Recent Posts

Mzee here is your initial post on the subject matter -> You insisted that this announcement will be a game changer and tilt the political landscape in Kalenjinland as you put it.



How this has changed to William Ruto cheated , William Ruto is a liar, William Ruto Yator case,Uhuru Kenyatta perused evidence on William Ruto before being passed to Ocampo just goes to explain how CORD/ODM has lost the plot and are now clutching at straws and this is a futile attempt to woo back the Riftvalley vote not mentioning that this announcement has come from the Prime Ministers Office.

We have extensively discussed the ICC matter here in Jukwaa and how the Ocampo 6 ended up in ICC . Let me jog your memory as your presidential candidate likes saying . Ocampo relied heavily on the Maina Kiai and Omar Hassan(ODM affiliates ) KNCHR reports on the post election violence instead of doing thorough independent investigations-Its now clear with the hassle Bensouda is going through that the investigations were shoddy and pegged on hearsay.

ODM further through their secretary general Anyang Nyongo wrote a letter to UN security Council regarding the Cases at ICC on reasons why the Cases should not be Differed nor Reffered to Kenya which eventually jolted the bid to bring back the cases to Kenya.

-Remember this

www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2011/03/odm-letter-jolts-deferral-bid/

www.capitalfm.co.ke/eblog/2011/03/14/petition-to-un-security-council-regarding-kenyan-cases-at-the-icc/

Petition to UN Security Council regarding Kenyan cases at the ICC
Posted by Opinion Leaders on March 14, 2011

BY ANYANG NYONGO

It is my pleasure and privilege to refer to the ongoing International Criminal Court proceedings relating to Kenya and the deferral request made by a section of the Government of Kenya to the United Nations Security Council.

Background:

The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Kenya presented to the United Nations and to all the Permanent and Observer Missions to the United Nations an Aide Memoire titled “Kenya’s Reform Agenda and Engagement with International Criminal Court (ICC)”.

Kenya’s Vice-President, H.E. Kalonzo Musyoka has led a delegation to the UN Secretary General to discuss the Aide Memoire, alongside the Communiqué of the 17th Extra-Ordinary Session of the IGAD Assembly of Heads of State and Government on Sudan, Somalia and Kenya, and the African Union Decision on the Implementation of the Decisions on the International Criminal Court on the deferral/referral of the Kenyan Cases at the ICC.

It is important for the UN Members, the Security Council and Secretary-General to have a complete picture and understanding of the situation in Kenya before making any determination on the Aide Memoire from President Kibaki.

This petition presents a set of incontrovertible facts which will assist The Security Council and other interested parties to understand why the Kenyan Cases at the ICC should neither be deferred nor referred. These facts justify why the ongoing ICC process is the best and only means of securing justice to the innocent victims of Kenya’s post election violence of 2007/8.

It is imperative to underline the fact that the institutions, groups and individuals that were allegedly involved in the planning and execution of the crimes against humanity during the 2007/8 post-election violence in Kenya continue to operate unfettered and occupy important positions of power within and outside government.

Sixteen Reasons Why the Kenyan Cases at the ICC must neither be Deferred nor Referred to Kenya:

• The prosecution of the Kenyan Cases at the ICC does not pose any threat to international peace and security. To the contrary, failure to bring to justice the perpetrators of post-election violence poses grave danger to Kenya’s internal peace and security.

• The ICC process was unanimously approved by the two parties under the Annan-brokered National Accord, and the instruments that paved the way for the process were signed by both the President and the Prime Minister for and on behalf of their respective political parties, which form a coalition.

• The great majority of Kenyans (more than eighty per cent) support the ICC process as the most credible method to fighting the culture of impunity in Kenya. Surveys by leading institutions in the country have repeatedly confirmed this position.

• Local (Kenyan) trials will be exposed to:

o political manipulation by leaders pleading the ethnic card;

o Threats to witnesses, their families and friends. Indeed, many witnesses have been hunted down and killed by State security agents; and

o Undue delays engineered by frivolous and vexatious applications.

• Local trials are not possible at the moment as there is no national judicial mechanism in place to handle the cases. There have been no investigations and prosecutions since the crimes were committed more than three years ago. Moreover, the criminal justice system has not been reformed to enable it to handle the cases. Although Kenya has enacted the International Crimes Act, it is in doubt as to whether Kenyan courts have jurisdiction over the international crimes committed before January 2009 when the Act became operational.

• The judicial reforms contemplated under the new Constitution have not been implemented. The judges and magistrates have not been vetted. There is no independent prosecutorial authority.

• The involvement of the ICC was necessitated by Kenya’s rejection to establish a national judicial mechanism to deal with the crimes committed. In fact, the Government of Kenya repeatedly made verbal and written commitments to cooperate with the ICC and indicated that if it was unable to prosecute the perpetrators of the 2007/08 post election violence by September 2009, the ICC should do so. Those written and public commitments were made by the Government to the ICC Prosecutor both at The Hague and during his official visits to Nairobi.

• Local trials will be used to shield the suspects from justice. This was recently demonstrated by the nominations of Mr. Githu Muigai and Mr. Kioko Kilukumi to the positions of Attorney-General and Director of Public Prosecutions, respectively, while they are on record as lawyers for two of the ICC suspects. In addition, an ICC suspect chaired the Panel that identified and nominated Justice Visram to the position of new Chief Justice.

Although President Kibaki was forced to withdraw his nominations through public outcry, a court order and stinging resolutions of the National Assembly Speaker, the Judicial Service Commission, the Commission on the Implementation of the Constitution, the Law Society of Kenya, the Federation of Women Lawyers and nearly all Kenyan civil society groups; it demonstrated the extent to which President Kibaki’s Party of National Unity and the six individuals summoned by the ICC would go to defeat the cause of justice.

• The request for a deferral of the Kenyan cases pending before the ICC has been made by one side of the Kenyan coalition government, namely the Party of National Unity headed by President Mwai Kibaki. The Orange Democratic Movement headed by the Prime Minister Raila Odinga, does not support that request.

• Because of the significant positions held in and influence the suspects wield within Government, they are the ones spearheading the deferral request as a means of defeating the cause of justice. Ultimately, the six suspects the ICC has summoned intend to use the deferral, if granted, as the basis of perpetuating the culture of impunity in Kenya.

• The deferral request should therefore be seen as evidence that the Party of National Unity and President Mwai Kibaki are both unwilling and unable to prosecute the six suspects for the crimes alleged by the ICC.

• Since 1992, each general election has been characterized by state sponsored violence and ethnic cleansings leading to mass deaths, evictions, rapes and arson. While there have been official judicial inquiries on these crimes, no prosecutions have ever been conducted, and no culprits have been punished.

• Extra-judicial killings have increased significantly since 2003. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, Prof. Philip Alston has investigated and made far-reaching findings and recommendations. However, the Government has not taken any action.

• Both the Cabinet and Kenyan Parliament have on more than two occasions rejected Bills for the establishment of a local tribunal for the cases and instead declared that the trials should be held at The Hague.

• The ICC process is the only opportunity that Kenyans have to break the culture of impunity and the circle of elections-related violence.

• In view of the foregoing the request for deferral does not qualify or merit consideration by the UN Security Council within the provisions of Article 16 of the Rome Statute, or through any other provisions. This is particularly the case because the Kenyan Situation at the ICC was not originated by a referral by the UN Security Council. Consequently, the request for a deferral is an unwarranted interference with the Court’s mandate, its independence and impartiality.

We therefore submit that the request for a deferral by a section of the Kenyan Government be rejected as being incompetent and frivolous.

On behalf of the Orange Democratic Movement and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kenya, The Rt. Hon. Raila Odinga, EGH, MP, I would like to request you to bring this letter to the attention of all Council Members of the Security Council and to have it issued as a document of the Council, as a matter of great urgency.

Please accept, Your Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.

(Anyang\’ Nyong\’o is the Secretary General, Orange Democratic Movement)

Read more: jukwaa.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=7505&page=3#ixzz2M0zHP0at

By Digital Reporter

The Jubilee coalition on Tuesday released 12 regional manifestos that set out details on how the alliance will transform the country if its flag bearer Uhuru Kenyatta wins the March 4 elections.

The regional manifestos are an interpretation of the national manifesto launched by the coalition earlier this month.

It divides the country into 12 specific regions and address issues specific to those regions.

The regions are Nairobi, Central Kenya, Central Rift, Coast, Kisii-Nyamira, Lower Eastern and Upper Eastern.

The other areas are lower Rift Valley, Upper Rift Valley, Western, the greater Nyanza and Central Eastern.

The regional manifestoes cover constituencies grouped under different counties and are in line with the envisaged devolvement of power and funding to the counties aimed at giving control of local services back to the people.

According to Peter Macharia of the Jubilee Campaign team, the documents have been distributed to all Jubilee Coalition candidates including the governors and County Representatives to enable them understand the socioeconomic issues in respective regions which they need to address should Jubilee win the elections.

The Nairobi manifesto covers pledges made by the alliance while those for other regions include what Governors are expected to accomplish.

The manifesto of the Coast region gives five key pledges including establishing fish processing and horticulture processing plants.

Improved security to counter terrorism, land issues and rehabilitation of roads are among key things the Uhuru-led coalition says it intends to do for the coastal region.


www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000078177&story_title=Kenya-Jubilee-releases-regional-manifestos

Genius ,
During the launch of the Jubilee Manifesto Uhuru answered the question you are asking and actually elaborated on the history and genesis of the land issue and went into length how he is going to tackle and solve the issue once he becomes the president .
Find below the speech both in Video and text format.





www.kenya-today.com/politics/uhuru-kenyatta-manifesto


Our Coalition is a symbol of the change we will bring to Kenya. That change must transform the lives of ordinary Kenyans by giving them the means to help themselves, empowering them to make the choices they want about their own lives.

In order to do so, there are serious issues that we must address. First and foremost among these is the land question. It has been the running sore that has poisoned relations between communities, prompting suspicion and driven dispute and even been used to politically attack me as an individual.

While our opponents seek short-term political advantage we seek to provide long-term solutions.

Land is always seen as a source of problems in Kenya – when it can instead be the tool we use to create wealth and opportunity for all Kenyans. The time has come to settle this issue, to end the discord and argument.

For too long in Kenya we have talked about the Land Question – now we need to find the Land Answer.

Fellow Kenyans please allow me to dwell on this subject for a while.

You all know that when the Colonial Government established itself in Kenya it created 3 categories of land ownership. First was the land taken by the Colonial Government for its own use which was called Crown Land, second was the land given to settlers as private land and lastly what remained was assigned to Africans as Native Reserves. Back in 1954 under the Swynnerton Plan some Native Reserves saw a process of adjudication, consolidation and registration that gave titles to Africans. At independence our Government inherited Crown Land and renamed it Government land, today this accounts for 13% of the country’s total land mass. Native Reserves became trust land vested in local county councils.

Even after independence the settlers kept their land under private title, or sold it to Africans on a ‘willing buyer, willing seller’ basis. And today private land is something bought & sold like any other commodity – altogether that private land accounts for 20% of our country.

Land in those Reserves that were not adjudicated and given back to Africans is now called Community Land under the new Constitution and is to be managed by the National Land Commission. This category of land presently accounts for about two-thirds, 67% of the total land in Kenya.

My fellow Kenyans,

Each one of these categories of land carries its own problems.

Government land has often been poorly used and managed. As trustee of the nation’s assets, the Jubilee Government will reform its management and ensure that it is used in the public interest and for the benefit of all Kenyans.

The second category of land, private land – suffers from subdivision & fragmentation leading to smaller and smaller parcels being passed on to new buyers or successive generations. This has meant that in some parts of the country land parcels have become so small that they are no-longer viable for agriculture. The long-term economic consequence is that farmers can no-longer support themselves or their families. In urban areas overcrowded informal settlements or slums have grown and this trend is now being reflected even in densely populated rural areas.

As a government, we will provide wider economic opportunities – so that people, especially in rural areas, do not feel that the only way they can make a living is tilling ever-smaller parcels of land using a jembe and a panga. We aim to reverse the process of fragmentation and instead institute a process of reconsolidation that will create viable land holdings.

While our policies will be deliberate the process of reconsolidation will be voluntary and driven by the availability of better opportunities across the country. And we will build spinal infrastructure such as roads, rail, water supplies and electricity to support new local centres where people can live and work.

Our programme for skills, training and economic development will ensure that a life on the land, using modern, mechanized farming methods is a matter of choice not one of necessity – as we give new alternatives for the youth to earn a living.

My fellow Kenyans, let me now turn to Community land.

Today, 60 years after the Swynnerton Plan was initiated 67% of land in Kenya has still not been adjudicated and has no title. It is community land but those communities who live on it have no real rights. The only thing we have done is to change the name of that category of land and the bureaucracy, that from time to time is responsible for its management. The truth is that there has been no fundamental attempt to answer the land question in Kenya since Swynnerton. For too long the land debate has been about a small fraction of the land while the fact that two thirds of our country is untitled has remained unnoticed and never part of the debate. The new Constitution recognizes that there is a problem but it does not provide a solution. My Government will be committed to finally giving the Land Answer.

People living on community land suffer disadvantages not suffered by people living on their own land – they cannot unlock commercial value of that land, public bodies are hampered from providing services as it is effectively no-man’s land, individuals cannot invest & develop the land as they do not no whether one day they maybe moved on. This Insecurity means they cant invest, even on their own housing. Above all

– they can’t raise capital or seek investment from others. We have turned them into squatters on their own land – they are condemned to poverty – living in a kind of economic limbo, while those who have private titles are able to get credit, invest in their land and consequently enjoy the phenomenal rise in value that we continue to witness.

The existence of these different categories of land, private & community has led to skewed development across the country, with millions missing out on the benefits.

Giving these people the right to own the land they live on will increase food production, create more investment, improve housing & health outcomes – it would allow individuals to take charge of their own lives, rely on their own efforts, it would minimize disputes over ownership between individual, families & communities. My Government will be committed to giving people the title to their own land – 60 years after Swynnerton Kenyans deserve to have that process completed.

We will do this not just in rural areas but also in urban areas where informal settlements abound.

When we look at the slums in our great cities we see poverty, but it is time we saw the opportunities to generate wealth that lies there-in.

Take any slum, take Kibera, which has become famous for the depth of its poverty – visitors to our country are often taken to Kibera to see levels of deprivation & erosion of human dignity that its resident bear. Yet, Kibera is some of the most valuable land in Nairobi – rough estimates of its value put the worth of area of land in Kibera at over KSH 60 billion – people of are literally walking over KSH 60 billion which they own – yet they have been denied by their politicians the chance of unlocking that wealth because they have been denied the title to their land. My Government will be committed to giving them the title to that land which is the key to unlocking KSH60bn for the people of Kibera! It will be the responsibility of my Government to help organize the people of Kibera so that the community who own this land can reap its benefits – perhaps through local societies or community trusts or directly as property owners. My Government will work with the people of Kibera who will be the owners of the land they live on, and with financiers & developers to put up decent, high rise, high value homes and businesses, which the people of Kibera will own themselves and no- one else. We will transform a slum into a thriving new community – without a single eviction or compulsory demolition! This is the model we intend to use in other areas where people live in slums.

With regard to the issue of squatters – my Government will give them rights to land aswell, but we will work through the law and with owners of this land to find appropriate compensation mechanism for them. This will allow us to adjudicate the rights of squatters so that they have firm title too. For all those Kenyans who have been displaced whether by violence or by Government policy on forest conservation or inter-ethnic conflict and have waited to long for their pleas to be answered – we hear you and our Government will accelerate and complete the resettlement efforts that are currently underway.

To complete my programme on land reform we are committed to digitizing & decentralizing the land registry, to scrap search fees & other fees imposed by land tribunals. I believe that government services for land should be free to the people of Kenya, the Government should not place unnecessary roadblocks and obstacles to people doing transactions over their own land.

I have taken time to give this matter the consideration it deserves. I don’t want to score cheap political points, indeed I welcome other ideas that will help resolve this issue from whatever source they come. Land was the basis on which the war of independence was waged – it is too serious a matter to be become a political football, too much blood has been shed in this country for that.

Politicians, especially those seeking the highest office in the land, should not use it as a stone to throw at one another. This issue requires serious, steady consideration and judgment and answers designed to provide a long-term solution not short-term political advantage.

www.voanews.com/content/kenyan-presidential-candidates-hammered-on-corruption-at-debate/1610762.html

NAIROBI — Kenya’s presidential candidates argued over the economy, corruption and foreign policy at the second and final presidential debate Monday in Nairobi. The candidates came out aggressively with just a week to go before the vote.

Eight presidential candidates made their case to the Kenyan people before the March 4 vote and took swipes at each other in the process.

The moderators stayed mostly out of the way while the candidates attacked each other on corruption and land.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga rejected allegations that he protected members of the health ministry suspected of involvement in the questionable distribution of money from a National Hospital Insurance Fund.

“There has still been no concrete evidence provided to show there has been any kind of wrongdoing in the ministry financially," said Odinga. "There’s just been wild allegations and claims.”

Amani coalition candidate Musalia Mudavadi was attacked for his alleged role in a shady land deal involving a Nairobi cemetery. Paul Muite, founder of the Safina party, was hammered over the Goldenberg scandal which defrauded the government out of billions of dollars in the early 1990s.

Outsider candidate Mohammed Dida, who has earned the most laughs from debate audiences for his bizarre analogies, delivered the line of the night.

“Thank you for your sincerity, pertaining [to] your questions on integrity and leadership," said Dida. "But did you expect a thief to tell you ‘I’ve stolen’?”

Jubilee candidate Uhuru Kenyatta, one of the richest men in Kenya and the son of the country's first president, was hit hard on the question of land reform.

The moderator, Joe Ageyo, asked Kenyatta how he would tackle the land issue as someone who, as Ageyo put it, owns “half of Kenya.”

“First and foremost, this issue of land is a very emotive issue in Kenya, and unfortunately the manner in which it has been handled has not been very professional or a manner that is really seeking to find solutions," said Kenyatta.

Kenyatta said his party is putting its faith in the newly created Land Commission, an independent body established by the new constitution to resolve land disputes.

Kenyatta initially had declined to participate in the debate after facing tough questioning about his indictment at the International Criminal Court for crimes committed during the violence that followed the last election in 2007.

Deputy Prime Minister Kenyatta and Prime Minister Odinga are the frontrunners in this year's presidential race and are virtually tied for support, according to recent opinion polls.

US and EU diplomats impressed by “MAGICAL UHURU KENYATTA” during the Presidential Debate (OBAMA watching)


Tuesday February 26, 2013 - News just in indicates that top US and European Union diplomats were impressed by the performance of Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta during the second stint of the Presidential Debate held at Brookside International School on Monday evening.

Credible sources from the diplomatic circles said they even came to an agreement that he can make a great leader for Kenya if he is elected on March 4th during the general election.

The sources said that the envoys, who had converged at Stanley Hotel in Nairobi, were impressed that Kenyatta, who is the Jubilee Coalition presidential flagbearer, does not have any corruption scandal.

"You know this kid can make a very good President than the rest," said one envoy who was watching the debate.

The envoy compared Uhuru to Italian former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi who was alleged to have a criminal past when he was elected the Prime Minister in the 1990s’.

He said Berlusconi took the country to greater heights despite European Union opposing his candidature. Italy is one of the most developed countries in the world thanks to Berlusconi’s leadership.

Confirmed reports indicate that US President Barrack Obama was also watching the debate at the White House.

www.kenyan-post.com/2013/02/us-and-eu-diplomats-impressed-by.html

Smart move by UK team for highlighting the failings of the first debate and thus putting the debate on a high gear on the integrity issue where the other candidates were roasted and roasting each other with UK coming out eloquently and clearing himself on the "computer error" issue which has been used to try and tarnish his name.

A question to Uhuru was like an avenue for him to exonerate himself take the example of the parcel of land his family owns in Taita Taveta where he debunked the myth that his family owns the land size of Nyanza(mind you an erroneous report by a lazy journalist written during the time Ndungu report came to limelight taken to new levels by Martha today saying the family owns land the half size of Kenya )telling the nation that theirs was a willing seller willing buyer situation and the family owns partly 30,000 acres out of 4,194,613 acres of the county and that the govt owns majority of the land in that county contrary to what CORD and its supporters have been peddling around that his family owns 90% of the county's land. Another thing which he highlighted unlike his competitors his main focus will be to get a solution of the land crisis issue as its not an issue in one county alone but also a problem across the counties and most importantly focusing on the land usage.

Raila tried to pull a rabbit out of a hat on the land issue but came out as suicidal when after being asked a simple question by Uhuru cam out gun blazing against William Ruto(What a good way to Kiss Rift Valley votes bye ,Last nail in the coffin as they say.)

Can someone save Raila from himself -The statement he made against Dida(He is not a Kenyan) does not auger well and can be perceived he meant North Eastern residents arent Kenyans-He will need to clear that out as his rivals might use that on him when they campaign there.Dida rebutted well by telling him he is a Kenyan as he was born in Kenya.

All in all Uhuru' performance in the debate was outstanding once again and as somebody said somewhere else he is of Presidential Material in comparison with his competitors.

Kenyans Ready For A Muslim President

the-star.co.ke/news/article-108866/kenyans-ready-muslim-president

Former high school teacher Mohammed Abduba Dida is the Alliance for Real Change presidential candidate in the March 4 polls. He appeared on Kiss TV's JSO@7 hosted by John Sibi-Okumu. Here are excerpts from the interview transcribed by Star writer SHARON MACHARIA.



Mr Dida, first things first: You were a school teacher before now. You are interested, intellectually, in the study of religion and philosophy. And you are pursuing studies towards that end. But you have decided to run for president in this forthcoming election as the representative, first and foremost, of a minority community: You are Borana, I think am right in saying. Would you take us along a line of thinking about the history of your people within the Kenya of the last 50 years, and the marginalisation that is meant to have been part of their history?

You know humanity has it that there are some standards of a system of life that we need to live, but because of selfishness since the history of humanity, injustices were rampant. What they call marginalised communities... this is actually a polite way of accepting injustice. That we have exploited them, that we have neglected them, that we don't care about them. So as much as any listed community group are referred to as marginalised, 95 per cent of Kenyans are marginalised economically. There is nothing they have. You could belong to a larger community that is not marginalised but there is nothing they have. There is no difference between those referred to as marginalised and those not marginalized in terms of...

To what would you attribute the marginalisation of the Borana, in particular?

Man has developed a system of classifying his fellow man. Respect in terms of riches, respect in terms of how far your community has gone in terms of acquiring. What people have. So, after the independence of Kenya or when others communities were struggling to fight the colonisers, my community was in the bush.

I think I am right in saying that some of the first political assassinations in Kenya were directed to people of your community?

When you look at the research centre report released by State House various communities in Kenya later joined. And if you remember well KAU and Kanu were formed, and things were OK. But what brought Kadu was the conception by minor communities that now that we are attaining independence we may be swallowed up. Now this is when the brainstorming session started for minor commnunities... Now that a teacher like me can be cleared to vie for president, so many people, so many Kenyans have really seen that, well we can also achieve it. So when Kadu was formed, from fear that these larger communities may frustrate the minor communities, then it was an eye opener for the other communities in Kenya, the Somali and all those in Northern part of Kenya included. And they started struggling for there rights. Historically, there is that difference between Christianity, and Islam, the Arabs coming, and the missionaries coming...

Let's not talk about religion, for a while. I think there is a Borana community that lives in 'Boranaland,' so to speak, but also a significant Borana community that lives in Nairobi. Why couldn't somebody emerge from the urban Borana before now to seek leadership. Why the marginalisation up until this time?

You know conformity is a very serious problem. When you struggle and somebody tells you if you go to Nairobi you will be robbed, or you will be killed, you develop a negative attitude. Kenya is known for frustrating its potential. So, anybody who had an idea will suggest it to the community members and will be told you are young, don't frustrate yourself, Tom mboya was gunned down. This has happened. So, don't risk yourself and, by virtue of moving around with a bright idea, you may affect the larger community, you will be a marked man. If you remember, sometimes back, if they wanted to rig an election or win the provincial administrator was under instructions: if you don't not ensure that in your district this party will win a lot of votes then you will no longer be a DC. So, for this gentleman to retain his employment, he has to go an extra mile to convince people that, “Please, you know that I am the only District Commissioner from this district, and for me to stay on longer, this is the instruction that I have been given.” People conformed to the negative impression that if you try this then your children will be orphaned, your wives will be widowed. So, there was that fear.

You are a Muslim, do you think that Kenyans are ready for a Muslim president in the same way they might be ready for a woman president?

Kenyans are ready for the development and overall development of humanity.

We are all party of humanity. May I put the question to you again rather more specifically: Are Kenyans ready for a president who practises the Muslim faith?

Very much. They are ready. We were born in Kenya. We live in Kenya. You visit towns and you talk to people. You see they are saying so and so is a leader he comes from a certain community. What have you profited? Or that gentleman comes from that religion...

I am trying to say that, if Kenya perceives itself as a largely Christian country, given the existing climate in the world and the negative perception of Islam, are we ready for a Muslim president such as you?

If they have that notion in their thinking, then so many Christian leaders have been in charge and they have failed us. So, why not try a Muslim?

And you think that the Kenyan populace is prepared to try a Muslim?

They are prepared to try any sincere and honest leader.

In the wake of incursions to go and sort out people like al Shabaab, al Qaeda, the idea of Islam taking over the world, the Americans are wary of such developments. Do you think that, with Kenya being such a focal area for their interests, Americans would allow there to be a Muslim president here? Are these issues you have dealt with before attempting to become president?

Yeah. They are ready. The majority of Kenyans most affected as much as five years ago you would have convinced somebody, you give me your vote I give you money. But today it's not an issue. Talk of religion is gone. Kenyans have a lot of experience and you see they are very sincere, patient and hardworking.

Only five years ago, Kenyans were quite prepared to kill each other and bring the country to the brink of utter destruction based on tribalism. And you say that we are now mature enough to have a minority leader from a minority religion? I think you are deluding yourself...

When you talk of Kenya and what is happening you need to categorise people: We have 90 per cent normal, prudent, rational sincere Kenyans and we have five per cent of leaders who want to achieve their ends by any means, and we have the youth who have actually lost self control. So, if you see a bunch of youth paid to go and burn tyres in the streets, you should not conclude that Kenyans have burnt the tyres. So many people are very sincere, condemning what is happening. We are talking of a lady very early in the morning walking her son or daughter to school. It is very cold. She doesn't have the money for transport with her son. Her hope is in this young child, lunch time she will take lunch to school because she cannot pay for the meals provided in the school. We are talking of that gentleman who struggles; he is pushing a mkokoteni twice higher than him and he pushes and sees that this is a difficult responsibility. He cannot deliver it and he stops. He remembers his wife and the children at home without nothing then he says, “I must go through these difficulties to get 20 shillings.” Real Kenyans; people moving from one side of Nairobi to the other, waking up at five in the morning. We are talking about these people. They are really human and they love peace. I am not talking of the few mad, selfish leaders and the five per cent youths who can be turned right, left, or centre. No. Some 90 per cent of Kenyans are ready for this.

Mr Dida, in what way would you be different from these mad, selfish people whom you have described?

One thing that shocked me. You know there was hope when we got the new constitution and there was hope when we got Salaries and Remuneration Commission. But I was shocked when I saw the management of the commission who were earning Sh300,000 have added to their salaries. Now, they want to earn Sh750,000. I was shocked when they proposed Sh14 billion for state officers. And this money is to be paid by that gentleman who is jobless, by that lady who is selling her bananas.

I should imagine that a person who is jobless has no money to pay taxes.

They pay. If the man is jobless he is depending on his sister or mother or father at home. All of them are affected by the huge imposed taxes. Sometimes you come home and you tell your wife, “I cannot manage the huge house rent, I can't manage the taxes. Look at what I am getting! So, why don't you talk to your parents so that they can add something to what we have.”

Mr Dida. You are now in a media forum. You have said of the media, “I have come to the media houses and they keep telling me they will send reporters to my meetings and they never do. The media is biased. When we approach them to convey what we have, we are a bother yet they bother the rich so let's take the rich for granted.” Now you have a forum and a few minutes in which to say what would you offer that will be different. So, please don't evoke the scenario. Evoke the solution.

In my manifesto and what we want to deliver to Kenyans, there are five items: Item number one we are looking at life overall. How do we live, how many people who are living are comfortable?

For those who haven't read your manifesto could you go very quickly to the five because it could take five minutes to describe each.

We are looking at life.

The quality of life?

Yeah, the quality of life.

Right, number two?

Number two we are looking at the family.

Number three?

Number three we are looking at property.

Number four?

Number four, we are looking at intellect.

Number five?

Number five we are looking at religion.

I would say that those notions are very sort of airy fairy. None of them are concrete. Let's take one, intellect, what are you going to do to improve the quality of the intellect of Kenyans?

You have seen in your family, in the neighbours, and in Kenya somebody who has gone through the system of education, has a PhD in Physics, and cannot help himself if there is a problem with electricity in the house. He can stay the whole night in darkness. You know it is not learning because there is no application of what we are learning. I don't know the relevance. How many form fours have wasted their eight years in primary, their four years in secondary. What happens to the 109,000 standard eight leavers who were locked out of the form one secondary school? There is nothing the eight years they have taken will have done to help them.

But I would suggest, the 109,000 who were locked out, the 150 million jobless are so because there are no jobs for them. How would you create jobs?

We will create jobs by, and I have tried this, you know there are friendly and willing countries to help us. It is only that they fear the magnitude of corruption in the country.

And the friendly countries will do what, exactly?

They are in need of human resource, and we have so many educated men and women.

So you would ship Kenyans out as a source of labour?

Yes, Europe needs them.

Surely not. Europe doesn't need them. Europe has very strict measures to make sure that outsiders don't get jobs in Europe. People die in the Mediterranean being sent back home because they don't have any jobs in Europe. That's a bad example.

There are 57 employment bureaus registered in Saudi Arabia...

Kenyans who go to work in a country like Saudi Arabia come back with horror tales of slavery and being abused. And you are suggesting that, under your wise leadership, you would take our people to those conditions?

This frustration is because the government of Kenya is lacking a legal infrastructure. It is the government to sell its human resource to the other government; there must be a memorandum of association. It is the Kenyan government that must state this is my Kenyan citizen. This is the salary that he should earn..

Are we reading different newspapers? Or I my not reading tales of the Kenyan government being unable to repatriate its own citizens from countries where you say you would farm them off to be labourers.

I travelled sourcing employment, when I went there...

Where is there?

The middle East. When I went there, it is in your capacity as a Kenyan citizen that you are bargaining.

Your solution as President Dida is to propose a mass exodus of Kenyans to go and work elsewhere...

With the bargain by government. What I told them...

Which percentage of the population are you going to send abroad?

I want to tell you of my experience, and I want to tell you of the market outside. If you look at the middle East God has blessed them with oil and a lot of mineral resources, their education system was in Arabic currently changing to English, and they suggested because Kenyans are very good in the British system, they have gone and they are very good in English, why don't we go and borrow HR from Kenya and Russia and this is why we got the communications we got. Now as a company you go and bargain. This is what I was told, we need 1,000 drivers and there are so many here, but the terms you are given is their salary is KSh40,000 and that is it. Then I was telling them when you get this man or woman to come and work for you for three years without going back home, what happens to the children by this lady? Why don't you employ the husband to drive your vehicles for the three years and then you also get the wife and the children a small room so that when he works...

I am still somewhat shocked. You are going to export Kenyans as slave labour to other countries?

We are rich in human resource, if people want your assistance, if they want the skills that you have, you take them. Qatar wanted quantity surveyors and we were interviewing people. They said we want to pay Sh150,000, you know if the government, when we went there and they could not accept our terms we came back here we went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We went to the Ministry of Labour and we had a three-day meeting at the Kenya School of Law, and we were told, fine what is happening is not what you can really handle, let's form a commission. The Kenyan government wants to bury everything. A commission of enquiry was formed to go and investigate this. The government has clearly posted it in the newspapers. Don't go! This place is risky. But every night and every day they go. Thousands and thousands.

Could you use the last minute to have a final word or message to our viewers.

What I want to tell our viewers is that we are all human beings. I am reasoning and I am thinking and I am explaining this, when I talk of a lady working outside Kenya, I am just imagining of my daughter. If it is getting money, I would have gotten a lot. Go and check my records with the Ministry of Labour. There is nothing. It reads nil, nil, nil, because that environment was not there. So what I am saying is I am struggling and am talking to everybody, if I am educated and I am 40 years old almost and I cannot make ends meet, what will happen to our children? What will happen to that young boy and young girl coming up with hopes you can make it? I cannot make it... How will they make it? We need to sacrifice all what we have to expose the truth and you have no reason to doubt what I have for you. I am a brother. We are human beings. We are not animals. We are Africans. We are Kenyans. I am going through the huge rents you are going through. I am going through the huge transport. Today the landlord will just knock on your door and tell you, by the fifth, the rent is up. You are going to a matatu with Sh30, you are told it is Sh80. There is no control for this. We need to be a united team and I usually tell people: You don't know me or you may know others better but God understands best.