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.

FIGHT FOR LUCRATIVE DEALS AT KUP COULD BE AT THE CENTRE OF OMBARA'S WOES.

KISUMU COUNTY continues to hit media headlines for all the wrong reasons with barely 18 months to the next general elections. Cartels around powerful individuals in the governor’s office are keen to create many loopholes within the county system that will earn them more money as we head to the polls.

Focus has now shifted to the lucrative Kisumu Urban Project (KUP) with an intention to control the 4 billion shillings at stake. Sources within KUP told this blog that could be the main reason why the city manager Doris Ombara was transferred to a nonexistent department. 

Back and forth accusations have since emerged following the ‘sacking’ of Ombara on the 24^th of March with the executive maintaining that the latter was not sacked but rather promoted to the department of Lake Front Development and Urban Renewal.

The chairman of Kisumu City Residents Voice Association Audi Ogada has however criticized the MCAs who took to the streets to protest Ombara's removal from office saying their action clearly depicts a picture that they have been compromised and in an event that she is reinstated they cannot oversight her.

“I will say this with no uncertain terms that all these wrangles we are witnessing are just about tenders within KUP with those in leadership trying to front their cronies to source for them campaign money” said Ogada.

“Section 74 of the County Government Act clearly stipulates that the County Public Service Board has the overall mandate to hire, promote, redeploy and fire. Ranguma as the governor is subject to the rule of law and he cannot act without following the due process” confirmed Ogada.

Audi revealed that Doris Ombara was duly appointment by the County Public Service Board on the 17^th of Aug 2015 and the same was ratified by the County Secretary Humphrey Nakitari on the 28^th of August  2015 confirming her as the City Manager thus the same due process must be followed to remove her from office.

Her transfer, redeployment or firing can only be executed through the same process but an individual cannot just wake up to a decision that has not been either discussed by the County Public Service Board or the County Assembly.

Kaloleni/Shauri Moyo MCA Prisca Misachi said Ombara is being sacrificed because of the Sh. 4 billion for the Kisumu Urban Project.

“The Lake Front project collapsed long time ago. Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) that was to fund the project had pulled out. Why now second Ombara to a department that had died and been buried,” she asked.

The Kisumu Urban Project was initiated on 3 key components of Market Rehabilitation, Bus Park upgrading and street lightning. The projects were designed to be completed within a stipulated timeframe that is due by September 2016 and with all these persistent wangles the project sponsors might as well to pull out.

Kisumu residents are starring at a bleak future as the implications of Ombara’s sacking are likely to be much deeper if she decides to close the accounts of the KUP being the main signatory, or if she decides to seek legal redress to compel the executive to rescind its decision.

“As resident of Kisumu, we have given both the County Assembly and the executive 48hours to put their house in order or else we will petition them in court to compel them to a compromise ground” asserted Ogada.

Audi Ogada insisted that the County Assembly must now focus on the formation of a city board so that we don’t run into such problems in the near future, even as nominated MCA Lydia Odhiambo clarified that the Assembly had already passed a bill to that effect and it’s the governor who has adamantly refused to ascend to it.

A source close to at the governor’s office intimated to me that the standoff is likely to go on for quite some time because they have advised him to hold firm on his decision and that rescinding the same and reinstating Ombara will expose him as not a steadfast leader.

ENDS.

CLUB DA PLACE MAMBOLEO TO HOST AN APPRECIATION SHOW ON THE 26TH OF MARCH FEATURING OHANGLA KING EMMA JALAMO.

The Lake side city of Kisumu comes alive this long Easter weekend with social places and clubs lining up various entertainment packages for their loyal patrons.

After constant street demonstrations and revolt on the authorities, there has been much improvement on security giving ‘Night runners’ every reason to party and even visit outskirts clubs like Da Place in Mamboleo.

And this coming weekend the 26^th of March will not be an exception as all roads will lead to the most talked about club in town, club Da Place where Ohangla Maestro Emma Jalamo will be entertaining revelers the whole night.

Club CEO Kennedy Angwen told this blog that his management team decided to organize this particular show as a way of appreciation to their fans for their outstanding support throughout years they have been in operation.

“I want to assure our fans that we will continue to offer above board services complete with professional customer care and the best competitive prices for our drinks and food”

He appealed to the relevant authorities to fast track the process constructing the Mamboleo-Miwani Road, which he said has really humped business and accessibility not only to his club but to the larger Mamboleo residents.

“I cannot take for granted the continued support from our fans thus I want to assure you that the Saturday show will be value for money, plus improved security and ample parking  is guaranteed” said Angwen.

He called upon his competitors to shun the ‘kangoro’ tactics and compete with him on an equal footing but not discredit his image by alluding that his club sells substandard alcohol.

Recent ratings on social places and clubs in Kisumu, puts club Da Place on top and that could be the reason this particular facility has hosted high profile events like the Miss Bum Bum competition and the All White Party that was attended by the Boss lady herself Hudda and co-hosted by top MC Jaleng’o.

ENDS.  

MEDIA HOUSES SACRIFICING JOURNALISTS FOR BUSINESS INTERESTS.

The chilling revelation that over 10 journalists from different media houses have been sacked over flimsy reasons in just under 90 days since the beginning of the year has elicited sharp reactions from across section of different stakeholders within and outside the media industry.

The Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ) the body charged with responsibility of looking into the welfare of journalists has threatened to seek legal redress if Nation Media Group and other giant media houses do not give valid reasons to why Mugumo Munene and Andrew Teyie were sacked last week under unclear circumstances.

The dismissal of Teyie and Munene came within 72 hours after Royal Media Services parted ways with four of their senior reporters, Kendagor Obadiah, Evelyne Wambui, Pheona Kenga and Patrick Injendi over what they termed as huge wage bill following the introduction of digital platform even as others think otherwise.

The laying off of the two comes at a time when there is still an uproar over unfair dismissal of scribes bearing in mind that NMG sent packing its special projects editor Denis Galava for penning an article that put on the spot Uhuru Kenyatta’s leadership style.

Galava was sacked by Nation for an editorial content of January 2^nd 2016 that was perceived to be critical of Uhuru Kenyatta titled “Mr. President get your act together this year”

Some of the hard hitting punch lines in Galava’s piece that rubbed the jubilee administration the wrong way were;

“We reject the almost criminal resignation and negligence with which your government has responded to our national crisis this past year’’

"With the exception of a few family businesses and tenderpreneurs who raked in billions of shillings thanks to largely political patronage, but everyone else is losing money in this country’’

The NMG through its Editor in Chief Tom Mshindi responded to Galava’s sacking and said, 

“We asked Denis the Managing Editor special projects to take some time off and allow us review the circumstances under which the piece found itself in the press without following the due process. It also endangered our business interests with our trusted partners”

That statement indeed confirms our fears that media houses are more interested in the revenues being generated from advertisements rather than keeping professionalism within their editorial departments.

A source privy to the happenings at these giant media houses but sort anonymity for fear of being victimized confirmed to this blog that the government is keen on working with only media houses that are considered to be ‘friendly’.

“The Jubilee administration is dogged with a lot of scandals and is carefully reviewing its survival tactics that includes going into the next general election with an already ‘Compromised’ media in terms of business exchange” said my source.

Denis Onyango the spokesman for Cord leader posted on his facebook page after the dismissal of Teyie and Munene and said,

“The media purge at NMG has 3 dimensions; the company is determined to get rid of reporters and editors who have written boldly and consistently on corruption and bad governance in this country.

These two (Teyie and Munene) who were sacked an hour ago have been in the past been labeled Raila Odinga’s sympathizers’’

My sources at RMS intimated to this blog that the same fate of business interest versus professionalism could have befell Patrick Injendi who hails from western Kenya and Kendagor Obadiah who is a Masaai as we head to the general elections.

                      Denis Galava sacked in January by NMG for criticizing Uhuru Kenyatta.

                 

Andrew Teyie sacked last week by NMG under unclear circumstances.

ENDS.

HAS HOMABAY COUNTY FINALLY FOUND THE LATE KAJWANG'S REPLACEMENT.

When the news of the death of the then Homa Bay County Senator Gerald Otieno Kajwang broke out, many Kenyans saw it as a huge blow to the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader, Raila Odinga.

A huge blow it was indeed since Kajwang was the former Prime Minister’s right hand man and astute defender. His “Bado Mapambano” tunes ecstatically excited crowds whenever he rose to address any gathering.

Kajwang’s death undoubtedly left a very big gap in the politics of Homa Bay County.  Many asked the million dollar question, “Who will fit into the shoes of Kajwang”.

In terms of the empty seat at the Senate, a replacement in Kajwang’s brother, Moses was found. An eloquent and gifted orator with a good grasp of Kenya’s political twists and turns. But did he replace his brother’s personality? No. So who did?

Parliamentary Service Commissioner Gladys “Nyasuna” Wanga, the Homa Bay County Women representative fits that bill according to residents of Homa Bay County and serious political pundits.

Wanga, arguably the most vocal and active of the 47 county women representatives has presented herself as a charismatic and vigorous politician, earning herself friends and foe in equal measures.

In the national politics, she is known to take on the Jubilee mandarins with a lot of zeal and fearlessly, often earning her criticism and even scathing scorns from her colleagues in the government benches.

Her support and loyalty to ODM and CORD and particularly to the former PM is relentless and ruthless, to say the least.

More than once, she has found herself on National Assembly speaker Justin Muturi’s wrong books and many times she has been a top defender of MPs and their huge perks.

She was one the most vocal and consistent legislators in talking passionately about SRC's intentions to cut down on the MPS' salaries. The move, for obvious reasons, drew attacks from the public and praises from her colleagues.

In the just concluded ODM party elections, Gladys withered the storm and towered above her main challenger and made minced meat of Homa Bay Town legislator Peter Opondo Kaluma.

Despite the loser boasting of having the entire county machinery behind him as well as support from other political leaders who feared that Wanga would leave them brutally wounded, she still came out even much stronger after everything was done and dusted.

Political pundits have opined that in a scenario where the constitution is reviewed and the number of women reps reduced, Gladys Wanga has the muscles to represent two counties in Luo Nyanza combined.

Her eloquence and prowess in strategic planning and mobilization has seen her win hearts and supporters across all the four counties of Luo Nyanza and indeed the entire country.

Since her election as ODM chair for Homa Bay County, she has traversed the county by and large, giving hope to the dream of a Raila Odinga presidency in 2017. A dream that she insists must come true this time round.

She has been the face of the reinvigorated voter registration exercise in the county.

It is worth noting that even the ODM party leader has made note of the kind of pillar that he has in Gladys Wanga.

Recently, at a function in Homa Bay during the official launch of the Kabunde airstrip, Raila asked all the county ODM leadership to rally behind her as they prepare the final bullet and the final gun, for the final stab at the presidency.

Moving forward, Gladys Wanga will be the political play maker, the Lionel Messi of Homa Bay County politics. With support from other Raila Odinga stalwarts like Kasipul MP Oyugi Magwanga, Kabondo’s Sylvance Osele and the Orange House machinery behind her, Nyasuna will deliver the county into the party’s basket.

Though her critics have argued that Wanga has used her closeness with the Odinga family to steadily rise to where she is now, but political analysts dismiss the same saying that the Homa Bay women representative has built her own empire through grass root mobilization like her well crafted Homa Bay women Sacco that envisages to empower low incoming women.

During the long parliament recess that ended last week, Wanga had a well coordinated ID registration program that saw her attend ward open days and managed to visit 36 out 40 wards in Homabay County.

The decision to come up with this program was informed by the low intake of IDs in this region as the ODM party prepares for another stab to the presidency.

She managed to register 22,000 new applicants for IDs and she will strive to ensure that these IDs are ready in time for the voter registration program that kicked off last week on the 15th of Feb.

In the entire Nyanza, Gladys is the only women representative who has no competitor at all and it’s not a question of if but when she will be re-elected.

ENDS.