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Post by JAHAATWACH on Mar 16, 2008 22:44:02 GMT 3
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Mar 16, 2008 22:25:04 GMT 3
I understand some democrats want to prevail on Obama to drop the race and become Hillarys running mate, the so called superticket. Whaaaaat!!!!? Ati Barry to step down for the mama just because he is Obama! I say:Let it go down to the wire,and as President Paul Kagame would say, the real winner be the winner.
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Mar 15, 2008 23:59:18 GMT 3
My fears are confirmed!
The mama(Oooop! excuse me Fanyamambo)is not throwing in the towel any time soon.In fact, she is going all the way to the August convention.What bothers me most is not her staying power but rather the skillful and I dare add bewitching tact with which she uses the kitchen sink strategy to distract the media from her foibles.
I am informed that while the media preoccupies Barry with firefighting,Hillary is scheming on how to conquer what she hopes is the last stand--the super delegates.Of course her eyes are trained on Barry's 117 lead. What a roller coaster!
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Mar 6, 2008 20:42:57 GMT 3
Sighed with big relief when I read this. Kumbe you guys were right. The mama should throw in the towel. www.newsweek.com/id/119010Obama! Obama!
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Mar 5, 2008 14:01:04 GMT 3
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Mar 4, 2008 15:52:17 GMT 3
I am thoroughly amused by the antic of that kuguoya from New Mexico who lacks courage to holla the O word yet he want the Super Tuesday loser to withdraw from the race.
This amigo,just like that Republican-turned-Democrat-turned- Independent billionaire Bloomberg claims to be Barry's friend but wont endorse him at the hour of need.What a friend? indeed!
The other day I watched Hillary raving about how America's problems cannot be solved with speeches and feelings and immediately sensed how personal and trivial she had become.
My conclusion is that the New York Senator is not only in the race to the finish but is determined to muddy the waters for Barry so much so that by the time the Democrats are done, McCain would be smiling like the chesire cat.
If Bill Richardson really mean business then he better rally the Latino constituency to Obama's base with his endorsement or shut up until August.
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Mar 3, 2008 20:22:16 GMT 3
The amigos seems to be ish ish with Clinton.If they pour out into the polling booths Tuesday with Hillary in mind, then the mama may be back on her feet again.
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Mar 2, 2008 16:33:23 GMT 3
In the article below, Rachel Kapochunas of the US's Congrational Quarterly cast a realist view on the dizzying American primary thus making me understand why Clinton could play a Kibaki on Obama. Read on. SUPERDELEGATE'S DECISION MAY REST ON ELECTIBILITYDemocratic superdelegate Dwight Pelz, chairman of the Washington state party, one of many uncommitted superdelegates, has his fingers crossed that the party's Presidential nominee will be decided well before the August national convention. "God forbid should we go to August with a convention that's still up in the air," Pelz said. "I'm going to be watching polls in May, June, July looking for signs of who is most electable against McCain." With Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama locked in a competitive contest for their party's presidential nomination, superdelegates find themselves under a microscope, well aware that the party's decision could come down to them, especially if the big primaries remaining don't prove to be decisive. Some superdelegates have already pledged their support. While the tallies can be in flux, especially if Obama's momentum shakes loose some Clinton supporters, the latest count by the Associated Press has Clinton with 241.5 (Democrats abroad have half delegates) to Obama's 188.But other superdelegates believe that for now, it's their duty to remain neutral.Pelz is one of them. He says as long as the nominee remains uncertain, he won't announce support for Clintor or Obama."I represent all the Democrats in the state and we have excellent people supporting Hillary and excellent people supporting Barack," Pelz told CQ Politics. "It's not my role to disappoint them or to make them have anything but confidence that the party is remaining neutral." Pelz has served as state party chairman for two years and formerly served as a King County council member and state Senator. This is the first election in which he's a superdelegate. Superdelegates are unpledged party leaders and elected officials who cast a vote in support of a party nominee at the Democratic national convention, which is scheduled to take place in Denver Aug. 25-28. There are 795 superdelegates and they compose about 20 percent of the total number of delegates, 4,049 (which excludes Michigan and Florida) as of the Democratic National Committee's (DNC's) most recent update Feb. 13.
A Democratic candidate needs 2,025 delegates to secure the party nomination. Obama currently claims 1375 delegates and Clinton has 1277, according to the Associated Press. Those estimates include preferences expressed by superdelegates surveyed by the AP.Pelz said his decision will ultimately be based on two factors: the preference expressed by Washington state Democrats, as reported in the Feb. 9 caucus; and which candidate Pelz believes is best suited to take on the presumptive Republican nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain. Obama won the Washington state caucus with 68 percent to 31 percent for Clinton with 96 percent of total reported. With fewer than 100 delegates separating the two Democratic candidates, both campaigns are lobbying hard for superdelegate support, but Pelz said he hasn't noticed that yet. When asked if his life has changed surrounding his superdelegate role, Pelz responded "not really," adding that the level of contact he's received is consistent with the amount of contact he receives pertaining to his regular duties as a party chairman, even in non-election years. Pelz suggested he is in the "chicken-hearted camp" of superdelegates. He hopes the choice of nominee will be clear before crunch time but plans, if necessary, to announce his decision on the plane heading into Denver. "[DNC chairman] Howard Dean was in town last week and said if we're divided going in, we're divided coming out," Pelz said. "I think it would be good if this were settled in March or April or may but I understand that if these two candidates are tied with each other, they're going to take this to the floor of the convention. Many voters are wary that superdelegates may choose a candidate other than the one who received a majority of primary voter support. Pelz said that in his state, the party received so many emails "at random" from voters on whom the superdelegates should support, he decided to formalize the process. He asked voters to directly "lobby", the Washington State Democratic Central Committee's six superdelegates: Pelz; Vice Chair Eileen Macoll; and DNC members Ed Cote, Sharon Mast, David McDonald and Patt Notter. Pelz estimated that in the first five days following their call to voters, the party received 4,000 messages lobbying superdelegates on behalf of their candidate of choice. The party hasn't yet tallied those votes.The competitive nature of the race has created party divisions that Pelz and others hope to avoid, but Pelz remains confident that Democrats can resolve their differences. "We're all adults," Pelz said. "We'll either take this in stride or be mad at each other or some shade in between... I generally think Democrats are united: we have two good candidates." news.yahoo.com/s/cq/20080228/pl_cq_politics/politics2677835&printer=1
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Mar 2, 2008 16:03:41 GMT 3
Texas!? I am nervous!
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Mar 2, 2008 16:02:25 GMT 3
Clinton undermining election process, Obama camp claimsAUSTIN — Barack Obama’s presidential campaign said Friday that Hillary Clinton, fearing defeat in a state she badly needs to win, is trying to undermine confidence in Texas' delegate-selection process by raising the specter of a chaotic election night. www.mcclatchydc.com/100/story/29073.htmlClinton and Obama tied in Texas, close in OhioHillary Clinton and Barack Obama are neck and neck heading into a pivotal primary showdown Tuesday in Ohio and Texas, two delegate-rich states where Clinton held leads just weeks ago, according to two new polls released Sunday. Clinton leads in Ohio by 47-43 percent. Obama leads in Texas by 46-45 percent. Those standings are both within the polls' 4 percentage point margin of error — meaning that either one could be ahead in each state. And nearly one in ten likely voters remains undecided in each state, more than enough to swing Tuesday's results in either direction. www.mcclatchydc.com/227/v-print/story/29161.htmlThe mama must be desperately hoping that the Texas amigos who outnumber blacks 3 to 1 assert their numerical strength on the Tuesday vote.
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 29, 2008 15:08:41 GMT 3
So, why is New York billionaire Bloomberg playing mind games with his endorsement? Mara he is MacCain's buddy, mara he is warming up for Hillary,mara his talkng nice about Barry.
You are an independent for heaven sake, holla the O word.
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 28, 2008 23:06:50 GMT 3
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 24, 2008 18:03:34 GMT 3
Texas? Ahead of the two crucial votes........... Guess who is in town? Bill Clinton. And of all the places, the 30,000 member mega Church,Potters Hse. His host? The influential Bishop Td Jakes. He is among a bevy of celebrities in attendance at the sunday service. You can watch it live via www.thepottershouse.org/v2/>click streaming portal>live service
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 24, 2008 15:53:47 GMT 3
The mama hits the roof! Guard your loins Barry. .... the former first lady said, " enough with the speeches and the big rallies and then using tactics that are right out of Karl Rove's playbook"http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080224/ap_on_el_pr/clinton Also on que are the Republicans, as dastardly as they can get. news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080224/ap_on_el_pr/obama_attack_fodder
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 21, 2008 18:32:37 GMT 3
Obama's opponents are curiously playing the domo domo line as a propaganda war. In reference to Obama's populist stage-craft, Hillary say what Washington needs is sound solution not sound bites and McCain latest line is that Obama thrives on rhetorics. Barry's political adversaries and critics in the media are determined on turning his unmatched oratory into weakness by projecting him as a leader who is only good at domo domo. No wonder, Economist is mischievously asking us:
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 14, 2008 15:23:55 GMT 3
Can Obama win over Clinton? "></param><param name="wmode"
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 13, 2008 15:00:36 GMT 3
Camp Hillary very worried. If Obama sweeps again tomorrow and gets one of the big three this thing is over with. In a sign of how radically the dynamic of the race has shifted in recent days, some Clinton staffers now privately concede Obama could lock up the nomination with a single win in Ohio or Texas on March 4, or in Pennsylvania on April 22www.nytimes.com/2008/02/12/us/politics/12clinton.html?_r=1&hp&oref=sloginBarry is on a winning streak and doing damage to Hillary's support base but its not over until the fat lady take the stage.
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 8, 2008 16:32:02 GMT 3
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 7, 2008 17:07:55 GMT 3
Whats more? Obama,unlike the Senator from New York has proven to me that he has the staying power.
Imagine the mama's campaign kitty ran dry and she had to resort to her personal account to keep her campaign afloat.Going broke when the presidential campaign proper is yet to kick off is a political sin here in America.
All along we were made to believe that Hillary's war chest is invincible but the panic injection of $5M into her kitty exposes to me her soft underbelly.
Which leads me back to the question:Why is she being touted by section of influential media as a potential president when indications are that Obama has been scoring big time over her since the primaries kicked off? Your guess is as good as mine.
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 6, 2008 18:00:09 GMT 3
I am lost on this one. Barry is clearly on the lead with more delegates and states yet Mrs Clinton is reportedly on a slight edge over him.
The last time I checked she had only 8 states in her basket while Obama had 13?
As far as I am concern Obama has been leading with more votes cast and as populist as they come has more broad based appeal.Where,then,is Clinton coming from?
Is it be because she is from the Emperor State and much,much more? Could it be because those shadowy- maniacal- business-as usual-Washington lobbyists that Obama has been waging a frontal war against are barracking Mr Obama?
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 6, 2008 17:28:22 GMT 3
.....in the meantime, Raila has collected his January salary for the Official Leader of Opposition. The salary was credited to his account. Whats your source of info
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 7, 2008 12:12:03 GMT 3
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 7, 2008 1:22:27 GMT 3
I am nervous about this Annan-led boardroom solution to the Kenyan crisis. I have been asking around but no one seems to have a clue on the legal imperatives.Maybe I am asking the wrong type but the more I inquire the more I become hopeless. The assumption that Kibaki will bow to international pressure and give way for an interim government may be just that unless this whole process get the badly needed constitutional/legal framework. It bothers me that PNU is calling IGAD meeting,slamming door shut on the South African negotiator and with a whiff of mischief digging in on the due process and constitutionality as the basis for negotiation which is a Way of saying Kibaki won't honour ODM's demand because his hands are tied by law. Even if you choose to look beyond the pen-to-parchment phase of this negotiation, the Accord will be more of a gentleman's agreement with no primacy of the law unless it is pegged on some international law somewhere. Annan has made it clear that enforcing what is agreed at Serena will rest with Parliament where I foresee Kibaki men deliberately dragging their feet or coming up with as much excuses as possible in form of amendments to delay the process.Americans call it filibustering.The only possible incentive that may appeal to Lucy and Kibaki is the prospects of serving ten more years assuming Kenyans start on a new slate and majority Kenyans still want Kazi iendelee. ODM's only hope is the global interest and pressure through possible UN resolution and America's sleight hand-all this assuming that there will be no some Tsunami-like distractions. My other concern is the funding of the process which is likely to evolve into something much more complex. I say so because of this www.rte.ie/news/2008/0206/kenya.html which means that UN has bought the argument that its oversight role and Annan team presence should be to the successful implementation of what is just and justifiable.
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 3, 2008 13:35:41 GMT 3
The post-election violence in Kenya is threatening to spiral out of control and, protests have rocked the country over President Mwai Kibaki’s disputed re-election in the December 27 election. The violence has taken the lid off decades-old divisions between communities over land, wealth and power. The strife spurred by last month’s disputed elections in usually peaceful Kenya has rattled the entire region. With continental and international allies keen to find a rapid solution to the deadlock, Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame has come out with views on how the situation can be contained. The New Times’ EDWIN MUSONI was part of the team of journalists who interviewed Kagame and below are the excerpts. Mr. President, what is your take on the current situation in the Kenya that has claimed close to 1000 lives in merely a few weeks and seems to be getting worse?Well, it’s difficult for me to pass a judgment on things like that because I am not necessarily very conversant with the details especially as regards the origin of the problem. But what I can say in terms of judging the situation there will depend on what I see at least on televisions, read in the newspapers and hear from people.
There is a lot that you see and you tend to imagine that probably things are even worse than we are able to see as portrayed by the news media.
Judging from this alone, one might believe that there is a tragic situation taking place in Kenya, particularly if you consider the reported numbers being killed, how they are being killed and how, despite the efforts you’ve seen by different people from different parts of the world …the international community, African leaders or elders, and others of high a level of dignity and influence…who have been there and tried to mediate the two camps in order to find a solution, instead the situation seems to be getting worse.
The chairman of the East African Community, President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda has been there and made effort. I understand he has made proposals on how the problem could be solved in respect of the grievances held by leaders or by different political parties in Kenya.
Despite all these efforts, the situation is not getting any better. Even though people tend to think that some of the problems we are witnessing are basically caused by certain ethnic groups carrying out killings against other groups. From what I read, I don’t see it as one ethnic group under attack; it seems all of them are involved.
Some say that these problems have been there. What seems obvious is that the current situation has certainly been sparked off by what happened during the elections in Kenya.
There was no that kind of tense situation before elections even though people say that ethnic tensions have been there for long. Or may be there was, but it seems some issues were agreeable and so had not given rise to such a tragic situation as we are witnessing now.
That means that something must have happened during these elections in Kenya, which has sparked off the developments. Therefore, that needs to be given attention. People may also want to pay attention to why these underlying ethnic tensions were there in the first place.
There are a number of things people have to look at, including the urgent aspect of this situation that has to be addressed – how the killings that are going on can be stopped.
Do you think that this is an ethnic issue or a political crisis that came up as a result of the highly disputed elections?
I really think it is a political situation that developed, but which manifests itself in form of ethnic violence. This is why I said a while ago that we did not have this before the elections.
Much as people might have said that there had been ethnic tensions for many years, Kenya had never had such killings in a manner that they are being carried out. It has only come after the elections that are being contested. The grievances have helped these underlying old tensions to simply surface as a form of expression. This is what it looks like. Therefore something has to be done and the first and main task is really lies with Kenyans.
It must be the Kenyans, with their leaders of different groups, from political parties to ethnic groups, to really come out and contain the situation.
Certainly, when Kenyans are being killed it has consequences beyond Kenya. It touches all of us and nobody wants to see that happening. But we have limitations on how much we can do or what we can do to deal with the situation. That is why I am talking of efforts which apparently don’t seem to be bearing fruit so far, even though they are still going on. I hope it does not happen like it did in our own case.
You know, it starts with five people being killed, then 10 people, then 50 people, then 100, then it is few hundreds, and then it is a thousand. By the time you realize, it has had a dimension that is wiping out entire villages and communities, getting out of hand and the whole political situation in a country is in a mess.
So, we need to attend to this as soon as possible and not allow it to go on, for the good of Kenyans and for the good of all of us in the region and beyond.
We need to support the ongoing efforts by the former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, working with former Tanzania President Benjamin Mkapa and others who are well placed to try and help by getting to understand the depth and details of the situation. But everybody’s worry is how long it is going to take to bring the situation under control, with all these many people losing their lives.
So really, back to the question, it is a serious political situation which tends to even deny anybody or leaders in that situation any sort of legitimacy. This is what it means, and relates back to what could be the underlying factors, relating as well to the whole electoral process.All the same there has to be a solution in one way or the other for the sake of saving lives, especially of the innocent.
There have been many efforts of solving this problem that seems to be persisting. The AU chairman was there, Annan is in Kenya, Museveni was there also, and many others but still the crisis has continued. What do you think could be the missing links or the key to ending?
I think some of the proposals made by President Museveni indicate that examinations have to be made on what took place in the electoral process so that anybody claiming victory has it authenticated and validated by provable facts.
But the way things seem to be running out of hand, nobody is paying enough attention to the situation. Even the other courses of action that would be taken seem to have been left on the way side. No body is paying the required attention, yet all indicators suggest that this is a case of emergency, in which certain things have to be done urgently to stem the killings that are going on.
There is no time available to anyone to go into the niceties and the debates and other things when the killings are still taking place.
If things continue like this and leaders don’t create a situation that stabilizes things on the ground, may be for the sake of saving lives some stable institution in Kenya should step in and initiate a fresh start. For the sake of Kenyans.
Looking at what is going on in Kenya, do you think Kenyans ought to learn a lesson from what happened here in Rwanda 14 years ago?
The whole world should have learnt a lesson from what happened in Rwanda and Kenyans being so close in terms of distance, they need to prevent that and they need to act so urgently to stop it. We wouldn’t wish that for Kenya or any other country
Kenyans should be on the forefront to deal with their problems and they should be the ones mainly doing what it takes to contain this situation.
It is very pathetic for everybody in the situation to sit back and watch. You have the parliament, there is the judiciary, there is the army and the police and they all start losing the whole essence of being there.
The best option at the moment is the dialogue that is taking place. Yet I want to look further and ask should it fail; what happens? Are you going to have a situation simply getting out of control and spilling over in different forms to the whole region? Already it has done so in Uganda, Rwanda Eastern DRC and Burundi.
I am sure Tanzania also in some way is having a negative impact, and so we are all being affected.So, can a situation degenerate to the point that all of us cannot do or say something to save or reverse the situation. Once it reaches that point, I think other workable options should be devised.
Don’t you think the leadership of the EAC should also be condemned for maintaining silence and failing to intervene timely in tabling a solution to the Kenyan violence?
On this issue, I would say yes and no. Yes in a sense that this has now taken a number of weeks because maybe there is nothing concrete that has been done by all of us to stop it. On the other hand, I would say no because, as I mentioned earlier President Museveni, who is the chairman of EAC has communicated with different leaders in Kenya on the situation right from the time electoral results were announced until recently when he went there and gave some proposals. So the rest of us thought something was being done already.
Apart from the chairman who was acting on behalf of the EAC, you have seen the chairman of AU, former Secretary General of the UN, former Tanzania President, different leaders in various capacities on our continent who are respected people have been there.
I think that tended to make people believe something was happening and they should give it time. But it did not exclude other options like different parties in Kenya using institutional means that are in place to resolve their grievances. So we thought all these were happening and that they would lead to a solution.
Very obviously today, looking back for the last few weeks, we are seeing more killings going on and that makes people wish that may be more efforts or something better had been done to prevent that from continuing.
In fact the EA ministers met and discussed this problem but the way things were discussed, it created an impression that things were being resolved by Kenyans themselves and they had no reason to doubt Kenyans, until we saw today that things are getting worse.
So really, you may be right to blame whoever for that, like for me this is the first time I am talking about the situation in Kenya and this is because you sought me and asked me. But all along I’ve been thinking about it and what is happening there and what people can do about it and I have been finding difficulties about what people can do.
Some Kenyans came here to brief the government about the situation there but unfortunately I was not in the country. Apparently the picture that came out seems not to be the case today. May be things have degenerated indeed.And I think it would be really absurd that we would keep quiet…it is one thing to fail to do something tangible that would give you results, and it is another to do the simpler thing like speaking out and giving your views and see what would follow, like we are doing now.
Probably this should have come earlier than it has, but again the reasons are what I have explained to you. It is important also to give time and space and also allow efforts that are underway to see if they will work, but it is a process that we have to keep interested in and finding ways of contribution to.
How is this Kenyan crisis affecting the economy of Rwanda?
It is affecting the economy of Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and eastern Congo as I have already said. You know our imports and exports mainly go through that route. You can imagine if goods are stopped from moving; it has already manifested itself in the raised prices of petroleum products and thus hiked prices of other dependent commodities.
Think about transporters who commute the Mombassa route. You hear they have been held in some place or that their trucks have been destroyed. Tomorrow you will hear those drivers or other people doing business in or going through Kenya have been killed or targeted. It is a very difficult situation and this has a tendency to directly affect our economy, no doubt.
Do you think the current mess in Kenya paints an ugly picture on the future of democracy in Africa?
Democracy is a complex thing and in Africa some countries are getting it right, while others are having difficulties or others still getting it wrong all together.
It’s a struggle that continues on our continent. People have to keep struggling to achieve democracy. But of course it can also teach a lesson to all of us, mainly to the developed countries, who tend to always prescribe the standards and give their own formula as to how democracy should look and be practiced like in every situation or in our own countries.
I think democracy has an element that tends to be ignored always. It is the fact that democracy should always be tailored to suit specific conditions, historical or otherwise, in any given situation.
It doesn’t have a one-size-fit-all formula and really these people should be learning their lessons.In principles that are universal, certainly that we all respect. But there are aspects which have to be tailored to situations of individual countries, depending on their histories, cultures and so on, without compromising or eroding the other universal principles I just mentioned.
The blend of these things is where the trick lies and is where people should not under estimate in terms of the consequences, if that blending is not tenable to a given situation, and there is no shortage of examples.
I think it forms a good intellectual debate and a good reflection and lessons for everybody, and so people have to look at what has happened in Kenya and may be Rwanda too. Ends
Source: New Times Rwanda www.newtimes.co.rw/index.php?issue=13426
www.newtimes.co.rw/index.php?issue=13429&search
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 3, 2008 13:17:45 GMT 3
constitutionally Kagame is allowed to stand for two terms, seven years each.
Meanwhile see below for his detail assessment and postulation on Kenyan crisis. He reveals that " some Kenyans" has sought Rwanda's help over the matter.
Jahaatwach
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