Thursday, September 17, 2015 Sudanese politician's son arrested in US for clock gets White House invite

By AFP
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CHICAGO

Fourteen-year-old Ahmed Ahmed Mohamed stands with his father, Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed, at a news conference on September 16, 2015 in Irving, Texas. AFP PHOTO | BEN TORRES | GETTY IMAGES 

In Summary

• Mohamed told the Dallas Morning News he hoped to impress teachers by bringing the clock to school on Monday.
• Irving police chief Larry Boyd insisted that Mohamed's ethnicity had nothing to do with the response.

A Muslim teenager arrested after a Texas teacher mistook his homemade clock for a bomb won invitations to the White House, Google and Facebook Wednesday in a surge of public support.

President Barack Obama congratulated Ahmed Mohamed, 14, on his skills in a pointed rebuke to school and police officials — who defended his arrest — amid accusations of Islamophobia.

"Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It's what makes America great," Obama tweeted.

Mohamed is the son of Sudanese immigrants. His father, Mohamed ElHassan Mohamed, is a politician who contested against Sudan President Omar Al Bashir in the country’s last elections.

A photo of Mohamed standing in handcuffs while wearing a T-shirt with the US space agency NASA's logo was retweeted thousands of times in a matter of hours and "#IStandWithAhmed" became the top trending hashtag on Twitter.

Mohamed told the Dallas Morning News he hoped to impress teachers by bringing the clock to school on Monday.

HOBBY

"My hobby is to invent stuff," the teen said in a video posted on the paper's website, filmed in his electronics-filled bedroom.

"I made a clock. It was really easy. I wanted to show something small at first... they took it wrong so I was arrested for a hoax bomb."

The son of Sudanese immigrants who live in a Dallas suburb, Mohamed loved the 120robotics club in middle school and was hoping to find something similar at MacArthur High School. He did not get the reaction he hoped for when he showed the clock to his engineering teacher.

"He was like, 'That's really nice,'" Mohamed said. "'I would advise you not to show any other teachers.'"

When the clock's alarm went off in another class, the teacher told him it looked like a bomb and confiscated it. The school called police and Mohamed was taken away in cuffs amid suspicion he intended to frighten people with the device.

Police said Wednesday they had determined that Mohamed had no malicious intent and it was "just a naive set of circumstances".

Irving police chief Larry Boyd insisted that Mohamed's ethnicity had nothing to do with the response.

"Our reaction would have been the same either way. That's a very suspicious device," Boyd told reporters.

"We live in an age where you can't take things like that to school."

A school district spokeswoman also stood by the establishment's response, telling reporters that anyone who saw the homemade clock would understand that "we were doing everything with an abundance of caution".

A photo provided by police showed a flat, rectangular red digital clock face screwed into the dark plush interior of a silver case along with a circuit board and some wires.

"My son is a very brilliant boy," said Mr Mohamed.

'BRING YOUR CLOCK'

White House spokesman Josh Earnest called the incident an opportunity to "search our own conscious for biases that might be there".

"At least some of Ahmed's teachers failed him," he said, adding that "this has the potential to be a teachable moment".

The Council on American-Islamic Relations said the heavy-handed response was suspicious given the political climate in Irving — where mayor Beth Van Duyne has claimed that Muslims are plotting to impose Sharia law — and across the nation.

"Clearly we believe it's the result of the rising level of anti-Muslim sentiment in our society," CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper told AFP.

"It's clear that if it was some student who wasn't named Ahmed Mohamed and didn't have brown skin, he would not have been forced to do a perp walk in front of his fellow students in handcuffs."

Wired magazine was among those who responded to the incident with a mixture of humour and horror, posting an article entitled "How to Make Your Own Homemade Clock That Isn't a Bomb."

FACEBOOK

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg told Mohamed to "keep building," saying: "I'd love to meet you."

Along with the invitation to astronomy night at the White House next month, Mohamed also got invitations to drive NASA's Opportunity rover, tour MIT, intern at Twitter and visit Google. "Hey Ahmed- we're saving a seat for you at this weekend's Google Science Fair...want to come? Bring your clock!" the online giant tweeted.

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield invited Mohamed to his science variety show, and the Four Seasons hotel responded with an offer of a free room in Toronto.

Mohamed's family launched a Twitter account to thank his supporters using @IStandWithAhmed as his handle.

"Thank you fellow supporters. We can band together to stop this racial inequality and prevent this from happening again," read a tweet that included a photo of the smiling boy in his NASA T-shirt holding two fingers up in the sign of victory.

The hashtag #IStandWithAhmed had been tweeted more than 800,000 times by Wednesday afternoon, according to analytics site Topsy.com.

President Uhuru Kenyatta increasingly likely to drop William Ruto come 2017

Jubilee’s Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya’s CEO, has never been more confident. You can tell by the bravado and braggadocio with which he’s swatting political opponents. He’s treating the Opposition with contempt — like a bunch of flies. His diction — whenever he speaks — is authoritative. There’s a firmness in his voice that’s reminiscent of his famous dad, the Burning Spear himself. Methinks I know why. The scion of Jomo is bestriding Kenya like a colossus. He has one thing on his mind, and one thing only — a second term come 2017. That’s why he’s getting his ducks in a row. My crystal ball tells me that Kamwana’s most significant casualty will be the irrepressible — but lately easily irritable — URP boss William Ruto. First, Mr Ruto has premonition. That’s because most astute politicians can sense dark clouds even before they gather. That’s why Mr Ruto recently accused his political detractors in the Rift Valley of “digging a grave” for him. He warned — ominously — that the grave diggers might be the ones entombed in it. Like the late Paul Ngei — one of the famous Kapenguria Six — Mr Ruto believes he has nine lives. Like a cat. But when a political maestro like Mr Ruto openly panics in public, then you know the gods aren’t happy with him. They say never let your enemies see you sweat. Which begs the question — is the kitchen getting too hot for the son of Cheruiyot? Mr Kenyatta doesn’t need a numero dos who lacks confidence. Deputies, even in America, don’t win elections for the boss. American Vice President Joe Biden is Exhibit A. But sidekicks can cost the top dog an election. The job description of a perfect running mate is to make sure the cup is full, and not leaky. Mr Kenyatta yoked himself to Mr Ruto, the junior partner, to corral the last election. Never mind whether it was by hook or crook. But what use is Mr Ruto to Mr Kenyatta if he’s causing the Jubilee boat to take on water? That’s why I think Mr Kenyatta will throw his chief assistant overboard. He doesn’t need a spotter with poor eyesight. See also: Sugar politics ignores bitter truth on the industry’s steady collapse Second, Mr Ruto was only useful to Mr Kenyatta as the Kalenjin kingpin. But alas, Mr Ruto’s reign atop the Kalenjin Nation has become wobbly. KANU has roared back from the dead to eat his lunch. So has Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto. Beware of former allies turned foes. And get this — Governor Ruto isn’t some quisling. He’s a bona fide kingmaker. If I was William, I would be foolish to go mano-a-mano with Isaac. Governor Ruto is a brawler who’s not afraid to mix it up — he can sucker punch with the best of them. That’s why he’s hogtied his namesake and reduced him into a crybaby. Mr Kenyatta will jettison Mr Ruto because he can’t herd the Kalenjin. Third, President Barack Obama’s visit proved to Mr Kenyatta that he doesn’t need Mr Ruto. Mr Kenyatta kept Mr Ruto largely closeted, although he did let him out on several occasions to meet K’Ogelo’s most famous scion. The International Criminal Court’s Sword of Damocles still hangs over Mr Ruto’s head. Mr Kenyatta escaped the ICC’s guillotine last year. This is why Mr Obama could now come to Kenya. But Mr Ruto’s ICC woes make him a liability — a diplomatic embarrassment — to Mr Kenyatta. Going to the ballot in 2017 with Mr Ruto is akin to taking a malaria-ravaged patient to the battlefield. It would be foolhardy for Mr Kenyatta to go to war with a lame duck. Fourth, Mr Kenyatta’s running mate in 2017 will be the presumptive favourite to catapult to State House in 2022 should he snag a second term. This is the gazillion dollar question — who wants Mr Ruto to succeed Mr Kenyatta in 2022? I could hear a pin drop once I asked the question. The truthful answer, though painful for Mr Ruto, is that he’s damaged goods. Nobody will back him in 2022 even if he and Mr Kenyatta are re-elected. But it won’t come to that because he won’t run with Mr Kenyatta in 2017. Except for a few URP diehards, no serious political cartels want to see Mr Ruto in State House. That’s why Mr Kenyatta will drop Mr Ruto. Fifth, and finally, Mr Ruto has served his purpose for Mr Kenyatta. He can now be discarded. It’s like the law of gravity — whatever goes up must come down. Politics is a utilitarian game, not a sport of sentimentality. The coalition of Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto is limping to the finish line — 2017 — and they both know it. Don’t be fooled by public expressions of fidelity to each other. It’s over — gone and done with. It’s time for divorce — coming soon. 

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Monday, September 14, 2015 Engineering students in limbo as varsity suspends course

A graduation ceremony. The Engineers Board of Kenya (EBK) has so far refused to license about 9,000 engineering graduates from universities it has not approved to offer the courses. PHOTO | FILE  

Summary

• The affected programmes are undergraduate degree courses in four engineering fields namely civil, mechanical, electrical and chemical.
• More than 3,000 students undertaking various Bachelor of Engineering programmes and scores of freshers set to be admitted to the faculty now have to wait anxiously for their university to comply with EBK’s tough requirements.

By DAVID HERBLING, hdavid@ke.nationmedia.com

The fate of thousands of engineering students at the Technical University of Kenya (TUK) now hangs in the balance following a decision by the institution to suspend the courses, which have been discredited by the industry regulator.

Technical University, formerly the Kenya Polytechnic, has frozen admission of fresh learners and teaching of continuing students in the faculty of Engineering Sciences and Technology after the Engineers Board of Kenya (EBK) listed it among institutions that are not certified to offer the courses.

The affected programmes are undergraduate degree courses in four engineering fields namely civil, mechanical, electrical and chemical.

The board – established by the Engineers Act (2011) – has powers to approve and accredit engineering programmes at tertiary institutions. It also licenses all engineering graduates to practice the trade in Kenya.

The more than 3,000 students undertaking various Bachelor of Engineering programmes and scores of freshers set to be admitted to the faculty now have to wait anxiously for their university to comply with EBK’s tough requirements on curriculum, laboratories and teaching staff qualifications.

“The University Senate has decided to suspend the teaching of, and admission to Bachelor of Engineering programmes that require recognition by EBK,” TUK said in a notice dated August 28, 2015.

Continue reading: 3,000 engineering students in limbo

Friday, September 11, 2015 Kibaki and Moi retirement perks abolished by judge

Former Presidents Mwai Kibaki and Mr Daniel Toroitich arap Moi. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Summary

• Justice Isaac Lenaola ruled that the law passed in 2013 was unconstitutional. He thus withdrew all the benefits Mr Kibaki and Mr Moi have been enjoying since leaving office.
• Justice Lenaola withdrew all the benefits and agreed with the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, which argued that Mr Kibaki irregularly signed the law on the presidential retirement in 2013.

Former presidents Mwai Kibaki and Daniel Moi will lose millions of shillings in retirement benefits after the High Court annulled a law on the hefty perks.

Justice Isaac Lenaola ruled that the law passed in 2013 was unconstitutional. He thus withdrew all the benefits Mr Kibaki and Mr Moi have been enjoying since leaving office.

He said parliament violated the constitution by passing the law without involving the Salaries and Remuneration Commission.

“The law is invalidated and declared null, void and unconstitutional,” ruled Justice Lenaola.

The judge did not order the former presidents to refund the money they have earned, but it opens a leeway to force them to return the money.

Mr Kibaki took home Sh25 million lump sum having served as President for two terms. He was also getting a pension of Sh560,000 a month, entertainment allowance of Sh280,000 and Sh300,000 a month housing allowance for his urban and rural homes.

In addition, retired presidents get two new cars every three years, two personal assistants, four secretaries, four messengers, four drivers and bodyguards.

Justice Lenaola withdrew all the benefits and agreed with the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, which argued that Mr Kibaki irregularly signed the law on the presidential retirement in 2013.

Justice Lenaola upheld arguments that failing to consult the salaries team meant that parliament and the former president inappropriately used their offices to determine their own salaries and benefits in total contravention of the constitution.

The commission had submitted that during the reading and passage of the laws, parliament did not involve Salaries and Remuneration Commission as required by the constitution.

Thursday, September 10, 2015 High Court stops countrywide admission of over 3,000 students to KMTC

In Summary

• According to Prof Ojienda, KUCCPS had already admitted another 2,305 students, whom the KMTC board refused to take in.
• He accused the KMTC board of disregarding the Attorney-General’s legal opinion, which had advised them to leave the selection process to KUCCPS.
• He added that the KMTC decision to select another set of students for admission contravened the Universities Act and the Technical and Vocational Education and Training Act.

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By PAUL OGEMBA
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Successful applicants register for classes at the KMTC Nakuru campus in September 2014. The High Court has stopped the admission of 3,761 students into all KMTC campuses countrywide until a case filed by the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service is heard and determined. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP  

The High Court has stopped the admission of 3,761 students into the Kenya Medical Training Institute’s campuses across the country.

Justice Joseph Onguto ruled that the students should not report to any of the KMTC colleges until a case filed by the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) is heard and determined.

“The applicants are allowed to challenge the decision of KMTC to admit the students and pending the determination of the suit, an order of prohibition is issued stopping KMTC from admitting any of the selected students,” ruled Onguto.

KUCCPS, through senior counsel Prof Tom Ojienda, argued that the admissions were illegal since the agency is the only body mandated to admit students to public universities and middle-level government colleges.

According to Prof Ojienda, KUCCPS had already admitted another 2,305 students, whom the KMTC board refused to take in.

ACTED UNREASONABLY

“KMTC acted unreasonably for purporting to select another set of students for placement in to the college for the 2015/2016 academic year while aware that KUCCPS had already selected a set of students for placement in the same academic year,” said Ojienda.

He submitted that KMTC no longer has powers to admit students since the new higher education laws give KUCCPS exclusive powers to select students.

He accused the KMTC board of disregarding the Attorney-General’s legal opinion, which had advised them to leave the selection process to KUCCPS.

“We attempted to solve the stalemate through several correspondences but failed to agree on a common ground.

“We then sought the AG’s legal opinion and he interpreted the law that it is KUCCPS which is vested with the mandate to select the students,” said Ojienda.

He added that the KMTC decision to select another set of students for admission contravened the Universities Act and the Technical and Vocational Education and Training Act, and was therefore illegal, incompetent, unconstitutional, rude and unreasonable.

Justice Onguto directed that the application be served on KMTC and the AG and scheduled the hearing for September 17

Sunday, September 6, 2015 Local FM stations dumbing down, sexing up the national conversation

By RASNA WARAH
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 Socialite Vera Sidika. "Women fought the battle for equality because they did not want to be reduced to their genitals and mammary glands. However, today, it is women like Vera Sidika and Kim Kardashian who encourage women to self-mutilate," Rasna Warah. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP 

In Summary

• In Kenya, some female news anchors and TV hosts act as if they are on a catwalk, with each competing with the other to show off their cleavages and legs.
• Women who object to the objectification and commodification of women’s bodies are described as prudish and out of sync with the demands of a modern individualistic society.
• The practice of female circumcision is similarly carried out by women in many African societies, notably in Somalia and Egypt, where more 90 per cent of women have undergone the procedure, often under unhygienic conditions without any anaesthetic.

When the airwaves were liberalised in the mid-1990s, I feared that the plethora of vernacular radio stations could lead to increasing ethnic chauvinism in Kenyan society.

I felt that Kenya was too fragmented ethnically and that irresponsible radio journalism combined with ethnocentrism could ignite ethnic conflicts and reinforce stereotypes.

My fears were confirmed a decade later, when some vernacular radio stations were accused of inciting ethnic-based violence before the 2007 elections
However, now I believe that it is not the ethnocentricism of local vernacular radio stations that we should be worried about, but the blatant sexism and dumbing down of content in the English-language stations.

Let me explain. The other day when I was stuck in Nairobi’s legendary traffic, the driver of the taxi I was using tuned into one of the more popular local English-language FM stations.

I liked his choice – it is one of the stations I tune into myself when I am driving.

SEX TALK

However, the conversation between the hosts of the station at 7.30 in the morning was truly alarming. There was talk of extra-marital affairs, mpango wa kandos, seduction tips, and the like.

At one stage, the conversation got so graphic that the taxi driver switched the dial to another station out of sheer embarrassment.

Unfortunately, the station he tuned into was equally lewd and so he spent the better part of our ride just switching from one FM station to another.

I thought of all the parents who have to endure such conversations while driving their children to school – conversations that are best left for after 9 pm.

That morning, this newspaper had reported that several children in Busia had become paralysed due to maladministration of injections.

There was also a ground-breaking story of images of the planet Pluto being seen for the first time. But one would not know any of this by listening to local FM stations. The talk was all about sex.

But then maybe this is the reality of a post-feminist, neoliberal world. The commodification of sex and women has gained a new impetus in this new money-worshipping society. Anyone is game.

SOFT-PORN SHOWS

In Kenya, some female news anchors and TV hosts act as if they are on a catwalk, with each competing with the other to show off their cleavages and legs.

This sexing up of presenters and dumbing down of news have turned some news bulletins into soft-porn shows.

Women’s breasts, buttocks and legs are on sale to the highest bidder, with the bidding being done by none other than the women themselves. Women who object to the objectification and commodification of women’s bodies are described as prudish and out of sync with the demands of a modern individualistic society.

This “oppression of the self” is by no means a new phenomenon. In ancient upper-class Chinese society, mothers would bind their daughters’ feet for years in order to achieve an ideal of female beauty that included stunted feet that looked like hooks. Girls with bound feet were considered more marriageable, presumably because they would not be able to “run around” (i.e. be unfaithful to their husbands).

SELF-MUTILATION OF WOMEN

The practice of female circumcision is similarly carried out by women in many African societies, notably in Somalia and Egypt, where more 90 per cent of women have undergone the procedure, often under unhygienic conditions without any anaesthetic.

Women fought the battle for equality because they did not want to be reduced to their genitals and mammary glands. However, today, it is women like Vera Sidika and Kim Kardashian who encourage women to self-mutilate. All these women are in the service of patriarchy – they are essential cogs in the wheels of institutionalised sexism. They reinforce every stereotype of women, and ensure that women remain the agents of their own oppression.

At any other time in our history, “celebrities” like Kim and Vera would have been the objects of pity. They would have elicited the same sympathy one feels for a poor woman who is forced to sell her body or women who are coerced by pornographers to perform sex acts with strangers. Today, girls all over the world want to be just like Kim and Vera – porn stars, but without the label.

rasna.warah@gmail.com

Friday, September 11, 2015 Bensouda says she will not call any more witnesses in Ruto, Sang case

By JEREMIAH KIPLANG'AT
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ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has issued a notice to the Trial Chamber ending her evidence against Deputy President William Ruto and co-accused Joshua arap Sang.

This comes as the accused were allowed to appeal the admission of testimonies disowned by the prosecution witnesses.

Ms Bensouda's notice read: "In compliance with the Trial Chamber’s order ICC-01/09-01/11-1948-Conf, the Prosecution hereby notifies the Trial Chamber, Parties and participants that it formally closes the Prosecution’s case."

The decision by Ms Bensouda means that she will no longer present witnesses in court against Mr Ruto and Mr Sang but hopes the Appeals Chamber judges will uphold the Trial Chamber’s ruling permitting her to use testimonies of hostile witnesses.

Earlier, the Trial Chamber allowed Mr Ruto and Mr Sang to appeal against the admission of evidence disowned by witnesses.

The two had argued that it would be wrong for the court to allow recanted evidence without them questioning it.

Mr Ruto’s defence wants to appeal on 11 issues touching on the impact the ruling would have on his case.

He also wants the Appeals Chamber to determine whether the trial judges “erred when it failed to provide sufficient reasoning regarding the standard of proof”.

RIGHTS OF ACCUSED

Mr Sang raised 10 issues regarding the rights of the accused.

He said the decision would not get him a fair trial.

In their ruling, trial judges Chile Eboe-Osuji, Olga Herrera Carbuccia and Robert Fremr said the two had raised important issues that would be determined by the Appeals Chamber.

They said the decision “has the potential to significantly affect the outcome of the trial, as well as the fair and expeditious conduct of proceedings”.

At the same time, the trial judges also ruled that Mr Walter Barasa must appear before the court first.

Mr Barasa wanted the warrant of arrest issued against him substituted with summons. He is wanted for allegedly interfering with International Criminal Court witnesses.

The Pre-Trial Chamber made public arrest warrants it had issued in confidence against lawyer Paul Gicheru and Mr Philip Kipkoech Bett on allegations of interfering with witnesses.

In its ruling, the chamber said since the two were arrested by the Kenya police on July 30 at the request of the ICC, the arrest warrants could no longer be kept secret.