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Post by tnk on Jun 16, 2011 20:18:10 GMT 3
The resignation of the Minister and his PS is not the solution. That is the easy way out. Politics will not help, here. We need to find out what happened to the money, and we need answers from KACC, Police, so forth. People should therefore face the Law and take responsibility, if that is the Minister and his entire officers. spot on, and i concur. the culprits need to be identified (i understand treasury has already fingered the specific fellows involved) and the entire chain of people involved arraigned before a court and charged with offenses. its absurd for KACC to keep asking people to resign like politicians instead of providing evidence for prosecution as their job requires. whether they can prosecute themselves or not is totally immaterial if according to the AGs office they do not have sufficient/credible evidence to sustain prosecution. end result will be the same |
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Post by tnk on Jun 16, 2011 20:26:42 GMT 3
The resignation of the Minister and his PS is not the solution. That is the easy way out. Politics will not help, here. We need to find out what happened to the money, and we need answers from KACC, Police, so forth. People should therefore face the Law and take responsibility, if that is the Minister and his entire officers. Bwana janey, ;D ;D As usual you jump the gun No one said resignation is the magic silver bullet, but how can the top bosses be involved in the investigation yet the theft was done under their watch? They are part of the problem and they have to be weeded out first. pmaniac i think jane is clear here that resignation alone is not enough and suggests thorough investigation and prosecution of all including the minister/ps if they are in the chain. i think thats fair this stepping aside is a joke in kenya |
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Post by adongo23456 on Jun 16, 2011 21:07:02 GMT 3
Bwana janey, ;D ;D As usual you jump the gun No one said resignation is the magic silver bullet, but how can the top bosses be involved in the investigation yet the theft was done under their watch? They are part of the problem and they have to be weeded out first. pmaniac i think jane is clear here that resignation alone is not enough and suggests thorough investigation and prosecution of all including the minister/ps if they are in the chain. i think thats fair this stepping aside is a joke in kenya The stupidity of all this is that we had the exact same argument almost a year ago. Ongeri was suspended by the PM to pave room for investigations. Kibaki and his political honchos brought Ongeris back as some kind of punishment to Raila forgetting it is about money being swindled from kids. Raila's grand kids just like Kibaki's do not even know what a public school looks like. At that time KACC promised to get to the root of the problem, gets the culprits and charge them in court. Almost a year later it is the exact same nonsense. How long does it take to investigate this level of mass robbery? Has the KACC or Ongeri himself who claims he was not reponsible done the investigations they promised to do ages ago? Has the Treasury followed up to find out what happened? The answer is NO. So now the World Bank comes back to town. Kina Uhuru panic that the World Bank and other donors are going to raise the same issue and refuse to fund the FPE. So what do they do? Uhuru tries to pull a fast one. He calls a press conference with Ongeri sitting on his side to announce that auditors from the Treasury have uncovered that 4.2 billion was robbed from FPE and funds and that the matter will be investigated fully and the culprits brought to book. That is total nonsense meant for the consumption of the donors. This is not a new thing. They have known it for a year or so and have done nothing. Who are they fooling? Not me and not many Kenyans. Now, Ongeri goes to bunge and makes a fool of himself, again, claiming the investigations are on and they are trying to find the culprits using bank records and other such fictional stories. How long are we supposed to buy into the same set of lies? Another ten years? May be longer. But here is the problem. KACC has done zero so far after promising to investigate the matter. The lid is closed tight because the same crooks still run the ministry. In any event KACC cannot touch poltical correct thieves. Does anybody know what happened to the so called investigations in the billions ripped off from the ministry of Foreign Affairs? Has Lumumba even bothered to update Kenyans on how far that investigations has gone. Nope. Same story with Trinton, and same story with the ripp off from kids. So are we to sit quietly and patiently again to wait for the "investigations". We are not fools. There is NO investigation going on and there will be none any time soon. That is just a fact. So I am all for these investigations, but for god sakes let's not take Kenyans for fools so that everytime thieves are caught some fake investigations are announced and we sit back naively expecting anything better than what we have seen so far. I think that is what we are being asked to do. It is not fair to the country. The real deal is that the donor money is going to dry out completely. As the British rep said, they are tired of pumping their own tax cash into a bottomless pit. I don't blame them. If these people keep fooling around, even the little gains in the FPE is going to go in smoke. It would be a shame that we have to face that just to save political conmen. That is my take. |
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Post by job on Jun 16, 2011 23:31:39 GMT 3
Adongo,
Yup..waiting for 1 & 1/2 years doing nothing, then delivering a press conference right when World Bank is in town. This PR gimmick choreographed by Uhuru was done so poorly he executed it right when the World Bank VP - Oby Ezekwesili was within the Treasury Building. She hadn't even stepped out when Uhuru dashed to the Press Room, having tipped off his MoE partner (in fleecing) Sam Ongeri.[/b] This was meant to hoodwink the World Bank - but it didn't.
These folks always assume that technocrats from the West are so dumb. If only they know how idiotic they themselves look! Not long back during the so called 'peace rallies' (in reality, tribal hate rallies) , Uhuru Kenyatta - Kenya's Finance Minister reponsible for attracting investments to spur economic growth - was hell-bent on creating uncertainty, instability, economic volatility and scaring of potential investors. Why? Because he was answering to his individual need to scare off the ICC to back off from Kenya rather than safeguard the Kenyan economy.
Well, it didn't work as he thought. He only managed to scare off investors (to our detriment), but on his individual score-card, Judge Trendafilova et al., handed him a near-warrant warning for 'dangerous speeches'. Shortly after, their inadmissibility challenge was dismissed. Now, who was being dumb?
These gimmicks no longer work - this globe is now so interconnected that a World Bank technocrat or an ICC Judge has near similar access to the same vibe being discussed at Karumaindo Bar.
Gimmicks aside, it is instructive to note that Uhuru has been quick to re-allocate more taxpayer funds to this FPE gravy-train each time donors suspend or reduce funding. He does so knowing too well the corrupt system is milking billions from this FPE - depriving poor kids an education.
The only reason you pump in more money into a corruption-riddled program, without prosecuting culprits, is if you yourself are probably a beneficiary of the scam. Like I suggested a year and a half ago, the investigation should have by now nabbed culprits both at the MoE, State House and Treasury.
Besides the FPE being a cash cow for these mandarins, there's the fundamental question whether Uhuru himself believes in the whole concept of free education. Were all donors to pull out, and in the unlikely event Uhuru was President, would this FPE program continue? I think he would not blink to abolish it quickly so he can make more cash in private education.
The truth is - Uhuru and a lot of beneficiaries of liberalization (privatization) of education in Kenya, seeing the fast growing middle-class population, would wish to sabotage this FPE concept completely so they get down to the real business of milking gullible parents in the name of 'paying for quality education for kids'.
In fact, as a Presidential candidate back in 2002, while Kibaki was selling the FPE concept, Uhuru castigated the policy publicly - stating that folks shouldn't expect anything (leave alone education) for free. It's all on newspaper archives.
The Kenyatta-lot are the same people insiduously cajoling middle-class parents to even sell all their assets to send their kids to private schools owned by the same lot. There is this growing but euphoric belief in Kenya that kids only succeed if they go to private schools. The more expensive the academies - the better a kid's chance, so goes the fairytale. These greedy guys are even more liberal than the World Bank which can still fund pro-poor education programs.
The Kenyatta's are investing heavy in private schools, private academies, and even private institutions of higher learning anticipating future windfalls. Right now, the Kenyatta family has just grabbed from the Matiba family, the entire consortium of Hillcrest International Schools, over a Sh 600 million loan that the Matibas couldn't pay back to Barclays Bank.
It would be foolhardy for Kenyans to entrust a pro-poor FPE program solely into the hands of a pro-rich private education investor/advocate called Kenyatta. It won't work. By the way, the Hillcrest grab by the Kenyatta's (over the Matiba family woes) is yet another 52 acre prime-land harvest at Karen.
So, whereas the corruption problem lingers unresolved, warning shots are already being fired over continued existence of this FPE concept currently being sabotaged. Today, the mafia are threatening the kids' dreams/future through corruption, but tomorrow if given a chance, they may abolish the entire FPE concept.
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Post by einstein on Jun 16, 2011 23:45:12 GMT 3
Britain: Give us back our free primary aid Britain is demanding a refund of Sh7 billion aid to Kenya’s free education programme following revelations of massive corruption. “The UK Government will push the Government of Kenya hard for return of the UK’s share of lost funds,” the Department for International Development (DFID) said in a statement. During an interview in Nairobi, DFID deputy head Mike Harrison said the money once repaid will be ploughed back to fund education in Kenya but through non-State channels. “We are insisting that besides the government instituting radical reforms in the Ministry of Education, our proportion of the pool fund must be returned,” Mr Harrison said. The DFID last year hired an independent consultant who worked with Ministry of Finance to audit the Kenya Education Sector Support Programme (KESSP). The audit was completed last December, but the findings revealed only on Monday this week by Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta, accompanied by Education minister Sam Ongeri. The report showed that Sh4.6 billion could not be accounted for as ministry of Education officials involved themselves in brazen embezzlement of the funds. Mr Kenyatta’s statement provoked a flurry of accusations and counter-accusations, with Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission boss P.L.O. Lumumba accusing the Finance minister of putting on a show to impress some visiting World Bank officials. Prof Lumumba denied suggestions by Mr Kenyatta that the anti-graft agency had been lax, and called on Prof Ongeri to take responsibility for the fraud. Finger of blameIn Parliament, Prime Minister Raila Odinga also pointed the finger of blame at Prof Ongeri. Medical Services minister Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o whose docket had also been accused of corruption by Mr Kenyatta was also harshly critical of the Finance minister whom he accused of distorting facts. In Parliament yesterday, Prof Ongeri was pressed hard on the Sh4.2 billion lost in the scheme. Temporary deputy speaker Ekwe Ethuro asked the minister to get his figures right. The British announcement came as President Kibaki warned public servants that those who misappropriate public funds will be punished. “The concept of performance contracting encompasses the core precept of accountability which, as your President, I wish to bequeath the country and leave as a legacy for posterity,” President Kibaki said. Education Permanent Secretary James ole Kiyiapi, who also distanced himself from corruption in the ministry following Mr Kenyatta’s report, on Thursday said that the free education programme would not be affected by the British funding cutback. “The government is currently funding the entire programme almost 100 per cent,” said Prof Kiyiapi. Support for the programme is currently from Unicef and the African Development Bank. But he admitted that only the Treasury could determine what each donor gave during the period in question. Part of key donorsThe UK is a part of key donors including America, Canada, Sweden, the World Bank and Japan who massively fund educational programmes in Kenya. Mr Harrison on Tuesday this week said that his department had also slashed the amount that it allocated to education for Kenya this year by Sh300 million due to corruption in the ministry of Education. But even as the President was sounding the warning, another scandal, involving misuse of Sh360 million under a project to aid pastoral communities came to light. A forensic audit by the World Bank led to the suspension of the Arid Lands Natural Resources Management project in July last year. The audit covered expenditures in seven districts over 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 financial years and found suspected fraudulent expenditures in up to 29 per cent of those sampled, totalling more than $4 million. www.nation.co.ke/News/Britain++Give+us+back+our+free+primary+aid+/-/1056/1183864/-/item/0/-/6f5hw2/-/index.html
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Post by job on Jun 17, 2011 4:51:46 GMT 3
The donors are upping their game. Let's see whether Ongeri will table the list of 100 culprits in Parliament as demanded. He was very reluctant to admit to this....could the chickens be coming home to roost?
Meanwhile, PLO Lumumba continues waxing lyrical - this is the highest paid speaker in the entire continent of Africa. Paid more than Sh 30 million taxpayer cash per year just to talk! Damn! Didn't we warn in advance about this fella?
Those feeding his in-tray have not delivered any action paper on this FPE matter - forget the small fish stealing imprest and conference cash....nothing so far on the billions looted. PLO thinks Kenyans are really impressed by his empty rhetoric. Isn't it time for this guy to stop wasting the time of Kenyans and go back to Moi's Kabarak?
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Post by merlin on Jun 17, 2011 10:46:36 GMT 3
Storm in a cup of teaThe visit of the World Bank created lots of dust and wind which will settle soon enough.All the players are a bit concerned to lose their source for looting so they all confirm “I did not do it” though no-one can deny the money is lost. They just point to others and our President calms us down by assuring us “those found misappropriating funds are punished in accordance with the law”.So what is wrong with our law? Kibaki In this regard, President Kibaki reiterated his Government's determination to ensuring that funds earmarked for youth development, and all public resources in general, are spent transparently for the intended purposes.
He called on the relevant arms of Government to step up surveillance to ensure public funds are prudently and accountably spent and to make sure those found misappropriating funds are punished in accordance with the law. Source: www.communication.go.ke/media.asp?id=1077Is there anyone left who still believes in what this President is muttering?
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Post by mzee on Jun 17, 2011 12:15:27 GMT 3
Job,
I had previously mentioned here that kibaki or lucy are involved in the stealing of these monies. I don’t understand why the president should let his pet project fail because of Ongeri who actually brings nothing to the political table.
Its sad that donors are now stopping the flow of cash. Yet it not Ongeris children or Kibakis who are suffering but children from poor families. Kenyans should stop making excuses for Kibaki. He is the real culprit. He is enjoying the loot hence his inactivity. Were this an ODM minister, all hell would have broken loose.
The PM, Raila Odinga has for the second time called for the resignation or Ongeri but as always his calls will be ignored by those on the other side of the coalition who believe in impunity. I think this is going overboard. I mean the protection of these days light robbers. Junior officers cannot always be victimized when the big boys get away with loot. This is red handed thievery and must be dealt with on the spot.
By the way, why Uhuru Kenyatta decide to bring the issue to fore now? Did he want to cover his own thievery in the treasure. The so called computer errors and the like?
As someone else said here, Kibakis treasury is turning out to be worse than Moi´s in short 8 years. The maffioso will not rest until the country is in deep sh+t
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Post by commes on Jun 18, 2011 12:20:48 GMT 3
The fact that the good old Prof. admits that he does not know what goes on under his ministry means that he is not fit for the public office. He needs to be yanked out of there pronto! |
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man
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Post by man on Jun 18, 2011 19:12:22 GMT 3
If the collective conscience of those incharge of the Education ministry or those in charge of the government as a whole is not pricked to act on this blatant theft of $4.2 billion by resignations/firings followed by prosecution, then the following clip should be flashed all over their faces. If this clip is not enought to make them move or act then we are forever doomed as a country. www.youtube.com/user/k24tv#p/u/1/7S510larBgU |
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Post by commes on Jun 22, 2011 9:48:06 GMT 3
 Wed June 22: Activists lock the VIP entrance to Ministry of Education, Jogoo House and refuse Prof. Ongeri to access the office The people of the Republic demands that he quits over the FPE scandal. |
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Post by mzalendo on Jun 22, 2011 10:27:11 GMT 3
very intersting developments may be he should visit state house or harambee house for a space to carry his ministerial duties. kenyans tumechoka. Impunity is having hell of a time with new political dispensation.
But wait, is itere going to condon this action by the people of the republic or he is going to dispach his inept lazy boys to clobber defenceless people when in the real battle they are repeatedly being embarrased by militias in Turkana.
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Post by commes on Jun 22, 2011 12:34:53 GMT 3
very intersting developments may be he should visit state house or harambee house for a space to carry his ministerial duties. kenyans tumechoka. Impunity is having hell of a time with new political dispensation. But wait, is itere going to condon this action by the people of the republic or he is going to dispach his inept lazy boys to clobber defenceless people when in the real battle they are repeatedly being embarrased by militias in Turkana. You were so right. The old order is yet to acknowledge a new order. Kibaki should crack the whip – not only to save his crippled legacy – but to send a strong message against looting of public funds – the buck stops with the President. www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/Kenyanews/Activists-arrested-for-locking-Ongeri%27s-office-13299.htmlIt now appears that the activists are taking the brunt of Prof. Ongeri’s political and managerial responsibility for the funds that have been stolen under Prof. Ogeri’s watch. The policemen should be arresting Ongeri the suspect. Not the whistle blowing activists! |
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Post by federa on Jun 22, 2011 15:08:21 GMT 3
It's time to organize daily street demonstrations until this thieving bunch of Ongeri, Karega and co. are ejected from office. How do you continue in office when you do not have the confidence of the people you are supposed to be serving? This attitude that these people have that they are serving courtesy of the duly elected president must be dispelled. These are public offices we are talking about.
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Post by commes on Jun 28, 2011 14:13:35 GMT 3
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Post by bkichwa on Jul 5, 2011 14:39:32 GMT 3
The Kenyatta's are investing heavy in private schools, private academies, and even private institutions of higher learning anticipating future windfalls. Right now, the Kenyatta family has just grabbed from the Matiba family, the entire consortium of Hillcrest International Schools, over a Sh 600 million loan that the Matibas couldn't pay back to Barclays Bank. By the way, the Hillcrest grab by the Kenyatta's (over the Matiba family woes) is yet another 52 acre prime-land harvest at Karen.
www.businessdailyafrica.com/Corporate+News/Matiba+consents+to+sale+of+schools+on+receivership/-/539550/1194524/-/9w65tgz/-/index.htmlMatiba consents to sale of schools on receivershipPolitician Kenneth Matiba will participate in the joint sale of the prestigious Hillcrest Group of Schools he once owned before they were placed under receivership by Barclays Bank over a debt of Sh600 million.
A consent recorded in court by Matiba’s lawyer Gichuki King’ara, George Oraro for Barclays Bank and Kaplan and Stratton Advocates acting for receivers and managers -Kieran Day, recognises the politician as one of the beneficiaries of the sale proceeds.
Hillcrest is one of independent Kenya’s largest family-owned business empires, taken over by Barclays as the creditor and placed the politician-cum-businessman’s high-cost schools under receivership in 2005 over a Sh620 million debt. The schools have a consolidated turn-over of Sh600 million.
On June 29, the parties recorded an out court settlement before Mr Justice Leonard Njagi to mark the six-year-old dispute as settled.
“It is hereby ordered by consent that we undersigned (lawyers) will be grateful if in exercise of the powers conferred upon you by the Order 49 of the Civil Procedure Rules record and mark the suit as settled,” reads the consent which the judge said had been adopted as a court order.
Mr King’ara said the sale was part of the settlement that the Matiba family had agreed to with the bank to recover the debt.
Spreading on a 52-acre plot in the secluded Karen suburb of Nairobi, Hillcrest offers the British education curriculum and was part of Mr Matiba’s education empire that also included Westlands Kindergarten — now used as offices of Alliance Hotels in Nairobi — and Marlborough House Kindergarten in Nairobi’s Westlands — which has been housing the offices of Saba Saba Asili, a political party founded by Mr Matiba.
After losing the control of carbon dioxide manufacturer Carbacid he sold his 22 per cent stake to a private equity firm, Centum Investment, for Sh418 million, the latest joint sale of the schools has seen the Matiba business empire significantly shrink. Barclays had in 2001 unsuccessfully tried to sell Mr Matiba’s five-star hotels that included Jadini, Africana and Safari Beach over a Sh1.8 billion debt, but the process stopped after the family lodged an appeal with Barclays Plc – the mother company of Barclays Kenya Limited even as the matter turned political.
The politician also owns the Naromoru River Lodge. All the prestigious hotels, apart from Naromoru, have been closed and their websites shutdown.
Another of Mr Matiba’s venture, Kalamka Ltd, which owned the People Daily, was last year acquired by Mediamax Ltd, a company linked to the Kenyatta family. Mediamax also acquired the assets of Ms Rose Kimotho’s Kameme FM and K-24 television station.
The former Cabinet minister, who has since faded from public limelight as a result of ill health, established Hillcrest Secondary School in 1974, the same year he snapped another fortune, the Naro Moru River Lodge.
In 1978, he built Africana Sea Lodge in a record six months, making him one of the youngest African millionaires at 46.
Together with his then business partner Stephen Smith, Mr Matiba, while doubling as chairman of East African Breweries, for years built his multi-million shilling fortune around the Hillcrest schools and four prestigious hotels.
The empire, which was principally managed by Mr Smith, Mr Matiba’s son Raymond, and a known hotel industry prodigy, Mr Christopher Modigell, run smoothly and profitably. |
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Post by commes on Jul 11, 2011 11:34:49 GMT 3
The people do not have faith in the good old Prof. Prof. Ongeri has not been to his office for a while. The Civil Society and others have made it impossible for him to do his job as Lobbies press on with demand for Ongeri to go This is good pressure for the future crop of leaders and in a way keeps in check current corrupt leaders who Must Go . The only disappointment is that Kibaki refuses to act as per the letter and spirit of the new constitution! Wanjiru Mwangi an activist said, “If you know you have embezzled our funds and are holding a public office, your days are numbered, we are coming for you.” It is claimed that Ongeri has not set foot in his office since the demonstrations started two weeks ago. I wonder when the reforms wave shall sweep through the Ministry of Education. As far as I am concerned, the time is now if not yesterday! |
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Post by einstein on Jul 16, 2011 21:13:38 GMT 3
Now, who should take political responsibility for this grotesque theft from kids? Prof. Ongeri or Prof. Saitoti or both?Education minister Sam Ongeri has accused unnamed politicians of harbouring malice in linking him to corruption and vowed not to step aside. Prof Ongeri said he was clean over the alleged theft of Sh4.2 billion meant for the Free Primary Education programme, arguing that he was the one who blew the whistle over the missing funds. “I don’t condone or practise corruption and, as a Christian, it would be wrong if I tell a lie,” the minister said and vowed not to succumb to pressure to resign. “I’m not guilty and I will not take political responsibility as demanded by some people. I want the public to know that it is me who asked for an extended audit in the ministry on February 25, 2010.” The minister was speaking at Naisambu Seventh Day Adventist Church in Saboti constituency where he helped to raise Sh1.2 million for the completion of the church. According to the Public Accounts Committee, the theft started in 2004, a year after the FPE programme was introduced.Prof George Saitoti was the minister for Education until 2008 while Prof Karega Mutahi was the PS until last year.Prof Ongeri, however, wants school administrators and other education officials held responsible for any theft of funds released during his tenure, claiming he only dealt with paper work. www.nation.co.ke/News/Ongeri+vows+to+stay+put+over+stolen+cash/-/1056/1202246/-/71thnez/-/index.html
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Post by politicalmaniac on Jul 16, 2011 21:53:36 GMT 3
einstein
So now he wants to pass the buck to whom? muthengi? Given muthengis corrupt history - GB scandal for instance, that gives the inept ongeri some cover.
Why cant he take charge in his Ministry and root out the corrupt mafiya led by Prof karenga, ndichu and the rest? I guess one (Ongeri) cant fire their bosses and masters (karenga et mafiya) eh?
This works for both of them.
Ongeri enjoys the flag (he may be merely a clean tool in the mafiya dirty shed), as the mafiya wa mt kenya continue to loot with an "in your face attitude" Na Mta do?
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Post by einstein on Jul 16, 2011 22:15:55 GMT 3
einstein So now he wants to pass the buck to whom? muthengi? Given muthengis corrupt history - GB scandal for instance, that gives the inept ongeri some cover. Why cant he take charge in his Ministry and root out the corrupt mafiya led by Prof karenga, ndichu and the rest? I guess one (Ongeri) cant fire their bosses and masters (karenga et mafiya) eh? This works for both of them. Ongeri enjoys the flag (he may be merely a clean tool in the mafiya dirty shed), as the mafiya wa mt kenya continue to loot with an "in your face attitude" Na Mta do? You are right. Prof. Ongeri is trying to shift blame to Prof. Saitoti knowing well that nothing will happen to Muthengi and hence save his own ass!! Prof. Ongeri knows where the inner sanctum of power rests!! He feels safe, knowing no one will ever touch Prof. Saitoti again after GB!! We really need something close to a messiah (kicking out the thieves trading in the Jerusalem temple)to clean all this mess before we can start again on a clean slate! We have a God, trust me! It will be done!! |
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