki Ooko Ombaka and then Kasipul Kabondo’s Otieno K’Opiyo were the only MPs from the Luo Nyanza region who stuck by Wamalwa.

The defections as good as put paid to Ford Kenya, and its party leader, Wamalwa Kijana’s chances of making any significant impact in the general elections.    

And save for Orengo and Ombaka who did not defend his seat due to failing health, all the MPs who had stuck by Wamalwa lost during the 1997 general elections.

Raila went ahead to launch an aggressive campaign for the presidency during the general elections, finishing an impressive third ahead of Wamalwa.

Between 1997 and the last general elections, Raila would whip almost the entire Luo community into some “co-operation of sorts” with the then ruling Kanu regime, a venture which would culminate in his absorption into the Moi government, alongside the of his party MPs, among them Karachuonyo’s Adhu Awiti, Nyakach’s Peter Odoyo and Ndhiwa’s Orwa Ojode.

This co-operation would break up acrimoniously just before the 2002 general elections following president Moi’s unilateral nomination of Uhuru Kenyatta as his successor.

Raila was once again in his element, instigating a massive defection from Kanu into the Liberal
Democratic Party, which would later form a merger with the National Alliance party of Kenya encompassing DP, Ford Kenya, Charity Ngilu’s National Party of Kenya, (NPK) and several fringe parties to oust Kanu from power.

RAILA THE BUSINESSMAN AND OTHERS

Just like few people know that Raila Odinga was once crowned a 400 metre steeple chase champion. Few are familiar of the Raila away from politics. The former university don holds a master’s degree in Engineering.

He started his public life in the Kenya Bureau of Standards where he served as deputy director in the 1970s. Now he is checking the standards of the political game.

He has an array of commercial interests and the family owns the largest gas cylinder manufacturing plant in Eastern Africa , Spectre International. He has other interests in farming, insurance, real estate and the manufacturing industry.

It is such dimensions that confirm that political packaging is no easy job. Now, Raila has repackaged himself, abandoning an abrasive approach to politics to embrace a liberal and objective approach. In the recent years, he has also sought the culture of dialogue.

Raila’s debut in active politics began during the clamour for the introduction of pluralism. He was among an active political brand that was known as the Young Turks. This was a group of aggressive leaders with good education and who held promising professional careers locally and abroad. They were determined to bring about a new political order in Kenya .

Warm contacts

The group enjoyed warm contacts with foreign governments and this explains why they received patronage and support from diplomatic missions when the political heat generated by the pro-pluralism crusade of 1991–92 had reached its fever pitch. At the time, pro-reform crusaders were locked up or killed mysteriously.

Raila went through all this fire. He was detained without trial and suffered most of his problems purely for being part of his father’s political heritage.

His father, Kenya ’s first vice-president, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga fell out ideologically with Kenyatta and then Moi. And Raila is among the privileged few that have served in parliament alongside their father. They were both elected in the 1992 election.

Although the two have a blood relationship, the case has not often been the case in politics. He openly criticized his father’s co-operation with the Moi-led Kenya African National Union (KANU).

It was immediately after his father’s death in 1994 that Raila started defining his mark in Kenya ’s politics at the national level. But he tasted his earliest fires, burnt his fingers, and crossed swords with politicians both in government and the opposition.

Considerable influence

Those who have interacted with Raila’s politics agree that he wields considerable influence on MPs. This started as early as the run-up to the 1997 election and in the subsequent 2002 election when he took virtually all seats in the Nyanza province in western Kenya , the bedrock of his support.

Trade and industry minister, Mukhisa Kituyi may have had a different view when he once declared that Raila was more feared than respected in parliament. But former Voi MP, Jackson Mwalulu disagrees: “ Raila is admired even by his political opponents. They are always worried about what he is thinking. They consider his strategies when planning theirs”.

Indeed, Raila has pulled notable political moves that have left his opponents guessing his next strategy. He handled the heat of the Moi administration tactfully. He once openly forgave those who had detained him.

Come the era of coalition building and Raila was its architect in the post-multiparty era. In 2001, he dramatically dissolved his National Development Party and crossed over to the government. Moi appointed him Energy minister, a position he served in until he fell out with Moi in the run-up to the 2002 election. (Moi had exploited a loophole in the constitution to appoint Raila and three other members of his party to the cabinet).

Months later, the full dissolution of NDP occurred at a historic Kanu Delegates Conference in which Raila was elected Kanu secretary general – a move that left his opponents pondering a possible ‘Raila presidency’. And there was reason for this since Moi had declared that Raila might as well be his successor.

Raila is still the man to watch in Kenya ’s politics and his performance at the helm as Prime Minister will be analyzed for every word and step.

As Raila and Kibaki prepare to roll out a new governance arrangement that will determine the next phase of Kenyan multi-party democracy and governance, he can only be summed in the words of an ancient essay “We aim at no less than a change in the political culture of this country both nationally and locally: for people to think of themselves as active citizens, willing, able and equipped to have an influence in public life.”

view comments (1) | add a comment | 2008-05-01 @ 04:29

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KALONZO SEEKS TO MAKE 24 HOUR ECONOMY HIS LEGACY AS VICE-PRESIDENT

VICE-President Kalonzo Musyoka may appear to be a man under political siege, but we can report that he is slowly emerging to be the master of silent political strategy, with careful behind the scenes moves that Www.abunuwasi.com unveils today for public analysis.

First his close aides confided he has been on a mission to identify a niche for which his tenure at the Vice-Presidency would be attached to – we managed to confirm that his famous campaign idea of having a 24 hour economy would begin implementation as from May this year when Equity Bank is expected to announce that it would go 18 hours on all its banking services with an aim of going 24 hours.

The event will be graced by the Vice President who is also likely to announce that his party was sponsoring a motion in parliament to push official government hours, Parliamentary sitting hours and also an amendment on the [police act to allow for mandatory circuiting of crime prone areas as a way of encouraging 24 hours economy.

“Hon. Moody Awori drove the prison reforms, Kalonzo wants to have his unique project and although there is still a debate on whether to go for the 24 hour economy as a personal project or the welfare coupons, the economy appears ready for the former,” a senior communication aide to Kalonzo explained to this writer in an interview.

The aide further argued that it would be an easy move to take since the VP would begin the reforms from his Jogoo House office that houses the Home Affairs Ministry.

“Prisons are already a 24 hour institution, but there is an opportunity to have the backlog of cases that prisoners face resolved through the nights by bringing in the judiciary and eventually the entire civil service would be attracted,” argued the aide.

On the issue of reaching the common man, Kalonzo is said to be backing the idea by deputy Government chief whip Johnstone Muthama to sponsor a private member motion to slash the salaries of legislators since “they were too high for the common man.”

The search for a legacy is crucial for Kalonzo since unlike his boss at State House President Mwai Kibaki he is one of the frontrunners for the Presidential job in the 2012 election.

“Kalonzo is determined to make sure that he leaves a credible mark by the time he leaves office and the focus for now is on ensuring that the economy is turned into an all clock economy,” said an aide on condition of anonymity.

The 24 hour economy would have an effect on the growth of the economy and would certainly be a great addition on the resume of an ambitious Vice-President.

To his advantage the advent of local media stations with full time news content is already shaping up and with regular top of the hour news briefs, the idea of institutions on full time operations would be well relayed to Kenyans and if he manages to sell himself as the root of the idea it will be a befitting legacy.

EXPERTS OPINION

The Vision 2030 secretariat appeared to be buying into the idea, saying that “its an idea whose time had come and could no longer be ignored.”

Dr.Wahome Gakuruh who is the Director in charge of the social sector as well as the acting director in charge of the Vision 2030 secretariat said in a phone interview that the idea was already in implementation in sectors such as transport and retail and “it is just a matter of time and everyone will have adopted it.”

He however says that the greatest challenge will be changing the minds and attitudes of Kenyans “so as to move from the 5 o’clock mentality.”

“What needs to be done is to convince people that the economy does not have to stop at 5pm, we can go on through the night, besides people travel throughout,” Dr. Gakuru explained.

Other key issues that require political drive according to Dr. Gakuru is arrangement of support services to continue through the night.

“You need to open banks, ensure Petrol stations are running and enhance security throughout the night to ensure that the idea works without interruptions, all services must go together for a 24 hour economy to work,” argued the man behind marketing the vision 2030.

“It should be an easy job, since other sectors are already doing it and we have pioneers who can show us how it’s being done, this is a move that needs to be taken with urgency, other countries are doing it, we must catch up,” Gakuru argued.

As Kalonzo searches for his legacy with future general elections in mind, it will be interesting to see how he pushes his ideas in a grand coalition government where he has a powerful position, but less numbers in cabinet.

view comments (1) | add a comment | 2008-05-01 @ 04:20

2008-05-03 @ 20:12 by dcbqhxhudqj (http://rxuisxzrpdze.com/)

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