Friday, 1 April 2016

One trillion Kenyan shillings is given out each year according to the President,
This amount of money is given to each county and if you divide this amount to what it's supposed to be used for, you will find that each county is supposed to be so developed since Uhuru's government came in to power.
Nairobi county is one of the largest county in Kenya which is also the capital city. If we look at the environmental hygiene of Nairobi, it's very poor compared to other counties despite it being the capital city.
The money given to the county government should be used to collect garbage and keep the county clean. Walking in the streets of Nairobi we find a lot of garbage dumped carelessly, the roads are full of potholes, most of street lights do not work and the drainage system in Nairobi is also very poor. This shows how much corruption is great in Kenya.
President also talked about over a hundred cases of corruption pending in court. My question is, when are these corruption cartels going to be brought in to justice?,why are the cases pending for a long time yet judicial service commission is full of judges and magistrates?, why is it that other cases involving common mwananchi are heard so fast and the verdict given.
Kenyans know that nobody is above the law and these corrupt officials should not be in the office as we speak. As far as their cases are pending in court, no one should serve in the public office before their ruling have been given. I expected the President to call their names and ask them to step a side as cases involving them continue to be heard.
If all corrupt officials were brought to justice today, this would contribute so much to national development. If we look back to dignitaries who have visited our country in the past, the likes of President Obama and Pope Francis, they all mentioned corruption as the major inhibitor of Kenyan economic growth. It is very unfortunate that even after these global leaders paid a visit to our country and addressed corruption, no improvements have been made so far. Cases of corruption are pilling up everyday and no one has been prosecuted over corruption.
If an any M.P or a Cabinet Secretary has been prosecuted over corruption since Jubilee government took power, then I would say it has taken part in fighting corruption. Confiscating material possession for few members termed to be corrupt is not enough. Actions that Jubilee government should have taken in fight against corruption are firing members who are found to be corrupt, taking them to court and prosecuting them immediately once they are found guilty. This action would set an example to anyone who is planning a corruption activity to withdraw their plans and practice truthfulness and competence in serving the Nation.
People like Anne Waiguru who was grilled by ethics and anti corruption commission and found guilty of corruption should have been prosecuted together with all members mentioned in NYS fraud saga.
President did not talk much about the youth fund which have been embezzled and most youth left jobless yet there is money which can save them. Many young people are engaged in illegal activities such as drug abuse, burglary, terrorism among others. This is due to lack of funds which can help them in coming up with legal businesses which would help to sustain their life. These among others are consequences of corruption in our country.
Every Kenyan will celebrate when corruption will be strictly fought for and gotten rid off. It is possible to live in a corruption free zone like it is always written in most public offices but this will happen only if all corrupt members are out of the offices and rules set that whoever is found to be corrupt no matter their tribe, social status or race, will face full force of the law.

Wednesday, 30 March 2016

'WE WILL WALK OUT OF THE PARLIAMENT'.SO WHAT?

CORD saying that it would boycott President's speech on the state of the nation is a non issue. The president will be addressing the whole country after all. Its about time CORD members started to show some maturity prior to 2017 general elections.

STATE OF THE NATION

Deputy president in his speech yesterday was able to address the important steps the government has made in the last three years. The progress are major on infrastructure which entails, transport and electricity.
In his speech in particular on electricity, government has reduced the cost of installation of electricity from 35,000 to 15,000. This has enabled many people including villagers to get connected to electricity.

Wednesday, 23 March 2016

Kenyan politics

MPs slap caveat on Sh48m house in probe on youth fund’s stolen cash

Quondarum Ltd Managing Director Mukuria Ngamau when he appeared before the Public Investments Committee at Parliament Buildings in Nairobi on March 8, 2016. PHOTO | EVANS HABIL | NATION MEDIA GROUP

In Summary

MPs suspect Quorandrum Ltd MD bought the house using Sh180 million stolen from Youth Fund.
The Sh48 million mansion is under construction.
MPs have ordered that the house should not change hands.

By JOHN NJAGI
More by this Author

MPs on Wednesday put a caveat on a Sh48 million home in Lavington, Nairobi, said to have been bought with proceeds stolen from the Youth Fund.

They ordered that the house, which is under construction, should not change hands because they suspect it was bought using part of the Sh180 million paid out illegally by the Youth Enterprise Development Fund.

The house was bought by Mr Mukuria Ngamau, the managing director of Quorandrum Ltd which was paid Sh180 million by the youth fund for ICT services which were not delivered. It was bought from Duchess Park, a real estate developer.

“The Asset Recovery Agency should ensure the property does not change hands to protect public interest.

‘‘The directors of Duchess Park will also be held liable should the property change hands from Quorandrum Ltd to a third party,” said Public Investments Committee chairman Adan Keynan.

Should investigations confirm that the firm was paid the Sh180 million for fictitious consultancy services, the residential house could revert to the State and sold to recover the funds.

Wednesday, Duchess Park general manager William Onyango told the committee he advertised for the property on Ethuru Road in Lavington, in the newspapers and also at a housing exhibition in Nairobi, and that Mr Ngamau expressed interest and paid Sh48 million in three instalments.

MPs questioned Mr Onyango on why the payment of such a colossal sum within such a short period did not raise suspicions about the source of the funds.

The committee vice chairman, Mr Kimani Ichung’wa, questioned the legality of the deal which was concluded without any lawyer representing Quorandrum Ltd.

“You must be very lucky for a client to pay you Sh48 million, without an agreement, a lawyer or guarantee. Your relationship with the client seems to be a special one,” he said.

Mr Keynan also questioned whether the Real Estate firm was related with Quorandrum Ltd, but Mr Onyango said Mr Ngamau was not one of the directors.

The purchase of high-end properties has emerged as a money laundering trend in some of the mega scandals that has rocked key State agencies .

A lawyer representing Duchess Park, Ms Muthoni Kamau said it was allowed in law for a buyer to involve a lawyer at the point when the property was registered, a position that Mr Keynan rejected, insisting it was against provisions laid out by the Law Society of Kenya.

Funyula MP Paul Otuoma cited a contradiction in the purchase documents drawn by Quorandrum and what had been advertised by Duchess Park, with the former stating it was for buying an office block and the latter a residential unit.

During the hearings, it emerged Quorandrum Ltd had sub-contracted the construction of four court blocks for the Judiciary in Bomet, Othaya, Marimanti and Wang’uru, for Sh18 million to another firm Great Lakes Forwaders Ltd.

Quorandrum Ltd is at the centre of investigations into the theft of Sh180 million youth fund money, with MPs saying it was clear the property was purchased with proceeds of crime

US Election 2016

Donald Trump, Ted Cruz split wins in Arizona and Utah

In Democratic race, Hillary Clinton takes Arizona primary, while Bernie Sanders wins caucuses in Utah and Ida

Trump takes all of the Arizona's 58 delegates to the Republican National Convention [Ross D. Franklin/AP]

Leading Democratic and Republican contenders have split major wins in presidential nominating contests in Arizona and Utah.
Donald Trump rolled to a victory in the Arizona Republican primary, capitalising on his anti-immigration stance - a position that has long been popular with conservative voters in the state. With the win on Tuesday, Trump takes all of the state's 58 delegates to the Republican National Convention.
In the Democratic Arizona primary, Hillary Clinton was projected to easily account for Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
But Sanders flipped the script by beating the former secretary of state in the Utah caucuses. He doubled up by also taking the Idaho caucuses on Tuesday.

The Donald Trump show - The Listening Post

Trump won more than 45 percent of the vote in Arizona, compared to about 21 percent for his main rival, Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
The billionaire businessman made three trips to Arizona and had the support of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former Governor Jan Brewer - a pair of politicians best known for leading immigration crackdowns.
However, Cruz - like Sanders - looks countered his party's frontrunner by winning Tuesday's Utah caucuses.
Early in the vote count, Cruz was leading with nearly 70 percent of the vote. By winning more than 50 percent, he will carry all of the state's 40 delegates.
Clinton padded her delegate lead with her win in Arizona.
With 75 delegates at stake, Arizona is the biggest prize of the night in the Democratic race.
Clinton stands to gain more than half of those delegates - at least 40, compared to at least 16 for rival Bernie Sanders. That means she will add to her delegate lead of more than 300. She now has 1,203 to Sanders' 860.
By winning the Utah and Idaho caucuses with about 75 percent of the vote, however, Sanders will not suffer too much in the overall count.
Cruz won the Republicans' Idaho caucuses earlier this month.

Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders holds a campaign rally in San Diego, California on Tuesday [Mike Blake/Reuters]

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Monday, 21 March 2016

US ELECTION 2016

Donald Trump and the Muslim hair magnate

Palestinian American Farouk Shami is an associate who says the Republican candidate would make a "great president".

Farouk Shami, in white, with Donald Trump, centre,) on the TV show Celebrity Apprentice [Photo courtesy of Farouk Shami]

Correction, 19/3: An earlier version of this story said that Farouk Shami came to the US in 1986 with $75. This was incorrect. He came to the US in 1965 with $71.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump may have angered many Muslims when he said that he would ban Muslim immigration to the United States, but a close Muslim business associate, Palestinian American Farouk Shami, says he suspects Trump would moderate his views if he were to become president.
Shami emigrated to the US from a village near Ramallah, Palestine, with only $71 in his pocket in 1965, and went on to build one of the nation's largest manufacturers of haircare products, Farouk Systems. His products have been featured on Trump's television shows and Shami says that he first met the property mogul when he sponsored Miss Teen USA, Miss USA and Miss Universe in 2003.

But, last year, Farouk withdrew sponsorship of Trump's Miss Universe pageants and Celebrity Apprentice over the candidate's comments about Mexican immigrants.

Now, however, he says he hopes to reconnect with Trump.
"As Trump becomes the Republican candidate, I plan to connect with him and donate to his campaign and try to get him Muslim votes," Shami told Al Jazeera.
"If we do that, he will be open for us and soften his talks about immigrants and Muslims."

Obama visits Cuba, hails 'historic opportunity'

Barack Obama becomes first US president to visit communist state in nine decades as relations with Havana thaw.

President Barack Obama has called his trip to Cuba a "historic opportunity" in his first comments after becoming the first serving US leader to visit the state in almost nine decades.

The three-day visit marks the culmination of a thaw in relations between Washington and the communist island that began in December 2014.

Obama arrived in Havana on Sunday evening with his wife and daughters and is due to meet Cuban President Raul Castro later on Monday.
"It's been nearly 90 years since a US president set foot in Cuba. It is wonderful to be here...for the first time ever Air Force One has landed in Cuba," he said during a speech at the US embassy in Havana shortly after his arrival.
"This is a historic visit and it's a historic opportunity to engage directly with the Cuban people and to forge new agreements, commercial deals, to build new ties between our two peoples."

Air Force One arrives in the Cuban capital Havana [Reuters]

Excitement in Havana

Al Jazeera's Lucia Newman, reporting from Havana, said the visit had excited Cubans, many hopeful of what the newly re-established ties could bring.
"Many Cubans were actually saying they needed to pinch themselves, that they could not really believe that an American president was finally coming to their country," she said.
"People want to know what the president is going to say...he will be addressing the Cuban people on Tuesday [and] this message will be broadcast live on Cuban television."

Obama is set to meet Cuban dissidents during his visit, a move our correspondent Newman said would have been considered "intolerable" by the government in the past.
"The Cuban government is clearly not happy about it and to make the point, as the president's plane was coming here, some 50 dissidents were actually arrested."

Cold War rivalry

The two countries have moved towards normalizing relations after a breakdown following the 1959 communist revolution led by former Cuban President Fidel Castro.
Successive US government have tried to oust the Cuban leadership, most notably during the CIA-backed Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961.
Former US President John F Kennedy imposed a trade embargo on Havana in 1962 and in the same year the movement of nuclear missiles from the Soviet Union to Cuba brought the countries close to nuclear war.
Since the restoration of diplomatic relations, the states have signed telecommunication deals and put into place airline services but obstacles remain, including the continuing embargo.
Obama faces opposition to the rapprochement from the opposition Republican party, which controls both Congress and the Senate.
Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz, who is of Cuban descent, criticized Obama in an article posted on Politico.
"I have news, Mr President: No progress has taken place. Cuba is going backward," Cruz wrote