Post by Onyango Oloo on Feb 10, 2015 13:38:24 GMT 3
This is from the tabloid Weekly Citizen:
Excerpt:
That period which lasted throughout the 1990s, incidentally is the period
Osero and the deputy president thrived and kicked off their careers in active politics. In 1997, Ruto riding on Jirongo’s back, won the Eldoret North parliamentary seat while Osero tried but failed to win the Borabu parliamentary seat. He was to try unsuccessfully again in 2002, 2007 and 2013.
Even as they set out to enrich themselves through land deals across the country, these former YK’92 operatives set their eyes high on national politics. But at the same time, they never put their eyes away from lucrative land deals. It is during this time that the Langata Road Primary School land and both the Ruai and Weston Hotel land parcels were allegedly grabbed and title deeds dished to them. Other big land deals saw to the grabbing of ADC farms across the country, land parcels set aside for prisons, NYS, schools, administration infrastructure including parcels for state lodges, forest land, riparian land (wetlands) and estate children playfields in urban centres and other strategic land parcels set aside for public amenities.
Keen observers of the controversy surrounding the Langata Prisons land and other government property in the area will agree the Kalenjin community were the main beneficiaries. Moi grabbed land and built Sunshine High School. Nicholas Biwott, a powerful minister in Moi’s government, has an estate in the same locality while Kulei also benefitted with even land being grabbed and sold to National Housing Corporation by a powerful cartel in then Moi regime. NHC has constructed houses and sold to the public. Kogo Plaza owned by a one time Moi ally is also constructed on alleged grabbed plot.
Kalenjin wheeler dealers at one time frequently visited Garage Bar which was then located next to T-Mall on Mbagathi round-about to cut deals.
An estate next to Jonathan Groag School Airport View is also owned by a son of Moi.
READ ON:
weeklycitizennewspaper.blogspot.com/2015/02/are-surviving-former-yk92-operatives-re.html
Another interesting sidebar:
A man claiming to be the owner of Weston Hotel, next to Lang’ata Road Primary School, which is at the centre of a land row, says he is a close ally of the Deputy President.
Patrick Osero, however, denies that William Ruto has any interests in the hotel that was initially suspected of being behind the grabbing of the school playground. He insists he is the sole proprietor.
According to him, Mr Ruto only visits the place as his friend and customer. Mr Ruto’s daughter Shaleen, he said, frequents the gym at the hotel.
The Nation established, however, that she also has an office at Weston Hotel in spite of denials that the Ruto family has no interests there.
Mr Ruto and Mr Osero’s friendship dates back to the early 1990s when they were members of the Youth for Kanu ‘92, a notorious brigade founded to counter the struggle for multi-party democracy and ensure entrenchment of President Daniel arap Moi’s Kanu regime.
YK ‘92, led by Cyrus Jirongo, gained notoriety for splashing out money that ultimately was traced to public coffers. The activities of the group contributed to the fiscal indiscipline that nearly bankrupted key State corporations and statutory institutions, stressed the National Treasury and led to near-collapse of the country’s economy.
The organisation was also involved in large-scale grabbing of public land, the ramifications of which are felt to this day in institutions that were badly affected such as the National Social Security Fund.
JUBILEE BENEFICIARY
“We met during YK’92 and he has been my very good friend and business partner since then,” Mr Osero freely said of his association with the Deputy President.
It is an association that has benefited him under the Jubilee regime: “I am the chairman of the Agricultural Finance Corporation and therefore, he is also my boss as the Deputy President,” Mr Osero told the Nation.
The bond between the two is said to be very strong. In the early years of former President Mwai Kibaki’s tenure, Mr Osero stood surety worth Sh6 million for Mr Ruto in a court case involving land.
SOURCE:
mobile.nation.co.ke/news/Patrick-Osero-Weston-Hotel-Langata-Land-Grabbing/-/1950946/2597900/-/format/xhtml/-/omgeh1/-/index.html
Excerpt:
That period which lasted throughout the 1990s, incidentally is the period
Osero and the deputy president thrived and kicked off their careers in active politics. In 1997, Ruto riding on Jirongo’s back, won the Eldoret North parliamentary seat while Osero tried but failed to win the Borabu parliamentary seat. He was to try unsuccessfully again in 2002, 2007 and 2013.
Even as they set out to enrich themselves through land deals across the country, these former YK’92 operatives set their eyes high on national politics. But at the same time, they never put their eyes away from lucrative land deals. It is during this time that the Langata Road Primary School land and both the Ruai and Weston Hotel land parcels were allegedly grabbed and title deeds dished to them. Other big land deals saw to the grabbing of ADC farms across the country, land parcels set aside for prisons, NYS, schools, administration infrastructure including parcels for state lodges, forest land, riparian land (wetlands) and estate children playfields in urban centres and other strategic land parcels set aside for public amenities.
Keen observers of the controversy surrounding the Langata Prisons land and other government property in the area will agree the Kalenjin community were the main beneficiaries. Moi grabbed land and built Sunshine High School. Nicholas Biwott, a powerful minister in Moi’s government, has an estate in the same locality while Kulei also benefitted with even land being grabbed and sold to National Housing Corporation by a powerful cartel in then Moi regime. NHC has constructed houses and sold to the public. Kogo Plaza owned by a one time Moi ally is also constructed on alleged grabbed plot.
Kalenjin wheeler dealers at one time frequently visited Garage Bar which was then located next to T-Mall on Mbagathi round-about to cut deals.
An estate next to Jonathan Groag School Airport View is also owned by a son of Moi.
READ ON:
weeklycitizennewspaper.blogspot.com/2015/02/are-surviving-former-yk92-operatives-re.html
Another interesting sidebar:
A man claiming to be the owner of Weston Hotel, next to Lang’ata Road Primary School, which is at the centre of a land row, says he is a close ally of the Deputy President.
Patrick Osero, however, denies that William Ruto has any interests in the hotel that was initially suspected of being behind the grabbing of the school playground. He insists he is the sole proprietor.
According to him, Mr Ruto only visits the place as his friend and customer. Mr Ruto’s daughter Shaleen, he said, frequents the gym at the hotel.
The Nation established, however, that she also has an office at Weston Hotel in spite of denials that the Ruto family has no interests there.
Mr Ruto and Mr Osero’s friendship dates back to the early 1990s when they were members of the Youth for Kanu ‘92, a notorious brigade founded to counter the struggle for multi-party democracy and ensure entrenchment of President Daniel arap Moi’s Kanu regime.
YK ‘92, led by Cyrus Jirongo, gained notoriety for splashing out money that ultimately was traced to public coffers. The activities of the group contributed to the fiscal indiscipline that nearly bankrupted key State corporations and statutory institutions, stressed the National Treasury and led to near-collapse of the country’s economy.
The organisation was also involved in large-scale grabbing of public land, the ramifications of which are felt to this day in institutions that were badly affected such as the National Social Security Fund.
JUBILEE BENEFICIARY
“We met during YK’92 and he has been my very good friend and business partner since then,” Mr Osero freely said of his association with the Deputy President.
It is an association that has benefited him under the Jubilee regime: “I am the chairman of the Agricultural Finance Corporation and therefore, he is also my boss as the Deputy President,” Mr Osero told the Nation.
The bond between the two is said to be very strong. In the early years of former President Mwai Kibaki’s tenure, Mr Osero stood surety worth Sh6 million for Mr Ruto in a court case involving land.
SOURCE:
mobile.nation.co.ke/news/Patrick-Osero-Weston-Hotel-Langata-Land-Grabbing/-/1950946/2597900/-/format/xhtml/-/omgeh1/-/index.html