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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 12, 2008 23:52:00 GMT 3
Allow me to say as follows.
Annan probably receives this kind of letters every other day from the two protagonists but what makes this one stands out is its timing and more importantly the intentional violation of the ban on news black-out by Annan.
The protest letter is an indication of the desperation in the Kibaki's camp and attendant insecurities. But I can also see in it a warning shot to Annan. The fact that Kibaki chose Karua to fire this volley of protest is no coincidence because she is the Minister that technically has oversight over the affair Annan is managing.
PNU would have chosen Mutula Kilonzo or Prof. Ongeri or even kalonzo but Kibaki who obviously consented to the statement, let it be from the government spokesperson on constitutional affairs.
For ODM it is good news because it means it exposes the adversary before the international glare for what it is. ODM, as I would wish, need to go to this negotiations casting themselves as the underdog but more importantly never trusting.
I had predicted that the bunge kamukunji would either be called off or be turned into launching pad to time wasting Naivasha like parleys and I fear that I was right. I also smelled a rat the moment Annan gagged the politicians and then went ahead to draw the curtain down on the people he should be dealing with in the first place: wanainchi.
By the way, who is funding the process? Whoever funds such events, as Prof. Bethwel Allan Ogot once counseled me, always have the last word.
my senti tatu
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 12, 2008 23:01:56 GMT 3
I think the best news from Annan so far is the proposed Commission of Inquiry to investigate the flaws of the 2008 elections.
My hunch is that this is the brainchild of James Orengo or if you like ODM.
Why am I thrilled by it? I am glad you asked because quite frankly I have been a deeply worried soul until this concern was isolated from other vexing issues and accorded the attention it deserves.
Government spokesman Dr Alfred Mutua has been on the roof top screaming to the world: show us the evidence that Kibaki stole Raila's cow.
Infact Kibaki and his supporters have been demanding a recount or re-tallying of the presidential votes and as late as this week they were telling us that if a recount is done, Kibaki will still beat Raila with a landslide.Yet we all suspect that the material evidence have been tampered with.
If this inquiry and the anticipated injunction would not have been effected,then there is the genuine risk that what someone here in Jukwaa calls a civilian coup would be treated in official government record as a valid,lawful and legal electoral success. For PNU, this is a success for posterity!
By accepting an independent probe both Kibaki and ODM teams are confident that they can prove the other wrong.This proposed probe is crucial because its outcome would, in my small mind, go along way in officially determining the group or individual(s) that history will haunt.
I am also delighted by the specificity of the probe: the flaws of the elections.And whats more? it will be judicial in nature and also of international standing.
Kibaki and his supporters will be acquitted and they will sigh with relief if the probe found out that the 2008 elections had no flaws.
But this is a long,long shot if what Kivuitu, Observers, the Tumwa Four(the four ECK commissioners led by Ambassador Jack Tumwa) and rest of the world have told us.
This historical record is crucial as we would probably see in 10,30 or 50 years time, when individuals,groups or institutions whose future was ruined by post-2008 election violence seek redress in Nairobi,Hague or even in Spain as we recently heard of Rwanda. ;D
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 12, 2008 20:40:18 GMT 3
Folks, While you indulge yourselves in despicable self-righteousness please remember that that you wouldn't know bigotry if it hit you in the ass. Most of you are self declared Luo supremacists that would put to shame the London petitioners.Are you not the same fellows who, before the 2007 elections, mockingly declared "anybody but gema"?? When did you become bold enough to point the finger? Shame on you!!!!!!! Dubois Dubois, Last Friday at 11.23 GMT a 41-years old leftist blogger of mixed Kenyan parentage posted this petition in a site that I administer and all I could do after reading it was to yawn loudly. But not so from the diverse membership of my round table who are taking a dispassionate look not just at the content and merit but also the motive and motivation of this sectarian group. I cant divulge beyond that but my stand is that the furore generated by this petition is not limited to what you may want to perceive as ODM friendly or Luo supremacists infested on-line forums. Instead of singling out Luos for attack, you would have done justice to the integrity of the outrageous petition with a blow-by blow justification of the generalized, stereotypical assertions. If you ask me the most effective way of silencing my likes in the blogosphere is not by your signature anti-Luo rhetorics but with facts and figures to support these spurious charges. * Is it, indeed,true that Luhya’s occupy Western Province and are mainly farmers and office workers.
*Is it, indeed,true that Kalenjin’s & Maasai’s occupy Rift Valley and are good at keeping cows, goats and sports.
*Is it, indeed,true that Kikuyu’s dominated the business world; commerce/trade and usually work hard and as a team.
*Is it, indeed,true that Naturally Kikuyu’s are wealthy by all standards because of working hard
* Is it, indeed,true that Luo’s occupy the Lake Region. Their main activities are fishing and office working.And,beyond the ethnic profiling where is the evidence? What are the incontovertible facts and figures on Kibaki's flawless victory and ODM's complicity in the post0electoral violence?
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 12, 2008 0:20:32 GMT 3
Now here is where the rubber is suppose to hit the road but I have my reservations.
Mistake No One: Why the Secrecy?Instead of briefing Kenyans, the Annan team choose to deal with the political class in a manner that only fuel speculations.It has also given room to sundry obstructionists like KM to do their thing.
Mistake No Two:The hata-mkia-ni-nyama settlements being touted in the Benard Namunane's story presupposes that at best ODM can only produce a Prime Minister and at worst be what Kibaki team believe it ought to be: an Opposition outfit.
Mistake No. Three:ODM is too trusting. Kalonzo's enthusiasm when casual observers expected him to be sulking(see Denno/Mzee and Adongo's threads on Kalonzo) speaks volume.This is the time for ODM to tap into its institutional memory in the name of Martin Shikuku.
Mistake No. Four: Whats the hurry for? Would a rushed resolution be sustainable,people-based,home-grown, practical and plausible deal?
I find it curious that none of the pollstars have found it fit to tell us what Kenyans think about this process
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 11, 2008 23:46:56 GMT 3
I smell a rat!Party proposals for Annan peace deal By BERNARD NAMUNANE Last updated: 7 minutes ago MPs are today expected to be briefed about the positions adopted by the Government and ODM in negotiations to end the post-election impasse. They will hear about the Government’s proposals for ODM to remain a strong opposition party as legal and constitutional reforms are undertaken and ODM’s plans to have the position of executive prime minister with two deputy prime ministers created. These are some of the proposals to be presented to MPs during the Speaker’s Kamukunji, an informal gathering of lawmakers, at Old Parliament Chambers, by the Kofi Annan-led mediation team. And last night, Mr Annan’s team issued a statement saying all parties to the negotiations would go on a retreat to a secret location to arrive at a decision. The brief statement stated that the teams would leave Nairobi immediately after the Kamukunji.The statement read: “Kofi Annan, the chairman of the National Dialogue and Reconciliation Committee, invited the negotiating teams to resume discussions outside of Nairobi with the goal of reaching an agreement on the outstanding political issues in the next 48 to 72 hours. “During this period he has asked for a complete news blackout. He has urged the parties not to discuss issues under negotiations with anyone outside the negotiating room. “At an appropriate time, the dialogue secretariat will issue a statement to the press to announce the outcome of these confidential talks.” Today’s Kamkunji will be the first time MPs as a group will come together to discuss the post-election violence that has led to more than 1,000 deaths and left 300,000 displaced. The violence erupted when the Electoral Commission declared Mr Kibaki winner of the presidential race, a move opposed by ODM who said the poll had been rigged. MPs on the Government side and those from ODM held separate parliamentary group meetings in Nairobi to get briefings on the progress of the talks.The Government PG, chaired by Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, was held at KICC, while the ODM one chaired by party leader Raila Odinga was held at County Hall. “It was important because MPs need to know where the negotiations have reached,” said Mr Musyoka.The ODM meeting lasted about two and a half hours and was attended by at least 80 MPs. Mr Odinga and Ugenya MP James Orengo briefed the members on the current status of the talks. Said Tinderet MP Henry Kosgey:“We’ve come to update our members about the talks aimed at seeking a solution to this political crisis.”He went on: “We’re seeking a political solution to this crisis, so it’s not prudent to keep our members in the dark about what is going on.”The Tinderet MP refused to divulge details of the meeting, saying more would be revealed in time. “The negotiation process is still on and we cannot divulge much now. We shall do so when we feel its necessary,” said the party chairman. But, it emerged that ODM are proposing the creation of a powerful prime minister’s post and two positions of deputy. The Government is set to place on the table its proposals today after the Speaker’s Kamukunji, and it is understood that they will suggest that ODM retains the Opposition slot as wide ranging reforms are undertaken to prepare the country for fresh elections in three years.
We also learnt that the mediation teams agreed on the immediate formation of independent review committee to inquire into the flaws of the disputed presidential elections be immediately set up.The committee, whose membership will include foreign experts, will start its work mid next month — March 15 — and will have a six-month mandate. Its findings and recommendations would be made public 14 days after the conclusion of their work, the mediation team agreed. Other reforms include setting up of a truth, justice and reconciliation commission; reconstruction programme; correcting historical injustices; land reforms; equity and devolution; judicial and legal systems’ independent of Parliament; placing the police force under an independent commission; reconstitution of the Electoral Commission and new constituencies. Yesterday, members of the National Dialogue and Reconciliation Committee left Serena Hotel without uttering a word about the talks. The instead referred all questions to their chairman, Mr Annan.Said Mbooni MP Mutula Kilonzo, the only member who accepted to make a comment: “The progress is unbelievable and a solution to the crisis is in sight.” He was then driven way. Ministers Martha Karua, Sam Ongeri and Moses Wetang’ula, who represent the Government side, and ODM’s Musalia Mudavadi, William Ruto, Sally Kosgei and James Orengo left without a word. It later became clear that they had gone to brief their parliamentary groups of the status of the mediation talks. ODM met its MPs at County Hall while the Government held its session at the Kenya International Conference Centre. Mr Musyoka and Mr Wetang’ula left the venue before the end of the meeting saying they were going to meet diplomats.Briefing the media outside KICC, Mr Musyoka said the Government MPs reiterated their commitment to the mediation talks. “It was important to brief the MPs on the progress on the talks so that we’re seen to be reading from the same script,” Mr Musyoka said. There was progress in the talks which he said had led to ceasing of the violence that engulfed the country after the results of the presidential poll were declared, a situation he said had given room for humanitarian efforts to take place.Today, Mr Annan and former South Africa First Lady Graca Machel will meet all MPs for a briefing session of the status of the talks and the role that Parliament would be required to play once the political agreement has been reached. Said a statement from Mr Annan’s secretariat: “Mr Kofi Annan and Graca Machel will at 10 am Tuesday (today) brief Parliament at a special Kamukunji.”The briefing session, which was requested last week by the team through National Assembly Speaker Kenneth Marende, would be used to prevail upon MPs to play a key role in rallying their supporters behind the final resolutions of the mediation team. The talks reached a defining moment last week when the key hurdles to a possible political settlement were dropped by both sides, paving the way for discussions on political solution. Yesterday, Mr Annan met the teams separately during the morning session before bringing them together in the afternoon for a one-hour meeting. It is understood that ODM suggested that the premier becomes the Head of Government while the President serves as the Head of State.In line with their proposals that seek to separate the functions of the State and Government, the Executive, they submitted, should be vested in the President, prime minister, two deputy premiers and the Cabinet.
That joint government, they argued, should be based on shared and delegated executive authority, proportionality at all levels of government and balanced portfolios, among others. “This will entail minimum constitutional amendments to anchor the agreed Government framework,” ODM states in its statement.But it is understood that the Government will argue that the proposals by ODM on the presidency were so fundamental that Parliament, on its own, could pass them.
Such far reaching changes that would shift the government structure from the presidential system to the parliamentary one could only be endorsed at a referendum, they argued. Additional reporting by Dave Opiyo and Patrick Nzioka politics.nationmedia.com/inner.asp?pcat=NEWS&cat=TOP&sid=1470
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 11, 2008 17:52:45 GMT 3
JAHAAtwatCH I am dizzy from reading the proposal above Both Kibaki an Raila group insist they won and deserve the presidency.Kenyans know whose lying and only a re-run can vindicate them. An interim gava where ODM is subservient to Kibaki and vice-versa wont jell to their support base whose allegiance and support is critical for restoration of durable peace. ODMers are telling Raila that its nothing but presidency and yesterday we heard from the elected representatives of Kibaki's core constituency.Their coded message was telling. So, apart from Nyongo and Githii's proposals, I thought the two protagonists would do Kenya a big favour if they settle for any title but not President or Prime Minister ala Canada. And in my small mind, fixing Kenya's mess in the short term boils down to establishment of three distinct centralized authorities: National Reconstruction, National Integration and National Administration. With this there will be no hata-mkia-ni-nyama negotiations and at least Kenyans will be less pre-occupied with who lost and who won in the negotiations.
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 11, 2008 13:02:28 GMT 3
This is what I believe can move Kenya foward:
With no likelihood of PNU and ODM agreeing on the issue of Presidency and Prime Minister and given that they have conflicting party manifestos, I suggest that the two posts/titles should be done away with and replaced with Governor-Generalpending enactment of a new constitution.
An interim transitional government be divided into two distinct units one to be headed by Kibaki and the other to be headed by ODM and which are accountable to Parliament.Judiciary and Parliament to be independent.
Kibaki and Raila to be alternate Governor-General with Kibaki in-charge of National Administration while ODM take oversight of National Reconstruction.
Under this arrangement, Kibaki will be in-charge of the Provincial Administration,Foreign Relations and Defense while ODM will be in-charge of Internal Security, Public Service [/b, Economic and National Resource Management.
The third unit of National Integration to oversee restitution and transitional justice to be headed by a representative of smaller political parties as determined by Kibaki and ODM.
In this win-win situation the transitional Authorities of National Administration and National Reconstructionshould be answerable to Kenyans through Parliament.Meaning they are directly funded and Parliament veto their expenditure.
Meanwhile:
*Hate Crime legislations should be enacted posthaste. * Fresh presidential elections in 18 months * Enactment of a new Constitution in 18 months
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 11, 2008 12:31:17 GMT 3
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 11, 2008 12:19:41 GMT 3
“What we are now proposing is that there be a transitional executive authority for six months during which a reconstituted electoral commission of Kenya would be put in place and then later for a presidential election after six months. That is our first option and we shall put that on the table on Monday, and if that is agreed upon so be it. If it is not, we have a second option which we shall also propose,” [Prof. Anyang']Nyong’o said. He said the ODM would propose the establishment of a co-executive transitional government. “If a transitional arrangement is to be worked out, there will be a co-executive, that is Raila and Kibaki will have co-executive powers just like Mandela and de Klerk (F.W. de Klerk, South Africa’s last apartheid-era president) had between (1989) and 1994 when Mandela came out of prison. If you look at the South African presidential executive authority law, it is something that can be repeated in Kenya on a transition basis while we undertake much longer term solutions to our problems subsequently,” he said.
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 10, 2008 16:49:08 GMT 3
I say Kombo is a lesson in Kenyan history on how not to run a political party.
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 10, 2008 12:14:25 GMT 3
It is VERY SAD indeed that things have boiled down to 'power sharing' among the protagonists. Why then did we have to shed so much innocent blood and destroy so much property???Those who paid the ultimate price must be turning in their graves now that the political leaders are busy figuring out how to share the spoils. This price was paid because Kenyans believed that the an election fraud had been committed. Are we now saying that there was no election fraud followed by an illegal swearing in of Mr. Kibaki?I really think that another fraud is in the offing. A government that is illegitimate is about to be legitimized in the name of peace. Peace is key to the well-being of a society but justice is equally important. If we rush to create a false peace then the next battle will be much worse than the one we've just witnessed. If we want an interim government to get the country back to normalcy, bring a new constitution and organize fresh polls then the current leaders (Kibaki, Raila, Kalonzo) should step aside. How can we expect Kibaki or Raila to midwife a constitution which does cater for their individual interests? I would not be surprised if after 3 years Kibaki says that he is seeking re-election because he did not serve a full second term. He might even find an excuse to go for 10 years starting 2010. This is how Moi stayed in power for 10 years more after 1992. We as Kenyans need to stand up and reclaim our country from politicians.This government is only interested in retaining power now and in future.It is very sad for Kenya! Jakojwaya? Is it possible to start another thread using this posting?
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 10, 2008 1:15:37 GMT 3
Denno, Believe me, Kalonzo is the man to watch.He wields a leverage that could alter dramatically the political equation in this and next season. It is not surprising therefore to read Nation's Political Writer, Bernand Namunane,informing us that ODM finds Kalonzo seductive. " ODM has accepted to bring into the equation PNU and its affiliates that include ODM Kenya whose leader is Vice- President Kalonzo Musyoka.Members of ODM, who requested anonymity, said the move could assuage its supporters as ground for the next elections in three years time is being prepared." www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=1&newsid=116540 If you doubt my concerns then take a rare view mirror and just see how politically destructive this wily political animal can be. After causing all that trouble for Raila group, he jumped ship with his ODM-K/LPK to run a campaign whose net effect was to deny Kenyans the change they have yearned for. He did not just stop at splitting the opposition votes, No! he went further by going to bed with Kibaki and emboldening Kivuitu to commit an act that has led to deaths and destruction. You observe his exploits and understand who Kakai meant by hewa mbaya in this lamentation jukwaa.proboards58.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=1201353835&page=1 I am saying that Kalonzo is a problem that neither Raila nor Kibaki can/should and will ignore.
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 11, 2008 12:20:35 GMT 3
It seems Kenyans now have a say in the negotiations. " In Odinga's stronghold in western Kenya, his supporters have threatened to burn down his farm and a large molasses factory his family owns outside Kisumu if he returns as anything less than president"
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 10, 2008 13:09:16 GMT 3
Raila is reported by Reuters as saying that ODM was " instructed to negotiate with thieves," obviously the kind of statement that the Kalonzo type who are bent on sabotaging any concievable power-sharing agreement will readily exploit to scuttle the talks. It is also instructive to note(and this is very important)that as much as it dropped its initial demands, ODM is yet to officially renounce its vow to oust Kibaki from power: We will use all available means to bring down the Kibaki regime. I wont be surprised if the Tuesday's Kamukunji is either called off or used as a launching pad for the time wasting Naivasha type parleys.While there is defeaning silence from Kibaki's hawks, ODM is blowing hot and cold obviously to the chagrin of Annan,Mama Graca and Mkapa. Which is understandable given the pent up frustration and anger and more importantly the risk of losing face before its restless and radicalized support base. But still, ODM is tripping not just by flouting the terms of engagement for the Annan Talks which binds it against provocations but also by heightening mistrust and suspicion that are inimical to the political solution of Kenyan crisis. I have in mind remarks such as this: "If Kenyans managed to successfully fight the British Empire and freed the country from the colonial yoke, Kibaki and his foot soldiers will be defeated and when all is settled, this whole thing will look like a storm in a tea cup," Raila's handlers ought to remind him of some wise counsel by Moi long time ago at the height of NDP-Kanu co-operation during a news event in Moi's Kabarak home.Moi had counseled Raila: Uki taka kushika ngombe, usi muonyeshe kamba something to the effect that if you want to ensnare a bull don't dangle the rope before it! But to be fair to ODM,all that Raila & Co is doing is simply putting aside their diplomatic garbs in that time-honoured tradition of speaking your mind with brutal honesty so that the TRUTH CAN SET US FREE.Could there be a better way for ODM to galvanize its support base while at the same time constructively engaging its homeland adversary without loosing face or trust ?
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 9, 2008 20:47:48 GMT 3
Reuters version:"... Several speakers at Too's funeral in Kericho on Saturday struck a reconciliatory note.
There is nothing like us not being able to share a government under Kibaki," said ODM lawmaker Kipkalia Kones. "Let us stand together and we shall even win re-election."
Odinga told the mourners his party had been instructed to sit and negotiate with election "thieves", and it had done so.
"But they should know it will not be in vain," Odinga said. "We will not agree to a decision that will jeopardise the justice of Kenyans ... There cannot be peace without justice."africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN951198.htmlNMG's version:Party leaders Raila Odinga and Anyang’ Nyong’o were categorical that ODM would not accept a solution to the current political impasse which did not address the controversial outcome of the General elections.
Mr Odinga said ODM would not accept a position that would betray the wishes of its supporters, adding that they will find a way of seeking their supporters mandate before putting pen to paper.
“We will not accept a solution that betrays trust bestowed upon us. Part of the solution would be to address the past injustices including the stolen elections,” Mr Odinga said. He warned that the failing to address the issue of vote rigging would lead to voter apathy.
He said maintaining tough stand in the negations process would be a betrayal to Kenyans adding that all hopes were now pegged on the Kofi Annan lead process, saying the former UN Boss had the interest of Kenyans at heart.www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=1&newsid=116464Newsweek's: www.newsweek.com/id/91857/output/print
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 9, 2008 20:45:18 GMT 3
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 9, 2008 20:43:53 GMT 3
Hope Raila & Co were misquoted by Associated Press, if not then Annan may as well pack up and go!
Call for Kenya's president to quit 1 hour ago
Kenya's opposition leader has demanded that the president resign, saying a new vote must be held in a speech to thousands of supporters at the funeral of an opposition lawmaker whose slaying set off a wave of ethnic clashes.
Raila Odinga's statements were in sharp contrast to the conciliatory tone he struck this week in Nairobi, where he backtracked on earlier demands that President Mwai Kibaki step down as peace talks to end the crisis picked up momentum.
Those comments were made in English. But speaking in Swahili, East Africa's common tongue, in his power base in western Kenya on Saturday, Odinga returned to the themes that have rallied supporters - and, many say, incited them to violence - since the December 27 election.
Kibaki, who the opposition accuses of stealing the vote, "must step down or there must be a re-election - in this I will not be compromised," Odinga told thousands of people who gathered in an open field for the funeral of David Kimutai Too. Police say Too was killed in a crime of passion, but the opposition insists he was assassinated.
"You cannot steal my cow, and I catch you red-handed, and then expect me to share the milk because the cow is mine," he said as the crowd cheered wildly.
More than 1,000 people have been killed and 300,000 forced from their homes since the vote, which Kenyan and foreign observers say was rigged. The fighting has pitted members of Kenya's rival ethnic groups against one another, gutted the economy and left the country's reputation as a budding democracy and a top tourist destination in tatters.
The funeral was the first mass public gathering since a ban on rallies, imposed following the election, was lifted on Friday, and nearly all of Kenya's major opposition attended. The opposition and international community had for weeks been urging the government to lift the rally ban, which had been repeatedly enforced by police using live bullets, tear gas and water cannons.
Internal Security Minister George Saitoti said he was lifting the ban because "security has generally improved." He urged legislators and others to hold meetings "to promote peace and national reconciliation" and not to use rallies as "avenues to incite violence."
While none of the opposition figures at Saturday's funeral urged supporters to attack rivals, few spoke of reconciliation. "The blood of David Too must run to the door of those who stole the election," said Anyang Nyongo, secretary-general of Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement.
"We are not going backward," said Najib Balala, another leading opposition politician. "We only want Raila (Odinga) to lead this nation."
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 8, 2008 17:24:27 GMT 3
Denno,
Take this to the bank.
This boardroom deal will go with the wind especially if there is no cast iron guarantee of enactment of a new constitution(read Bomas Draft) that Kibaki has upto now not talked about.
I am sceptical.
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 9, 2008 1:07:23 GMT 3
"...Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka told US officials that a power-sharing arrangement “is not a panacea” for Kenya’s crisis. Mr Musyoka told the Nation on Thursday that he conveyed that message in meetings with John Negroponte, the State Department’s second-highest ranking official, and with Ms Frazer." www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=1&newsid=116451In other words, kalonzo is opposed to Kibaki-Raila sharing power. His arguement? That it will be a setback to multy party democracy?
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 9, 2008 0:34:21 GMT 3
Wanjeeqo, please permit me to say the following:
I have learnt never to under rate Kalonzo his foibles not withstanding.
Indeed I am strongly persuaded that he is the man to watch. We laughed him off with his "Kibaki aki simama upande huu na Raila Upande huu, mimi Kalonzo nitapita Kati kati ..."
His supporters may point out rightly or wrongly that the fact that he found his way into the Vice-Presidency while Raila is technically the Official Leader of Opposition and Kibaki is the President is in itself a vindication of his weird prophecy while back.
Now that he is in the Kati kati, I wont be surprised if this conniving,wily and stubbornly ambitious man "miraculously" conspires with Kenya's destiny and pitias between Raila and Kibaki to become the fourth president of Kenya.
He has disgusted his swelling rank of critics before and is seemingly determined to disapprove my type who have no time for him
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 8, 2008 16:34:04 GMT 3
kudos Wakwitu for the link.
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 8, 2008 17:04:12 GMT 3
50 cents.
If it were my wish, this should be the longest running thread in Jukwaa's history.
I see absolutely no reason why Jukwaa's centrists,leftists and far-right bloggers should conveniently shy away from it or even find it too hot to handle when such respected international media as Economist are Luonising the Kenyan crisis.
I will give a detail response later.
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 13, 2008 15:08:59 GMT 3
Kenyans should continue to protest despite ODM/Raila´s new stand. If Kenyans stop protesting over the rigged ballot, then it only means that they were not protesting but helping others to do so (that makes my tears roll after 1000 people (protesters and others) have been killed out of it. The boardroom agreement of ODM and PNU should not compromise with your desire to protest. Subverting democracy calls for Protest whether from PNU to ODM or vice-versa An excerpt from Financial Times: " In the western town of Kisumu, an opposition stronghold, young supporters of Mr Odinga who watched their friends shot down by paramilitary police in rioting six weeks ago said it would be a betrayal if he came back from talks with anything but the presidency.
"Raila said we we are going to talk nothing but the presidency. He is not going to back down. If he does, his own life will then be at risk," said Seth, a local gang member.
Hardline elements of Mr Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe have issued death threats to moderate members of their community and threatened in pamphlets to act as "communal defence structures" should Mr Kibaki agree to share power with men they claim have been involved in ethnic cleansing." www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d4944cde-d9d6-11dc-bd4d-0000779fd2ac.html
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 7, 2008 12:26:55 GMT 3
From Mau Mau to Mungiki: 50 years later, Kenya is still a bloody messby Geoffrey ClarfieldDuring the last few weeks, the world has watched in horror as rival gangs of Kenyan slum dwellers attack and kill one another. Even Members of Parliament are now being targeted. The anti-government vigilantes from the Luo tribe have come to call themselves “Taliban” (this despite the fact that these Luo are mostly non-Muslims). Pitted against them are the Kikuyu — in particular, Kikuyu followers of the “Mungiki.” On Jan. 9, Maina Kiai, head of the state-funded National Commission of Human Rights, accused President Mwai Kibaki’s Kikuyu dominated government of “activating” members of this mysterious, formally banned sect. Government spokesmen have dismissed the claim as groundless. But Muthoni Wanyeki, the chairperson of an independent Kenya-based human rights monitoring group, suggests politicians from both tribes are financing and encouraging semi-organized tribal militias. Given the Mungiki sect’s particularly violent history, it would be surprising if one side or the other hadn’t sought to co-opt them. Ritual murder, inspired by traditional religious beliefs, is on the rise in Africa. You can read about it in any of the national papers, from Zimbabwe to Senegal — and now Kenya. On July 13, 2007, I was sitting in a hotel lobby in Nairobi, reading a disturbing article in a Kenyan newspaper. The day before, a two-year-old boy had been killed in the Korogocho slums of Nairobi. He had been beheaded and his limbs hacked off. The boy’s body had been identified by his shocked and grieving father, who had reported him missing a few days earlier. The manner, style and place of his murder was no accident. Police, sociologists and other experts immediately identified it as an act of violence (possibly a ritual murder) perpetrated by the Mungiki. In the nine months leading up to the recent spasm of election-related violence, it is estimated that the Mungiki were responsible for the murder of more than 43 people, 13 of whom had their heads cut off, mostly in the Kikuyu tribal heartlands of central Kenya, and in the slums of Nairobi. Despite the recent realignment of the Mungiki in support of the Kikuyu-dominated government this same government declared membership in the Mungiki sect to be illegal last Spring. So far, there have been more than 3,000 arrests nationwide. By last July, more than 79 Mungiki members had been killed by police. In the Bantu language of the Kikuyu of central Kenya, mungiki means a “united people” or a “multitude.” The name is meant to suggest that these contemporary Kikuyu are the spiritual and political descendants of the Mau Mau, those disenfranchised Kikuyu who, in the 1950s, rose up in revolt against British colonial authorities and any tribe that co-operated with them. Although the Mau Mau were defeated, the rebellion sapped the will of the British to stay in Kenya. In the early 1960s, Kenya became an independent republic under the leadership of Jomo Kenyatta, a British-educated Kikuyu who held a PhD in social anthropology from Manchester University. Like most new African leaders, Kenyatta eventually used the state apparatus to enrich his friends and relatives. But the children of the Mau Mau were not among the beneficiaries. They eked out subsistence existences in the villages, and when the harvest failed, migrated to the slums of Kenya’s large cities to join the reserve army of labour. There, they languished in growing resentment of the Kikuyu elite and their European allies. When Kenyatta passed away, the presidency of the country fell into the hands of his vice-president, Daniel arap Moi, who, in imitation of his Kikuyu mentor, used the state to support the advancement of his own ethnic group (the Kalenjin), leaving the Kikuyu to fend for themselves. This culminated in inter-tribal clashes that at time bordered on civil war. This civil strife died down with Kenya’s return to multi-party democracy in the 1990s. The newfound political freedom gave the disenfranchised Kikuyu time to organize themselves — including the Mungiki. As one former Mungiki leader recently said, “We are the true sons of the Mau Mau … today is just like 1952 [when the Mau Mau insurgency began]. The government now is no better then those who collaborated with the British.” But despite what Kenyan academics and journalists might call the “political agenda” of the Mungiki, the sect is wrapped in a complex and murky amalgam of traditional African and modern populist beliefs — many of them harkening back to some of the less savoury practices from pre-Christian Kikuyu customs: magic, witchcraft and sorcery mixed with ancestor worship. We do not have a clear idea of the beliefs and practice of the Mungiki sect because most of it goes on in secret. We do know from interviews with current and former leaders that they reject modern Western culture, including Christianity. In their hostility to the West, Mungiki are known to have given up alcohol, smoking, watching Hollywood movies and wearing American baseball caps. Instead, they pray “facing mount Kenya.” They have been known to publicly call for the circumcision of Kikuyu women, and have forced many to undergo this rite. Many sport dreadlocks and swear oaths of loyalty to Mungiki in secret. In some cases, they engage in ritualized murder — a pathology that anthropologists generally observe in pre-industrial societies going through periods of pronounced stress. They are also notoriously involved in a whole range of extortionist activities in Nairobi’s slums. These activities include extracting “protection payments,” various forms of informal taxation, and the violent domination of the informal transport sector. Mungiki leaders claim they can deliver more than a half a million voters to any politician who supports them. With their bizarre rituals, and murderous ways, the Mungiki seem like an invention out of a racist’s imagination. But they are very real, and they symbolize many of Kenya’s problems — poverty, the agony and vulnerability of slum life, corruption and, above all, the country’s violent tribalization. Despite all Kenya’s promise, it is shocking how little it has progressed in the half-century that has passed between the Mau Mau and the Mungiki. Geoffrey Clarfield is a Toronto based writer and can be reached ongwclarfield@yahoo.comSource: National Post www.network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2008/02/05/geoffrey-clarfield-from-mau-mau-to-mungiki-50-years-later-kenya-is-still-a-bloody-mess.aspx
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 7, 2008 0:09:17 GMT 3
Trust Kamalet not to disappoint with his nuanced profiling of Kenyan political terrain and Raila of course as his pet subject.
Here he is baiting and sabre rattling Jukwaa at the same time.
Ok who will go first on this one?
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