Kalonzo Musyoka

The Vice-President has been in politics for close to three decades.

He is the Wiper Democratic Party leader which has partnered with Mr Raila Odinga’s Orange Democratic Party to form Cord, which made him the running mate.

Mr Musyoka, 60, first became MP when he won the Kitui North by-election in 1985 and was appointed an assistant minister for Works, Housing and Physical Planning.

He was re-elected MP in 1988 and elected Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly. In 1992, he was re-elected MP and appointed Foreign Affairs minister.

He was won the sear again in 1997 and headed the ministries of Education and Human Resources Development and Tourism and Information.

William Ruto

Born on December 21, 1966, the URP leader holds a Bachelor of Science and master’s degree in botany from the University of Nairobi.

Mr Ruto was first a political operative in Kanu, then ODM, and now the URP. He is the party leader of URP, which partnered with Mr Uhuru Kenyatta’s TNA to form the Jubilee Coalition. Mr Ruto served the coalition government as the Agriculture minister before he was moved to Higher Education. He has been the MP for Eldoret North for the past 15 years.

He has considerable business interests in the agriculture and service industries. He is facing charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court in The Hague for his alleged role in the 2008 post-election violence.

Jeremiah Kioni

Mr Kioni is the outgoing MP for Ndaragwa and was elected to Parliament in the 2007 General election.

He is Amani Coalition leader Musalia Mudavadi’s running mate.

Before his entry into politics, Mr Kioni ran Ngayu and Associates, a property valuation firm based in Nairobi.

He is one of the MPs who came up with the idea of the United Democratic Forum.

He holds a degree in Lands Economics and a Master of Arts in Housing Administration from the University of Nairobi.

He also has a law degree from the University of Nairobi.

Mr Kioni has also been a member of the Land Arbitration Board.

Winnie Kaburu

Ms Winnie Kaburu, 53, is the presidential running mate of Prof James ole Kiyiapi.

The former English teacher is a businesswoman and has been active in Kenya’s private sector for the past 10 years.

The last time she taught English was 25 years ago at Uasin Gishu High School.

She also worked in the defunct Kenya Posts and Telecommunication Corporation for six years before moving into the private sector.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and a master’s in Gender and Development from the University of Nairobi.

She’s the chairperson of the Private Sector Forum and the chief executive officer of Envirowaste Management Limited

Ronald Osumba

Mr Osumba is the running mate of Mr Peter Kenneth in the March 4 General Election.

The 33-year-old is a former senior manager at mobile phone company Safaricom.

He holds a degree in Business Management (Marketing) from Moi University, Eldoret.

He is also a chartered accountant. He chairs the board of Youth Employment Systems - a nonprofit organisation.

Born in Kibera in a family of six, Mr Osumba won a scholarship to study at Starehe Boys Centre. He once worked at Co-operative Bank as the sales team leader.

He is the chairman of the Old Stareheian Society, a club of the alumni from Starehe Boys Centre. His goal, he says, is to ensure continuity of the Starehe heritage.

Augustine Lotodo

Mr Augustine Loile Chemonges Lotodo, 42, is the running mate of Ms Martha Karua.

The son of former Kanu MP Francis Lotodo, the younger Lotodo has served in the East Africa Legislative Assembly, having been picked to the regional assembly by Ms Karua’s Narc Kenya.

He brings to Mr Karua’s campaign the regional experience that will be key for any President keen on the East Africa Community.

His stint in EALA gave him huge experience in negotiating with lawmakers from different backgrounds and cultures.

He is a former board member of the Lake Victoria North Water Services Board.

TNA’s Ferdinand Waititu, Mike Sonko and Rachel Shebesh have combined forces and launched a united campaign for the Nairobi governor, senator and women’s representative seats. 

The three, who have won their party nominations, have been criss-crossing the city and outlining their plans as a team. 

When Ms Shebesh joined TNA in September last year, Mr Sonko said she would help them strategise on how to popularise the party in Nairobi. “She is an asset to the party, and some of us who were close to her when she was in ODM have worked hard to bring her on board. 

Now TNA is becoming stronger,” he said. The former nominated MP ditched Prime Minister Raila Odinga ODM for Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta’s party. She had hitherto been a vocal supporter of Mr Odinga. 

On their billboards across the city, the three aspirants, who have dubbed themselves the people’s servants, have gone a step further and given themselves nicknames they hope will resonate with the electorate. 

Mr Waititu is “Baba Yao”, Mr Sonko is “A Man of the People”, while Ms Shebesh is “Manzi wa Naii”. Courtesy: Nation

Bishop Margaret Wanjiru of Jesus is Alive Ministries (JIAM) and MP for Starehe has been in the news headlines of late. This is mainly due to her linkage with the spiritual leader of the dreaded outlawed sect in Kenya - The Mungiki - Archbishop Maina Njenga. Maina Njenga was recently released from prison after charges against him and several Mungiki adherents were dropped. They were charged with planning and executing the Mungiki massacre in Mathira earlier on in the year. Maina Njenga has since gotten born again and in his own words stopped worshipping the god of a community to worshipping the God of the universe.

Bishop Margaret Wanjiru won the battle for Maina Njenga's religious affiliation as there were several church leaders who were dying to have Maina Njenga among their flock. She is rumoured to have presidential ambitions in 2012 and having Maina Njenga as a member of her church gives her a headway for the 2012 presidential race, so it is assumed. Bishop Margaret Wanjiru is also the Assistant Minister for Housing and an OD MP for Starehe.

Maina Njenga was released from King'ong'o Maximum prison on Friday 23rd October 2009.

Bishop Margaret Wanjiru was interviewed by Jeff Koinange on his Capital Talk show in K24 TV station on Monday, 26th October 2009.

On how she learnt of Maina Njenga's release: I was in the office performing duties of an Assistant Minister for housing when I got a call that Maina Njenga has been released from King'ong'o prison and was headed for our Church in Nairobi. When I went there to meet him, he told me he wanted to be sure he has been saved. After talking to him in the office, we realised there were so many young people in the church and we had to talk to them.

Is Maina genuine: Yes I have no doubt. I have been in his shoes where people doubt you. I came from satanism and witchcraft and many doubted me. We must accept what God is doing and receive our young men and women back to the church. God cannot be mocked and Kenyans cannot mock God. I have dealt with militia before - the Taliban - and they are now changed after denouncing their ways. On the skepticism especially in Central province, Wanjiru says that the parents in Central province should realise that they have failed and should take this opportunity to help the young men and women reform.

Why Jiam: Many religions and church leaders had visited Njenga in prison. Wanjiru herself visited Maina Njenga in Prison. She attributes Maina choice of Jiam church to a prophecy God gave them in new years eve celebrations that the church will be used to transform many young people. She also attributes this to her listening and understanding attitude.

Are they going to use JIAM to get into politics: I am full of wisdom and discernment. Do I look like somebody that can be used? Many thought I would not make it in politics and still be a preacher. I am a better preacher than I was before I joined politics. These kids are genuine. The way they scrambled for Bibles shows it all. 200 bibles were bought on Sunday. Maina Njenga bought 100 Bibles and my son 100 Bibles each contributing Kshs 35,000. Government and church should use this opening to change the youth e.g. in the matatu industry where they control. They should give the youth meaningful employement and give them economic empowerment.

Her background: Brought by the mother. Father was a drunkard. Mother a domestic worker in Westlands. Lived a very poor life. Two teenage pregancies led her to a housegirls' job. She later hawked earings then got a job as a toilet cleaner in industrial area. Went to college for a sales course while still in Industrial area. She was later promoted to washing cars. She later cleaned offices and stores. Then went into sales then into management. Wanjiru says she introduced and promoted Marlboro cigarettes. She has been a single parent all along. She got a higher diploma and was promoted to a marketing executive. She disagreed with her marketing manager, resigned and got involved in an NGO management. She then went into business where also got entangled in satanism and witchcraft. When very wealthy she got saved, but had to start from zero. She became a street preacher in Aga Khan walk. After this JIAM was started. Jesus appeared to him in a room and wrote on the wall 'Jesus is Alive Ministries' and drew a cross with his finger. Taken to heaven by Jesus for a vision for nine hours and taught the Bible by Jesus, specifically the books of Nehemiah and Luke.

Does it mean that Maina has renounced Mungiki: The man is born again! We have been sending him messages while in prison. I have talked to him that he should not expect to lead the church straightaway. That he needs to take time and grow in the men ministry of the church with other men and God will show him what next.

TWO men believed to be Kenyans broke into Gitobu Imanyara's hotel room in Tripoli on September 11 while he was asleep.

Imanyara was in a delegation of MPs from the Pan African Parliament invited to attend the celebrations of President Muammar Gaddafi's 40 years in power.

He and other MPs including Nominated MP Musa Sirma at-ended a formal dinner hosted by Gaddafi on Friday, September 11 and had returned to the hotel where they were booked.

In the middle of the night, Imanyara woke up as two men entered the room using a security swipe card. The men ran off after Imanyara started shouting and raised the alarm.

One man was carrying a spray can which apparently led Imanyara to speculate that he would be kidnapped after being sedated.

When Imanyara went downstairs after the incident, the hotel management reportedly said the two men who accessed Imanyara's hotel room were Kenyans and had booked themselves into the hotel using Kenyan passports. However the 'Kenyans' by that time had vanished.

Curiously the hotel management claimed to have no record of Imanyara's presence after he asked them to explain how the two 'guests' could have accessed his room without the master key card.

Imanyara had completed a guest form on arrival so that he could be issued with his room key card.

The hotel security persuaded Imanyara not to make an official complaint at the time.

"They told the MP to forget about the incident. That it was a small thing as he had not been harmed. They said that after all people were fasting and there was no need for unnecessary scuffles over small issues," said a reliable source with Libyan connections.

Yesterday, Imanyara said he suspected the two men had been sent to eliminate him. He declined to disclose more details about the incident saying he would do so at a press conference today.

The Imenti Central MP has filed a complaint with the Kenyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and asked Interpol to launch investigations into the attack that has left him deeply shocked.

"We have received a formal complaint from the MP but we have made contacts with our consul in Tripoli to get to the bottom of the matter," Foreign Affairs PS Thuita Mwangi said yesterday.

Mwangi said little had been done so far as no complete report had been obtained from the Kenyan embassy in Tripoli.

Sirma, who is with Prime Minister Raila Odinga in the United States, is expected to record a statement with Interpol when he returns.

A group of Njuri Njeke elders, who were in Libya at the same time at a different forum organised by Gaddafi, have demanded that the Kenyan ambassador to Libya Ephraim Waweru Ngare provide an explanation for the incident.

Ngare yesterday declined to comment.

"I have no idea about what you are talking about. I have no information at all, and furthermore, these are weighty issues we cannot discuss on phone, maybe in Tripoli," said Ngare.

Attempts to reach, the Libyan ambassador to Kenya, Taher Ali Mawan, were fruitless as our calls to the embassy went unanswered.

Yesterday, the Njuri Ncheke elders said they were unhappy with the threats against Imanyara whom they regarded as a junior elder.

"Imanyara is a member of the Nchuri Ncheke and he is our son whom we shall fight for by tooth and nail to ensure that he is not harassed by anybody," said the Njuri Ncheke chairman Paul M'lthinkia flanked by the secretary general Phares Ruteere and the council's spiritual leader Pastor Marangu Mugambi.

Addressing a press conference held at a Meru hotel, the elders demanded an explanation from the government regarding the incident.

They also demanded that Imanyara's security be increased as well as for other vocal MPs criticizing the grand coalition government.

"We are demanding that action be taken urgently to have the security of Imanyara and others like Dr Bonny Khalwale and Martha Karua strengthened further," said Mugambi.

The elders pointed out that last month his office was broken into and only his computer hard disk and files relating to cases involving a member of First Family were taken.

Money and other valuable items in the office were untouched.

The elders asked the new Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere to investigate the incidents and bring the suspects to book.

Imanyara has upset some politicians by trying to push through a special local tribunal law to deal with the post election violence cases.

Justice minister Mutula Kilonzo who is a supporter of the Imanyara bill has also received threats from some of his Cabinet colleagues who warned him against pushing for the establishment of the special local tribunal. Strangers have also threatened his wife Nduku and his son, Mutula Kilonzo Jr.

PRESIDENT Kibaki may remain as the MP for Othaya even after relinquishing the Presidency in 2012, his eldest son Jimi Kibaki has said.

He said nothing prohibits his father from standing again for the Othaya seat that he has held since 1974.

"Mzee might not retire as an MP. He might retire only as a President. The constitution allows him to seek another term as a Member of Parliament," said Jimi speaking at a harambee in aid of Our Lady of Consolata Birithia Catholic Church in Othaya on Sunday.

There has been widespread speculation that Jimi could succeed his father in Othaya because he has recently been making frequent visits and presided over several functions and fundraisings.

Jimi also launched the political youth movement Simama Kenya earlier this year.

PNU activist Mary Wambui, once rumoured to be the second wife of the President — but which the First Family has emphatically denied on many occasions — is understood to also be interested in the Othaya seat. Analysts say she could mount a strong challenge to Jimi as she is popular in the coffee-growing constituency.

If Kibaki senior decides to defend his Othaya seat after serving his maximum two five-year terms as head of state, he will be the first President in Kenya to do so.

The founding President Jomo Kenyatta died in office in 1978 while President Daniel arap Moi chose to retire from active politics after serving his two five-year terms that ended in 2002.

The constitution does not bar Kibaki from becoming Prime Minister should he become the leader of a party with a majority in the House in 2012.

Russia's Vladimir Putin and Ethiopia's Meles Zenawi both switched from President to Prime Minister in recent years.

The Star could not identify any case of an African president standing down to become a mere MP.

Kibaki entered elective politics in 1963 by contesting the Donholm constituency in Nairobi Province that he won on a Kanu ticket. He shifted base to Othaya in 1974.

But Kibaki risks missing the entitlements of a retired head of state that are enshrined in the Presidential Retirements Benefits Act of 2003 if he chooses to remain as an MP.

The Act stipulates that the benefits cannot be paid if a retired president is "actively engaged in activities of any political party and if the retired president "holds any appointive or elective post in or under the Government."

A retiring president receives a Sh17 million lump sum payment as a goodbye token. He then gets Sh950,000 tax-free monthly, which is 80 percent of the salary of the sitting president. A retired president is also given Sh300,000 monthly housing allowance, Sh300,000 as electricity, water and telephone allowances, and Sh200,000 as entertainment allowance.

He will be provided with 38 public servants including 6 officers for his own personal security and 6 others to guard his Muthaiga and Othaya homes. He will be given 4 four-wheel drive vehicles.

Jimi has been touted as a possible candidate to take over the Othaya seat after Kibaki's retirement.

He launched the youth initiative Simama Kenya in June together with ODM-Kenya MPs Kiema Kilonzo and Charles Kilonzo indicating that he has political ambitions.

Jimi lashed out at those already campaigning for the Othaya seat in 2012 saying the race is not a 100 metres but a marathon.

"You will get tired in six months and elections are three years away," said Jimi. "You better hold your horses, the time has not come," he added.

Over 20 parliamentary aspirants including businessmen, lawyers and sitting civic leaders have already started criss-crossing the constituency in silent campaigns.

Jimi praised the work his father had done during his tenure as area MP saying he had brought more development than anybody else would have done.

He said aspirants interested in the seat have been spreading rumours that Othaya will be divided into six constituencies which he said was impossible.

"Why are they not competing on development instead of politicking all the time? I wish you would challenge them to bring developments instead of politics and mere rumours'.
"Tell them to hold their horses. Youths should not be used by politicians but should take responsibility for their lives," he told the congregation.

Jeff Koinange, former CNN journalist, now in Kenya's K24 television station is back, with a bang.

In just three days, he has interviewed, William Ruto, Bonny Khalwale and Ababu Namwamba, all key players in the Maize Scandal. His interviews are generating news and rejoinders all over.

Last night it was Ababu Namwamba's turn "on the bench", coined from the outdoor bench where Jeff conducts his interviews.

Facts as per Ababu Namwamba

Khalwale a hired musketeer
Ababu claimed that Khalwale is bent on sanitizing some politicians and incriminating Ruto for political gain of his hirees.

Ababus supports establishment of a local tribunal to try post election violence masterminds

"Let us act local but leave room for the Hague to move in if someone plays monkey business. The process marred by 2012 succession. Extremely difficult for this bill to be passed".

Amos Kimunya is a happy man now that the spotlight is not on him. Thanks to the Nakumatt and Sachangwan fires, maize scandals creeping on William Ruto and Kiraitu Murungi's Triton oil scandal, Amos Kimunya is a free man.

My main worry is that although he was "exonerated" Kenyan style from corruption and wrong doing in the sale of the Grand Regency, no attempt was made to resolve the loss of money in Grand Regency bank accounts.

At the time of handover of Grand Regency from Pattni to Central Bank of Kenya, the receiver managers claimed that there was over Kshs 300,000,000 ($4m). CBK alleged that there was no such money in those accounts.

Where did this money go?