DESPITE BOOSTING OF INTELLECTUALS AMONG US, LACK OF PROPER STRATEGIES HAVE KEPT US OUT OF GOVERNMENT.

The Luo community has stood up tall in producing some of the finest brains that have positively contributed in building the economy of our great nation Kenya since independence.

However ascending to the highest office in the land (Presidency) remains elusive even as the country approaches the next general election that has been termed a one bullet affair for the community.

The community has been perceived to be bright and passionate in their dealings, a bit proud or should i call it bravado, these characteristics have worked for or against them in some instances and many a times they are seen by other communities as arrogant and inconsiderate in how they handle issues of great concern.

As a member of this community, I am proud beyond measurable levels to have been born among these great intellectuals, but I am a worried young father when I look at the future of our kids and the kind of leadership we would what them to be under.

There is one fact we cannot continue hiding from, being out of government, -save for a few pockets of individuals who have been in and out- has immensely affected us in terms of growth in all aspects and it could be the reason why the entire luo nation is DEPRESSED.

Despite presenting ourselves as strong individuals we have virtually lost everything since independence. When the country was on the verge of independence, Jomo Kenyatta was still in detention and the Britons were ready to hand over power to Jaramogi Oginga Odinga who declined that nothing could happen in the absence of Jomo ,thus he pressed on to fight for his release.

When that finally happened and Kenyatta became the first President of the Republic of Kenya after serving shortly as Prime Minister, he rewarded Jaramogi with the position of Vice Presidency for his loyalty.

Their marriage did not last long as Jaramogi was fired in 1966 after disagreeing with Kenyatta’s style of administration which he said was non inclusive and marred with skewed appointments, thus he formed his clarion statement of ‘Not yet Uhuru’

As a community, that was the beginning of our struggles and we haven’t recovered from it, and those considered to be friendly to Kenyatta’s administration like Tom Mboya were retained in government where they fully took advantage of their government links and airlifted several young bright luo students to the US for further studies; that included Barrack Obama senior.

Tom Mboya, who was then considered to be the torch bearer of the community, was assassinated in day broad light outside a chemist along Moi Avenue in the country’s capital city, where he had stopped by to pick some drugs. The incident sparked off spontaneous riots with luos feeling that they were being unfairly targeted.

The woes of the Odingas and the community at large further deepened after Kenyatta government impounded and towed Lolwe buses belonging to Jaramogi that were later auctioned at 400 shillings each.

With the exit of Jaramogi from the scene came in Raila Amolo Odinga whose poor leadership style and his inability to take in advice has further cost us and even depressed us more. Raila has lost once and rigged twice but whether rigged or lost fairly he hasn’t been able to capture the presidency.

He easily gave in to ‘A nusu mkate’ government even after it was clear that he beat his closest challenger Mwai Kibaki in the elections. The fruits of a coalition government though are visible save for a few complains here and there over appointments, thus I can confidently say that being out of government is not something we can take pride of.

Since the lessons learnt in 2007 general election it is evident that elections are not won at the ballot and pity those who said we were headed for victory on the ICC argument that Kenyans could not vote in suspects of international crimes.

Raila Amolo Odinga must now learn from his past mistakes if he still hope to occupy the house on the hill in the near future, he must delegate duties to professionals, stop putting much of his trust in institutions like the IEBC or the Courts, shade off spent forces (Unworthy friends) and listen to advise.

ENDS

POLICE IN KISUMU AND KAKAMEGA COUNTIES ARE TRAILING CRUCIAL LINKS THAT COULD FINALLY UNEARTH THE CARTELS BEHIND COUNTERFEITS.

Officers from the criminal investigation department (CID) from Kisumu and Kakamega counties are investigating a syndicate where counterfeit alcohol is produced and sold to unsuspecting members of the public.

The fake liquor is said to be produced outside the two counties, packed in used bottles of genuine liquor, and transferred to these regions to be sold to the public.

Revealing the syndicate after trailing the contraband product that led to the arrest of one suspect who received the package in Kakamega, the Kakamega County Police Commander Magnagen Warui said they were following the links in an effort to crack down on the cartels.

Police are now calling upon members of the public to be more cautious and ensure that they are consuming the right products that have been certified by the Kenya Bureau of standards (KEBS).

Confirming the incident, Warui said that Police acting on a tip off from members of the public arrested the suspect in Kakamega after receiving the parcel from Kisumu, which indicated it had originated from Nairobi.

Police found among other things, fake KRA stickers, several liters of a product suspected to be sulphuric acid and stickers of several different liquor brands.

When the suspect appeared in court today, the prosecutor requested for 5 more days to complete investigations, arguing that preferring charges against the suspect would imply that they are also vilifying one of the companies that had been roped into the syndicate using their stickers.

The Kakamega County Commander called for tight vigilance through all government agencies especially KEBS to ensure that such products that are harmful to the health of innocent Kenyans do not find their way to our markets.

He said the re-emergence of contraband and counterfeits particularly liquor is slowly penetrating back to our markets owing to strenuous bureaucracies by some government departments and unleveled playing ground.

“The president’s order last year to crack down on illicit brew was a genuine one but after the licenses were drawn by NACCADA so that all manufacturers apply afresh, we have information that some unscrupulous businessmen in Nairobi are using unethical means to frustrate Western Kenya manufacturers in a bid to have the monopoly of controlling production of liquor” revealed Warui.

 Mr. Warui warned that if the process is not reviewed to favor everybody more so Western Kenya manufacturers then Kenyans are still at a risk of consuming illicit liquor because some businessmen will go to the extreme of using other means to produce alcohol.

ENDS.

DORIS OMBARA'S WOES DEEPEN AFTER BEING SENT ON COMPULSARY LEAVE.

The embattled Kisumu City Manager Doris Ombara’s woes continue to deepen after the out of contract county secretary Humphrey Nakitare sent her on a 10 day forced leave pending further review of her case after she was accused of acting in violation of the law.

Ombara had reported to work on Thursday 31^st March 2016 to assume her new role as the director of Lake Front Development and Urban Renewal only to be told that there is no office space for her, no job description or even terms of reference.

“Like i said before my transfer from the docket of city manager was engineered by powerful cartels in the governor’s office that are keen to control the 4 Billion AFD money. How do you explain a situation where signatories to an account that is being run from Paris are changed with just a ministerial directive without following the due process’’ said lamented.

She revealed that her deputy who had replaced her as the city manager has since been made a major signatory to the KUP accounts a process that can only be executed at the AFD headquarters in Paris France.

“The county executive committee member in charge of finance issued a directive acting on behalf  the governor requesting AFD to replace me as the main signatory on claims that i had voluntarily stepped aside as the city manager’’ Ombara revealed.

She accused Nakitare of trying to divert public attention from this matter by calling for disciplinary action against her on claims that she incited the female MCAs to demonstrate.

“I have a valid 5 year contract as the city manager of Kisumu and if they think they can just wake up to such daring impunity then i want to assure them that i will seek legal interpretation on the same” Ombara threatened.

Ombara revealed that the AFD loan to kisumu will be paid back with accrued interests thus it should be well safe guarded to achieve the intended purpose.

“As a region we have always lamented about being marginalized by the National government and an opportunity had arisen through KUP to give this city a face lift, why not take advantage of this and change the lives of our people instead of being selfish and fight for tenders’’ she decried.

She confirmed that main reason why cartels at the governor’s office are frustrating her is because she cancelled tenders that were awarded to their cronies who were busy chasing for payments even before completing the projects. 

“That was pure conflict of interest, we cannot have the same staff of KUP installing lights and building schools contrary to procurement laws” she said.

She urged the residents of kisumu to stand up and start asking hard questions on the dubious spending by the governor and where he gets the money to frequently fly out of the country even on private trips.

She revealed that end of this week, a contractor that was fronted by an aide to the governor will paid 200 Million yet he has not even done half of the work given.

ENDS.