Saturday, October 31, 2015 Civil societies call for NGOs board overhaul

 Kenya Human Rights Commission acting Executive Director Davis Malombe (right) and CSO Reference Group Executive Director Njeri Kabeberi addressing journalists at Sarova Panafric hotel in Nairobi on October 31, 2015. PHOTO | JAMES EKWAM | NATION MEDIA GROUP  

In Summary

• Mr Mahamed said some of the NGOs have been operating two sets of accounts to hide from the government what they get in donations.
• On Friday, Ms Waiguru told Citizen TV that she had cancelled the directive because of the complaints raised against it.

An umbrella group for civil societies has called for the overhaul of the NGO Coordination Board over Wednesday announcement that some organisations face deregistration.

The Civil Society Organisations Reference Group, consisting of over 200 Public Benefit Organisations, on Saturday questioned where the board’s Executive Director Fazul Mohamed draws his powers from as his term has expired.

“The NGO Coordination Bureau Executive Director Fazul Mohamed speaks in the name of the board yet the term of its members expired early this year.

“The 200 members of the CSO reference group have lost confidence in the leadership at the NGO coordination bureau. We urge the cabinet secretary to overhaul its leadership,” they said at a press conference in Nairobi.

The group praised a move by Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru to cancel Mr Mohamed’s announcement. They said Ms Waiguru “interrupted what was a colossal policy mistake”.

“The bureau was in the process of deregistering 10 per cent of a 40-year-old sector based on factual errors and unsubstantiated allegations,” the organisations said in a statement signed by their Executive Director Njeri Kabeberi.

On Friday, Ms Waiguru told Citizen TV that she had cancelled the directive because of the complaints raised by NGOs.

The umbrella body added that Mr Mahamed’s team had failed to deliver on its primary mandate and called for the formulation of a “professional” team.

“The sector is slowly being choked by a clumsy, short-sighted legislative and smear campaign to reduce space for PBOs to operate,” they added.

In his announcement on Wednesday, Mr Mahamed said some of the NGOs have been operating two sets of accounts to hide from the government what they get in donations.

“They have two sets of accounts — one for donors and another which is correct with less money going to the government,” said Mr Mohamed.

Among the 957 organisations that have not accounted for donations are the Kenya Human Rights Commission (Sh1.2 billion), Kalonzo Musyoka Foundation (Sh64 million) and Africa Development Solutions (Sh9.7 billion).

Others are the Ahadi Trust, known for fighting jiggers (Sh84 million), Deaf Aid (Sh164 million), JISDO (Sh203 million) and Africa Population and Health Research (Sh5.8 billion).

Kenya moves to cripple human-rights lobby

The Kenyan state is on the warpath yet again. This time using the proxy of the Non-Governmental Organisations Co-ordination Board — which last week announced through the media that it was deregistering 957 NGOs. Not to mention ordering the Central Bank of Kenya to issue instructions to the banks of those NGOs to freeze their accounts.

The reasons given? Supposedly that, following a “forensic audit” of the 10,015 NGOs registered under the NGO Act, those 957 NGOs have failed to account for the funds they received.

Alarming indeed. Until we see one of the only three organisations it chose to single out in its statement: The Kenya Human Rights Commission. Which it accuses of “operating four illegal bank accounts” and filing “false reports” and audited accounts that show a discrepancy of Ksh1.2 million.

The KRHC’s response was immediate. It circulated a public rejoinder to the NGO Co-ordination Board noting that it had not once received any question about its audited accounts — dutifully filed annually with the NGO Co-ordination Board.

Demanding to see the so-called forensic audit referred to, as well as the immediate retraction of the slur on its reputation. It also noted its concern that — like everybody else — it had only seen the report of its featuring on the list of NGOs to be deregistered in the media. It had not received any communication from the NGO Board to that effect.

Where does the truth lie?

No doubt there are some who will be found guilty of improper accounting for and misuse or theft of grantmakers’ funds. But that sort of problem sorts itself out naturally — once a grantmaker realises that’s the case, they simply turn off the taps. And the grantmaking world is small — word gets round and the NGO is blacklisted.

Even if the grantmaker concerned doesn’t opt for criminal prosecution which, frankly, they should. To prevent individuals involved from being able to continue to rotate through civil society.

But (for sure) the KHRC is not one of those NGOs. It is probably the best-funded human-rights organisation around. It has had a fairly stable core group of grantmakers for many years. That could not continue to be the case were it or its staff or its directors guilty of what the NGO Co-ordination Board is trying to make it out to be.

So what could the NGO Board be trying to achieve?

Frankly, it is yet another case of regulatory harassment. Plus public defamation and slander. That and the preliminary points referred to above will be easily proved when the KHRC heads to the court.

But, going by this year’s experience of Haki Africa and Muslims for Human Rights, the Kenyan state is unconcerned with being proven wrong in a court of law. Or even with upholding court decisions.

Haki Africa and Muhuri got court orders that the Kenyan state remove them from the list of “designated entities” under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. To date, that removal has not translate into the unfreezing of their accounts. Meaning that their operations remain crippled.

That is, no doubt, what the state wants for the KHRC as well. To cripple its operations, regardless of the law.

L. Muthoni Wanyeki is Amnesty International’s regional director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes. She is also a former executive director and current board member of the KHRC.
LINK 

957 NGOs to be de-registered for financial malpractice

A total of 957 Non-government Organisations (NGOs) including the Kalonzo Musyoka Foundation, which is associated with Cord co- principal Kalonzo Musyoka are set to be de-registered.

The organisations face de-registration after failing to account for more than Sh25.6billion received from donors, among other malpractices.

NGOs coordination board chief executive officer Fazul Mohamed said some of the NGOs have been operating two sets of accounts in order to hide from the government what they get in donations.

“They have two sets of accounts - one for donors and another another which is correct with less money going to the government,” said Mr Mohamed.

Among the organisations are Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) which has not accounted for Sh1.2billion, the Kalonzo Musyoka Foundation, which has not accounted for Sh64million, Africa development solutions (ADESO) Sh9.7billion.

Others are Ahadi Trust known for fighting jiggers which has not accounted for Sh84million, Deaf Aid Sh164million, JISDO Sh203million and Africa Population and Health Research, which has not accounted for Sh5.8billion.

Mr Mohamed said the audit was conducted for 10,015 NGOs in the country.

However, Ahadi Trust chief executive officer Stanley Kamau, said the organisation had submitted its financial accounts for 2010.

“We did our part by submitting our financial reports and we believe the board needs to check its records,” Mr Kamau said on Wednesday evening.

Saturday, October 24, 2015 Afrofuturism: Goethe Institut hosts African science fiction fete

 

Nigerian author and poet Ben Okri. Okri’s recent public address entitled ‘Meditations on Greatness’ at this year’s ‘Africa Writes’ festival in London, sponsored by the Royal African Society. I say witnessed, but perhaps I should say endured. PHOTO | FILE   

In Summary

• The Goethe has thus decided to have the topic of science fiction writing as a major part of the discussions during its Afrofutures Festival taking place simultaneously in the three African cities of Accra, Johannesburg and Nairobi from October 28 to 31 from 10 am until late. 
• The topics for the festival will range from Africa’s speculative futures, whether technology is a means or curse for the future and the future of knowledge production on the continent in order to create something that suits us as Africans.

These are exciting times for African literature. I have said it before and I probably will not get tired of saying it as long as writers on the continent continue on the trajectory they are currently on.

Having said that many times, you can imagine I was back in December when Booker-winning author Ben Okri stated in an infamous essay in the Guardian,  “…but black and African writers are read for their novels about slavery, colonialism, poverty, civil wars, imprisonment, female circumcision — in short, for subjects that reflect the troubles of Africa and black people as perceived by the rest of the world.” Later on in the essay he went on to state that it was time that black and African writers ‘woke up from the mesmerism with subject.”

While I was aware on reading the essay that Okri was writing to a British audience that perhaps is more interested in African war stories, I wondered whether he had bothered to read contemporary African writing before writing  his essay at all.

Aside from the worrisome and patronising attitude of attempting to tell other writers what to write, if Okri had been reading contemporary writing, he would have known that genre fiction does exist be it crime fiction (and no. I am not talking about Alex McCall-Smith), romance and even science fiction.

Of the latter, names like Lauren Beukes (who is African) bagged the largest world prize in science fiction, the Arthur C. Clarke for her novel Zoo City in 2011.

Then there are names like Nnedi Okorafor (who is both black and African), Helen Oyeyemi (black British of Nigerian origin) both of whom are world-renowned and have been on the market for years, so what has Okri been reading?

Fortunately for genre writers, not everyone is like him and others have been reading and have noticed the growth of science fiction on the continent. 

Among those who have noted this are people from that organisation that is a great supporter of African arts — no, not African Union — but the Goethe Institut. 

The Goethe has thus decided to have the topic of science fiction writing as a major part of the discussions during its Afrofutures Festival taking place simultaneously in the three African cities of Accra, Johannesburg and Nairobi from October 28 to 31 from 10 am until late. 

The term ‘Afrofuturism’ was coined as far back as 1993 by Mark Dery and explains a literary and cultural movement that combines elements of science fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, Afrocentricity and magical realism to critique not only present day dilemmas of black and African people but also to revise, interrogate, and re-examine historical events, according to my friend Wiki.

The topics for the festival will range from Africa’s speculative futures, whether technology is a means or curse for the future and the future of knowledge production on the continent in order to create something that suits us as Africans.

In Johannesburg, the aforementioned Beukes, Okorafor and an exciting new voice in science fiction who I was lucky to workshop and who you can read in the latest Caine anthology, Lusaka Punk and Other Stories, Ghanaian Jonathan Dotse will form part of the crew.

OPEN TO ALL

Among those taking part in Nairobi are filmmakers Judy Kibinge, Dr Wandia Njoya, Nanjira Sabuli and many others.  Most of the events here will take place at the Goethe Institut. 

I am honoured to be moderating the Nairobi panel  on literature entitled  Narratives in Science Fiction Literature where I will have as my panelists Karsten Kruschel from Germany, South Africa’s Nikhil Singh and Kenyans Tony Mochama, Richard Oduor and Awuor Onyango.

The last two contributed engaging (pun unintentional) short stories in the Jalada Afrofutures series published online in January and their stories can be read there. Mochama’s Nairobi 2063 is a work-in-progress and I hope to have access to both Kruschel and Singh’s works by Sunday.

Of course, the events are open to the public so we look forward to seeing many of you there. And my only regret for these events, is that Ben Okri is not going to be in any of the three cities hosting Afrofutures. 

I wonder though, if he were, whether he would have given writers and readers on the continent a Booker-sized ‘mea culpa’ in The Guardian?

The Implications of Adding More Debt
22nd October 2015 5:28 AM
Recently one major headline captured my attention in the Daily Nation (DN), 10th October. The heading read: “Questions over use of Eurobond billions as state borrowing sends rates through the roof”. Probably a considerable number also read it but did not give any further thoughts about it. This mostly happen because Kenyans in general are more interested in meaningless political rhetoric than any economic activity with the potential to disrupt the social, economic, and political fabric of this nation. The heading that appeared on the DN triggered a statement President Obama once made when he was under pressure to bring the deficit down and grow the economy. This is what Obama had to say:
I think it is important, though, to recognize if we keep on adding to the debt, even in the midst of this recovery, that at some point, people could lose confidence in the U.S. economy in a way that could actually lead to a double-dip recession.
- President Barack Obama, on Fox News, November 2009
Therefore, the heading made me wonder whether the common man in Kenya is worried about the deficit (our national debt!). Are we able to see any correlation between our national debt and the problems facing this nation today? I hope not! What many don’t realize is that some government actions, if not checked, can be disastrous to the economic well-being of this nation. However, while the public are playing ethnic tango with the economy, the investors and potential financiers are busy analyzing the environment for its conduciveness to sustainable business. So, when the economy is showing signs of uncertainty, potential investors will obviously develop cold feet.
Investors intending to do business in Kenya study political and legal situations in order to adapt company activities to local conditions. The study of successful companies indicates that they begin with the realization that when it comes to politics and laws, countries’ decidedly different ideas result in decidedly different political and legal environments. Therefore, the investor confidence is reinforced when there is steady government and well entrenched political systems that promises stability. This brings me to another view of political systems as are practiced especially among advanced nations. What should be the goals of our political system?
In my view, the fundamental goal of a political system is to integrate the elements of society; with the ultimate test of uniting a society in the face of diverse and divisive viewpoints. Most of you will agree with me that our country has experienced a catholic of diverse viewpoints which the ruling party (if they were open to diverse opinions) should have used to its advantage. In my view, political system defines the institutions, political organizations, and interest groups along with the political norms and rules that govern the activities of political actors. The fundamental purpose of any political system (as many scholars would argue) is straightforward: integrate different groups into a functioning, self-sustaining, and self-governing society. Correspondingly, the decisive test of any political system is its ability to unite a society in the face of diverse and divisive viewpoints. Success supports peace and prosperity. Failure leads to instability, insurrection, and, ultimately, national disintegration.
The prevalence of pluralism, no matter its particular catalyst, spurs managers to understand its dynamic of interplay and the implications to governing the business environment. Pluralism rests upon ideas drawn from the sociology of small groups. When translated to the level of a society, these ideas make sense of the relationships and interactions between and within groups as they champion and contest political ideologies. In a pluralistic society, government does not command the authority to act unilaterally. Rather, government’s task is to balance the initiatives and pressures championed by the various groups. The fact that these groups anchor their agendas in different political ideologies calls upon governments to negotiate solutions and compromises. Consequently, ambiguity often marks decision making in pluralistic societies.
More worrisome is the actions of the political class in a given society and the manner in which they handle political discourses in the country. For investors, they are more concerned with such political developments that adversely affect the operations of every company in a country. Typically, this arises from specific flash points, such as ethnic discord, illegal regime change, civil disorder, or insurrection. It disrupts the business environment in a way that affects every firm in the country. Lesions from neighboring countries makes it apparent that if such disruptions spiral out of control, they devastate companies and nations.
In concluding this discussion, I would probably want to revisit the very objective of my message. We should be concerned about the debts the government is incurring to meet their immediate needs without caring how this debt will affect the present and future generations. Admittedly, the country is in a serious financial crisis…this is complicated further when the country goes into liquidity trap. The country is already in a liquidity trap. Most astounding is the fact that despite all the warnings of over borrowing and likely rise of interest rates, the political class in this country have acted as if nothing is happening. There has been massive looting by both executive and parliament that should, in all circumstances, act as the watch-dog. The theft being reported daily are not in millions – they are in billions! Yet the doctors, teachers, lower cadre civil servants work for a paltry wage. Even some of us who had embraced generational change have become disenchanted with the way government affairs are run in this country. We need more bipartisan approach to the problems facing this country before it’s too late!
Dr. Otieno Mbare is a senior lecturer in international business, marketing, strategic management & responsible business management in Finland.

Wednesday, October 21, 2015 Land, housing most valuable investments in Nairobi

By JAMES KARIUKI
More by this Author

A house in Kiserian, a Nairobi suburb. Land and housing developments are the most valuable investments to venture into in Nairobi and its suburbs, says HassConsult in a new report released Wednesday. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

In Summary

• "Land in Juja, Athi River, Kiserian, Kitengela, Mlolongo, Syokimau and Tigoni yielded more than 6.27 per cent return in the last seven years," said HassConsult's marketing manager, Ms Sakina Hassanali.
• Low- and middle-income earners were hardest hit as land prices in the Nairobi suburbs rose 6.3 per cent.
• The Hass Property Index, which tracks commercial and residential properties within Nairobi and its 18 satellite towns, said that rental prices enjoyed a 3.9 per cent in the last quarter under review with Athi River posting a tremendous 6.3 per cent rise.

Land and housing developments are the most valuable investments to venture into in Nairobi and its suburbs, says HassConsult in a new report released Wednesday.

Hassconsult’s research and marketing manager Ms Sakina Hassanali said that investors in the two sectors continued to earn handsome returns as other sectors have been hit hard by the harsh economic climate.

“Compared to returns in other commodities such as gold, cattle and crude oil which have suffered severe drops in the market, house and land prices enjoyed a steady rise twelve times more than gold and 10 times more than cattle in the past seven years under review,” she said. 

HIGH LAND PRICES

Nairobi had the highest land prices with an acre of land going for Sh507 million in Upper Hill, a growth of 8.5 times in the last seven years.

"Land in Juja, Athi River, Kiserian, Kitengela, Mlolongo, Syokimau and Tigoni yielded more than 6.27 per cent return in the last seven years. Investors keen on safe assets and guaranteed returns go for land and housing developments,” said Ms Hassanali.

Kiserian land sales increased 22.8 per cent with marked investments from universities and private developers while Karen’s were up 20.8 per cent. Tigoni recorded a paltry 0.3 per cent while the crime-prone Donholm posted negative -1.4 per cent.

MIDDLE CLASS HIT HARD

Low- and middle-income earners were hit hardest as land prices in the suburbs rose 6.3 per cent, noted Ms Hassanali, adding that: “Attractive returns in satellite towns have driven up land prices as Saccos, investment groups, individuals and companies buy land and subdivide it among their members.”

The Hass Property Index, which tracks commercial and residential properties within Nairobi and its 18 satellite towns, said that rental prices enjoyed a 3.9 per cent rise in the last quarter under review with Athi River posting a tremendous 6.3 per cent buoyed by increased industrial investments that have pushed up demand for rental houses.

She noted that Mololongo posted the highest increase in rental prices of 20.9 per cent, Ngong 4.5 per cent, Gigiri 2 per cent while Spring Valley showed a negative growth of -0.6 per cent.

HassConsult is a real estate firm mainly dealing with high-end and luxury commercial and rental properties.

Monday, October 19, 2015 Advocates commission receives over 200 complaints against lawyers in 3 months

 
Ms Naomi Wagereka, a commissioner with the Advocates Complaints Commission. A Gazette notice she signed showed that the commission received 225 complaints against lawyers between July and September this year. FILE PHOTO | WILLIAM OERI | NATION MEDIA GROUP   

By JAMES KARIUKI
More by this Author

In Summary

• The report said three lawyers were also accused of issuing dud cheques to clients.
• A total of 20 lawyers were accused of withholding clients’ money while another 10 allegedly failed to represent their clients adequately.
• Of the 39 complaints received, which were marked as classified, 11 were disposed of, three were abandoned, four were settled, two were dismissed and one was withdrawn.

The Advocates Complaints Commission received 225 complaints against lawyers between July 1 and September 30 this year.

The complaints saw one lawyer struck off the roll of advocates for life while another 38 were forwarded to the disciplinary committee for action.

A report published in this week’s Kenya Gazette and signed by Commissioner Naomi Wagereka said 20 lawyers were accused of withholding clients’ money while another 10 allegedly failed to represent their clients adequately.

The report said three lawyers were also accused of issuing dud cheques to clients while another two deliberately failed to keep their clients informed regarding their cases.

Another lawyer was accused of withholding a client’s documents.

Of the 39 complaints received, which were marked as classified, 11 were disposed of, three were abandoned, four were settled, two were dismissed and one was withdrawn.

Another 30 were settled at the preliminary enquiry, where 186 complaints were under scrutiny while 26 cases sent to the disciplinary committee were settled amicably by the parties.

RAILA STATEMENT FROM SOUTH KOREA ON RUTO'S ICC CASE

RAILA: ONLY UHURU HAS THE KEY TO RUTO's
FREEDOM.
I have read the news from Kenya while here in
Korea that Jubilee is asking me to go and testify
as a defence witness on behalf of Hon. William
Ruto at his trial at The Hague. I am intrigued by
this request.
Firstly, Hon. William Ruto has not been put on his
defence. The ICC is yet to rule whether Hon Ruto
has a case to answer. I don't know what
information those calling upon me to testify for
Hon. William Ruto have, but they seem to know
something that the rest of us do not know. I find
this premature talk about Ruto's defense curious
and disturbing indeed.
Secondly, I have stated in the past that I am
willing to testify on behalf of Hon. William Ruto,
that ODM was not in any way involved in planning
any violence in the 2007/2008 period or any
period at all.
Ever since I made that offer, I have been publicly
and privately told by persons claiming to stand
with Hon. William Ruto that my testimony is not
needed. In fact, Hon. Ruto and his legal team
have been publicly beseeched by the same
Jubilee politicians challenging me today to testify,
not to accept any help from me. This makes the
renewed urgent call for me to testify even more
curious and disturbing. Something seems to be
afoot and only this Jubilee brigade seems to
know it.
But most curious and disturbing is the fact that
nobody is talking about recanting and
withdrawing the false testimony that they confess
they used against Hon. William Ruto at his trial.
My testimony in support of Hon. William Ruto will
not assist him so long as the false testimony
procured against him by the PNU brigade remains
on record at The Hague. My testimony would
equally require that those who coached witnesses
disclose what they told the witnesses to say
against Hon Ruto to enable me effectively counter
the lies in aide of the DP.
The only people who can recant, disclose and
withdraw the false testimony against Hon.
William Ruto are President Uhuru Kenyatta and
his PNU brigade. The freedom of Hon. William
Ruto is therefore in the hands of President Uhuru
Kenyatta. He is the one with the key to his
deputy’s freedom.
If President Uhuru is genuine about securing the
freedom of his coalition partner and Deputy
President, then he must immediately do the
following:
1. Order Hon Moses Kuria, David Murathe,
Kamotho Waiganjo and Njenga Mwangi to
immediately swear affidavits and disclose the
names of the witnesses who they recruited
against Hon. William Ruto and what they told
them to say against him so that the defense
lawyers may discredit their testimony in their
arguments on "no case to answer." This will also
help those willing to testify in favour of the DP,
including myself.
2. Order the former Director of Intelligence Mr.
Michael Gichangi, the President's political advisor
Ms Nancy Gitau and Principal Secretary Mr.
Mutea Iringo to immediately swear affidavits
regarding their role in incriminating Hon. William
Ruto and disclosing the evidence that they
procured against him so that the defense lawyers
succeed in their "no case to answer" motion.
3. Order the National Intelligence Service to
immediately recant and withdraw the confidential
exhibits 19 and 19 A of the Waki Report which
contains the evidence incriminating Hon. William
Ruto in the Pre-Election violence of 2007/2008. If
the President does not do the above, then we
must conclude that he and his PNU brigade are
playing a very cruel and callous game against
Hon. William Ruto.
Signed:
HON RAILA A. ODINGA;
LEADER, ODM/CORD-COALITION.
OCTOBER 12, 2015.

Friday, October 9, 2015 Raila urges Korean unification, offers to mediate

By AGGREY MUTAMBO
More by this Author

Cord leader Raila Odinga has called for the unification of South and North Korea because “it will will give them a stronger voice and presence” in international politics. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP  NATION MEDIA GROUP

In Summary

• Mr Odinga argued both the North and the South have a lot to gain if they became one, as opposed to when they are separated.
• Though they speak one language and are composed of people from similar ethnic backgrounds, the two Koreas have pursued opposing political ideologies since the Korean War of 1950s.
• After World War II, the Korean Peninsula was divided into two, with the North placed under the former Soviet Union and the South under the US as the defeated Japan left.

Cord leader Raila Odinga has called for the unification of South and North Korea because “it will will give them a stronger voice and presence” in international politics.

In a speech delivered to a global forum in the South Korean capital Seoul on Thursday, Mr Odinga argued both the North and the South have a lot to gain if they became one, as opposed to when they are separated.

“By championing unification of the Koreas and building a global coalition in this direction, Korea will be making active contributions to … international peace and stability,” he told the gathering at the Global Forum on the role of the Republic of Korea (official name for South Korea) in sustainable development.

“Unity of the Koreas will give them a stronger voice and presence at the UN Security Council and enable them (to) make positive and effective contributions in the process of resolving crises like that in Syria.”

But a South Korean official attached to the United Nations in Nairobi told the Nation that both sides would have already come together but for the refusal of Pyongyang.

OFFERS 'REJECTED'

“It is the biggest hope of every Korean, whether from the South or North to finally become one. This is because many families were separated during the war," said the official, who sought anonymity.

“But (the) North Korean government don’t want it. They have even refused to allow families to visit each other. They keep rejecting our offers. They need to change that.”

Though they speak one language and are composed of people from similar ethnic backgrounds, the two Koreas have pursued opposing political ideologies since the Korean War of 1950s.

The North is communist and has been headed by the Kim dynasty since the end of World War II.

Economic sanctions proposed by the UN Human Rights Commission have cut it off from the global market. As such, the North is one of the most isolated countries in the world.

OFFERS TO MEDIATE

South Korea, on the other hand, is democratic, allied to the West and has had smooth transitions of power. Yet the North is officially known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Mr Odinga, who offered to mediate, said there was a need for South Korea “to rearrange its relationship with the region and the world to reflect the progress it has made over the years.

“The Republic of Korea needs to embark on building alliances and partnerships with the regional and global community that should end in the unification of the two Koreas. Ideally, this should never have been difficult.

“But we know the reality, informed by politics, is different. We need to begin with the basics which are also the fundamentals; probably the only things that matter. The key to long term political relationship on the global arena is mutual trust.”

DIVERGENT IDEOLOGIES

After World War II, the Korean Peninsula was divided into two, with the North placed under the former Soviet Union and the South under the US as the defeated Japan left.

The two regions were to eventually merge.

However, the Soviet Union and the US pursued divergent political ideologies, making it difficult to unite the peninsula.

This was followed by a bloody war in 1950, where about five million people died.

The US led a UN coalition of forces for the South while China and the Soviet Union fought in the North. The two regions remain allied to those respective allies to date.

Mr Odinga was accompanied by Kisii Governor Evans Ongwae and his Turkana counterpart Josphat Nanok.

They held a meeting with Korean investors and were scheduled to meet the President of the Korea International Cooperation Agency, Mr Young Mok Kim.

Boniface Mwangi is Turning to Be a Deadly Tragedy to Civil Society in Kenya

By Nyakera  Thursday, 08 Oct 2015 12:43 PM / 25 Comments / 1735 views

By Dikembe Disembe

Boniface Mwangi is such a fraud. Either he doesn’t have a clear knowledge on matters governance or he just seeks to sabotage the thinking process of Kenyans in their daily struggle to have a democratic government.

First, he tells us that on the day to Saba Saba he was writing booklets containing the graphic photos of the 2007/08 violence which he delivered to CORD leaders (and some Jubilee leaders) because ethnic tension was rising in the country.

There has been prayer rallies where Jubilee politicians are setting the stage for another ethnic strife, why is Mwangi not giving his books to Jubilee MPs? Has Boniface Mwangi ever sought to give his books to the hate spewing Moses Kuria or even the President himself (Uhuru once banged tables in Kameme FM and called Luos, Kihii)?

The pictures, some of which he doesn’t even have copyright ownership of, have been used by Mwangi to fundraise all over the world. He has easily had his way in the USAID Kenya (mainly controlled by ethnic Kikuyus) and DFID, after developing a personal relationship with British High Commissioner Christian Turner, enabling him to ensure financial health of his ethnic-driven activism.
On the legal front, you will never get Boniface Mwangi to have a serious legal challenge in the Mutunga courts when the Chief Justice is his personal friend who graces almost every petty event Mwangi organises.
In his search for funds, he has forever masked his true identity, belief and intentions. He has not revealed that he has deeply rooted hate for people who doesn’t subscribe to his narrow ethnic biased interpretation and understanding of governance in Kenya.

Worse, what made Mwangi famous are some photos he apparently took at the heart of the 2007/08 violence. How did he survive all those marauding Mungiki gangs to take his graphic shots? Was he part of them? Were the Mungiki gangs so sympathetic to his ideals that they left him unscathed? Or did they spare him because he silently encouraged them to kill the infidels so that he could earn his keep?

One may say he was a journalist but there are also those who say he was part of the PNU/Kikuyu propaganda machine. There are those who remember his office at the Uniafric House where he secretly assembled an entrepreneurial gang of photographers who used ethnic incitement as a passport to free passage in Mungiki controlled areas.

Mwangi had passage and protection in areas where even BBC, Nation, Standard, Citizen, Aljazeera and CNN feared sending their scribes.

But a more poignant explanation to his successful photojournalism is that he camouflaged himself among ‘his’ people. They accepted him as ‘one of them’. Ask yourself why after having such a rare front-row access and witnessing one of the worst massacres, Boniface Mwangi never signed up to be a witness in any of the trials of perpetrators, locally or abroad. All over the world, we can remember the contribution of journalists in the trial and convictions of war crimes suspects in places like Rwanda, Cambodia, apartheid South Africa, Armenia, Germany, Kosovo or even closer home in The Congo.

Since Mwangi believes so much in being the know-it-all advisor and critic of the opposition and less of the government, I would also advise Mwangi to give his books to thousands of his community’s youths who are currently being mobilized, psyched up and paraded through the new anti-CORD) prayer rallies. I urge him to see the urgent need of intervening and using his fame to rationally dialogue with his community which is being bandied around what is coming out to be an anti-Luos and anti-Raila propaganda rallies and lies.

Saba Saba was a peaceful event inspired by what happened in Tanzania and beyond. While people like Boniface Mwangi have monetised doom, anarchy, destruction and scaremongering being visited on Kenyans by their friends and ethnic gods, they rarely get to rationally think through on what the real role of the various political entities are and if they do, their interpretation is always to make anyone who doesn’t belong to their ethnic-moral community condemned.

Having been sponsored enough times by the entities he has conned by masking his true identity, Mwangi should by now be politically mature and sober to appreciate that in a democracy, public sentiments are gathered and canvassed in public settings -in political settings – which is the definition of ‘political rallies’.

According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, below are some of the definitions of the word ‘rally’:

1. a mustering of scattered forces to renew an effort

2. a summoning up of strength or courage after weakness or dejection

3. a recovery of price after a decline

4. a renewed offensive

5. a mass meeting intended to arouse group enthusiasm

Mwangi should also believe in Kenya’s constitution which allows citizens to attend political gatherings. A political rally gives effect to article 33 (1) (a) and (b) of the constitution of Kenya 2010, thus:

1) Every person has the right to freedom of expression, which includes–

(a) freedom to seek, receive or impart information or ideas;

(b) freedom of artistic creativity;

The question young Kenyans are faced with is this: Is ‘activipreneurship’ killing the culture of democratic agitation at a time the country is clearly getting militarised and set up for slaughter?  Worse, is Mwangism killing activism?

If the so called new age activists claim to further the ends of democracy, but their understanding of democracy is as shallow as Boniface Mwangi’s understanding of it, we can still fail.

Moving forward, we need to ask ourselves if activipreneurship is a threat to Kenya’s democracy? We also need to evaluate if there is any benefit activists in emerging democracies like Kenya can draw from what is turning out to be uniquely Mwangism.

The other evident problem with Boniface Mwangi is his raw pettiness. As an activist who comments on topical political issues, one imagines he has internalised the political system to be able to guide his minions.

Ordinarily, you do not hold an opposition outfit in the same level of responsibility with the government not unless you are an unschooled layabout.

In Kenya, it has become fashionable for wannabe activists and journalists bankrolled by the regime to ask: What is the opposition doing? Don’t just blame the government, offer solutions? Why are you always opposing? Where is your budget? Where is the shadow cabinet?

Inherent in all these questions is sanctimonious silliness.

They disregard one fundamental thing: the mandate to rule. It is only the government that has the mandate to rule, including the authority to incur expenditure and, or debts!

Nobody gets elected to be in the opposition. Nobody gets a mantle to bandy around the opposition leadership. It’s almost a calling which is hard to force anyone into.

Currently, the most successful and consistent opposition figure in the country is Hon Raila. He has personally fought against many ills in the successive regimes that the regimes have carefully funded “moderates” like Boniface Mwangi to unwrite his achievements.

They have failed to internalise Raila’s gains in pushing the resistant leadership of Moi, Kibaki and Kenyatta into having very progressive constitution and laws in the country which this current wasteful  government is rolling back.

I have offered before that the very governance structure and character of the nation that emerged from the last constitutional referendum makes nonsense of either an alternative cabinet or alternative budget. This is because budget making is itself a bipartisan affair, emanating from the executive, passing through parliament, then back to the executive. The budget committee in parliament is composed of some 50 MPs both from government and the ‘opposition’. Its recommendations come back to the whole parliament, where, any reservation is put to a vote. And there is tyranny which the likes of Boniface Mwangi never mentions.

Budget making process itself rids any dissenting voice, for all items are lumped together and voted together, so that if you disagree with one item, you have to vote for for it while voting for the one thousand other items you agree with.

This budget making process is anchored in law. The 2010 constitution never envisaged an ‘alternative budget’ nor created mechanism of coming up with such a crucial document, or even how to deliver it to parliament.

I often ask myself: This “alternative budget” Mwangi and his band of activipreneurs wants CORD to come up with; where will it be read? At Orange House? In a media breakfast meeting at Serena Hotel? At Uhuru Park? Will Mwangi’s grandfathers and johny-come-late freedom fighters not endeavour to urinate and break calabashes on the location of such an event while facing Mount Kenya?

Assuming that Mwangism is a viable option, can they offer examples of modern day democracies where the opposition read the “alternative budget” and the means by which the society contributes to the same?

The power and functional arrangement of Kenya’s new ‘democracy’ takes after the US model. Have they hard Republicans -current ‘opposition’ party in US -present  an alternative ‘Republican budget’?

Just as the new constitution did not envisage an alternative budget, it did not also envisage an ‘alternative cabinet’. This alternative cabinet, I always wonder, what form was it to take? Hired comrades?

In the old order, the alternative cabinet was a ‘mock cabinet’ having their members in the exact fashion of the government side. In this new regime, the very arrangement of the cabinet makes it so amorphous you can’t even ‘mock it’.

For instance, CORD cannot have a ministry of ‘devolution’ because we believe the kind of devolution anchored in law cannot sit in a cabinet in Nairobi but in 47 cabinets across the country.

On what solutions is the opposition offering? We’ve always maintained that CORD is not a consultancy. Prof. Anyang’ Nyong’o often captures it farly: CORD is not Jubilee’s mother.

Political parties are in the business of contesting for power and running the country according to their manifestos. Jubilee ‘won’ the last election on the strength of their manifesto. We believe it is this manifesto they are disastrously implementing. We can only caution them -as we’ve been doing – but to offer them our manifesto?

In the end, if activists do not understand how political societies evolve after civil strifes or constitutional changes, their ignorance shouldn’t be the yardstick of national discourses or political conversations

CLICK

Saturday, February 21, 2009 Ruto: Why I prefer The Hague route

Agriculture minister William Ruto wants the secret envelope containing names of the post-election violence suspects handed over to the International Criminal Court at The Hague without further delay.

Mr Ruto says the two-month period given by former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan to Kenya to make a new attempt at setting up a local tribunal to try the suspects was unnecessary.

“Kofi Annan should hand over the envelope that contains names of suspects to the International Criminal Court at The Hague so that proper investigations can start,” Mr Ruto said. “Mr Annan should allow us to move forward. We cannot just get stuck in one place addressing the same thing.”

Mr Ruto’s latest stand contradicts the position of Prime Minister Raila Odinga, leader of his ODM party, who prefers a local tribunal.

A government motion to set up a special local tribunal was defeated in Parliament earlier this month, raising the possibility that suspects whose names were given to Mr Annan in a sealed envelope by the Waki Commssion could be taken to The Hague for trial.

The Hague option was to be activated should Kenya fail to establish a local tribunal as proposed by the commission that investigated the post-election violence.

Mr Ruto – whose constituency was among those worst hit by violence — spoke during the week he weathered a storm in Parliament over a maize scandal in which brokers are believed to have benefited by trading with national food security reserves at a time when the country was facing widespread hunger.

The minister described the attempt to pass a no-confidence motion against him as his most trying moment politically.

“It touches the soft belly of the nation. Food and hunger are very sensitive and delicate issues. When a whole machine has been turned against you as the cause of hunger in the face of hungry people, it is very trying to try to explain your contribution. Thank God I managed to explain myself,” the minister told the Sunday Nation.

In a wide-raging interview Friday, Mr Ruto maintained that Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Martha Karua had approached him seeking to form a political alliance ahead of the 2012 elections.

“She attempted to draft me into the 2012 succession game. She sent emissaries to me, and we met twice, but I declined because we had just come out of a very difficult time of violence. She has tried to deny this saying I had baggage. When did she discover I had baggage, and which William Ruto was she desperately looking for?” he asked.

But Ms Karua told the Sunday Nation that there was no way she would have sought an alliance with “someone who has baggage over corruption cases”.

Ms Karua has repeatedly asked Mr Ruto to “take political responsibility” and resign over the maize scandal. The matter attracted a new ally for Mr Ruto in Energy minister Kiraitu Murungi, who challenged Ms Karua to show what practical steps she had taken to fight corruption instead of asking her colleagues to resign.

Analysts saw Mr Murungi’s stand as the purchase of political insurance from Mr Ruto should the Energy minister have to face a censure motion in Parliament over the Triton scandal involving petrol storage and distribution.

However, Mr Murungi said that his position was informed by a principled stand against “the doctrine of political responsibility where ministers pay for the crimes of civil servants.”

And speaking in Sotik on Saturday, Mr Ruto faulted the Waki Commission’s post-election violence report yet again, saying it was “full of rumours and hearsay”.

He said it was misleading for the report to state that the violence had no relation with the announcement of the presidential results.

The minister alleged that the Waki report targeted those who complained about the outcome of the last General Election while leaving out those who he claimed engineered an alleged electoral fraud.

And for a third time, the extent of the frosty relations within the grand coalition Cabinet came out in the open.

Mr Ruto accused Ms Karua of “doing nothing” to fight corruption and asked her to resign.

The minister was accompanied by his Roads counterpart Franklin Bett, assistant minister for Energy Charles Keter, MPs Joyce Laboso (Sotik), Isaac Ruto (Chepalungu), Francis Chachu (North Horr) and Sotik DC Amphrey Nakitare.

Mr Ruto said that witch-hunting would not help improve the lives of Kenyans and urged leaders to come up with coherent plans to fight corruption instead of fomenting political hate. He urged Kenyan leaders to take responsibility and lead from the front if they expect to build a united and healthy nation.

The minister at the same time censured church leaders who publicly criticised President Kibaki and Prime Minister Odinga during a meeting at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre.

He said it would have been more equitable had the church leaders booked appointments with the President and the PM at State House to discuss their issues.

Tuesday, October 6, 2015 Is this PhD a curse or a blessing?

From their writings and my academic experiences with high-achieving PhD women, I am beginning to think that African traditions were not so oppressive to demand that women devote more time to marriage and family than men. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP 

In Summary

• Are we really that privileged? When will we have children if our best childbearing years are spent in the halls of the ivory tower of academia?
• And then we unpack the infamous word: feminism.
• Some are quick to support the core feminist agenda that there should be no distinction between men and women, that we must share all the roles and responsibilities in a home, in a society.

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By FAITH KIBERE

In the four years I have been studying for my PhD, I have been amazed at the expressions of respect and vigorous handshakes I receive from numerous men. One notable aspect about the men is that they are 55 and above.

For them, a PhD means higher status and intellectual ferocity. What’s even more interesting about their expressions and handshakes is that they are almost always followed by negative statements about their sons and young Kenyan men in general, “Siku hizi wasichana  ndio wanasoma na bidii, vijana ni bure kabisa!” Nowadays, girls are more hardworking than these useless boys, they say.

I have heard the same criticism in different words across the socio-economic classes. From a carpenter to upper-class corporate heads and government elites.

I appreciate that my years of social and psychological sacrifice have not gone unnoticed. However, I am not excited at the prospect of being compared with “young useless men and boys” who have refused to go to graduate school. 

EQUAL CHANCES

However, friends who lecture at various local universities observe that there are more women than men who are enrolled here. In fact, one lecturer praised the scenario as an “outpouring of women.”

A good society is one that gives both men and women chances to achieve their goals and dreams, while a good home is one that provides equal opportunities to both boys and girls.

However, in the process of providing those equal opportunities, there is a question that is not often addressed. When the young woman scales the academic and corporate ladder, whom does she couple up with if she has outperformed her male peers? Furthermore, if she has been educated and raised on a feminist diet, which preaches that men are her equals, whom on earth will she marry, if at all she attracts someone in the first place?

The reason I ask these questions is that in the course of my PhD studies, I have interacted with many young women between 23 and 35 from here, as well as other parts of the world, who are confused as to what social role they are to play in the home and in the greater society. This confusion is never displayed overtly because PhDs must wear a face of unwavering confidence.

ARE WE REALLY THAT PRIVILEGED

Instead, we congregate on the sidelines of international conferences as the aroma of coffee, tea and sandwiches wafts in the air. Once we ensure that the older married PhDs are out of earshot, we huddle together and discuss our relationship status or rather the lack of men to date or marry.

Are we really that privileged? When will we have children if our best childbearing years are spent in the halls of the ivory tower of academia?

And then we unpack the infamous word: feminism. Some are quick to support the core feminist agenda that there should be no distinction between men and women, that we must share all the roles and responsibilities in a home, in a society.

Others like me are recovering feminists who support a society where men and women complement each other as opposed to compete with each other. Others are in between, they want the benefits of being equal with a man in terms of how much they earn, but they would prefer if he could pay all the bills, cook, change the baby’s diaper and clean the house.

In the urban Kenyan context, a majority of the feminist dictum originates from the baby boomer generation. Mothers and fathers from that generation have a genuine and great desire for their young girls to succeed academically and career wise.

POTENTIAL SUITORS

This is because they grew up at a time when advanced education and a full-time career were the preserve of a few. Some of them grew up in homes where they underwent genital mutilation and were married off young. Many women I have spoken to from that generation claim that they were discouraged from getting too much education because they risked scaring away potential suitors.

Teaching or secretarial jobs were considered more feminine than scientific fields such as engineering, or the pursuit of PhDs. Societal norms were firmly shaped to encourage marriage first and career later for women. Therefore, their desire to give their children more career options than they had is understandable and very admirable. However, their desire is one that is slowly inching to what I describe as the special princess syndrome.

The Special Princess Syndrome, as a direct result of feminist ideals, describes a condition where a young woman is raised as a special princess whose only responsibility is to get straight A’s in school, eat, sleep and dress up smartly. Her greatest assets are her top grades, physical looks and the successful career she will eventually forge. She must strive for engineering, medicine, law or a PhD in her field of choice.

This is a sharp contrast from the mukimo, chapati and omushenye cooking and other home-making skills her mother strived to acquire. She grows up under a cloud of constant praise in school while her brother is often in trouble for aggressive play and a lack of focus in school. She is sweet, sensitive and docile, while he is rough, cheeky and untidy.

NO PRAISE FROM MEN

When girls in her class score the highest marks, the school is rated as a high-performing one, but when the boys dominate the class, something must be urgently done to help the poor girls catch up. The A student girl grows up and goes to university. Her brother struggles to score a B and also makes it into university.

At university, she consistently tops the class and all the lecturers love her. Her brother chooses to work as he studies and eventually moves into full-time entrepreneurship. Meanwhile, she graduates and decides to enrol in graduate school for another degree while her brother gets married to a much younger woman with no university education. When she graduates, her parents spend more money on her graduation party than they did on her brother’s wedding. At all family events, she is labelled the young successful doctor while her brother rarely gets a mention.

It then hits her that she is 35 and not even in a relationship, and starts giving men more attention. However, she wonders why the men she dates do not shower her with praise because of her high level of education. Instead, the first question they ask on most dates is whether she loves to cook.

Such questions irritate her, and she gives up dating men she dismissingly describes as young and immature. She decides to spend her weekends at fancy spas and hotels with her equally successful and single girlfriends where they heartily discuss why there are no marriageable men. 

In the past, Kenyan men were raised to be alpha and high-achieving men who would provide consistent financial support and leadership in their homes. These days, they are encouraged to seek out graduate partners with well-paying jobs and high ambition.

The writer, Faith Njeri Kibere, during an interview at Nation Centre in Nairobi on October 2, 2015. PHOTO | JAMES EKWAM

Additionally, they grow up in homes where there is no distinction between the male and female child. This is an action that Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie advocates in her famous Ted talk "We Should All Be Feminists". Her argument is that both boys and girls should be raised with no distinction in the roles and tasks they perform at home. She is adamant it is not fair to box children up in fixed roles and, therefore, boys should be encouraged to be active in the kitchen just the same way girls are.

Her argument is very popular in society, one that most educated women support when they are in public forums. However, in these four years I have been a PhD student, it has been amusing to watch the hardest of feminists (after too much wine or too many relationship splits) admit that they miss the days when men would pay the bill without asking the waiter to neatly split it.

In psychology, the act of selecting a partner who is similar to us on variables such as socio-economic status, ethnic origin, and intellectual and cognitive variables has been described by scholars such as David M. Buss as “assortative mating”, a nonrandom mating, calculated selection if you may.

NO ELIGIBLE MEN

However, when women outperform men in school and the workplace, it is very difficult for them to couple up with their preferred match. There is no easy solution to the lack of eligible men to couple up with, and some argue that men need to rise to the occasion and work as hard as the women. Others would say that women need to tone it down and occupy more feminine positions in society.

Within the PhD student halls, there are those who are fortunate enough to meet someone who shares their cognitive abilities and socio-economic status, however, there are also many who give up on dating altogether. Instead, they focus on their careers and go on to become highly successful.

In the United States context, there has been a lot of writing on the subject of professional women balancing a social life and a career. Particularly influential is Susan Patton, or Princeton Mom, as she has branded herself. She is the author of Marry Smart, and encourages young women to get a man on campus as they pursue their first degree.

Ms Patton explains that never again will they be surrounded by such a large pool of intelligent and marriageable men. She also urges women not to delude themselves that they will be happy to retire to a box of files every evening. She encourages women to focus on relational happiness first and career advancement later.

BLURRED ROLES

Her advice is very similar to that of the parents of the Kenyan baby boomer generation who shaped their careers around the family. Author Helen Smith argues in Men on Strike that men in the United States are pulling back from marriage and fatherhood responsibilities because institutions such as universities, marriages and most workplaces are extremely friendly to female advancement and rights while men are constantly under the threat of domineering women, false rape charges and biased divorce court systems.

The controversial views of both women have been influential in revitalising the highly polarised global feminist debates.

From their writings and my academic experiences with high-achieving PhD women, I am beginning to think that African traditions were not so oppressive to demand that women devote more time to marriage and family than men.

The clear distinction between the male and female roles is something that contests with the popular blurred roles of urban Kenya. I think it would be prudent if Kenyan society were careful not to race down the perilous road of feminism so fast.

A road that is often cloaked by promises of happiness, freedom of choice and equal opportunity. We should be wise enough to strike a balance between equal opportunity and the subjugation of men. So do spare a thought for the “young and useless” men because a balanced society cannot function in the absence of men.

THE WRITER’S BIO:

Faith  Njeri  Kibere  is  a  29-year-old  fourth-year  Media  and  Communication PhD candidate at the University of Leicester, UK. She  holds a Master of Arts in International Design and Communication Management from the University of Warwick, UK, a Bachelor  of  Arts  in  Communication (Cum Laude) from Daystar University and a diploma in communication from the same university.

Insider: Merkel Favorite for Nobel Prize By Kevin O' Brien

The German chancellor is leading a pack of nearly 300 nominees to win the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize, according to a Norwegian peace activist who regularly predicts the winner.  

A Norwegian Nobel watcher says German Chancellor Angela Merkel is a frontrunner to win this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, which will be awarded on Friday in Oslo. Source: DPA

A Norwegian peace activist says that German chancellor Angela Merkel is his frontrunner to win the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize later this week for her open-door policy in accepting Syrian war refugees.
Kristian Berg Harpviken, the director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo, a think tank, lauded Ms. Merkel’s decision to grant asylum in Germany to refugees fleeing the fighting in Syria and Iraq. The move placed her at the top of the Nobel Committee’s list, he said.
“In a time when many have dodged responsibility, Merkel has shown true leadership and risen above politics, taking a humane approach in a difficult situation,’’ Mr. Harpviken wrote on his institute’s website. “Merkel may perhaps not qualify as an altruistic Mother Theresa, and her stance has toughened in recent weeks, but a collective European response to the current situation and handling of migrants and refugees in the future, is unthinkable without Merkel at the helm.’’
The institute is one of the many individuals, groups and former winners that nominate candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize, which is set to be awarded on Friday. Although Mr. Harpviken’s institute regularly comments on the prize process, it does not make a formal recommendation to the committee, according to the group’s website.
Mr. Harpviken is not a member of the five-member Nobel Prize Committee of Norwegians who will decide and announce this year’s Peace Prize winner.
But a senior researcher at Mr. Harpviken’s institute, Henrik Syse, is one of the five voting members on the Nobel Committee. Earlier this year, the Nobel committee said it was considering 273 people who had been nominated for the peace prize.

In a time when many have dodged responsibility, Merkel has shown true leadership and risen above politics, taking a humane approach in a difficult situation.

Kristian Berg Harpviken
Director, Peace Research Institute Oslo

The prize last year was awarded jointly to Kailash Satyarthi, an Indian children’s right advocate, and to Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani activist for women’s education who survived an assassination attempt.
In his 2014 recommendations ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize, Mr. Harpviken had included Ms. Yousafzai on a list of five people he considered favorites to win the prize. Mr. Satyarthi’s name did not make it on his list.
Ms. Merkel’s decision to grant Syrian refugees asylum in Germany has won plaudits abroad but proven controversial at home, where her political support has been slipping amid the influx of unprecedented numbers of men, women and children from the war zone.
Officially, the German government expects up to 1 million refugees this year. The Munich-based Ifo Institute, one of the country’s leading economics research groups, predicted that the costs of housing, caring and integrating the newcomers would be €10 billion per year.
On Monday, Bild reported that the authorities may even expect 1.5 million asylum seekers this year. Germany’s top-selling newspaper, citing an internal government forecast that it said had been classed as confidential, said the authorities expect close to a million people to arrive in the fourth quarter of the year alone.
“This high number of asylum seekers runs the risk of becoming an extreme burden for the states and municipalities,” the report stated, according to Bild.
The refugee issue has divided Germany’s political class and Ms. Merkel’s own conservative-led political coalition, with her party’s Bavarian sister group, the Christian Social Union, openly urging her to backtrack from her policy and put a lid on refugees.
At a celebration on Saturday to mark the 25th anniversary of the reunification of the former East and West Germany, the German president, Joachim Gauck, lauded Ms. Merkel’s policy but acknowledged that the country’s ability to assimilate refugees was limited.
Michael Wohlgemuth, the head of the Berlin office of Open Europe, a think tank that lobbies for immigration reform in the European Union, said in September that Ms. Merkel’s chance of winning the Peace Prize had been hurt by her tough line on Greece during the negotiations for its third financial rescue package earlier this year.
“I don’t believe she could get the Nobel prize, because of her stance on Greece,’’ Mr. Wohlgemuth said at the time. “I think she did the right thing (on Greece), but that wasn’t something that people in other countries understood particularly well.
“I don’t think she’s likely to win the Nobel prize; that would be a big surprise,’’ Mr. Wohlgemuth said. “Though Obama won it, so anything’s possible.’’
Aside from the German chancellor, Mr. Harpviken said this year’s other favorites to win the Peace Prize include: Juan Manuel Santos, the president of Colombia, and Timoleón Jiménez, a leader of that country’s FARC rebels; Dmitry Muratov, the editor of the Novaya Gazeta, a Russian independent newspaper, as well as the newspaper’s staff; Japan’s Article 9 Association, a group pushing the country to refrain from foreign “belligerency;’’ and three activists fighting sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Jeanne Nacatche Banyere, Jeannette Kahindo Bindu and Dr. Denis Mukwege.

Kevin O’Brien is the editor in chief of Handelsblatt Global Edition. To reach him: obrien@handelsblatt.com

Globe-trotting CA executives pocket Sh307m in one year

Francis Wangusi, CA director-general. PHOTO | FILE  

Senior Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) executives pocketed Sh307.2 million in tax-free travelling allowances in the year ended June 2015, underlining continued wastage of public funds despite the Jubilee government’s efforts to control expenditure.

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A damning audit report seen by the Business Daily shows that the senior staff pocketed the money after making a total of 421 local and overseas trips to attend conferences, training workshops and field visits.

In most instances, beneficiaries did not state the reason for travel or account for the funds, leading the auditors to conclude that the trips were not necessary.

“Most approval records did not provide all the information required, such as justification of the trip, role of nominated staff, and amount of trips already taken by nominated staff,” says the report.

The CA had 189 people on its payroll during the period under review, meaning each of the executives who make less than half of the total pocketed between Sh1m and Sh6 million as per diem.

Besides exposing the gravy train that the authority has become for the senior executives, the audit report offers rare insight into the skewed remuneration structure that has left those in core public service earning as low as Sh10,000 a month while their counterparts in agencies like the CA earn private sector salary scales or even better.

Senior managers went on a travelling spree in pursuit of allowances, the report says, culminating to some officials staying out of their workplace for a total of seven months.

The report is the product of a comprehensive forensic that the CA board ordered in January to look into the agency’s operations, including travel expenditure after reports of wanton spending by senior managers leaked to the media.

The auditors found that the CA spent Sh404.1 million on staff travel comprising per diem, air tickets, training fees and registration fees.

“These tax-free allowances were observed in earlier audit findings to be an incentive for future increase in the number travelling and indeed amounts of per diem have increased,” the report, which the agency’s audit committee adopted on September 9, 2015, says.

The audit found that uncontrolled travelling by senior executives had culminated to overspending of the travel budget, leading to a negative budget variance and the danger of not fulfilling important obligations for lack of funds.

The auditors found that the senior executives submitted documents for only 34 out of the 421 trips made contrary to the CA’s requirements that a report be submitted at the end of every travel.

The exposé on senior executives travel allowances comes nine months after a leaked internal report showed board members pocketed Sh11.9 million in sitting allowances in the five months to November last year and were yet to account for Sh8.2 million paid to them as imprest.

READ: Telecoms regulator defends hefty pay to board members

The CA is Kenya’s richest State corporation having earned Sh7.3 billion from fees and taxes paid by agencies it regulates for the year ended June 2013.

The agency, which regulates the lucrative telecoms and broadcasting industries, collects frequency management fees, annual operating licence fees, type approval fees, interest income and other levies.

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The telecoms regulator paid the Treasury Sh4 billion in dividends last year.

The wanton spending once again highlights the culture of impunity that is common in Kenya’s State-owned entities that are led by political appointees, have a bloated workforce, and engage in wanton spending on salaries and allowances.

Francis Wangusi, the CA director-general, for instance, earned a total of Sh6.1 million in per diem in the year to June 2015, topping the list of managers who made a fortune out of travel allowances.

The report shows that Mr Wangusi made 16 trips and was away from office for 105 days of the year.

Peris Nkonge, the authority’s director of finance and accounting, was second in the pecking order having pocketed Sh5.7 million in travel allowances from nine trips.

“Local per diem rates have been enhanced and if left unchecked, the number of travel and allowances are getting out of control,” the auditors warned.

The CA pays its executives an average of Sh10,675 per day in per diems for local travel while foreign travel is paid at between $400 (Sh41,700) and $1,000 (Sh104,200) per day depending on the city and country visited.

The list of top travel allowance beneficiaries includes Matano Ndaro, the director of competition affairs, who pocketed Sh5.6 million followed by Martin Ngesa, the assistant director in charge of postal licensing and compliance (Sh5.4 million), Rachel Alwala, the assistant director, e-commerce (Sh4.8 million), and Gababo Wako (Sh4.7 million).

Other senior managers who strained the CA’s budget with hefty per diem earnings are Michael Katundu, the director of information, who received Sh4.5 million, Tom Olwero, assistant director, frequency spectrum management (Sh4.47 million), Mohamed Haji, the assistant manager, frequency planning (Sh4.41 million) and John Omo, the authority’s secretary (Sh4.40 million).

Rose Nduku, an enforcement officer at the CA, logged a total of 219 days out of office and earned Sh2 million in per diem. The audit did not measure the full impact that prolonged absence of the executives had on operational efficiency, effectiveness and achievement of targets.

Switzerland topped the list of favourite destinations for the CA executives followed by London, Tanzania, Uganda and South Africa, according to the audit findings.

In most cases, the report says, non-technical staff travelled to attend technical events such as meetings of the Geneva-based International Telecommunication Union, Bern-based Universal Postal Union and Arusha-headquartered Pan African Postal Union.

“There were cases where travel was not in line with the official departmental mandate,” says the report.

But the CA management argued that attendance to these global meetings was key to Kenya’s visibility and was a determinant in getting elective positions at the organisations.

The report challenges the authority to leverage use of technology such as teleconferencing and videoconferencing to cut travel costs even as it advices the agency to cap its delegations to meetings.

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The Sh307.2 million blown up in travelling allowances is enough to pay more than 1,500 P1 primary school teachers, who earn about Sh16,692 per month, for a year.

The funds would also benefit about 153,600 poor households with persons with severe disability, the elderly, orphans and vulnerable children who receive a monthly stipend of Sh2,000 under the State-funded safety net programme dubbed Inua Jamii.

Saturday, October 3, 2015 Suspension of courses puts varsity regulator on the spot

By OUMA WANZALA
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Commission for University Education Chairman Henry Thairu shortly after press briefing at Serena Hotel on September 4, 2015. The Commission for University Education (CUE) is on the spot over the recent suspension of degree courses by professional bodies. PHOTO | JAMES EKWAM | NATION MEDIA GROUP
degree courses by professional bodies. PHOTO | JAMES EKWAM | NATION MEDIA GROUP 

In Summary

• Law, engineering, medicine and pharmacy courses offered by a number of universities have been affected due to concerns about the quality of their graduates.
• Moi, Egerton, Maseno and Masinde Muliro universities have been affected. So has been the Technical University of Kenya, Catholic University and the University of Nairobi, Kenya’s oldest institution of higher learning.
• At Maseno University, Pharmaceutical Science and Medicine degree courses have admitted students despite failing to get the approval of relevant professional bodies.
• CUE chairman Prof Henry Thairu blames poor working relations between the commission and professional bodies which, he says, has created instability in the higher education sector.

The Commission for University Education (CUE) is on the spot over the recent suspension of degree courses by professional bodies.

Law, engineering, medicine and pharmacy courses offered by a number of universities have been affected due to concerns about the quality of their graduates.

Moi, Egerton, Maseno and Masinde Muliro universities have been affected. So has been the Technical University of Kenya, Catholic University and the University of Nairobi, Kenya’s oldest institution of higher learning.

The courses are supposed have been approved by the Commission for University Education before being rolled out.

There are 19 professional bodies in Kenya whose courses are offered at the university level.

However, universities seem to have ignored quality regulations as they focus on revenue generated by self-sponsored students.

According to the Universities Standards and Guidelines 2014, CUE is required to only approve professional courses when it has confirmed that the physical facilities, equipment and lecturers are adequate and that the legislated relevant professional body had okayed the programme.

UNQUALIFIED LECTURERS
During this year’s university admissions, Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement (KUCCPS) admitted as low as 18 government-sponsored students for one course in one university due to lack of space.

However, the same university admitted more than 100 students in the same course under the self-sponsored programme.

Lack of qualified lecturers is another big problem. Documents filed in court by Engineers Board of Kenya (EBK) in response to a suit by engineering graduates it has refused to grant practising certificates, revealed that Masinde Muliro University hired a home science graduate to teach public health engineering — one of the degree courses that EBK has refused to recognise.

The board also claims the institution hired seven ‘‘quacks’’ masquerading as engineers to teach in the faculty while a geologist was engaged to teach geotechnical engineering.

The EBK also claims it found agricultural engineers teaching other engineering disciplines at Egerton University.

Despite having about 1,500 students taking law, Moi University does not have enough infrastructure; a library, moot court, seminar rooms and lecturers. The  lecturer-to-student ratio is 1:60 against the requirement of 1:15.

At Maseno University, Pharmaceutical Science and Medicine degree courses have admitted students despite failing to get the approval of relevant professional bodies.

At the Technical University of Kenya, about 3,000 engineering students are at home following the suspension of the course after failing to get accreditation.

Lecturers from Technical University of Mombasa go on strike over the new NHIF rates on July 3, 2015. Lack of qualified lecturers is another big problem. PHOTO | LABAN WALLOGA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

PROGRAMME EVALUATION
Currently, government-sponsored students pay Sh26,000 per year while those in parallel programmes pay about Sh160,000 per year in arts courses and more than Sh200,000 in science courses.

According to the regulations and standards, for a university to be set up it must have, among others, academic resources such as land, physical facilities, finances, staff, library services and equipment appropriate and adequate  for the proposed academic programmes.

The regulations also require universities to submit to the commission all academic programmes for accreditation.

CUE is supposed to evaluate the proposed programmes to ensure they meet the various requirements and academic standards prior to the courses being launched.

The regulations also require each university to institute its own internal quality assurance policy, system and mechanisms in line with the commission’s prescribed guidelines.

Kenya School of Law director Patrick Lumumba admits that the quality of education at the university level is below the required standards.

“We have lowered the standards provided you can pay,” Prof Lumumba observed, who blames the crisis on reduction of funding by the government.

PEER PRESSURE

Universities, he says, have been compelled to mount programmes for revenue collection lowering standards.

“The bulk of students who are admitted to the legal profession are not the very best and we must admit that there are a lot of students going into this profession because of peer pressure. We must deal with the question of numbers vis-a-vis the number of facilities going forward,” Prof Lumumba observed.

Prof Lumumba defended the suspension of the courses saying the Council for Legal Education had been interacting with these institutions and making demands to  them to ensure that the standards are met.
On Monday, the council stopped University of Nairobi’s Mombasa and Kisumu campuses from admitting new law students for the current academic year.

It also rejected Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University’s application for accreditation while Catholic University of Eastern Africa is facing closure by November 23.

Council secretary Wanyama Kulundu-Bitonye said Moi University had ignored its advice for more than two years.

“The university was given two years to address our concern since the number of students had gone up and the library had totally collapsed. The school had Library space for 80 students with a population of 1,600 and there were no books,” Prof Bitonye said.

Kenya School of Law Director Patrick Lumumba speaks at a past function. Prof Lumumba has urged law students to work hard. FILE PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

There are two professors, five senior lecturers, 11 lectures and 12 assistant lecturers for 1,600 students.

“The shortage of lectures is the biggest elephant in the room. There has been growth of law schools but there is no evidence of development of capacity in terms of human resource,” he said.

KUCCPS, which is a statutory body tasked with placement of students in universities and colleges, absolves itself from blame.

“We normally get available capacities from individual universities and our work is to fill them. We expect the universities to ensure that they meet the requirements of the regulator in courses they offer,” John Muraguri, KUCCPS Chief Executive officer, said.

Experts observe that any student who graduates without getting the greenlight of a  professional body wastes their time and money as they will not be accredited by the same bodies.

Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi wants CUE to live up to its expectations. “CUE should ensure that there is quality as demanded by professional bodies ... they should be consulted and involved while developing any related programmes,” Prof Kaimenyi sad.

CUE chairman Prof Henry Thairu blames poor working relations between the commission and professional bodies which, he says, has created instability in the higher education sector.