Ngugi on the 2013 Elections

[Onyango Oloo]

m.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/27/kenya-new-imperialists-corporate-greed

[podp]

this makes depressing reading....

'Chillingly, Kenya is on the brink of commercial oil production, and western firms are lining up for a slice of the cake.'

....reminds me while working in the West the greens opposed even the ideas of us building roads, rail etc saying it will mess the wildbeasts migration path as if the animals in our game/national parks are more important than us who live here.

closer at home there is this former Ministers, one from Bungoma County and another from Kwale County who both successfully campaigned against a tarmac road being built by telling locals that their daughters would become prostitutes and no lobola will be paid when they get married. They both succeeded!

this is a good caution though, and we need to implement the Constitution to safeguard ourselves

'For Kenya and Africa, however, the combination of local and outside raiders is deadly for the country and emerging democracies.'

[roughrider]

We can get glimpses of the future by looking back to the last parliament. Asked to set up local tribunals to deal with crimes emanating from the horrific 2007/8 electoral violence, the MPs vehemently rejected the idea and shouted: "Don't be vague; let's go to The Hague." When the Hague-based international criminal court responded with summons, the politicians shouted: "Imperialism! We are no longer a colony!"

The rejection of homegrown institutions as vehicles for redress was the main abetter of that violence they refused to address internally. You cannot say the elections are rigged, and then refuse to utilise, even exhaust, the available democratic channels, however flawed they might be. The muscular tension that had built up during the hotly contested elections had no established channels for release. National institutions may not be the best, but they are often the basis of sober evaluations of claims and counter-claims.

I am afraid that the goons who are hounding arap Sang on Facebook may soon start an RIP Ngugi wa Thiongo page. 'Young' Kenyans hate the truth and suffer short memories.

[jonah]

MARS GROUP KENYA OPENS ACCESS TO 2013 ELECTION WEB PORTAL

KNOW WHO YOU ARE VOTING FOR, BEFORE YOU CAST YOUR VOTE!

Mars Group Kenya has officially opened public access to our Kenya Elections 2013 web portal. It is part of our Leadership, Governance & Accountability Portal and can be accessed via election2013.marsgroupkenya.org/ or directly from
our home page www.marsgroupkenya.org

Search for information:
Do you know the candidates offering themselves at the ballot? What are my options? Who is running for MCA? Who is running for MP? Who is running for Women rep? Who is running for Governor? Who is running for Senator? Who is running for
President? The web portal allows users to search by county, constituency and by ward for a list of all candidates nominated by the Independent Boundaries & Elections Commission (IEBC).

We offer it as a free resource as our contribution to free, fair and peaceful elections.

The portal contains the details of all candidates running for the positions of President, Governor, Senator, Member of Parliament, Women’s Representative and Member of the County Assembly.

Log in before you cast your vote:
Log in now, and research before you cast your vote on Monday 4th March 2013. Know your candidates, check their backgrounds, read all media coverage of their campaigns before you cast your vote.

See the results as they come in:
The portal will also post the live provisional results from the IEBC as we receive them. One will be able to monitor their candidates at all positions as well as ward, constituency, county and national tallies for all political parties.

It is now decision time. Make informed decisions on March 4th 2013.

Mars Group Kenya
Watching out for you - 27-Feb-13
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Mars Group Kenya operates one of the largest databases of governance information in Kenya, focusing on corruption in the executive, legislative and judiciary branches of government, as well as on accountability and civic education. Our mission is to create the largest digital database of governance information in Kenya for archiving and indexing. In 2007, Mars Group was the only organisation able to capture the entire media coverage of the elections and the post-election violence on an online platform.