A Political Kenya: Latest Politics and Kenya Economy News

At the International Monetary Fund meeting going on in the US, African ministers complained that the Fund was treating Africa unfairly. Then the IMF Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn walked into the room, spoke to the ministers and asked if anyone had a question. None of them raised a single question.

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An MP from Nyanza is spending a lot of his time avoiding his constituents who seem to have lost faith in him. The constituents are saying the man is hard to find when they need his help. The voters have decided that the MP's performance is below par and they will "deal with him" at the right time.

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Like children, some of the MPs in two parliamentary committees are fighting for attention. The members from the Legal Affairs Committee chaired by Budalangi MP Ababu Namwamba and those from the Oversight Committee chaired by Mandera Central MP Hussein Abdikadir are organising media functions and other meetings aimed at outshining each other.

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You know about the tag of war at the Ministry of Industrialisation over the appointment of the KEBS managing director Joseph Koskey? Yesterday we reported that Civil Service boss Francis Muthaura has been in talks with PS John Lonyangapuo over the matter. Actually the PS with whom Muthaura had a word is Dr Karanja Kibicho. Lonyangapuo is the PS for Public Works and has nothing to do with the fights in his former Ministry.

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A top official at KACC has complained to friends that he is facing serious frustrations moving ahead with speed as anticipated in the war on corruption. The official claims roadblocks have been placed in every move he makes to unearth corruption and has suddenly become isolated in a process that requires a lot of teamwork.

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The uproar over the appointment of the new Kebs director has led to Industrialisation minister Henry Kosgey being called in to explain his decision to Prime Minister Raila Odinga who is also the ODM party leader while Kosgey's the chairman. On his part, Head of the Civil Service Francis Muthaura has given a hearing to the PS John Lonyangapuo.Kosgey and Lonyangapuo have been at loggerheads since the former went ahead to appoint Julius Koskey as the new Kebs boss against the advise of the PS and a section of the board. It's now a matter of who will blink first.

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A Cabinet minister from Nyanza is at risk of being isolated by MPs from the region for associating with a group of Luo elders who have fallen out of favour with the MPs. The minister is being accused of financing and organising international connections for the elders who have fallen out with their colleagues over "artificial feuds" manufactured by some local politicians.

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The interest that a well known PNU political activist has taken in the ongoing construction of stalls on a disputed City Council plot in Upper Hill, Nairobi, has attracted the curiosity of many people. A senior City Council officer who has been asked questions about the construction of the stalls just when the council is tearing others down has remained mum and does not want to comment on the matter. The question many are asking is whether the council has changed its policy as far as unplanned structures are concerned.

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Yet another attempt by another political activist, this time from South Nyanza, to get audience with Prime Minister Raila Odinga has come a cropper. The man, who is hoping to run for Parliament in the next elections, is bitter that despite investing huge sums of money in ODM politics and donating huge sums of money in harambees the PM is yet to notice him. The well known ever ambitious political activist is deeply concerned that people in his constituency will soon realise the PM wants nothing to do with him which will mean the death knell for any political career he is hoping for.

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A cabinet minister from ODM has been enjoying freebies offered by a Mombasa politician. In return, the mheshimiwa has been using his influence to assist his newfound-friend acquire some prime real estate along the beach. The politician is known to pay his friends for their assistance by footing the bills for the plane and chopper hired to take them to Coast where he hosts them in style and indulges their every whim.

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Some High Court judges who have been presiding over a controversial land case are reportedly headed for trouble after a prominent city lawyer started compiling a report containing what he claims is incriminating evidence that will bar the judges from any future appointments to the bench. The lawyer has reportedly been gathering the dossier on about 15 High Court judges who have over the years handled the matter. He intends to present the dossier to the vetting committee.

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Former schoolmates of a Nyanza MP who has all along been claiming he is a qualified lawyer have challenged him to say in which university he acquired his law degree. The man reportedly never completed his law studies as he dropped out after one semester for unexplained reasons and never returned to school to complete the course.

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A top cabinet minister who is known for claiming he is "Mr Clean" surprised his colleagues when he started celebrating receiving a Sh20,000 gift from a businessman. The minister decided to be 'philanthropic' by calling a number of his buddies to join him for a small weekend party which he hosted courtesy of the cash gift.

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Key ODM-K strategists want President Kibaki to appoint Ndaragua MP Jeremiah Kioni an assistant minister. The plan is to have Kioni in cabinet leaving the way open for gemstone dealer and Kangundo MP Johnstone Muthama to take over as one of the joint Chief Whips.

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Prime Minister Raila Qdinga's handlers are pushing hard to have one of the ODM Cabinet ministers from Nyanza fired and replaced with the ever vocal Gwassi MP John Mbadi. The handlers are complaining that the minister has been a burden to the party which is in need of revitalisation to woo more members. And if Raila does not want to appoint Mbadi, the handlers have set their eyes on yet another assistant minister, also from the same region, whom they think should be replaced by Rarieda MP Nicholas Gumbo.

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On Friday we told you of a former provincial commissioner who is said to be overruling his boss when it comes to some decisions to do with allowances. We have since learnt that decisions to do with allowances are not made or implemented by one person. They are collective because the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry decided to set up a committee to deal with allowances. Since the new system was implemented, we are told, the committee has been able to deal with all the allowances and in fact got rid of fictitious claims. Those complaining have had their claims questioned.

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Speculations doing the rounds is that former nominated MP and sponsor of the very successful Sexual Offences Act Njoki Ndung'u wants to be the Chief Justice. Many of her friends and associates say the firebrand gender activist and constitution expert is uninterested. But her name has featured in a list being circulated by members of the Law Society of Kenya. They think she should be considered for the soon to be vacant position of Chief Justice. Her inclusion has reportedly made her very unhappy as it is far from the reality.

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Last week, we told you of an MP from central Kenya who has puzzled his colleagues with his new love for Khat or Miraa. The MP has been carrying with him bundles of the mild stimulant herb which he does not shy away from chewing whenever he gets an opportunity. The same MP has also not been hiding his love for beer and has been seen several times along Riverside Drive imbibing his favourite drink as early as 2 pm.

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An MP from Nyanza has been harassing Parliament staff. From the kitchen staff to clerks, the first-time MP belittles everyone he comes into contact with. He has no respect for the team that works day and night to ensure his stay at Parliament is comfortable. The staff now want this big man to stop his bad manners.

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An argument between an MP from Kisii and his former aide almost turned tragic at a Nairobi hotel when the honourable member drew a gun. The mheshimiwa threatened to shoot the civic leader claiming he was behind his recent misfortunes. It took the intervention of two friends who had accompanied the MP to restrain him. When things cooled down, the MP sauntered away with a word of caution to his former aide, "I'm not through with you yet!"

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We told you about a former minister from Coast who has been conning people and has become an embarrassment to his former cabinet colleagues, family and friends. We have learnt the man conned his junior at the ministry out of Sh180,000. The man, who has piled up a debt of Sh6 million, left the lady with a Rado watch as collateral and promised to repay the debt in a week but never did.

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The PNU leaders who have been pushing for changes in the party's leadership are about to make a major announcement. Our mole in the party tells us that a group of disgruntled members who include youthful MPs are set to form a new party altogether. The group will be making an application to the Registrar of Political Parties next month for the registration of the new party whose name they are still piecing together. The group aims to shut out elderly politicians from politics of 2012.

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Yesterday we reported that a senior officer in the Ministry of Housing has refused to pay junior workers allowances approved by the PS Dorothy Angote. We want to take the earliest opportunity to clarify that Ms Angote is the PS in Ministry of Lands while the Housing PS is Tirop Kosgey. The said officer, a former provincial administrator, has been overruling claims approved by Kosgey and not Angote.

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The season of "eating" is upon us. At least that is what our moles are saying about a Cabinet minister who has enlisted the services of some senior officials and parastatal chiefs under his ministry to try and skim as much "excess cash" as they can in readiness for the 2012 campaigns. For those officers who do not oblige, they are finding themselves transferred or demoted which has caused fear among the staff. The minister has also organised for a top law firm to get the contract to recover millions of shillings owed to one of the parastatals under his mandate.

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Time: 2am. Place: Langata Road: What: Kenya Airports Authority bus, KAT 277X parked by the side of the road. A group of people swiftly offloading cartons of clearly labeled duty free liquor and beer from the bus to a waiting matatu. Coincidence: The matatu belongs to a senior Duty Free shop manager.

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The unending PNU wrangles continue. Now the dispute is about the two advisers associated with the party. Party officials are now fighting amongst themselves as to who between Prof Peter Kagwanja and Moses Kuria is best qualified to be the party's political spin doctor.

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Junior employees at the Housing ministry are angry with a senior official who they say has refused to pay allowances which have been approved by the Lands Permanent Secretary Dorothy Angote. The official, a former provincial administrator, has given himself the role of overseeing the work of all technical departments, including directing heads of departments, even though he sorely lacks technical know-how.

By Francis Mureithi

MAINA Njenga wants to convert the six million youth he led in the Mungiki sect to join his new Amazing Grace International church.

In an exclusive interview with the Star yesterday, Njenga said he now wants to teach young people the true gospel and admitted he had misled them in the past.

He said his one-month-old church already has 10,000 followers and the number is expected to shoot up in the coming weeks with the opening of branches across the country.

The church has been meeting on an open ground behind the Labour Party of Kenya offices on Amboseli Road between Nairobi's Lavington and Kawangware estates.

Njenga describing as "primary school" the period when he led Mungiki youth to follow African traditional religion and pray facing Mt Kenya. He said they now need to be converted to believe in the true God.

"I had a very big following of people to the tune of 5 to 6 million. We want these people to continue believing in God. I have to change their faith, I want to train them to become non-violent because I am a teacher, I am a doctor and I am an ambassador of peace," said Njenga.

"I have been teaching them about facing Mt Kenya, I have to go back to them and tell them that we were wrong in some ways. Let's start reading the Bible," he said.

Mungiki is a proscribed sect whose members are often accused of operating protection rackets in the matatu business and in the slums.

Njenga said he does not care whether the government puts his church under close scrutiny.

"It does not matter, governments come and go but people are the government. If people believe in what you are doing, nobody can oppose you," said Njenga at the LPK offices from where he now operates.

He accused some police officers of trying to preserve Mungiki sect because they have been the beneficiaries of extortion.

"The police cannot be happy when Mungiki is getting finished because they work with Mungiki.

They are the people who organise those young groups to go to the matatu industry so that whatever cash they get they share," said the former Mungiki leader.

Since his release from prison last year, Njenga has become a preacher of peace and harmony while building a political empire behind the scenes comprising young people from Central, Nairobi and Central Rift Valley provinces.

Njenga, whose National Youth Movement for Yes mobilised five million youth during the August 4 referendum on the new constitution, is mapping out strategies to transform his church into a political party with civic, parliamentary and presidential candidates.

The movement has been converted into the Amazing Grace International. Some of the leaders called themselves Warembo ni Yes during the referendum campaigns but are now calling themselves Warembo ni Yesu and leading groups in their respective constituencies.

Yesterday Njenga denied that he harboured political ambitions ahead of the 2012 elections.

"I don't have such ambition. I am not of the class of going to high places. I am a simple man," he said.

He said he quit Bishop Margaret Wanjiru's Jesus Is Alive Ministries after they disagreed on the new constitution. Wanjiru campaigned for the rejection of the new constitution while Njenga was in the Yes camp.

Njenga said he was still a personal friend of Wanjiru and campaigned for her during the recent Starehe by-elections where she recaptured her seat.

He added that his attempts to join other churches have been thwarted.

"If I go to any church, they do not give me time to talk about my salvation. They are afraid because I am going to influence their followers. Every time I go to their church, they feel threatened. We need to have our own independence," said Njenga.

Last Sunday, his church received visitors from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, Njenga said.

He said the Amazing Grace International has its roots in Washington DC in the USA.

Rev Grace Kariuki and her husband Richard Kariuki are founders of Amazing Grace International Ministries and Amazing Grace Children's Centre Outreach ministry based in Nairobi, Kenya, East Africa and Warrenton, Virginia in U.S.A.

Rev Grace is ordained by Northern Virginia Ministerial Association, Deliverance Church, Kenya and Faith Covenant Ministerial Association, USA. Grace holds a doctorate from Life Christian University and Seminary.

Grace relocated her family to USA in 1998 after teaching in public, private and Christian schools in Nairobi, Kenya. Between June 20 and July 20 this year, the Kariukis launched their ministries in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Doha.

Amazing Grace International Ministries provides shelter, clothes, food medical care and education to the orphans and the homeless children in the streets of Nairobi, Kenya.

The former Mungiki leader was arrested in February 2006 in a dawn raid at his Ngong home. In June 2007 he was sentenced to five years in prison, having been found guilty of having an illegal firearm and marijuana.

During 2007, a police shoot-to-kill policy led to the deaths of over 1000 suspect Mungiki members. In June 2008 while appealing the prison sentence, Njenga's wife Virginia Nyakio was carjacked on Langata Road, shot and her mutilated body was found in Gatundu.

On April 2009 Njenga was acquitted and immediately rearrested and charged with the murder of 30 people that occurred while he was incarcerated.

Six months later in October 2009 the state terminated the charges against him after he filed an affidavit with lawyer Paul Muite threatening to expose the politicians who had worked with Mungiki.

On coming out of jail, he went straight to Bishop Margaret Wanjiru's church, accepted the Lord and was baptised.

The big news about Africa on much of the global print media, over the past week or so, has been a report on how hundreds f of women were assaulted and raped by rebel militias in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (Congo DRC) last June.

It is perhaps right and poetically fitting that these reports of DRC atrocities have been released at a time when prominent members of Kenya's political establishment are quaking in their boots at the prospect of the promised indictments and arrest warrants finally being issued by the ICC.

For if all that we have heard rumoured is true, then some of these seemingly polished and civic-minded men, have some personal experience of unleashing rabid militias on innocent men and women in unprotected villages or urban slums.

Thanks to these politicians, the days are long over when Kenyans could look with amazement at such atrocities as those which recently took place in the DRC, and ask, "What is wrong with those people?" We know now that we are in no position to stand in judgment over other African nations, in the matter of atrocities that arise when "tribal conflict" commences in earnest. We can no longer pretend that we are any different.

And that, I suppose, is why these ICC indictments - as and when they are finally handed down - should be viewed with rejoicing by the average Kenyan. They offer us the only opportunity we have to ensure that we never again have to experience anything like the post-election violence of 2007-08.

It's true that there will almost certainly be innocent people caught up in the ICC net. That can hardly be avoided when witnesses are reportedly being flown out with their entire families and further promised the opportunity to settle in the consoling suburbs of North America and Western Europe, after they have testified against the alleged masterminds of the post-election violence.

West Africans have been known to attempt foolhardy desert crossings to get to Europe via North Africa. Yet others are routinely drowned while trying to sail the Mediterranean Sea on some makeshift boat in the desperate search for economic opportunity in Europe.

So why would a Kenyan not make up elaborate atrocity stories directed against a person from a different tribe, if this would lead to permanent residence amidst those streets which are said to be payed with gold? This possibility of fictional atrocity stories is something which will bear watching when our fellows-citizens begin to give evidence against some prominent politicians who are even now having sleepless nights.

Still this is not your heavily compromised and deeply mistrusted Kenyan justice system we are talking about. It is the ICC, a world-class judicial operation. And I would venture to suggest that mere indictment by the ICC would be seen as proof of guilt by most who read about it. If the accused was to be subsequently released for lack of evidence, this would not take away the stain of perceived guilt.

In all mention of that person's name thereafter, the foreign press (in particular) would speak of "the Kenyan minister who was once indicted by the ICC for crimes against humanity..." That is hardly the kind of thing which any politician, however reckless, would want his grown-up children to read about in the papers; and every time he or his family travelled abroad, if an immigration official lingered over their passports, they would nervously wonder if perhaps that officer was trying to figure out where he read this name before, and why the mere reading of it made him so uneasy.

To have your name officially associated with crimes against humanity is definitely a punishment in itself. But there is always the chance that some of these Kenyan leaders will actually be found guilty.

That they were absurdly careless in those difficult days: that they got carried away with the heat and fury of the moment. And that they subsequently left behind the most obvious and unmistakable evidence of their involvement in the massacres and arson attacks of those desperate days.

And this takes us back to those hundreds of rape victims in the DRC. The reason why there will be no escape for the perpetrators of the post-election violence here is that this is not really just about Kenya. It is about sending a message to all African leaders.

And the message is that it is no longer possible to allow atrocities to be committed within your borders - or to sponsor such atrocities yourself for political reasons - and hope to get away with it.

The writer comments on topical issues.

A presenter in one of the leading vernacular radio stations is at the centre of a growing storm caused by a top Nairobi lawyer. During one of the talk shows, the lawyer accused a top Nyanza politician of doing little to uplift the standards of his people who have blindly and staunchly kept supporting him over the years. The lawyer's statements have infuriated some of the sycophantic MPs from the region who are putting pressure to have the presenter fired. However, the station management are standing firmly behind the presenter and have refused to reprimand or punish him for his guest's statements.
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An assistant chief in Manga district has for the last few months been making a killing by collecting Sh40,000 each from anyone seeking a job as a driver, clerk or subordinate staff in the Ministry of Education. The cunning chief has now been forced to take a loan to repay more than 50 frustrated job seekers whom he had conned and who have vowed to get him fired.
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In yesterday's Corridors, we erroneously said it is Mutito MP Kiema Kilonzo who wants the headquarters of the
Kitui County based at Mutonguni as opposed to Kitui town. The true position is that it is Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka who wants the headquarters transferred to Mutonguni, a plan which Kiema is resisting hence putting the two leaders at log-gerheads.
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A senior figure at the National Assembly has bought a new, top-of-the-range and custom-made Mercedes-Benz S-Class from a local motor dealer and paid Sh22 million. The cheque was delivered to the motor dealer early this week and was drawn on the Parliament account. The question that goes begging is how come the purchase is being made even after the government has banned the acquisition of vehicles whose engine capacity is above 1800cc?
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A former minister from Coast has become an embarrassment to his former colleagues in Cabinet, Parliament and friends. The man is said to be constantly borrowing money from friends, colleagues and acquaintances but does not pay back. The man once the epitome of success and power - has gone to the extent of borrowing Sh50,000 from clerks at his previous ministry. One of the clerks is repaying a Sh200,000 loan which he took on behalf of the former minister who has since reneged on the repayment. His indiscrimi-ate borrowing has seen the man accumulate a debt of Sh6 million.
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A senior cabinet minister, who strongly believes he is in the International Criminal Court list of the post election violence suspects, has been leaking sensitive documents about ICC to the media. The minister has also been sponsoring meetings of leaders from his area to rally communal support for himself should the ICC seek to arrest him.
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An MP from Central Kenya has puzzled his colleagues over his new love for Khat or Miraa. The legislator has been carrying with him bundles of the mild stimulant herb which he does not shy away from chewing whenever he gets an opportunity.
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Parties with vested interest in the ongoing parliamentary investigation into Charterhouse Bank have reportedly been sharing their largesse far and wide. Among some of the beneficiaries are several members of the Fourth Estate who have received a share of the millions. One of the journalists received Sh600,000 which he spent to complete building his rural home and refurbished and remodelled his parent's house.
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Mutito MP Kiema Kilonzo is bracing himself for yet another battle with VP Kalonzo Musyoka this time over where the headquarters of the Kitui County will be located. The MP wants the headquarters to be transferred from Kitui town to Mutonguni. Kiema has been blaming "Steve" for not strongly pushing for a Mwingi County during the negotiations on the new constitution in which the counties are enshrined.
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An MP from North Rift is no longer visiting his constituency after his advisers told him that his chances of recapturing the seat in 2012 are almost zero. Instead of eyeing re-election, the advisers have told the man to concentrate on accumulating wealth for the remaining period in readiness for his retirement. The constituents, who are not aware of the plan, have been wondering why their lawmaker has abandoned them and is no longer attending funds drives or other functions in the constituency.
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About 150 ODM-Kenya party delegates from Central Kenya are not so happy with some of the party leaders. Reason? Over the weekend, each of the delegates was given Sh1,000 as "bus fare" after a two-day party workshop which was attended by among others VP Kalonzo Musyoka. Immediately the VP left, some of the delegates started protesting questioning how delegates from Nyeri, where the meeting was taking place, could be paid the same amount as the ones who had travelled from as far as Nyandarua or Kiambu counties. Some of the delegates are reading mischief arguing that someone may have pocketed part of the cash due to them.
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An ODM minister is getting jittery after he received information that some MPs want to move a censure motion against him in Parliament over some transactions he has been handling in the last two years. The MPs are planning to table documents which they say will be enough evidence to prove that there has been a conflict of interest and probably abuse of office by the minister after his company was hired to offer professional services by one of the parties involved in a dispute that directly touches on the ministry the man is in charge of.
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A top grand coalition member was committed to six months civil jail when he was a Kanu member in the 1980s. We are informed that the man did not serve the term. A judge has hinted that the case registered in the 1980s is very much alive but police seem unable to find the man, who had enormous influence during the Kanu days and still enjoys the trappings of power.
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The Makadara by-election candidate, who placed portable toilets in a slum adjacent to South B Estate during campaigns, removed them on Friday evening. The man duped the residents that the portable toilets would be permanently in place to get votes from the slums. The slum residents protested and tried to stop the people carting away the toilets in vain.
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Corridors wants the real owner of identity card number 2624126 to stand up. A photocopy of the ID card we have shows that it is in the name of controversial businessman Ibrahim Noor Hillowly, involved in a land dispute in Nairobi's Eastleigh Estate. Curiously, a search at the National Registration Bureau shows that the ID number belongs to Kitetu Kilemi Mbithi. It also shows that the ID is supposed to be replaced with the new-generation cards. Maybe Immigration minister Otieno Kajwang can tell us how these things work.
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Drivers and workers at the Chinese company building the Northern Bypass which cuts through Kamiti Road and Garden Estate in Nairobi are on a fuel siphoning spree. The workers at the Kamiti Road section, near Githurai 44 Estate, routinely siphon fuel from the construction trucks into drums. We are told a black Nissan van comes to pick up the drums between noon and 1 pm almost daily. Witnesses have seen the drivers and workers secretly offload and sell ballast meant for the highway construction.
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They say once bitten twice shy. A Permanent Secretary who was recently interdicted took off from his office to avoid signing a contract he did not understand. The multi-million-shilling project being pushed by highly connected individuals was to construct social amenities in Kakamega County. Maybe more senior officers should be interdicted if it will save taxpayers money from greedy vultures.
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Two PNU MPs whose constituencies neighbour each other are angling to replace former Makadara MP Dick Wathika in government as assistant minister. The two have been calling deputy prime minister Uhuru Kenyatta frequently to plead with him to take their case to "Mzee" but we are told one minister from Rift Valley has also whispered to the President that the seat should go to Kilgoris MP Gideon Konchellah describing the other two contenders as being underserving of the post and point to lurid footage of the two engaging in colourful political spats.

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An MP from Rift Valley has banned his two wives from visiting him at his Continental House office. The ban followed an incident where the two women met at the MP's office and had a heated argument that greatly embarrassed the MP. He hopes that by barring them from coming to his office, he will save himself any future embarrassments.

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The Government's legal department is finding itself in a dilemma over the stance taken by the government on its cooperation with the ICC. Top government officials fear that Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo already has copies of security minutes which the government doesn't want to release claiming they are classified.

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Two senior PNU party officials who are on opposite camps in the growing debate over whether to change the party leadership or retain it have been exchanging all manner of text messages trying to outdo each other. The exchanges have taken a 'learned' turn. One of the MPs who wants to retain the party leadership with Prof Saitoti sent the sms "a wise man laughs once, a fool twice." His rival who wants to oust the Saitoti leadership team promptly responded saying: "Not that I loved Caesar less, but I loved Rome more," a quote by one Marcus Junius Brutus who was a servant and close friend of Julius Caesara but who conspired in his murder!

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Several MPs are angry with a young and brash city MP who has taken to inviting dozens of young women to visit him at Parliament's cafeteria since the House resumed work from recess last Tuesday. It may be sour grapes but the MPs are now complaining that their colleague's guests are denying them and their own visitors space to sit as his guests stay for hours on end and occupy all the seats in the MPs' Lounge.

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A polygamous MP from Western Kenya has taken up a new weekend habit of taking a retinue of young nubile girls to Naivasha for visits. The girls, many of whom are tempted by the prospects of visiting a new town and staying at some of the most resorts do not balk when the MP asks them to come with a friend or two for the fun and games. And if they are more than two, the MP is known to hire a vehicle specifically to ferry the young ladies to the venue!

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A Central Kenya MP who hopes to replace defeated Francis Thuo as the Chief Whip has now asked a city MP to lobby MPs to his cause. Wags are saying the mheshimiwa has 'facilitated' his Nairobi counterpart to 'handle' fellow MPs to support his quest for the post. The city MP was overheard telling some MPs that the Central Kenya MP is the best suited for the seat as he was wealthy and would be able to use his immense resources to 'whip' MPs into supporting the government agenda.

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Top cops in Central province panicked at the weekend following reports that former Mungiki leader Maina Njenga was due to visit the area to protest the arrest of 82 young people suspected to be sect members. To forestall any confrontation, the senior policemen rushed from Nyeri to Kiambu to establish exactly what was going on and under what circumstances the 82 youth had been arrested.

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A top PNU politician has despatched a team of his own to South Africa to dig into the background of PNU political adviser Prof Peter Kagwanja, the president and chief executive of the Africa Policy Institute, a senior research associate at the Department of Political Science, University of Pretoria; and visiting professor of Political and International Studies, Rhodes University. A close associate of a top Kanu leader was overheard telling friends at a city restaurant that his boss was financing the team which is expected to report back soon.


Close allies of deputy prime minister Musalia Mudavadi are taking seriously statements by National Assembly Speaker Kenneth Marende which have created the impression that he (Marende) plans to run for Presidency in future. An MP who is a close associate of the DPM was overheard saying he and others would systematically and politically deal with Marende to ensure his political ambitions are checked at the end of this Parliamentary term.

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Just a day after the MP-elect for Makadara Gideon Mbuvi Kioko alias Sonko was sworn in, he was telling friends how he intended to refurbish his office at Continental House and install a wardrobe of the suits he has bought to attend Parliament. The MP, who does not hide his love for bling and whose sartorial sense of dressing has raised eyebrows, he says his suits will be only for Parliamentary business.

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Some ODM MPs are now pushing to have the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission called in to investigate how the party's share of the political party's fund has been spent. The legislators are unhappy with the way in which party aspirants in the recent by-elections were handled. A top party official was insisting on spending money meant for the aspirants on their behalf.

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Still on matters ODM, Budalangi MP Ababu Namwamba is set for bigger things. The man, once a close ally of Prime Minister Raila Odinga, is reportedly being groomed to take over the ODM secretariat. Corridors has information that some party members feel the seat should go to Internal Security assistant minister Orwa Ojode credited for his "cool" relationship with people from across the political divide.

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An MP from Rift Valley who was being investigated for corruption sent a gang of thugsto deliver a chilling message to a former senior official at the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission—stop the investigations or die. The thugs developed cold feet when they got to the man's home and found it well guarded and instead pasted the warning message on the ex-KACC officer's gate.

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A Cabinet minister is not amused. She was left out of President Kibaki's delegation to New York to attend the United Nations summit on the Millennium Development Goals. The minister was overheard complaining that she should have been included in the delegation as her ministry is one of those crucial in the implementation of the MDGs. The President has also been accused of not including the minister in delegations to African Union meetings where issues directly under the ministry's mandate are discussed.

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An MP from Central Kenya has organised a forum for professionals from his constituency to assist him in drawing up development strategies for the electorate. The invitation from the MP has been sent through sms but now many of the professionals invited are complaining because the MP has advised them that they will have to pay Sh300 for their lunch at the venue where the meeting will be held. Some of the professionals who want to attend the meeting are now claiming the MP is 'taxing' them and prefer that he meets the cost of their lunch!

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The acquisition of a hotel owned by a top grand coalition official is becoming the subject of debate among his colleagues and supporters. The man cut a deal with a foreign road contractor during the Moi regime that saw him assume ownership of the multi-million company after he 'facilitated' the contractors to acquire the tender.

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A city MP is in trouble after a lawyer accused him of conning him out of an undisclosed amount of money through a third party. The lawyer has now threatened to expose the MP whom he claims has four identity cards and who has been using the IDs to fleece him of the money.

***

Failure by an MP from Rift Valley to put up a permanent home in his village is causing concern among his family and relatives. They say the MP has on three different occasions attempted to put up a house only for the structures to crumble on their own. The MP's family and relatives believe the man is cursed and that the reason for the structures' collapse is ills he may have committed in the past.

***

A PNU MP was recently compelled by the Parliament security to tow away his Mercedes Benz which had been at the Continental House parking lot for the last six months. Those in the know say the MP had been unable to take the vehicle for repair and had left it at the parking lot. The authorities at Continental House wrote to the MP complaining that the car was jeopardising general tidiness and was a health hazard as rats had invaded it.

***

Employees working for a top Cabinet minister are becoming curious on the source of their boss' money. The workers claim that any cash the minister gives them as gifts disappears mysteriously. They now say past employees of the minister have died mysteriously or in poverty.

***

An assistant minister decided to take his wife and family to shop at an Armed Forces Canteen Organisation store in one of the military bases. The AFCO stocks a wide range of products which are heavily subsidised for the benefit of the military. The Mheshimiwa and his family in tow surprised many of the military officers there who expressed surprise that he could be shopping for tax free goods and yet he pays a negligible amount of taxes for his huge allowances and salaries.

***

The spouse of a prominent politician may soon be caught in a net that the Kenya Anti Corruption Commission is laying to nab her. The woman has been getting cash from politicians and businessmen promising them that she will use her influence on her husband to sort out their businesses and political problems.

***

AnMP from Rift Valley is selling arms illegally. The man who has been in the arms business for many years also controls many of the armed militia gangs in the country which are behind bank robberies and other extortion rackets in urban areas. The man's business is so secretive that not even his wife, his many concubines or his children, know what he is up to. His security detail and driver cannot also say where the MP lives as he always instructs them to leave him somewhere in town where he takes a cab to his destination.

***

Still on our waheshimiwa, another well known MP has refused to pay rent for a mansion he has been living in for the last 15 years. Agents managing the property say the (dis) Honorourable MP has been issuing bouncing cheques for the last 12 years. The MP has been organising thugs to intimidate the landlady whenever she demands for payment. He has also ignored several court orders directing him to pay the rent arrears. Instead, the man has used his connections in government to ensure these orders disappear from the files and even has APs assigned to guard the house. The intention, according to his friends, is to grab the house. He used a similar ruse to 'grab' another house at Yaya Centre.

***

An MP from Central Kenya is ruing his decision to campaign against the new constitution. Since the referendum, the man has been having sleepless nights fearing that his many rivals might start gaining the ground he lost for opposing the constitution. Recently, the MP had a public spat with a city councillor who had gone to the constituency to donate sand and bags of cement for the reconstruction of a classroom at a local primary school in the constituency. The MP's handlers and agents tried to coerce the school administration to reject the donation claiming it was meant to undermine the MP. This, the handlers said, is not good for development

***

Cabinet minister George Saitoti has been keenly strategising how he can remain relevant in the changing political scenario. Corridor has information that the PNU chairman has met everyone who matters in his Kajiado County to consult on which position to seek in the 2012 general elections. The mathematics Professor, we are told, has been scrutinising the recent voter register and has accurately found out that he has the numbers to become the governor of the wealthy county. Just wait and read his lips!

***

Did President Kibaki deliberately refuse to undertake a far-reaching reshuffle after the new
constitution was promulgated? We are told that the President, in consultation with PM Raila had agreed to reshuffle the Cabinet, civil service and the provincial administration in a move that would have signalled a new beginning. However, for some reason, the President declined to announce the changes and instead announced a mini-reshuffle that saw Chirau Ali Mwakwere return to the Cabinet.

***

A senior manager at one of the parastatals under the Ministry of Energy has been sacked because of what our mole called insubordination. The manager, who was rewarded for dropping a petition case against a senior Cabinet minister was accused of "haphazard and indiscriminate appointments."

***

Talk of grass suffering when two bulls fight. We hear that a misunderstanding between two senior civil servants- Foreign Affairs PS Thuita Mwangi and Public Service Commission boss Titus Gatere has seen many diplomatic staff at Foreign Affairs ministry by-passed in promotions. Corridors heard that various proposals on how to boost the low morale of diplomatic staff through promotions have been turned down by the PSC boss.

***

A top lawyer who was once paid a huge amount of money for litigation is not lost to the dangers around his wealth. We hear the lawyer convinced a security officer to quit state service to serve him. Apparently, the lawyer who does not live in the city has successfully obtained a new muscle — a gun.

***

What was police spokesman Eric Kiraithe's motive when-he sent out a statement to a section of the media denying that First Lady Lucy Kibaki had kicked out security boss George Nderitu? We are told Kiraithe sent the statement to media houses but left out the Star that broke the story after he failed to get the attention of Star editors.

***

The fuel saga which many Kenyans have been complaining about seems to have finally caught up with some senior government officials. They were overheard discussing a possible solution to the problem—replace Energy PS Francis Nyoike with someone else. Those discussing the same seem to have forgotten a small detail—they have no authority or even powers to appoint or dismiss a PS!

***

A senior deputy secretary in a ministry who acted as a PS for a few months but was never promoted is so bitter that he has been saying everything nasty about the public service. The bureaucrat's anger is finding its way to his juniors who have been on the receiving end of his acidic tongue.

***

A group of Cabinet ministers are unamused by US ambassador Michael Ranneberger's frequent excursions to different constituencies without informing local MPs. The clique of ministers celebrated when news broke that Ranneberger might soon be replaced with President Obama's point-man in Sudan, Scott Gration.

***

Speculation is growing that President Kibaki may be planning to stay in power until August 2013. Some people in the government are claiming that the President has been advised that the new constitution allows him to remain in office till then. Our mole tells us the President may have intimated to PSs that those saying he will have to call elections by August 2012 are misinterpreting the new constitution!

***

A senior politician who lost big time in the recent by-election is said to have been taken ill immediately the reality that he had lost dawned on him. Sources close to the politician who had banked a lot on winning the seat said he could not comprehend the loss of a seat he had drooled over for years.

***

New CMB (cash man brother) MP Mike "Sonko" Mbuvi is a man in trouble. Corridors heard that there are several Facebook accounts trading under his name and where thousands of fans are congratulating him. Apparently, their inboxes are flooded with proposals and offers. The pokes are also uncountable.

***

We hear that a cabal of senior politicians and civil servants successfully schemed to halt the impeding sack of a powerful PS whose ministry has been riddled by scandals. According to our mole, the man earmarked to take over was given a big UN job leaving those who schemed the PS's ouster at a loss over what move to make next.

***

There is no love lost between commissioners of one of the Agenda Four commissions and their secretariat. We hear the commissioners are taking over daily activities of the secretariat when actually their role is at policy levels. Corridors heard that it's only a matter of time before the row erupts in public.

***

A mad woman who has been stripping naked every other day along Muindi Mbingu Street is causing jitters in town. A city resident yesterday called to complain why the City Council is not taking action to move the woman to a mental hospital and save her from ogling mindless men.

The new constitution is not an end in itself; it is a means to an end that must not be treated as a stand-alone project. It only gives the tools and mechanisms to bring forth the desired transformation of the state. The people of Kenya must give it Life and teeth.

Kenya has a history of impunity. There have been many corruption and human rights scandals in the country. Recommendations by commissions of inquiry are never implemented and the perpetrators continue holding powerful public and political offices. Due to corruption and political patronage, public institutions have been forced to employ unqualified staff.

Promoting and consolidating the rule of law and democracy while dealing with country's efforts to dealing with the authoritarian past is challenging but it must be done. It is even more challenging especially where the change process is under the stewardship of those with track record of blocking change and/or responsible for overseeing gross violation of human rights.

Institutionalising change is a precondition for dis-mantling authoritarianism and successfully transforming state into constitutionally sustainable democracy. This is what the new constitution seeks to do. But if those implicated in past scandals are given the task of implementing the changes, then it is not yet Uhuru.

A democracy which replaces a dictatorship endangers its credibility and forfeits it altogether in the eyes of the dictatorship's victims when perpetrators go unpunished and the new democracy does not prevent these people by legal means from retaining their positions and further pursuing their careers.

In order to address this deficit, it demands for legal sanctions and vetting. It is primarily the preventive affirmation of civic virtues and the strengthening of democracy under new order. The new constitution ushers a ground-breaking new value and culture system and sets up radical framework for good governance and accountability.

One key condition of cleaning the public service and other offices is vetting the holders of such offices, not only judges but all public servants. This will ensure only hardworking deserving Kenyans remain in public service. Vetting is meant to breathe new norms, practices and values in the management of public affairs. It lays down roots without the danger that the people in high positions of power will try to undermine the new nascent emerging democracy. The aim is
not to punish people presumed guilty but to jealously protect the newly emerging democracy.

Vetting covers both recruitment or appointment and dismissal or removal of public employees.

Vetting may clash, however; with the principle of non-discrimination, as well as several rights of persons targeted. Rights that may be violated are: to hold a job in the public service in conditions of equality and without unlawful discrimination or unreasonable restrictions; to be protected from unlawful attacks on honour and reputation; to an effective remedy; to the presumption of innocence; to have one's case heard fairly and publicly by a competent, independent, and impartial tribunal; to equality before the law and to equal protection of the law without discrimination; and to work.

Vetting procedures are in principle administrative and preventive. They are not meant to replace criminal or punitive measures determining liability. A key issue in vetting processes is ensuring equitable procedures and procedural guarantees. The following criteria should be
kept in mind when designing a vetting process.

First, in order to have legitimacy, a vetting measure should respect the rule of law and human rights. Second, vetting should respect the rights of those targeted. Third, the process should not neglect objectivity, and therefore procedures should be based on objective and reasonable criteria. Fourth, all measures should be governed by law in order to avoid arbitrary application.

Fifth, it is important that vetting respect the principle of individual responsibility. Finally, vetting should be relatively autonomous and should be independent of criminal proceedings.

Procedures should allow for a phase of investigation and verification of a candidate's background by an impartial body, separate from the appointment organ. The candidate should be granted the right to respond to allegations and the right to a judicial remedy to challenge a decision. The investigation and verification body must allow a candidate or family to respond and have access to legal remedies, including appeal.

Vetting processes should be based on objective criteria, conducted by independent and impartial bodies and provide procedural guarantees to the persons concerned. Qualitative and quantitative participation, consultation and exclusivity are key.

The writer is Communication Associates, International Centre for Policy and Conflict.

Yes, the chickens are coming home to roost if they haven't already. Wanjiku is finally flexing her muscles. She has said she must part ways with the past for good. She is screaming on the rooftop warning the political class that with the advent of the new constitution, it will not be business as usual.

And she doesn't seem to have any respect for the high and mighty, rich or famous. She seems to scorn pedigree in our political system. Major political parties don't intimidate her either. But somehow, she seems to loathe individual arrogance most on the part of those who want to be our national leaders.

The just concluded by-elections in Juja, Makadara and Starehe are classic examples in how Kenyan politics has changed. In Juja, it did not matter that the fairly wealthy George Thuo was openly supported by Uhuru Kenyatta and Kalonzo Musyoka, the two political heavyweights that also lead two major parties in Parliament.

To have lost a seat he supposedly won with a landslide in 2007 just two years ago was some kind of a paradox because he dropped to third position far behind the man he is supposed to have beaten. Was this proof that Juja ballot boxes were stuffed in favour of the winner in 2007?

To come third after the relatively new Alice Wambu Ng'ang'a of Thika must have been really painful to the former Government Chief whip who has hardly spent three years in Parliament.

The Starehe results also sent a strong message to the political establishment that the old order must give way to the new order. The new wine cannot survive in the old wineskin. Maina Kamanda may have been a good councillor in Nairobi in the last century and even a good MP for Starehe at the turn of the century.

However, times have changed and the electorate has grown younger, more politicised and better informed. The old politics is gone kabisa. Now the electorate is demanding more than handouts.

Give them handouts but also show them that you can improve their lives.

Bishop Margaret Wanjiru may not have done better than Kamanda in the two years she has been in Parliament but at least she has consistently preached hope for them every week since her election.

Another twist to Kamanda's loss must have been the Mungiki factor, with adherents voting for the lady that their former boss openly supported. The combination of her church followers and Mungiki adherents was a factor anybody could ignore in Starehs at their peril. It came to pass.

The Starehe results were intriguing in one aspect. They were too close to the 2007 results to be ignored. However, they were way off the mark when one considered the recount results just before Wanjiru's victory was nullified. The question that begs answers is: If Kamanda beat Wanjiru by 15,000 during the recount whereas Wanjiru beat him by 1,000 votes during the 2007 elections, where did Kamanda's supporters disappear to this time round?

Incidentally more or less the same numbers that voted in Wanjiru in 2007 voted for her again this week. Were Kamanda's ballot boxes stuffed with more votes after the 2007 elections?

Reuben Ndolo lost a seat he thought was his for the taking in Makadara. He had successfully petitioned against Dick Wathika and the courts decided in his favour. However it seems the voters in Makadara had something up their sleeves.

They looked at Ndolo and Wathika and thought there was no difference between the two. So they opted for the third option. They chose little known Mike Sonko.

This must be a wake-up call to all political parties.

Free the democratic space within your parties. Practice internal democracy before you come out to compete against other parties. Forget blue-eyed-boy mentality where certain individuals
must get direct nomination at the expense of even better and more popular candidates.

Encourage internal competition because it is healthy for the growth of the party!

The secret to political" popularity lies in being tested from the grassroots. Those who claim to be popular yet fear to face challenges at the nomination level are conmen and women who are used to riding on the backs of popular parties. They not only give the party a bad name but they are also expensive for the party in the long run. Worse still, they cause unnecessary rebellion and protest voting against their parties and party leaders. Had ODM and PNU listened to Wanjiku, they would not have lost Juja and Makadara. One hopes that this is a lesson well learnt.

The writer is a media consultant.