WHY PUNGUZA MZIGO MIGHT PASS.

Ekuru Aukot, the man who has so far been held with little regard might soon occasion a major restructuring of our constitution in terms of representation and balance of power among the political class. His popular initiative proposal for a constitutional changes having been approved by IEBC is set to go to counties for approval where only a simple majority of them are required to support.

Significant in his proposals are the below 9 point changes.
1. Introduction of a one seven-year term presidency.
2. Reduction of the number of MPs from the current 416 to 147.
3. Electing one man and one woman from each of the 47 counties to National assembly.
4. Abolishing nominations in county assemblies and senate.
5. Elevating senate to be upper house with veto powers.
6. Increasing counties revenue allocation from current 15% to 35%.
7. Replacing CDF with ward development funds.
8. Life sentence for culprits guilty of corruption.
9. Abolishing of the position of deputy governor.

The major change as reflected by the name of the initiative Punguza Mzigo is the significant reduction in the number of politicians both elected and nominated from 416 to 147.





The route taken by Third Way Alliance to amend this constitution is provided for under Article 257(Amendment by Popular Initiative) and lists the steps to follow as thus:
(1) An amendment to this Constitution may be proposed by a popular initiative signed by at least one million registered voters.
(2) A popular initiative for an amendment to this Constitution may be in the form of a general suggestion or a formulated draft Bill.
(3) If a popular initiative is in the form of a general suggestion, the promoters of that popular initiative shall formulate it into a draft Bill.
(4) The promoters of a popular initiative shall deliver the draft Bill and the supporting signatures to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, which shall verify that the initiative is supported by at least one million registered voters.
(5) If the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission is satisfied that the initiative meets the requirements of this Article, the Commission shall submit the draft Bill to each county assembly for consideration within three months after the date it was submitted by the Commission.
(6) If a county assembly approves the draft Bill within three months after the date it was submitted by the Commission, the speaker of the county assembly shall deliver a copy of the draft Bill jointly to the Speakers of the two Houses of Parliament, with a certificate that the county assembly has approved it.
(7) If a draft Bill has been approved by a majority of the county assemblies, it shall be introduced in Parliament without delay.
(8) A Bill under this Article is passed by Parliament if supported by a majority of the members of each House.
(9) If Parliament passes the Bill, it shall be submitted to the President for assent in accordance with Articles 256 (4) and (5).
(10) If either House of Parliament fails to pass the Bill, or the Bill relates to a matter specified in 255 (1), the proposed amendment shall be submitted to the people in a referendum.
(11) Article 255 (2) applies, with any necessary modifications, to a referendum under clause (10).

Since IEBC has verified and approved the signatures collected, Third Away Alliance has therefore passed stage 5 and so the next step is for IEBC to submit the draft bills to the counties and await the outcome.
The MCAs at the counties are the ones to consider the draft bill and interestingly the bill has a juicy aspect for them that will most likely motivate their agreement. That they are staring at the possibility of being patrons for Ward Development Fund as has been the case with MPs over CDF. What with the scrapping of CDF, an idea that already plays into the egos of MCAs waiting to display their importance as compared to MPs who now have no fund to brag with. Both current and aspiring governors will also likely support this for the sole reason that county allocations are now being increased by over 100% from the current 15% to 35%. Senators too, who are constitutionally charged with protecting the counties, and most of whom are aspiring governors are expected to support it. This stage  thus, unless something queer happens or the determinants fail to get it, can be considered done.
The next stage does not need any energy and the only remaining hurdle is the national assembly who will, and have already show the likelihood of opposing it. And so the bill gets to stage 10 where it is brought to the people to make their decision.

Kenya's Deadly Succession Politics. The Case of Prof George Saitoti.

Presidential succession politics in Kenya are the most difficult, risky and perhaps deadly. This is a snapshot of the life of one of Kenya's former vice presidents and how he didn't become.

George Saitoti who happens to have been Kenya's longest serving vice president, having served as president Moi's vice from1989-1997 and also from 199-2002 died in a plane crash in June 2012. Prof Saitoti was known to be a wealthy man. Indeed some ranked him as one of the richest men in the country with city businessmen Jimmy Wanjigi and Jared Kangwana as some of his longest family friends. In Maasai land, he was close to Harun Lempaka who had unsuccessfully tried to unseat William Ntimama from Narok North parliamentary seat, the then DPP Keriako Topiko and Alex Magelo who later became speaker of Nairobi county assembly.
Saitoti jetted back to Nairobi from Mombasa on a Saturday and called Sapalan, who had traveled to Kilgoris asking whether he could accompany them to Ndhiwa for a funds drive at Orwa Ojode’s rural home. Sapalan left Kilgoris early, trying to dash to Nairobi to link up with the minister. He however still arrived late only to hear that Saitoti and his Assistant Minister Ojode had been killed in a helicopter crash
The late Professor had lived on edge as though agents of death kept following him. His paranoia started off with a near-fatal food poisoning that traumatized him to the end of his life. This happened in February 1990 in an Indian restaurant in Nairobi’s Muthaiga area and on the day that the Foreign Affairs minister, Dr Robert Ouko, went missing. When he returned after a few months, Prof Saitoti denied “rumours” that he had been poisoned. He would later say that he did not know those who killed Dr Ouko because he “was unconscious when Ouko was being killed”. This was after President Moi had told a public meeting that the people who killed Dr Ouko were the same ones who “poisoned my vice-president” claiming they wanted to overthrow his government.

The man who was the internal security minister at the time of his death had declared his interest for presidency in 2013 general elections. Away from being the internal security minister, he had assembled what was said to be the most powerful and well-oiled campaign machine in modern Kenya drawing his strategy behind the scenes. This is according to his chief campaign strategist Peter Kagwanja who is the husband to Foreign Affairs CS Ambassador Monicah Juma.
The team was composed of two US technocrats, political scientists said to have been strategic to the Obama campaign team, Jimi Wanjigi who later became the NASA chief financier and Maina Kamanda who was assistant minister and Starehe constituency member of parliament. Also in the team was PNU organizing secretary Peter Ole Sapalan a close confidant and friend of the late Saitoti. Retired president Moi would later also reveal that he was working to boost the late Saitoti's bid for presidency.
Maina Kamanda and Ole Sapalan were tasked with mobilisng political support while Jimi Wanjigi was in charge of mobilizing campaign resources and at the time of Saitoti's death he had managed to mobilize campaign money running into billions. After Saitoti's death, the whereabouts of these billions was later to be the subject of a quiet debate among his relatives and friends in business and political circles, neither Jimi nor Kamanda willing to divulge any information regarding this cash. It is claimed that the campaign billions were wired into a foreign account days after Prof Saitoti’s death
Kamanda would later reveal that Saitoti was organizing a week-long trip to London starting June 18, the same month he died, where he was to open a PNU office and meet Kenyans living in the UK and later to the US for a similar mission. In fact at the time of his death, Maina Kamanda was in Washington to coordinate the trips and was forced to fly back moments after learning of his demise.

The only other people who would have shed light on Saitoti’s missing billions are his wife Margaret and brothers Johnson and Ronald Musengi, a commissioner at the National Police Service Commission. Margaret and Ronald maintained studious silence on the matter. Only Johnson and the professor’s long-time lawyer Fred Ngatia, opened up, but declined to discuss anything touching on Prof Saitoti, citing privacy.

Being president in Kenya is not a walk in the park, regardless of how close one is. Prof Saitoti's years of experience in politics especially at the second most pinnacle, his war chest and privilege as Internal security minister could not be underrated.

  

1989-1997 and and again from 1999-2002 Read more: https://www.tuko.co.ke/54000-photos-the-top-five-longest-serving-vice-presidents-in-kenyas-history.html#540001989-1997

1989-1997 and and again from 1999-2002 Read more: https://www.tuko.co.ke/54000-photos-the-top-five-longest-serving-vice-presidents-in-kenyas-history.html#54000

1989-1997 and and again from 1999-2002 Read more: https://www.tuko.co.ke/54000-photos-the-top-five-longest-serving-vice-presidents-in-kenyas-history.html#54000

Lord Maurice Egerton castle and the bitter love story

Lord Maurice Egerton

A story is told of a guy named Lord Maurice Egerton who was the lastborn son of a royal family in England. He was born in 1874 and had two siblings who died young leaving him as the only inheritant to the family’s vast wealth. Lord Maurice worked in the Royal Navy until 1920 when his father died. He thus succeeded his father as the fourth baron of Egerton. He loved hunting and photography and this set him on a travel tour of the world.

He came to Africa through Zimbabwe, to Congo then to Uganda and eventually entered Kenya in 1927 where he stayed for the rest of his life.

Lord Maurice settled around Nakuru where he bought acres of farming land from Delamere.

Being from a royal family, he set to marry a girl of similar status and found himself a beauty from the lineage of Queen Elizabeth named Victoria. He had built a six bed-roomed cottage where he lived and thought it impress the girl of his dream. When he invited Victoria to his house, she dismissed the cottage as a ‘chicken cage’ in which she could never live in. Lord Maurice, still hopeful for the girl, decided to build a castle magnificent enough to impress the girl. He imagined a 52-roomed mansion that would have no comparison in England or any other country. He started the project in 1938, hiring an architect from England, construction workers from Italy and labourers from India with much of the materials being imported.

Nearing completion, Lord Maurice invited his fiancé to live with him. The lady did not take more than two hours before driving away describing the house as being “small like a dog’s kennel”. She had rejected him before on several occasions in the presence of his friends. She then left Maurice and went to Australia to marry the son of another royal family.

Dejected and heartbroken, Lord Maurice decided to proceed nevertheless and completed the house in 1954. He employed 16 male servants and demanded that their women stay away and that they should never keep chicken or dogs. Men visiting him were asked to leave their women 8 kilometres away. He hated chicken and dogs because Victoria had likened his houses to them
He henceforth dedicated his life to farming, hunting and development of education giving birth to Egerton University.

He now hated women so much that he banned them from his compound and actually pinned notices on trees warning women that they risked being shot at if they ever came anywhere close to his 100-acre piece of land on which the mansion was built. Nobody was allowed into the castle except the servants. It is said that whenever he planned to visit the quarters where his African staff lived, he would issue a two-week notice so that all women could be vacated. Lord Maurice Egerton died in 1958 with no heir after living alone in his castle for only 4 years.

The magnificent castle is now owned by Egerton University as a tourist attraction.

Kenya’s Aviation Industry: The US granting of Category 1 Status.

A lot has been peddled around on the granting of category 1 status to Kenya by the US. There seems to be a huge cap of information on what this exactly means and to whom the status was granted. This is a brief explanation of the same.

Under the International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) Program, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) determines whether another country’s oversight of its air carriers that operate, or seek to operate, into the US, or codeshare with a US air carrier, complies with safety standards established by the International Civil Aviation Organization. A country’s oversight over its aviation industry is done by a designated civil aviation authority, and in Kenya, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA).

Codesharing is an aviation business arrangement where two or more airlines share the same flight. Sharing, in this sense, means that each airline publishes and markets the flight under its own airline designator and flight number as part of its published timetable or schedule.

The IASA program is administered by the FAA Associate Administrator for Aviation safety (AVS), Flight Standards Service (AFS), International Programs and Policy Division.

In 1991, AFS began to formulate a method to address foreign air transportation safety concerns. As a result, the IASA Program was formally established in 1992, with the purpose of ensuring that all foreign air carriers operating to or from the U.S., or codesharing with a U.S. carrier, are properly certificated and subject to safety oversight provided by a competent Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in accordance with ICAO standards.

The FAA conducts this assessment under the provisions of the Chicago Convention and applicable air transport agreements. Article 6, Scheduled Air Services, of the Chicago Convention states that, “no scheduled international air service may be operated over international or into the territory of a contracting State, except with the special permission or other authorization of that state, and in accordance with the terms of such permission or authorization.”

The assessment focuses on the country’s ability to adhere to the international aviation safety standards and recommended practices as contained in Annex 1(Personnel Licensing), Annex 6(Operation of Aircraft) and Annex 8(Airworthiness of Aircraft). It’s not about the ability of individual air carriers or airports. IASA does not evaluate the safety compliance of any particular air carrier, nor does it address aviation security, airports or air traffic management.         

This category rating done by the FAA applies only to services to and from the United States and to codeshare operations when the code of a U.S. air carrier is placed on a foreign carrier flight. It does not apply to a foreign carrier’s domestic flights or to flights by that carrier between its homeland and a third country. The assessment team looks at those flights only to the extent that they reflect on the country’s oversight of operations to and from the United States and to codeshare operations where a U.S. air carrier code is placed on a flight conducted by a foreign operator.

ICAO Document 9734, Safety Oversight Manual, outlines 8 critical elements of an effective aviation safety oversight authority which IASA focuses on to accomplish its assessment program. The 8 critical elements are:

·         (CE-1) Primary aviation legislation;

·         (CE-2) Specific operating regulations;

·         (CE-3) State civil aviation system and safety oversight functions;

·         (CE-4) Technical personnel qualification and training;

·         (CE-5) Technical guidance, tools and the provision of safety critical information;

·         (CE-6) Licensing, certification, authorization, and approval obligations;

·         (CE-7) Surveillance obligations; and  

·         (CE-8) Resolution of safety concerns.

FAA through the AFS-50 organization thus maintains and publishes a country-by-country category summary listing of IASA determinations. The result is either a category 1 or category 2 listing.

Category 1 - the FAA has found that the country’s civil aviation authority licenses and oversees air carriers in accordance with ICAO standards for aviation safety. To achieve this rating, a country must demonstrate that it meets the ICAO standards for each of the CEs.

Category 2 - the FAA has found that the country’s civil aviation authority does not provide safety oversight of its air carrier operators in accordance with minimum safety oversight standards established by ICAO i.e., the safety oversight provided by a country’s CAA was found non-compliant in at least one of the CEs.

This rating (category 2) is applied if one or more of the following deficiencies are identified:

1. the country lacks laws or regulations necessary to support the certification and oversight of air carriers in accordance with minimum international standards;
2. the CAA lacks the technical expertise, resources, and organization to license or oversee air carrier operations;
3. the CAA does not have adequately trained and qualified technical personnel;
4. the CAA does not provide adequate inspector guidance to ensure enforcement of, and compliance with, minimum international standards;
   AND
5. the CAA has insufficient documentation and records of certification and inadequate continuing oversight and surveillance of air carrier operations.

Foreign air carriers from countries with an IASA Category rating have the following technical permissions regarding economic authority:

Ø  Carriers from Category 1 countries are permitted to operate into the U.S. and/or codeshare with U.S. air carriers in accordance with Department of Transportation (DOT) authorizations.

Ø  Carriers from Category 2 countries that operate into the U.S. and/or codeshare with U.S. air carriers have such services limited to levels that existed at the time of the assessment.

Ø  Carriers from Category 2 countries that seek to initiate commercial service into the U.S. and/or seek to codeshare with any U.S. air carrier are prohibited from initiating such services.

It’s instructive to note that the FAA reserves the right to remove a country from the IASA summary listing and the AFS has a procedure for doing this when:

• after a four year period, a country has no air carrier providing air transport service to the U.S.,
• none of the country’s air carriers participate in code-share arrangements with U.S. air carriers, and
• the country’s CAA has ceased interacting with the FAA for an extended period of time.

Therefore it behoves Kenya through KCAA to continually review our compliance with ICAO standards and recommended practices to maintain our status and position ourselves as the leader in aviation industry in Africa and even globally.

There are currently 5 African countries in the IASA PROGRAM summary listing; Ghana in category 2 and Nigeria, Egypt, Ethiopia and latest Kenya in category 1. This rating thus serves to boost the country’s status as one among those with premier aviation industries. It is also a boost on the economy as it provides new routes for the national carrier apart from enhancing trade between Kenya and the US.

Note: There is a different categorization of aerodromes (based on rescue & firefighting capacity and risk assessment), and instrument runways for varied operations.

REFFRENCES

1.    ICAO DOC 9734, Safety Oversight Manual

2.    Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 46 / Friday, March 8, 2013 / Rules and Regulations

3.    https://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/iasa/checklists/

4.    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codeshare_agreement

5.    https://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/iasa/media/FAA_Initiatives_IASA.pdf

The Maverick ~ Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophisitication.: Bishop Cornelius Korir: The Peacemaker.

The Maverick ~ Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophisitication.: Bishop Cornelius Korir: The Peacemaker.: The departed Bishop Cornelius Korir has been described by many as the epitome of peace building in the North Rift region. He helped b...

Drones, Helicopters and Aviation Regulations in Kenya

• Drones: About 5,000 drones (mostly toy ones)  have been confiscated at Nairobi’s airport (JKIA). They have drafted new policy procedures and rules for drones that awaiting approval by the attorney general, but for now, their usage is still illegal.
• US Flights: The country has now got category one status. There will be one more inspection later this year after which Kenya Airways can apply for rights and probably start flying to the US in April 2018. He expects 75% of the tickets to be taken up by US businesses people travel to Africa with Kenyan diaspora making up 15% and the rest as leisure travel.
• Expensive Tickets: About 43% of the cost of an air ticket in Kenya is taxes. There is a strategic plan to make six East African countries a domestic market which should lower airline taxes per ticket from the current Kshs 5,000 to 500 and this will enable more and cheaper flights in the region.
• 80% of KCAA’s income comes from airlines over flying Kenya which is strategically placed in Africa.
• Helicopters: There are 88 licensed helicopters in Kenya, and 60 are operating. Also, the KCAA expects about 40 more to arrive to be used in campaigns for the August 2017 election. Their biggest problem they have are with “James Bond incidents”  (people hanging on skids) and the Director urged media to report such on incident for them to take action on  act on operators
• Opportunities: There are 100 licensed helicopter pilots and this is not enough; there are many more jobs as helicopter pilots, aviation engineers, and safety operators. Entering these sectors is not cheap as it costs Kshs 2 million to be a private helicopter pilot and about Kshs 6 million to be a commercial helicopter pilot, with part of this high cost being due to the cost of avgas as pilots have to spend many hours in training. (While petrol is Kshs 95 per liter, Avgas is 150).
• Training: There is a big concern about colleges claiming to offer aviation courses, but which are not in fact certified by the KCAA. Anyone seeking to operate in the sector is re-examined

Bishop Cornelius Korir: The Peacemaker.

The departed Bishop Cornelius Korir has been described by many as the epitome of peace building in the North Rift region. He helped broker peace deals in ethnic conflicts pitting Kalenjins vs Kikuyus in Burn Forest, Yamumbi, Kapteldon, Kimumu, Kabiemit, Ilula, Munyaka, Kimuri and Kiambaa in Uasingishu most of which were a result of build up political tensions in 1992,1994, 1997 and the 2007 PEV. He also helped ease tensions between the Pokots and Marakwet in Keiyo, conflicts arising from primitive entitlement to cattle, grazing fields, water points and cattle rustling. The celebrated Bishop developed a peace building model documented in an 84-page book titled; Amani Mashinani: Experiences of Community Peacebuilding in The North Rift Region of Kenya. It's a great peace outlining 12 steps of peace building and the desired qualities of a peacemaker. Rich in content, illustrations and field experiences I find the model apt in establishing sustainable and lasting peace solutions at our borders of Maasai/Kipsigis in Transmara.

Attached herein for persons interested. https://www.crs.org/sites/default/files/tools-research/amani-mashinani.pdf

May the good Bishop find peace in his rest as he always aspired to establish in this world.

The Mordecai Story

DISCLAIMER: LONG STORY!
A man called Mordecai was introduced in the bible, the book of Esther as a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin. He lived in Susa, the capital of Persia. He had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, among those taken captive with Jehoiachin king of Judah. Mordecai had a cousin named Hadassah(Esther), whom he had brought up because she had neither father nor mother. This young woman, who was also known as Esther, had a lovely figure and was beautiful. Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter when her father and mother died. When Esther was selected as one of the virgins, possibly next queen of King Xerxes, Mordecai advised her never to reveal her jewish background and Esther was later crowned as queen.
Mordecai, who worked at the palace gate, heard of an assassination plot against the king and reported the plot to Esther who passed the intelligence on to King Xerxes. The would-be assassins were stopped, and Mordecai’s name was recorded in the king’s chronicles as the one who took action to preserve the king’s life.
However, Mordecai was hated by a man called Haman, an Agagite who held a prominent office in the kingdom. Haman’s hatred was due to Mordecai’s REFUSAL TO BOW IN HONOR TO HIM. As a Jew, Mordecai would only bow to the Lord God of Israel. Haman was not happy and he plotted to do away with Mordecai. However, when he learned that Mordecai was a jewe, Haman looked for a way to destroy all the Jews throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes. He spoke to the king and secured the king’s permission to annihilate the Jewish people on a select date in the future. When Mordecai heard of the decree, he tore his clothing, put on sackcloth, and sat in ashes. He had to mourn.
Mordecai had been checking on Esther each day and when she discovered that he was mourning, she inquired of the cause. Mordecai informed Esther of Haman’s plot against the Jews and told her to go before the king and plead for the Jews’ lives. Esther balked saying she did not have freedom to enter the king’s presence without a summon and that to approach the king without invitation was punishable by death Mordecai responded with logic: If you do not go before the king, you are dead anyway, for you herself are endangered by the king’s decree. Do not imagine that you are safer than any other Jew just because you are in the royal palace". And then he ended by saying: "May be it was for a time like this that you were made queen".
Esther agreed to break the Persian law that forbade access to the king, saying, "If I perish, I perish". She fasted for three days and then entered the king’s presence uninvited. Xerxes received her graciously, however, and Esther took the opportunity to invite the king and Haman to a banquet. At the meal, the king asked Esther if she had a request, and Esther asked for their presence at another banquet the next night.
Haman, the Agitite, who was ignorant of the queen’s ethnicity, was pleased to be honored with not one banquet but two. On the way home, he was happy and in high spirits. But when he saw Mordecai at the king’s gate and observed that he NEITHER ROSE NOR SHOWED FEAR IN HIS PRESENCE, he was filled with rage against Mordecai. Once he arrived home, he issued an order for a 75-foot-high gallows upon which Mordecai would be hung.
That night after Esther’s first meal, King Xerxes couldn’t sleep. To help him sleep, he ordered his chronicles to be read to him and it just so happened that the account of Mordecai thwarting the assassination was read. The king then discovered that nothing had been done to repay Mordecai for his good deed. At that very moment, Haman entered the palace in order to obtain the king’s permission to hang Mordecai and he never got the chance to ask because the king ordered him to immediately take Mordecai through the streets of Susa and pay him homage. Haman was thus humbled before his enemy, and Mordecai received due honor.
After the humiliating experience of honoring Mordecai, Haman returned to the palace for Esther’s second banquet. During the meal, the king again asked Esther if she had a request. This time, she pleaded for the king to rescue her and her people from destruction and pointed out that Haman was the one wanting to kill the Jews.
Haman was summarily put to death on the very gallows he had erected for Mordecai, and the Jews were given permission to defend themselves. The Jews successfully overcame Haman’s evil plot, and Mordecai was rewarded with a promotion. He became the second in rank to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews, and held in high esteem by his many fellow Jews, BECAUSE HE WORKED FOR THE GOOD OF HIS PEOPLE AND SPOKE FOR THE WELFARE OF ALL THE JEWS.

A story from Chebarbar Primary School

Disclaimer: True story, but a bit long.
A friend just told me a story from his form one days. He studied in a mixed school. To be brief, he says he was a very behaved boy, dressing smartly and always sort the attention of the teachers and especially the deputy principal because he wanted to be chosen as one of the school prefects. Having come from a remote area, he still had the hangovers of village primary schools where teachers handpicked the prefects. But here was a secondary school entrenching juvenile democracy. He says the school had established a tradition of choosing prefects through election by the students themselves.
My friend says he would leak intelligence about the 'bad guys' to the deputy and always acted so close to the administration as to appear the defacto ideal prefect. He says he would actually work around bossing and harassing his colleagues, a habit which the girls loathed so much. He says the deputy used his information to punish the 'bad guys', suspended them from school and even painted them negatively before the other students. My friend would smile at such situations knowing he was inching closer to being a prefect. He says he would at times request the deputy principal to give them the school music system and some free time to watch Nollywood as a way of enticing fellow students. The problem with this guy is that he was always last in class. So dump that he never opened his mouth in class except when yawning. And sadly, the crooks were the school's creme de la creme.
When the time to choose new prefects came, except for a few fellows whom the other students had branded as 'moles of the administration', all the students surprisingly chose many of the 'bad guys' and left my friend. So ungrateful were they that 67 out of the 71 girls in his class actually scoffed at him on that day and told him to his face, "wewe snob, utakula na macho". My friend says this was so frustrating that he even contemplated quitting altogether.
Now these 'bad guys' being the student's favourite had to be boxed in by the administration lest they made running the school difficult. The administration forgot about the antics of my friend and even went ahead to orient the new guys as prefects to take up their duties. A few days later as the crooks were crowned at the assembly podium, my friend was with the other students watching and clapping. The school deputy used to whip the boys at the assembly grounds using thorns. So painful was it that the students nicknamed the ground Kapkatet. He says when the naughty boys(now prefects) were each given a chance to say a word during their coronation at the assembly, the feeling was so severe he almost puked.

I simply told him to take heart. Such is the irony of life.
What am I saying?

Raila, The Present day Saul.

The book of I samuel chapter 15 chronicles a story of a man called Saul, the first King of Israel and Judah who is said to have lived for around 40 years. The Lord had sent Samuel to King Saul to pass the message thus:
"Go and attack the Amalekites! Destroy them and all their possessions. Don’t have any pity. Kill their men, women, children, and even their babies. Slaughter their cattle, sheep, camels, and donkeys."
Having received the message, King Saul sent messengers to every town and village in his territory to get men to join the army. He got 210 thousand troops, organized them and led them to a valley near one of the towns in Amalek, where they got ready to make a surprise attack. Some people called Kenites lived nearby, and Saul told them, "Your people were kind to our nation when we left Egypt, and I don’t want you to get killed when I wipe out the Amalekites. Leave here and stay away from them.” The Kenites left and Saul launched the attack. They killed all the Amalekites; men, women and children They also destroyed everything but spared the BEST sheep and cattle. I suspect they also spared the beautiful yellow yellows becoz they didn’t want to destroy anything of VALUE. They only killed the animals that were worthless or weak.

There is a political gang in Kenya called NASA that has been instructed by their Saul to boycott and abstain from many things including parliamentary activities. They pretend faithful to the call but secretly sneak into parliament to sign for allowances. They readily lead the 'weak and worthless' to the streets to be killed by the police but cannot imagine 'killing' this valuable thing called allowances. These are the typical modern day Sauls.
By 2022, it will be 40 years since this Saul was jolted into political existence in the 1982 coup. And that will be the end of his reign. Every Saul lives for 40 years only, just like a thief has 40 days.

Politics: Betrayal, Forgiveness & Moving on.

Read the passage below and answer the question that follow.
Disclaimer: Long story but relevant.
Kenya's history is replete with interesting stories of power struggles, defiance, vengeance, bravery, principalities and forgiveness.
One such story is that of GG Kariuki, a man who at 70 is said could easily stand on one foot and raise the other to his face. I will summarize his encounter as read from another source.
So courageous was he that he once told Mzee Kenyatta, "Some of us are young and will live long enough to eat bananas growing on your forgotten grave long after you are dead."
And the Mzee simply told him that he was a tiny tick on an elephant's skin who he could 'siaga siaga' between his fingers until he is forgotten by Kenyans.
GG was once a trusted friend of KANU but later fell out after the 1982 attempted coup on mere suspicion that he supported. They would actually ride in one vehicle with Moi and Charles Njonjo, the Attorney General at that time who had presidential ambitions and saw Moi as a "passing cloud". Njonjo is said to have used his position to sideline those he considered to be standing in his way and this included GG himself.
At one time after GG fell out with KANU, Moi was going to Nyahururu to issue peasant farmers with title deeds. GG wondered whether to attend or not. He finally decided that it was better to attend and be chased away rather than to be viewed as a defiant and rude man who contemptuously snubbed an important function of the President.
While at the function,Yusuf Haji, then the PC for Rift Valley and Provincial police officer told him he was unwanted. So GG went to his house, not far from the grounds, and watched the proceedings from there through binoculars.
Moi arrive, was welcomed and after a few pleasantries he asked where GG was. He was told that GG was around but had left and might be coming back. The Oldman ordered the PC and the PPO to fetch him. A police Mercedes Benz then dashed to GG's house, all the while GG watching and wondering what he had done for president Moi to treat him like an outcast for two decades. GG was convinced that they had come to take him to detention, so he changed to warm clothes then welcomed the gentlemen. The PPO saluted him and said, "The President has asked that you attend his event and sit with him in the VIP pavilion!" GG melted with elation knowing the walls of his political prison were crumbling. He changed his clothes and went to meet a man he respected and whose friendship he cherished, a man he had not met for 17 years! Once at the venue he was escorted to where Moi was sitting. He bowed and shook his hand and Moi simply told him: "Karibu, imekwisha"
After the event he was invited for lunch at the president's ranch, not far from the venue. In a matter of hours, things changed from watching Moi through the binoculars to smelling the President's cologne and after-shave.
Once at the well-kept compound, Moi walked over and greeted him and his family warmly. Then Moi took him by the hand to a corner next to his house away from family and said, "Mimi ni mwanume wa Afrika, siwezi kujumuisha watoto na bibi wa yule mwanaume tunapigana naye. Pia mimi ni Mkalenjin na sisi wanaume wakipigana, huwezi kumpiga yule kama ameanguka. Unashika mkono na kumuinua. Vita itaendelea kama hajakubali ameshindwa. Sisi hapana pigana vita kama wanawake.
All the while, GG held on to the peels of oranges they were eating because he didn't dare drop them in the compound and spoil the day. Moi just told him to throw them towards the fence and proceeded thus, "You are my friend; I could have done worse. It has been a long time and that is in the past now, GG." He was given an appointment at statehouse that sealed the new friendship.
At one time he was attacked at a presidential rally in Nyahururu by Kihika Kimani saying: "We have cursed this man, he will never go back to Parliament even to relieve himself in the VIP toilets." But Kihika died and GG remained active in politics until he died at 81 as a senator.
That was the good president Moi who ruled for a record 24 years.
What am I saying?
Lessons in comments .

Matters Corruption ~ Kenya

To quote the legendary grandiloquent PLO Lumuba, "We live in a country where thieves are canonized and saints are demonised." The man himself PLO Lumumba, God bless him, was unceremoniously hauled out of the Integrity Center by the very institution that should be on the lead in fighting graft, The National Assembly.
The country is bleeding broke and hopeless and one is tempted to believe these are the consequences we were promised by the US owing to our choices. The rate of borrowing is shameful and the govt is competing with citizens in taking loans. The burden is being shifted to the poor Kenyan in a bid to raise funds for the cartels who literally run the country like a grocery. The tragedy of it all is that we praise our ethnic gods as champions in the looting spree and forget easily that not even a penny drops at your door from the loot. We believe that thieves are good, they are heroes as long as they are 'our' thieves!!

For our public officials, theft is the main business and their job description can come later. We have lately been treated to hypocritical expressions of will to fight corruption but as this govt, particularly this, has always been, it's just PR. It is mind-boggling how the people we entrust with responsibility to serve Kenyans and protect their resources have the courage to shift blame to very junior people when their dirty dealings are uncovered. A Kenyan would say, "Ni kama ndrama ni kama vindio". It's drama. Tragic drama. And while this happens, a mother is reported to have died in some public hospital with a dead baby in her womb having not been attended to because the medics, after completing their shift, had to close shop and go home. Even for this, the buck stops with the CS. Our integrity issues and levels responsibility are skewed.

THE ROYAL BABY
There is a royal baby in town. Very untouchable. She runs a public docket so huge and heavily funded that she can buy a piano to play during Friday afternoons. She says she is diligently serving Kenya. I do not refute the diligence but I highly doubt who she serves. It is obviously not Kenya for the same Kenyans are telling her to pack and go. Go have a rest. From Chinua Achebe's wisdom, Kenyans are saying she has presided over too much theft that the owner has now noticed. For her it is graceful taking credit for achievements of the hungry underpaid NYS youth who comb the slams literally collecting poo in waste bags. But butterflies fill her belly and she gets jittery when asked to take responsibility for the rot within the same ministry. She instead decides to blame junior officers!! Well, even the shovel-wielding NYS youth are junior guys.
She has the unimagined audacity to say "I won't go" even when her colleagues are still out because of mere allegations. In Kiswahili she would tell us "Mtado?"
While some of the allegations might be far-fetched for some of these officials, its good practice to explain everything in black and white, then step aside and allow independent institutions to find the truth.
Talking of Independent Institutions and I realize we lost that long ago. What we have are shells just to satisfy the constitution requirement but in real sense they are also run like kiosks by the gods that be and the commissioners are like maids who can be fired anytime anywhere.

Imagine a smoker in Kipsamoi, Ilkerin ward of Narok county is now being overtaxed so some guys in a public office can get money to buy penile and venial vibrators?? REALLY!! NO! And that college student who depends on juice for lunch is now forced to part with more to fund condom dispensers!! Why? This student cannot even erect with juice as his diet. If kshs 50/- disappears in my bank account I will notice in no time and sample all deposit and withdrawal slips, do an audit(closed door) and find out where it went.
But for some people who awkwardly believe Kenyans are the dumbest and most daft on earth, over 790 million disappears into thin air and its just normal business of 'The junior officials are responsible blah blah blah' and some technical nonsense of sijui AIE blah blah and a reminder of 'I only do policy formulation blah blah'.




Kindly eat and swallow those policies and give Kenyans value for their money. Own up to your failures and feel sorry for cheating Kenyans.

And as you use ethnic coalitions to hide in the name of national unity, please be reminded that a time is coming when the tribal unity founded on ignorance will fade away and be replaced by a revolution of the majority have-nots driven by common poverty.

God bless Kenya and kill its thieves.