OTIENDE AMOLO SILENCED AS 11th MAY SET FOR HEARING AWITI Vs MAGWANGA APPEAL
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Justice Erastus Githinji has directed that the Election Appeal Civil Case no 5 before Kisumu Court of Appeal be heard on 11th May 2018.
The judge directed that appellants should file their appeal within 7 days from today and respondents file reply submissions within another seven days.
This brings us to 9th May as the deadline for all written submissions, thereafter, all parties be given copies of each other's submissions within 24 hours of service.
The submissions will be limited to 30 pages. On the hearing date, apellants will take 2 hrs to highlight their submissions, IEBC lawyers one hour and Governor Magwanga's lawyers 3 hrs.
Justice Githinji also directed that the urgent application by Lawyer Kanjama to compel Awiti to pay Magwanga the fine will be heard in Nairobi before three appellate judges next week.
Justice Githinji revealed that additional judges will come to Kisumu to help ease the volume of cases here as from 7th May till 18th May. He said Kisumu has 15 cases while Nairobi has only 6.
Meanwhile, the much publicised Lawyer Otiende Amolo got the shock of his legal life when he was aptly corrected by Lawyer Charles Kanjama when he quoted article 18 instead of 20 relating to submissions of electronic materials with evidences before court. The judge overuled Mr. Otiende Amolo and upheld Professor Kanjama's demand that the CDs which were played in court during High Court hearing be part of evidence before court appeal. Mr Amolo remained silent for the rest of the session and listened to lectures from Professor Kanjama.
Tuesday, 24 April 2018
WATCH: Science Says People Who Are Always Late Are More Successful and Live Longer
April 16th 2018
We all have that friend (or maybe, we are that friend) who is late to every single brunch, baby shower, and school board meeting ever put in the calendar and spend most Sundays slinking into the back pew at church hoping not to draw attention. While Southerners pride themselves on good manners, which includes timeliness, some people simply seem incapable of being on time.
While it’s certainly a frustrating characteristic both for the people waiting to order lunch until the tardy friend makes their appearance and for the well-intentioned, but perennially late person, turns out there is a silver lining to it. A recent body of scientific work, reveals that the traits that tend to make people late, are the very same traits that can help them live longer and more productive lives.
Science has shown that stress is incredibly bad for overall health. People who are late typically feel less stressed, unconcerned with deadlines, and generally more relaxed. That can lead to lower blood pressure, lower risks of heart disease, greater cardiovascular health, lower risk of stroke, and lower chance of depression, all of which can prolong life.
As Diana DeLonzor wrote in her book, Never Late Again, many late people tend to be both optimistic and unrealistic. That means they truly, deeply believe that they can, say, go for a run, take a shower, stop at the Piggly Wiggly to buy groceries for dinner, pick up the dry cleaning, and still make it on time to pick up the kids from school all in one hour. That is a clearly optimistic schedule, yet many chronically late people truly believe it’s possible, even when proven time and again that it’s not. That level of optimism reaches far beyond an over-planned schedule, though. According to researchers at Harvard Medical School, “Research tells us that an optimistic outlook early in life can predict better health and a lower rate of death during follow-up periods of 15 to 40 years.”
Optimism can also effect productivity and success. A study among salesmen revealed that optimists sold 88 percent more than their pessimistic colleagues. They performed better because they have a better outlook.
Similarly, some chronically late people are perfectionists who can’t leave the house until the dishwasher is empty and the laundry is folded, according to Dr. Linda Sapadin, a time management specialist and fellow at the American Psychological Association. That may be frustrating trait in a friend, but is a desirable characteristic in an employee and can lead to more successful career.
Another reason that a person may end up perpetually tardy is that they are simply engrossed in another activity and lose track of time. Being passionate about a subject can translate to long-term success, which means late people may end up being very successful. Business leaders like Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey, Warren Buffett, and Jeff Bezos have all weighed in on the fact that being truly passionate about your work is the secret to success. So the next time someone is late, ask them what they were working on, it may be enlightening.
Finally, it’s important to understand that for some people, lateness is not entirely their fault, because they may have a completely different sense of time than you. A team of scientists put one minute on the clock and asked two different groups of people with Type A (ambitious, driven) or Type B (relaxed, creative) personalities and asked them to guess how much time had passed. Their study revealed that people with Type A personalities guessed that an average of 58 seconds had passed, while those with Type B personalities thought an average of 77 seconds had passed. That 19 second difference in perception could add up quickly leading someone to be very late to lunch.
The next time someone is tardy to the party, keep in mind that they may be happier, healthier, and more productive—and then mull that over while you order an extra appetizer to eat while you wait.
Monday, 23 April 2018
IEBC crisis bolsters Roselyn Akombe’s claims of infighting
22.04.2018
SUMMARY
SUMMARY
The split in the Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC) which has culminated in the resignation of three commissioners and the suspension of the chief executive officer has vindicated Dr Roselyn Akombe on claims about infighting.
On Monday, vice chairperson Consolata Maina and commissioners Margaret Mwachanya and Paul Kurgat castigated chairman Wafula Chebukati and resigned from the commission, saying they had no faith in his leadership.
The three expressed their dissatisfaction with the suspension of CEO Ezra Chiloba, claiming that under Mr Chebukati “the commission boardroom has become a venue for peddling misinformation, grounds for brewing mistrust and a space for scrambling for and chasing individual glory and credit”.
POLITICAL INTERESTS
Days to the October 26 repeat presidential election, Dr Akombe resigned, saying the commission had become a competition of political interests.
“It has become increasingly difficult to continue attending plenary meetings where commissioners come ready to vote along partisan lines and not to discuss the merit of issues before them.
"It has become increasingly difficult to appear on television to defend positions I disagree with in the name of collective responsibility,” Dr Akombe said when announcing her resignation.
But in a strange twist of fate, the events that have rocked the commission seem to bolster Dr Akombe’s view on the challenges facing IEBC in a report she authored and delivered to the commission just a week after she fled to the US and resigned, fearing for her life.
In her report, End of Assignment, Dr Akombe paints a grim picture of a commission tottering on precariously, mostly at the mercy of powerful political actors and the secretariat.
CHEBUKATI SUMMONED
It was on the basis of the report that the Senate's Justice, Legal Affairs and Human Rights committee invited Mr Chebukati and the two commissioners for a meeting to shed light on the goings-on at the commission.
It was on the basis of the report that the Senate's Justice, Legal Affairs and Human Rights committee invited Mr Chebukati and the two commissioners for a meeting to shed light on the goings-on at the commission.
And even though both sides had confirmed attendance, the meeting fell through on Friday.
In the report delivered to the commission on October 30, 2017, Dr Akombe says one of the fundamental problems at the commission is that there are two centres of power.
One centre of power is led by the chairman and the other by the CEO, a situation she argues has allowed political actors a convenient way of pitting one centre against the other, to their (political actors) own benefit.
“This indeed happened in the commission on many occasions, including towards the end of my tenure with some commissioners aligning themselves with the chairman and others with the CEO,” she says, in the 93-page report, which she says covers the period of her tenure.
POLL NULLIFIED
She gives the example of September 7, 2017 when five commissioners issued a statement disavowing a memo from the chairman to the CEO over the conduct of the August 8 presidential election, which had been nullified by the Supreme Court.
She gives the example of September 7, 2017 when five commissioners issued a statement disavowing a memo from the chairman to the CEO over the conduct of the August 8 presidential election, which had been nullified by the Supreme Court.
Two commissioners later recanted their support for the chairman.
“Such open divisions within the commission placed the rest of the staff, especially those in the field, in a difficult position where they were forced to choose between the chair and his allies and the CEO and his allies. This was detrimental to the morale,” she says, adding that attempts to mediate these two centres of power did not succeed.
To have a truly independent commission, she proposes that the process of appointing the chairman, commissioners and other secretariat staff should be changed.
RECOMMENDATIONS
She says: “The patronage in appointments is the greatest disservice to the nation as it takes away the ability to make decisions independently and professionally.”
She warns that the legal requirement that gives the President the final decision to pick the chairman and the commissioners makes everyone a captive of the state.
She thus recommends the National Assembly should institute a public inquiry into the conduct of 2017 general election, especially the use of technology.
How devolution has changed Kenya
Makueni Governor Kivutha Kibwana interacts with nursery school pupils at Kiteei Primary School. His administration has undertaken a number of praiseworthy development projects using devolution funds. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP Makueni, devolution23.04.2018
In May last year, a 23-year-old woman in Lamu developed obstructed labour, a life threatening complication that could have killed the unborn child.
In the past, such a complication could be treated only at the Coast General Hospital, some 240 kilometres away. The other option would have been the Lamu County Hospital. But getting there would have meant a long boat ride on the Indian Ocean, and there was no guarantee that the hospital would have the necessary equipment, or staff, to handle her case.
What happened, though, was that the first-time mother – whose identity the hospital declined to reveal, citing the institution’s doctor-patient confidentiality policy – underwent a caesarean operation at the nearby Faza Hospital, the first time the procedure was conducted in the county since independence, more than 50 years ago.
INDIAN OCEAN
The hospital, which is in Lamu East, had for decades, only offered basic medical services and treated mild ailments, a situation the county government says it has greatly improved through funds brought by the devolution of health services.
Previously, critically ill patients were referred to Lamu County Hospital on Lamu island, miles away across the Indian Ocean. The incidence of infant mortality and stillbirths was high, since families that could not afford the five-hour speedboat ride were left to their own devices.
The coastal county has received cash disbursement amounting to Sh7.9 billion from the national government in four years, according to data from the Treasury.
But Lamu County, once considered a marginalised region, is not alone. Many of the 47 county governments have in the past four years achieved once unimaginable feats, including brain and heart surgeries, which were once the preserve of the big hospitals in the country.
SCHOOLS
Besides, many have improved road networks to areas that were previously inaccessible, built schools, improved agriculture and increased access to business opportunities, resources and jobs.
Some counties, like Makueni — which has lately become the poster boy for the fruits of devolution — have been celebrated for providing universal healthcare, conducting the first telemedicine operation, and promoting trade by building milk and fruit-processing factories, the first in any county.
The counties have received about Sh1 trillion since they came into being, according to the Treasury. Most of these funds have been injected into health, education, trade and infrastructure.
Garissa and West Pokot have been celebrated for increasing the number of deliveries in hospitals and reducing maternal mortality rates through a raft of innovative measures.
ROSY PICTURE
Meanwhile, Embu, Kakamega, and Mandera counties stand out for improving access to healthcare services by providing free maternal healthcare service kits, incentives to traditional birth attendants and community health workers and using WhatsApp messaging to connect health facilities.
People whom the Nation spoke to painted a rosy picture, and were optimistic about the benefits of county governments.
Mr Kinuthia Wamwangi, a devolution expert and former chairman of the defunct Transitional Authority, singles out health and infrastructure as the biggest success stories of devolution, which have had the greatest impact on people’s.
Mr Wamwangi, who chaired the authority that midwifed devolution, says that devolution has not only improved the economic and social welfare of people in many places, some of which were previously marginalised, but has, to a great extent, increased the democratic space in the country, since the people are now part of the decision-making.
RESOURCES
“Devolution is working fantastically. It is productive, effective and efficient in service delivery. The distribution of resources is now running into billions of shillings. People now do not have to lobby for goodies through delegations to State House,” he told the Nation.
“The citizens have become more educated, informed about their rights and entitlement. The checks and balances have improved. People can now choose to picket, demonstrate and go to court to enforce what they consider their rights,” said Mr Wamwangi.
He added: “The devolved units are also able to demand what they consider their right from the national government through forums like the Council of Governors.”
Further, the devolution of the management of the nursery school programme has seen a decline in the number of drop-outs and helped act as an anchor foundation for most school going children.
BUSINESSES
Prof Winnie Mitullah, a policy expert, says the achievements in health are “a realisation of the benefits of devolution, whose intention was to bring services closer to residents”.
“Some of these things were dreams that we never thought would be achieved. But the little that we are seeing in the counties, despite the few challenges that a number of them faced in the early years, is commendable and a sign of greater things to come,” said the University of Nairobi lecturer.
According to the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution, which outlines counties’ mandates, the regional governments are responsible for functions like planning, licensing businesses, transport, and controlling air pollution, among others.
Council of Governors vice-chairperson Ann Waiguru singled out service delivery as one of the most direct and greatest impacts of devolution.
WASTAGE
“Governors have collaborated with the national government to ensure that specific issues affecting their people are resolved either at the national or county level, and this has resulted in improved living standards for Kenyans across the country,” said the Kirinyaga governor.
Other reforms include the rolling out of youth and women empowerment programmes in order to change the lives of the people at the grassroots, added Ms Waiguru.
But devolution has not been without its fair share of challenges. Corruption, infighting. tug-of-war with the national government, wastage of funds and unmet revenues targets have been reported.
The Controller of Budget, Ms Agnes Odhiambo, says that in the first quarter of the 2017/18 financial year, counties have registered a massive drop in revenue collection, from Sh7 billion for the same period in the 2016/17 financial year, to only Sh4.8 billion.
CORRECTIVE
Devolution Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa is worried about the trend: “I am very concerned about corruption. We wanted to devolve funds, not corruption. It is an area of great concern which we shall be addressing.”
Ms Waiguru says some of the mistakes were part of the learning process, but corrective measures are being put in place to address the shortcomings in the next cycle of devolution.
Still, Mr Wamwangi was optimistic. He argued that the solution is to find long-lasting corrective measures for the problems encountered.
The office of the Auditor-General Edward Ouko, in its annual reports on the use of funds in the counties, indicates that most of the devolved units have presided over wastage of billions of taxpayers’ funds, after governors and officials failed to account.
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Gor Mahia fans feared dead in accident
Gor Mahia fans react during the Caf Champions League first round, first leg match between Gor Mahia and Esperance on March 7, 2018 at Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos. PHOTO | KANYIRI WAHITO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
22.April 2018
At least three supporters of Kenyan Premier League club Gor Mahia are feared dead following a road accident that took place Sunday at Mlolongo in Machakos County along the Nairobi-Mombasa highway.
The supporters are among dozens of fans who were travelling in a 32-seater minibus to Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos County for a Kenyan Premier League match between Gor Mahia and Thika United.
The club confirmed the incident through a statement on social media.
CLUB STATEMENT
“Our heartfelt and sincere condolences to family, friends, relatives and the entire Gor Mahia family on the loss of three fans who were involved in a road accident along Mombasa road this afternoon en route to Machakos Stadium,” said a statement on the club’s Twitter handle @OfficialGMFC on Sunday.
Eye witnesses said the fans were riding atop a minibus christened ‘Big Daddy.’
The ill-fated bus swerved to one side of the road to avoid colliding with an on coming vehicle, and the fans fell off.
“I’m at the scene of the accident and in need of Sh4,000 to enable me move these bodies to the mortuary,” Gor’s organising secretary, Judith Nyangi, told Nation Sport.
Five other supporters who were injured in the accident were rushed to Machakos Level Five hospital for treatment.
This incident comes barely a year after many supporters attached to AFC Leopards were critically injured in a road accident along the same road, with one of them, Rose Otiato, losing an arm.
Akombe exposes the rot inside IEBC
Former IEBC Commissioner Roselyn Akombe has exposed the rot at the electoral agency, providing the first insider evidence that the August 8, 2017, polls could have been compromised.
Her damning “end of assignment” report details how CEO Ezra Chiloba put the brakes on multi-billion-shilling procurements on the pretext of time constraint, thereby ensuring they were directly sourced.
Although dated October 30 last year, the report was only leaked on Saturday during the smouldering crisis at the commission. It came just a week after three IEBC commissioners dramatically quit, blaming chairman Wafula Chebukati for incompetence and inability to lead.
On Friday last week, Chebukati and his two remaining colleagues, Abdi Guliye and Boya Molu, addressed a press conference in which they poured cold water on the resignation of their colleagues. They insisted Chiloba was sent on compulsory leave as part of the processes to ensure prudent use of public resources.
Political leaders across the divide are united in their resolve to send them home as well and clean up the commission. Chebukati has refused to resign.
Akombe's report dissects the institutional weakness, operational issues and the shortcomings in the conduct of the the 2017 General Election. She says political polarisation, compounded by the fact that the commissioners had no expertise in the management of elections, undermined conduct of the polls.
She calls for appointment of commissioners whose “ethics and moral integrity” are above reproach, and who have demonstrated experience in electoral and political processes, besides relevant academic qualifications.
PROCUREMENT
Akombe who resigned and fled to the US ahead of the repeat presidential polls on October 26, said procurement at IEBC was dogged by corruption.
She listed the controversial procurement of the KIEMS kits and hiring of a media company as among the many tenders that were wrapped in intrigues.
Akombe said election years are a harvest season at IEBC, with many tales of how procurement evaluation committees make a killing.
“There was a running joke that the only meetings which commission staff would attend on time were the tender evaluation committee meetings. The trend is the same when it comes to tenders at the constituency level,” Akombe writes. She concludes that “there are several accusations bordering on violations of procurement laws that can only be addressed through thorough independent investigations.”
On March 16, the commission held a plenary session in which the issue of procurement was discussed. Subsequently, the chairman unilaterally directed that an internal audit be conducted on five multi-million-shilling procurements. This was seen as a witch-hunt against Chiloba, who became its first casualty after he was sent on compulsory 90-day leave after a controversial plenary meeting on April 6.
On Friday Chebukati defended his decision send Chiloba on leave, arguing that the commission ran very expensive elections in 2017.
“It's only prudent that as a commission, in our oversight role we are able to account to the Kenyan people and demonstrate that this expenditure was justified,” Chebukati said in his press conference.
Chiloba has since challenged his leave in court on grounds that he was not given a hearing or notified of any adverse findings against him. The case will be mentioned on May 7.
But in a damning indictment of Chiloba, Akombe accuses the CEO of using time constraints as an excuse to avoid competitive bidding and dish out direct procurement of lucrative contracts.
“The ballot papers saga is one in which we the commissioners were held captive by the secretariat… this was the trend in high-cost issues. Time was used as a way of tying your hands to take the decision that the CEO had wanted from the very beginning,” Akombe said.
In a clear endorsement of the Supreme Court annulment of the August 8 polls, Akombe says Returning Officers showed her accurately filled-out forms, different from the ones Chiloba submitted to the Supreme Court.
“I met with several Returning Officers who showed me the signed forms, accurately completed and signed that they transmitted, and yet they are not the same ones presented to the Supreme Court. Why the discrepancy?” Akombe asks.
Read more: Chebukati’s team reach out to Ruto
SECRECY
She complains that many issues related to technology at IEBC were shrouded in secrecy and were only handled by Chiloba and ICT Director James Muhati without accounting to the commissioners.
“The dominance of Safran/OT Morpho in all aspects of the commission's work is an aspect worth in-depth investigations, including their role in the 2017 election,” the report states.
Akombe says she was always suspicious of the commission's results transmission system and her confidence in the system nosedived further after the torture-murder of Results Transmission System Project Manager Chris Msando, nine days to the polls.
The former commissioner writes that she was bothered by the security of the IEBC hardware, database and and network levels, despite assurances from the ICT bosses.
“These assurances were not convincing, especially given that the commission did not have back-up data centres and relied on one at the Anniversary Towers that was on the verge of collapsing,” she says.
“We took a decision to acquire new servers for the primary and secondary data centres but delays in procurement made it impossible for them to be fully functional for the General Election and even the repeat presidential election. In the end, the commission resorted to the use of the infamous cloud-based platform, which dominated the Supreme Court case of August 2017.”
Akombe recalls that when the display of results stopped at the Bomas of Kenya at about 8.30pm on August 8, neither their staff nor Safran officials could explain what had happened.
However, when the display resumed after three hours, the margin of difference between President Uhuru Kenyatta and NASA candidate Raila Odinga became a constant throughout the transmission process.
“It is such a situation that will forever leave questions in my mind of what actually happened on August 8,” Akombe concludes.
The Supreme Court in its ruling on September 1 castigated the IEBC for defying the order to open its servers for scrutiny, saying this could have helped the commission debunk NASA’s claims that its servers were hacked.
Akombe has recommended what she terms as genuine and inclusive political dialogue to address, among other things, historical injustices, including domination of the presidency by two communities.
“Even if the world's best commissioners are recruited to manage the 2022 elections, the process will not address the deep grievances that I heard as I traveled across the country. Delivery of a free fair and credible election in 2022 requires more than electoral reforms and electoral justice. It requires a rebirth of Kenya,” Akombe says.
Akombe said the country should consider having two foreign commissioners on the IEBC to mitigate against bias and political interference. To enhance transparency, she says the commission’s board meetings should be open to the public and minutes made public. It should also reduce its “over dependence on legal advice from external commercial lawyers who are prone to political manipulation and instead build its internal capacity”.
Even more radical are her proposals on the structure and composition of the commission.
“The organisational structure of the commission should be reformed to maintain only one centre of power — the chairman — with sufficient authority to take decisions, probably with a veto vote on certain issues,” she recommends.
The executive chairman, not the CEO, would also be the accounting officer, while commissioners would be responsible for each of the directorates of the commission, she proposes.
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