Charles Onyango-Obbo

On March 19 and 20, the Nation Media Group and the Africa Media Initiative will hold easily the most high profile African media conference ever witnessed on this fair continent (http://panafricamedia2010kenya.com).

The conference will be one of the events to mark Nation Media Group’s 50th anniversary.

What interests us is the conference theme: “Media And The Africa Promise: Reflections On The Past, Present, And Prospects For The Future”. How will the media in Kenya, or the wider Africa, look like by 2020?

One place to begin finding answers is the Internet edition of the Daily Nation (www.nation.co.ke). The Nation website is the most read news and current affairs site in eastern Africa, and when I last checked, the seventh highest ranked in that category in Africa.

The first six are all South African, so that makes it the most read site north of the Limpopo. For that reason, it tells us a lot about readers’ attitudes.

Since January 1, the most read story, by far, on Daily Nation online has been “Here is News of My Life: Arunga”, about the romantic and family struggles of the former KTN news anchor Esther Arunga, and her relationship with jazz musician Joseph Hellon’s marvellously Finger of God church.

The second biggest story of the year so far: “Is This Esther’s Hell on Earth?”

President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga squeezed into third place with “Kibaki Raila Clash Over Cabinet Purge”.

Arunga took back fourth place with “TV presenter leaves family to join church””. In fifth place was “Saudi throws Kenyan maid out of top floor window”.
Arunga was in action again in sixth place, with “Esther Arunga picture gallery”.

Seventh was “Marriage on the rocks as young educated wives wear the pants”.

Kibaki and Raila fought back, with “What if Raila walks out of the alliance?” in eighth, and “Is it possible Kibaki is setting Raila up?” in ninth.

The business of top newspapers and TV stations in Kenya is the “serious news” about what President Kibaki and PM Raila do and say, Parliament, the Constitution, and so forth. But clearly these stories are not as attractive to the millions of readers of one of Africa’s top news sites as the private torments of a catchy former TV presenter.

To make matters worse, we mainstream media are not particularly good at telling the story of ordinary people like Arunga.

THE PICTURE LOOKS BLEAK IF YOU consider which are the five least read sections of the Nation website. The most unpopular, if you may call it that, is the stocks and foreign exchange rates. Then, to my utter distress, the Opinion pages and the Editorial — which are considered the heart and soul of a newspaper. Then, finally, sports.

It is not difficult to see why these areas perform poorly. Most people get their sports news via TV, radio, mobile phone, and the Internet. By the time it appears in the paper 24 hours later, it’s not worth much.

People are no longer terribly interested in what we talking heads and commentators have to say because, with FM radio, blogs, instant messaging, Twitter, Facebook, there is now a wide array of opinions out there.

Most are fresher and devoid of the partisanship of mainstream media. With the proliferation that we shall see soon of digital TV channels, and high speed ubiquitous Internet, even FM stations will also become irrelevant.

So as the people who were raised on reading hard copies of newspapers and sitting in front of TVs retire and die off, we shall all become history.

Kenya, in particular, is a deadly place for old school journalism. Recent data by Opera Mini (the chaps who make the popular mobile phone browser by the same name) showed that mobile Internet in Africa is growing at supersonic speed.

In Libya, in a year it grew by nearly 6,000 per cent. Nigeria, nearly 3,000 per cent. Kenya almost 600 per cent.

But the devil is in the details. Kenya is now Africa’s leading digital technology adaptor. Kenyans read more on the Internet than S. Africans, Nigerians, Egyptians and (here it gets interesting) Italians, Britons, Germans, Dutch, Swedes, and Spaniards do! In other words, they are among the world leaders.

In less than 10 years, for those of us journalists who make a living writing in newspapers about Kenya’s Grand Coalition government feuds and the likely effect of an Al-Shabaab victory in Somalia, unless we embrace the many new media technology trends yet to come, we shall have no alternative but to retire to the villages to raise goats and grow yams.

cobbo@ke.nationmedia.com

-Daily Nation

By Chris Kirubi,

Once upon a time there was a local activist who employed unique tactics to get Kenyans to hear his message.

He chained himself to the gates of Nyayo House and caught our attention.  Nonetheless, we all wondered if his style was effective in disseminating his message.  He heckled dignitaries and suffered the consequences of such audacious actions; we all pitied him and his family.

Today, he is easily granted a permit to hold a procession on our streets… and neither is he tear-gassed along the way.  Now, when he talks, our leaders pay attention.

Though it is not my nature to use such techniques, I have learnt from the said gentleman that tenacity pays off.  I speak of him with respect for gaining credibility as an activist and for the lesson that we must never tire of doing good.

I tell this anecdote as a prelude to saying that I will maintain my passion for the youth agenda, although some may question my voice.

Earlier this week I attended, as a speaker, a youth Summit dubbed ‘Kenya Youth Empowerment and Employment Initiative (KYEEI)’; thanks to Nazarene University in collaboration with USAid and other partners.

The purpose of the summit was to identify challenges and come up with possible solutions to getting our youth trained and employed.

In my interaction with young people, I often get to hear their dreams and goals for their lives and this country.  I say, with utmost respect, that our government fails them by treating them like babies.

In coming up with a youth program (such as the widely hyped Kazi Kwa Vijana), there ought to be greater consultation with the users instead of the unsustainable spoon feeding that we see today.

If you ask young people to come work for a quick buck… they will show up in droves, and leave when the well runs dry.  But if the same money was channelled towards programs vetted by the youth for their singular benefit, you would be assured that they would work harder to ensure the longevity of that source of income.

In my opinion, there is still a lot of room for running public-private partnerships that cater to this age group which constitutes a third of our population.  For example, every employer will tell you that there is always more demand for labour at the work place.

However, financial limitations do not allow them to become a training ground for new job market entrants.  So the problem persists with ninety percent of the unemployed youth unable to acquire vocational skills.

Suppose the government shouldered a large portion of the financial burden for placing youth in organisations where they can get on the job training, coaching and mentoring?  Wouldn’t that satisfy the need for training and in turn fulfil some goals of vision 2030 as well as meeting the MDGs?

The financial burden is no doubt huge for a country on the recovery process, but there are other alternative forms of rewards and financial incentives like tax credits and rebates that would accomplish the underlying goal.

Another area where we have enormous potential for meeting the needs of our youth is in promoting a certain level of nationalism.  Because we desire to be a global economy, we must put into operation practices that neither harm our global outlook nor destroy job opportunities for our youth.

I am told for instance, that you might find our brothers of Asian-origin hawking their products in some parts of Nairobi.  Whereas we are indebted to them for the speed and innovation with which they make our road infrastructure, I fear that we are allowing them to take over opportunities for our young people.

We can create employment in this arena, for example by putting in place measures that foreigners who wish to operate in Kenya must employ a certain percentage of locals.  They should also be prodded to purchase some non-core work tools and items from the local market so that we are not relying extensively on imports to run our economy.  Why, for example, should these brothers be able to import everything from trucks to wheelbarrows?

Having said that, we as Kenyans must learn the art of adding value to our local products so that they compete favourably in international markets.  Herein also lies an opportunity for setting up government funded incubation centres that enable the youth to learn the processes of adding value to products and eventually take over the running of such enterprises.

Invariably, opportunities for meeting the needs of our young people exist but we must work together (youth, government and private sector) to harness them.

Personally, I will not tire from singing this song… till we see progress and renew the hope of our youth.

Capital FM BLOGS

By Charles Onyango Obbo

A picture of Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni visiting mudslide victims in military uniform and an AK-47 strapped across his chest has created quite a buzz in the blogsphere.

To critics, it is the best representation of the ham-fisted military-cum-civilian regime that runs Uganda.

One blogger asked if he carried the gun in order to shoot survivors of the mudslide.

President Museveni, who came to power at the head of a victorious rebel army in 1986, declared with quite some fanfare that he was hanging up his military uniform and “putting on a civilian tunic” after he was elected in 1996.

However, his life as a civilian president has not quite brought him the prestige and credibility as did his role as the leader of the first home-based guerrilla movement to overthrow an independent African government.

Corruption, nepotism, expansionist misadventure in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the nastiness that his security services have had to resort to keep opponents in check, means his post-bush era is more tainted than his days as a liberator.

Because of that, Museveni has found it hard to put the military behind him.

Whenever the country is caught up a political crisis, he dives into his military fatigues, takes to national TV, and bangs tables and warns opponents.

What is more, despite his “retirement”, he has continued to promote himself. Now he is a lieutenant general.

Museveni is not the only military man turned civilian president in East Africa and the wider region.

There are no less than four in our immediate vicinity: Ethiopia’s Meles Zenawi, Rwanda’s Paul Kagame, Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir, Southern Sudan’s Salva Kiir.

In most respects, they all fought a more bitter and trying war, or a longer campaign as guerrilla leaders, but when they came to power, they put away their guns and uniforms forever.

Because he is nearing the age of 70, Museveni cuts a rather ungainly figure in his military uniform, and with his AK-47 he looks like a grown man who will not let go of his boyhood toys.

However, it would be an oversimplification to see only that psychological explanation — because dress and talismans seem to play a role in African politics that they no longer do elsewhere.

In the past, most African presidents liked to bring their own style to dress; hence to Zambia’s Kenneth Kaunda, we owe what is now known in as the “Kaunda suit.” Tanzania’s Julius Nyerere gave us the “Nyerere suit.”

The Congo’s thieving strongman Mobutu Sese Seko had a unique hat, suit, and stick.

However, because he was so despised, he has not been emulated.

Kenya’s Jomo Kenyatta had his flywhisk, and Daniel arap Moi, the rungu (staff).

In addition to his military uniforms and guns, Museveni will often carry a big stick, and at his farm he will have a double-headed spear.

The African Big Man needs to have his hands full of props in order to continuously reproduce the feeling that he is holding on.

Also, because they rule in developing societies with large rural populations that are still superstitious, the people usually believe that magic powers reside in their flywhisks and spears.

That usually translates into a large body of peasant fear and obedience, and therefore, precious political capital.

It is an old-fashioned approach, but nevertheless represents an important element of continuity in the continent’s politics.

Charles Onyango-Obbo is executive editor of the Nation Media Group’s Africa Media division; cobbo@nation.co.ke

The year 2009 witnessed an unprecedented influx of Kenyans relocating to their motherland from “the land of opportunities”. To many who have been left behind, the American dream has remained just that, A dream. The story of the American economic slump down is known to all and sundry. It has been told in the most explicit terms imaginable. Newspapers, TVs, radios and all manner of media have been screaming from the rooftops. What has not been told though, is that contrary to popular belief, Kenya’s prospects are looking very promising. As the American dream fades for many in the Diaspora, things seem to be going in the opposite direction in Kenya.

This issue of KEN takes a look at a side of Kenya that is often ignored. A country that a little over a year ago was engulfed in senseless election violence where more than 1,300 people lost their lives and over 600,000 others displaced seems to be systematically recovering. Like the proverbial ostrich, Kenya is rising from its ashes.

You will notice many changes the moment you set foot in Kenya. Before, one of the changes you immediately noticed the moment you landed at JKIA was always how dark Nairobi appeared. Of course with time, you would adjust and soon everything would look normal.

Now, Nairobi at night looks pretty much like any other metropolitan city in the world. Most roads in Central Business District (CBD) are just awesome. And it’s not just Nairobi, Mombasa or Nakuru or Kisumu, electricity has spread even into most remote villages, giving Kenya a new look.

Ten years ago, if you told a Kenyan in Kenya that he would one day drive on roads that are very similar to those found in European or North American highways and turnpikes, he/she would have called you a worse dreamer than Martin Luther King Jr. Yet, this is how some roads are in Kenya now.

Most Kenyans are engaged in nation building, ignoring politicians who seem to only worry about increasing their pay while others jostle in an effort to succeed the current president, who is legally barred from running for another term.

Kenyans have shifted into top gear on development issues as Infrastructure improvement has made it easy for many to do business. The relaxation of the lending policies by the banks has sparked a wild fire of projects. Almost everyone you meet has a project he or she is undertaking.

As a growing economy, opportunities in Kenya seem to be mushrooming right and left while the mature economies of the Western nations like U.S. are struggling, leaving many Kenyans in the west wondering whether it was not time they traded places. The Emerging of different sectors like the telecommunication, Tourism, Agriculture and housing are creating massive business ventures.

But why doesn’t the Kenyan media highlight these realities. We sought the opinion of a Kenyan American photo-journalist and KEN correspondent, BMJ Muriithi. “The answer is simple. These media houses are, first and foremost, business entities. You and I know that in this business, good news does not sell. Bad news does. period”, he said.

Ken caught up with Mukabi Giathi, who just relocated back to Nakuru Kenya, from Atlanta, Georgia. Mukabi repeated what many Kenyans who have relocated have pointed out. “The quality of life in Kenya is way better than U.S. There is no comparisons” adding that “Even a thousand dollars earned in Kenya is not the same as a thousand dollars earned in the U.S ”

There is a clear trend of reverse migration. According to U.S based economist Kanyari Muthoga who spoke to KEN, “This trend has been brought about by two things; One the ailing U.S economy has forced Kenyans who lost their jobs to relocate in search for greener pastures. Secondly the opening market has also created fertile ground for investment”.

What is shocking for many Kenyan in Diaspora is how quickly things have changed and the once economically sterile country is blossoming with opportunities. According to a research conducted by KEN many of them are in \’reality check’ mode. Taking stock of their lives and contemplating if they have achieved the maximum of their potential by staying abroad. There is a clear trend of reverse migration that is taking shape as the rivers of opportunities dry up in the west.

Most Kenyans who migrated to U.S in pursuit of the American dream; life in “the land of milk and honey” say that life has turned out to be tougher and worse than they had expected.
Many believed that the streets in America are paved in gold while others depict it as the land of opportunity that has drawn millions to its shores across the borders. They have missed the bus and started to feel like the only difference between them and their cousins back in Kenya is that they walk and ride on paved highways and pathways, have clean running water, electricity and TV in their houses.

The money they are making is only enough to buy food, cheap drinks and cigarettes and of course once in a while, a movie ticket. Saving is a vocabulary that not very common.

Of course this story does not apply across the board. There are some people who have made it beyond their wildest imagination. They went to school, earned themselves scholarships and concentrated on their studies. After graduating they got good jobs that earned them high status. These are the ‘Obamas’ who will speak to you endlessly about the ‘American Possibility and Dream’. They have put up mansions and apartment flats back in Kenya, taken care of their relatives and once in a while, go for vacations.

Whichever way the pendulum swings, it depends on the kind of information one has. The basic reality, however, is that, life in America is a mixed pack of the good, the bad and the ugly. On the positive side, it leaves the feelings of excitement, freedom, opportunity, achievement and fulfillment. On the negative side, it leaves disappointment, anger and disillusionment in their lives.

Source: Kim Media Group

Opinion

Lillian Musomi, 17 years of age, was a victim of early pregnancy. She was impregnated by a young teenage guy of the same age. As the boy could not support her he was forced to drop Lillian and deny the pregnancy.

Lillian was raised by a sick, single mother who suffers from hypertension and is always bedridden. Born in a family of six Lillian were the first born and a primary school class eight dropout.

Lillian was unable to pursue her secondary education even though she had performed well in her Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) she had managed to score 289 points out of 500. Due to poverty, Lillian’s mother could not raise money to enroll her in form one.

Lillian’s mother’s health worsened, which forced Lillian to work as a house maid so that she could assist her younger siblings and also get money to pay rent of the small shack they lived in, in Kiamaiko village.

Lillian was also a founder member of Kiamaiko Young Women, an organization based in Kiamaiko working with young girls and women in sensitizing young women on their reproductive health rights. During the time Lillian was in the group, she remained active and devoted herself to the group work and helped the group in translating Martin Luther King Jnr’s speech ‘I have a dream’ into Abaluhya. After Barrack Obama became the first back American president the script was played in a local FM station that airs in Abaluhya language. But she ceased from attending group meetings when she started working in order to support her sick mother.

As Lillian’s mother has told the story: Lillian decided to be attended by a mid wife when she was in labour. When we asked why, her mum told us that she had not enough money to go to a maternity clinic. A midwife in Kiamaiko village charges seven hundred shillings, while a hospital like Pumwani, which is a government institution, charges 3500 shillings for a normal delivery.

After struggling so much in labour nothing positive was realised. Lillian lost energy and could not breathe which made it difficult for her to push the baby out, she had been asthmatic. The midwife advised her mother to rush her to the hospital so she could get proper medical attention.

Lillian was rushed to one of the many local private hospitals that have mushroomed in response to the crisis in public sector. Most of them are owned by doctors and other medical staff working in the public sector and they have created a game of chances because many of these private clinics in Kiamaiko do not have necessary facilities in cases of emergences like Lillian’s.

Lillian and her unborn baby died in Sister Lucy Nursing Home in Huruma. The hospital had no capacity to attend to her as they had no theatre services.

Kiamaiko Young Women and Bunge la Mwananchi women’s movement and Mathare Mums live in memory of Lillian, a young promising sister who could have had a brighter future if she had an opportunity to pursue her education. We feel it’s not morally right, neither is it acceptable that mothers should die while giving life. For how long will a grassroots woman continue to be penalised for doing what is natural to womanhood. We feel it is offensive that our government can find 40 million of taxpayers’ money to take somebody like Al Faisal, who was disowned by other countries, back to Jamaica instead of providing for citizens, especially women who badly need reproductive health services. We fail to believe that it’s due to lack of resources, but it’s because of lack of people friendly priorities that women continue to die and continue to be detained in governments hospitals. Lillian’s case is one of the alarming cases in Mathare and Kiamaiko of women who continue to die while giving birth or as a result of pregnancy complications. Many of these deaths are preventable if correct measures are taken and services brought closer to the people.

This report is written by Ruth Mumbi of Kiamaiko Young Women and of Bunge la Mwananchi. It was approved by Victoria Atieno from Mathare Mums.

-Pambazuka

Jody Clarke,

Kenya’s first same-sex wedding has brought gay rights out of the closet. But many think it needs to get right back inside. Jody Clarke reports from Nairobi

‘Are you looking for the second floor?” the security guard asks. But he already knows what the answer is. Why else would someone drive 15 minutes from the centre of Nairobi to an unmarked warehouse surrounded by spare car-part dealers and junk merchants? I am ushered up four flights of stairs and through a security door. It’s white and featureless and gives no clue as to what is inside.

It’s no spy organisation, no home to international arms traders or drug traffickers. This is the headquarters of the Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya (Galck). And, given recent events, the level of obscurity isn’t all that difficult to fathom.

Two weeks ago Kenya’s first gay wedding provoked mass unrest in the seaside town of Mtwapa. Christian and Muslim leaders united in their opposition, with an angry mob taking to the street under the banner “Operation gays out”. Three people, known to locals as “notorious gays”, had to be rescued by police just outside the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri), where services are offered to more than 400 male and female sex workers, including those who are gay. Several people were also arrested, including employees of Kemri.

Poring over the details of this event and others like it, you’d think Solomon Wambua, the head of Galck, would be weighed down with worry. But sitting at his desk, the 28-year-old doesn’t seem overly concerned. Yes, gays still suffer from intimidation and attacks in Kenya. But, in advancing gay rights in the country, these tribulations are inevitable.

Wambua isn’t your typical gay Kenyan. In a country where gays are often forced into sham marriages to avoid public humiliation, he actually came out to his parents. At first they didn’t take it well.

“I asked my mum: if you knew I was gay, would you have paid my school fees? She said no. We didn’t speak for three months. Then slowly she came around. She still can’t tolerate it but now we talk, although about other issues.”

Most aren’t so broadminded. “I hate them,” says one man, leaning out the window of his 10-year-old Toyota Corolla. “It’s no wonder they hide, otherwise they would be beaten. If my son was gay, he would be my enemy for life.” As a Christian, does he not think this is at odds with the tenets of love and understanding inherent in the faith? He shrugs and defiantly flips his palms skywards. “It’s just not in our culture.”

“The whole notion of homosexuality is considered unAfrican,” says Maurice, a 24-year-old gay Kenyan who asked that his surname not be used. He hasn’t come out to his parents; he doesn’t want to risk becoming an outcast. And while there are no openly gay bars in Nairobi, the city is far more tolerant than the rest of the country. “There is one club in town where the balcony is specifically for the gay community. Other nights, such as Sundays, are specifically aimed at gays.”

Flaunting your sexuality is frowned upon here. Gays are regularly beaten and male sex workers are harassed for bribes by council officials, according to Galck. This makes its work quite difficult.

While Kenyan law does not criminalise being gay itself, it does criminalise sexual acts between men. Health information on gay sex cannot be openly distributed; groups would be accused of aiding a felony if they did, leaving many in the community unaware of serious health risks. According to a study by the National Aids Control Council, 35% of gay sex workers did not know that HIV could be transmitted during anal intercourse.

The picture is less bright in neighbouring countries. Three weeks ago a man was arrested in Malawi for hanging gay rights posters in the capital, Blantyre, and Agence France-Presse reported this week that Malawi’s constitutional court refused to hear the case of a gay couple arrested for “gross indecency” after holding the country’s first public same-sex wedding. Meanwhile, the Ugandan parliament is set to debate a controversial anti-homosexuality Bill that proposes the death penalty for men caught having sex with other men. The proposed law has been sharply criticised by the international community, with US President Barack Obama describing it as “odious”.

Still, there are signs of hope, although they are tentative at best. In October two Kenyan men became civil partners in the United Kingdom under the country’s Civil Partnership Act, raising public debate about homosexuality in Kenya. Anti-privacy laws prevent police from entering your house, so that means most of Kenya’s gay community can avoid conviction, as long as they stay out of the public eye.

Says Wambua: “If you don’t dump your trash on someone else’s yard, you can do as you please.”

Source: Mail & Guardian Online
Web Address: http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-02-26-not-safe-to-come-out

By Jody Clarke

Barely two years after an election that left 1 500 people dead, Kenya is still on a dangerous road, say some analysts.

Last week a corruption scandal threatened to bring down the country’s unity government, after President Mwai Kibaki overturned a decision by Prime Minister Raila Odinga to suspend two ministers suspected of corruption. It took until Tuesday for the two leaders to finally meet.

However, even if the two men are intent on ironing out their differences, Kenya still faces enormous problems.

The country is young and educated, but youth unemployment constitutes 78% of total unemployment. If you want a job, say many school leavers, “you have to bribe someone first”. The problem is so bad that there is a significant risk the country will become a failed state, warned Transparency International’s Kenya chief in a recent interview.

“There are no investors willing to invest in the economy because it is structured on corruption,” said Job Ogonda, citing Liberia and Sierra Leone as examples of where this has happened before.

“Getting jobs is based on corruption and because of that people feel alienated.”

According to Ogonda, young people are increasingly turning to violence as the only means to further themselves, adding that the country is likely to face a meltdown in 2012. He points towards the controversial Mungiki sect, which has a stranglehold on the transport sector, and other groups who extort money to finance themselves.

“There isn’t a middle-class neighbourhood in the country where people aren’t forced to pay for security. You pay for it when you move into your house, then you pay a monthly fee and when you’re moving out you pay again. Otherwise, they won’t allow you to.”

Corruption is an ongoing problem in Kenya, which was once regarded as a beacon of stability for all of East Africa. For example, according to one NGO, the government has failed to build a proper water supply infrastructure in the country because government-connected companies make money selling water to people in drought-hit areas or poorly served slums.

Source: Mail & Guardian Online
Web Address: http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-02-26-is-kenya-heading-for-a-meltdown

By: Miguna Miguna – Published: Saturday February 13th, 2010

[The writer is Prime Minister’s Adviser, Coalition Affairs and Joint Secretary to the Permanent Committee on the Management of Grand Coalition Affairs. The opinions expressed here are his own.]

Justice L. Kimaru of the High Court of Kenya released a landmark decision on the issue of citizenship on 22 January 2010. That decision puts to rest the odious attacks on me by the Party of National Unity (PNU) and other malicious detractors over the unfounded allegation that I lost my citizenship because I allegedly acquired Canadian citizenship and passport. PNU busybodies went berserk and called on the Prime Minister of Kenya (PM) to fire me purportedly for “working illegally.” They went further and demanded that I be prosecuted for “lying” ( I don’t know where, when and how) about my “status.” PNU and other malicious miscreants knew that I have never lost my citizenship. They also knew that I have never lied about my status; nor have I broken any laws. They know that I have never renounced my Kenyan citizenship and remain a proud and patriotic son of the soil. But they didn’t care. Their intention was to besmirch my reputation. They wanted me to wrestle with them in the mud they had created so that they could smear my reputation with cow dung.

Full-page paid advertisements were published by a section of the print media (Daily Nation and The People) too eager to please their puppet masters. Electronic media was used to scandalize me during prime time news for more than one week. A few misguided individuals reeking with green envy and rancid jealousy went to lunch with the false stories. They perpetuated the falsehoods through fake “letters to the editors,” “opinions,” “cartoons”, “news briefs”, and “news analysis” (Standard; The People; Daily Nation; Sunday Express; The Star; and Weekly Citizen)) of the cow dung they had thrown while pretending to respond to articles I had published in the Star newspaper on important national issues affecting Kenyans. Those were issues of corruption, abuse of power, good governance, constitutional change and an end to impunity.

Other idlers on the Internet took off with the libel and have continued to defame me with the hope that they might distract me from persistently pursuing social-justice issues and performing my functions at the PM’s Office. Some confused, inept, malcontent and clearly ignorant MPs from Nyanza Province joined the fray without knowing or understanding what the issues were.
 
Without exception, the idlers never bothered to respond directly to the issues in my articles. None of them challenged the factual accuracy in my articles. Unfortunately for the malicious, the libelous, the envious and the jealous busy-bodies, Miguna has remained a solid rock, cascading on course (with other committed compatriots) towards the total liberation of Kenya. No amount of malicious filth will prevent that eventuality.

Now the High Court has said: ‘Wait a minute; a Kenyan citizen by birth does not and cannot lose his/her citizenship merely by acquiring a foreign one or passport; he can only do that if or when he renounces his citizenship, and the person advancing the allegation of lose of citizenship has the burden of proof!” That was my position all along. I kept telling the Kenyan media that they were wrong to clutch on straws; that the onus was on PNU and the idlers to prove their allegations by adducing credible evidence. It is now time PNU, the gullible and mendacious Kenyan media and all those miscreants to publicly apologize to me.

This is sweet redemption to me and the ODM fraternity, coming on the heels of another major High Court ruling at Mombasa: the one that relegated the former MP for Matuga, the Lingala bellowing Ali Mwakwere, to political oblivion. I relish the adage about the “wheels of justice grinding slowly;” very true indeed.
 
It all started with an election petition by Mahamud Muhumed Sirat against the MP for Wajir South, Abdulrahman Ali Hassan. Mr. Sirat had sought to nullify the election of Mr. Hassan over allegations of electoral malpractices. Rather than deal squarely with the petition on its merits, Mr. Hassan made an application seeking to have the election petition dismissed with costs on the basis that Mr. Sirat was not a Kenyan citizen. He argued that Mr. Sirat had voluntarily acquired the citizenship of Australia and therefore owed allegiance to the government of Australia. Mr. Hassan further argued that the petitioner, being Australian, was not eligible or ought not to have been registered as a voter in Kenya and could not have qualified to be elected an MP in Kenya. Finally, Mr. Hassan argued that Sirat lacked legal and constitutional capacity to institute or to proceed with the petition.

Along the way, Mr. Hassan recruited gullible immigration officials and an ODM minister to boot who managed to howl Sirat from the sanctity of his home into the State dungeons on mere allegations of a political opponent. Forget about the presumption of innocence. Mr. Hassan vigorously argued that Sirat had no locus standi to file and present an election petition; that even the Court had no jurisdiction to hear the petition. Sirat was supposed to be detained and deported without being heard!
 
In response Sirat argued that Hassan’s application was frivolous, vexatious, incompetent and an abuse of the court process. He stated that the application was only meant to frustrate him from prosecuting the petition. Sirat also asserted that he was a citizen by birth, both his parents being Kenyan. Further, he indicated that he had valid Kenyan national identity card and passport, duly issued by the immigration department. Finally, Sirat denied ever having renounced his Kenyan citizenship in preference for an Australian one. He produced copies of his birth certificate, national identity card and Kenyan passport as evidence of citizenship. Sirat also produced copies of his academic certificates to establish the schools he attended in Kenya.

In his judgment, Kimaru J. stated that Sirat, “by virtue of his birth in Kenya, and the fact that both his parents are citizens of Kenya, is entitled [to] citizenship of Kenya.” The judge stated that section 97(1), (3) and (7) of the Constitution of Kenya does not deprive a Kenyan citizen by birth of his citizenship upon acquiring nationality of another country. He opined that sections 88, 90, 92, 93, 94, 95 and 97 of the Constitution only “prohibited persons of a particular category who are citizens of other countries at the time Kenya attained independence”. Those sections do “not apply to citizens of Kenya who acquired citizenship by virtue of their birth from acquiring citizenship of another country after attaining twenty-one years of age.”

And finally, Judge Kimaru stated what amounts to a judicial left hook clincher: “[E]ven assuming that the petitioner had indeed acquired Australian citizenship, there is nothing in the Constitution that specifically prohibits the petitioner from acquiring such citizenship while at the same time retaining his Kenyan citizenship provided that Australian law allows for its citizens to acquire and have dual nationality.” The only exception is when a person specifically renounces his Kenyan citizenship and acquires citizenship of another country that does not allow dual citizenship. Since Mr. Hassan produced no evidence that Sarit renounced his Kenyan citizenship – and that even if he was able to do that, he would still have to prove that Australia did not accept dual citizenship – the Court concluded that Sarit remains a Kenyan citizen. The judge also ruled that copies of a foreign passport are mere pieces of paper that could have been generated or downloaded in any cyber café. The possession of a Kenyan national identity card and passport, the judge ruled, are prima facie evidence of citizenship. The Court refused Hassan’s invitation to look behind or beyond the national identity card that the petitioner possesses as prima facie evidence of his Kenyan citizenship. Kimaru J. stated that the Court “lacks jurisdiction to invalidate or declare invalid a national identity card”, which have been duly issued.

Did I hear everyone say “Amen?”
With this milestone judgment, Kenyans have hope in the reorientation and reform of our judiciary.
By Miguna Miguna

L. Muthoni Wanyeki

22 February 2010

Nairobi — Prime Minister Raila Odinga asked some officers in his office to step down over corruption, orders the suspension of two ministers having, at the very least, political responsibility for graft in their dockets.

A few hours later, President Kibaki overrules him, citing lack of consultation.

The ministers report to work defiantly the next day, arguing that the president is their appointing authority.

The PM asks mediator Kofi Annan to intervene.

The ministers on the PM’s side of the grand coalition government declare their intention to henceforth boycott Cabinet meetings.

Then MPs on the president’s side work furiously on plans to declare the vice-president leader of government business in Parliament.

Debate rages as to the coalition’s future.

Meanwhile, the shilling immediately loses value – a fact implying that the longer this saga goes on, the more the wishful thinking around economic growth projections will be proved to be just that – wishful thinking.

But, as the violence that followed the 2007 elections showed, who gives a damn about ordinary citizens or even the economy – unless and until politicians’ individual economic interests are at stake.

But all this is beside the point; the point really is whether the coalition is in a crisis.

Let us recall, first of all, that the political settlement resulting in the formation of the coalition was merely a ceasefire, a truce, an elite consensus.

Elites come to consensus positions essentially because of self-interest – usually short-term – but sometimes enlightened or more long-term.

Let us also recall then that the context and situation have already, as predicted at the time, changed.

The Orange Democratic Movement and the Party of National Unity are still the coalition’s formal parties.

But their internal dynamics changed almost as soon as it was clear that the more substantive content inserted in the mediation agreement would, in fact, have to at least appear to be addressed.

Finally, let us consider what possibilities there are as an end-game or logical outcome of the coalition’s collapse. Another round of elections.

Rationally, the Interim Electoral Commission of Kenya is still in no position to hold elections – it still needs to reconstruct the voters’ register, for God’s sake!

In addition, we are not clear whether or not the Committee of Experts and the Parliamentary Select Committee will affirm the Independent Review Commission’s recommendation that we move towards an electoral system based on mixed-member proportional representation.

And, if they do not, the Independent Boundaries Review Commission has just started redelineating constituencies.

More cynically, it is clear from the sputtering out of the proposed Kalenjin, Kamba and Kikuyu alliance that an ethnically based, numerical and supposedly winning formula for those with the shared accountability interests referred to above has yet to be agreed upon.

There is, no doubt, another, equally cynical formula in the works, but it has yet to be revealed to us.

Across the divide is an increasingly slim constituency around the PM; if he loses Coast and Rift Valley provinces, it is not clear what else he has up his sleeve.

The moral of the story is that nobody is ready for elections.

The rational position then, re-confirmed by this latest coalition spat, is that it will continue to hold, although alliances within it will shift, and continue to shift, as old school “political strategising” continues.

The coalition will continue to hold – if only because there is as yet no possible alternative.

Our task is therefore not to concern ourselves too much with the so-called crisis.

L. Muthoni Wanyeki is the Kenya Human Rights executive director.

By KWAMCHETSI MAKOKHA

Raila Odinga does not get it. After the welcome extended to him to join government, purely on humanitarian grounds, he insists on throwing his weight around despite losing the presidential election with such a huge margin.

Nothing illustrates this humanitarianism better than recent findings of the election courts, which so far suggest more drastic but plausible methods of altering poll outcomes to place them beyond contestation.

You could burn the ballots, lose them, misallocate the numbers or even cancel results from unfavourable polling areas.

Instead of declaring that President Kibaki beat Raila by a meagre 226,302 votes, why, the Electoral Commission of Kenya (miss you guys!) could just have added a miserable zero to the number, and the result would still be believable.

As Prime Minister, Raila Odinga arrived expecting everyone to love him. Therefore, when he first showed up expecting to squeeze into the presidential chair, the government had to put him in his rightful place — behind the Vice- President and minister for Home Affairs — where he has stuck like glue.

Another misconception the Prime Minister had to be cured of was that his nusu mkate (half-loaf) powers allowed him to appoint permanent secretaries, ambassadors and directors of State corporations.

The power sharing deal was about cutting the breakfast loaf into two, not divvying up the cereal, margarine, sausages and eggs. That argument was, mercifully, ended by the President’s strength of character alone. Keep doing the same thing until you get it right.

Introducing a total stranger to government can create shock and even breed resentment in the Civil Service.

As part of anger management, it was necessary to encourage public servants to treat the Prime Minister with just a little contempt. For example, it did not hurt to have the Head of Public Service contradict him twice a week.

Get the Government spokesman to nettle him with his weekly statement to the public, and some provincial commissioner to lay half a carpet on the podium when the Prime Minister goes visiting.

If he says there will be police reform, have the police commissioner and the minister for security say the police was not in need of reforms. If the PM suggested that it was lawful to hold a demonstration, ban it and crush those who defy the ban with bullets and tear gas.

It has even come to being personal, such as when the Prime Minister was summoned to the President’s private suit at Kilaguni to converse with His Excellency through a shower curtain, if only to teach him some humility. He missed the event, together with the lesson.

Abroad, the Prime Minister has tried to use his extensive extended family to meet world leaders and been discouraged by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as happened when he tried to officially meet US President Barack Obama.

Matters were not helped by the fact that all this time, the Prime Minister would stare at Head of Public Service Francis Muthaura’s greying head and imagine replacing him with a crop of all-black kinked hair.

Then, in his short life as Prime Minister, Mr Raila Odinga has come so close to writing the bestseller, How to Lose Friends and Annoy People.

There is no virtue in taking a toilet break as soon as the sale of the Grand Regency Hotel starts giving off an odorous whiff, then leaving then Finance minister Amos Kimunya to face Parliament alone.

There is no honour in insisting on justice for the victims of post-election violence when it is clear some of the people in your party are top on the list of suspected masterminds, financiers and perpetrators of crimes in that crisis.

There is no valour in extending yourself on the reclamation of the Mau Complex by threatening the property holdings of the very people who financed your presidential campaign.

There is no wisdom in sacrificing friends and political allies in the war against corruption. It has never brought anyone anything but misery and opprobrium.

Ask John Githongo, who spent two years whispering corruption things into President Kibaki’s ear. He had to go into hiding in exile for that.

THE PM MUST KNEEL BEFORE THE President, beg pardon and ask him very politely: Mzee, don’t you think Ongeri has too much grey hair, a thing that even you with your wisdom do not have?

See, I have dyed my moustache and in order to present an image of youth, you should let the guy go.

Tomorrow, Ongeri would be home in the public interest. Ruto has an angular face, which generally does not lend itself to television. Let him go, too.

Even after these numerous pointed hints and suggestions that the Prime Minister is extra baggage in a government that was already complete, up and running even as he screamed for help from the world, he does not get it.

Suspending ministers over corruption allegations under the pretext of supervising them is sheer chicanery. There is no place for cheek in government, which is why the President did not take a day to reverse that nonsense.

Another person would have taken the cue, packed his bags and left, but not the Prime Minister. Perhaps the only way to get to him is to withdraw all the carpets and toilets from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport ahead of his return from Japan.

May be he might get it, finally.

kwamchetsi@formandcontent.co.ke